“_Sacred and serpentine, a hypnotizing twisted theme
Weaves our souls to roar_”
Symphony X, Smoke and Mirrors

The always well-spoken Joseph Marshall has a post which features a suggested style sheet for writing/blogging about Bush and the GOP.

To paraphrase:

  1. Place the word Republican in close proximity to the word Bush.
  2. Take every opportunity that you can to remind your reader that the Legislature is Republican controlled.
  3. When writing about Bush and/or Congressional leaders, use the word Republican (essentially points 1 and 2 reiterated).
  4. Never use GOP. Use Republican Party.

In other words, club thwack your audience thwack over the head thwack with one thwack single thwack solitary thwack idea…*thwack*.

Using such tactics usually reveals:

  1. That you can’t communicate clearly and/or,
  2. That you feel your audience is stupid and can’t make connections, even basic ones such as President Bush is a member of the GOP.

To say nothing of brutalizing cadence and meter. ;)

Chances are that if you are a progressive sort, you attract other progressive sorts. Just like you, they know all of the apriori assumptions about the President; that he lied about the war, that he cleverly stole the elections of 2000 and 2004, and that he looks and acts as stupid as a chimp (I kid you not, he is both diabolical and dumb. It’s wild.). Your hatred and their hatred of the GOP is palpable and assured. In that case, there is absolutely no need to use the suggested guidelines above.

And if you’ve been blogging long enough, you have attracted, or will attract, the attention of more conservative folks. They know the score. Hell, they will cheerfully remind you of who’s in charge. They might even call you in the middle of the night. They’re pesky like that. No need for those guidelines here, either.

Even those who don’t read blogs, who don’t follow politics that closely, and that head straight for the sports section, know that Bush is a member of the GOP. If they know, then the politically savvy definitely knows. So what does that mean? Those guidelines? Unnecessary.

Now, you could make the argument that using these suggested style guidelines, you continue to remind your reader of more than just mere party affiliation, but also of the basic governing philosophy that they uphold. If you prefer one philosophy to another, well, that’s fine and frankly, it’s to be expected.

But this is the way I see things: both liberals and conservatives, progressives and traditionalists, have equal ability and equal opportunity to screw us all. Because when you get beyond issues such as abortion, the war in Iraq, guns, gas prices, and the economy, progressives and traditionalists are the same; they want to be in charge. It’s probably why I find suggestions in blogging style to be superficial. When neither side is willing to exhibit strong leadership, especially when it’s needed the most, you end up with a lot of loud, talking heads saying nothing.

No substance, but plenty of style. That’s politics these days.