by Ben Schreiner / August 23rd, 2012
Those who succeed in politics, as in most of the culture, are those who create the most convincing fantasies.
— Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion
With both tickets now set, the democratic farce that is the U.S.
presidential election lumbers into its final act. And for a campaign
already rife with all the petty trivialities and celebrity intrigues
more suiting of a reality TV show, it is no surprise that both political
parties intend on using their upcoming political conventions to furnish
choreographed spectacles designed for little more than prime time
viewing.
According to the
New York Times,
a “$2.5 million Frank Lloyd Wright inspired theatrical stage,” complete
with 13 different video screens, will welcome the television viewer of
the Republican national convention in Tampa. All part of an effort, the
Times
notes, to cloak that cold, vulture capitalist Romney in a veil of
“warmth, approachability and openness.” As a senior Romney advisor
boasted to the paper, “Even the [wooden video screen] frames are
designed to give it a sense that you’re not looking at a stage, you’re
looking into someone’s living room.” (Presumably a direct mock-up of one
Romney’s living rooms.)
Protecting Mitt’s newly crafted aura of “approachability and
openness” from the potential wayward vagabond, the city of Tampa will
spend $24.85 million alone on law enforcement personnel during the four
day convention. This will include a massive deployment of 3,500-4,000
“contingency officers” from up to 63 outside police departments.
Hospitality clearly has its limits.
It is all much the same for the Democratic convention set for early
September in Charlotte. The award-winning Brand Obama is also much too
valuable to be tarnished by the taint of social unrest.
The looming crackdown on dissent Charlotte-style, though, will be
eased by nothing short of an Orwellian city law allowing any large
public gathering to be declared “an extraordinary event.” Arbitrary
search and arrest of any individual the police fancy will then be ipso
facto legal. (Like such police practices are in any way
“extraordinary.”)
Of course, all those hapless souls set to be greeted with the swing
of the police truncheon in the streets of Tampa and Charlotte will
garner nary a mention from the herd of corporate media planning to embed
safely within the bunkered convention halls. Instead, the legions of
dimwitted media pundits and talking heads will busy themselves filling
air time as they wax-poetic on the true splendor of American democracy
manifested in the sheets of convention confetti raining from the
rafters.
The media’s neat packaging of the entire spectacle as all part of the
must-see docudrama titled “Decision 2012” will undoubtedly do little to
hide the true nature of the charade from the perceptive observer.
Nonetheless, the politics as entertainment orgy will precede forth, with
the media present to celebrate and partake in it all. Which can only
give added credence to the Neil Postman quip that, “In America, the
least amusing people are its professional entertainers.”
The fundamental matter of whether there is truly decision at all to be made in 2012, needless to say, is rather dubious.
As the
New York Times
writes of the international outlooks of Obama and Romney: “The actual
foreign policy differences between the two seem more a matter of degree
and tone than the articulation of a profound debate about the course of
America in the world.” Put differently, threats to bomb Iran, “contain”
China, and bow to Israel are simply beyond debate.
Indeed, even leftist supporters of Obama admit there is no
discernible difference between the two candidates. As Obama backers Bill
Fletcher and Carl Davidson instead
argue,
“November 2012 becomes not a statement about the Obama presidency, but a
defensive move by progressive forces to hold back the ‘Caligulas’ on
the political right.” Such bankrupt arguments inevitably rear their ugly
head every four years in the now tired attempt to send the fractured
American Left scurrying straight into death vise of the “Party of the
people.”
Given this altogether pitiful state of affairs, the presidential
campaign necessarily must devolve into little more than a national
marketing campaign—replete with the assorted gimmicks, tricks, and
deceptions inherent to that vile craft deemed “public relations.” Thus,
the “decision” to be made in 2012 is limited to that between Brand Obama
and Brand Romney. No different in approach, really, than choosing
between Pepsi and Coke—Nike and Adidas. For just as with all branding,
the 2012 decision is not about deciphering between two differing
products or candidates—as they both promise to deliver the same agenda
of neoliberalism at home, imperialism abroad—but rather choosing between
two sets of experiential promises (fictitious as they are). In terms of
2012, it’s the dim hope and vague slogan of “Forward” proffered from
camp Obama, versus team Romney’s promise of comfort to be found in a
restoration of America power.
In other words then, the man best able to peddle the most convincing
fantasy to the American consumer this fall shall be the one to
ultimately prevail in November.
All befitting of an empire of illusion.
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