Democrats are brilliant at thinking up policies, but...

barbara o'brien in glenn greenwald's blog, unclaimed territory, puts together a terrific perspective on where, how, and why the dems have blown it...

Today Democrats are angry because, after days listening to their Iraq withdrawal proposal derided as "cut and run," they learn that the White House has a similar proposal under consideration. The plot of this movie is too familiar; somehow, enabled by media, Republicans will spin the Republican cut and run propsal as principled and the Democrats' as cowardly, even though you might have trouble working dental floss between the two.

But they get away with it because the GOP has invested years in telling the story of the noble Republicans who stand strong against our enemies while the cowardly Democrats snivel in the corner and badmouth the troops. And I'm sure you've heard the part about how Democrats are appeasers because they don't realize evil people can't be trusted. But Republicans, the story goes, understand that evil people are evil and won't let them get away with squat.

Just like Ronald Reagan, who was strong, and who squared his shoulders and sat tall in the saddle, even as he looked the other way when Saddam Hussein gassed the Kurds.

And no matter how big a mess the Republicans make of national security, at least some voters will still vote Republican because they believe the story, even though its a fairy tale.

Democrats are brilliant at thinking up policies, complete with earnest executive summaries and lots of bulleted lists. But they don't know how to tell stories, which is why they're a minority party now. And it's a shame, because the Dems wouldn't have had to rely on fantasy; there are plenty of facts that can be dredged out of the memory hole that would make wonderful stories.

With not much else to run on, Republicans will spin their national security tale any way they can from now until the November elections. Let's hope cognitive dissonance can only stretch so far.

it's definitely worth reading the whole thing...

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