There are very few new or novel ideas. I have been talking about how politics is a version of professional wrestling for some time here on We Are Respectable Negroes. Of course, I am in good company with that observation.
The cultural theorist Roland Barthes made a similar observation in his 1972 book Mythologies.
Jim Cornette, one of the greatest managers and talkers in the history of professional wrestling, offers up a great shoot interview in which he deftly echoes my argument--only years earlier--about how politicians are all actors and we the public are the "marks".
Lawrence O'Donnell and his guests described Tea Party GOP darling Ted Cruz's efforts to stop President Obama's healthcare reform bill--which is ready to be implemented and is for the most part very popular with the American public--as a "kamikaze" mission.
From his point of view, Cruz is playing the part of a professional wrestler who is going his best job at being a noble "face" who is fighting a good and noble battle against seemingly unbelievable odds.
Not surprisingly, Ted Cruz's Right-wing face character is just like Hulk Hogan during the height of his popularity in the 1980s--he is entirely self-serving and metaphorically doing steroids and drugs in the back with the boys while preaching the virtues of vitamins and prayer to the kiddies and the general public on TV.
Ultimately, Ted Cruz only really cares about his career at the expense of all others (including the long term health of the Republican Party and the American people).
Ted Cruz is willing to engage in a game of political brinkmanship that may result in a government shutdown, the United States defaulting on its financial obligations in order to sabotage the black guy who happens to be President of the United States of America, all to buttress the former's dreams of power as the Tea Party GOP nominee for the White House in 2016.
The kamikazes were a "divine wind" that was said to protect Japan from harm. There is nothing noble or divine about Ted Cruz's effort to sabotage good governance and democracy by trying to derail standing law in the interest of a narrow set of reactionary political interests.
Yes, politics is professional wrestling; Ted Cruz and his Tea Party GOP ilk-brethren are willing to sacrifice the Common Good because they actually believe that their pro wrestling promos and characters are in fact real.
When politicians are so detached from reality, and unwilling to break "kayfabe", we the American people suffer. Ted Cruz and other politicians can live their fantasies at our expense because they are practically (and materially) separated from the real life consequences of such choices.
Ted Cruz would do the public a great service by cutting his promos as champion of the Tea Party GOP in front of his bathroom mirror, slathered with baby oil, and shirtless, than as someone who is ostensibly a public servant even while he has utter disdain for the Common Good and the people's will.
I would say we're slipping past the WWE analogy as far as the Tea Party caucus is concerned. Unlike guys like Newt Gingrich who were definitely following a script that they only half-assed believed because it got them power, the Michelle Bachmans and Ted Cruzs actually believe the crazy shit that comes out of their mouths. Limbaugh, Luntz , Roger Ailes, the Kochs, etc., have been building the right-wing reality brick by brick for thirty years, and the current Tea Party congressmen were hot-housed in that habitat. They have their own facts and they are impervious to evidence that contradicts them. Empiricism is for liberals.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the detachment from reality by the Tea Party cultists. But, the best wrestling characters--and many of the worst--actually believe what they are doing is "real" and quite literally become their characters in real life with destructive consequences.
ReplyDeleteTed Cruz thinking he's a viable presidential candidate is pretty bad. His delusions are astounding. Someone needs to tell him there's a camera running every time he speaks. He would be my dream opponent if I were running for office.
ReplyDelete"Hulk Hogan doing drugs" @the height of his popularity/the 80's? Finally, I have caught CDV in a lie. **Sarcasm**. Cruz one a' dem "zim/white hispanics" that doesn't (maybe does) realize his 'popularity' would be more than waning if he was really brown as we associate spaniard names like his in the united snakes...
ReplyDeleteBut him, Rubio & countless other Latino repubz will continue to support tea party ideas which ultimately is detrimental to them. That slathered in oil ish was funny. Cruz turning around like d'angelo in how does it feel to the republicans then get all C-Murda "fuck them other n$&&@5" to democrats. Question: CDV, would/will you ever panel a Melissa Harris-Perry, Bill Maher or mainstream TV program?
If the powers that be deemed me interesting enough, photogenic, and fascinating enough to be a guest on TV we shall see what happens years from now. Thanks for the good energy and hopes though.
ReplyDelete