In “The Odyssey,” Odysseus must avoid the mythical sirens who lure sailors to their doom on the rocky shoreline of their island. Though the songstresses are enticing, Odysseus and his crew, with the assistance of some beeswax with which they filled their ears, force themselves to ignore the dangerous distraction in order to preserve their best interest.
The Republican Party has a few sirens of its own: Namely, the impeachment-happy Sarah Palin and the conservative film-provocateur-turned-conspiracy-theorist, Dinesh D’Souza. These influential leaders of the populist wing of the conservative movement are leading the GOP to its doom.
Palin, who has only grown more influential with conservatives because of her nutty antics, entered into the political arena, yet again, to call for President Obama’s impeachment. This is politically unfeasible, and yet this move helps Palin’s brand. The more outlandish, unhinged and controversial the former governor is, the more enticing she becomes.
The reason for this allurement is because the “lame-stream media” continuously attacks her. When conservatives see one of their own besieged in such a way, they swoosh into the fray to protect her — not because of her opinions, but because she is “one of us.”
As a result, some members of GOP are an indirect proponent of Palin’s impeachment promises. Forget the fact that this was a tried-and-failed strategy of the 1990s, when Republicans tried in vain to oust Bill Clinton; most Americans show no interest in impeaching the president and have no desire to relive the process.
This distraction has gone on for far too long, and it’s time that Republicans discard Palin and her kin.
Her approach to communicate a conservative message is intellectually dishonest and can only be described as a pathetic attempt to galvanize an already galvanized populist conservative base.
But that is the only strength Palin has. She excels in memorizing select, hot-button buzzwords that are guaranteed to gain attention. Take the impeachment article in question: “Opening our borders to a flood of illegal immigrants is deliberate. This is his fundamental transformation of America. It’s the only promise (Obama) has kept.”
No in-depth policy knowledge was expressed in this article. No advice that should be taken seriously. No use to conservatives.
D’Souza is noted for directing “2016: Obama’s America” and his most recent piece, “America.” The controversy that now surrounds D’Souza deals with his gripe with Costco. Prior to the release of film “America,” an accompanied book was sold in Costco. Due to lackluster sales, the wholesaler pulled the book after a month. Then came the fire-and-brimstone movie and all of the fervor that is associated with it, and national sales of the book increased.
Instead of realizing that an agent of the free market made a business decision — Costco pulling a book it felt was not selling as much as it should — D’Souza went into conspiracy overdrive.
Connections between the Costco CEO and the Obama campaign were made. Clips of the president touting Costco’s higher-than-national minimum wage (mind you, a high minimum wage reached without governmental edict) were shown. Dots that should not have been connected were linked.
As with Palin, when this conservative comes under fire, the base rallies around its own. And like Palin, D’Souza’s narcissistic move does not help the larger political movement. You have to hand it to these two political entrepreneurs: They have marketed and maintained their brand image with great effectiveness, albeit at expense to common-sense conservatives. But this should not surprise anyone. This is what happens to a political movement that wishes not to govern. The brands of Palin and D’Souza would be hurt if that occurred.
There must always be the “enemy” that is to be confronted and fought: Palin attacks Obama and D’Souza goes after Costco. And with any great enemy comes the great victim, and conservatives have two great faux victims that need constant attention and protection of their own.
In the end, Palin and D’Souza may not be the sirens luring conservative ships to the rocky coast — they are captains actively steering the ships to run aground.
[Michael Beato is a UF economics junior. His columns appear on Tuesdays. A version of this column ran on page 7 on 7/15/2014 under the headline "Republicans can’t ignore Palin and D’Souza’s siren song"]
