The Great Conservative Narrative Lie Continues in Earnest Post Obama Re-election

After President Obama’s re-election victory on Tuesday, the great lies that composed the radical conservative narrative came to a head and vividly revealed an ‘island of reality’ inhabited by these individuals relative to the rest of the country. One radical conservative standard-bearer, Karl Rove, gave 19 reasons why the GOP lost the 2012 Election so badly. But for those of us living on planet Real World, the election results were a predictable consequence of extreme Republican Party policies that played to “angry white men” while leaving aside a broad spectrum of disparate voting groups.

Still, even after the dust had settled on the presidential election and President Obama had won a second term, the great conservative narrative lie appeared to only grow stronger. Or at the very least, there didn’t appear to be any public signs of soul-searching on the part of the radical right’s most public voices. Sarah Palin opined, “I just cannot believe that the majority of Americans believe that incurring more debt is good for the economy, for our children’s future, for job creators. I just cannot believe that the majority of Americans believe that it’s OK to ignore the constitution and not have a budget.”

In other words, Palin cannot believe that the Republican Party platform is to blame for President Obama’s re-election. There MUST be some other reason for Mitt Romney’s relatively decisive loss. And indeed, the basic message that came out of Karl Rove’s justification of Romney’s loss was not that the Republican Party platform was flawed, but that the policy platform for the GOP had not been marketed well to minority and women voters. No one can really be for big government and ‘socialism’ can they??

The most disturbing aspect of the great conservative narrative lie is that many who expound these lies and half-truths actually believe in them. Whether these individuals have always believed that President Obama is a non-American socialist or whether the great lie eventually became the truth is a matter for another day. The fact is, “Obama is a socialist,” and other demonstrably false statements, is actually believed by participants in the great conservative narrative lie.  

One question that follows is how we as a country can move forward under a democratic umbrella with two political parties, and their supporters, that speak different languages? Putting it simplistically, on the one side, you have individuals who see a role for government in the lives of private citizens, a facilitating role for the government to promote equity throughout the country. On the other side, you have individuals who see government as an inherent evil force in the lives of private citizens, an evil force that should be permanently restrained from entering the private sphere (unless it’s for so-called moral issues like abortion). And never the twain shall meet.