Obey had already raised more than a million dollarsfor his re-election campaign. He’d risen to one of the most powerful positionsin Congress as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. And he’drecently had the opportunity to preside over the House of Representativesduring one of the proudest moments of his four decades in national politics:the historic passage of health care reform that progressive presidents sinceTheodore Roosevelt had sought for a century.
But anyone who happened to read the online newspaperaccount of Obey’s retirement got an instant demonstration of just how welcomeretirement might be for any thoughtful political leader these days.
One of the freak shows in online journalism is thatevery yahoo on the street has an opportunity to instantly post his so-calledthoughts about every news event.
Within minutes of the posting of Obey’s retirement,pages of hate-filled, anonymous bile spewed forth.
“Thank GOD this socialist piece of garbage is OUTTAhere!”
“Another gutless liberal that fears the voter’s rath(sic) in November!”
“Great news! One less Marxist in Congress!”
And this particularly elegant wish: “May David Obeydie screaming of rectal cancer!”
At 71, why wouldn’t Obey prefer to retire fromCongress on his own terms instead of once again running the gauntlet ofrevolting ugliness that passes for political opposition these days?
Even in his solidly Democratic district, Obey wouldhave to put up with despicable attacks from the know-nothing government haterswho have now been officially proclaimed a movement by the media.
In fact, a large number of the insulting postsaccused Obey of being absolutely terrified to run in November against theawesome political power of the so-called Tea Party movement, backing a formerreality TV star for Obey’s seat.
One of the ironies of Obey getting out of the raceis that without a powerful incumbent, Republicans may actually be able toattract a more legitimate candidate to run.
The Democrats still will be in strong position towin the district with whichever popular Democratic officeholder ends up winningthe party’s nomination.
In elections around the country, all the so-calledTea Party candidates have managed to do so far is lower the level of politicaldebate and to push Republican incumbents further to the extreme right.
One of the reasons Obey was so publicly cantankerousat times during his career was that he did not suffer fools gladly. It’s notdifficult to understand how much he loathed the idea of facing vicious attacksfrom Tea Party gatherings that are pretty much wall-to-wall fools.
In the memoirs of politicians from Obey’sgeneration, the most common complaint is the absence of personal decencybetween political rivals today.
They’re all nostalgic for those bygone days whenleaders from opposing parties would fight each other tooth and nail on theissues and then go out for drinks together afterward.
There’s no evidence today’s politicians love alcoholany less. They’ve just become mean drunks instead of friendly ones.
The Party of Hatred
Hating politicians in general is one of the basicprinciples of the Tea Party movement. Add to that the undercurrent of personalhatred toward the first African-American president that has become obvious atthe predominantly white Tea Party rallies.
President Barack Obama himself reflects the widerpublic’s desire for less partisan gridlock when he reaches across the aisle toembrace Republican positions unpopular with Democrats such as offshore oildrilling.
But the Tea Party extremists within the RepublicanParty refuse to tolerate any Republican siding with Obama on anything.
That’s why the biggest casualties of the Tea Partymovement so far haven’t been Democrats, but Republicans like Gov. Charlie Cristin Florida and Sen. Bob Bennett in Utah who have been accused of not hatingObama enough.
Hatred is too repugnant an emotion to build anopposition party around. In fact, by purging the Republican Party of allpoliticians willing to work with Democrats to solve America’s problems, the TeaParty is assuring Republicans will repel moderate and independent voters foryears to come.
Now that an outrageous law in Arizona has putimmigration reform back on the table, continuing demonstrations of race hatredwithin the Republican Party could alienate Latinos, the fastest-growing voterdemographic in the country, from Republicans forever.
In the long run, freak-show politics may decimatethe Republican Party. But that doesn’t make inflamed hatred against Democratsany more pleasant in the short term.
Obey’s four decades of public service have beenreduced to vile slurs and an ugly wish for him to die a painful, cancerousdeath.
So don’t ask why Obey would retire in such a toxicpolitical atmosphere. The real question is: Why would anyone stay?
