But It's a Scandal!

Susie Bright has a good post up over at Huffington about the Foley scandal and the way it's diverting attention away from the truly horrifying events of last week.

Of course, like many other people, I latched on immediately to the news stories that began popping up late last week. I eagerly devoured a smorgasbord of blog posts. I downed great gallons of outraged spewings. It was all tasty and satisfying. I chortled with glee over every new revelation. I'm not ashamed to admit it. Hastert lied. The leadership knew. Yes, yes. Delicious.

I even got the feeling, shared, my observations indicate, by many whose political leanings are my own, that this scandal could be a blow to the Republicans. It could help come the election. Let's face it, we've got to win this election, and the next one. If anything, last week's passage of the "GW Bush [hearts] torture" bill highlights how important winning the upcoming election is. It's so important we should put doubt aside and take up joyfully almost anything that can be used to beat down the pro-torture, anti-American hypocrites that make up the Republican side of Congress.

Still we've got to be smart. Foley, for all the sound and fury, is one guy and this scandal, in the end will only stick to one guy. Sure, its nice that Hastert and other Republican leaders took a hit. Guess what though, that's all they're going to take on this.

What we have to recognize is the Republicans still control the perception of a very, very large percentage of the American public. They're not trusted. They're not liked. But they still control the way Americans see the world. It's why the man who is possibly the most unpopular president in American history and a Congress that is itself plumbing the depths of unpopularity can still manage to arouse only indifference in far too many Americans when they pass what is arguably the most unAmerican piece of legislation ever.

Foley's troubles are diverting, but we shouldn't mistake them for a victory, or even for contributing much toward a victory. Americans today have a deeply skewed vision of the world. Until we start to change how America views the world, we have precious little reason to cheer.