Framing the national debate

Publius has some commentary on the mindless idiots who frame our national debate:

I’m not exactly shocked that the GOP has decided to run on the war this fall. But it’s still pretty amazing when you stop and think about it. Despite full knowledge that the original justifications of the war have been discredited, and despite the criminally negligent failures in execution, they’ve decided to close ranks and run on it. It’s mind-boggling. But what really boggles my mind is not so much the strategy itself, but the emerging media and punditocracy narrative surrounding the strategy. Once again, we’re hearing that the GOP is strong and united, while the Democrats are on the verge of blowing it. The swooning for Rove’s new strategy is in full bloom.

And it’s insane.

I don’t spend all that much time here doing media criticism (as compared to say Atrios or Peter Daou). But the emerging reaction to Rove’s “run on Iraq” strategy makes me more sympathetic to the view that the entire establishment should be razed — salt in their fields, the whole nine. In any sane world, it is Republicans who would be getting relentlessly hammered for such a cynical and immoral strategy. But no — it is Democrats who are on the defensive in the media/pundit narrative. And that points to a bigger problem, which is that the “center” of acceptable debate in this country is so horribly skewed on Iraq that nothing short of a full paradigm shift of perception can fix it.

…The fact that the GOP isn’t getting chased out of town and harassed endlessly by adopting this policy shows just how skewed everyone’s center of gravity is. There really needs to be a seismic shift in how these things are perceived.

And as for Democrats, I agree with the Marshall/Begala advice. Turn the tables. Stay on offense. Force the Republicans to answer why they’re continuing to mindlessly support a failing policy that’s getting people killed. The Democrats shouldn’t be afraid of engaging this offensively. For once — just once — let’s have this debate. Let’s make the election about this. Let the message for November be this — “If you want our Iraq policy to stay the same, vote Republican. If you want to change it, vote Democrat.” If we lose, we lose. But we can at least say we tried — for once.

Read the whole thing.

Frankly, as I flipped last evening between the idiots on Hardball discussing how silly the Democrats are to even talk about the war, to Wolf Blitzer on CNN oozing about how great Bush is to have captured the dangerous terrorists in Florida (a bunch of kids trying to play dress-up jihadists), to finance expert Ann Coulter on CNBC's Kudlow & Co. discussing the outlook for stocks and the Democratic Party (the first is rosey, the other gloomy), I felt like I was going to lose my dinner. And, I hadn't even eaten yet!