Mommy and Daddy

March 13, 2006
     Politics is the way we work out our collective national psychology -- if you believe in such a thing (and I do). American politics have fallen into a gothic family melodrama, and the theme is the same one being played out on the micro level all over the country: failed parenting.

     The Republicans have made themselves into the Daddy Party and the Democrats have become Mommy and both are failing.

      George W. Bush is our "Ward Cleaver," the very visible head of the household with no apparent duties other than being visible. The mission of the Daddy Party is pure Daddy stuff: to prevent the daughters from getting in trouble (having fun) with boys, to grub as much money as possible via mysterious corporate activities to support the family, and to defend the household if necessary. So, we get the "right-to-life" campaign (which is becoming the anti-contraception and anti-sex campaign), and the tacit support for any kind of corporate mischief in pursuit of profits in the "marketplace," and the prosecution of war against "the terrorists."

     The Mommy Party wants everybody to feel good and for all outcomes to be fair, even if Mommy has to use force to make it happen. Since the Mommy Party is not afraid of appearing cultivated and is in charge of the family's education, the Mommy Party has taken defacto control of the universities, where justice and fairness are the main courses of study. Mommy's discipline there is very severe for those who cross Mommy -- ask Larry Summers over at Harvard. The men of the Mommy Party are uniformly pussy-whipped and must submit to an ideology that regards gender confusion as an achievement -- because all daddies are such losers.

     The Daddy Party has entered a zone of failure both frightening and abject. Daddy has mismanaged the family finances so badly that the re-po man may take the house away. He's on a rampage against his daughters (some of whom remain romantically infatuated with Daddy and still wish to please him at all costs). He's addicted to a petroleum-based smack and refuses to consider any behavioral changes that might get him off the stuff. And he's gone and poked a stick into the largest hornets' nest in his drug dealer's 'hood."

     The Mommy Party doesn't want to talk about the mismanagement of the household and its relations with other households. The Mommy Party is excessively concerned with appearances (sometimes at the expense of the truth). The Mommy Party gets around these inconveniences by focusing on everybody's feelings. The Mommy Party is like an Oprah show that never ends and resolves nothing.

     Because Daddy is failing so badly, and the family anxiety level is so high, the children allied with Mommy have fantasized a dark Daddy alter-ego that they transfer their fears to. That's Vice-president Dick Cheney. Daddy's activities may be mysterious, but his alter-ego's duties are clear: to keep those corporate systems running things in the background happy and productive by any means necessary. Nobody doubts the alter-ego's power and influence in these matters. He is considered as adept as Daddy is inept. If you cross him, he might even blow your head off, so watch out.

     With the Daddy Party entering what appears to be terminal failure, all eyes are now turned to the Mommy Party and its presumed figurehead, Mommy-with-a-vengence, Hillary. There is still the hope that she can carry on as the head of a single-parent family, keep the corporate flywheels spinning, and even look after the family's security from the thugs coming into the 'hood.

      My own guess is that actual conditions in the household may be too far gone for even Mommy to set things right. Our situation with oil and natural gas are much more dire than the kid's realize. Dad's investments were idiotic and his portfolio is shredded. Not only is the house about to be repossessed, but the car and the home theater will be going with it. The bad 'hoods around the world are set to explode. The kids are going to have to grow up fast. Some will just go feral. Some will become Mommies and Daddies themselves, and they will try to form new households with the remnants of the old one. Maybe they can cobble together something like an American common culture out of whatever's left, and recreate some organizing principles for a family life that make sense.

      Let's just hope that social services doesn't have to come in to clean up the mess.

Comments

[deblonay]

Along with the kids who suffer from "Big Daddys " foolish financial ventures,dont forget that "Daddy" has some "Uncles" who are also in terrible trouble because of "Daddy's " mismanagement.
There's "Uncle" Tony along at "No. IO" who hoped for a longer and more successful career,but whose enthusiasm for "Daddy's " wild ventures has cost him dearly...and of course there "Uncle Silvio",whose Italian charms may not save him from the Slammmer if the Magistrates in Milan get their way...not to forget ,"Uncle Howard" far away Down Under, who has been the most most devoted and "brown nosed " of them all..but who is a really a tedious bore,and whose presence wouldn't help "Daddy" at this moment as the wolves close in ..Remember..The family that preys together ...?

[Commenter]

When is family night?

[Mike]

JHK-

You forgot to mention that Daddy's a serious, pedophilic perv.

I mean, he fucks his kids every day, no? This is a family straight out of an especially vivid telling of "The Aristocrats."

[mr. x]

JHK, you are too kind to think of them as bad parents, the following is even too kind: "Daddy" is a street thug who takes the children's inheritance and gives it to professional gamblers (big business). He shakes down the local merchants (oil producing countries) of the world in a protection racket. "Oh, you need protection, you need protection from me..." "Daddy" takes the baby's candy (jobs) and gives it to his wise-guys goobahs (China and India). "Mommy" is a crack-whore who turns tricks at the capitol building while "daddy" sleeps off a graft-induced coma.

[mr. x]

Give 'em hell Mike. Glad you're back.

[kd]

Some pretty good satire, Jim.
Strange how there really is a kind of semblance between the two political parties & "Daddy & Mommy."

Seems I remember reading somewhere a right leaning blogger remark to a left leaning blogger something to the effect of "Still mad at Daddy, huh?" As though being conservative was the mindset of a responsible adult, & being liberal was the mindset of a rebellious adolescent.

Of course these analogies, entertaining as they are, are pretty limited. And neither very accurate or constructive.

[Barry]

Good morning -
Before everyone gets busy with today's post, be sure to check Jorge's entry last evening. It's #501 so shouldn't be hard to find.
If those who cling to the notion that PO is a scam, artificially induced, for achieving some 'weird and undefined' end, the info he cites should put an end to that line of thought.
Mike - welcome back, man. We missed you.
deblonay - wow. nice, very nice.
x - hope you did sleep well last nite. Looks like another week that'll prompt some serious comment.

[mpg]

If you liked this essay take a look at George Lakoff's work on "framing". He has put out a readable pamphlet on how political parties frame issues that goes into the mommy/daddy split and how it shows up in the spin. (He probably has some more scholarly, er less readable, takes on the subject as well)

[jorge]

Good morning guys:

Mike--Back with a vengeance, old buddy. And citing 'The Aristocrats' no less (that was one funny movie, BTW).

X-- good job in working the metaphor to its natural limits.

Barry-- I found that report to be pretty compelling. One issue not well understood is that despite all efforts by the political hacks running things in the WH, their dirty little hands can't possibly remove every single professional from every single nook and cranny in the federal bureaucracy. That's when you get these reports that are based as much as possible on fact, research, and professional estimation, not on the wish list of some spinmeister. Anyway, if the Corps of Engineers is right to any significant extent, we are in for a really intense joyride over the next few years.

Finally--it is said that if imitation is a form of flattery, ripping off is a form of art. Which is what JHK did with his column this morning. Not unduly critizicing you, big boy, but sometimes attribution is important. Look what happened to Stephen Ambrose with 'Wild Blue': one of the finest WWII historians of his generation had his memory sorrily tarnished over that flap.

Jim, your column this morning is simply no more than an Americanized version of a column by almost the same title published in this week's issue of The Economist. I think that, for all I agree in general with the way that British publication characterizes the Repugs as the Daddy and the Demo-gogues as the Mommy, you should have mentioned, even if in passing, that you were working off somebody else's idea.

I know, I know, maybe I'm being pissy, but mistakes like this are good material for those trying to debunk you and your ideas. You gotta know that there's operatives out there (this by direct acknowledgement by the DoD and the WH) who scour the blogosphere to present the Administration's point of view. You and us don't need to waste time defending you from charges of plagiarism, now do we?

Just a thought, chief, just a thought.

Cheers,

[theroigne]

Oh hell no. Not the "Daddy Party" vs. "Mommy Party" trope. Not the most used-up, threadbare, clapped-out, broken-down old Sunday morning pundit blather show cliche in American political discourse. Please, not that wretched husk of a metaphor, which would no longer even pass as insightful on an AM radio sports call-in show. Oh lord, did he even mention Oprah? Fuck. He did mention Oprah.

[DrSardonicus]

Finally, a conversation about the next waypoint on the delusionary slide that our country shall embark upon. I've taken a lot of heat from my so-called "educated" friends by predicting a Hillary vs. Condi exercise in 2008. For my evil eye sees that the Joint Chiefs of Staff (not the Republican-Democratic parties) will be hand-picking nominees to best suit the purpose; to manipulate and control public opinion, ensuring that national security protocols (i.e. bank and market-friendly) will be followed (No more Al Gores!). Why these women? Awhile back, I read the results of poll numbers regarding Condi vs. the rest of the male-dominated administration and discovered that she polls twenty points higher than her counterparts on the issue of believability. One could easily infer that it's in the interest of national security to keep Condi (or another strong woman, like Hillary) spewing pablum about our need to go after terrorists by instituting a draft (and that will be necessary by 2008). One detrimental dynamic to this end however, is the reticence among the male public-at-large for voting for a potential female presidential candidate. It follows that if John McCain for example, were to go head-to-head against Hillary, it's unlikely that she'd pick up enough votes for the reason I described (thusly foiling the JCS' attempts at a more delusional public policy). However, when faced with a "hold your nose and vote" decision between two female candidates, Condi could easily challenge her, and both would demogogue themselves with all the pagentry befitting such a unique event. For these reasons I'm heralding the next electorial cycle the "Red Queen" (Hillary) vs. the "Black Queen" (Condi) race.

Good work on the post Jim, glad we're in the same boat on this.

[mr. x]

I will not say that JHK's political posts are losing relevance to reality.I will not say that JHK's political posts are losing relevance to reality.I will not say that JHK's political posts are losing relevance to reality.

[Artie]

I agree with MPG. Sounds like JHK is channeling George Lakoff.

And if Hillary Clinton is representing the mother figure, we are in some abysmally deep feces. Hillary is just barely to the left of Bush on a few inconsequential issues, and she probably has more testosterone than Bush and Cheney combined. Has she made even one bold pronouncement about oil or Iraq?

FAce it - there aint no Left in Washington anymore, with the possible exception of Feingold.

[Paul Cooley]

It sounds like you have the story board for your next novel. Or maybe even an HBO series. Now wouldn't that be something! Jim Kunstler as the head writer on an HBO series featuring a dysfunctional family as a metaphor for our country's failing political and economic systems.

I say go for it. Too bad I don't own a television.

[NeoLotus]

There are some of us in the reality-based community not buying into this bullshit and we are very aware of peak oil and New Urbanism and the need for local and regional economies of a human scale.

I'm a Democrat. I'm the associate chair of my county unit--small tho it may be. I'm in this to make at least my corner of America live up to the promise in the Decl. of Independence and the Preamble of the Constitution.

There is a huge undercurrent among progressives that are anti-Hillary and anti-DLC. My support will go to Wesley Clark in '08.

If the Republicans are smart, they will put up McCain against Clark. If Hillary is anywhere in the picture, she will galvanize the progressives against her mainly because she supported the Bankruptucy Bill even tho she managed to escaped having to vote on it. She's a stone bitch and no sane person likes her.

[Lilli]

Uncle Tony goes across the pond to sit in Brother George's nice warm White House to organize his next exciting game of 'soldiers'.

Oops ... that one got blown up. Still plenty more im my little tin box.

Meanwhile, back in the old country, the gas storage depot has burnt down using up the 10% storage surplus needed for the unseasonally cold weather.

The children freeze to death wondering who was supposed to be looking after them.

The End.

[mr. x]

The entire country woke up one day to find that they were betrayed. They quit paying their taxes and fighting in stupid wars. The Chinese and Mexicans came into the country unopposed and roasted the elites on a spit.

[Barry]

Feingold really needs some support on his call for censure - in my opinion, that's the very least that Congress can do to indicate they've not given up on the Constitution. Impeachment (unless Cheney also was on the 'hit' list) would only put a real 'madman' at the wheel, instead of the incompetent boob that currently is driving. Bang the drum - write your senators and representatives and let them know how you feel - and don't hesitate to remind them they're coming into an election cycle and you have many voting friends.

[Weaseldog]

Looks like Milosevic was murdered. The Tribunal knew he was being poisoned and are saying he did it himself. If true, why did they allow him to commit slow suicide over a period of many months? He was their prisoner, they were responsible for him. they had an obligation to keep him healthy at least until the trial is over.

And this happened just after his attorneys had asked for US State Department officials and Ex-Pres, Bill Clinton to testify. Lucky for them he was murdered first.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/03/13/milosovic/index.html

This sends a clear message to the world as to how justice will operate in the 21st century.

[Peter]

Too bad both daddy and mommy can't be reported to the child welfare people and carted off to do serious time for child neglect--if not downright abuse.

[Peter]

If I were Jim, I would have pointed out that daddy doesn't actually work. Indeed, he's never actually had to work being a career trustafarian. However, he treats the kids differently. He's pimped them out to work for the lowest bidder and rented their rooms to highest one.

While most of them are starting to realize what an abject failure daddy is, 37% of the siblings are exhibiting symptoms Stockholm Syndrome and telling themselves that he must really love them to treat them so poorly.

[ellie]

Hello there, I've been lurking here at CFN for a long time and decided I should finally join the conversation. I know a lot more about politics than I do about PO and I think JHK misses the mark here.

"The men of the Mommy Party are uniformly pussy-whipped and must submit to an ideology that regards gender confusion as an achievement -- because all daddies are such losers."

You know JHK, you've identified yourself as a democrat several times ... does this make you pussy-whipped as well? You know, this satment is just so rediculous I think I'm just going to leave it alone. I think JHK is right that at this point probably neither party can save us from hurtling off the oil adiction clif. But he should really stick to writing about what he knows about, aka the coming energy crisis.

"I will not say that JHK's political posts are losing relevance to reality.I will not say that JHK's political posts are losing relevance to reality."

Exactly X, exactly. This whole Hilary vs. Condi BS is just hype made up by the media. For someone who seems to be so smart, I'm saddend by the fact that JHK is listening to it.

One thing JHK is right about in this post is the house being reposessed. Anyone want to take bets on what time this year the housing bubble will pop?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/12/REGHHHM7MV1.DTL

[snuffy]

Think in terms that happen in life...the bright kid in the disfuntional home flees with whatever resources he can grab,as well as some of the kids,some of the kids ride it out,and are the seed for the next generation of sick families...some die of neglect or abuse.Fair description of today.

[mr. x]

ellie, did I say that out loud? D'oh!!

[curious]

"The men of the Mommy Party are uniformly pussy-whipped and must submit to an ideology that regards gender confusion as an achievement -- because all daddies are such losers."

"You know JHK, you've identified yourself as a democrat several times ... does this make you pussy-whipped as well?"

I think Mr. Kunstler was referring to elected representatives of the party, and denial of sex differences is more common with them than with the other party.