Topic: Liberal Fascism
One of the choicest morsels of conventional wisdom in the area of US politics is that Republicans are fractious, disunited, consumed in fratricidal war while on the other side Democrats are cheerily united. This, indeed, is the template into which the 2016 election has already been fitted.
As is so often the case, however, the CW fails to reflect reality. While it’s true that there are bones of contention among Republicans, the situation is if anything worse on the other side, as the current dispute over free trade demonstrates. From a conservative perspective it’s sweet to see President B.H. Obama and Senator E. Warren flinging brickbats at one another. The former has characterized as “baseless” the latter’s claim that the impending agreement on presidential fast-track trade promotion authority (TPA) is a bad deal for American workers—a considerable zinger. But while I might be enjoying this, Hillary Clinton certainly isn’t. Free trade—the whole notion of globalization—is anathema to key factions of the Democratic base. Unions loathe free trade because it introduces competition into labor markets. Progressives hate it because, you know, it’s all about wicked, greedy corporations, big banks, etc.
Big Labor’s objection, if parochial and selfish, is at least logical. The objections of progressives, however, are driven by ideology, which is to say that they’re emotional. It may seem odd that people who pride themselves on thinking globally abhor the concept of an interconnected global economy. But free trade strikes at the root of the progressive project: control. The progressive power fantasy, a large and activist bureaucratic/administrative/welfare state lording it over a tightly regulated economy and a mass of citizen-clients, demands both stability and autarky. Simply put, the dynamism and interconnectedness of free markets and free trade give progressives a headache. They’ll tell you, of course, that they’re all for free trade as long as it’s “fair trade.” But wouldn’t you know it? Fair trade just happens to demand rules, regulations, limitations, bureaucratic supervision…
So far HRC had gotten by as a presidential candidate by saying absolutely nothing of substance about anything. (Her pledge to “topple the one percent” had all the substance of Marshmallow Fluff.) But as the TPA debate heats up, with the Community Organizer-in-Chief lambasting his own party for a change, her position will become more and more…delicate. Progressives (who already distrust her) and Big Labor will press HRC to take a stand against free trade. i.e. they’ll be pressing her to waltz over to the left. As we know the Pants-Suited One isn’t exactly light on her feet so that should be fun to watch! Oh, and speaking of fratricidal war perhaps the Democratic crackup over free trade will tempt Senator Warren to throw her Native American headdress into the ring for 2016. If Obama goes on disrespecting the Princess Pocahontas of Progressivism she just might do it out of spite!
