Headline: US Democrats should remember, ‘It’s the economy, stupid’
Sub-headline: As long as growth is happening, voters will tolerate presidential character flaws
Here is my selection of the metaphors that Mr. Luce uses in his latest essay on the political watershed of the Mueller Report
But as long as growth is occurring, they will tolerate ethical flaws in their commander-in-chief. Decency comes second. Just ask Bill Clinton. Or Donald Trump.
In the wake of the collapse of The Free Market Mythology the ‘Gig Economy’ and its ‘worker insecurity’, a foundational concept of the Mises/Hayek/Friedman coterie’s war against Unionism, expresses itself in the mirage of ‘Growth’ as central to a Capitalism without limits or constraints. The fate of the actual worker in this economy is about the growth of Uber and Lyft and other part time or ‘contract employments’ without benefits, as a way to supplementing meager incomes in the political present. A Posh Boy would not know or care about such economic restraints , but would resort to the capacious notion of ‘Growth’ as a predictor of the political fortunes of Trump. That pay envelope is the ultimate testing ground of an Economy!
Doctors should not lose sight of the ailment —
The ‘ailment’ that afflicts America is that both the Republicans and the New Democrats are utterly corrupt, and equally invested in the Free Market Swindle.
The special counsel Robert Mueller’s report — or the amuse-bouche we have been given — offers Mr Trump only partial absolution.
Here ‘amuse-bouche’ functions as a stylistic embellishment, that functions as a trivialization of the Mueller Report’s key findings presented by the Attorney General, but then tries to rescue himself by the notion of theological idea of ‘partial absolution’ !
This next paragraph is chock-a-block with descriptive metaphors, that mercifully ends with the fact that the New Democrats will waste their political capital on hearings with star witnesses like the Mueller, Comey and other carefully selected ‘witnesses’.
Blaming the problem on Russia is like telling a cancer patient they should suspend treatment to sue the driver who ran over their dog. It misses the point.
These basic facts will ensure Washington remains consumed by the Mueller report for months ahead.
Mr. Luce stating the obvious:
The 2020 election is already in danger of becoming another referendum on Mr Trump’s character.
Mr. Luce paraphrasing Donald Rumsfeld:
It is worth stressing two known unknowns.
Mr. Luce on the challenge that faces Speaker Pelosi:
It will be hard for the Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to marshal these fiefdoms into a single force.
This collection of metaphors is followed by jejune, but necessary political speculation, to emancipate Mr. Luce’s collection of metaphors/cliches: that becomes by the use of a self-serving, but ersatz political alchemy, that renders this disparate collection, this essay, into the category of valuable insights .
Political Observer
https://www.ft.com/content/b8e4f7c8-5070-11e9-9c76-bf4a0ce37d49
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Polemic is a discourse of conflict, whose effect depends on a delicate balance between the requirements of truth and the enticements of anger, the duty to argue and the zest to inflame. Its rhetoric allows, even enforces, a certain figurative licence. Like epitaphs in Johnson’s adage, it is not under oath.
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