Posted by
Darvin Dowdy on Monday, June 02, 2008 1:34:55 AM
Buffalo Bob Smith would say “What time is it?” And the 40 some-odd kids in the bleachers [the Peanut Gallery as it was called] would enthusiastically respond, “Its Howdy Doody Time” singing the little jingle, “Its Howdy Doody Time, its Howdy Doody time….”. And so on. Then the goofy looking puppet Howdy would come out. And Clarabell the Clown. The show - classic in its almost total innocence. When I think about it, well its like there’s an empty spot in my heart. I miss the simplicity and grace of that era of children’s programming. It wouldn’t fly today.
Gosh I’m giving away my age bracket here.
That enthusiastic response of the 40 some-odd kids in the Peanut Gallery was not limited to only 40 kids. There were tens of thousands of young baby-boomers nationwide, sitting in the living room of some GI track home watching their parents prized Philco black & white.
But what if we could go back in time and change events. What if Buffalo Bob started ignoring the Peanut Gallery. Or started hurling insults at them. Of course, there would’ve been no enthusiastic response. The children would be taken off by their parents. Buffalo Bob’s show would’ve been promptly canceled. Rudeness, insensitivity and insults were not tolerated in that time.
So lets fast forward to 1980. These same Peanut Gallery baby boomers were enthusiastic in their response to Ronald Reagan. And because of Reagans leadership, that enthusiasm carried the GOP for the next 24 years. The GOP was like Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody with the cheering and lively base. The Peanut Gallery. This impassioned base would rally to the support of the GOP and its leaders in the form of emails to their representatives, letters to the editor and rally’s. Especially during times when the party was embattled or under attack by the left. Support from the base could be counted on.
Then came January 20th, 2005. And all began to change. Drastically. It seems that President George W. Bush and his close advisers began to grow weary of the base and their obligations to it. And in essence felt they no longer had obligations to the loyal voting base. Feeling that all they needed was the help of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and only needed the millions that were being funneled into the GOP machine. “W” and K. Rove concluded that they could oppose, ignore and even insult the base. And as a result, well, the base simply began to stand up and exit the Peanut Gallery.
The tragedy is that during times like now, when the President is being wrongfully accused by this pathetic little Mama’s boy from Texas named Scott McClellan, he, “W” could be enjoying raucous support from that same Peanut Gallery. No one can rally behind a cause like this baby boom generation. Mom and Pop, middle America. They make their voices heard in a right and proper way and their representatives know they’d best comply.
But, alas, the Peanut Gallery is empty. Silent. Crickets chirping. The hamartia of George W. Bush and his wrecking crew is that they forgot who put them where they are today. Not only did they forget but they turned on their own. And then gravitated towards the enemy. And its not only “W” but the entire GOP Hierarchy is on a Lisa Nowak style course of self destruction.
Back on 3/25/07 I wrote an essay that closely parallels the above called “The 12th Man of GOP Politics”. Its recommended reading if you have the time. Darvin Dowdy
PS: I’ve decided to hang in there with this blog until 11/4/08 at least. Less frequent posts, however. What the heck?