Well, ain’t this an interesting development. The folks over at Hillbuzz — who were die-hard Hillary Clinton supporters and are still pissed over 2008 — are now reaching out to Rush Limbaugh to form common cause against Obama and the current DNC regime. (Hat tip: Ace)
A fascinating historical parallel presents itself, and there are quite a few lessons to be gleaned from that — namely, the world situation as it stood in late June, 1941.
For two years, the Nazis and the Soviet Union were friendly — they had a non-aggression pact that divvied up Eastern Europe between them and bought them both a bit of breathing room for other concerns. But then the Nazis repudiated all that with a massive invasion, and suddenly the Soviets were looking for new allies against their former buddy. The allied powers — mainly the US and Great Britain — decided that bolstering the Soviets against the Nazis was the wisest course, and invited them into the alliance.
(No, I’m not calling anyone here Nazis or Commies. It’s the dynamics here that are important, not the labels.)
Now let’s look at the origins of the Hillbuzz/PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) folks who are so disenchanted with Obama, they’re reaching out to Limbaugh and offering their assistance.
These folks were the hardest of the hardcore Hillary! supporters. They were with her to the grave (and, in some cases, especially Chicago, even beyond that). Anyone and everyone who didn’t back Hillary! was evil.
During the primary season, the DNC (who runs the Democratic primaries) laid out their schedule for the elections. Two states — Florida and Michigan — chose to reject that schedule and hold their primaries earlier. The DNC said fine, but any delegates chosen at those unsanctioned primaries will not be seated at the national convention, and asked all candidates to abide by the rules.
The Obama campaign chose to honor (well, mostly) that decision. The Hillary! campaign did not. So they won those two primaries, pretty much by default, and then started demanding that the DNC forget all about that whole scheduling thing and seat their delegates anyway. After all, if they didn’t, then the DNC would be disenfranchising Democrats in those two states!
No, they wouldn’t. They were disenfranchised by their state parties, who chose to defy the DNC and figured they’d get forgiveness after the fact — but they didn’t.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Those delegates wouldn’t have been enough to swing the tide, but the feelings of betrayal continued — and festered.
Now, the Obama regime hasn’t pulled an “Operation Barbarossa” – level move to “betray” the PUMA folks, but they’ve finally had their fill of perceived lesser slights and abuses, and think they can improve their lot if they throw themselves wholeheartedly behind the “established” anti-Obama folks.
So, what lessons can we learn from this historic precedent?
For one, helping out the Soviet Union was the right move at the time. The Nazis were the more immediate threat, and keeping the Soviets in the fight cost the Nazis hugely — it’s even questionable if the Allies could have won the war without the Soviets on their side. So yeah, accepting the PUMA folks as allies is a sound move.
But bosom buddies? Absolutely not. In the long run, the Soviets proved to be a greater existential threat to the US and the world than the Nazis were — largely aided and abetted by their allies. Some people even took up their cause and gave them highly sensitive military secrets — especially the keys to developing nuclear weapons. And even during the war, the Soviet espionage efforts in the West were tremendous — but downplayed, as they were “on our side” anyway.
What we need to do with these PUMA folks is not embrace them, but use them. Give them kind words and gestures of support, but under no circumstances accept them fully into the fold. Common cause does NOT mean common values, and shared enemies are NOT shared ideals.
The PUMA people are not so different from the Obama folks. Both of them are largely built around the same things — a cult of personality around a heroic figure based entirely on symbolism and not individual accomplishments. And ideologically, Obama and Hillary! aren’t that far apart. Separate them from their heroes, and they’re pretty much interchangeable.
That must never be forgotten or buried.
So, the PUMA folks want to be our buddies? Let them show their good intentions and let them demonstrate that they actually have something to bring to the party. (For example, as long-time insiders of the Democratic party, they probably know where a lot of bodies are buried. Give us a few maps.)
And who knows? their “conversion” might be sincere, and not just the latest expression of their (utterly unwarranted) sense of betrayal and entitlement. (Had the DNC ruled differently on those two states’ delegations and Obama lost, then we’d have hardcore Obamoids trying to make common cause with us against Hillary!.) So give them a chance to show that they’ve not only felt the heat, but seen the light.
But don’t for an instant assume they have really come to “our side” without serious evidence. Forget Reagan’s principle of “trust, but verify” — verify, verify again, and then maybe a modicum of trust. Remember their whole existence is based on an attempt to circumvent the established rules and then win through a fait accompli.
So, HillBuzz people — welcome to the party. Have some tea. But you understand if we don’t give you the keys to the shop and the security codes just yet.
