cunnilingus

Music: iLiKETRAiNs: Elegies to Lessons Learnt (2007) This post is both about politics and alien visitors from outer-space, which might lead Rosechronphiles to believe I'm on Dennis Kucinich's beat, but I'm actually interested in discussing "populism." Populism is an abstract noun that seems to signify both nothing and everything that appeals to "the people" (whoever they are). This morning as I went about my Sunday ritual of reading the newspaper, listening to political talk shows, and sipping coffee I must have read or heard the word populism a dozen times, and usually in reference to John Edwards or Mike Huckabee's appeal to "middle America" voters. The more I listened to George Will bemoan the populist appeal of Huckabee, the more interested I became in the rhetorical labor of the term this election year: what does "populism" really signify? What's the enthymeme most likely to be forged in the minds of audiences when that term is used?

Some years ago I wrote a book/report with a team assembled by Edward Schiappa on the Minnesota gubernatorial campaign of Jesse Ventura. My chapter was on populism, and I focused to some extent on the way in which The Wizard of Oz was associated with 19th century populism in the popular imaginary (something to do with the gold standard---I forget now). My arguments there, I (barely) recall, were that populism was always the word used to describe the appeal of that other guy (the one behind the curtain that you shouldn't pay any attention to). As far as I could tell, the word has always been associated with affect, not rational appeal or the force of logic, and functioned somewhat like a "devil" term in the sense that it is not afforded a positive connotation; it's akin to pandering, flattery, and so forth. This morning on This Week with George Stephanopoulos the term was used consistently to denote Huckabee's appeal to "average Americans" who understand the stakes of the presidency in their gut, but not necessarily the complexities, say, of foreign policy. David Brooks' "populism" referred to people making $30,000-60,000 in salary (which would include most of the folks reading this blog, except for grads, who are below the poverty line). This was distinguished from Romney's appeal to folks who make six-figures. Apparently populism = low income. George Will synecdochically characterized populism as a dynamic, ideological contradiction that opposes "Washington" by paradoxically making "Washington" more powerful. Clearly populism is different for Brooks and Will, but no attempt was made to define or explain what populism actually is. Rhetorically the word does some very interesting kind of work, like the word "terrorist" or "obscenity," an ad-hoc kind of work to be sure. But I think I have a better take, one that makes some sense in terms of the body and the brain, jouissance and the signifier: consistency. Unyielding, persistent, unwavering, and rhythmic consistency.

Early in the "roundtable" segment, Stephanopoulous cut to a video clip of Huckabee as an illustration of a populist response to negative attack ads from Romney. In the clip Huckabee says,

you're not gonna find moments on YouTube of me saying something different about the sanctity of human life today that I said ten years ago, ten minutes ago, or fifty years ago. You're not gonna find something on YouTube where I said something completely different about gun ownership and the second amendment, than I did last week, last year, ten years ago.

That YouTube is recognized as political surveillance mechanism is fascinating by itself. Yet the argument here is, by virtue of the YouTube publicity machine, Huckabee will not be caught in an inconsistency. The underlying warrant here is, of course, that "consistency is good." A paraphrase of what Huckabee is saying is simply this: "I am consistent in my views, therefore you can trust me. Romney is inconsistent in his views, therefore you cannot trust him." Alternately, "I'm a man of my word, because I am consistent," or more to the point, "I am so certain in my views that I never change my mind."

Hence, aliens. In 1956 Leon Festinger published his landmark study, When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of A Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World, which laid the foundation for "Cognative Dissonance Theory." Basically, a cult led by a housewife believed a Great Flood would come, and only by hopping on a UFO just prior to the end of the would humanity be saved. The date for the Great Flood came and went, and no celestial ark from the planet Clarion arrived. One would think, then, that the believers would experience "dissonance" and doubt the housewife's claims, but nope! Instead, they received a message (from automatic writing) that because of their courageous attempts to publicize the coming cataclysm, God spared them. The group was more cohesive than ever. On the basis of this counterintuitive conclusion, Festinger proposed his theory: folks experience tension when beliefs or behaviors are in conflict and will seek to reduce this tension. Because the cult members had given up so much to belong to the group (quit college, sold their possessions, and so forth), it was easier to accept the new prophecy than disbelieve. In other words, consistency of belief and behavior is more likely than changing one's mind. Consistency is pleasurable, less dissonant. Consistency is thus not only good from a standpoint of rational thinking, but also affectively. For the men out there, cognitive dissonance is like blue balls: the tension needs release.

If Huckabee's standard appeal of certainty and consistency is any measure, then it would seem populism is a peculiar form of consistency theory---a way to manage cognitive dissonance by slow, unrelenting, consistent, rhythmic persistence. Representational correctness, thoughtfulness, or rational deliberation are harmless when faced with the ecstasy of consistency. This is a problem for any politics that reserves the right to change one's mind. No one gets off without consistency . . . constant, unrelenting rhythm for ten minutes, ten years. Steadfast in conviction, slow but steady, repetitive, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, vote, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, vote, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, vote, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, vote, vote, vote, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, Republican.