The aching need to move beyond the memes of the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld era:
In my forthcoming book, Heads in the Sand I observe that there's a substantial political problem here as well. Given how firmly entrenched the wrongheaded framework is, it's generally not worth any particular politician's while on any particular day to stick his or her neck out and try to prick the conceptual bubble Bush has erected around these questions. It's risky. It makes more sense to try to just come up with ideas that make sense within the Massive Ideological Struggle framework. But as long as that framework goes unchallenged, it's incredibly difficult to make the case for liberal alternatives to the policies we've been implementing. - Matt-Y
Si, Se Puede!
If that phrase is going to mean anything (beyond bus 'em early, bus 'em often), it is to show the way around these collective action problems. No point waiting for election day, even.
Sometimes it is not as hard as it seems. Reagan's team was often able to do it with a simple, well-placed phrase or story, e.g. "the medicine is worse than the malady".
