Going Against The Way Things Go Down
Posted on May 16, 2008 at 9:25 amKatie Allison Granju wonders whether Bill Hobbs is making a mess of things by mixing his roles as insurgent neoconservative blogger with that of of his day job — Communications Director of the Tennessee Republican Party:
My guess is that state GOP insiders are getting increasingly uncomfortable with this stuff. After all, everyone knows there’s a role inside political parties and campaigns for the Karl Rove guy - that guy who quietly and stealthily drops the bombs on behalf of the party or campaign, without getting party leaders’ hands too dirty by tying their names directly to the attacks. But that guy generally keeps a very low profile. You probably don’t know his name, or even where his office is located. He’s the party hitman, and like all good hitmen, he keeps his head down and moves through crowds unnoticed.
Bill Hobbs certainly breaks the mold of the traditional party spokesman and there is no doubt that he has his detractors who hold true to the old ways but there is one thing you must admire about Hobbs: his stubborn resistance to conformity.
Let’s face it, most of us, in the face of criticism, when confronted by the disdain of the “powers that be”, will back down. We will relent. We will conform. We will adapt to the wishes of those more powerful than us.
Even if we believe we are doing right, even if we are confident that the path we have chosen is the one of ultimate success, that twinge of doubt along with the cacophony of criticism will cause our confidence to wilt. We will go with the flow, we will not buck. We will convince ourselves that the reward is simply not worth the risk.
There is a well-worn, traditional way to be a party spokesman. We all know what it is. Bill Hobbs knows what it is. But Hobbs, he has a different way. And when people tell him he is doing it wrong and that he cannot go against the “way things work” he says, “Screw that mess” and follows his own path.
Say what you want about the man’s ideology, say what you want about the man’s tactics, both of which may be abhorrent to you but what you cannot say is that the man lacks courage. Bill Hobbs has looked into the face of adversity and power and risked annihilation because he believes he has a job to do and he’s gonna do it, no matter what anyone says.
How many amongst us have done that? Not many, I imagine.
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Comments
6 Responses to “Going Against The Way Things Go Down”
[…] thinks Hobbs’ hardball-maverick ways in approaching his role as state party spokesman are a mark of courage and conviction. addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fknoxvilletalks.com%2F2008%2F05%2F16%2Fwhither-bill-hobbs%2F’; […]
The problem is, ACK, that your entire post is premised on the idea that Hobbs has accomplished something by his antics. If all this nonsense is just to get the TNGOP 15-second mentions in the second segment of cable news shows, fine. But otherwise, there has been no indication that any of these things have led to a tangible victory for the state party on any related issues and we do not yet know about any tangible election successes. And if the party can’t realize any gains from Hobbs’ “courageous” actions, then he certainly has not accomplished anything by “breaking the mold”.
All this is fine by me, of course, so here’s to Hobbs remaining ensconsed for as long as McCain’s envisioned 100 year war in Iraq.
One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Republicans are definitely insane by this definition.
They’ve lost three special elections for the U.S. House this year, in Republican districts. They ran smear campaigns in each. And lost. In Louisiana and Mississippi, they tried to tie the Democractic candidates to Obama, and smear him, and lost.
Tennessee Republicans have lost four special elections for the state legislature by runaway margins. In each, they ran smear campaigns. And lost.
In 2006, Republicans ran a smear campaign against Lowe Finney for the state senate. And lost.
For that matter, Bill Hobbs even lost a job because of a smear campaign he ran against an entire worldwide religion.
Let’s home they keep it up. The more elections Republicans lose, the better off we all are.
The problem is, ACK, that your entire post is premised on the idea that Hobbs has accomplished something by his antics.
No, it isn’t. He could be objectively very wrong in doing his job the way he does. That’s not my point.
I’m not saying you have to admire his ideology or the way he does his job. What you have to admire is how he does his job in the face of widespread criticism and displeasure from some very powerful people who outrank him in the institutional hierarchy in which he places himself.
Do you often defy the norms and the authority of the institutions that define you and provide your livelihood?
I’m gonna go ahead and guess not.
“What you have to admire is how he does his job in the face of widespread criticism and displeasure from some very powerful people who outrank him in the institutional hierarchy in which he places himself.”
Kind of like a court jester?
“The mold” is moldy and ain’t been cuttin’ it.