Thank You, Arianna
Finally, someone’s makin’ sense. First, the set up:
Democrats have decided that the way to win in November is — I kid you not — to make the economy the central issue of the campaign.
“We’ve got to go on the offensive,” explained a senior Democratic aide, “and keep our eye on the ball — and that’s the economy”
“We’re not going to win 15 seats on the war in Iraq,” said another Democratic staffer, insisting it is the economy that will, in the words of Roll Call, “bring the party across the goal line.”
Sen. Debbie Stabenow is quoted as saying the 2006 election “is all about jobs.”
And, in a memo sent to Democratic staffers, the party’s Senate leadership claimed “while Iraq may be high among the concerns of the American people, it is a distant reality in comparison to the day to day challenges many families face filing their gas tanks, paying for college, saving for retirement and securing a job.”
A distant reality? Oh. My. God.
Yeah, I know. It’s like they’ve learned nothing from the past six years. Rooting for the Democrats is like being a pre-2004 Red Sox fan. But wait, there’s some hope. Check it:
This is a crying shame. The 2006 election — and with it control of the House and the power to investigate the Bush administration’s abundant outrages — is there for the taking… if only Democrats would put down the economy crack pipe and put their energy into hammering Bush and the GOP for their many tragic foreign policy and national security failures, which have combined to make America far less safe.
The numbers couldn’t be any clearer. Seventy-seven percent of voters think that it’s time to give new people a shot at running Congress. But while Democrats continue to hold a lead when voters are asked which party they plan to support in November, Republicans are making significant gains in convincing voters they are better able to handle national security and the war on terrorism. According to a new LA Times/Bloomberg poll, voters give the GOP a whopping 17 point advantage on the “who’ll keep us safe?” question (nearly double the number who felt that way in June). At the same time, 56 percent of voters don’t believe that America is making progress in Iraq. (What’s more, Bush’s numbers on the economy have greatly improved in the last three months).
Which is why Democrats can’t take their eye off the real ball — making the case that Iraq is not, as Bush continues to claim, the centerpiece of the war on terror, and has, in fact, compromised America’s ability to combat terrorists and protect our homeland.
Ding! Thank you!
C’mon, guys. It’s time to roll up your sleeves, grow some balls and get tough on these corrupt failures running the government. My God, how do you expect voters to think you’ll stand up to al-Qaeda if you can’t even stand up to Karl Rove?
http://www.pollkatz.homestead.com/files/gasindex2005_files/NEWBUSHINDEX_6588_image001.gif
I paid $2.33 today 🙁
These idiots actually believe the Republican spin on everything .
The Republicans could start saying, “We are proposing a bill that will
allow the CIA to rape American citizens with aluminum baseball bats. This is a vital tool that CIA professionals need to fight the war on terror. The Defeatofascists disagree with allowing our CIA professionals to win the war on terror. They support ass rights for terrorists.”
The Democrats would run and hide and stammer and blubber about how they really do support “securing the homeland,” but they would rather rape Americans with softer, smaller dildos. Then the media would report something to the affect of, “Republicans vow to fight terror with reasonable Bat Rape Safety bill. Democrats try to avoid appearing soft on rape with their Tender Rear Entry legislation. Will voters support the Democrat’s weaker measure?” Fuck these morons.
Someone needs to get it through the Democrats’ heads that everything Bush and the Republicans have tried to accomplish has resulted in failure. The only thing propping the Republicans up is a brainwashed base that believes every word from a neocon Republican’s mouth and an impotent press that catapult’s the propaganda just as well as an explicit source of Republican media (FNC). What a pathetic opposition party.
Dead on, steve.
Why is it that all of the intelligent, meaningful and principled statements on the state of our union are coming from those who neither hold public office nor are running for public office? I see a lot of people I’d like to vote for, but they’re all busy writing, trying desperately to get the actual legislators and candidates to pull their heads out of their asses.
Jesus fucking Christ in a biscuit with gravy. How hard is it for the Dems to read the polls?
Oh, that’s right. Playing “follow the dear leader,” the Dems have decided that they don’t pay attention to “focus groups.”
It’s a distant reality, that war in Iraq, because bushco has done everything they can to keep it that way, from not showing the war dead, to threatening the media, to using theose threats to get any kind of good news theme moving through media circles that they can, and in doing everything they can to castrate the Democrats on showing Iraq for what it is, a monumental disaster in planning, execution, and origination.
And the Democratic “Leadership” seems all to willing to go along with the surgery.
I think the entrenched Democratic “Leadership” is petty and cowardly and lacks any sort of LEADERSHIP ability, let alone desire, and if it weren’t for the fact that bushco will turn this country into a de facto dictatorship if they lose in November, I would be perfectly happy to see Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, Clinton, Feinstein, Hoyer, Emmanuel, and several others lose their seats.
Our only hope is that enough FIGHTING DEMS of one sort or another win seats to capture one house or the other or even both, then seriously challenge the “leadership” with the support of the Democratic People and Bloggers, and start fixing all of the wrongs of the bush administration.
days like today make me think that the Dems are nearly worthless. their only value is that they aren’t Republicans.
the billions of dollars being spent on iraq make iraq an economical issue. voters know that war-spending is increaing the national debt. iraq and the economy are inseparable issues, and as a result, not distant at all.
C’mon, guys. It’s time to roll up your sleeves, grow some balls and get tough on these corrupt failures running the government. My God, how do you expect voters to think you’ll stand up to al-Qaeda if you can’t even stand up to Karl Rove?
Amen. If you’d asked any rational person what they expected from a Bush presidency, it would be corporate welfare for GOP cronies, pandering to big oil, and attacking longtime family enemy Saddam. And guess what we got? Bush’s cronies got fat off no-bid, no-accountability contracts. Big Oil has had free rein to gouge Americans on gasoline and heating oil. And we’re now in a pointless, endless quagmire in Iraq, which has strained our military, alienated our allies. Bin Laden is at large. Bush “kept us safe” by creating an enormous, ponderous Homeland Security bureaucracy staffed with campaign interns and unqualified welfare cases like “Brownie” whose idea of security is banning shaving cream from airplanes, while most of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations go unheeded. Bush “kept us safe” by utterly ignoring the threat of terrorism until 9/11, at which point his first instinct (beyond peeing himself) was to pull out the Iraq invasion plan from the file cabinet and put a bunch of Jesus-addled interns at PNAC in charge of building a nation. And Iraq’s working about as well as you’d expect any nation constructed by Jesus-addled interns from PNAC to work.
Bush has accomplished absolutely nothing that did not directly benefit his immediate family or his rich cronies. He has done nothing but harm to America. He has done nothing to make America safer.
But by all means, let’s not attack him. Let’s send some Gore or Kerry clone out there to stupefy audiences with lengthy treatises on economics.
Not to be an ass, but I think that focusing on the economy is the right plan. Or it would be, IF the Dems actually had an economic alternative, when in fact they have the exact same neoliberal policies as the Republicans, and what working class person actually gets fired up supporting outsourcing, NAFTA, and the continued decline in his purchase power?
OK, granted, so the Dems actually had some understanding of financial responsability, in that they’re not attempting to destroy social services by plunging the country into debt.
What a bunch of blubbering, spineless, scaredy cat democrats. SO, we continue to torture?
I don’t want to hear one word out of their whining mouths when they lose in November. I hate to tell Harry Reid, Pelosi et al the war has everything to do with the ECONOMY. Duh.
They make me sick. Almost as sick as the rethugs make me. I’m disgusted.
In fairness to Debbie Stabenow, for HER race it really is all about jobs. Michigan has been hemorraging manufacturing jobs, and that’s THE number one issue in our state.
But that isn’t true for all these other races around the counrty.
What I think we are seeing is the Democrats panicking because after a couple of weeks of 9/11 reminders and terrorism talk, Buhs’s poll numbers imprioved a biut, and the Democratic generic ballot advantage over the GOP narrowed.
So, they think they have to change the subject from “national security” issues to “jobs,” in order to prevent a GOP resurgence.
That’s stupid on it’s face, however, because as has been pointed out by a lot of people, the real; reason Bush’s umbers went up a bit is because gas prices have dropped significantly. Bush’s approval ratings and gas prices are almost perfectly inversely correlated.
I share your frustration on this. I give Debbie a pass, but for the rest of these clowns, they deserve to lose.
To be fair, Karl Rove IS scarier than Al-Qaeda.
it’s days like this that remind me of why nader looked so good in 2000. i know i know i know i don’t want to rehash some fucking mediawhoresonline flame war here, but seriously. seriously.
i remember jon stewart talking about how much it sucks to be a democrat, since the republicans act like winners and the dems act like losers. you know, hang out in the schoolyard with the bully and his buddies or with your goddamn geek loser friends.
god its depressing. i predict a minimum five point pick up in the polls for bush right before the election. as well, i think dewine wins now, as does anyone on the fence (talent et al).
it’s reid’s fault, ultimately. he just isn’t good enough, he isn’t tough enough. he’s playing some faux bipartisanship game, and that (bipartisan)ship has sailed.
The Democrats would run and hide and stammer and blubber about how they really do support “securing the homeland,� but they would rather rape Americans with softer, smaller dildos.
Of course! You have to have incremental change, not change in one swell foop!
If I had a time machine, I’d go back in time and kick John Breaux’s ass.
The Economy is surging to it’s best condition in decades.
If the Democrat Party wants to focus the election on Bush’s strongest issue, I say BRING THEM ON
And we will crush those naysayers and mopers in the election.
The Bush Tax Cuts have revived this economy.
And the Democrat Party knows that they can’t win on the War on Terror, because the Democrat Party’s position on the War on Terror is surrender.
The Democrat Party knows that their inherant weakness on defense would be made obvious if they campaigned against the War on Terror.
The Democrat Party thinks that if they just keep pushing, they’ll make people forget their values and forget the war, and vote for class warfare and socialism.
But then again, What in the world has Air-ee-ah-nuh ever been right about?
She’s an idiot pundit who only launched the Huffington Post to try and keep herself relevant.
The fact is that the Democrat Party knows better than to side with extremists like Hugo Chavez.
That’s why Nancy Pelosi and Charlie Rangel are trying to make people believe that they don’t agree with Chavez.
The 110th Congress will have to deal with two dangerous tyrants. The tyrants in Iran, and Hugo Chavez.
Democrats would appease these tyrants.
Republicans would remove them and free their people.
The choice is obvious.
A Republican Congress stops Iran from selling nukes to terrorists and a Republican Congress stops Venezuela from becoming a foothold for Al-Qaeda.
Democrats specialize in saying “Thank you Sir, may we have another” after terrorists strike us.
Republicans strike the terrorists.
The choice is obvious in November.
You’re either with Bush or you’re with Bin Laden.
It feels like they just want to lose. Again.
I am starting to realize that the Democrats are going to get their asses kicked. Again. I would say that it might be good thing, in terms of finally purging the people who advised Democrats to lay low on the recent torture debate, for example, but– two more years of unified Republican rule? How many more unopposed Supreme Court appointments in that time? How many more ill-advised wars? I really don’t know how the country would recover.
days like today make me think that the Dems are nearly worthless. their only value is that they aren’t Republicans
“Not a Republican” is actually worth quite a lot in my book.
On the broader point: I know how you feel. It’s time for a lot more Lamont-style insurgencies.
You’re either with Bush or you’re with Bin Laden.
Okay. I’m with bin Laden.
If you like, I’ll provide you with my contact information so you can report me to your Department of Homeland Security or whatever it is. You’ll be famous at the White House. The fellatio will become mutual! You may get your face on a stamp. Won’t that be swell?
Unless, of course, nonsense such as yours is just a weak attempt to villify your opponents because justifying your own political choices is impossible in anything other than an I-voted-Republican-because-the-voices-in-my-head-told-me-to kinda way.
I suspect weakness on your part.
I think gas is the key. We’ll see steadily declining prices until Election Day, then I betcha prices will spring right back to Katrina levels.
Wasn’t there some much-abused word about the harmonius union of corporate and govermental power…. starts with f?
Robert Green: Yes, that’s precisley why Nader looked good in 2000. That, and even cynical old me didn’t think the public was quite so freaking stupid as they’ve turned out to be (and I’ve long thought the public rather stupid, in general–if that makes me ‘elitist’, so be it; the proof’s in the pudding…).
I know. I know. I shouldn’t respond to the Garybot troll, but I can’t help it. If I have to read his stupid “Democrat Party” blah blah one more time— Jesus Christ in a handcart, I know the GOP talking points command you to use the grammatically incorrect term, but come on, Garbot! Here? You’re not gonna convert anyone, you know.
Oh, and BTW, Gar, you just think the economy is doing well because you can still afford your Cheetos.
How about these fact on the “security” on the US for the dems to use:
This week teen joyriders were able to get into the command center for the war.
The republicans are lying about no attacks since 9/11 – Anthrax anyone?
Bin Laden alive and well.
With all the furor over the Janet Jackson debacle at the Super Bowl, it was totally ignored that an unauthorized person was able to get to the middle of the field AT THE BIGGEST SPORTING EVENT IN THE COUNTRY.
What ridiculous percentage of weapons get thru airport security during TSA tests?
If only we had an opposition party in this country….
We’re always so scared of some boogieman out there. But, my God, we’re supposed to piss and quake at a man named Hugo? From Venezuela?
How come Al Qaeda ALWAYS picks the TOP two or three OIL PRODUCERS in the WORLD to start to begin to possibly consider “taking a foothold�?
Maybe they’re some by-product of oil production?
Gary, come back to the Death Valley Driver! The Yankees are about to start the postseason!
Oh, dear Gary, our own little Turing test failing automatic talking point generator, before I take your opinion seriously on Ariana, have you ever been right about anything? Ever? No, never mind, let’s save your gears for questions you can more likely answer without completely losing your magic smoke: how do you define “tyrant?” Perhaps someone who ignores checks on his power, the will of the majority, even the law to do whatever he wants? And if you haven’t crashed yet, could you also explain how a group whose greatest and only success is killing, more through chance than skill or design, the merest sliver of our population is more of an “existential threat” to this nation than a government entirely run by those who hold the nation’s foundational document and every principal this nation was founded upon as quaint, worthless, and discardable without debate, apparently without even a second thought?
days like today make me think that the Dems are nearly worthless. their only value is that they aren’t Republicans.
This is exactly the truth that I have tried for so long to deny to myself.
But it can be denied no longer.
Surely, the fact–unarguable–that Iraq was a mistake and the current ignorant CofC is compounding the mistake by refusing to admit it, will not cost Democrats votes in November. But in all of these emerging swing districts where people are disgruntled with the state of affairs, they will vote their own personal situation, and they must be constantly reminded–are you tired of the cost of living sucking your bank account dry? Of all the jobs that have been lost from this inane chasing of free trade with developing nations? Of the corporate gouging, apparently immune to any government review? Of the ripping off of taxpayer dollars by entities with connections to highly-placed officials? That’s where the election will be won; that’s why people want a change. Iraq just cements the deal that this is an Administration that doesn’t do right by its own people.
So what good is a party that refuses to participate when the very bedrock ideals of the nation are under attack?
Talk about being weak on national security! If the Democrats cannot and will not stand up for the absolute foundational principles that form the core of what America symbolizes, then it really is not much of a leap to think they won’t stand up to terrorists.
I KNEW that was the same Ruppert from DVDVR. It’s a small internet, after all.
When those douches ban you for being too obsessively conservative you know you’ve got a problem.
“But then again, What in the world has Air-ee-ah-nuh ever been right about?
She’s an idiot pundit who only launched the Huffington Post to try and keep herself relevant.”
via Alexa:
Traffic Rank for newsmax.com: 2,640
Traffic Rank for freerepublic.com: 2,726
Traffic Rank for powerlineblog.com: 11,381
Traffic Rank for huffingtonpost.com: 1,440
How does she find the time to spoof all that traffic?
What the hell is wrong with these people? Since when does our soliders dying because of lies, thousands of innocent Iraqi’s dying because of lies, republican money making war profiteers sucking the American taxers dry because of lies all fall in line behind the economy & jobs? Do they listen to us or to what the rove/republican control MSM spews? Lord please help this Country because the elected Democratic leaders are clueless.
Jesus fucking christ. I know, I’ve been saying all along that it’s too late, the situation is unrecoverable, the “Unitary Executive” genie is out of the bottle and “Wartime” can now be construed as forever. America has been more and more highly militarized since 1942. Overwhelming military power has been the overarching tool of American economic hegemony since the defining moment of the 20th century, the defeat of the axis powers in ’45. At least Clinton had a modicum of fiscal restraint. These bastards simply don’t seem to care what happens after they’re gone.
But this. I read this thread, and I discover there’s every opportunity for it to get worse. It’s true – if the democrats in power won’t even speak out against the most unspeakable of atrocities, when the ruling powers utterly shred everything it ever meant to be an American and the Democrats not only stand aside, they enable the process and even cast votes in support, then we really have achieved one-party rule. We have become all the things we used to hate. In light of this discussion, who can even care if the Democrats DO end up controlling one house of congress? What makes you think they will behave any differently then?
It’s beyond sad to discover how fragile our system of government is. One truly evil, venal, rapacious president in power for six years and the entire thing has been, well, not destroyed, they realized that wasn’t necessary, just ignored into oblivion. That’s all it took. Ignore the constitution, ignore the law, ignore history. Become something altogether different, and ugly. I listen to Ahmedinijad and Chavez and I reluctantly have to say that I understand why they feel the way they do. What have we done since 9/11 but kill, invade, occupy, bully, lie and steal?
And the economy? What a joke. The next war (Iran, unless something better comes along) will destroy our economy, which continues at it’s current pace only because it funds the economic development of China. If the economy slows, the chinese will look to other markets, and we will have squandered our weath on aircraft carriers and stealth bombers and ballistic missile defense. So come on – somebody out there, describe to me a believable scenario where things, if they don’t improve, just don’t get any worse. ‘Cause y’know, I just can’t think of one myself…
mikey
The Democratic party stands squarely on the side of those who can’t make ends meet because their spouse was blown to bits in Iraq. We’ll help ’em out with a home loan or something.
Sorry to be so strident. Note to self, switch to decaf!
Actually, Coleen Rowley isn’t afraid to be smart:
http://www.coleenrowley.com/
Oh, and it’s not an either/or situation, gang:
Democrats can — and ARE — running on BOTH Iraq AND the economy, and for the same two reasons:
1) Bush is incompetent to deal with both.
2) Bush has lied repeatedly to us about both.
There you go. Of course, if y’all enjoy whining more than, y’know, actually engaging in something constructive, then this will fly right over your heads.
“We’ve got to go on the offensive,� explained a senior Democratic aide, “and keep our eye on the ball — and that’s the economy�
“We’re not going to win 15 seats on the war in Iraq,� said another Democratic staffer, insisting it is the economy that will, in the words of Roll Call, “bring the party across the goal line.�
I want to know who the hell these people are and why they won’t go on the record with this shit. This is the same useless DLC crap that the Beltway consulting firms have been spewing since 1994. They haven’t won with this bullshit yet, so who the hell continues to pay these people?
In the meantime, the Republican candidates are running in terror from President 38% and his Abramoffal: some of them even “forget” to mention the word “Republican” on their ads and websites. Strong, outspoken anti-administration Dems did well in the primaries. Dem Congressmen calling for investigations into Iraq intelligence miuse, FISA violations, cronyism in Iraq, and election fraud get ignored completely by the media, but the reporters have plenty of time to inverview anonymous staff members about election strategy?
Everything inside the Beltway is broken. Fuck it all and start over.
Phoenix Woman said,
September 22, 2006 at 18:57
Oh, and it’s not an either/or situation, gang:
Democrats can — and ARE — running on BOTH Iraq AND the economy, and for the same two reasons:
1) Bush is incompetent to deal with both.
2) Bush has lied repeatedly to us about both.
There you go. Of course, if y’all enjoy whining more than, y’know, actually engaging in something constructive, then this will fly right over your heads.
Excellent. I read too much here that sounds like, “ When we’re in charge, they’ll pay.” You’ve got to win, first, and you can’t ignore the fact people vote their own interests. That is why we form civilizations and governments to begin with. People are generally unhappy about Iraq, but the Administration keeps harping on its theme that Iraq is somehow making us a more secure nation; that is why a large sector of the electorate is willing to go along with the Administration’s warmongering. The argument has to be, “Iraq is harming us, not helping us, and the situation has to be corrected.” The emphasis on us.
Oh, and in the meantime, you get this on the Senate floor:
And this appears in the newspapers where? And how many blogs give Reid and Durbin any credit for even trying? No, we just get treated to some anonymous staffers talking about how they plan to run on the economy while we all whine and complain that the Dems are all talking about strategy instead of actually standing up for something.
Man, I would have shot myself in frustration by now.
Goddamn folks, I was in a good mood before I read this thread. Everyone throwing their hands up and saying ‘fuck it’ won’t win anything either.
As a voter, I have several high priority issues. To only focus on one is in my mind an advertisement in limitations and lack of skill sets to lead a nation of 300 million people.
Yes the economy is important. I expect the issues of outsourcing, inflation, the housing bubble, corporate criminal issues and along with advancing and expanding our economic options to be addressed. Our health care issues need to be addressed. Our education issues need to be addressed. The economic survival of our elderly need to be addressed. Our poverty issues need to be addressed. All of these directly impact our economy.
Iraq is important. The heinous savage indulgence of torture is important. The power grabbing of the executive branch is important. Our position as a world leader is important.
It’s the same old story. The Democrats flat-out stink at message discipline and have no clue whatsoever how to gain control of the news cycle. They got played like a fiddle again. If Republicans know how to do one thing, they know how to beat Republican-lite Democrats.
Pre-2004 Red Sox? Nah. The Democrats are more like the Washington Generals. The Globetrotter Republicans throw confetti around, use ladders to dunk the basketball and generally bend all the rules, while the Washington General Democrats stand around and run the same old plays from the same old playbook, getting their asses handed to them every time. The Washington Generals aren’t supposed to win, and really aren’t even trying. They exist solely as a foil. Sounds a lot like a political party I know.
It is clear now that the real problem in this country is not the Republicans– it’s the Democrats. Getting pissed at Republicans is like getting upset at a lion for eating a zebra– you know it’s going to eat the zebra, because that’s what a lion DOES. If the Dems sit on their lead and blow yet ANOTHER election, whatever happens to this country is on their heads, because this election was and still is very winnable.
“My God, how do you expect voters to think you’ll stand up to al-Qaeda if you can’t even stand up to Karl Rove?”
Yea PUSSIES!
(what ma? GODDAMMIT I’LL TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE AFTER DINNER! AND GET ME MORE CHEETOES!!)
Now, where were we?
..and I dropped my h…anyone seen my h?!?
[…] This isn’t the wrong idea. It’s all in the execution. […]
Jesus fucking Christ in a biscuit with gravy. How hard is it for the Dems to read the polls?
Well, the polls do say that the only area where Bush has even a faint pulse of support is fighting terrorism; and, as absurd as it sounds to us, many Americans still equate fighting terrorism with the war in Iraq. I hear what you all are saying, and I understand, but shouldn’t the Democrats attack Bush where he is weakest, not where he is strongest?
OK, so who will be the first Democratic Senator to propose an amendment that no torture techniques may EVER be used on American Citizens, no matter what.
What? They won’t even do THAT?
And how much better would the economy look if we weren’t blowing a billion bucks a week in Iraq?
Oh this is superb, even for them. Just keep pissing off the base, it’s a good sign when your supporters can’t stand the thought of you.
I’ve been bugging all summer since I quit fundraising for the DNC, feeling guilty like I should get out and do something for the party, GOTV, phonebank, whatever but look at this week alone, Kerry taking on the swiftboaters, the torture rollover, and now it’s the economy? Do they even know what year it is?
It’s not the “economy”. It’s your own personal situation, and I’d say a significant majority of Americans would say their situation has worsened. That’s what the party’s candidates should exploit. And the argument about money being blown in Iraq only resonates with people who don’t believe Iraq is protecting them from terror, so you’re preaching to the choir. There is just a substantial group of people in the middle who had no problem with invading Iraq three years ago, and now wonder why the hell we’re there; they’re the ones who are susceptible to the argument that we’re not there for any good reason and should go home.
The fact of the matter is that the oil companies have bowed to the power of capitalism, and have lowered their prices because of a drop in demand.
Capitalism works. Socialism doesn’t.
Running on something that is a problem in August and not a problem in October is just plainly stupid.
The fact is that the Democrat’s only solution to gas prices was socialism.
The Dems repeatedly play into the Rethugs’ narrative: opportunistic, spineless Defeatocrats who don’t really stand for anything. Standing back and waiting for the Rethugs to spontaneously combust is not going to work. No matter their differences, when it comes to national elections, the Rethugs get on the same page. The GOP will use terror, fear, patriotism, negative campaigning and lies to get their base fired up. The Dems will namby-pamby it again, lose and talk about how they need to move more towards the center.
I’m starting to become convinced that the gloves are never coming off and that there aren’t enough good Democrats around to make a difference. You’ve got Feingold and Boxer and a few others but for the most part Democratic leadership is appallingly lackluster. Harry Reid has tried, and he has had his moments, but he just exudes “doormat.” Republican-lite does not sell, and it is what the Democrats have become.
Maybe the Dems don’t mind the secret prisons, ongoing torture and the erosion of America’s reputation as a Capra-esque leader of fair and noble practices – a myth, at best, I know. Principles and ethics aren’t important to self-centred myopic voters, so why bother with them during an election campaign?
Meanwhile…
THE GOOD NEWS about the agreement reached yesterday between the Bush administration and Republican senators on the detention, interrogation and trial of accused terrorists is that Congress will not — as President Bush had demanded — pass legislation that formally reinterprets U.S. compliance with the Geneva Conventions. Nor will the Senate explicitly endorse the administration’s use of interrogation techniques that most of the world regards as cruel and inhumane, if not as outright torture. Trials of accused terrorists will be fairer than the commission system outlawed in June by the Supreme Court.
The bad news is that Mr. Bush, as he made clear yesterday, intends to continue using the CIA to secretly detain and abuse certain terrorist suspects. He will do so by issuing his own interpretation of the Geneva Conventions in an executive order and by relying on questionable Justice Department opinions that authorize such practices as exposing prisoners to hypothermia and prolonged sleep deprivation. Under the compromise agreed to yesterday, Congress would recognize his authority to take these steps and prevent prisoners from appealing them to U.S. courts. The bill would also immunize CIA personnel from prosecution for all but the most serious abuses and protect those who in the past violated U.S. law against war crimes.
It would have been nice if the fucking Democrats could’ve opened their mouths over Bush’s fucking torture bill. Instead, they let McCain/Graham/Warner “hammer out a compromise” with King George, while they sat mute. Torture? Interrogation of terrorists? Trials of terrorists? We Democrats have nothing to say about that. All that national security stuff is for the Republicans to handle. Morons.
I blame James Carville. In the Clinton elections, he had that slogan “It’s the economy, stupid” and his guy won – legitimately, twice. Now either he or his acolytes are basing their campaign thinking on what worked for them before.
Please, Dems, Move On.
I called up both my Senators today, and only asked one of ’em to grow a pair, since the other one’s female. But the message was similar in both cases.
And what steve_e said about the baseball bats. Absofuckinglutely.
The Dems were invisible on this one, expecting McCain and Graham to fight the good fight for them, when the entire blogosphere knew it was a kabuki that would result in a compromise that gave the White House most of what it wanted, but allowed McCain to look strong and independent to burnish those ’08 credentials.
I’m impressed that repubs can spin both “there hasn’t been any attack in years, see what a great job we’re doing?”, and “YOU COULD DIE AT ANY SECOND OH SWEET JESUS THERE’S A DARKIE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!” at the same time with depressingly successful results.
The italics must cease.
Better. Now back to ranting!
Running on something that is a problem in August and not a problem in October is just plainly stupid
On which planet is gasoline suddenly affordable?
It’s still over 25 bucks a tank here, in Los Angeles (America’s brain).
Sir Gary Ruppert, esq.:
Running on something that is a problem in August and not a problem in October is just plainly stupid.
Exactly. Yesterday’s news. Like Katrina and Iraq. August will never come around again. There are no cycles of history. History is a story of progress, and the synthesis of these millenia is George Bush. Thank you, Gary, you’re doing a heckuva job.
Um, maybe we all should find out if what was reported was in fact true.
From Kos’ site:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/22/182812/638
Sounds like our own reporting is part of the problem.
It is all well and good to blame the democrats and I couldn’t agree more that they act like wimps in sheep’s clothing. On the other hand if Americans truely can’t figure out for themselves (without being spoon fed) that these guys are the most corrupt lying incompetant sob’s that have ever lived then there really is no hope.
I used to think no way could americans re-elect a man who can’t string two words together. No way would they re-elect someone who told us to go shopping after terrorists brought down the twin towers, crashed into the pentagon and who knows where the fourth plane was headed when those brave passengers took control. All I heard though after the spin machine got started was how masterfully he’d handled the situation ( were they even there on september 11 when he couldn’t be found for hours?)
Frankly if americans don’t do what they did in 1994 and throw these guys out on their asses all on their own then there is nothing between us and the train wreck.
“Notorious P.A.T. said,
September 22, 2006 at 21:12
Jesus fucking Christ in a biscuit with gravy. How hard is it for the Dems to read the polls?
Well, the polls do say that the only area where Bush has even a faint pulse of support is fighting terrorism; and, as absurd as it sounds to us, many Americans still equate fighting terrorism with the war in Iraq. I hear what you all are saying, and I understand, but shouldn’t the Democrats attack Bush where he is weakest, not where he is strongest?”
Swift Boating, anyone? An incredible example of taking a strength for an opponent (the military service of both candidates) and flipping the script. A bad example when you consider the morality of their implementation of the ploy, but it shows that it works. And we have morality on our side to boot; I know it’s hard to get some folks to recognize any of that, but
damn if we shouldn’t be driving into their skulls at every opportunity.
Simply amazing!
Pigboy Rove be laughin’ his head off. The ‘Rabid Lambs of the Blogosphere’ my ass. One thing about that horrible Brooks simile is: There are a lot of sheep out here with the rest of us who can still think.
An anonymous source says something…oh, like…the sun rises in the West and everybody believes it.
Yeah, some Democrats in some districts are running on the economy. It makes sense for them. Many others are attacking using the Iraq meme. But the national party is not running on the economy. Check the post about Durbin and Reid please. And I am no fan of the national ‘leadership’ but getting hysterical over anonymous posts!
Please get yer heads out and check your facts before ya spew venom all over the landscape next time.
Democrats can — and ARE — running on BOTH Iraq AND the economy, and for the same two reasons:
1) Bush is incompetent to deal with both.
2) Bush has lied repeatedly to us about both.
Exactly. That’s all that Democrats can agree to run on.
Only competence is only a small part of the problem. Much of the problem is what the Bush administration wants to do. And far, far too many Democrats are on board the idea of running our economy for the benefit of multinational corporations, and maximally militarizing our foreign policy.
Yes, the Democrats are politically incompetent. But, as with Bush, the bigger problem isn’t their competence, but their corporate, militarist values.
We don’t need a more competent torturing, unilaterally invading, free trade absolutist administration. We need an administration that is willing to stand up for what I once thought were American values. And neither major party is interested in doing that.
The Iraq hearings thing seems like a brilliant idea, considering the GOP congress wouldn’t dare hold sanctioned hearings slamming our “wartime president.” But remember this–there will be people show up at these hearings who will vehemently support Bush and the Iraq occupation. Dems better be prepared to confront that in a way that curries favorable coverage and electoral impact. If they start Kerrying (“I don’t support the war, I don’t oppose the war, I voted for it, I won’t vote to end it”), they will once again cast doubts on their stones.
The problem isn’t the Democrats at all, it’s the pressure from the White House in conjunction with coporate MSM which doesn’t allow anything contrary to the standard GOP line airspace to be heard or rationally debated in public.
I’ve read several excellent speeches, like the one quoted above, given on the Senate and House floors. Do we hear see or hear about it? No, the MSM is making sure the Democrats come across as whimpy on security cause those are the only sound bites and bylines you’ll see.
It isn’t just the Democrats it’s unbiased journalism as well, the internet is the only place currently available for dissent, I’m sorry to say!
Least we still have that, for now!
The other thing no one talks about on TV or in print to any length is voting fraud and voter disenfranchisement!
I feel that if over 60% of American citizens want to see a change in Congress it’s obvious the Democrats will win by default, problem is the White House voting spooks are already out in full force to steal this election too.
Remember Bush was never intially elected to office by the majority of American citizens, he was appointed by the Supreme Court.
God Bless America, now more than ever!
::
TORTURE IS EVIL
Real Americans understand this.
Vote D.
i was feeling pretty good about November, and then… (1) Bush makes hateful, nasty national speeches and politicizes 9/11, and his poll numbers go up. (2) Hugo Chavez makes a very entertaining and truthful speech about Bush, and Tom Harkin, my Senator, whom I have always supported, freakin’ chastizes him for it. (3) Gas prices here in Des Moines are now under $2 a gallon, and all the SUV commuters from the burbs are bubblin’ over with joy. (4) Shrub’s poll numbers go up. (5) US deaths in Iraq now equal the deaths in 9/11, and everyone just shrugs. Bush has killed as many Americans as Bin Laden! Ho fuckin’ hum.
(6) The local TV news announcer, reporting the story about Chavez going after Bush, referred to him as “Dictator Hugo Chavez”. Jeebus, Hugo was elected – by – a – majority – of – the – popular – vote!!!! Just like Al Gore. He is not a friggin’ dictator. The major media outlets of his country attack him because they are owned by rich bastards. But this is the kind of reporting we get in this country. I wish Hugo Chavez was my president.
It’s enough to make a person take up drinking full time. I can’t afford an opiate addiction, so cheap wine it tis.
(1) Bush makes hateful, nasty national speeches and politicizes 9/11, and his poll numbers go up.
Delicate Liberal Flower Child, What parts of his national speeches were hateful and nasty?
(2) Hugo Chavez makes a very entertaining and truthful speech about Bush, and Tom Harkin, my Senator, whom I have always supported, freakin’ chastizes him for it.
Harkin knows that he’s very close to being a goner, because his extreme liberalism is not going to sell in a conservative state like Iowa.
Harkin actually came out in favor of Chavez’s statements by saying he could understand why he would say that.
(6) The local TV news announcer, reporting the story about Chavez going after Bush, referred to him as “Dictator Hugo Chavezâ€?. Jeebus, Hugo was elected – by – a – majority – of – the – popular – vote!!!!
In a rigged election.
Just like Al Gore.
Al Gore never recieved a majority of the popular vote.
He is not a friggin’ dictator.
How many people does he need to imprison and kill before you consider him a dictator.
Saddam Hussein won the majority of the popular vote in a lot of elections too, that doesn’t make him a democratically-elected leader.
[…] Sorry, Brad Yeah, I know. It’s like they’ve learned nothing from the past six years. Rooting for the Democrats is like being a pre-2004 Red Sox fan. But wait, there’s some hope. […]
Al Gore never recieved a majority of the popular vote.
Sadly, ah, you know the rest.
Upon further review, Gore received a plurality. My bad.
He is not a friggin’ dictator.
How many people does he need to imprison and kill before you consider him a dictator.
Questions end with question marks, and the definition of dictator has little to do with imprisoning people. Otherwise, well…
Do you American idiots think you’re going to claim Congress in November? Who do you think you’re kidding? Your stupid Diebold machines are enough to suggest that your damn elections are pretty much a total sham.
God, I hate you people. Really.. I hate Americans. You are the stupidest people on Earth. May you rot in hell.
Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you. You turned over a fellow Canadian citizen and subjected him to toturture. What were you thinking you stupid fucking fat-asses?
Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you.
America.. Fuck you. You’re fat, you’re stupid, you’re sadistic, and the rest of the World hates you.
Hey, Mal, I believe it was your own Canadian intelligence services that fingered Arar and were ultimately responsible for his rendition and torture. So, in other words, shove it up your ass.
It’s funny–if I see the name “Gary Ruppert” at the top of a post, I just scroll on by. I mean, what would be the point of reading one? While I have no idea what he said in these specific posts, I also have a pretty good idea simultaneously in one of those situations that used to cause self-aware computers on “Star Trek” to go into recursive logical loops and melt down. I have only a certain amount of tolerance for bullshit, and Gary far surpasses it. I’d probably even be willing to wade through his swill if on rare occasion he made a valid point or two, but that *never*, *ever* happens. So, to hell with him.
Just like giving a short speech, there’s room for three points. For me:
1) Getting the leadership of Al Qaida. You bet we attack them at their perceived strength!
2) Raise the minimum wage. Combines a pro-labor message with a compassion riff.
3) Our troops out of Iraq while providing rebuilding $$. Send a third of those troops to Afghanistan to help achieve #1.
>The Republicans could start saying, “We are proposing a bill that will
allow the CIA to rape American citizens with aluminum baseball bats. This is a vital tool that CIA professionals need to fight the war on terror. The Defeatofascists disagree with allowing our CIA professionals to win the war on terror. They support ass rights for terrorists.�
The Democrats would run and hide and stammer and blubber about how they really do support “securing the homeland,� but they would rather rape Americans with softer, smaller dildos. Then the media would report something to the affect of, “Republicans vow to fight terror with reasonable Bat Rape Safety bill. Democrats try to avoid appearing soft on rape with their Tender Rear Entry legislation. Will voters support the Democrat’s weaker measure?� >
omfg. NAILED.
The Democrats are afraid of being held responsible for a permanent solution to the policing of terrorism. The Republicans have framed terrorism as a, “war,” so very well that Dems know they are forced to deal with the false paradigm. They just want to avoid the whole thing altogether because it’s too great a chore to reprogram the American insipids.
Swift Boating, anyone? An incredible example of taking a strength for an opponent (the military service of both candidates) and flipping the script. A bad example when you consider the morality of their implementation of the ploy, but it shows that it works.
I guess the question for me is, do we have enough time to educate the voters about the truth on Iraq, the war on terror, etc. Especially since tens of millions of Americans have the critical thinking abilities of a feather pillow.
Is this the “October Surprise”. Are they starting to protest too much?
Is it that they “can’t confirm” it because they don’t know? Or is it that they can’t confirm it because it because Rove has told them not to.
But this. I read this thread, and I discover there’s every opportunity for it to get worse. It’s true – if the democrats in power won’t even speak out against the most unspeakable of atrocities, when the ruling powers utterly shred everything it ever meant to be an American and the Democrats not only stand aside, they enable the process and even cast votes in support, then we really have achieved one-party rule. We have become all the things we used to hate. In light of this discussion, who can even care if the Democrats DO end up controlling one house of congress? What makes you think they will behave any differently then?
There’s nothing that will make them behave any differently. In a previous thread, there was consternation that the Republicans were the only one to speak up against Bush’s pro-torture policies, and the Democrats were hanging back. There’s a good reason for it. The Republicans in the Senate and House need to distance themselves as far as possible from Bush, and this was the best issue on which to do it. The Democrats, having no real concerns about torture one way or the other as long as they can be the ones controlling the voltage to one’s genitals, stayed in the background. The practice of disappearing people and shipping them off to be tortured elsewhere started with Clinton, let’s not forget.
The Democrats want a Unitary Executive, only under the ‘benevolent despotism’ of themselves. Of course it’s not so benevolent for people of color, the poor, the environment, or anyone that is the subject of the new redbaiting, but those are people for whom the Democrats have no intrinsic concern. Wave a few million dollars under the noses of the Hollow Men, as the overwhelmingly white male corporate world can do, and you’ll see them start salivating as reliably as Pavlov’s dogs.
To paraphrase T.S. Eliot:
This is the way that democracy ends
This is the way that democracy ends
This is the way that democracy ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
And to clarify something above: just because the Republicans are the ones distancing themselves from Bush on torture doesn’t mean I think they’re serious about human rights. Quite to the contrary, they need to distance themselves now and then they’ll be Bush’s blue eyed boys again once they’ve won re-elections. Even–or should I say especially?–McCain.
How many people does he need to imprison and kill before you consider him a dictator.
Oh, Gary, sweet Gary, how many laws must the Dear Leader break, how many Contitutional checks on his authority must he spurn or usurp, how much power must he appropriate, how many must he imprison without charge and kill without trial before you even start to have second thoughts about your fellatious adoration, much less recognize him for the tyrant he is?
Just an observation. Gary’s not really funny, but his bland recital of the most biased, imaginary, downright untruthful right wing talking points is fodder for laughter and mockery, so, whether you read him or not, he’s a good part of this blog. Mal de Mer, on the other hand, is viscious, hateful, unpleasant and contributes nothing to the discussion. If I was Brad, or Travis or Gavin or Seb, I know what I’D do…
mikey
Hey, Mal, I believe it was your own Canadian intelligence services that fingered Arar and were ultimately responsible for his rendition and torture. So, in other words, shove it up your ass.
Read the report. Homeland Security didn’t alert Canadian intelligence or police services, nor the the diplomatic corps that they were going to deport Arar to Syria.
No question here. The RCMP and CSIS fucked up. But your abortion of a country sent that man to be tortured in Syria.
Barbarians. I can’t wait until they build the wall and seal you people from the rest of the civilised world.
…I’m kidding. I’m just really pissed off. When, oh when, are you going to toss these Nazis overboard?
Mal de Mer, on the other hand, is viscious, hateful, unpleasant and contributes nothing to the discussion. If I was Brad, or Travis or Gavin or Seb, I know what I’D do…
What would you do? Censor me? This from the people who never stop screeching about freedom of speech?
Look, you can bask in the glory of your good intentions, but words are cheap. Your fucking country is ruining the world, and has been for quite some time. Do something about it or shut the fuck up.
…I’m kidding. I’m just really pissed off. When, oh when, are you going to toss these Nazis overboard?
I’m willing, but I think they will have to be thrown overboard and not just voted overboard. Look at what we have to choose from: the party which initiated “extraordinary rendition” or the one which has made it de rigeur.
The party which agrees with violent tortures or the ones that will compromise on the issue for a kindler, gentler torture session.
Meanwhile they’re both in harmonious agreement about wrapping up corporate power and the power of the state.
I don’t have any illusions that the Democrats in Congress are anything other than incipient fascists. The fact that their fascism is less pronounced than that of the Republicans’ does not make them preferable, in my opinion. It’s the only way to explain it. It’s not like torture is getting high polling numbers, and even if it were one’s conscience should rebel against instituting it as policy. The fact that they’re willing to compromise on civil liberties while the Republicans are the only ones standing up to Bush shows the travesty of the two-party political system as much as anything can.
What would you do? Censor me?
Gee, no, Mal. Your rational, thoughtful comments contribute SO much to the discourse, I find them inspirational and uplifting. They really help me to see things differently.
You’re goddam right I’d censor you. I don’t care who you hate. I don’t care if you hate Americans, black people, jews or gays. If the best you can do is spew hatred, you’re no different than the KKK or the Dominionist fucktards we’ve had around here lately. Dood, if I’m going to be ranted at by a hateful canadian nutjob, I’d honestly prefer Adam Yoshida. You ever hear the expression “Burned Bridges”? Fuck off, Mal. Take your vile hatred and shove it up your ass….
mikey
Mal, a lot of us here are heartbroken. But you can kick us while we are down and insult our country if you like. Just know, however, that it proves that you are a self-righteous asshole.
Your fucking country is ruining the world, and has been for quite some time. Do something about it or shut the fuck up.
OK, Mal. Although I generally react unfavorably to being issued ultimata of the false-dilemma variety, I’ll try my damnedest to do as you ask. Problem is, I’ve been trying to do something about how my fucking country has been ruining the world for several years now, and somehow my efforts have not met with overwhelming success. Oh sure, I’ve had a few successes, sort of a one-person-at-a-time conversion to the reality-based and principles-based community. But clearly, as you point out, that’s not enough. I personally have failed by not having successfully overthrown my government.
So here’s my promise: you provide me with your sure-fire 3-step (or 5-step or 9-step, I’m not picky) plan guaranteed to end the dangerous reign of the current U.S. administration — remember, this has to be a plan that I myself can carry out, as per your instructions — and I’ll gladly do it. Or, you know, shut the fuck up.
Jeez, I come here for the GaryPorn and the snark. Not intramural squabbles.
MDM, the people here aren’t the ones you need to be venting at. What do you think , we’re not already voting and agitating for the things you’re ranting about? we’re just as angry as you are.
Why don’t you vent at LGF, or Pasty’s or one of the othe insane fascist sites? They’ll at least give you the satisfaction of proving that some Americans, at least, are the raving sociopaths you’re accusing ALL of us of being.
Meantime, why don’t you shut Adam Yoshida up? He’s just as much of a genocidal psychopath as anybody we’ve got.
And then come down here and help us. we can always use somebody who has all the answers.
“Al Gore never recieved a majority of the popular vote.”
Uh, Gary?
http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/prespop.htm
Al Gore (Democrat) 50,999,897
48.38
George W. Bush (Republican) 50,456,002
47.87
Next time Gary makes a definitive statement, keep this in mind.
“Delicate Liberal Flower Child”? Gar, I think I love you. That’s such a pretty compliment. When was the last time I was so flattered by a wingnut?
Sigh… but his opinions are always so off…………… not to mention his facts.
BTW, Gar, Senator Tom has never had any real trouble winning. He is LOVED, man. And the part of Iowa I’m in is like little Seattle. Only without Tim Eyeman. Thank the goddess Rosie.
Um, Eyman. Drinking beers and listening to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs… Can’t spell under these conditions.
Oh, but cleek…they are…oh yes they are…
This is a one party system, we’re all here just kidding ourselves. Along with the conservatives that think the Repubs are all about ending homosexuality, candy canes and Woody Allen wannabees. The truth is that we’ve all been suckered into believing that having a beer will make everything better along with catching every episode of desperate housewives. Damn, I sure am all pissy this evening. Guess I need to drop a few midols or something…
I think soma is available under the new prescription drug benefit.
gjdodger said,
September 22, 2006 at 19:06
“You’ve got to win, first, and you can’t ignore the fact people vote their own interests.”
You made a good point about winning first. And it’s true that “people vote their own interests.” But what does that mean, exactly?
The gist of this post seems to be that the D’s leadership has decided that “the Economy” is what people really care about, that the Economy is the people’s deepest interest, and that if only we can educate the voters about how our policies will be of greater benefit to the people than the rethugs’ policies then the people will wisely see that Democratic policies are real and effective and that Republican policies are phony and ineffective. And all will be well again.
It’s the same old story about people supposedly voting their wallets.
And once again, they will lose more power.
They’ll be left scratching their heads in wonder over how low-income rural people can vote for policies that directly harm them and only help their bosses.
In the same way that Rethugs shake their heads over wealthy liberals in the Blue States who consistently vote against their own economic interest for policies that raise their own taxes and benefit the poor.
The reason is both simple and obvious: IT’S THE PRINCIPLE, STUPID!
People usually do NOT vote their own economic interest, if they did we’d have had a continuation of Clinton/Gore economic policies- though one could argue that that is exactly what the majority of voters wanted in 2000, but got overruled by the Court.
It’s similar to the central idea that underpins classic and neoliberal economics- that people are basically rational and will consistently act rationally in their own best interests. This ignores pretty much everything psychology has taught us in the last century: that people OFTEN, maybe even usually, make completely irrational decisions about every aspect of their lives for all sorts of reasons.
People can, and do, vote against their own economic interest when matters of principle are at stake. Whether those principles have to do with Christianist or progressive values, that is why. They vote to support a cause which they consider to be just and right and decent.
War, torture, corruption, incompetence- these are violations of fundamental principles of decency AND incredibly harmful to the economy. To ignore this basic fact and focus instead on technocratic wonkery about economic policies is foolish.
The “swing voters” (ie: unthinking and apathetic voters) say they want to see what is the real, substantive difference between the parties. They are not asking for detailed descriptions of economic policies- they’re asking about principles.
What does your party stand for, they ask.
Please explain it in the simplest terms, ask the swing voters, because we’ve paid so little attention during our entire adult lives that we really can’t tell on our own. (Hint: arcane economic policy will be totally ignored by us, because we just don’t get it.)
The Democratic Party could rightly say that it stands for fundamental human rights. For peace. For accountablility. For justice. For democracy (as in: all voters count equally, and all votes are counted).
And they could say, also rightly, that the GOP stands for torture, for war, for corruption, for cover-ups, and for incompetence. And against free and fair elections here in the US. And that they will do and say anything, even smearing decorated veterans as traitors, to get and keep power.
But will they say so? Or are we going to get, “it’s the economy, stupid” all over again? This is SO 1992…
The Democratic Party has had the wonkery on “the issues” in their favor for decades when all the GOP has had is bluster and attitude. And guess which party today has all the power? It’s time for a bit more bluster and attitude, please.
To the Party Leadership: Your constituents, your core supporters, are PISSED OFF.
Now, represent them in Washington, goddamnit. It’s your job.
A good line from a mediocre movie, The American President: “We hired a pit bull, not a prom queen.”
Now, sic ’em!
RobW is exactly, 100% correct all down the line. The only thing I would add is that it’s also important to recognize that many voters, hell, perhaps most voters, form their opinions about the candidates with only the most scant of information, much of it promulgated by the other side. Look at how Ford sells cars, or Pepsi sells soda. Imagery, brief consise statements, lots of repetition. You can’t get these people to listen to you for more than 30 seconds. It’s sad, but it’s true. If you can’t explain your position, and why it’s better than theirs, in small, powerful chunks, you will lose. Because they can…
mikey
To sum it up in 2 words…elevator speech…
Most American’s can’t handle more than 30 seconds of information. It’s as if their eyes glaze over and foam starts coming out of our mouths. It’s really to bad cause dems are poor at using a 30 second clip of information.
The only way to really “get your message across” in thirty seconds is to lie.
Few modern issues are straightforward enough to be dealt with in a soundbite. That’s why people of principle continue to lose.
And I’m fairly convinced this inability of modern folk to handle serious argumentation was induced, to some extent at least, deliberately.
And I’m fairly convinced this inability of modern folk to handle serious argumentation was induced, to some extent at least, deliberately.
I think you’re right, Jillian. Not only that, but I think the deliberate dumbing-down of the citizenry (through such things as public schools’ focus shifting away from academic analysis and toward job training and the quaintly-labeled “life skills”) has neatly dovetailed with the increased workload imposed on most Americans. Keep them so busy they’re exhausted, keep them focused almost exclusively on puzzling out how the hell they’re going to pay for food and fill out the quadruplicate forms they need every time they have to see a doctor, and they really won’t ask too many questions about the logic of their elected officials’ statements or actions.
Under no circumstances should this discussion underestimate the advances in the science of marketing over the last 20 years. Yeah, I called it a science. With the huge increase in communications channels since cable tv, the internet, cell phones, etc, these guys have become masters at communicating a specific message and inducing specific actions and behaviors. You give them a market segment and you tell them what behaviors you want to induce in that population, hey, it’s no longer hit and miss, trial and error, throw some shit against the wall. They know EXACTLY how to do it. And they are for sale…
mikey
Mikey, you’re righter than you know.
You probably don’t want to click that link, unless you want to be depressed.
If it were up to me, advertising of almost any sort at all would be illegal.
It’s even worse than that, or even more meta. There is a Toyota comercial in rotation right now that Apple bought product placement in. Yep, a commercial within a commercial. And that’s going to look simple in a few years. If you are reminded of the dog food can whose label depicted a man holding a dog food can whose label depicted a man holding a dog food can whose…. Well, you get the infinity. But the point is that there are alliances and synergies we have yet to imagine. But I promise you that at some point you will see a candidate buying placement on the ads for a popular product. Oh, it’ll happen…
mikey
I am perplexed as to why anyone would care what this silly woman has to say. But, be that as it may, to suggest the Economy is the winning issue for the Democrats in November– this is a joke, right?
These are very good times in America.
Not so in Detroit and Michigan. Michigan was the only state not hit by Katrina to lose jobs in the last twelve months. Michigan has high taxes, strong unions, and high crime. Not a good place to do business. So businesses are leaving.
Welcome to the Liberal Oasis of Old Detroit. Keep it Blue, guys! But at least old John Conyers, who has represented the Detroit area in Congress for over 40 years, has a plan to bring new money to the denizens of his fair city and lovely state: reparations.
Jose. You’re a fucking idiot. Before you push bullshit out there, do you eve consider fact checking? I give you this:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Lowpcimap.png
now line up, take a number, and bite me…
mikeey
Shorter Jose Chung:
Liberals are nigger-lovers.
Very good times in America
Chungking, you make us laugh. The good times in America are being enjoyed by a very few at the very top, and if you think you’re part of that group, you’re completely self-deluded.
To borrow your buddy Gary’s trope, the fact is that Bush, Cheney and Rove do not give a rat’s ass about you and yours. If you would enlist, go over to Iraq and get killed, that would suit their plans just fine.
In fact, painful as it will be for youto admit (so I suspect you won’t) the Democrats care more for your family than the Bush administration does.
The Republicans are lying to you Jose. They have been all along.
It’s a shame that there isn’t some sort of monthly pill we could take, similar to monthly wormer pills for dogs or cats, which would rid us of all these pesky trolls. Oh, and the Dominionist/Nazi spambots, too.
Ooh, wait, was that a death threat? D’oh! No, no I just want them to go away.
Permanently.D’oh!
Yes, these are very good times in America. To me the economy looks good, the markets are strong, inflation is low, the price of gas is coming down. I can buy cheap clothes at Walmart. Unemployment is under five percent (except in Michigan ). What’s not to like? We haven’t been attacked in five years.
If you have your health, I see no reason not to be happy. Hey, you can fly almost anywhere in the world for a few hundred dollars. And computers are dirt cheap.
As for your comment, Burl Owl, I see irony: “In fact, painful as it will be for youto admit (so I suspect you won’t) the Democrats care more for your FAMILY than the Bush administration does.” Yes, the only problem with this assertion is that the Democratic party is NOT pro-family. It’s just not. It is not pro the nuclear family–a man, a woman, and children. It has no interest in families. If you are married with children you are more likely to vote Republican.
Yes, these are very good times in America. To me the economy looks good, the markets are strong, inflation is low, the price of gas is coming down. I can buy cheap clothes at Walmart. Unemployment is under five percent (except in Michigan ). What’s not to like?
I bet you also clapped when Peter Pan said that Tinkerbell could be saved if you’d only just applaud to show you do believe in fairies. If only recessions worked the same way, then we’d have a perpetually upbeat economy maintained on inexhaustible resources of conservative gullibility.
A recession is what’s coming. The housing bubble just burst. Consumers who have not been saving but banking off the value of their home’s equity (that is to say the a fairly vast majority) will be put in a very tight spot. At this point, it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If high-end housing continues to be built, it will further depress the market, but if you stop building then one of the few reliable jobs out there of the past few years will be gone. Also, stocks are down as real economists have publically expressed their doubts about the health of the economy, and many are predicting a 2007 recession.
The value of the dollar is continuing to fall because of a variety of factors, but in large part because the United States is hemorraging money and driving up a truly unsustainable debt. Even China, our most reliable backer, is getting nervous and diversifying its FOREX holdings and hedging against its T-bills.
Now, granted, some are predicting a “soft landing”, but there’s only been one real one of those in the last 16 periods of ending a Fed tightening cycle, and that was in 1994, where the pain of the downturn was softened by the dot-com boom. Where is a similar industry poised to take over as the housing market slumps? Nowhere. In my view, the best we can hope for in 2007 is a recession, but if the confidence in the ability of the U.S. to pay back its debts slips because of the “hard landing” and record debts and everyone starts demanding payment on their T-bills, then we’re in for some truly horrific times.
The Wall Street Journal has done a good job of pushing the fantasy that if the stock markets are performing well, the economy is also. Maybe that was true at one time, but now, the markets only serve the well-to-do, and they do not reflect an accurate picture of oour economy.
The construction industry, buoyed for a couple of years by predatory lending practices, is sagging severely. Housing starts are way off, and construction industry layoffs are beginning.
Since industrial jobs have been drying up, the construction industry remains one of the few bastions of well-paying jobs; the low unemployment you refer to doesn’t reflect the crappiness of the jobs, the unemployed, or the invisible unemployed who have dropped out of the work force.
You enjoy your cheap crap from Wal-Mart Jose.
hey, and PS? I AM married with children. And I vote Democrat. The Democratic Party cares enough about EVERYONE’S family that they work for decent jobs. for everyone. For an equitable legal system. For everyone. For non-tainted food. For accessible health care. For a fair voting system. For public education. For decent housing.
For EVERYONE.
Is that the part that bothers you bunky?
“Your fucking country is ruining the world, and has been for quite some time. Do something about it or shut the fuck up.”
Mal, that would require actually DOING something…so it ain’t gonna happen.