Or: “It’s the ads, stupid!”
James Carville, Bill Clinton’s campaign strategist, and two of his Democracy Corps strategist pals have blasted OBomba’s current teevee ads. They ran focus groups on various ad messages, and concluded that O ‘will face strong headwinds in November unless he changes his campaign narrative.” From the memo:
“It is elites who are creating a conventional wisdom that an incumbent president must run on his economic performance – and therefore must convince voters that things are moving in the right direction. They are wrong, and that will fail. The voters are very sophisticated about the character of the economy; they know who is mainly responsible for what went wrong and they are hungry to hear the President talk about the future. They know we are in a new normal where life is a struggle – and convincing them that things are good enough for those who have found jobs is a fool’s errand. They want to know the plans for making things better in a serious way – not just focused on finishing up the work of the recovery.”
The strategists go on to argue that what voters really want from Obama is some empathy — and a plan for how things will get better in the future. They don’t want to hear about what he thinks he’s already done.”
Americans are sophisticated, alright, and are starting to grasp how far the Elites are screwing us. The Fed released information that the median American household lost 39% of its net wealth between 2007 and 2010 for instance; wonder what that looks like by 2012? But what we want to hear is some empathy, some of his real and true ‘I feel your pain’ talk, not just a recitation of what he’s done for us, so that we can rest easy… when the end of the month comes, but we know that the money ran out…awhile back.
Henry Blodget at Business Insider has put up a series of charts he calls “Dear America; you should be mad as hell about this!”
“Over the past couple of decades, the disparity between “the 1%” and everyone else has hit a level not seen since the 1920s. And there is a widespread and growing sense that life here is not fair or right.
If America cannot figure out a way to fix these problems, the country will likely become increasingly polarized and de-stabilized. And if that happens, the recent “Occupy” protests will likely be only the beginning.
In the never-ending tug-of-war between “labor” and “capital,” there has rarely—if ever—been a time when “capital” was so clearly winning.
And that’s not just unfair.
It’s un-American.”
Well; we might argue about it being strictly unAmerican or not, but still, since we want this degree of wealth disparity to be unAmerican, let’s go to the charts. (scroll down and click on those words)
And when you read the charts, see the atmospheric photos from the Great Depression, and guess at what’s comin’ our way soon…and totally needlessly…refuse to take any any more, please. Only allow pictures like this into your mind when you can’t help it, realizing that the ocassional dark thoughts…aren’t deeds, just fantasies. Realize we are being made poor and unhealthy, and the same for the planet…utterly needlessly. Resist, make community; we’ll soon be in all of this together. Love those you can, and remember to receive loving care just as freely.
p.s. (The art’s for you, rc: at the end of the tumbrel ride…) ;o)





117 Comments

Ah, in another moment of serendipity, email just came in from David Plouffe. In part:
“For many of us, buying a home is about more than a roof over our heads. It’s the place where we’ll watch our kids grow up and an investment that will guarantee our long term financial security. There’s a reason that a home is an essential part of the American dream.
President Obama has proposed a plan that will cut through the red tape keeping millions of responsible homeowners from mortgage relief. It will save these folks hundreds of dollars a month — and it’s starting to get some momentum in Congress.
Guess his HAMP program didn’t work out all that well, so… And not that many mortgage fraudsters have gone to prison, so… This!
Hey, wendydavis–
Great diary. Just told TomThumb earlier that while I had to be away recently, I most missed your and his diaries.
James Carville, IMO, is a bit off in his analysis, on this one. I know that I, for one, don’t give a rat’s patootie about getting “empathy” from O or R, nor some half-baked pep talk about the future.
What none of them will admit (although they surely must know), is politics is still about one thing: What are you going to do for me? How will my (and my families’) life be better (specifics, please)?
All this nonsense that talking heads throw at us with polls about “which candidate would you rather have a beer with?” Are they for real? I wouldn’t walk across the street to see O or R (now the Green candidate is another story :-)!
Considering the “AP Report: Census Shows 1 in 2 People Are Poor or Low-Income,” and the just released Fed Data regarding lost wealth for middle income Americans that you write about, I do think that Carville is right about one thing–politicians telling us how wonderful things are, just ain’t gonna get it no more.
Highly recommended.
Blue
Rec’d, wendydavis, even though you made me look at Carville’s horse face. I have been hoping that he and his equally attractive wife might smother each other with their pillows in the night, but they are both too busy raking in the dough. I can’t imagine why anyone would pay for such advice. Empathetic Obama is a bit of a stretch for someone who rains drone fire down on babies and wedding parties, doncha think?
I clicked through Henry’s charts and my head is swimming. Yikes. But I do reject, mostly, the notion that America isn’t America any more. I think America is even more American than ever, since we have always been a place where you are supposed to aspire not just to get that boot off your neck, but to be the one who gets to wear the boot. That period of middle class prosperity was just a happy accident; the pyramid scheme with the evil eye that you see there on your money (should you still any) is being rebuilt the way it was always meant to be.
Love right back atcha – you are so right when you say that soon we will all be in this together.
“should you still have any” money, I meant to say up there ^^
Wendy! Thanks for the charts showing income inequality in America. There seems to be a total disconnect between what is happening on the ground and the Carvilles, Obamas, Romneys……
Hallo, Onyx, dear; so nice to see ya back. Nah, it’s not really much of a diary, but once I’d seen the slideshow a couple times, and then read that bullshit of Carville’s…the cynicism of it, not to mention that I’d finally seen of one of OBomba’s wretched, lying, grinning-like-a-fool ads..I reckoned it was a vehicle to get folks to look at the charts, and realize just how far Americans are feeling the pain.
Just about now Presidential politics may be more about getting rid of the one who didn’t do anything for me, as much as anything. Polls show a majority reckon Romney would be ‘better for the economy’? Does not compute: they both serve Rule by Corporatism. Ugh.
*President Obama has proposed a plan that will cut through the red tape keeping millions of responsible homeowners from mortgage relief. It will save these folks hundreds of dollars a month — and it’s starting to get some momentum in Congress.
(And, when I realized at 12:30 I couldn’t finish the UN Summit piece I’ve been working on for three days again today, I pulled this one together…for the charts.) Cheating, but…
Thanks for reading, and for the rec.
While he used the word empathy, it seems what Carville is talking about is probably better characterized as acknowledgement … importantly paired with a plausible plan of action for things to get better.
From a strictly political standpoint, I kind of agree with him – to the extent that it will make any difference anyhow. I won’t personally believe he means what he says … but ultimately grabbing on to a big-picture issue like Wendy has highlighted here and articulating a strategy (or even maybe intent?) to address the current state of unfairness seems to be pretty much exactly what Carville is saying Obama should do.
At this point Obama is basically trying his hand at the “Big Lie” … totally Bush stylie. He’s basically saying that stuff in America is awesome and super-safe … all because of him. Thing is, stuff is far from awesome – and it is totally unclear if what he’s been doing makes us more safe or less so. Trying to pretend like the sky is green just makes Obama look totally clueless.
Of course, Romney seems to be trying to out-clueless an already amazingly clueless Obama; so it’s just a clusterfuck of a race to the bottom. Most. Depressing. Election. Cycle. Ev-var. On the bright side, I actually like several of the third party candidates this time (last time they *all* sucked IMO).
The big differences between old America and current may be the pace of the wealth and income disparity since 2008, and of course, the austerity budgets, which are a cryin’ shame; so needless and counter-productive.
When Dave Seaton told me the other day that OBomba really would cut the military budget and would use the bucks to build infrastructure projects, I blew coffee outta my nose. Ha! Any cuts will be creative book-keeping, and likely not all that creative.
Agreed on Matalin and Carville, and ye Gods and little fishes: they have children! (Shiver) Sorry for the photo; there were worse ones, believe me. One where he was making predator gestures with his arms and face…ewwwww. Saved ya from that one, not to mention myself. ;o)
Fun read on the pyramid; it’s unfinished, too; mebbe we can turn that into something?
Yep, Empathetic Obama: even he ain’t that good an actor, I’m guessin’.
All the reading I’ve been doing on the UN Rio story makes me more convinced that there aren’t really any ways now that capitalism will be able to be regulated sufficiently to make it not predatory, or honor the earth’s resources as a gift,not an entitlement to profit by.
hugs,
wd
Oh, and I dunno why, but…
Gawd … it’s hard to get past the fact that he looks like a crazed Chihuahua and take what he says seriously anymore.
On a totally off-topic … check out these crazy flowers I never knew existed before.
Aloha, wendy…! This is rich coming from the same Ragin Cajun, that led the charge on ‘Welfare Reform’ and the repeal of Glass-Steagall…! 8-(
I really wanted to embed some of the charts (other people still do), but I keep not asking Kit about a few of those new rules.
The one on social mobility was pretty stark, but then…most of them were. We all know wages have been flat since 1973, but that the average CEO makes 5000+ times what the lowest wage-earner (was that it?) is beyond sick. And with the trillions of bank back-ups and bailouts, that the rate of bank loaning looked like that… I figure the stats on bank profits from zero-interest Fed loans was way low-balled, too; that’s just the ones they admit to.
Sorry I’ve been too busy to read your Looking Toward Winter piece. Been jammed, and played adolescent on my breaks yesterday on that one one-question only post; damn, it was funny! We…uh…were pretty awful to the post. But a hell of a lot of us seemed to need the break!
love to ya, TomThumb,
wd
Empathy. Yep. That’s what we all need./s
1. It’s the economy stupid
2. It’s O’s actions
Message? It’s no stinking message. It’s O’s actions.
ROTFLMAO. Obama’s going to do all that *and* piss in Bibi’s cornflakes by bringing peace to the Middle East? As with the lowly caterpillar, this election season will form a chrysalis around Obama and he shall emerge into a second term as an unrestrained vibrant butterfly bringing rainbows and unicorns in his wake.
Good thing Obama has Seaton around to speculatively promise all this shit he’s never even intimated. Seaton’s premise flails wildly between being all “I told everyone their expectations of Obama being liberal were unrealistic” (not strictly accurate from my recollection – but that’s his line) and “Hey! You’ve just *got* to believe that *this* time he’s going to dial it up to 11 … far beyond anything folks are even asking of him – and voters should TOTALLY have faith in him!”
Having an internet where past ramblings are easy-access really doesn’t help some people’s contemporary arguments much.
Ha. I was going to write up a piece about Obama’s “vision” of his second term – looking at the priorities ennumerated in the recent NYer piece by Ryan Lizza. But didn’t have the time.
The list looked roughly as follows
1. Immigration reform (because they are afraid of getting outflanked on their *LEFT* by the Romney campaign. Lol. I shit you not!!)
2. Climate change (because the carbon tax is back apparently. “This time really really. It’s true. Not like the other times.”)
3. Nuclear Proliferation (because you need to stop the Russians from giving them to Iran, I guess)
4. “Solving” taxmaggedon. (Though it can be “solved” simply by doing nothing, and letting the tax cuts expire. so that’s wierd)
5. Renewed push on Israel Palestine. (though, they say ‘containing’ Iran might take precedence)
6. Robust aid agenda for developing countries (though the article notes that he’s done much worse on that score than Bush. HAHA!!)
7. Something (?) on energy policy (though the article notes that his energy policy is totally incoherent right now)
8. “tax reform”. (i.e. ‘simplifying’ stuff no one really wants to simplify)
…
and that’s it. Nothing. Nothing on the economy. Like it was 1997 or something. Unbefuckingleivable.
There is a bit about doing something for the millions of underwater homeowners. But if you look closely, it’s stuff a professor says Obama should do. No one from the campaign would back the idea, I guess. Fuckers.
And there was a nice bit about having 25 billion a year in infrastructure spending. Which, if I’m not mistaken, is actually a CUT in infrastructure spending.
Fucking hilarious. Actually the thing that stands out as Obama’s main priority in that article:
“After the election year, we’ll have a lot more time to travel”.
So there’s the rationale for his campaign. So he can go travelling.
Obama 2012 – Forward! Anywhere but out of here!
oh – the link:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/06/18/120618fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all
In fairness, I don’t think The Cajun actually ever advocated *running* on those things (or even advocated mentioning those plans on the campaign trail with any specificity).
Apples and oranges. The election question is simply an issue of how to best sucker people into giving you the power so that it is possible to implement all the plans that, had voters know true intent, would have prevented you from being elected in the first place.
Crazed Chihuahua! Purrrfect! I always thought Great White, but mebbe that’s a bit hyberbolic. ;o)
What bad ass orchids. Peruvian Cloud forests have me starry-eyed, and there is no season; they bloom when they bloomin’ well feel like it; my stars. Way finer than seein’ the Virgin in a grilled cheese sandwich, too.
Bill Purdue almost has me convinced to vote for Stuart Alexander since he allegedly won’t serve the 1% at all. And I’m pretty down on capitalism, to boot. Or the power of any regulation to tame it; seems we’re way past that by this point.
And by the way, did you see that Home just got spammed? Q answered it this mornin’, tsk, tsk. ;o) Call me when you have any plans in that direction?
love as ever,
wd
The comment attributed to Carville is simply correct, I believe. Most people will respond best to a plan for the future that is detailed and seems to offer a seriously better future for the average working person. Most people will not respond positively to rehashing the insufficient “stimulus” approach the Obama team has taken. Most of us do not see any increases in our paychecks, job security, professional outlook, or quality of life as a result of anything the US national government has done over the last few years.
People don’t want tepid bickering over the details of insufficient plans versus the dishonest crap of the Republicans, people want a leader with a credible way forward to something a lot better, soon.
Aloha, Tuttle dear. It’s all so fucking hilarious, I couldn’t resist it. (Plus the chart slideshow, lol!) Shoot, the last place I blogged, folks were still claiming welfare reform worked out soooo well. Yeah, just fine; ask Marian Edelman Wright to trot out some stats. And hell; who needed that old Glass-Steagall, anyway? Just got in the way of America doin’ the bidness America does best! And hooray for the CFMA!
Stay well, and love,
wd
Once a day I say: OBomba love is all ya need...
And the love and empathy he gives to brown people all over the world? Priceless, I say.
kgb999–
You’re probably correct that acknowledgement would be the operative word. I think O would be doing good to even pull that off. He certainly does not come close to having the personality to pull off “empathy.”
I will also vote third party, for the first time, actually. Unless there is a radical change in the entire Democratic Party aparatus, I can honestly say that I can’t see myself casting another vote for a Democrat. The Secretary of State has tried to get the Green Party off the ballot here. I don’t know if the suit has made it’s way through the courts yet. I suppose if they succeed, we’ll sit out the election this November.
Blue
BTW, I’ve checked out Rocky and Jill pretty thoroughly, and for what it’s worth, I’m a little leary of Rocky with all his boasting about balancing budgets, etc., in Salt Lake City. Sounds to me like he’s a fiscal hawk, same as O and R. I, therefore, lean heavily toward Jill Stein. Just sayin’.
That’s so nice! Only 35 months into his Presidency.
I do think there’s a gap between what we know and the average voter knows about his actions, but they’re beginning to know that it’s a rigged system, I think, and that the median household lost 40% of its wealth (and it may not come back)…they must know by now. And as they gaze toward the future…yikes. By now, I hope he loses.
Oh, fook, Pug; that was a masterful synopsis! Seriously have me choking, lol!
#6 might be ‘helping them with the TPP deals’; the signatory nations even get some Amurrican military bases to protect
the peoplethe multinational reps from gettin’ lynched by the 99% who can’t even sue the cretins who will make their lives miserable and even more unaffordable. Cool, O.Thanks for sharing it with us; too fun how empty it is. The traveling part still has me shaking with laughter, though, darlin’ dear.
Funny that you picked up on different portions of Carville’s message than I did, sixgill. while I pretty much agree with you on the part you chose, what was glaring to me were these: that voters know that this economic pain is the new normal (Jayzus), his contention that the public knows who’s to blame (in his eyes, the Republicans), and that empathy is what voters want (a la Clinton’s “Ah feel yer pain”.
Nope; not even, imho.
LOL! Plus: he won’t try to jam it through anyway (expend any political capital, not that he has any by now) and he can say, ‘Those darned Republicans’ all day. And see Obey’s list from the Ryan; it reads like the economy really IS doing fine for whom it’s designed to be…fine.
And he’s giving advice to Merkel. Oy. Guess he hopes she’ll save him. What will it look like here and in Europe three months from now?
Okay; I’ll have to read the bits about fearing he’ll get outflanked by the Republicans on immigration; that’s one mind-bender, there. ;o)
Agreed. There isn’t a campaign narrative out there that would convince me to vote for O. OK, so maybe there are only like one or two actions that O could possibly do that might persuade me to vote for him again, but still…
lol. glad you liked it. I was laughing all the way thru the article. It was like a really really long piece from the Onion.
But then, everything reads like the Onion these days…
I particularly love how they’re prepared to propose immigration reform only if Romney attacks them from the left.
What they’ve done is move so far right, that it is literally impossible for Romney to strike out a position to his right. How do you do more right-wing than a deportation-only immigration policy? Or more right-wing than giving de facto legal immunity to Wall Street for a trillion dollar heist. Or more right-wing than 30% cuts to discretionary spending. OR more right-wing than gutting the right to Due Process. and on and on
No wonder republicans are going crazy. They’re having an identity crisis. They know they should be to the right of the Democrats. But the Dems are already implementing wingnuttery of the highest order. So what are they to do…?
Funny if it weren’t tragic…
He’s enjoying his status as an OBomba supporter, though, and he does manage to get loads of comments and seemingly rec’s (lurkers?). But the day Ohio Barbarian checked out his home link, and said Dave does dossiers for capitalists…or some such, it was worth a whole lot of fun. And yesterday he did a bit of a critique, so he’ll now have that to give his support even more credit, lol!
What I remember from the days at the Cafe were rather sedate, would-like-to-be brilliant posts, but he wouldn’t ever respond to me. One day I made a ruckus about it, and some other women joined the chorus, lol! He made some excuses…
I;ll be back, gotta rustle up some dinner (slacker), but your ‘Everything reads like the Onion these days’ reminded me of this one.
Oilbomber’s got to tell us about his positive accomplishments because there is nothing tangible which the commoners can recognize.
Some of the shite which is plastered all over the internet such as -
“Those who say Oilbomber is a big spender has it wrong. Oilbomber actually spent less than Dubya.”
After 8 years of Goldman Sachs and Cheney sucking all the money up to the onepercenters, outsourcing jobs and bankrupting the commoners -
SPENDING is what was needed.
So Oilbomber is bragging that he is a big ol’ REPUBLICAN fuck up.
Good evening, dearest, sorry to be late to the party. And then to find the artwork was chosen with me in mind! How appropriate, I’ve been feeling bloody all day, so much so that, instead of spinning out a real comment, I’ll just ask you to wake me when we can start using that guillotine. I’ll bring the head basket. Rec’d.
Obama’s “vision for his second term” has been elucidated— “properly framed”— by George Lakoff and Elisabeth Wehling in their new “Blue Book.”
But keep in mind that Lakoff’s advice to Democrats in 2008 (“Don’t think of an elephant!”) was all about “properly framing issues in progressive policy directives” but never so much as mention “specific progressive solutions to any problems.”
I would note that the complete title of George Lakoff’s book of advice to get Obama elected in 2008 was:
Don’t Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate–The Essential Guide for Progressives
Lakoff’s complete title for his new book is:
The Little Blue Book: The Essential Guide to Thinking and Talking Democratic
Very conveniently, on the “Little Blue Book’s” cover it is noted that Lakoff is the author of the first book. But, the full title is not provided; why not? Because it would be futile to try to identify Obama with “progressive values?”
Interesting enough, too, James Carville wrote the book:
Had Enough?: A Handbook for Fighting Back
Unfortunately Carville’s book was not about “fighting back” but preparing people to be subservient to Wall Street just as Lakoff never intended for his thinking to actually be used to build progressive movements with both books intended for the purpose of tricking working people into electing Democrats knowing these Democrats never had a progressive agenda in the first place.
Carville and Lakoff comprise a team of deceitful liars and tricksters intent on trying to hoodwink the American people in the first place with ideas that sound real good until they are studied within the context of what takes place in the real world with Democrats and Republicans both pushing Wall Street’s agenda which is thoroughly reactionary.
Has anyone seen Obama and the Democrats “fightback?”
Has anyone seen anything other than completely reactionary Wall Street agenda coming from Obama and the Democrats albeit wrapped in a “progressive” cover provided by Madison Avenue hucksters?
Hasn’t anyone read James Carville’s more recent book? The title (the cover of the book features Carville with his arm around a smiling Obama):
40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation
Does anyone really want 40 more years of what Obama and the Democrats have delivered anymore than they want a return to the Republicans?
40 more years of wars and poverty with the Democrats— the Republicans couldn’t do any worse if they tried.
This isn’t the kind of “fightback” we need nor anticipated nor is it what we were led to believe would be “progressive policy directives” which we “hoped” would be the basis for formulating Obama’s and the Democrat’s legislative agenda.
What we need is a new progressive labor-based people’s party articulating the agenda from the fightback taking place in the streets advocating specific, concrete progressive solutions to our problems created by Wall Street in cahoots with their two parties— the Republicans and the Democrats.
I appreciate Wendy, in this diary, exposing the hypocrisy of James Carville— nothing but a fraud just like George Lakoff both of whom helped create an even bigger fraud: Barack Obama.
I don’t follow electoral politics for the most part, hackworth, but even I had seen that headline, though I never clicked one open; seemed to silly, especially because budget items and spending can be hidden so well. As Nick Turse and others have shown us many times, the true military budget is twice what the pie charts indicate.
For Obama to disrespect Cristina Romer in claiming it was Bush who created a too-small stimulus is particularly galling to me; the stories of his attacks on her for offering her educated opinion, and get screamed at by the very pacific Obama…then her resigning not long afterward.
Ah, well; too many sad and sick ironies to recall (ask Obey; he has the memory of an Oliphaunt; he’s our go-to guy for facts), but in the end, Keyensian, neo-Keynesian, whatever: there were ways to spend money that could have been very helpful. Not all spending brings the multipliers other kinds do. But the kinds that would have helped Ordinary Americans get back on their feet would have literally been priceless.
What assholes they are; shitting where they will eventually be forced to live, in a nation with decrepit infrastructure, forcing them to move to Abu Dhabi, with no healthy water, food, pharmeceuticals that have been fast-tracked before safety is measured, and may kill them…why should the Elites worry? They own most of the money. God, what dunces.
I’m a good knitter. [Correction: I know how to knit] And I do a very good impression of a toothless old hag. David Dayen is up on Icelandic procedures – they wasted no time and even without a homeland security department I bet. Amazing what you can do when it’s really your country.
Take it easy, realitychecker. Sorry about today. I hope tomorrow will be better.
Wendy and David Dayen. What a pair! (Not to mention Kevin, Jane, Scarecrow….)Couldn’t we just appoint them to our new government, save lots of hassle? It’d be okay with me, just this once.
Bein’ late will only cost ya a mere $1.99 (I’m a poor blind widdy with kids to feed, slim income…). But be assured, darlin’, that I will wake you for the revolution, although we will only guillotine them in our art and imaginations, okay? Not that I don’t relate to your bloody feelings. No one is incapable of violence if pressed hard enough; certainly not I, but I think I know what I would *not* kill for, and talk about it with our son not infrequently (his honor code in defense of his mama and her house…is not what I would wish for him. Pace.
Cuz I know you love her, too, *a tune for you.* ;o) My pop loved her, too, and know that I love you, and have your back.
juliania–
Second your best wishes for a “better day” for rc–hang in there! Healing can be a messy and uneven affair.
Reference: “Wendy and David Dayen. What a pair! (Not to mention Kevin, Jane, Scarecrow….)Couldn’t we just appoint them to our new government, save lots of hassle? It’d be okay with me, just this once.”
I could live with that!
Blue
Aren’t you sweet? My favorite shower song, too. ;-) Just too much evil on display lately, I can’t help feeling that we gotta get some of these chronic evildoers out of the way before we can ever hope to see any change for the better. They don’t rehabilitate, they never go away, and then we get their children inflicted on us, too! Grrrr! For toppers, I just spent time on Masoninblue’s threads, always unrewarding when the Trayvon case is the topic. Grrrr again! Well, the day is over, and I’ll take my comfort from knowing that I love you back, and that I love that darling juliania with all her grace and clarity, and I may even be starting to love this lovely soul who calls herself Blue Onyx. There, that feels better. Sweet dreams to all, even that Swiss miscreant with the imperative handle. ;-)
Reading a comment where someone claims “the Republicans couldn’t do worse [ than Obama ] if they tried” is utterly hilarious.
BTW, coffee through the nose is definitely NOT the PC way to get the caffeine buzz.
Destroy one, there’s always another one to take their place. I do hear you about wishing to disappear them, but in the end…we need to investigate, prosecute where appropriate, and jail them when it’s right. Or wwe risk becoming modern-day Robespierres, abandoning our faith in the Rule of Law and due process, not to mention the evil that is often done via death penalties. Sometimes I get depressed that we are losing the battle, but it the end, it’s only the skirmishes we are losing.
At least that’s what I tell my long-time blogging friends with whom I am still in contact when they write with similar concerns. Many have taken on different facets n the war of ideas against the monied interests, and their losses are harsh; mine are small in comparison.
Yes, I saw you were still hoping that people would understand the difference between judging reflexively, and waiting for the facts to be brought forth. At the end of my recent post of military suicides a small war of the same sort erupted, and one commenter registered to call out one commenter for her…misdirections.
Two other things: I hope our Swiss friend won’t take it amiss if I say we’ve been friends for years, I love him dear, but his name isn’t an imperative, it’s OH-bee, for his initials.
Second, our Iraki denizens have impugned the honor of both TomThumb and OmAli, and I don’t care for it one whit. I’ll have a hot soak, then go over yonder, and see what’s up.
In the meantime, yes; there are so many folks on this thread to love, all you named and more, and some of whom even adore you back, you lucky devil, you. Sleep well.
It is always informative to know what the elephant in the bed is whispering in Lil Jimmy’s ear.
Politicians can’t go out and talk honestly to people anymore; they message, they poll, they focus group and message some more. And some arrogant consultant does each of those steps—and also hobnobs with the “major donors”.
Love the pic. Maybe now folks can occupy the hotel on the Boardwalk or Park Place and leave our vacant lot on Ventnor. Needs to be done as a Chance card.
Excellent, wendydavis.
Love the ‘leave our vacant lot on Ventnor’; got a bit of teh funny in ya tonight, sweetie?
And just so you know, both juliania and I left long answers for you on your Zbig post. And just so ya know even more, this was a sorta crap diary (except for the slideshow) but folks got to them and vent a little, laugh a lot…so…it’s all good.
And would a politician talking honestly be a bit revolutionary?
Hey, Mark, thanks for reading, and being tickled. And for getting that one should not imbibe caffeine nasally. ;o) But screw PC; it’s just that it stangs!
If you are a single issue voter, I can almost see (depending on the issue) considering voting for Obomba. I read at Pam Spaulding’s post today, and saw that’s how it it for her, and for others on other of her posts.
It does seem to be easier that way; it requires no wrestling with moral dilemmas or larger ethical questions, like: I know Obama is assassinating brown people around the world without any oversight; I know he has broken faith with the Constitution; prosecutes whistle-blowers in aid of secrecy that Bush never even imagined, more and more, etc. Now, does that trump what I imagine what Romney might do?
Not for me. Clearly you will need to make an informed choice about casting your vote, as will we all. Sleep well, and good luck.
wd
Night all; may Morpheus be kind to you. ;o)
Nah; wendydavis would just turn into another asshole power hag. ;o)
Thank You, High Priestess Of Morality! No one would know what to do, how to vote without you and your minions!
Fuck teh Gays, it’s just a single issue thing, they can piss off! Who needs them? Surely not us Puritans! W00t!
Holy crap. You actually managed to slog through that whole thing? I made it to the “Morning in America” bit and my eyeballs finally just glazed over.
The one thing that jumped out at me from that bit is how much I really dislike almost every single person Obama has selected at the core of his administration. Axelrod had to kind of grow on me (in a funguslike sort of way) before I couldn’t stand him anymore; but damn *Daley* (of all people) was the President’s COS. This is something that really happened. In life. It makes it that much more surreal that he traded with Rahm for it in exchange for mayor of Chicago.
Win The Future indeed. (oh wait … he dumped that, didn’t he? I think he moved on to stealing MSNBC’s “Forward” slogan and put his fancy “O” in it.). Hey. Speaking of Obama campaigning; I’ve seen ads for three different “date with Obama” raffles. One solo. One with Clinton. And one with Sarah Jessica Parker (why?). Anyone know if that’s three different bachelor auctions or if it’s one group cluster-fuck where Obama pops in and some lucky $5 donor gets trotted out in front like a circus seal for their 10 minutes(fame austerity)? [Note: I should probably have just clicked on the ads to find out ... PPC stimulus and all ... but I didn't. Opportunity lost.]
Jesus dude. Passive aggressive much?
Besides, if this is a “how dare you not vote Obama” thing … what the hell did Obama ever do for the gays anyhow?
He refused to just order DADT stoploss. Then he *appealed* when a group of *Republican* homosexuals sued against the policy and won. Then he graciously signed the bill when they finally jumped through all the hoops and passed something (and wasted a ton of resources that wouldn’t have been expended if he’d just accepted the verdict – distracting from the FinReg disaster while avoiding a rather *helpful* pro-gay court precedent). Fucking wow.
And now. He’s made the HUGE “concession” that he’ll say it’s OK for gays to marry. But it’s still a state’s right to figure it out.
W00t Indeed.
I’m hesitant to reply, but I feel your anger and recognize the energy. Sorry if it sounds like pontificating.
We the people are all being set out adrift together. We no longer have the luxury of screaming at each other because their end of the boat is leaking. It’s just easier to vent on people in the same boat. It’s safe. LGBT have struggled in horrific conditions that insult their dignity. Women have struggled in horrific conditions that insult their dignity. People of color[ there's a bizarre phrase] have struggled in horrific conditions that insult their dignity. And the children suffer.
We’re all in this together. We’re all bailing the rotten dingy we’ve wound up owning.
None of us has the answer.
Your posts have been a source of delight to me and my family. So many wonderful creative things to spark the mind in a new direction. And you got me back into making homemade tortillas,again.
peace, your struggles ARE our struggles. It’s the hunch on the solutions that divide us. “Reality, it’s just a group hunch,right?”
Hmmm. Totally off topic; but you should probably make sure your computer updated windows if you haven’t already this week.
http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/06/windows-users-patch-now/
Hey! Turns out it was Obey what broke that neglected corner of the intertoobz … you gave yourself a tech complex for ‘nuthin.
Recommended!
As a staunch Democrat, I refuse to forget that 40 of the Senate Democrats are indeed “conservative” in all that they say and do.
Therefore, I have the responsibility, as a Member of the Democratic Coalition, to encourage former Democrats to consider looking at these 40 Democrats and find an appropriate Candidate that can replace any of these Democrats in the Senate. And since these Democrats refuse to release themselves from the burden of the filibuster, America will continue to kick the Middle Class in the knees, leading to more of the same, a lousy economy that benefits the Super Wealthy since ‘profits are privatized and the losses are socialized’ and the Dimon Hearing of yesterday, was more of the same, a love-fest of sorts among these many millionaires.
As to Obama in particular, here in the Sonoran Desert, we–the Native Americans and Chicanos, have taken to playing the “long game” and as such, we wait patiently for our Demographics to start ‘kicking-in’ since having to listen to the “old and tired white dudes” has become rather boring.
And off-thread, Brezinski’s book is the equivalent of the “traditional” Dunce Cap.
Jaango
I think that’s just plain vanilla aggressive. ;o)
WHAT!?! I didn’t touch nothing! I just showed up one day and the home page was broken!
Srsly, did I inadvertently do something…? Ack…
Yes, dear, I know it’s Oh-bee, but when I see it, it always feels like Oh-bay. Might just be an incipient bondage thing (at risk of getting Kelly so excited that he falls off his vibrator lol).
To be fair, he has moved public opinion on gay marriage since his pronouncements.
Much like he has moved public opinion towards deficit paranoia and despair on entitlements.
win some lose some…
As always, the buttplug is in the eye of the beholder…
Er…how do we know if the fix came in with our updates? I got 10 last night, Mr.wendydavis got 8. You know what a dunce I am about this stuff, but I’d hoped your kink might say: Press this button to check! Not so much.
See? Quinn always had it right: Obey was always to blame, no matter what. Zounds; the place is back up, and even a new in-the-news! Some magician you are, sweetie. But…er…why is every post mine? Or is that some tweak you made: when we sign in, some signal gives us our own posts in order to either stoke our egos, or remind us of what idiots we, in fact, are?
Looks really purdy, though. ;o)
I don’t remember Obama blaming Bush for the size of the stimulus. That would have been strange. The narrative that has emerged thru various tell-all books is that Obama eventually sided with Geithner that stimulus should just stop the fall in output and should NOT seek to close the output gap (i.e. create jobs). Obama apparently had his own idiosyncratic theory as to *why* the stimulus should not be bigger. He thought it would hurt productivity growth. And that is a mildly insane point of view, but it is what he thought.
Looks as thought I wrote it wrong; I meant that he’d dissed Romer *by claiminng it was Bush, yada yada…*
But that really doesn’t change your memory on Obama and the stim package HE put together. Interesting, though, if the tell-all books have it right. And wasn’t Summers on board for double the amount? Seems I remember you chortling with gleeful amazement about that: Even Summers is to the left of O!
Jimmy Carter gave a go at talking honestly. Voters couldn’t take the truth. That’s why global climate change is going to be a reality to mitigate. And why we still don’t have a large percentage of our energy being generated by renewables.
It was Carter’s failure to be re-elected more than anything else that cut off the impulse of politicians to be candid in the wake of Watergate.
Now they don’t talk, they message. No listening involved.
I do hear you about party politics in AZ, jaango. They matter. Wish I had any hope that the Party can be reformed now that the Revolving Door Genie (Djinn?) is so far out of the bottle.
But I do look forward to being a minority in this country soon. ;o)
Stay well and strong,
wd
You’re right, he did, and wore the sweater to demonstrate our dependence on ‘foreign oil’. He was one President I reckoned wouldn’t do brinksmanship with the Red Button; and Roslyn was the only First Lady I ever liked. Even wrote to her once, lol.
Bernie and Dennis speak pretty honestly, too.
Yes, roughly, it was Summers and Romer against Geithner and Orszag. And the latter getting backed up by Obama’s banker friends. But Obama’s claims about recession being good for long-term productivity growth is straight-forward Austrian ‘creative-destruction’ supply-side insanity that everyone accuses the wild-eyed republicans of espousing. Hence his lack of interest in putting the economy back on track towards full employment.
In short, Obama isn’t only to the right of Summers. He is to the right of Ben “the Bushie” Bernanke! There is less distance between Obama and Paul Ryan than there is between Obama and Summers.
Mornin’, my minion. ;o) (What’s a minion, anyhoo?)
Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but there does seem to be an inordinate focus on certain sorts of sex toys on some these threads.
A female Doc from a talk show my daughter watches went on Jimmy Kimmel one night to introduce a new giant cone device (battery-operated) for female pleasuring. Anyhoo, don’t know if he’d known ahead of time, but he did seem to struggle for composure. When I told my daughter about it, she howled with glee. (Hope it didn’t scar Jimmy for life…) ;o)
You’re using it wrong!
I’ll always be grateful to Carter for his “zero-based budgeting” concept, which I modified to “zero-based reasoning” for my personal use. If it don’t make sense today, flush it.
Ooh, wendy, you are top of the recommends this morning when I came on – and I just want to internally recommend due to your ongoing shepherding of your posts – highly! ( I discovered how to get back to your vanished prior one by clicking on you, if you follow me, and then ‘diary’ – that’s wonderful, even old dogs can learn new tricks.)
Not to again discombobulate you by my erudition, I am still in the midst of “Dr. Zhivago” and loving it – amazing how the times inform one’s understanding. I’ve read it twice before, each time in a fog of romanticism and national superiority. And, sorry, but I have to give a quote that pertains to this thread, at least to me. This is the second love of his life, Lara, describing how the whole revolution came to be, so pertinent:
“I remember my childhood well. I can still remember a time when we all accepted the peaceful outlook of the last century. It was taken for granted that you listened to reason, that it was right and natural to do what your conscience told you to do. For a man to die by the hand of another was rare, an exceptional event, something quite out of the ordinary. Murders happened in plays, newspapers, and detective stories, not in everyday life.
“And then there was the jump from this peaceful, naive moderation to blood and tears, to mass insanity, and to the savagery of daily, hourly, legalized, rewarded slaughter…”
Empathy belongs to that past era. We are experiencing the same ‘jump’ – and we don’t even have an encroaching war as an excuse. I do hope we are not in for the suffering that so many in the world are presently experiencing as society breaks down, and our fading imperialists apparently see this as their sworn duty to enable. These days I cannot stand to hear one word out of Obama’s or Hillary’s mouths.
[I'm off to Varykino with Yuri and Lara...]
Fine points have no place in this discussion, they hurt too much. Prepare for more of the same, with the release of the Hysteria movie lol. Finally, it appears the Coneheads were ahead of their time. Who knew? ;-)
Oh, and I think a “minion” is a small onion.
Hmm; I seem to have forgotten the external recommend.
Recommend.
I hear and feel that, with sadness, darling juliania.
Please don’t stop bring us quotes, juliania. I can’t manage reading dead tree any longer, so you open windows for me that I wouldn’t otherwise see through.
Extraordinary passage, and I hope the same, but imagine there will be plenty more suffering. For you, my friend, and thanks for being so erudite…and wise.
May I rent yer memory, dearest Obi-wan? Or would you be afraid that I’d break it?
lol. As a friend always tells me, I only remember the stuff that doesn’t get me ahead in life.
;0)
LOL
Well, you are A Head in our eyes. Wot more could you desire?
LOL.
Speaking of buttplugs, James Carville’s being right about that one particular point doesn’t make him any less of one.
Wendy, I love your posts, but that guy, along with Coocoo Roberts and about 50 other old-media, idiot, bloviators needs to fade into the background. You’d think the people responsible for programming the Sunday talk shows would realize that.
Good morning, hotdog. I think all the established Democrats have quite clearly revealed who they really stand with. As have all the corporate media. The question remains, what can/will we do about it?
Whaaat? Ya think I mix these freaks in mason jars with water and Farcical Pundit Sea Monkey powder? I just write the stuff, hotdog, I don’t give ‘em their jobs, lol! And see how many folks his sainted name brought in to (hopefully) look at the charts.
OTOH, there is some indication that if I’d put the term ‘butt plug’ in the title… more folks may have clicked in. Ah; how hard the lowly blogger’s life is…
(Lovely to see you.) ;o)
Ahhhh back in side bar land. Where articles of real political discourse are “allowed.” Thanks Wendy
I’d like to nominate Obey as the new Carville.
We can call him Butt Pug.
/bigwin
love ya hfc,but horsies are beautiful,Carville…..(throw up)
harrumph! I knew this butt plug meme was going to end badly…
;0)
oh btw,didja see buttplug Glenn Beck will receive 100,000,000.00
for his ingenious meanderings?
I disagree. I’d think it is far more accurate to say that he *FOLLOWED* public opinion on it. Obama politically embracing an idea is a lagging indicator of overwhelming public pressure.
He’s not genuinely led on a single thing since taking office.
Yeah. If your systems updated last night, you guys are fine.
The downside to the government’s new love of cyberwar – and the “security” industry’s new business model of selling exploits to governments and corporations instead of FIXING them – has placed a whole new level of malicious attack methodology in the public domain … while doing everything in their power to ensure systems remain unpatched until their “zero day” exploits can be leveraged for profit.
Our boys finally sent a “suicide” message to Flame … but not before it was captured by plenty of third-party folks who can now dissect the code and leverage the exploits.
We’re in for a crazy few years as far as infosec goes.
How could it *not* end badly?
Not to mention, wasn’t it deemed some sort of crisis when Joe Biden expressed his support for gay marriage? Never saw the original message from Biden, but that’s how I remember it (never forgetting that my memory is Swiss cheese). Did someone mention some Swiss denizen?
But shoot; here I’ve been doin’ my homework on an aggravatingly tough post, while y’all are still speaking of unmentionable things.
…Which begs the question to all you idiots, minions, onions, orange peels, side-bar landlubbers, OnionGods and others:
Will I have to name my diary “Are Butt Plugs Coopting the Peoples’ Summit in Rio”?
Sheesh. What was this post about, anyway?
“The Fed released information that the median American household lost 39% of its net wealth between 2007 and 2010 for instance; wonder what that looks like by 2012?”
And you know what the FED left out of that statement…?
At the same time that was happening… the net wealth of the countries richest… WENT UP.
Thats right… they are now more wealthy than they were before the “crisis”…
DemocratsRepublicans = Lying, Theiving Scumbags.
It’s in the slideshow charts, news; sad and sick, and getting worse.
Every crisis in Obama’s life is a crisis of politics, not substance. In this case, the “crisis” was that Obama had a Great Big Dramatic Rollout™ planned for his appearance on “The View” … and Biden’s comments were used by pretty much *everyone* to get all up in Obama’s grille asking if he backed Biden’s view. Ruined his big surprise.
It’s been pretty obvious since he played the game with DADT that Obama’s plan is to use homosexuality as the wedge to force liberals to vote for him. My guess is that if the Democrats had held the house, the legislation would have been delayed until just about now.
I predicted when Obama filed the appeal on DADT that the plan was to fuck everyone else over, drag his feet on homosexual issues – that genuinely don’t impact the interests of *ANYONE* who’s playing the game of buying America’s political apparatus one iota – and break them out at the election to prove how really liberal he is (after building tension on the issue throughout the entire term). It’s a cynical as shit ploy – and working out just as I predicted.
We’re a coalition – hell, I’m not even a fucking liberal … before Obama came along I was kind of center-right with some radical libertarian and a bit of hippie stirred in. We joined together to support a set of issues. Each life has their own priorities; and some issues don’t even matter to some individuals at all. What Obama did was work against the top priorities of pretty much everyone in the coalition with enough (public) ambiguity built in so that (hopefully) nobody would know for sure if he was going to pirouette on this or that issue.
So election comes, and he pirouettes on homosexuality. Plays right into the Democratic “we protect minorities” self-identity and gives one of the most aggressively belligerent constituencies in American political life something they want along with a new glimmer of hope he’s on their side.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, else in the coalition got shit. In fact, he worked for the exact opposite of every priority I entered the coalition to advance. But now … if anyone who points out all the things that are still their #1 priority (which now, apparently, and predictably, don’t matter much to homosexuals since they got *their* prize – a pathetic shiny bauble of a prize at that BTW) somehow such a person doesn’t respect the struggles of teh gay or some shit … even a person saying they totally respect the idea that a homosexual might vote for Obama based on the one issue alone.
It was brilliant in some ways – triangulation of the highest order. Tears opposition to his radically-right-of-last-time platform from the left apart with internal battles. At worst it leaves potential critics ununified and at best it hardens the “pro homosexual” side into equating support of Obama as radically important to the equality agenda.
It’s basic game theory shit. IMO, he’s played it too clever by half though. It would require an amazing suspension of disbelief – or such a desperate desire to believe – that if a person doesn’t see that they are being played at this point, that person will believe pretty much anything. Those running the show aren’t the masters they once were – seems folks who understood the work of Nash and Heidegger(typically via Leo Strauss) have been replaced by lesser Chicago-school students of political implementation like Axe and Rove. The decay of empire playing out before our eyes.
So considering all the recommend’s… and considering all the replies… more than any on the diary main page…
This diary will be “promoted”… for all to see…
Wont it…?
If not… why not..?
I tried so hard to protect you . . .
Maybe the butt plug references would disqualify it, lol! Don’t worry, srsly; my guess is anyone who wanted to read it did. But kind of you to consider it.
And I’ll be back, kgb (she said hopefully; that is great stuff, as usual.)
Can I rent yer memory? Oops; I know you reckon I’d break it…
That seems like a pretty astute analysis.
Wendy,
Given your statement at Post Number 65, and to Quote You, “But I do look forward to being a minority in this country soon. ;o)”
Perhaps, you’ve overlooked the “unassailable” Fact that you are safely ensconced amongst all of us here on the InterTubes given that I am now paraphrasing “that” genius that is amongst and virtually unknown to us as our Good Friend, Scarecrow, and his stunning brilliance for the “deft touch.” To wit, these two astounding paragraphs…
“There are a lot of terrible economists, advisers and government officials from the last decade or two who ought to have the decency to follow Mitt Romney’s remedy to “self deport,” or at least feel enough shame and embarrassment for their catastrophic failures while in office to refrain from further public life. Maybe they can come out for [a] rhetorical flogging on America’s annual Day of Atonement.
“One group would be led by people who lied us into wars, or wrote memos justifying torture or helped choreograph it while sitting safely in the Executive Office Building or covered it up later. Another group would be reserved for officials who caused millions of people to suffer because of stunningly bad economic advice and then blamed it on deficits.”
And as for my use of Code Talk, “minorities” are simply another name for the Good Folks with all the Ideas that eventually or will arrive into Public Law.
In short, the Super Wealthy ‘bought” their “minority” and which has expanded into the “majority.” And which leaves both of us in the new “minority.” As such, nationalistic rhetoric needs to be used sparingly but not forgotten since it scares the camouflage-when applied appropriately, off the current “majority.”
And imagine if you will, a new ‘crop’ of camouflage-busters with the tin snips (of course, I much prefer the rusty machete) to chop off the tenates of the weak-willed or is it the weak-minded? Thus, I am a “marginalized” member of the Coaltion, but I still have my Ideas. Now, would you care to join me and the many others with the identical mindset?
Now, where’s the Front Page “button” on this Diary?
Jaango
Interesting stuff. i get the Nash reference. But could you explain how Heidegger figures in the story?
Surely the butt plug references contribute to its worthiness.
Is it the political content…?
Is that why it’s not promoted…?
ROTFLMAO, snapdragon! It sure wasn’t the content (except for the slideshow, imo). ;oP
I dunno, news. Now that Kit or someone has made it possible for me to get on the rec’d list again, I’m just appreciative of that. The rest is inconsequential, really. I’m grateful to be able to post here since I’m mebbe a li’l bit more radical than the average bear here. And left-paging may not mean much of…anything.
But I’d appreciate it if ya rec’d my new booger of a post if ya like it. Sorry, no prizes for finishing it (long one, but at least it’s complicated, lol!)
Stay strong,
wd
2 pooped 2 reply now, dear. After some food and some rest my eyes will be more useful, and mebbe even my brain (and the crowd cheered!) ;o)
Great comment…
Smart… honest… truth.
… X 2
Obots/Dbots and anyone else still being/getting played by Obama and Obama’s DEM/DINO WH in mid 2012 has what will likely happen with a Obama DEM/DINO WH win in late 2012 coming in aces in 2013-2016.
See Wall St./Big Banks Win.
See Pentagon/CIA Win.
See Simpson-Bowles Win.
See who/what again loses in 2013-2016 should Obama win the WH again.
The Obots/Dbots got it coming as they want to lose so Obama and Obama’s pals can win.
Obots/Dbots want to be/stay politically blinded.
Obots/Dbots = Political Simpletons
I have not read all 108(so far) replies yet, so forgive me if someone beat me to the punch, but when Carville said: “(The voters) know we are in a new normal where life is a struggle – and convincing them that things are good enough for those who have found jobs is a fool’s errand,” I almost blew out bourbon and coke on my keyboard.
So I and a few hundred million other Americans are supposed to just accept that life being a struggle is now normal? (Towering rage of Viking proportions builds). Why the hell should we accept that? In the wealthiest country this species has ever created, why should life be a STRUGGLE, as in struggle to survive, feed and clothe the kids, and keep a roof over their heads?
So people like Carville, Obama, Dimon, and Romney can live a lifestyle that would make the old Pharoahs blush? Or, for that matter, Louis XIV thru XVI?
Carville probably wonders why the French built guillotines. Idiot.
I once had a neighbor with a crazed chihuahua. It wasn’t as ugly as Carville. Anyway, my 25 pound tuxedo cat kept it in line:)
Oh, stop making sense. Sometimes, you Brits carry that too far. Just kidding:)
My apologies to horses. And chihuahuas. What I meant to say was buttplug-faced, obviously.
Just for the record, Cokie Roberts and James Carville ar BOTH from Louisiana.
Cokie’s dad was lost years ago in an Aolaska plane crash..Hale Boggs.
Carville is from Carville,Louisiana…home of US leper colony.
History. Located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River in Carville, Louisiana, the National Leprosarium was one of two leprosy hospitals in the United States.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Hansen%27s_Disease_Museum – Cached.
More results from en.wikipedia.org »
“Leprosy, Carville and a butt plug.”
There’s a novel in there somewhere.
No way I’m gonna write it though.
You folks are on your own.
Many thanks to all you butt plug devotees, orange peels, and onions for making this a riot of analysis, humor and assorted idiocies; we are up against enormous odds, and need to find both relief and wisdom.
Special thanx to Quinn esq, whomsover in the multiverse HE/SHE might be, for the ButtPug nomenclature; once again…wendydavis blew stuff outta her nose.
Stay strong and healthy, love all those you can; there is no other choice that that we of goodwill for all, and moral principles…prevail…in the end.