It's about Howell, and he quotes one of my favorite commenters.
marky |
02.20.06 - 9:21 am | #
Related to this and the previous thread, the Dems should borrow the Rovian tactic of attacking the opponents perceived strength. The message should be
"The Republicans are dangerous. They are dangerous for national security. They are dangerous for your financial security."
As Henry Kissenger once said, 'This has the added benefit of being true'.
agliss |
02.20.06 - 9:22 am | #
Figures. When I post with a different view of branding, I get stuck on the end of a post. So it goes.
gq |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 9:23 am | #
any sign of mark from ireland lately? I miss his input.
punaise |
02.20.06 - 9:24 am | #
marky's working on his branding. :-)
punaise |
02.20.06 - 9:25 am | #
heheh..
Well, Punaise, it's still morning and my blogging day is made already---and with something I said yesterday! woohoo
marky |
02.20.06 - 9:27 am | #
how come we never hear about the branding going on at the Armstrong Ranch in Texas ? do they brand quails and lawyers?
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 9:27 am | #
cbl, from downstairs -
You raise an essential point and one that needs strict attention. How did we get here? BushCo has so obliterated them on tactics that they have absolutely lost on the strategic level as well. What can they run on? "We tried?"....But did they? What have they achieved in the last 5 years, and why? These are questions I honestly ask myself all the time. What happened? Why aren't the Dems nimble enough to take this crew on in an honest and forthright way?
One thing I think is in operation is that they are all very old school. Out of touch with all of the significant cultural, social, geopolitical, economic, technological, educational and medical shifts that have taken place. Howard Dean at least gets the internet and yes, some of them are trying to catch up and catch on, but this is important. When I see how many people are on their staff, I can't believe they are so underprepared to fight. If you or I had those kinds of resources, you can bet that we'd be running a different game. I honestly don't know what they're afraid of. This isn't a tea party.
meta |
02.20.06 - 9:28 am | #
I would like to add another thought to what punaise said down below, about the way topics like branding and framing can become undirected.
In the end, remember, personality must carry a brand.
We can come up with all kinds of words and ideas thqat wouold appeal to us, but in the end what matters is what a candidate can honestly and credibly represent to his or her constituents.
That can and should allow for helpful variations on the same themes, in the laboratory of democracy.
We should not aspire, at this point, to come up with one, authorized indelible script.
On a national level, we should agree on a core set of ideas that are central to who we are and where we are headed, allowing us to represent our brand and the opposing brand as we see fit.
Then we should make that available to local candidates all through the midterms, and then see what they take and what ultimately wins.
Then, the next round of brand revision and definition can occur.
In the meantime, the party must beocme more coordinated. There must be agreement that we must fight, period. And not each other.
There must also be consensus that all of our interest groups should coordinate their efforts as part of a national approach in concert with the party. That does not mean the party controls every interest group, but the interest groups should become more deferential.
By the same token, the party must have its shit together enough to give the interest groups meaningful input, outreach and coordination.
Just some thoughts.
Pachacutec |
02.20.06 - 9:28 am | #
That normally Corrupt Republican Senator Ted Stevens got an iPod as a gift from his daughter, and stopped a bill favoring copyright restrictions when he found out the bill would cripple iPod and other similar tech.
blank kludge |
02.20.06 - 9:33 am | #
without oversite, when this can actually happen and politicians can sit around and enable it, what's going to happen to America?
if we can't find a way to win back a majority in one of the legislative branches, there will no longer be the republic our for fathers died for
ben franklin left it to us, he said we had a republic, it depends on how long we can keep it
we didn't keep it long
me to me |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 9:35 am | #
EPU'd from last thread.
Funniest thing I heard from L. Tribe in NSA town hall mtg-- Bush is not connecting the dots, he is collecting more dots. Also Dean asserts very strongly that Cheney does NOT have declassification authority according to his reading of the 2003 executive order. Impeachment mentioned many times...
angie |
02.20.06 - 9:36 am | #
"Bob Dylan Tied to Cheney Shooting! http://www.famoustexans.com/
john...esleyhardin.htm
Although a distinguished poet, Dylan's use of John Wesley Hardin(g) in this song takes poetic license to its extreme.
John Casper |
02.20.06 - 9:36 am | #
Best show that no longer exists: Ethics In America.
4 consecutive sentences of five years for the fucker (trafficing in children) I'm feeling rather pleased. Leave to appeal against the severity of sentence denied. So in fact I'm feeling very pleased indeed.
Also there's been something of a fuss about some cartoons. That also has kept me busy.
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 9:38 am | #
HOLY TOADS. Sure takes one's breath away to hear John Dean say this is the most important thing, this rejection of the rule of law, that this situation is "worse than Watergate".
It's one thing to read it, another to hear him say it.
And the Cato idiot, Jim Harper -- agh, he honestly believes the White House merely needs to do better marketing to make this all better. What a stupid ass.
Rayne |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 9:39 am | #
And it's not enough to harp on the corruption thing as your only mantra. Yes, it's true. But most Americans think politics *in general* is corrupt. They think *everyone* is corrupt that is in DC. Trying to market Dems as "not as corrupt as those guys over there" is just not going to convince the truck driver demographic hehe.
We should point out that Bushco is corrupt...but it can't be the focus of defining what it means to be Democrat.
Kurt |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 9:39 am | #
mark from ireland | Homepage | 02.20.06 - 9:38 am | #
good work. thanks for sharing.
punaise |
02.20.06 - 9:42 am | #
This isn't a tea party.
meta | 02.20.06 - 9:28 am
Heh. Hell yeah, it's a tea party, it's a f*cking Boston Tea Party-palooza and they came dressed for tea with the King and Queen.
Grab a box of tea and throw it in their faces. One lump or two?
Rayne |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 9:44 am | #
The event will re-air on C-SPAN at 9pm Eastern tonight (Monday)
In my opinion, the Bush administration uses disinformation techniques in domestic politics. What looks random and confusing, in some cases, is intended to appear that way in order to hinder coherent response. The evolution of 50 different excuses for the war is a prime example of this tactic.
marky |
02.20.06 - 9:44 am | #
thanks, Redd for the hat tip. ;)
It was a really lively discussion and will re-air on CSPAN at 9pm tonite.
angie |
02.20.06 - 9:44 am | #
Although a distinguished poet, Dylan's use of John Wesley Hardin(g) in this song takes poetic license to its extreme.
John Casper
---
in addition to the even more extreme license of connecting Dick Cheney to John Wesley H of the song
puzzled |
02.20.06 - 9:45 am | #
In order to "re-brand" the fascists, we hafta have a non-elected party organization and leadership that has the courage to put the message out there and stay on point...the Dems have that in the DNC and Howard Dean but the beltway trough-suckers and the corporations have the elected leadership by the short-hairs (include Pelosi, Reid, Biden, Lieberman, Bayh AND HILARY). So every time Dean gets out in front on a national screen...one of the Republicrats shows up on the evenin' talkers shootin' 'im down.
We must take advantage of the primaries to cut off ALL netroots funding of the DCCC and DSCC and purge the party of the DINOs in the primaries. This sounds like a big task but it ain't 'cuz as long as the netroots funds go ta the DNC and Move On, the encumbants are gunna hafta spend their warchests in the primaries, makin 'em dependant on the netroots fer the general election (if they get outta the primaries).
The Republican Party is already rebranded...look at the polls. All we need to do is purge the Quisslings from the Democratic Party. It's all there for the takin'...
KEEP THE FAITH AND TAKE NO FUCKIN' PRISONERS!!!
NorskeFlamethrower |
02.20.06 - 9:45 am | #
did anyone hear what was called out by someone at the very end of the forum, after the applause? I couldn't hear it on my bad connection.
zennurse |
02.20.06 - 9:45 am | #
What you need to is to highlight that the Bush Administration's hallmark. Clumsy cronyism coupled with amateurish dilletantes. In effect you need to say
"Look a bit of cronyism here and there will happen. Human beings are human.
The problem with the Republicans is their lack of competence in commiting even cronyism. They're incompetent, bumbling, cretinously self-deluded that makes life harder for all Americans, and it's got to be stopped."
Now repeat after me:
"Katrina America 3rd world country because of republicans. Katrina America 3rd world country because of republicans. Katrina America 3rd world country because of republicans. Katrina America 3rd world country because of republicans. Katrina America 3rd world country because of republicans. "
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 9:47 am | #
mark from ireland | Homepage | 02.20.06 - 9:47 am | #
was WRT to Kurt. You're welcome Punaise I get really rather annoyed when its kids.
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 9:49 am | #
Mark,
Congrats on the result. I would say that being against human trafficking is at least one thing I share with Bush cultists... but I might be going out on a limb.
marky |
02.20.06 - 9:51 am | #
From the previous thread...
Everyone, including the smart kids, are talking about the symptoms, I want some discussion on the nature of the illness
cbl | 02.20.06 - 9:39 am | #
Please forgive me for trying to stay on topic just that once. I don't know much about politics, but I've been in marketing for > 30 years, and for once I thought I had an opportunity to contribute something besides lame attempts at snark.
I think Redd's intent (please nuke me if I'm putting words into your mouth!) was to get some ideas in front of some folks who can act on them in time to affect the November elections. I know that the party needs reforming, but I don't see that happening in the next few weeks. Sometimes symptomatic treatment is the best thing to do until other weapons in the armamentarium can be accessed.
"In my opinion, the Bush administration uses disinformation techniques in domestic politics. What looks random and confusing, in some cases, is intended to appear that way in order to hinder coherent response."
Case in point...
Cheney argued that new evidence found in Iraq proved more ties between Hussein and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization, and he argued that Iraq was the "geographic base" for the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "If we're successful in Iraq . . . then we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11," he said in an hour-long interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."
meta, thanks for responding, I was starting to feel like Chicken Little -
yes, many of them are old school.
after 5 years of being constantly bitch slapped too many of them stand around waiting for the old rules/dynamics to kick in.
and yeah, can you imagine what we could do w/the resources avail to Dems ? I was stunned (and it takes a lot these days) during the Alito tragedy to see all the names and #'s listed under Harry Reid alone.
cbl |
02.20.06 - 9:58 am | #
Ditto -- what mark from ireland said.
Katrina.
Katrina.
Katrina.
When that doesn't work, invoke the unnatural disasters:
Medicare D.
Medicare D.
Medicare D.
And when they're able to grasp nuance, hit them with:
Privatizing Social Security.
Privatizing Social Security.
Privatizing Social Security.
The branding thing is huge, been saying that since 2000. It's not as if we don't have talented business folks on our side of the aisle who grasp this concept; for whatever reason, we don't apply our business acumen to our politics.
Part of it is the composition of our side of the aisle; blue-collar folks don't necessarily have a 4-year degree in marketing and biz admin and are often bringing knives to gunfights for this reason. We need to include in our training elements of successful marketing and operations management; we've started with the introduction to framing via Lakoff, but it's only a start.
Framing is the early development of branding, learning how to articulate clearly and simply what the product is that's offered. But we need to get further down the road in a hurry, and I'm not certain how we scale up at the same time. We can rely on folks like Redd and Jane and commenters like Pachacutec and mark to help with identifying the brand, but there's still highly local branding processes that need to be built. How do I explain all this to a guy who's running for a county commissioner's office and in such a way that he can use it in a forum TONIGHT??
If Jane's listening in, this is where we need to get folks from Hollywood plugged in; we need downloadable training videos on topics like this STAT. (Nick Stoller, you listening up? been trying to reach you about this!)
Rayne |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:00 am | #
Well even the bushies think that selling kids for sex is wrong. I've been after that bollix for 10 years and finally got to catch up with him. So if that puts me in the same camp as the majority of decent human beings well then I'll accept that label with pride
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:01 am | #
BTW-- Raw Story has a link to FDL's poetry contest up now!
angie |
02.20.06 - 10:02 am | #
Reddhedd,
O/T, but did you see that GOPuke Don Blankenship spoke at Martinsburg? A group was forming to picket, but I was dead tired from work on Saturday to go.
Carnacki |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:02 am | #
Rayne thanks - before I go off to eat keep hammering hometheir screwups make us less safe and is costing you money.
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:02 am | #
people who prey on children are vile. lock 'em up and throw away the key. or at least lock -em up for consecutives terms, like mark did.
punaise |
02.20.06 - 10:03 am | #
"the Dems should borrow the Rovian tactic of attacking the opponents perceived strength. The message should be
"The Republicans are dangerous. They are dangerous for national security. They are dangerous for your financial security."
Yes. After reading about port security being sold to state owned Arab companies, my 89 year old dad called to rant about the governmnent selling off our country to foreigners and how nobody will be safe in this country.
csmith |
02.20.06 - 10:06 am | #
punaise: just make sure they are guilty.
A charge like that bypasses popular rationality.
Pachacutec |
02.20.06 - 10:08 am | #
The thing that infuriates me punaise is that this evil old b**ch (she died awating trial) and her husband were in this business for the money. The kids were commodities. Not humans commodities. The clients are bad enough this sort of thing makes my blood boil.
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:09 am | #
Bernard Kalb, Marvin's brother is a real piece of work.
A Reagan PR flank/flunky.
I'd like to hear Marvin's godamn explaination for his brother's complicity in the NeoCon propaganda machine killing the Constitution.
I have as much revulsion towards Kalb as Jane does for Kate O'Beire Heart.
The growing chorus of supposed 'professional journalists' who only now, as we approach the eleventh hour in the sucessful right-wing coup to kill democracy, start getting worried that 'sumthin' seems amiss in America and engaged in ineffective hand wringing.
I can not stand 'death bed' conversions or awakenings.
They are never spiritually or morally legitimate. Every dickhead like Bernard Kalb gets 'religion' when they see the hangman's noose.
Gentleman Jim |
02.20.06 - 10:09 am | #
That's why you have people like me Pach. I'm very very cold when I'm after something like this. If I decide you're guilty then believe me there's not a hope in hell of an acquittal. Also (don't take this the wrong way) our standards for conviction are rather higher than in the US their's no way in hell I'd get away with what US prosecutors do even if i wanted to.
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:11 am | #
Lawmakers Increase Criticism of Dubai Deal for Ports
snip
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said the administration's approval of the transaction was "unbelievably tone-deaf politically." He told Fox News, "I don't think now's the time to outsource major port security to a foreign country."
snip
One of the few legislators to come close to defending the transaction was Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, who is considered a security hawk among Democrats.
He told ABC News that he was "not yet" prepared to try to block the sale. He noted that many port terminals in the United States are foreign-owned.
TalkLeft blogs on the many ways this is so, rather often.
Pachacutec |
02.20.06 - 10:16 am | #
Pach
Is it not amazing that I who am an old-fashioned European conservative am considerably to the left of these people?
Granted the word "conservative" means something rather different over here but even so it literally takes my breath away sometimes.
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:19 am | #
Is it the pharms they're mixing Bush that cause him to look as if he's been up drinking without any sleep for about 36 hours straight? Today he really looks like the sort of angry obnoxious drunk that walks up to complete strangers in a bar and starts yammering on and on in a too-loud voice about a bunch of rubbish nobody cares about--the kind of drunk that drives away all the other customers who are just trying to enjoy a peaceful drink. He hangs over the podium when he's delivering a speech like someone with years of experience leaning on a bar too.
Also, he always looks sweaty. As if he's been wearing the same clothes for two days straight.
In Need of Surveillance |
02.20.06 - 10:20 am | #
Pachacutec
While were talking about political brands,
can you speak to the very old meme in DC that branded the Rethugs and Demos as:
the Mommy Party and the Daddy Party
The Dems were 'Fems' and continue to be branded as such.
I've met many people who have never heard of this ever so common put down for Demos
Gentleman Jim |
02.20.06 - 10:21 am | #
Reagan's "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" is a perfect example.
in point of fact, reagan funded his "tax relief" by borrowing money from the middle class, he raided the social security trust fund, which everyone said we would have to pay back
but no
instead of paying that money back, bush fugured he'd not only forgive the debt, he would give the rest away to rich people
the richest people in the world, people who have so much money will never ever spend that money
and the only reason to raid these middle class investments is to make the differance between classes that much more distinct
this is pretty evil stuff that's going on
me to me |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:21 am | #
Carnacki at 10:02 -- no -- I hadn't seen that. Blergh. Perhaps I should be glad that I missed it, though. ;-) Great to see you in these parts, btw!
ReddHedd |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:21 am | #
Pach --
At the end of the "On Point" tread, I have a long EPU'd post on salient soundbites, emotional vs intellectual response, and other related issues.
mark: Yes, they've managed to push the peception of what is the "center" so far to the right that by standing still, I've become a "radical."
Pachacutec |
02.20.06 - 10:22 am | #
Gentleman Jim | 02.20.06 - 10:09 am | #
To give him his due, my recollection is that Bernard Kalb resigned as a press spokeman in the Reagan admin (State?) when he was used as a front man to spread a false report just before a Congressional vote (if I remember right, it was about Sandinistas crossing over into a neighboring country).
Taylor |
02.20.06 - 10:23 am | #
just make sure they are guilty.
A charge like that bypasses popular rationality.
Pachacutec | 02.20.06 - 10:08 am | #
good point. example: recently mismanaged (?) pedophilia case in northern France.
mark, just curious: are you doing all this in a second language?
punaise |
02.20.06 - 10:24 am | #
"Well even the bushies think that selling kids for sex is wrong."
mark from ireland
not exactly. a few months back, the UN was sanctioning countries that traffic in children and women- Bush specifically backed out because Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were on the list - how very christian and conservative of him.
kudos to you for your work on their behalf.
cbl |
02.20.06 - 10:28 am | #
My attack on the Republican brand is:
"The only thing the Republicans are good at is politics, they screw up everything else"
It provides an intro to lead into Iraq screwups, Katrina, not catching bin Laden, Medicare Part D, ad infinitum.
When talking to people with sincere conservative beliefs, it can go to how they only get lip service from Republicans in return for their votes.
For national security, "strength," "morals," the response is that they're good at convincing you they're strong, but what are they actually doing? Selling our port security to the Arabs? Failing to stop 9/11 and blaming other people? Letting bin Laden get away? Getting us bogged down in a war in Iraq, where there was no al-Qaeda and no threat to us, just an obnoxious dictator?
It's also an attack on their strength. Everyone knows the GOP is good at politics, but no one (except people like us) likes politics. As the lies resonate and they sell out more and more of their base's principles for power, "they're only good at politics" rings more and more true, and the better they are at politics, the more it can be turned against them.
Redshift |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:28 am | #
Time to go and eat, even my slippers are starting to look good but before I do:
Think wedgge issue and soundbite.
Pach can help you there. But consider their core vote I reckon its around 17% why?
In the election of Obama we can discount most wedge issues. Especially race.
America is very divided - you only need a few percent that respond to your wedge issues. 17% core vote is pathetic. Start fighting you can do it. Their claim to be the majority is manifestly false. Their core consituency is less than 20% but they've parlayed that into slender very slender electoral majority.
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:29 am | #
ck | 02.20.06 - 10:22 am | #
Yes, I saw that. I have a quick moment to reply before I head out.
Some of this is a rhash of what I commented over the weekend, but I just don't share your faith in the power of a sound bite.
The sound bite comes after a whole other series of movement based political development matures, and not before.
The sound bite itself is not transformative, but it can encapsulate social and political transformations of consciousness that have already been brewing and developing over time.
That is why I think, at this stage of our development of a movement, focus on a killer soundbite is premature. We just have not done the work we need to build a movement yet. We've begun, but we need at least a good '06, with the subsequent momentum it provides, to get us closer to that moment. Furthermore, a presidential election year is better for the rolling out of a good sound bite than midterm season.
Kerry had a soundbite. He had more than one. None took root. Can you remember one of them? I can't.
It's not all Kerry's fault. None took root becuase there was no robust popular movement to propel any of them. None of them encapsulated and articulated a cresting consensus that made people say, "Fuck yeah!"
And that's my point. We have to build a movement before a sound bite will matter. On the one hand, we propel new candidtaes in our mold to win, and we use those wins to pressure the establishment to adapt.
Dean gets this. He knows he gets punked, still, by the establishment. But he also knows its not time to push back. Once he shows some success in '06, he will get some credit and have a stronger voice at the table.
Pachacutec |
02.20.06 - 10:29 am | #
i'm sorry to have missed the poetry contest--it wasn't until an epiphany last night that I came up with this:
After the shooting, Dick downed some Glenfiddich,
now the Republicans have their own Chappaquiddick!
now back to your regularly scheduled topic...
leftAhead |
02.20.06 - 10:30 am | #
sorry to keep straying OT: here's a better, more current link for the French case.
punaise |
02.20.06 - 10:30 am | #
I must confess that I write this from central, rural Indiana. Homophobia and rascism are both, here, alive and well. That faction cannot/will not ever be blasted from the Republican base. Around here, voting Republican is not only a family tradition, it's a familial duty. These people show up once every four years (we don't "do" mid-terms), dutifully cast their straight-ticket Republican vote, and go on home, smug and satisfied that they've done the right thing.
What needs to be done, imo, is to EDUCATE the non-mouth-breathing Repub faction that the values that they hold dear, and that they assume they're voting for, have been subverted and bastardized by today's G.O.P. And make no mistake, every voter around here considers him/herself to be a values voter.
It's a Catch-22. They *need* education, but it must be designed within a short-attention-span package. Short, hard-hitting, easy-to-remember. Marketing, PR, and production value - essential. Hollywood is indeed a potential source of more than large campaign contributions.
I'm babbling - point is that most of the habitual Repub voters aren't bad people, they simply have no idea what they've wrought. To write off as immutable the 39-40% of Repub's that won't leave Bush et al is a mistake.
Sorry for the process letter.
jayt |
02.20.06 - 10:31 am | #
While were talking about political brands, can you speak to the very old meme in DC that branded the Rethugs and Demos as: The Mommy Party and the Daddy Party -- The Dems were 'Fems' and continue to be branded as such.
This comes from the gender gap in voting patterns, and the Democrats being the nuturing care givers that are concerned for the well being of all Americans. The GOP is the strict father, who lays down the law and rules the house with an iron rod.
This theme developed over the last few election cycles, and is related to the Old Testament Right Wing Christians (they are neither -- they are not right, they are not Christian) vengeful Father God model, as opposed to the true Christian values of compassion and charity.
Note also the brilliance of "Compassionate Conservatism" as a theme in the 2000 election -- the GOP has the strict father beat-them-into-submission vote sown up, and with this, the reached out for the nurturing vote with the "compassion" theme.
Master Marketeers, those GOoPers. Liars, but masterful nonetheless . . .
OT, Paul Lukasiak wrote in one of the posts below that the following sentence was blocked at wapo blog:
Of course, those "ties" are no more solid than the "ties" that connect Jack Abramoff to the 9-11 attacks because some of the terrorists visited a casino owned by Abramoff.
So I tried to post that sentence by changing some phrases.
After a couple of tries, wapo blog
took this:
Paul writes at firedoglake and I am rephrasing here:
Those connections are no more solid than the ones that connect the infamous former lobbyist to the fall 01 attacks because some of those responsible visited a facility co-owned by the lobbyist.
ecoast |
02.20.06 - 10:32 am | #
Punaise yes - I mostly haven't worked (or thought while working) in English for more than a decade. obviously it depends on context but for example while working in Strasbourg well the language of the court is French so .....
I find when reacting fast as here that it takes me sometimes by surprise. Suddenly I notice non-english grammar has snuck in.
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:33 am | #
While were talking about political brands,
can you speak to the very old meme in DC that branded the Rethugs and Demos as:
the Mommy Party and the Daddy Party
The Dems were 'Fems' and continue to be branded as such.
I've met many people who have never heard of this ever so common put down for Demos
Gentleman Jim | 02.20.06 - 10:21 am | #
I don't think most people have heard of it. Except among the chattering classes, it's not an attack that is stated openly. The GOP=strength and stern morals is the "daddy party" concept, but if they actually said "see, those Democrats are the weak Mommy party" it wouldn't have the same effect. It only works by insinuation, not by actually using those terms.
Redshift |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:34 am | #
Wilson is on to something. We should get a picture of the shot pattern on Harry, and use it as the Pepublican brand.
Butcher paper must be in short supply in south Texas, so they use skin as pattern paper.
dgms |
02.20.06 - 10:35 am | #
For those who want to cut off the "DINOs", I'm curious as to what exactly you consider a "DINO". The Howard Dean faction of the Democratic Party was miniscule as evidenced by the primaries. If you want the Democratic Party to be only Deaniacs, you may as well write off your political future.
Self-described conservatives outnumber self-described iberals by two to one. Moderates outnumber both substantially. If you want to kick out the moderates from the Dems not only will the Dems be in a permanent minority, but you'll get more and more extreme conservative policies. You may not care much, but I've seen many children who would suffer the most.
Progressives need to learn how to build coalitions rather than cutting off everyone who doesn't toe their line. I'd bolt the Dems if they became a party solely of Deaniacs. I'd also bolt the party if they became a party of Liebermans. I think the diversity prevents excess that the GOP is currently experience. As Aristotle would say, virtue is the mean between two vices...
The conservative "cult" described on previous posts is a fucntion of homogeneity. Everyone is the same so too few are willing to challenge anything. If the Dems become the same, then our country is really screwed. Why do progressives scream out when the GOP doesn't allow dissent but are quick to condemn a Dem who doesn't conform completely?
gq |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:35 am | #
mark: thx. I've worked and studied in a second language but can't imagine operating with the precision required in court proceedings.
bon appetit - now go eat!
punaise |
02.20.06 - 10:36 am | #
Ummmm that case is ongoing Punaise there are more than 60 defendants. Less than a third have gone to trial so far and the juge elected to take the weakest cases first.
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:36 am | #
To hear is to obey Pach the languages in which I work daily are Arabic, Danish and French. Oh and we spaeak Danish in the home.
Growing up bilingual has its advantages :-)
*poof*
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:38 am | #
did you all catch the watercatpond "smackdown"yesterday? ooooh, that smarts.
punaise |
02.20.06 - 10:38 am | #
Pachacutec | 02.20.06 - 10:29 am
I agree completely -- my point about soundbites is that they are the point of the spear. Without a sharp point, your message (narrative) will never penetrate to the target audience. But without the weight and heft of the spear, the soundbite will not have a substanial impact.
Internalized narrative truths, turned to our advantage with salient soundbites.
Pachacutec, I tried re-asking my original question downstairs.
al-Scooter, yes, we will have to live with symptomatic treatment for now. I tried, despite my mood, to not sound like it was just more generic carping on Dems.
cbl |
02.20.06 - 10:40 am | #
mark from ireland | Homepage | 02.20.06 - 10:36 am | #
I haven't followed it closely - just recalled that it was presented as some sort of judicial fiasco based on prosecutorial overreach. but that's the extent of my familiarity with it. it probably gets greater scrutiny in Europe.
punaise |
02.20.06 - 10:41 am | #
folks, I have to head out. No responses from me for a while. I'm already late!
Pachacutec |
02.20.06 - 10:42 am | #
Why not "brand" the GOP thusly:
Consistently Wrong. Wrong on WMD. Wrong on security. Wrong on Katrina. Wrong on Medicare. Wrong on Social Security. Wrong on the Budget. Wrong for Americans.
More people trust the GOP than the Dems. Why not undermine that trust? No need to say more about any of the issues-everyone knows the GOP are wrong.
gq |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:49 am | #
For Tom Monaghan, the devout Catholic who founded Domino's Pizza and is now bankrolling most of the initial $400 million cost of the project, Ave Maria is the culmination of a lifetime devoted to spreading his own strict interpretation of Catholicism. Though he says nonbelievers are welcome, Monaghan clearly wants the community to embody his conservative values. He controls all the commercial real estate in town (along with his developing partner, Barron Collier Cos.) and is asking pharmacies not to carry contraceptives.
if you build it, they will ....
punaise |
02.20.06 - 10:50 am | #
punaise: that watercatpond brouhaha was all fomented by the firedoglake crowd ... a buncha anti-authoritarian agitators all !
I figure what with the Chinese censorship meme hitting the Internets, comparing the WaPoo Blogmeisters to their comrades in Beijing might shame them - at least internally.
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 10:54 am | #
Speaking of soundbites, I like this one from the New York Daily News. A republican man, the father of a 9/11 victim, says "The President's gone insane".
I think the soundbite "Bush is insane" could definitely catch on and serve as the point of the spear on any number of issues.
Preface your statement with "Bush, the madman, wants to spy on you with no warrants." Or, "Bush, in his steady descent into insanity, didn't take any action to save New Orleans."
Republicans like to push the "Democrats are weak" theme. When we describe Bush as "rash" or "reckless" - it fits their narrative, because to wussies like Democrats, any bold action is "rash".
But if we can shape the narrative into the party of the sane vs. the party led by a madman... Well, it would be helpful. And it has the added virtue of being a true statement. Bush and Cheney are insane or getting there. Republican in congress are following them like lemmings to the ocean.
'the party of the sane vs. the party led by the insane"- it works for me.
anon |
02.20.06 - 10:55 am | #
Another advantage of the sane vs insane theme is that it lets voters off the hook.
Democrats can say "We know that you voted for a man who said he'd be a uniter, not a divider, who would be humble, who would not engage in nation building, who would bring fiscal responsibility."
"We all know now that he has done none of those things. And he appears increasingly to be off his rocker entirely, along with Cheney. It is clear to everyone now that Bush has taken a turn for the worse. He is not the man that Americans voted for. [we don't need to get into a discussion of whether he ever was] Americans no longer approve of him. The only people still following this madman are the corrupt Republicans in congress. Let's vote them out, together."
anon |
02.20.06 - 11:00 am | #
punaise: that watercatpond brouhaha was all fomented by the firedoglake crowd ... a buncha anti-authoritarian agitators
someone feel like filling me in ?
cbl |
02.20.06 - 11:03 am | #
I'm being bad again:
-------
I have yet to see any Democrats refute the evidence showing that Democrats are tied to the Gus Boulis murder.
Democrats received Abramoff money; Abramoff money paid the Boulis murderers---you see now that Democrats are tied to the Boulis murder.
Actually I'm honestly surprised that the Post has not made this connection----they are probably still too afraid of the liberal bloggers.
Posted by: RighteousPoster | February 20, 2006 01:58 PM
Doesn't this make sense, by WaPoo standards? I think so.
marky |
02.20.06 - 11:04 am | #
1) Throw the Vichy Democrats out. Give support to the insurgents.
2) Get an effective sound bite and repeat it over and over.
3) Impose more rigorous discipline on the Democratic communicators so they “stay on message.
4) Support a third party, as the powers-that-be in the Democratic party are beyond salvation.
5) Wait for the Republican machine to self-destruct
6) Stay on the attack, be negative, be mean
I confess to being a bit uncomfortable with the marketing language and the corporation model, not because they don’t work, but because they run the risk of corrupting one’s soul.
I have two different suggestions, two different tracks of action.
1) Within the party, build communities of activists. I believe Firedoglake is a good example of that. Perhaps we can begin to meet locally in coffeeshops, just to talk. A unified message can come from the top down, but is more effective if it comes from the bottom up. (I would be willing to organize one in the Twin Cities, Minnesota.)
Along with that, we all need to get involved in local Democratic organizations, not just during the election cycles (as I do) but regularly, (as I should do). In my experience, these organizations are hungry for volunteers and appreciative. Those who come regularly are given local areas of responsibility. When I went to my last caucus, the guy running my meeting was pretty poor at doing so. I could have done much better, but he was there, he was involved, and so he ran the meeting.
2) Outside the party, my models are Martin Luther King and Mohandas Gandhi. They both knew the power of symbolic actions (sitting in the front of the bus, weaving homespun cloth, etc.) and they both knew of the power of massive, non-violent protest.
I hated the film Gandhi, but there were two scenes that deeply affected me. In one, the Indian protesters lined up to be beaten, one by one, by an Indian soldier at the head of the line. In the other, protesters were gunned down by British rifles.
When people with no power stand up in non-violent ways against the oppressor, putting their bodies on the line, others are shamed into acting. Think of the Selma march.
Anyone in the Twin Cities want to meet?
Koheleth |
02.20.06 - 11:07 am | #
mark: Yes, they've managed to push the peception of what is the "center" so far to the right that by standing still, I've become a "radical."
Pachacutec | 02.20.06 - 10:22 am | #
that's ok, it puts me in a full tin foil suit, waiting on the porch for the Soylent Green trucks
cbl |
02.20.06 - 11:09 am | #
PrevTopic (sorta): Andrew Sullivan tells us our "nightmare" is Rudy/Rice 2008. IMHO, we Dems should avoid the "competence" meme if Rudy's the GOP nominee in 2008 -- he's widely viewed as "competent."
My late Dad always said you could look to advertising directly to find any product's major flaw: Chrysler engineering, compassionate conservatism, "tastes great/less filling," ad absurdum. Selecting Rudy -- and running him on his "competence" will obviate the major flaw of BushCo: its utter incompetence. To illustrate: asking how the Republicans have made America better, well, Rudy got the hookers out of Times Square and replaced them with Mickey Mouse. That certainly sounds like competence, or "competence."
It will be absurd for the GOP to run a candidate (Rudy) whose perceived strength is competence & tough on terror, but it may move the goalposts in a scary way. Don't get me started on Condi "surprised the sun came up today in the Middle East" Rice, but she too is perceived as "competent" as well as (!) untouched by the Bush scandals.
I was amazed at the poll numbers Andrew cites for Rudy among the GOP -- and you will be too....
MS. MATALIN: [clip] why we wanted to take our time. Speak to the sheriff so we’d have the voice of authority. HAVE KATHERINE BE ABLE TO SHARE WITH OTHER WITNESSES, AND SHE COULD BE AN EYEWITNESS. That’s why we wanted to take our time because there were differing accounts....
(my caps)
I'm reading that she was *not* an eyewitness, and that other people had to tell her what they saw.
Does that seem right?
egregious |
02.20.06 - 11:12 am | #
Eek!
Go down below the huffpo article on Matalin, they have a new visual with her as Maleficent and Cheney as her black bird.
cbl : the Washington Post is attempting to open a Blog of its own but with severe restrictions on the comments. This provoked howls of protest so they shut it down, particularly after posters criticized with "earthy" expressions the poor performance of the Ombudsman. After a coupla weeks of simmering, they reopened it yesterday to equally disastrous results. It was so much fun evading their censors, both automated filters and entry-level humans. They constantly got called on the censorship. It is fun !
The wisest path for the WaPoo Blog is to do nothing and let the brouhaha peter out --- oh, oh, oh, i said something nasty - delete this post!
anyways, some FDLers quasi-incognito made some snide cracks about lefty bloggers like that "watercatpond" crowd -- heh, heh, heh
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 11:16 am | #
Something I have been saying for a long time (not a good sound bite but it works for me)
"Yes, both the democrats & the republicans want to screw us but at least the democrats are willing to use lubrication"
Not someting you can say just anywhere of course; crude but effective
"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." - Niccoló Machiavelli (The Prince, 1532)
daCascadian |
02.20.06 - 11:16 am | #
I'm far too toasted from work to participate in such an intelligent discussion, so forgive me for interrupting with occasional sound-bites. I can merely click around and find a few pages for others to enjoy. I like this one, linked thru C&L:
egregious, I hear MM saying that Katharine Armstrong was *not* an eyewitness, and that other people who *were* eyewitnesses needed to be told what they had seen.
The "share" was KA telling others what they saw, not the others telling her what they saw....
-
TeddySanFran |
02.20.06 - 11:22 am | #
Seeing all the desire to transform the Democratic party into an authoritarian rule of people in here that I don't always agree with has made me realize I do not want to be a part of the lefty blogosphere movement. Perhaps David Brooks was right.
Count me out of your movement. Ta ta FDL...
gq |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 11:22 am | #
Ladies and Gentlemen,
May we please have one more ovation for our own,
the one and only,
Could you please tell us a little bit about how you first heard the news?
yellowdog jim |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 11:24 am | #
cbl: here's the URL for the WaPoo Blog -- it's hilarious ! http://blog.washingtonpost.com/
w..._welcome_1.html
some of the best comments got censored but those that remain are damning.
My favorite remains the imprecations in Dutch against Deborah Howell for insulting the royal color of Holland and signed by Queen Beatrix
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 11:24 am | #
To catch those up who missed Sunday's WaPooblog fun:
Those nasty "watercatpond place" references started (by snarky TSF) here.
"Ave Maria is the culmination of a lifetime devoted to spreading his own strict interpretation of Catholicism"
In my experience "strict" interpretation means belief in the "Virgin birth." The problem is that only one of the four canoncial gospels, Luke, has a "Virgin birth." Matthew's gospel has Mary pregnant by someone other than Joseph prior to their marriage. Mark's Gospel and John's Gospel simply ignore the sources for Matthew's and Luke's versions. The early Xtian community "closed the canon" around 250CE?. They decided that the Gospel of Peter and Gospel of Thomas as well as a lot of other writings, while helpful, were not "canonical." The Xtians making this decision obviously did not find Luke's rendering of the Virgin Birth a litmus test for orthodoxy.
The good news, all of Tom's money isn't going directly to Republican candidates.
John Casper |
02.20.06 - 11:26 am | #
TeddySanFran,
"Don't get me started on Condi "surprised the sun came up today in the Middle East" Rice, but she too is perceived as "competent" as well as (!) untouched by the Bush scandals."
Competant? I don't think I'll ever forget this gem...
"No one could have imagined them taking a plane, slamming it into the Pentagon" -- I'm paraphrasing now -- "into the World Trade Center, using planes as a missile."
I look forward to your analysis but I think that, with regard to Dean, it is important that he stay out front even when he is gettin' blasted because a majority of folks out in the trenches agree with 'im. (And any face time is good face time in this environment). The corporate fascists will only succeed in marginalizin Dean if he folds up and goes away leavin the field to the DINO lacky's and trough-feeders. We can have a tremendous impact on breakin down the Democratic establishment by withholdin money from the DCCC and DSCC and givin it to Move On, the DNC and individual primary campaigns...
KEEP THE FAITH AND LET 'EM SHOOT EACH OTHER!!
Norske Flamethower |
02.20.06 - 11:31 am | #
Koheleth >"...Perhaps we can begin to meet locally in coffeeshops, just to talk...(I would be willing to organize one in the Twin Cities, Minnesota.)...Anyone in the Twin Cities want to meet?"
"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." - T.E. Lawrence
daCascadian |
02.20.06 - 11:41 am | #
canofun has a lot of the nsa soundbites up for anyone wanting to review
annie |
02.20.06 - 11:47 am | #
Woooooooooo hooooooooo - sorry folks I and others here whom I respect greatly have on occasion taken a toasting from some of the more … devout … democrats here. I wondered how this self described "moderate" was still around unscathed. Now excuse me while I burst into song:
"Schadenfreude schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium
wir betreten feuertrunken himmlische dein Heiligtum
Deine Zauber binden wieder was die Mode streng geteilt … … … "
Friends like this nobody needs. (Also his sodding home page repeatedly crashed my browser as I have a somewhat rigorous security system on my machines … )
Seeing all the desire to transform the Democratic party into an authoritarian rule of people in here that I don't always agree with has made me realize I do not want to be a part of the lefty blogosphere movement. Perhaps David Brooks was right.
Count me out of your movement. Ta ta FDL...
gq | Homepage | 02.20.06 - 11:22 am | #
is me oops
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 11:50 am | #
new thread: "All Politics is Local"
John Casper |
02.20.06 - 11:50 am | #
gq -- at 11:22
I'm not certain where you got the authoritarian rule thing. I started the thread this morning to talk about some ideas that could be translated into overall party themes for local campaigns and national work. Not to get everyone to fall into line. I mean, please, Jane and I rarely come at any topic from the same perspective -- and we run the blog. I think you are getting your knickers in a twist for no reason, honestly. What I wanted was dialogue, not some monolithic enforcement -- and I think that's exactly what we've had all day, which has been really useful for me in the reading.
ReddHedd |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 11:50 am | #
"HAVE KATHERINE BE ABLE TO SHARE WITH OTHER WITNESSES, AND SHE COULD BE AN EYEWITNESS"
Nothing like a little witness influencing and collusion to start off a Sunday.
Matalin has the unenviable distinction of making her husband seem almost charming.
I hope they keep her out in front, she is truly repellant. Nothing like pegging Deadeye Dick at 29% in the polls and keeping him there.
-GSD
Granite State Destroyer |
02.20.06 - 11:51 am | #
Wilson46201,
Thanks for the WaPo link - can't believe some of the stuff y'all got away with - they are so outmatched!
cbl |
02.20.06 - 11:53 am | #
Late to the discussion, as usual. But let me throw in a very tardy two cents:
The ol' "vision thing" is something the Dems need to articulate and stick to. Look at the Repubs, they've seized on big, fuzzy goals -- War On Terror, Making Government Smaller, etc. -- no matter that that they don't actually do or believe in these things, but they connote movement toward a goal and dynamism, and these things sweep people up.
Dems once enjoyed this momentum: the New Deal, Civil Rights, the Space Race, WW2 -- Dems presided over change and dynamism and Conservatives were, well, conservative.
My question is, what is compelling enough to sweep people up and forward? Energy independence? Universal Health Care? Universal quality education? All achievable in our time -- but all things that the Conservative movement has spent the last 50 years demonizing as either "socialist" or "nanny party-esque".
I also think we need to step OUTSIDE the whole 'framing' game and expose Americans to the Repubs' techniques.
I mean showing people HOW they conduct these spin operations with clear examples in real time, so that people can see the gears turning -- like explaining how a three card monty scam works. Dems need to do this en masse and show how much the Repubs live and die by it.
People love behind the scenes stuff, don't they?
mercury |
02.20.06 - 11:54 am | #
redd he's been sniping from the sidelines from the day he got here.
mark from ireland |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 11:54 am | #
OT from way below (just now reading) & Diane - who commented on the triumverate of Delay and Doolittle and Ney in the Abramoff - which I read as:
Delay, Doolittle and (De)Ney.
I'm thinking there has been a critical mass of irony build up in the universe.
Mary |
02.20.06 - 11:56 am | #
Most of what absolutely enrages me about the Dem's is the old school continuing the status quo. Old dogs and new tricks. The scuttling of Hackett for an entrenched "crony". We can be just as bad as Bushco.Imo. When Murtha stood up,cut off at the knees by his own party. Btw, I would love to see him as Speaker of the House. Kinda reminds me of Tip O'neal.There is no unity.No guts to stand up. The marginalizing of Hillary as being angry. She should have jumped up and said Youre Damn right I'm angry!Then gone on to list all of the fiasco's perped by the repugs. Any time they pull that stunt we should be IN THEIR FACE!Yes we are mad AND HERES WHY..... Just my opinion.
Bustednuckles |
02.20.06 - 11:59 am | #
Am I losing my mind or is blogger eating posts again? I swear I just saw a post here about Paul Pillar's article, but when I came back to read it through, it had vanished!
peachkfc |
02.20.06 - 12:01 pm | #
And now it's back. I must be going nuts.
peachkfc |
02.20.06 - 12:03 pm | #
Redd,
Don't lament the passing of one "gq"...addition by subtraction. We are at a "civil breaking point" which presages civil war...this means that there is less and less "middle ground", with political events forcing folks to take sides. This is not a bad thing but is certainly dangerous...it is the only way that a majority can take back political power from a well-organized authoritarian minority. Keep the conversation civil among the honest seekers and take no shit and waste no time on the "others". There are, after all, many more of us than there are of "them".
Thanx for bein here and for your intellegence and class...between you and Jane I think I may jest survive but I'm afraid I don't have any patience er sense a humor left.
KEEP THE FAITH AND LET 'EM KILL EACH OTHER OFF!!
NorskeFlamethrower |
02.20.06 - 12:04 pm | #
Bustednuckles | 02.20.06 - 11:59 am |
I agree with you about Murtha. Whenever a person, a statement, or an issue comes up which resonates with the whole country, the Establishment Democrats instead of embracing it try to dissociate themselves from it as much as possible.
Hugh |
02.20.06 - 12:17 pm | #
re gq: does he get the idea of an opposition "party"?
mercury |
02.20.06 - 12:19 pm | #
I'm not good on marketing, but it seems to me that Greenwald's push on "Bush cultists" really elicted howls. IMO, that cut to the quick.
Personally, I loved Feingold's recent observation that "They really are the gang that can't shoot straight"
Also, in keeping with the "WRONG" above, IMO, I wonder if "DANGEROUS" is not even closer to the issue - esp as Dems are so "worried" they will be the ones not seen as being strong.
It's not just dangerous to go hunting with Dick Cheney, it's dangerous to let the Republicans keep running this country.
Osama bin Laden - still loose and recruiting more and more al-Qaeda operatives every day.
Boarders with Mexico - open invitations and no funding to protect them.
Airplanes and ports - still no single watchlist, still no safe protocols on baggage and container checks and the REpublican solution is to turn ports over to a Middle Eastern country that supplied two of the 9/11 hijackers and has been repeatedly tied to funding of terrorism.
Deficits - despite coming into office in 2000 with budget surpluses, the budget and trade deficits are now both threatening to cripple our country economically.
Katrina and other homeland response efforts - bungled so badly that army, national guard and reserve units sat waiting, for days, for the order and ok to go help in New Orleans while Republicans had birthday parties and guitar sessions. ONce someone finally got around to the call - the armed services where there in HOURS.
Lies - that no one knew levees wouldn't break, that no one new the Niger documents were forgeries, that no one knew Cheney was the shooter, that no one knew Powell was sent to the UN with incorrect information, that there were only a "handful" of "dead enders" as insurgents in Iraq, that the insurgency was in its "last throes", that Veterans healthcare would be protected, that soldiers and their vehicles would be adequately armored, that no one in the Adminstration leaked a CIA operative's name.
Social Security - dangerously cast adrift while the Republicans pursue tax cuts for the wealthy.
Medicare B - corruptly structured to enhace the cash flow of pharmaceutical companies and adminsitered in such a way as to already create crisis in numerous states.
Republicans - building that bridge to nowhere.
Mary |
02.20.06 - 12:26 pm | #
Coz -- thanks for those links, I had never heard of Bojinka or the Columbine plan. Please believe me when I say Condi's "perceived" competence -- not by me, certainly, but there have been many TradMed product placements (I hesitate to call them articles) describing her reorganization at State and wowing them in Old Europe.
My point really was that, like Chrysler engineering and great taste/less filling, we're being sold a bill of goods on Condi as well, to exactly her weakest point.
-
TeddySanFran |
02.20.06 - 12:29 pm | #
The minority party is usually hapless when they are the minority. Look at history.
How many of you heard of Bill Clinton before he won his party's nomination?
I have posted quite a few times about the old Mister Subliminal character from SNL. Everytime you mention Cheney,(cough*halliburton, enron), Bush (cough, incompetent, thinks he is king), etc. It sticks and resonates with the moderates.
wyonate |
02.20.06 - 12:29 pm | #
without oversite, when this can actually happen and politicians can sit around and enable it, what's going to happen to America?
if we can't find a way to win back a majority in one of the legislative branches, there will no longer be the republic our for fathers died for
ben franklin left it to us, he said we had a republic, it depends on how long we can keep it
we didn't keep it long
me to me | Homepage | 02.20.06 - 9:35 am | # That's an ad.
Kathryn in MA |
02.20.06 - 12:29 pm | #
and now it's back. I must be going nuts.
peachkfc | 02.20.06 - 12:03 pm | #
same thing happened to me earlier today.
punaise |
02.20.06 - 12:35 pm | #
without oversite, when this can actually happen and politicians can sit around and enable it, what's going to happen to America?
if we can't find a way to win back a majority in one of the legislative branches, there will no longer be the republic our for fathers died for
ben franklin left it to us, he said we had a republic, it depends on how long we can keep it
we didn't keep it long
me to me | Homepage | 02.20.06 - 9:35 am | #
That's an ad.
Kathryn in MA | 02.20.06 - 12:29 pm |
thanx katherine
me to me |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 12:43 pm | #
BUSH AND THE GOP CONGRESS:
CRONYISM, CORRUPTION, and
just plain INCOMPETENCE
katjam |
02.20.06 - 12:43 pm | #
Redd,
I read you all the time. I just tend to lurk here.
Carnacki |
Homepage |
02.20.06 - 12:52 pm | #
1) Within the party, build communities of activists. I believe Firedoglake is a good example of that. Perhaps we can begin to meet locally in coffeeshops, just to talk. A unified message can come from the top down, but is more effective if it comes from the bottom up. (I would be willing to organize one in the Twin Cities, Minnesota.)
I am going to host Drinking Liberally events in Cambridge, MA (tuesdays) -i want to find out what blogs they read and point out FDL - maybe even read some of the poetry! It would be great to get even more involved in our Boston Tea Party.
Kathryn in MA |
02.20.06 - 1:12 pm | #
did someone say Drinking Liberally was not cool?
Kathryn in MA |
02.20.06 - 1:13 pm | #
Kathryn, I don't think anyone said Drinking Liberally isn't cool, they simply mentioned those meetings are usually in "taverns". Not everyone drinks. I myself am more comfortable at those type of meetings where I could relax, have a friendly beer and a smoke and shoot the breeze, get impassioned.
The important point is that it doesn't matter what meetings or type of meetings we go to as long as we are getting more and more people out to meet up, to compare notes, ideas, gameplan. Some will be in rooms with bright artificial lighting, no music could hear a pin drop, etc., and others will be in a more informal noisy setting. I attend both types. Meet up! Bring a friend and make more friends!
Shez |
02.20.06 - 2:12 pm | #
Official Website of Shri Srinivasa Ragavaswamy charitable Trust in South India working towards constructing a temple for Sri Srinivasa Perumal (balaji) with Raja Gopuram which is named as Kovai Thiruppathy.
Anand Kumar |
Homepage |
01.05.07 - 2:52 am | #
