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TechnoratiAs CNN's pundits wondered whether instant post-debate polls favoring Sen. Barack Obama meant he would win on election day, analyst David Gergen - who has been an adviser to Republican and Democratic presidents - stopped them.
"I think it's too early to declare victory, because Barack Obama is
black," Gergen said Tuesday night. "And until we play out the issue of
race in this country, I don't think we'll know and maybe (not until)
late in the campaign."
![[This video image provided by the Fox News Channel shows Sean Hannity interviewing Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008, in Cleveland. Stefan Forbes, a documentary film-maker and authority on smear campaigns, explains how, "Palin is the friendly face, or George W. Bush was the guy you wanted to have a beer with. They'll dance around it and say (these tactics) aren't racist, but they are." (AP Photo/Fox News Channel)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/foxnewspalin1009.jpg "foxnewspalin1009.jpg")
While Obama's campaign has fended off racially rooted attacks since
its inception, analysts say the ones surfacing in the past few days
have been more overt, arriving as many undecided voters are making
their final decision. They are part of a recent stream of attacks on
his background, including his religion and his connections to a former
'60s radical.
"It is the Willie Hortonization of Obama," said University of San Francisco associate professor of political science James Taylor. Horton, an African American man, was a Massachusetts felon who committed a rape and armed robbery while on a weekend furlough. Republican strategist Lee Atwater used a TV attack ad featuring Horton to create a negative impression of the 1988 Democratic nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, in the campaign's final months.
'Coded' language
Instead of using a grainy photo of a grizzled convict as Atwater did, the current attacks, analysts say, are embedded in "coded" language. They cite as examples Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin portraying Obama as a cultural outsider and friend to terrorists and the dismissive way his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, referred to Obama at their Tuesday night debate as "that one."
Other recent attacks include the unsubstantiated allegation on Fox News' "Hannity's America" Sunday that Obama's community organizing work in Chicago was "training for a radical overthrow of the government." The incendiary allegations - as well as the anti-Semitic background of the source of the allegation, commentator Andy Martin - went unchallenged and undisclosed by the host, conservative commentator Sean Hannity. Fox said that the program is the host's opinion, even though the allegation was presented as a documentary. Obama did not respond to Hannity's request for comment.
Martin wrote on his blog that "I am not a 'reporter' assembling facts for a morning newspaper. I am an analyst and expert opinion columnist. I take 'facts' that may or may not make sense in isolation, and I analyze them until patterns emerge and conclusions are apparent."
Then there have been the speakers at McCain-Palin rallies who continue, unchecked by the candidates, to refer to "Barack Hussein Obama" - the emphasis on his middle name is an implication that Obama, who is a Christian, is Muslim. The latest occurred Wednesday in Pennsylvania, when Bill Platt, the Lehigh County Republican chairman, mentioned Obama's former reluctance to wear an American flag lapel pin and said: "Think about how you'll feel on Nov. 5 if you see the news that Barack Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, is president of the United States."
McCain-Palin spokesman Paul Lindsay said, "We do not condone this inappropriate rhetoric, which distracts from the real questions of judgment, character and experience that voters will base their decisions on this November."
Shouts of 'terrorist'
Regardless, some attending McCain-Palin rallies are responding to this kind of incitement. The Secret Service is investigating press reports that someone might have said "kill him" after Palin tried to connect Obama to former Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers. Some attending McCain's rally Wednesday in Pennsylvania interrupted him with shouts of "socialist," "terrorist" and "liar."
Earlier this week, Palin told a group of donors in Colorado that "this is not a man who sees America like you and I see America." Obama, Palin said, "is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country," a reference to Obama's connection with Ayers, now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Conservative talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh echoed this attack by referring to Obama's "mentorship" by Ayers; Obama was in elementary school when Ayers and the Weather Underground were carrying out bombings.
Politico.com described Obama's relationship with Ayers: "There's no evidence their relationship is more than the casual friendship of two men who occupy overlapping Chicago political circles and who served together on the board of a Chicago foundation." FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan fact-checking organization, confirmed that description.
And during the week of Sept. 28-Oct. 4, "nearly 100 percent of the McCain campaign's advertisements were negative," according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Advertising Project. "During the same period, 34 percent of the Obama campaign's ads were negative."
Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden worried Wednesday that the Republicans are injecting "fear and loathing" into the campaign.
"The idea that a leading American politician who might be vice president of the United States would not just stop midsentence and turn and condemn that - it's just a slippery slope, it's a place that we shouldn't be going," Biden said Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show, referring to the shouts of "terrorist" at Palin's rallies.
"I mean, here you have out there these kinds of, you know, incitements out there - a guy introducing Barack using his middle name as if it's some epithet or something," he said on CBS Wednesday. "This is over the top."
These attacks are no different from the kind Atwater - the political mentor of Karl Rove - launched during the 1980s, said Stefan Forbes, director of the documentary "Boogieman: The Lee Atwater Story," which opens Friday in San Francisco.
"I don't see how the Democrats don't understand the Lee Atwater playbook. His tactics have been winning elections, even after his death" in 1991, Forbes said. The Horton campaign "represented the triumph of spin and smear over the issues. They know that if you wrap things in the flag, you can sell anything."
The key to Atwater's success was that the candidates themselves remained above the fray.
"They were friendly, like (Ronald) Reagan," Forbes said. "Just like now, Palin is the friendly face, or George W. Bush was the guy you wanted to have a beer with. They'll dance around it and say (these tactics) aren't racist, but they are.
"The next couple of weeks are going to be really fascinating," Forbes said. "If the Atwater playbook can destroy Obama when the economy is collapsing the way it is, then it can accomplish almost anything."
But Stanford University political science Professor Paul Sniderman, who recently completed a survey on racial attitudes of voters, doesn't think the attacks will work. He also said widely circulated media reports that said "Obama's support would be as much as 6 percentage points higher if there were no white racial prejudice" were wrong.
68 Comments so far
Show AllNo question, not all the angles of race that converge at the Obama campaign have received much attention.
It’s increasingly popular to argue that the fuel for unrest has disappeared because the problem of racism has receded into America’s past. This idea has long held sway on the right, but, paradoxically, it’s taken Barack Obama’s candidacy to elevate this persistent right-wing myth into conventional wisdom.
Obama’s candidacy is seen as an indication that racial barriers no longer exist in the United States. Indeed, the election of a black president would be an undeniable milestone in American history, forcing many white Americans to confront latent fears and distrust of black people. And many see progress in the fact that a black man can run a campaign in which race is incidental. Yet it’s taken Obama’s embrace of post-racialism, and concurrent distancing from traditional civil rights-style black leadership, to lend viability to his campaign. Some activists see him as the culmination of a trend over the last 40 years of black leaders moving away from the communities they’ve traditionally served and closer to the political and corporate power that dominates the Democratic Party.
Read the full: http://www.indypendent.org/2008/10/02/illusion-post-racial-america/
Personally, I think Sarah Palin, if elected, will make the best Grand Wizard ever!
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
Anyone who wants to understand the Democrats' unwillingness & utter inability to fire back against the racism of the Right should read Bill Van Auken's analysis on the WSWS.
After describing the fascist elements now overtly appealed to by McCain & Palin, Van Auken writes,
________________
"...Yet neither the Democratic Party nor the media has shown an inclination to cast any light on these relations, much less subject them to the kind of front-page treatment given to the four-decades-old exploits of William Ayers and his tenuous connections to Obama.
The role of the Christian right and of semi-fascistic elements within the Republican Party remains the great unmentionable in American politics. They are accorded political protection and legitimacy precisely for the role they play in diverting the anger and frustration of sections of the population into reactionary channels that serve to prop up the ruling establishment..."
_________________
IOW, since the Dem Party, no less than the Repubs, is slavishly devoted to propping up the ruling establishment, it is unable to attack anything (like right-wing racism) that works to the advantage of that ruling establishment -- even when that racism is aimed right at the Democrats' heads.
The role of the Christian right is hardly "unmentionable" -- what has gone underreported is the degree to which the 'Christian right' is really christofascist.
These elements have enjoyed immunity as a result of the demonization of the left during the past 28 years, and the CFs have been very effective in cloaking it or shunting it off to the side, as the Republicans did in '92 when Buchanan was not allowed to speak on the convention floor.
This week has furnished unforgettable and unerasable images. Articles online, radio expositions on the left, volumes on the rise of fascism could not be so eloquent as the Allgemeine SS-type in full regalia screamed about Barack Hussein Obama and then saluted.
If I could, I'd do a YouTube video showing that Florida rally with the uniformed skinhead, with the words "Is this the future of America? John McCain and Sarah Palin hope that it is".
It would be the daisy-picking girl ad of the campaign.
Tom Brokaw should be fired for his idiotic moderating performance in the "debate". Three times he admonished Obama about time, while leaving McCain alone. Three times Brokaw interrupted the debate after an Obama answer with a tirade about agreeing to time constraints etc. It leaves an impression on the viewer that Obama's doing something wrong. Yet it still seems Obama won the debate. Brokaw's a racist jackass.
Hit McCain HARD. Act like a Republican in some ads, let Obama be Obama in others. But if you cower like a sissy from McCain, his crap will work. Having Biden hit back is not a strong enough response. Isolate all the nutcase things McCain has said and done. Include the story of him backhanding the activist in the halls of Congress, calling his wife a cunt, the whole nine yards. McCain has a longer history of being a violatile nutcase, so USE IT.
I think the Obama campaign should play up his various "lives". He has walked with poor inner city people, unemployed steel workers, radical black clergy, socialists, West Coast elite, has Ivy League degrees, and can work with the democratic party and Washington establishments. He has been places and made friends where know nothings McCain and Palin dared not tread. He has pursued excellence while McCain has pursued ambition.
He wants to be a healer, not a divider and warrior.
One problem is everyone left and right can find something to pick on. Then there are the racists. Lets give him a chance. It may become another Jimmy Carter fiasco, but his heart and head are in the right place.
Ponder this:
"ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Trying to head off a potentially embarrassing state ethics report on GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, campaign officials released their own report Thursday that clears her of any wrongdoing."
That wasn't too difficult, wasn't it? So if You ever get into trouble for lying, deceiving, betraying, cheating, stealing, or anything else criminal, You just release Your own 'report' that clears You of all wrongdoing.
How brain dead are those people, yet more important, how brain dead must somebody be to accept that kind of ludicrousness? This person needs to be incarcerated in a Iraqi prison, preferably the one where Saddam was lynched.
The time HAS COME where silence is betrayal.
May all Beings be blessed. Specifically the weak and ill minded.
Maybe on Nov 4 they can release their own report that says she & McAlzhiemers won the election too?
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
All I can say is God help us. McCain does not know what the hell is going on and Palin is with out a clue and if these two get voted in, we will still be talking about all the s--- that is happening and the way it is going now, our country is doomed. I even heard that General Petraous (sp) is saying yes, you do talk to your enemies and his stance on Afganastan chimes more with what Obama was talking about. I saw him talking at some organization on TV.
slrbgood - I had a dream - The other night I dreampt of driving my daughter to a safe place. Upon arrival there was a message, my grandmother had died. I tried to call my family but I kept getting a recording that all communications were shut down. I tried again and a female voice recording said that some kind of extreme wind event in Nevada had shut down communications indefinitely. The recording paused a moment and then the voice said it probably means we're going to get nuked. I went outside and saw orange/pink thunder clouds and alot of people standing around. We thought the wind should be coming from the East but it was coming in at gale force from the NorthEast. I was confused about what I had expected to experiene and what the reality was. Sound familiar anyone? Anyways, that dream has haunted me for days now. Is humanity really that stupid that we'd wipe ourselves out just because?
Guns 'n Roses - Civil War Lyrics
Did ya wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
An I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
when it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
for their promised land
And
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more
My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars
Politricks_of_de_sh-tstem
This is somewhat related to the issue of race and racism.
From the beginning of the American fascination with Obama (the 2004 Convention), and more so recently, I've thought that he benefits from his "blackness" being of the non-African American variety.
African Americans, having ancestors who, for decades(and perhaps centuries) lived through oppression at the hands of various figures in the US, are perhaps much more attuned to the racism there. An African American would have reacted much differently during the Wright saga because the Church means much more to the African American (in the US) than the first-generation (Kenyan) American. To the latter, it was a place to connect with other Black people (as the many bios in the media and the Convention portrayed). But to the former, it is THE cultural institution.
To the African American, in oppose to the first-generation Kenyan American, politicians inciting a near all-white crowd to the point of some eschewing the Secret Service and calling for his death (I still don't understand how no one was arrested, but...) would evoke images of Martin Luther King, Jr., whether they were alive while he was or not. Because someone in his family would tell them where they were when they learned Dr. King was murdered (and how everyone, or most, of the people in their circle stood still).
I'm not saying that an African American would have reacted to these cases erratically or without the decorum expected of a President, but they would have reacted differently I believe (and in a way that would have garnered negative media attention and thus feed into stereotypes of the Angry Black Man).
Michelle Obama has that African AMerican lineage of living in racialized and racist society as a minority. The difference between her and Barack is that he is the first person in his family to experience it.
Gergen is right. The attacks are working and by election day with any luck up to 40% of the public will be assured of Obama being a muslim and a terrorist sympathizer who does not want to win the GWOT.
Is Barack Obama "American enough?" Is his mixed-ethnicity too problematic?
The answers to these questions have angles that have not been widely explored. For more information, check the article:
"Obama's Scottish, Cherokee ancestry has meaning"
Oct. 8, 2008
http://jointreconstudygroup.blogspot.com/2008/10/obamas-scottish-cheroke...
Obama is black and white together. He is a true meaning of the two races in our country coming together.
Quit allowing this separation to continue and just tell people that if blacks and whites weren't meant to live together, us mixed people wouldn't be running around...
Darn, you mean there are some folks in America that aren't mixed race? Most everyone I know is Heinz 57, including me.
Isn't Obama then the quintessential Democrat? Not white or black, not conservative or liberal, not honest or dishonest, not pro-labor or anti-labor, not pro-war or anti-war, etc.
In other words, a complete FRAUD.
tutti-fruti
Glad to see you aren't using 'retard' anymore.
I guess you are educable.
Very clever calling him a retard in your retort. Rather than point it out, you call him the same thing you criticize him for. Typical Republican behavior.
Nice intentional misreading.
Is that typical goose2 behavior?
BTW - There's a similar post below where you can apply the same logic and accuse me of calling him another pejorative.
Other than their use as workers in Republican owned factories and as domestics in Republican mansions, the last time a Republican as rich as McCain apparently really cared about a black man was in 1863 and that was only because that particular Republican was losing a war.
Mud slinging is one thing, stiring up hate is another. It does seem the ones who "pretend" to be Christians, are the ones who sprew out the most hate.
More, I wouldn't care about your Mia Culpa after the election of the McSame-Palin Nazis due to Bradley Effect.
I'd be more interested in your Culpa right now for the casual negligence of taking things for granted-- i.e., one's glib assurance that Obama will win since he is ahead right now.
None of us can know with certainty what will happen. Because a black man has never even come close to being president. That is our history. That's where thought should start.
But why make a prediction at all? What are you, an odds-maker or bookie? And who cares? Don't we have more important things to worry about than football game predictions?
Some urgency please-- to make sure the best, not the worst scenario comes to pass. (And I do see casual negligence and lack of focus all over the place in people who ought to know better.)
The main reason was because of all the racist stuff. I don't believe it matters.
I don't believe that because he is a black man he will win or lose, but yes its a testement to where our country is that he has overcome the racists, first the blacks, then the whites to win the nomination.
I guess I just can't feel the urgency, I'm 99% sure he has won. Remember Bradley was what, 20 years ago? It is different. I firmly believe that he won this election @1:22pm, Friday, October 3rd. The moment they passed that bill.
"one's glib assurance that Obama will win since he is ahead right now"
I understand, but I've been feeling he was going to win for over a month.
"More, I wouldn't care about your Mia Culpa after the election of the McSame-Palin Nazis due to Bradley Effect."
Point taken, but they are not Nazi's of course. Just desprerate because there is no way to stop the bleeding. They are losing and they know it.
Nothing casaul about it....I'm voting for Obama. I didn't think I would, but I am and I won't change my mind. If he doesn't win....I'm wrong about America and I know, with certainty, I'm not.
But.........at your request not to be too casual (besides if I'm voting for him, I should be helping him), I'll go down and volunteer to knock doors and transport. But he is going to win.
Remember, I'm in Texas.....knocking doors, they could find me beside the road. Just kidding. But seriously I'll get out there.
Republicans are running scared that is why they are resorting to the politics of fear greed and sex. These guy`s are so fearful of losing that they will try to scare the american people into voting for them and they do not care who they screw along the way as long as they can hold onto power because power is money. Remember, greed, fear and sex are the weapons of the republicans.
snydly
PICTURES SPEAK A THOUSAND WORDS. AS PALIN AND THE REST FIRE UP THEIR INVECTIVE AND RACIST ATTACKS THEY ARE EXTREMELY VULNERABLE. THEIR FACES---faces---GIVE UP THEIR INNER-MOST FEELINGS AND SUB-CONSCIOUS POISONS.
ASK ANY MIME...THEN LISTEN CLOSELY.
SUGGEST--GO OVER THEIR APPEARANCES FRAME BY FRAME--TO GLEAN A CHENEY-ESK FACE PRINT AND THEN JUST RUN IT AND RUN IT WITHOUT COMMENT.
THE WOLF BEHIND THE SHEEP'S CLOTHING WILL BE REVEALED.
I havent got a clue why democrats can't get 12 or more people into one of the Palin rallies, and during one of her speaches all of them dawn on a KKK hood and start chanting "Death to N*ggars" while someone films.
That would be a nail into any presidential hope mKKKain and Palin have, because despite being rasists - Americans hate to addmit it even to themselves.
Racism = Fascism
Tolerating Racism = Supporting Facism
Supporting Fascism = Voting MacKain/Phallin
MacKain/Phallin winning = leave the sinking Nazi-ship if You can.
Forget about elections - the only vote You have is at the register
Students of Lee Atwater would do well to study his fate and how he powerfully repented his actions as he died a slow, horrific death.
I'm surprised at all the racist comments here, a bit disappointing.
I don't believe any racist crap McCain's boy's throw will make one whit of difference. Most people aren't racist, there has been a sea change over the last 20 years, even among older Americans. ( don't bother...its just my opinion)
Even bringing up legitimate questions about Ayers and other associations won't do them one bit of good. Obama has won this election and I don't believe the vote will be that close. It shouldn't be if I'm right.
Obama is not as well qualified as many would like but I believe they decided he's better than McCain and continuing the failed policies of the Republicans. And his race had nothing to do with it.
Next month we'll see if I'm right, if not, I'll post a Mia Culpa in big letters.
At what point does the promotion of these racist lies become the equivalent of yelling FIRE in a crowded theater? Surely, these kinds of yellow journalism and political muckraking are having a dire effect on our society... when can the victim meet the burden of proof for slander and libel?
Anonymity of sources, nay not even unanimity of sources, should inure the Rush Limbaughs and Fox Newses from being held responsible for both the personal and social injuries caused by their hateful and spiteful lies.
It is past time that ethics and objectivity take back this nation's discourse.
America might potentially have its first African-American President, and what does it get? A half-black Uncle Tom.
What has Obama done for blacks after becoming a Senator? Aside, of course, from voting to fund two wars which are mass-murdering brown people in the middle east, voting for the FISA bill which gave phone companies a pass for spying on Americans, voting for the bailout which gave billions to bankers foreclosing blacks in record numbers, should I go on?
Please, let's stop making Uncle Toms victims of racism, we have millions of African-Americans who could really use the attention.
My 31 year old daughter isn't an Aunt Jemima because she has studied half her life to attain something she loves, her degree is in World Religions, she does indeed love this, yet her true gifts lie in what she does, she is an artist born as such, she is a Fuck Up because shes not in Compton 6 days a week 12 hours a day? What an assine commentary, you know shit! My 19 year old happens to be a follower of al-Islam, as a practicing Muslim she happens not to be brown, her Dad, Aunts, Uncles, Dede, cousins all pale as feta, blondes and green or blue eyed. This type of "Typeing" caused Malcolm X to be assassinated by the NOI, be careful what you speak. I know many others say this brown people in the Middle East because they sre unknowledgeable as to what or whom is indiginous to which country, not all are Arabs, not all are brown and they find it personally offensive to be spoken of as such, my daughter just told me so as well as her father. Words are important and as such should be treated gingerly and used with knowledge.
BillofRights
Ooops.
Not educable.
Will you quit pretending to be a progressive?
First 'retard', now 'Uncle Tom'.
You just don't get it.
ctrl-zany do you ever post anything intelligent?
Are all Dem Party Apologists and Lesser Evilists THAT uneducated?
tetti tatti,
Your concern for "millions of African-Americans who could really use the attention" is commendable.
You are no doubt familiar with African Americans in Congress, the Wikipedia entry, that showcases the text and list of African American US Representatives. The modern era is almost exclusively Democratic, and I count 39 who are currently serving. At least two who I know of have achieved chairmanships of House committees: Charles Rangel (NY) and John Conyers (MI). This is perseverance and organization which leads to actual power.
Who cast the only vote against invading Afghanistan? Democratic US Representative Barbara Lee (CA).
Go ahead and vote for Nader. My vote went to Barack Obama.
Bill from Dubuque
"Please, let's stop making Uncle Toms victims of racism, we have millions of African-Americans who could really use the attention"
I agree. So how do you propose doing that ? Im crossing my fingers and hoping your answer will not be 'Vote Nader'. Nader doesnt have more than 2% of the national vote at this time and even if every single Progressive or Left leaning individual votes for him he will not win. Of course, we could still vote for him and put McCain in charge but after seeing videos of Palins KKK supporters i think people of color actually need to be scared at this point.
I'm a Nader supporter and will vote for him this November for the third time.
I refuse to vote for Jeffry Dahmer just because Ted Bundy killed more.
tutti fruti sez:
"I refuse to vote for Jeffry Dahmer just because Ted Bundy killed more."
translation:
"I refuse to vote for the better viable candidate because my talking points are more important than whoever will be running the country."
McCain-Palin spokesman Paul Lindsay said, "We do not condone this inappropriate rhetoric, which distracts from the real questions of judgment, character and experience that voters will base their decisions on this November."
So while mud-slinging and character assassination are always as desperate as tactics that play on fear and prejudice, one can't help but notice the Republicans think they are successfully defining the issues as judgment, character and experience--the American proclivity towards the cult of personality. Meanwhile shouldn't the issues be the recent record of Republicans in power: the collapse of failed economy, deregulation of the banking industry, huge profits of the oil industry, unbalancing of the budget while risking the bankruptcy of social safety nets, wrongly aggressive prioritization of foreign policy, the mismanagement of the war and the squandering of American credibility in the world through fear mongering unilateralism and use of torture, suspension of habeas corpus and other tactics of countries usually vilified for human rights violations? McCain-Palin do little to disclaim--in fact, tend to avoid directly addressing these issues-- as they vaguely promise more of the same.
Atwater and Rove work on much deeper levels and that is the lesson we should keep in mind.
Students of Lee Atwater would do well to study his fate and how he powerfully repented his actions as he died a slow, horrific death.
What petty and trivial elections with petty and trivial men to elect. Both parties are lame ducks and increasingly identical.
I like to think of the current election process as something like two men holding guns to your head. Which one would you prefer to take you hostage? The nut with the confederate cowboy hat who will certainly shoot and then horribly mutilate you, or the guy who looks like it's all been a terrible mistake, may very possibly be himself being held hostage in the shadowy background, and probably will be more likely to cut a deal with you.
The choice is clear(ish).
Anyway, they'll both be up for grabs when the anarchists take over.
- Insurgent
Anarchy it shall be, we only truly have the Second and Tenth left, those 2 and half a Mil of very angry citizens, hasta la vista, puerco!
BillofRights
To think that the handful of thoughtful votes here can be neutralized by votes from a redneck trailer park.
where is this newfound hatred of Obama coming from? Why so much venom suddenly? Is this normal in a presidential election? I think not.
The McCain Palin GOP are blatantly racist. The code is clear.
How long before the burning crosses and white hoods are a staple of
Palin's "rallies" ? Maybe a good ole fashioned lynching is next? String up a few homeless black people and set their bodies on fire, like in the "good old days", while little Suzie Creamcheese makes a picinic lunch for her man.
"Kill him" and "Terrorist" the white trash racists yell while she nods in agreement, urging them on.
McCain's hatred of "uppitty" Obama is palatable. won't shake his hand, wont look at him, he's "that one"..pointing at Barak. "That Uppitty Nigger" is his obvious meaning.
The supposedly "angry" Michelle Obama...would anyone care if McCains wife or Palin's hubby were "angry"? In this economy EVERYONE is angry... Angry BLACK people is the obvious reference.
"Not the same as you and me"....how much clearer can you be? "HE"S AN ANGRY BLACK MUSLIM MALE", is their meaning.
God help the non-white population of the USA if THIS bunch win the day....
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
"God help the non-white population of the USA if THIS bunch win the day...."
Yup ... also God (if there is one) help the rest of the world if this bunch manages to get a grip on power. Our wonderfully humane foreign policy will ensure that the killing machine will not stop.
Try convincing the Naderite purists (who still cant pinpoint Naders Afghan or Pakistan policy) .. about this.
I like Nader too..in a perfect world, he should be the leader of the USA to get it out of this mess...
However, you dont build a house by starting with the roofing. Nader cannot possibly win, and to vote for him, while I am sure feels wonderful, will guarantee a GOP win, which will then finish ripping out the foundations.
Naderites remind me of those Hillary supporters who would rather vote for Sarah Palin, simply for the interior configuration of her genitalia, then support a progressive male democrat.
If, on the other hand, you actively prefer the destruction of the western world, rather than hold your nose and vote for the Demo-rats, why not just go whole hog, put on your white hood, and join the Sarah Palin Lynchmob? Burn, baby, burn!
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
Demoks/Repuks both serve the same elites, only in different ways, so their contest is truly irrelevant to the people. The real contest is the class war perpetrated by elites against the people. Progressive third parties place the class war at the top of the problem list.
I agree that Nader would be great. I also agree, of course, that absolutely zero legislation would get passed if he were president. If the Democrats controlled both houses in Filibuster-proof numbers then maybe. The Real World is no fun...
It should be obvious that those who slur Obama at Republican rallies are paid by the Republicans just to do that. However, if some Americans were not racist, the Republicans would not be able to use that bait.
"I don't see how the Democrats don't understand the Lee Atwater playbook. His tactics have been winning elections, even after his death" in 1991, Forbes said.
- It's not that the Democrats don't understand it. It's that they don't even remotely have the political courage to challenge it. They're organically incapable of doing anything about it besides pretending they haven't even noticed it.
The reason they lack the courage to challenge Republican racism is because they have forfeited all claim to defending principled positions, themselves. It's true that Republicans are far more racist than Democrats, but the D's can't attack the R's with any credibility on this one issue, since their basic posture is collaborating with Republicans on everything else.
Imagine how many things a real opposition party could tear into the Republican gangsters for: treason, war crimes, torture, cronyism, looting, mass murder, shredding the Constitution.... And the Democrats have never attacked on ANY of these fronts. So if they tried to attack Republicans for racism, they realize that it wouldn't sound like the principled defense of a moral conviction -- because everyone knows Democrats don't have any moral convictions.
RichM, people like you have no moral principles. You are unrepentant for your role in putting George W. Bush in the White House, and willing to help put John McCain in the White House (yes, it's closer than the polls say). You show no remorse for the consequences - millions of lives, and the fate of the world - of your self-indulgence. You wash your hands, pretending that your phoney stance of moral superiority to "the Democrats" and your constant attacks on "the Democrats" are the only way to build a genuine progressive movement in this country - which is a convenient lie. Yes, attacking "the Democrats" is the most efficient way to recruit confused idealists into your little cult. It is no way to build a genuine, effective movement at all. It only helps the Republicans to win elections, and keeps your little cult going limply along. You and your kind are exploitative petty capitalists, and you make useful tools for the serious capitalists to stay in power.
Mark,
Please, please tell me more about how me and "my kind" are "exploitative petty capitalists." I just LOVED that part so much!! & sincerely wish you could go into greater detail on that point. // Gotta hand it to you, man -- That was dynamite stuff!
Thanks & Best Regards, RichM
RichM, you needn't try to prove or disprove a point, by your everyday moronic boring say nothing talking points you've already taken care of that. No worries, McInsane will succumb to early onset Alzheimers that will be his undoing quickly, I am with this, I know the signs, all of the melanoma and such that will not cause his rapid deterioration, Alzheimers. Then you'll have Palin in all of its glory, Props Rich wait til that goes down, au revoir!
BillofRights
RichM -
People like you are Republican pawns.
And you're not even aware of it.
Very well put.
Do you really believe that? I would say more, but far more...highly unlikely.
RichM, I find your argument generally and statistically accurate, but in reality, overstated.
You said, " . . . Democrats don't have any moral convictions."
If your statement at the end of your post was considered as a scientific hypothesis, it would be easily proven false. How?
Dennis Kucinich is a Democrat. He has proven he has moral convictions. So have several other Democrats, at times. John Lewis, Jesse Jackson (IL), Barbara Lee, Bernie Sanders, Russ Feingold and more all have, at times, exhibited a moral conviction focusing on justice, democracy, the rule of law, and other key values, and on key issues such as those you mention.
If you were to alter your argument by saying "corporate Democrats" don't have any moral convictions "that focus on justice" I'd be more agreeable with your hypothesis.
I think, objectively, even corporate Democrats like Nancy Pelosi have moral convictions. They are loyal to those who give them money. That is a moral conviction, although it is anti-democratic, corrupt, plutocratic and otherwise, based on domination.
Any well-formed hypothesis can be proven wrong with a single fact. As such, a well-formed hypothesis is testible or falsifiable. Because your hypothesis is overstated it is easy to refute. Overstating reduces the accuracy and the credibility of your argument. Qualifying your hypothesis as I have suggested makes it much more difficult to refute, and prevents inaccurate negative judgments against those who are arguably true progressives in Congress.
With great respect for you,
Earthian
On Kucinich, & the handful of others you mentioned (you could have also included Marcy Kaptur, & maybe Lynn Woolsey & Jim McDermott) --
First, this is only about 10 people, out of 285 Congressional Democrats. And it's not any of the leadership. So their numbers & clout are quite limited.
Secondly, the relationship between this tiny handful of decent Democrats and the rest of the party is that the party grudgingly tolerates them -- not because it takes seriously what the little band of left-leaning Dems says, but because the left-leaners serve as a "Left Ornament" for the party, bolstering its weak claim to being the "party of the Little Guy." In other words, the party basically uses them for show, to convince progressive & antiwar voters that they still have a place in the Democratic Party.
Third, even Kucinich himself is very subservient to the party. He supports its prowar candidates, & expresses respect for the likes of Pelosi, & so on. So when push comes to shove, he aligns with the party establishment.
Maxine Waters, Shiela Jackson-Lee, Barbara Lee, c'mon, these women and if Kucinich is in the room as well, they make you a promise, its kept. Period.
When did Dennis support its, "Pro-War" candidates, if you are referring to Obama he may have wished him well, lent him a hand in matters, other than that no has not, no. Expresses respect for PELOSI???? I think not, if because he is a great Feminist and has respect for her getting to Spkr level, okay, he never said he thought highly of how she got there nor how she doesn't do her job. The speech he made at the DNC you call that "aligning himself with the Party" ? If so regardless, he's a damn Democrat as am I, I find most in Congress heinous and lazy, caring only about making Senator or perhaps a kushy position in Obamas cabinet. Thats bullshit, you have the First you say what you do because it is as its stated but fucking A, if a Pol is a Dem 4ever WTF do you want, "Oh, most are asses ergo the Kucinich can not be a true oxymoron, an honest politician. Though he happens to be just that, Elizabeth is more beautiful in front of your face than on camera, so why is it an extremely philanthropic woman of great strength and beauty finds Dennis to be just,,,so, its because woman love men that are passionate about their beliefs, men that no matter the physical stature he is a tall drink of water in the ethics department, dedication, honesty, trustworthiness, makes no never mind that as he went to the floor to present 35 Articles of Impeachment with evidence, they swept the floor as he spoke, they all left, it didn't matter, his eyes and the strength of his convictions over those 5 hours were wondrous unique in a Pol anymore. I do have the First and I use it dearly for half is gone already. Armchair quarterbacks, they know it all, shame they can never wear the shoes of those he envys yet despises ergo the humiliation factor out of ear shot.
BillofRights
New video of Sarah Palin Rally.
http://www.killerclips.com/clip.php?id=137&qid=1873
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
John McCain and Sarah Palin are devoid of any real ideas to change the disastrous course that our nation is headed. That is why their campaign is resorting to distractions such as Ayers or not-so-veiled comments about Obama's race. McCain and Palin offer few changes to the Bush/Cheney agenda that accelerated our nation's fall to its second-rate world power status.
Nontheless, even if Obama can overcome a rigged election to become president, I doubt any real change will occur. Our political infrastructure is so corrupt that it will sooner rather than later collapse under it own weight.
"The next couple of weeks are going to be really fascinating," Forbes said. "If the Atwater playbook can destroy Obama when the economy is collapsing the way it is, then it can accomplish almost anything."
I'm very surprised that Republican race baiting hasn't been more blatant and vigorous up to this point. What we've gotten so far is Pat Buchanan using the word "exotic" and now McKKKain himself spouting "that one". However, now that we are teetering on the financial edge and the National Socialist American Swindlers' Party is plummeting in the polls as a result, nooses will start hanging from trees and the sale of bedsheets and pillow cases will suddenly increase. Pay close attention to the SA street brawler Hannity (whose birth name is Jack Boots), the closest the NSASP has to a cross between Horst Wessel and Joseph Goebbels in the MSM. It is neither a cliche nor an exaggeration to say that the next 3 weeks are going to be historic. If Obama loses because of a blitz of increasingly blatant racist attacks late in the "campaign", the next sound you'll hear is the rest of the world taking off their shoes and quietly tip toeing out of the room to get away from this mad dog of a nation.
For your next screed are you going to tie overcooked ham sandwiches in Ohio to Hitler and Cesere Borgia and the Vatican Mason lodge? Just enough history to make a fool of yourself.
There is no doubt,in my mind,that McCain is a racist as his body language gives him away no matter how much he tries to cover it up. He was the son of an Admiral and grew up in a white, priveledged society where blacks were mostly waiters,butlers,garbage men ect. who served his family. His anger and distain for a U.S.Senator that is leading him in most polls is obvious. Would he ever address Bush as THAT GUY?
This isn't "veiled" racism, it is direct, out in front mainstream American racism. This is what American racism is like all the time, practiced in denial by minds too small to accept the reality that they are "racists" in primary social orientations. It's like a churchmouse who hangs in the shadows in fright, to run out and inflict tiny vicious bite wounds on the ankles of the unsuspecting. And the toxins can be infectious and deadly. It's a widespread American cultural pattern. There's nothing veiled about it. It's everywhere, weak and dangerous because it's so weak and unwilling to reveal it's own nature to itself most of all. So there can be no confrontation or debate at all. Like a self-fulfilling commitment to egocentric greed and power, instantly the world becomes a jungle where all this delusion becomes strategy. It's what this crazy lady from up north is all about. And she is an American archetype (unfortunately, a symptom of deeper social insanity).
The racist attitudes toward Obama may be more obvious at the local level.
We have posters on local boards here in Georgia trying to link Obama to the all black Board of Education in Clayton County, whose school system just lost its acreditation.
q
Everyone gets smeared with mud once you get involved in it by throwing it, fending it off or attacking back.
It reminds me of when my father took me to boxing matches in the early 1950s at the Olympic Arena in Los Angeles.
When I saw the people in the front rows unfolding newspapers and putting them in their laps, I asked my father what they were doing and why.
His reply, "To keep blood off of their clothes."
So I resist as best I can from entering the mud slinging fray because this isn't a prize fight, or a mud slinging contest - we are trying to select the best team to lead the nation.