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You are here: Home / Politics / Makes Sense To Me

Makes Sense To Me

by John Cole|  October 21, 200911:07 am| 73 Comments

This post is in: Politics

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Not seeing a problem here:

President Obama is working systematically to marginalize the most powerful forces behind the Republican Party, setting loose top White House officials to undermine conservatives in the media, business and lobbying worlds.

With a series of private meetings and public taunts, the White House has targeted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest-spending pro-business lobbying group in the country; Rush Limbaugh, the country’s most-listened-to conservative commentator; and now, with a new volley of combative rhetoric in recent days, the insurance industry, Wall Street executives and Fox News. President Obama is working systematically to marginalize the most powerful forces behind the Republican Party, setting loose top White House officials to undermine conservatives in the media, business and lobbying worlds.

Considering Rush Limbaugh and the lunatics at Fox are unstable and dishonest and an actual threat to the country, and the Wall Street execs almost brought down the world economy, the only thing I can say about this strategy is “MORE OF THIS, PLEASE.” Even if it gives Jake Tapper and company the vapors.

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Reader Interactions

73Comments

  1. 1.

    Crashman06

    October 21, 2009 at 11:10 am

    As the Shrub once said, “Bring it on.”

  2. 2.

    Violet

    October 21, 2009 at 11:11 am

    Please, sir, can I have some more. Bring it on, Barack. It’s about time a president did something like this.

  3. 3.

    NobodySpecial

    October 21, 2009 at 11:11 am

    The poor media, what will they do for stories then? Obama will have forced them to talk to organizations that support Democrats! Unthunkable! Inconceivable!

  4. 4.

    Redshirt

    October 21, 2009 at 11:13 am

    Indeed! The War for logic and sanity is truly joined. Here’s to pushing back the Wingularity!

  5. 5.

    Violet

    October 21, 2009 at 11:14 am

    OT – John, you’ve seen James Wolcott’s post about Bitsy right? Also, hope you are doing okay this morning after Tunch’s attention-getting antics last night.

    Back on topic – Go, Barack, go!

  6. 6.

    Comrade Mary

    October 21, 2009 at 11:17 am

    Wait — fighting WORDS with MORE WORDS!

    Oh noes, will this dastardly commie government stop at nothing? I can hear the jackboots already.

  7. 7.

    slag

    October 21, 2009 at 11:17 am

    MORE OF THIS, PLEASE

    Yes! Yes indeed!

    This is exactly what I wanted to see before they let Van Jones go (yes, I’m still bitter about that). Better late than never.

  8. 8.

    Napoleon

    October 21, 2009 at 11:19 am

    Ah, I see the Politico piece has more concern trolling on going after Fox News, which I personally think is one of the smartest things the Obama crew has done since the election, and that is even before seeing that the Villagers would get the vapors over it (which makes me think it must be a good thing).

  9. 9.

    Comrade Mary

    October 21, 2009 at 11:19 am

    (And may I just add that I love the ransom note effect of the mix of regular caps and small caps the blog produces? Note that the mix changes once again after they’re quoted.)

  10. 10.

    Mark

    October 21, 2009 at 11:19 am

    Robert Greenwalds’ 2004 film “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism” should be required viewing for Fox defenders.

  11. 11.

    Incertus

    October 21, 2009 at 11:20 am

    President Obama Bush is working systematically to marginalize the most powerful forces behind the Republican Party Democratic party, setting loose top White House officials to undermine conservatives liberals in the liberalmedia, business union and lobbying worlds.

    Hmmm. Seems to me that’s what people in power do–try to undermine their opposition. This is shocking somehow?

  12. 12.

    geg6

    October 21, 2009 at 11:20 am

    Oh, and the concern trolling Politico is doing in that article!

    An experienced Democratic strategist who likes Obama said his team was having a tough time striking the right balance between short-term skirmishing and the president’s long-term image. “The key to their success — short term and long term — is his personal likability and approval rating,” said the strategist, who requested anonymity in order to speak bluntly. “They’ve taken their eye off that ball a little bit.”

    The White House approach could backfire if Obama looks too political or petty, some Democrats say privately. The skeptical reaction to the attacks on Fox News shows this is a possibility: Key commentators have argued that it is foolish of the White House to spend so much time slamming one network simply because it dislikes much of its programming.

    Oh, lawdy! Someone might think the prezzie is political! And the media is skeptical!

    That’s it. This administration is obviously a complete and total failure.

  13. 13.

    Violet

    October 21, 2009 at 11:20 am

    @Napoleon:

    the Villagers would get the vapors over it (which makes me think it must be a good thing).

    Yes, exactly. If they’re against it, it’s got to be a good thing.

  14. 14.

    Comrade Jake

    October 21, 2009 at 11:24 am

    Tapper is really just an incredible tool. Every once in awhile you’ll stumble across one of his concern-troll posts and wonder how anyone in the media could possibly be such a cheese dick.

  15. 15.

    Napoleon

    October 21, 2009 at 11:25 am

    Even though I understand that David Carr of the NY Times wrote a piece where he opined that he thought it was stupid for the WH to take on Fox and many have panned that piece, this piece of his on crossing Fox and how they respond like a Republican political campaign is instructive.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/business/media/07carr.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=fox&st=cse&oref=slogin

  16. 16.

    Xanthippas

    October 21, 2009 at 11:26 am

    So I guess directly responding to their various idiocies is “undermining” now?

  17. 17.

    Balconesfault

    October 21, 2009 at 11:28 am

    One could argue that Obama might be the savior of the Republican Party if he succeeds. These various nutjobs and profiteers have dragged the GOP out into the wilderness and treated it like Warren Beatty in Deliverance … and the biggest beneficiaries of Obama’s push to delegitamize Fox et al might not be the Democrats, but the moderate Repubs (and some Conservative Dems who might be inclined to return to being Republicans if the crazies are defanged).

  18. 18.

    sloan

    October 21, 2009 at 11:29 am

    And it’s about damn time.

    After decades of the Republican party howling like banshees about the “Liberal Media!” we finally have someone willing to push back and call out the blatantly obvious bias of Fox News.

    Look at the reaction on the Right – they’re freaking out because for the first time ever they’ve gotten a small taste of their own medicine. This is really the first time they’ve been called out on their bias, and they’re so thin-skinned it’s causing mass hysteria in Republicanland. They’ve never had to defend themselves. Ever. It’s been a free ride for Fox News since day one.

    What really kills me is the loudest defenders of Fox News are the same mainstream outlets who have been on the receiving end of “liberal media” bashing for the last 30 years.

    NYT, WaPo, ABC and the like are deeply concerned that Fox News is being held to account. This would be the same NYT that was frozen out by Bush for his entire presidency – except when Cheney fed fake Iraqi intel to Judith Miller – who now works for Fox News.

    Keep it up, White House. Make the whiny ass titty babies squirm. Squirm baby, squirm!

  19. 19.

    Kryptik

    October 21, 2009 at 11:33 am

    Even if it gives Jake Tapper and company the vapors?

    ESPECIALLY if it gives Jake Tapper and company the vapors.

  20. 20.

    dadanarchist

    October 21, 2009 at 11:34 am

    You have to cruise on over to Politico’s stupid-all-the-time “Arena” and check out the “reactions” by Republican operatives Cesar Conda and Bradley Blakeman.

    Conda bemoans Obama’s lack of civility by comparing Obama to the Bush White House!

    Blakeman uses that classic wanker phrase: “unprecedented.”

    The hackery is so strong.

  21. 21.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 21, 2009 at 11:35 am

    @Balconesfault: Ned Beatty, not Warren.

  22. 22.

    Violet

    October 21, 2009 at 11:35 am

    @Napoleon:

    David Carr of the NY Times

    Every time I see David Carr’s name, this is how my thought process works – “Wait, David Carr? He’s a football player. He’s writing for the New York Times? Well, no surprise there – they let anyone write for newspapers these days. Oh, wait, I guess that’s some other David Carr.”

    Pretty much sums up my opinion of the MSM these days. They’ll let anyone write for them.

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    October 21, 2009 at 11:35 am

    Sheesh. You’d think these folks in the media slept through the entire 2008 campaign cycle or something. This sort of thing is *exactly* in accordance with how Obama ran his campaign first against Hillary Clinton and then against McCain. Then, as now, the media ignores long-term strategy in favor of “who won the day” and whatever Glen Beck is gibbering about today.

    If ever the definitive book on The Village is written, I think “Missing the forest for the trees” would be a good subtitle.

    -dms

  24. 24.

    dadanarchist

    October 21, 2009 at 11:36 am

    @geg6: Oh, and the concern trolling Politico is doing in that article!

    Isn’t that about all Politico is good for?

    If Richard Cohen is America’s Concern Troll, than the Politico is America’s Concern Troll Bridge.

  25. 25.

    Joel

    October 21, 2009 at 11:40 am

    Let me tell you about a guy who’s calm and plain
    He goes by the name of Big Daddy Kane…

  26. 26.

    inkadu

    October 21, 2009 at 11:41 am

    Democrats aren’t supposed to fight back. This will be excellent news for John McCain.

    And I don’t know what right the Obama administration has to criticize members of another political party. I mean, does he think he’s the president or something?

  27. 27.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    October 21, 2009 at 11:41 am

    “They won — why don’t they act like it?” said Dana Perino, former White House press secretary to Bush. “The more they fight, the more defensive they look. It’s only been 10 months, and they’re burning bridges in a lot of different places.”

    Concern troll is concerned.

  28. 28.

    Citizen_X

    October 21, 2009 at 11:42 am

    Warning: pedantry ahead!

    @Balconesfault:

    treated it like Warren Beatty in Deliverance

    Not Warren Beatty, Ned Beatty. The shlubby Beatty, not the matinee-idol one.

    And I agree that Obama could just let the Repubs wander off into the woods and die, except that they’re on the verge of becoming actually dangerous and destructive of the country’s ability to govern itself. It’s better that they get walked back from the cliff.

    On edit: Omnes is quicker than me.

  29. 29.

    feebog

    October 21, 2009 at 11:45 am

    Uh…

    These various nutjobs and profiteers have dragged the GOP out into the wilderness and treated it like Warren Beatty in Deliverance …

    That was Ned Beatty in Deliverance…

    Ok, now that I have that off my chest, allow me to opine that the White House exposing Faux Noose as a propoganda machine for the GOP is exactly the right thing to do. I would love for Rahm or Axelrod to challenge Faux to go back in their archives and pull out a single story that was complimentary to Obama. They won’t find any. Fair and Balanced my ass.

  30. 30.

    slag

    October 21, 2009 at 11:48 am

    Around the thirty first minute mark of this video, Obama suggests that Republicans should at least “feel a little shame”. Not gonna happen.

  31. 31.

    The Moar You Know

    October 21, 2009 at 11:49 am

    The old rules were that the entire right-wing and their political party, the GOP, were allowed to punch liberals in the balls repeatedly and us liberals were supposed to stand there and take it.

    Now we’re objecting, and noting that they are, in fact, kicking us in the balls.

    I’m not impressed by the very minimal steps towards fighting the bullies of the right that the left has taken so far. Noting that Fox is the propaganda arm of the GOP? That should have happened while Clinton was still president.

    The right wing has been asking to get their asses kicked for the last couple of decades and I’d like my elected representatives to step up and at least throw a punch or two.

  32. 32.

    Fulcanelli

    October 21, 2009 at 11:50 am

    It should be so easy for Obama to bait the pundits and media douche nozzles on the right and their corporatist über lords into ratcheting up their rhetorical howling to the point where sane, reasonable folks run in the other direction simply to escape the crazy and shut them out. It wouldn’t be the first time, and these assholes never learn.

    Perhaps then he can rightfully be revealed as the far from perfect, but reasonably level headed and somewhat inspirational President he can be, who’s – a) still getting his sea legs and needs to be left the fuck alone for a little while so he can – b) spend some time skullfucking his party’s congressional delegation into line, then he can – c) get a grip on fixing the cosmic scale economic and political clusterfuck that a generation of Republican political dominance has left in his lap.

  33. 33.

    Da Bomb

    October 21, 2009 at 11:55 am

    @Joel:
    A mellow type of fellow that’s laid back
    Back in the days, he was always like that

  34. 34.

    DanF

    October 21, 2009 at 11:59 am

    @Balconesfault:

    That was my thought. Obama is undermining the destructive forces in the GOP – the money players which ultimately corrupts all of politics – and the the crazy, hate-merchants. I suspect he’ll have more success marginalizing the hate-merchants (as we have our share of bought and paid for congress-critters too). Eventually it will dawn on the GOP that the Beck-Limbaughs are a boat anchor.

    The Southern Strategy inherently came with a day-of-reckoning clause. That day is nearly upon them and they will need to shed a chunk of the base to remain viable outside of the South.

  35. 35.

    Ash Can

    October 21, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    “…they’re burning bridges in a lot of different places.”

    She sees bridges, but that’s because she’s delusional. Sane people look at what she calls bridges and see heaps of trash. Except for the godawful stench they give off while they’re burning, why shouldn’t the administration torch them?

  36. 36.

    Trinity

    October 21, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    @Fulcanelli: This.

  37. 37.

    geg6

    October 21, 2009 at 12:04 pm

    @Balconesfault:

    Dude! That’s Ned Beatty. NOT Warren.

  38. 38.

    Cat

    October 21, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    When the Obama Admin fires and stops appointing execs and lobbyists from the big Wall Street firms maybe you can make a case for him trying to marginalize them.

  39. 39.

    GReynoldsCT00

    October 21, 2009 at 12:06 pm

    @Violet:

    Holy shit!

  40. 40.

    Waynski

    October 21, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    @ The Moar You Know — I’m with you. It should be “Ow My Balls” every hour of every day for the GOP

  41. 41.

    Violet

    October 21, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    @GReynoldsCT00:
    Yeah, it’s really cool, isn’t it? I’d love it if John would front page it with a bleg. Maybe more bloggers and pundits would join in? A girl can dream….

  42. 42.

    bobbo

    October 21, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    When I first read the Politico excerpt, I thought I was reading Michelle Malkin. “Undermine”? “Marginalize”? Seriously? Pushing back against your opponents in the political arena, criticizing them for the things they do which you think are harmful to the body politic – these are not “undermining” or “marginalizing.” Sending spies into the organization, spreading rumors, using government agencies to investigate them for nonexistent tax code violations or the like, now that would be undermining.

    These people need to find their smelling salts.

  43. 43.

    cleek

    October 21, 2009 at 12:15 pm

    i’m just waiting for the chance to title a post “Fox On The Run”

  44. 44.

    kay

    October 21, 2009 at 12:21 pm

    Pundits all worried over the Limbaugh = Republicans strategy too, and I think that was completely effective.

    Rush Limbaugh = Republican leader. They did that in 2 weeks.

    He’s completely repulsive on nearly every level, women are repelled by him, and no one (now) even bothers to deny he’s the Republican Party. They’re one and the same thing.

    So they “GOP” = a troika of gross, excessively dramatic unhinged men: Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity = the Republican Party.

    I think it might work. It did last time.

  45. 45.

    p.a.

    October 21, 2009 at 12:22 pm

    Actually, they have marginilized themselves, it’s just that when we DFH’s point this out, the residents of Broderworld (or is it Brookiana ?) ignore or attack us en mass. Now that someone who actually counts in their world is saying it, they’re in a tizzy. Possible ’emperor has no clothes’ moment for the MSM.

  46. 46.

    kay

    October 21, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    @bobbo:

    Media need to find a theme and stick with it. They’re all relentlessly conventional followers and no one is leading on this!
    What is the Obama White House anyway? Knee-capping and ruthless, or elitist and weak?
    They’ll be okay, deep breath, once they get their arms around a theme.

  47. 47.

    Seanly

    October 21, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    Even if it gives Jake Tapper and company the vapors.

    I think that is a feature, not a bug.

  48. 48.

    dr. luba

    October 21, 2009 at 12:27 pm

    From the Politico comments:

    Next week: POLITICO reports that Obama plans to COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNDERMINE the Republican party by trying to push through his agenda, and even run for reelection, using sinister techniques honed in the 2008 campaign, like campaigning and going on TV. According to unnamed sources, this is exacerbating partisan tensions in Washington.

    “What’s his problem?” Dana Perino said. “All we did was say he was a Muslim Socialist Nazi African who wasn’t born in this country and wants to kill your grandmother with his health care plan, and now he’s saying Fox isn’t legitimate news. It’s exactly what Hitler would do.”

    Privately, unnamed sources agreed.

    On Fox News, commentators were even more critical of Obama’s plan to criticize Fox News. “Folks, if you weren’t scared before, you should be now,” commentator Glenn Beck remarked on his show. “Oh sure, the liberal media wants you to believe that ALL presidents run for reelection. But as I can demonstrate with this whiteboard diagram, what Obama really has in mind is nothing less than a Stalinist-Marxist-Leninist-Nazist-Czarist plot to install himself as PRESIDENT FOR LIFE.” He then began breaking down into tears. “Stand with me and the News Corp Conglomerate on the side of…sniff…freedom.”

    What do Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, and think of all this? Stay tuned…Mike Allen has the scoop!

  49. 49.

    liberal

    October 21, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    @dadanarchist:

    Isn’t that about all Politico is good for?

    Glenn Greenwald had a funny tweet about Politico: “saying Politico added a gossip page is like saying the Washington Post added a neocon page.”

  50. 50.

    liberal

    October 21, 2009 at 12:33 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    I’m not impressed by the very minimal steps towards fighting the bullies of the right that the left has taken so far. Noting that Fox is the propaganda arm of the GOP? That should have happened while Clinton was still president.

    I agree with most of your sentiments, but Obama and Clinton aren’t “the left”; they’re the middle.

  51. 51.

    sparky

    October 21, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    @Cat: yup. the rest of this is, sorry, just blather about blather. when, if ever, Obama or Schumer tell Wall Street to drop dead, then something may change. otherwise, this is the same strategy as with civil liberties: sing a pretty song to assuage the base and then ignore it. the only people missing the forest for the trees are the people thinking this is a meaningful change. oh, and Rupert probably thinks this is great, as controversy=ratings=(sort of) revenue.
    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/10/guest-post-still-the-masters-of-the-universe.html

  52. 52.

    Lex

    October 21, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    Obama isn’t attacking “conservatives,” he’s attacking the reactionary, the delusional and the anticonstitutional. There’s a difference.

    And he needs to hit ’em with the chair.

  53. 53.

    drillfork

    October 21, 2009 at 12:55 pm

    Uh, I see a problem here. Obama wants nothing more than to make the Democrats the go-to party for corporate interests. That’s what all these confrontations are about. I know as president he’s the leader of the Democratic Party, but Obama should lead the country first.

    And, seriously, has Obama’s rhetoric about Wall Street executives in particular ever meant jack shite? Ever?…

  54. 54.

    matoko_chan

    October 21, 2009 at 12:56 pm

    umm…actually this is strategy.
    Obama working systematically to glue FOX, Rush, Beck, Wallstreet, the Healthcare insurers, etc onto the GOP…..the face of the GOP.
    The way conservatives have always held onto power was by misdirection….look! the niggers are gettin your wymmens/stuff!
    Obama is pointing out the nasty little shortmen behind the curtain.
    He isn’t containing FOX…..he is quarantining FOX….and n/e one not infected with crazypants is gettin the eff out.

  55. 55.

    Roger Moore

    October 21, 2009 at 1:00 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    It’s only been 10 months, and they’re burning bridges in a lot of different places.

    They know that bridges are a favorite hiding place for concern trolls.

  56. 56.

    ksmiami

    October 21, 2009 at 1:15 pm

    Roger Moore:

    Billy Goat’s Gruff is one of my favorite kids stories. I think the bridge would collapse though if Rush Limbaugh tried to get across it ;)

  57. 57.

    Legalize

    October 21, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    I can’t wait for the next Obama presser. You know approximately 100% of the questions will involve how mean he’s being to poor FAUX News. I’d love all of the questions to be taken by the usual cheese dicks, i.e. Tapper, Chip Reid, etc., just to watch Barack smack them around with a little grin on his face. Obama is at his best when he has fools to bitch slap for being, well, fools.

  58. 58.

    asiangrrlMN

    October 21, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    @dadanarchist: Troll Bridge! Love it.

    Divide and conquer, bitchez! As Benen (I think) said, it’s time to cut out the middleman–the Chamber of Commerce.

  59. 59.

    ruemara

    October 21, 2009 at 1:46 pm

    I’m not sure if I understand the concerns. Aren’t your enemies supposed to be confounded, bamboozled and generally despoiled until you claw victory from their weak, ineffectual hands, then run off with their milkshake?

    It’s always worked for me.

    Maybe “journalists” should just sit this out, if it’s too bloody for them.

  60. 60.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 21, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    @Violet: I have a close relative named David Carr, who is neither a football player nor a writer for the NY Times (but would, I think, have enjoyed both jobs and would have been pretty good at them).

  61. 61.

    TenguPhule

    October 21, 2009 at 2:00 pm

    You’d think these folks in the media slept through the entire 2008 campaign cycle or something.

    They never saw anything because their heads never left John McCain’s Lap.

    And then Palin flashed her tits at them and that’s all they wrote.

  62. 62.

    KC

    October 21, 2009 at 2:14 pm

    “They won — why don’t they act like it?” said Dana Perino,

    They are.

    Coming from Bush’s press secretary, that’s just bizarre.

  63. 63.

    r€nato

    October 21, 2009 at 2:31 pm

    I hope all the left-wing whiners will knock off the “Obama is no better than Bush!” crap now.

    But I doubht they will.

  64. 64.

    Reason60

    October 21, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    @Balconesfault:

    “One could argue that Obama might be the savior of the Republican Party if he succeeds. These various nutjobs and profiteers have dragged the GOP out into the wilderness and treated it like Warren Beatty in Deliverance … ” While Fox News squeals like a pig.

    Amen.
    America needs two legitimate parties, not one party and an opposing army of kooks.
    The best thing Wm. F. Buckly did for conservatism was ostracize the Bircher “kooks” and establish a respectable alternative to New Deal liberalism.

  65. 65.

    Roger Moore

    October 21, 2009 at 2:49 pm

    @ruemara:

    Aren’t your enemies supposed to be confounded, bamboozled and generally despoiled until you claw victory from their weak, ineffectual hands, then run off with their milkshake?

    No. Just ask the Governator. He’ll tell you that the idea is, “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.”

  66. 66.

    Makewi

    October 21, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    He’s failing miserably at this. In fact, he’s so bad at it that one would suspect his real intent is to increase the popularity of right leaning outlets and the overall number of people identifying as conservatives.

  67. 67.

    Groucho48

    October 21, 2009 at 4:38 pm

    One main point I do get from the Politico article is that it explicitly acknowledges that Fox News is “a powerful force behind the Republican Party”. It does the same for the Chamber of Commerce, but, everyone kind of knew that, anyway.

  68. 68.

    JenJen

    October 21, 2009 at 4:53 pm

    Speaking of Jake Tapper, he’s been quite the pissy little Tweeter all day. I think Media Matters got under his skin a bit.

  69. 69.

    Wile E. Quixote

    October 21, 2009 at 6:29 pm

    @Balconesfault

    One could argue that Obama might be the savior of the Republican Party if he succeeds. These various nutjobs and profiteers have dragged the GOP out into the wilderness and treated it like Warren Beatty in Deliverance

    That was Ned Beatty who was cornholed in Deliverance, not Warren Beatty, who from what I’ve read cornholed quite a few Hollywood starlets.

  70. 70.

    Wile E. Quixote

    October 21, 2009 at 6:54 pm

    @Makewi

    He’s failing miserably at this. In fact, he’s so bad at it that one would suspect his real intent is to increase the popularity of right leaning outlets and the overall number of people identifying as conservatives.

    Yeah, right, face facts, the only people who identify as conservatives these days are people who like to say ni***er in public and are upset that people call them on it when they do so. The Republican party is finally starting to see the results of the “double down on the crazy” strategy and they’re finding out that it’s not too pretty.

  71. 71.

    Wile E. Quixote

    October 21, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    @John Cole

    Considering Rush Limbaugh and the lunatics at Fox are unstable and dishonest and an actual threat to the country, and the Wall Street execs almost brought down the world economy, the only thing I can say about this strategy is “MORE OF THIS, PLEASE.” Even if it gives Jake Tapper and company the vapors.

    Muah, hah, hah, hah! Suck it Jake Tapper. Suck it long and hard you candy-assed, punk of a dog-fucking concern troll.

  72. 72.

    chrome agnomen

    October 21, 2009 at 9:51 pm

    marginalize is a relative term.

    sure, a lot of media heads may suffer the usual vagaries of public acclaim, but it’s a given that the real players always operate below the radar as a matter of course. aggrandizement goes on apace, no matter where the spotlight shines.

  73. 73.

    JackieBinAZ

    October 21, 2009 at 11:03 pm

    Only Republicans are allowed to control the narrative.

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