I loved John’s post last night:
I’ve been having a ball this week with the Komen shit-show. Not just because it was such a hideous blunder and there was so much hourly incompetence to chronicle, but because GOD DAMNED IT FEELS GOOD TO BE ON THE OFFENSIVE.
But the truth is, we’re not really on the offensive here, we’re just counterpunching against the worst excesses of the right. It’s a weird situation right now, where the demographic advantages for the Democratic party are piling up, while the Republicans maintain a huge advantage in terms of institutional and message control. Drudge/Fox can get half the world and 100% of establishment media talking about James O’Keefe’s latest exploit whenever it wants to. There’s no counterpart on the left. There’s a similar imbalance with think tanks, both because the right-wing think tanks are more numerous and better-funded, and because they operate as political propaganda outfits, not as Kevin Drum/Matt Yglesias-style thumb-suckers and contrarians. And I expect Republicans’ SuperPACs to match the Obama fundraising juggernaut dollar-for-dollar.
But none of this will change the fact that the Republican party’s policy and message are increasingly alienating to everyone who’s not a white, straight, Tebow-fearing, older man. If anything, the Republicans’ ability to drive their message is only speeding the process up. Steve M:
This right-wing wealth machine is formidable. We won’t really have a democracy as long as such a thing can have the undue influence it has on our politics. I’m not sure our side can beat it — the best we can hope is that it beats itself. And, given the uglier nature of the GOP primaries, which really should be effectively over by now but aren’t, maybe that’s precisely what’s happening.
It doesn’t feel so good to admit that there is no chance to advance progressive policy at the national level for the foreseeable future (though as someone who thinks ACA is the most important progressive legislation of my lifetime, I don’t feel that bad about this). It would be great if Democrats could throw our country a life-line, but probably the best we can do right now is throw the Republicans an anvil.
Update. Not meant to be a downner here, by all means, let’s keep counterpunching and throwing anvils.
Baud
Dougie Downer :(
Zandar
The principles of Aikido have been around for a long time. Sometimes directing your opponent’s momentum into the nearest wall really is the most effective strategy.
Ronzoni Rigatoni
Well, yup. ‘Tis a nail-biter, all right. We shall see. We shall see.
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
@Zandar:
Exactly.
jrg
I agree. This is like saying you won a fist fight because you kicked the guy a few times after he slipped on a banana peel.
Hannity Hussein
Hey I’m a white, straight, Tebow-fearing, older man and please don’t stereotype us all.
I recognize rat bastards when I see them.
Ok, I don’t fear Tim Tebow. He just sucks.
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
@Hannity Hussein:
I’m not stereotyping you, I’m just saying that not everyone in your demographic group is being actively alienated by the Republican party, only some of you.
BGinCHI
It’s going to be really interesting to see how the wealth advantage intersects with the generational shift. OWS was the first move in this game, and if that’s any indication, the older white conservative world has NO idea how to deal with it. Unless you think pepper spray and dismissive rhetoric are winning strategies.
And once the GOP pisses off the cops and the military, they’re really fucked.
Schlemizel
No DJ, I think you got it about right.
lamh35
I ain’t gonna lie DougJ when I first read this my first thought was this and this
buzz kill
But actually I do agree with much of what you said
Smiling Mortician
Doug @ top:
They already have the anvil, and they’re embracing it more passionately every day. But like Wile E. Coyote, right now they’re sort of hanging over the chasm, refusing to fall. Rather than throwing a lifeline, it would be cool if we could build a bridge right over them — steadily and purposefully — and keep reminding them that the ground is down there waiting for them. Because, you know, that’s when Wile E. Coyote falls — when he looks down.
Damn. I liked that whole analogy a lot better before I typed it.
Steve M.
Thank you (again) for the link, and for linking what I wrote back to the Komen fight, which I was going to try to do. If the Komen people really did lose, it was another case of them beating themselves via overreach.
And I have no idea why I wrote “uglier” instead of “ugly.”
Brian R.
Well said. The Republicans worked for decades to build an echo chamber in which conservatively-approved propaganda would flourish and spread, with one whopper reinforcing the others in a self-perpetuating stream of bullshit.
They’ve created it brick by brick, from Limbaugh to Beck, from Fox News to the conservative blogosphere, but they’ve finally created it — an iron-clad echo chamber with a perfect, airtight seal that keeps out all those inconvenient facts and hard data that disproves their right-wing bullshit.
They won’t realize that very same seal is not letting in any oxygen until it’s far too late.
General Stuck
Very good post DougJ. I agree with about all of it. We don’t need to go on offense so much, as taking off the gloves on defense, or something like that. The wingers want to drag us into the mudpit with insane politicking that they are best at. The trick is for dems to maintain a air of sanity while pulling up all the ladders and letting the wingers feed on each other.
We did that in WI and OH, and on the Komen culture war front. And with any help from the FSM, the coming election will witness to wingnuts fully gone cannibal on themselves. It’s a bit of hair splitting, but an important distinction, imo.
moonbat
I’ll take my momentum/inspiration where I can find it, if I can find it. Stop harshing my mellow, Doug.
If they give you an opening, like the Komen people did, run through it and keep running.
JGabriel
@Zandar:
Then Obama must be an Akido master.
.
piratedan
what was that old saying about sinking anvils floating all boats?
gwangung
@JGabriel: Yup.
And I don’t know why so many progressives don’t accept akido as a valid form of strategy.
If the right wing DOESN’T over-reach, they tend to compromise–and isn’t that what American people as a whole want?
gwangung
Pretty basic tactics, though. Keep your guard up and pounce on your opponents mistakes.
Of course, that means very vigilant and being aware at all times. That seems to be beyond a lot of the American public.
Cacti
@JGabriel:
Or if you prefer a boxing metaphor, Obama is the master of the political rope-a-dope.
Anya
I think there’s a case against Rep. Stearns, Susan G. Komen and Bush flunkies conspiring to destroy Planned Parenthood. Can they be investigated under RICO? I bet if someone looks deep, you can find some sort of a coordination going on.
To get to the topic at hand, DougJ is right, I think we’re always catching up. I think it’s because we’re not vicious or accomplished liars. I bet there are still a lot of misguided Democrats who support the Maine twins. WTF! How gullible can you get.
Nancy
@Steve M.: Steve, In Arkansas, SGK has never partnered with PP due to the clout of the religious fundies. This is nothing new, and I suspect it is already happening in other states. Chris Hayes had a good piece in October which they reprised on the 2nd.
http://upwithchrishayes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/02/10301214-the-attack-on-planned-parenthood
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Zandar: I think we are wise to recognize this, remember it in the dark days, and employ it at every opportunity.
IM
Is is a defensive victory. But that is important too.
Nancy
@Anya: Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life completely danced around Hayes’ question if she was working with Stearns in the October link I provided at #22. She also accused PP of doing more and more abortions, she cited Indiana PP, and completely ignores the fact that through assassination and terror, private abortion providers have been driven out of the that part of women’s health care.
bemused
@Nancy:
It was a great segment. The panel did a good job questioning her too.
WereBear
DougJ, I think I love you :)
But I want to know for sure…
bemused
@Steve M.:
Atending the Koch seminar, one extremely fat cat finances Santorum, the Adelman’s finance Newt and Koch finances Romney. It’s astonishing. They have so much money, they can throw it at three different candidates, yet still all get together. I imagine they have plenty of other vile plans to fund on their agenda but still, the mind reels.
Anya
@Nancy: Just watched the segment. What a douchebag. That asshole should watch the video that John posted above. Why do they care more about a fetus than an actual living person’s well-being?
trollhattan
All my anvils to be thrown will be Acme brand. I hope that’s okay.
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: Glad to see that you are buying American.
handsmile
Let’s hope and, more importantly, let’s press upon our Democratic elected officials (I’m not including Obama here) and the party’s national leadership to respect and emulate these more effective tactics.
It must be noted that 29 Democratic senators did not sign the letter to the Komen foundation urging it to reconsider its decision on Planned Parenthood.
Too many Democratic Party “leaders” are falling behind and failing its committed and creative vanguard.
handsmile
@DougJarvus Green-Ellis:
Not a downer at all; rather, an astute appraisal.
But now, I must inquire about the next convocation of the Balloon Juice Reading Society. I realize that you’re on sabbatical at an undisclosed location, but all pina coladas and beachside massages make Doug a …?
boss bitch
Here’s an idea: How about “our side” stop waiting on Obama and the Democratic party to take the lead in these fights? That is not a criticism of them by the way. I’m just tired of “our side” demanding that they hold our hands all time.
I was following this on twitter and not once did I see anyone demanding that “Obama needs to say something” or “Where’s Harry Reid?” blah blah blah. Like in Wisconsin, people got mad enough and got off their asses and got in the opposition’s face. In a constructive way, of course. This Komen ‘win’ brought together a great mix of people and organizations and not one of them waited on Obama to do or say something.
Mnemosyne
@Steve M.:
Steve, I love you, man, but this part of your PP post made me laugh out loud in a bad way:
The right has been actively trying to destroy Planned Parenthood for well over a decade. This Komen action isn’t some kind of first strike, more like strike number 1,646,745 in their ongoing and continuing war against PP.
If this action by Komen finally made liberal men wake up and realize what us women on the left have been screaming about for a decade, great, but this was just another skirmish in the ongoing war, not something new and different from the right.
Keith G
Where does your hard-on for Kevin Drum come from? If you are going to call him out as a thumb sucker on this front page, put the case out in public. Give concrete reasons why you should be believed. Anyone can call names or pull pranks. Lay down an argument that has meaning. Don’t be part of the problem.
J. Michael Neal
Fuck off, Doug. Having serious, honest, policy driven think tanks is a strength, not a weakness. We *also* need a better way to get the message out, but that’s not a problem that will be solved by trashing the policy institutions we already have.
As I’ve said before, this insistence that everyone spend all of their time screaming shit at the top of their lungs is destructive. It’s an insistence that we follow the Republicans into the ditch of caring only about seizing power and not at all about governing. If we were to jump in their with them, all it would further is the ruin of the country.
J. Michael Neal
@Keith G: Or what he said.
gwangung
Hell YES!.
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
@Keith
He regularly quotes mcmegan and not in a mocking way.
trollhattan
@DougJarvus Green-Ellis:
Buried in yesterday’s BJ post and comment blizzard (oof, that reads oddly) was WaPo’s Jennifer Ruben citing and quoting McMegan–two paragraphs’ worth–in a column re. those PP “bullies.” Whoever sources McMegan non-ironically needs to be suspect.
Mike
http://ww5.komen.org/Contact.aspx
1-877 GO KOMEN (1-877-465-6636)
[email protected]
Komen supported in attack on Planned Parenthood by
Americans United for Life President and its far right president Charmaine Yoest
[email protected]
Of course the usual gang of idiots is foaming at the mouth that people dare to thwart their agenda:
Kathleen Parker
[email protected]
Bill O’Reilly
[email protected]
Sean Hannity
[email protected]
the Couch Spuds
[email protected]
Napoleon
@Keith G:
This
Keith G
@DougJarvus Green-Ellis:
Thanks for the comeback. A less then full summation, but doing my part as time permits, I will search his site and see the genesis and context of those instances. My default position is to respect his process even if I have not always agreed with Kevin’s conclusions.
I love when Right Wing purity police stir up shit in nut land. I am not fond of it over here.
Edited
Billy Rae Valentine
@boss bitch:
THIS. thank you for voicing what i’ve been feeling for the past 3 years.
RinaX
@boss bitch:
Exactly. Fact of the matter is, even after President Obama wins in November, he’s only in for four more years. I feel that our side did itself in the first two years with infighting while the right kept whipping their voters into a frenzy. There HAS to be some sort of national cohesive movement for the left by the time 2016 rolls around, and they have to be prepared to support the 2016 Democratic nominee. And that movement has to focus at the local level and not just the big-name races that get all the attention, because IMO even more damage is being done there than at the national level.
anonymous for now
Serious question here – if you could ask left leaning nonprofits to do something better, what would that be? How would you imagine them doing it? I can get answers to people decently plugged in.
And I’m not talking Drum or Yglesias – they work for magazines. I’m talking your left leaning non profits.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Hannity Hussein:
there is only one solution, you have to differentiate yourself from the folks who fall into the gop target demo, and go along with their messaging.
get thee a neck tattoo, and gauge out your earlobs.
bemused senior
@handsmile: Ditto re the book club. In the context of the primaries and the Ronulan onslaught, I suggest a reality-based book, “Don’t Shoot”, by David M. Kennedy. Aside from being a description of a fact-based approach to effective drug enforcement and one way to address the bad relationship between law enforcement and inner-city residents, it is a great read. For a taste, go here.
Keith G
@DougJarvus Green-Ellis: In the last 365 days, Drum quoted McArdle four times. My summary:
Feb 1 Quote and rebutt
Dec 16 Quote and rebutt
Nov 23 Quote and suggesting an alliterative interpretation
Apr 6 Quote and a b*tchslap of a rebutt.
Do you read his posts?
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
@Napoleon: @Keith G:
How about both of you comment there instead of here?
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
@Keith G:
Also too: Google Advanced Search, how does it work?
There are many others.
Seriously — leave and go there.
Cain
@boss bitch:
I’ve been saying this for the past 2-3 years. Remember what Obama said “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for”. Change has to be done through all of us, not projected on to one man.
We have to build a movement, and we have to start kicking politician’s ass. The 1 percenters and the 27 percenters are all crazy, WE are the dominant demographic here. Not those fools. We should be able to exert fair and honest pressure to get a progressive agenda that helps everyone including the 1 percenter and the 27 percenter.
Keith G
Now don’t get Angry. You stated something that did not hold up. That happens in the rumble-tumble world of blogging. I was providing a chance for a reassessment of a conclusion – something very common to the math and science community.
I believe you to be a better person than your response might indicate.
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
@Keith G:
It did hold up. Look at my search. You said there were four and I showed you twenty. Follow my link.
Look, you can admit that I produced 20 or you go into my pie filter. I don’t have time for people who deny reality.
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
@Keith G
To reiterate: About 20 McArdle quotes. This lists 26 but there is some duplication.
Now, don’t get angry, I believe you are a better person than your argument so far indicates.
gwangung
You know, if there’s an organized progressive movement of some worth, they’re gonna have a BIG say on who the 2016 Democratic nominee is.
Keith G
@DougJarvus Green-Ellis:Cool. Thanks for the extra info.
I see that when I used the MJ site search, I did not notice that the date filter was not turned on. My error. I should have noticed that.
I look forward to scanning the posts and seeing how often Drum is supportive of the nonsense spewed by McArdle. I am here to learn, to argue, and then learn some more. If Drum turns out to be a thumb-sucking apologist for wingnut memes, I will be disappointed but I will conscientiously admit that the evidence is what it is.
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
@Keith G:
I read Drum for years. I’ve corresponded with him via email. He’s a nice guy. I stopped reading because of his constant links to Megan McArdle. I emailed him and explained to him why he should stop.
I’m not being a casual dickhead here.
EDIT: I realize you had no way of knowing how much thought I had given to this when I wrote it, so excuse my overall tone here.
James E. Powell
@Keith G:
I have to agree. While Kevin Drum occasionally writes things to which I object and some which are baffling, there is no way I would put him in the same sentence as Broder wannabe Matt.
CarolDuhart2
@Brian R.: And ironically, because it was an air-tight echo chamber, they never bothered to even begin to talk to a growing number of people who lived outside of it, and never tried to bring any benefits to those people either-even a token group.
So they are stunned when millions vote for an Obama. Or when Soylndra goes nowhere, or when all the ranting and raving doesn’t move the numbers like it once did.
I was watching Tuesday night when the Republican outreach person was on MSNBC trying to talk down Al Sharpton. The first rule of outreach is to respect the people who the people you reach out to for leadership. You don’t go into a Catholic neighborhood and start dissing the local parish priest, for example. And it was also clear that his “outreach” probably consisted of cocktails at a Black Republican meeting by the way he talked about the people who he was supposed to “outreach” to. That’s the effect of the echo chamber they created.
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
@James E. Powell:
I’m not as anti-Matt as most people here. Once you get passed his privileged young fuck airs, he’s got some good ideas.
Keith G
@DougJarvus Green-Ellis: You didn’t sound like a dickhead, at least not any ,more than I can. This is the net and the back and forth can be a bit clipped and abrupt.
I am about 1/3 of the way through your homework assignment and at this point I have only found one point of agreement – over the silliness of blanket nostalgia for the White dominated, patriarchy led 1950s era suburban life. If agreeing with that is a shooting offense, I will take mine with no blind fold.
I will email the finals (lucky you). I imagine we will agree to disagree. Drum will never flame anyone. That’s not his job or his character. I too have been reading him since the three bookmarks on my 486 run box were Eschaton, Whiskey Bar and Cal Pundit. If your standard is that refutation of stupid thinking is not enough, then Drum’s lack of an inclination to toss grenades would be an issue. I don’t always agree with him, but he brings evidence to the table and makes thinking necessary.
Again, I am sorry I fucked up a site search and showed some rubbish info as a result.
Edited
LiberalTarian
Round here there is a real movement to import Russians–and it is on the government dime. Why? They aren’t refugees, they aren’t seeking political asylum, they aren’t particularly well educated, they come over and get welfare and medicaid and Social Security. But, they are ultraconservative and they are white. Look around your neighborhood and tell me what you see. Don’t take that demographic swing for granted–they are fighting it, you just aren’t paying attention.
ab
sometimes in life, when you underestimate your enemy, you may find yourself waking up the morning after something unthinkable did happened.