(Ben Sargent via GoComics.com)
__
So, I’ve been off the news grid for the last couple days… anything worth paying attention to happening?
Why We Can’t Win Any Messaging Battles
All we ever hear is how Democrats suck at fighting, never attack, etc. Here’s what happened when they try:
I retweeted it, because it is a good point. Romney and the Republicans have done nothing for job creation, and there is no evidence Romney even knows how to create jobs, yet all they do is attachk, attack, attack and block any and all legislation. Here is the only other immediate response I saw to Axelrod:
There is just something in progressive/liberal DNA that causes them enjoy attacking each other more than attacking Republicans. We don’t even have to wait for Republicans to rebut Axelrod, we’ve already got leading liberals creating strawmen for them. We don’t need to help them blur the message- that was a clear message, and now it is completely muddled with “What about Rahm?” nonsense. On top of that, my liberal twitter feed has spent the entire day joining with Romney screaming about Plouffe.
And let’s not spend this entire thread bashing Chris Hayes, because he’s really a great reporter and I think he does great work- his work at the Nation and elsewhere is awesome. I’m just talking about the overall phenomenon that I’ve observed in the past few years- Republicans rally around each other and attack Democrats, while Democrats scatter and attack other Democrats. I just simply do not get it. I understand independent thinking and the value of disagreement, but this is a two party system, fer chrissakes. Stop shooting your own team. Here is David Axelrod, doing his best to start a line of attack, and he is knee-capped in 5 minutes or less by his side of the aisle.
It’s amazing, really. And depressing. And I swear to God, in thirty years, today’s progressives will be screaming about Rahm Emmanuel the way today’s wingnuts still think we could have won Vietnam. Get over it, for the love of everything holy.
Shorter Bachmann: “Sure slavery sucked, but at least black kids had two parents back then.”
Whtpplbtrppn
Michele Bachmann signed a conservative pledge called “The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family.” That pledge contained the following dumbass-edness:
Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President.
Yep. WTF, is right.
From Jack and Jill Politics:
Dog Bites Man…Social Security Emo update
Per John and ABL yesterday, this:
Rep. Barney Frank says Minority Leader Pelosi reassured House Democrats that the COLA change (which amounts to escalating cuts to Social Security over time) floated in the press will not happen.
Democrats are far from perfect, still waaay to naive about GOPer feral behavior, and all that, but they aren’t bone stupid — certainly not of the balanced budget amendment/weeks-wages-in-wine-swilling variety. They know (from recent, bitter experience — remember that 1/2 trillion buck Medicare “cut” that was actually simply an end to the transfer payments to private insurers) that there is a reason entitlement support, and especially Social Security, is called the “third rail” of politics. One that the Republicans seem determined to lick.
I’m coming to something of an eleven dimensional chess explanation for Obama’s current behavior — which is to me very scary, because even if you win the game, when you play with clout-foreheaded louts, the inevitable smashing of the board is a real loss. And maybe I’m wrong, and this isn’t clever strategy at all, and Obama really is trying to solve a problem I don’t think is the one we actually face in his global attempt to reframe the US budget. But I’m with ABL and John: there’s enough to be angry about in the world before blowing skull shrapnel all over the ceiling about some disaster that hasn’t happened yet.
Oh — and it looks like one of the most cynical and disastrous politicians of my lifetime is finally waking up and smelling the coffee. Too late, I fear.
Image: J. M. W. Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed-The Great Western Railway, 1844
Dog Bites Man…Social Security Emo updatePost + Comments (79)
A penny for your outrage
It has gotten pretty predictable–and a bit boring. The grifters are out in force and running the same old scams. Over and over and over. The Republican Party and conservative movement in America has been completely captured by grifters. It is just stunning to see a crook like Grover Norquist with more power than anybody on the Right. He is the triumph of single issue grifter politics.
And grifters plying their trade in Democratic and/or Progressive waters are jealous of Grover and his fellow traveler wingnut bandits. It was not a surprise to learn that apprentice grifters like Jane Hamsher have been working with Grover to learn the secrets of the trade: control the message, take ownership of an issue, develop “media” contacts to carry your message, and–most importantly–cash in.
A little item published earlier today in Pravda on the Potomac (no link for them) worked hard to sell the con:
We know how this will end and that the pattern will be repeated. The issue really doesn’t matter at all. It also doesn’t matter if the con is sold with a Conservative or Progressive frame. The pattern is always the same and it is all so predictable.
A trigger is published in the media from a speculative source. It will outrage the single issue grifters. Anything that happens or doesn’t happen will will be used to pimp the urgency of their rage. Any thin reed of speculation will be sensationalized with text crafted to maximize search engine optimization, buzz and clicks. The gullible will believe the lies and give the grifters their emails and their money. Almost everything said to promote the outrage will be wrong, but that will not matter if the grifter can control the narrative. Fools will parrot their outrage talking points, give them money and some small measure of political power.
Eventually, reality will settle in and only the extremely stupid will still buy the con hook, line and sinker. But by then, the grifters will have move on to another manufactured outrage and mo money for them from the fools among us.
John is right in his earlier post. Summer is the season of stupid in America–August especially.
Today it is the negotiations on the debt. When it is resolved, a fresh appeal to fear and rage will be manufactured. The outrage industry is absolutely boring and predictable. I consider these grifters from Grover to Jane and find myself thinking of tar and feathers as I stake my tomato plants. And yet, what the world really needs is another Open Thread. Please use this one to correct all the mistakes made on the internets.
Cheers
Open Thread
Why does politics always suck so much in the summer? I understand the August recess, but it just seems like every summer politics takes a turn for the worse.
Northern California Cat Bleg
There is a sign above my house (invisible to humans) that apparently reads:
Suckers live here. They will feed and care for every feline that shows up here! We have four formerly ferals that have taken over our lives. A fifth has been spent most of the last two years in our backyard expecting to be fed, but too shy to come into the house.
__
Two weeks ago, I went out to get the mail and was captured by a little black creature with big ears and golden eyes. He treated me like a long-lost friend and had no qualms about inviting himself into my home. I’ve tried to find out where he came from. None of the neighbors will admit to knowing him, none of them would like to take him in. I’m stuck. Every cat rescue that I have contacted is full to overflowing and they won’t take him. I’ve tried the checkers and the baggers at the grocery store. I even tried to pawn him off on the cable installer yesterday. I failed! My husband has hit up everyone at his office and everyone in the community groups that he belongs to. He failed! My son has tried to convince his friends that they need a kitten in their lives. He failed, too!
__
I know there are some northern California BJ animal lovers. Hopefully thereare some in Sacramento or Placer counties. Maybe one of them needs an adorable little purring machine to keep them company. He is already an accomplished keyboard cuddler. He loves other cats. Unfortunately, the four that already live here don’t see any reason to add a fifth. Besides, the legal allowable limit in my county is four. I have already scheduled an appointment with my vet for vaccinations and nuetering. I will happily add microchipping if I can find someone who can give him the home that he deserves. I have attached some blurry photos of the sweet little baby. Hopefully, someone will fall in love and want to keep him.
Anne Laurie adds: If this little guy were closer than the other side of the country, I’d be looking for a way to bring him to our house — I dearly love little black mao-cats! Anyone fortunate enough to live closer who’s got any leads, please email me at [email protected] (or click on my name near the top of the right-hand column) and I’ll pass your message along…