"A black sheriff?!": The Official Topic of Obama and New Era American Politics

[Dickie Dee]

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

[Mupepe]

of course you can be passionate without spouting crazy shit.  but the vast majority of people respond to emotion, not logic.  I thought the dems learned in 2008 with CHANGE!  But apparently not.  The right has known this for quite some time and it's why they can continue getting away with telling flat out lies.

[Himu]

My wife got into an argument with someone who used to be a fairly rational but conservative person on facebook about Obama's trip to India.  the girl was spouting off the lies about 200 million a day and my wife corrected her, explained what a state visit entailed, told her that state visits used to be viewed as positives with major trade partners and/or nuclear powers in unstable regions of the world.  The girl's response?

Thank god for the second amendment.

Like some sort of thinly veiled threat against my wife, liberals, and the government.  Kind of sent a chill through my spine and worried me for a bit.  Is this really where we're going?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Note this girl has also said in the past few days that Obamacare has ruined her chances of getting good insurance.  When she finds a job that gives insurance, because right now her current job doesn't offer it.

[close]

civil war in 20 years.

conservatives will try to topple the government to show us how things are really done.

[Stoney Mason]

of course you can be passionate without spouting crazy shit.  but the vast majority of people respond to emotion, not logic.  I thought the dems learned in 2008 with CHANGE!  But apparently not.  The right has known this for quite some time and it's why they can continue getting away with telling flat out lies.

I never delude myself about the average intelligence of people. People are dumb. They respond to emotional dumb shit which is why our country often sucks. I'm not saying those types are going to disappear. I'm just not going to pretend they are anything more than what they are.

[Himu]

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

Goddamn.

[Phoenix Dark]

Stewart can be good but he's quite the paper dragon. He's very good at attacking easy targets, but he gets rolled whenever an effective conservative bullshiter comes on his show.

Olbermann is a complete asshole diva, can't stand him.

Maddow

[Himu]

The left desperately needs a Glenn Beck. Not in an asshole, I want to kill myself because this guy lies about facts way, but someone who can pander to the left ideology with gusto, be confrontational, pander to EMOTIONS and the plight of GOOD VERSUS EVIL that is so common in conservative politics. Basically, someone with balls and not a pussy who realizes that the masses are tools and can be convinced with the most simple of arguments so long as they speak to their heart, not so much their head.

[Mupepe]

of course you can be passionate without spouting crazy shit.  but the vast majority of people respond to emotion, not logic.  I thought the dems learned in 2008 with CHANGE!  But apparently not.  The right has known this for quite some time and it's why they can continue getting away with telling flat out lies.

I never delude myself about the average intelligence of people. People are dumb. They respond to emotional dumb shit which is why our country often sucks. I'm not saying those types are going to disappear. I'm just not going to pretend they are anything more than what they are.

you mean anything more than the majority and the people who decide the direction of this country? 

[TakingBackSunday]

Goddamn I hate Bill Maher.  Why doesn't he do anything like what Stewart tried?  I don't see him trying.

[Himu]

....What is wrong with what Bill said?

[TakingBackSunday]

I get tired of his holier than thou attitude, and I'm in disagreement with him over the success of Stewart's rally.

[Himu]

Holier than thou attitude? This is why dems are pussies.

Bill Maher is a loon when it comes to certain issues, but just about every thing he said was right.

When the sole leading opposition of the tea party in the face of the media is ran by someone who is more of a comedian than someone with substantial political views and demands change, you know you're in trouble.

Bill Maher is 100% correct and this is coming from someone who wanted to attend that fucking rally.

[Stoney Mason]

The left desperately needs a Glenn Beck. Not in an asshole, I want to kill myself because this guy lies about facts way, but someone who can pander to the left ideology with gusto, be confrontational, pander to EMOTIONS and the plight of GOOD VERSUS EVIL that is so common in conservative politics. Basically, someone with balls and not a pussy who realizes that the masses are tools and can be convinced with the most simple of arguments so long as they speak to their heart, not so much their head.

They do. He was called Barack Obama. And then all the liberals turned on him because he wasn't liberal enough.


This idea that there is some magic man for the left who will come along and solve all their problems is just as much a problem as the actual problem. There is nothing more annoying than hearing Liberals pine for the next messiah.

[Himu]

My problem with Obama isn't that he's not liberal enough, it's that his administration wimps out. For example, Obama should have flexed some muscle and pulled an LBJ on that healthcare bill and make it effective immediately. Now his administration are openly appealing to DADT being deemed unconstitutional. I can cover a lot of issues and most of them are arbitrated to pussyfooting and pandering to whatever demographic he's talking to.

[Stoney Mason]

The left always build heroes. And then destroys them when they aren't liberal enough. Since I'm over 30 years old, I'm old enough to have seen this occur all my life. I'm certainly not claiming that Obama is perfect. But when the argument invariably comes from liberals that the problem with Obama is that he hasn't been liberal enough, and if he was then everybody would love him and suddenly everything would be perfect. It strikes me as a very naive argument. The right also says the same thing about their people btw. They said the same thing about Bush. The problem with Bush was he wasn't a "real conservative".


The one thing I respect about conservatives is that while they aren't smarter or more realistic than liberals, at least they vote on a consistent basis. That's why they get what they want by and large compared to liberals. 

[Stoney Mason]

There are certainly very strong liberals I like. What annoys me about the internet is the complete inflexibility in recognizing the reality that being a liberal in California or New York is a completely different proposition than being a liberal in the midwest or the south. The answer from a certain group of liberals is always take this stock liberal position and the reality is you can't do that everywhere in this country.

I quite like Rachel Maddow for instance. But there is a big difference in how she handles herself and her show versus somebody like Olbermann. Both are going to exist. But one seems to assume that he doesn't actually have to convince you of the rightness of his argument. He just assumes by virtue of you watching, you already agree with him 100%. I don't care for that. Now Maddow isn't perfect. Nobody is. She sometimes slips into that mode. But I much prefer that approach.

[Himu]

I think you're underestimating the impact the media has on people, Stoney. If the right are making it seem as if Obama is un-American, a socialist, nazi and the left isn't doing anything, that's a problem. Obama is a product; the democrat party is the seller. We, the people, are buyers. The democrat party are not doing nearly enough to sell their product and keep their product viable. All the while, the right defaces their product with harsh words, the equivalent of arson. And yet the left still attempts to sell their product - spray paint, dents, rust and all.

Media attention and emotions, that's what sells.  It's not so much the left needs a "messiah" but more that they need someone to show that the right are wrong -- not just logically but ethically, morally and as humanly as possible. Why? Because we have established that politics are about emotions, and if Obama wants to do real "change" and get re-elected, the democrat party needs to appeal to that sector. I thought they learned that with the 2008 election, but alas, c'est la vie. Anything other than this will be seen as a sign of weakness, unfortunately.

It's not about having a hero. Not at all. It's about damage control.

But overall, I agree with your point. I'm just clarifying myself.

[Human Snorenado]

The left just needs someone who can be a dick.  Dicks get things done.  We're just a bunch of pussies who get fucked and shat on.

Put it another way:

[youtube=560,345]hdq577iClbU[/youtube]

[Himu]

[Phoenix Dark]

take your lefist beck clone, no fucking thanks. I'll stick with Rachel Maddow

[Fresh Prince]

I don't know why the left (worldwide) just slams the right on these points:
- The right only cares about money
- The right wants to tell you what to do in your bedroom
- The right thinks they know how to raise your family better than you do
What you guys need is a Paul Keating:

[youtube=560,345]roIeVEf5alk[/youtube]
Adversarial Politics

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Keating

[Himu]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/04/mitch-mcconnell-speech_n_779070.html

"If the administration wants cooperation, it will have to begin to move in our direction"

Hahaha. Like clockwork. Holding the country hostage is genius. Obama gave them as much as they could chew on and they still vilified him. What exactly do they want?

Certainly doesn't appear to actual legislature.

Are there any moderates on the right? Or was Bill Maher on target with that?

[Phoenix Dark]

[youtube=560,345]yBxzMMCokpI[/youtube]

while it's easy to argue a bubble exists for liberals too, her point still stands. You're not going to find democrat officials fanning the flames of conspiracy nuts whenever possible

[Himu]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/us/politics/07ttmedicaid.html?_r=2&hp

Texas considers medicaid withdrawal

[Oblivion]

Everything Himuro said was dead on, btw. It's not about Obama not being librul enough, but that' he comes off as extremely weak. He gives up his queen before the right even move their first pawn. THAT'S the problem that I have with him. I want a center left democrat not a center right republican.

I get tired of his holier than thou attitude, and I'm in disagreement with him over the success of Stewart's rally.

What? Dude, no one fits the holier than thou frame more than Stewart. The thing is, Bill's at least being honest about his biases, but Stewart thinks that both sides are equally crazy/distinguished mentally-challenged, and that he's above such petty bickering.

And I say that as someone who likes Stewart better than Maher (Maher's occasional assholery and wacky conspiracy theories on medicine bring him down a few points).

[Himu]

[youtube=560,345]yBxzMMCokpI[/youtube]

while it's easy to argue a bubble exists for liberals too, her point still stands. You're not going to find democrat officials fanning the flames of conspiracy nuts whenever possible

i am in love with this lesbo

[Himu]

Everything Himuro said was dead on, btw. It's not about Obama not being librul enough, but that' he comes off as extremely weak. He gives up his queen before the right even move their first pawn. THAT'S the problem that I have with him. I want a center left democrat not a center right republican.

Dean Clinton 2012

[Phoenix Dark]

Olbermann is an asshole and somewhat comparable to cheerleaders like Hannity, but ultimately Stewart is wrong. There's a different between being a partisan hack and being a race baiting partisan hack. What Limbaugh and Hannity do on a daily basis is quite different than anything Olbermann does. Olbermann had some pretty heated, petty words for Bush, but nothing compares to the constant attempts to dehumanize and insult Obama from the right - all while sending out racial dog whistles

[Oblivion]

Amusingly enough, Stewart never had Olbermann on his program, but invites Bill O'reilly pretty often.

[Mandark]

There's room for different rhetorical styles in a political movement, that serve different purposes.  There's no reason that Stewart, Krugman, Taibbi, Zakaria, etc. shouldn't coexist.  Convincing moderates, rallying the troops, bringing in youth, self-policing are all important functions and different writers and media figures are going have different audiences and fill different niches.

There is no magic language that would turn everyone liberal if only lefty pundits all started speaking it.  Even if there were what are you gonna do?  Call a huddle, and say "Okay guys, everyone is going to start talking the same way, okay?"  This is probably not gonna happen.

Let's not live up to the stereotype of the panicky liberal, and quit worrying about tangential shit that's out of our hands anyway.

[Beardo]

You guys all sound like a bunch of PTA moms trying to decide what to make for the bake sale. When nobody came to the bake sale last year.

[Himu]

No one said anything about Stewart, Cooper, Krugman, et al not having the ability to co-exist. But this does not stop the fact that the liberal media has been doing a poor job of balancing the insanity of the right media. The top opposition of the Tea Party movement was a mock rally led by two clowns.

You see where I'm going here? It has nothing to do with magically turning everyone liberal; that's just ridiculous. It has more to do with finding a platform for the liberal media and the democrats to express their views in a more concise manner. The Republican party and the right wing media in comparison, are far more organized and unified. Democrats and liberal media have managed to do a horrible job of expressing liberal ideology to the masses. For instance, the media on the right have managed to convince lots of people that healthcare reform is the tantamount on the grounds of socialism. If the left did a better job of controlling damage, and showing people WHY they would probably (likely!) like the idea of healthcare reform (even if it's NOT Obamacare), we could do a long way for making actual liberal legislature.

Instead, the left takes the hits incessantly like a bitch. It's not about turning people liberal, it's all about perception. Perception goes a long way.

And I'm sorry you don't want me to post in ur political threadz. Your wish is granted. I was merely just expressing ideas based on the video Bill Maher video, anyways.

[Phoenix Dark]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/07/tea-party-favorites-rand-paul-jim-demint-budget-specifics_n_780043.html
 

[Boogie]

This country is so fucked, man.

Still auctioning off space on my futon...

[Phoenix Dark]

Is it filled with milk? 

[Human Snorenado]

Himumu, it doesn't matter.  The mainstream media could call the GOP on all of their bullshit, could flat out say "no, you're lying and here are the facts to prove it" and it's not going to matter to a majority of the people out there who are hooked into the Republican Alternate Reality Matrix where the elite media is full of lying liberals, Obama is a Kenyan Muslim Socialist who wants to eat your children, and Sarah Palin is just a hardworkin' misunderstood Real Murikin.  These people have created a completely separate reality and we unfortunately have to live in it. 

[Boogie]

This country is so fucked, man.

Still auctioning off space on my futon...

Do you accept pesos?

No.  Shit, we're 6 months from me not accepting your filthy worthless greenbacks. 

[Mandark]

Himumu:  Except the Democrats won huge two years ago and two years before that.  With both parties using basically the same media infrastructures that they used this cycle.

It's not that they did a brilliant job of marketing and then forgot how.  They just went from being the opposition party when the economy was shitty to being the incumbent party when the economy was still shitty.

[Himu]

You know, the way I saw it, 2008 felt like an exception to me. I almost feel the same way I do now I did in 2004. But you raise a good point.

[Human Snorenado]

Notice how the economy is still shitty, with a forecast for increased shittasticness for the foreseeable future.  It's almost like neither party is really serious about doing anything to benefit a majority of the country!

[Boogie]

This country is so fucked, man.

Still auctioning off space on my futon...

Do you accept pesos?

No.  Shit, we're 6 months from me not accepting your filthy worthless greenbacks. 

Well what the fuck am I going to do then? I already turned all my monopoly money into Mexican monopoly money. goddammit.

Will you accept french monopoly money?

You know, I just looked back a few pages, and realized that your first instinct for fleeing Jesusland was to go to Mexico.

For that, you're taken right off the list. 

[recursivelyenumerable]

THE RALLY TO RESTORE VANITY: GENERATION X CELEBRATES ITS HOMERIC STRUGGLE AGAINST LAMENESS

[Human Snorenado]

Boogie, you know that I've always been almost Canadian anyway.  If it will score me points, I'll even stop saying terrible yet true things about poutine.

[Boogie]

Boogie, you know that I've always been almost Canadian anyway.  If it will score me points, I'll even stop saying terrible yet true things about poutine.

You would make a perfect backwoods Albertan or British Columbian, methinks.  Not sure you'd fit in with us Ontarian folk.  But I'll nudge you near the top of the list anyway.

[Himu]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/07/tea-party-favorites-rand-paul-jim-demint-budget-specifics_n_780043.html
 

http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Rand_Paul.htm#Jobs

Rand Paul on Jobs:

No issue stance yet recorded by OnTheIssues.org.

[Mandark]

THE RALLY TO RESTORE VANITY: GENERATION X CELEBRATES ITS HOMERIC STRUGGLE AGAINST LAMENESS

tl;dr

Presumably it's about how those young people think they're so cool and ironic and don't you hate them.

But everyone I know who went to the rally also voted on Tuesday, and a lot of them have campaigned/donated/phonebanked in the past.  If there were any way to compare political participation of rallygoers against the average, I'd put money on the over.

[Tristam]

Hendrik Hertzberg with one of the year's best political metaphors:

As for “the American people” themselves, it seems clear enough that their rejection of the Democrats was, above all, an expression of angry anxiety about the ongoing economic firestorm. Though ignited and fanned by an out-of-control financial industry and its (mostly) conservative political and intellectual enablers, the fire has burned hottest since the 2008 Democratic sweep. By the time the flames reached their height, the arsonists had slunk off, and only the firemen were left for people to take out their ire on.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/11/15/101115taco_talk_hertzberg#ixzz14gI0qDpA

[Mupepe]

I do agree that the Dems should be more concise in their political message.  They're pretty sloppy in that regard.  But I also think it's a lot easier to be concise when your entire platform is "Go back to normal!"  Change is a lot harder to describe and sell.

[Beardo]

Hendrik Hertzberg with one of the year's best political metaphors:

As for “the American people” themselves, it seems clear enough that their rejection of the Democrats was, above all, an expression of angry anxiety about the ongoing economic firestorm. Though ignited and fanned by an out-of-control financial industry and its (mostly) conservative political and intellectual enablers, the fire has burned hottest since the 2008 Democratic sweep. By the time the flames reached their height, the arsonists had slunk off, and only the firemen were left for people to take out their ire on.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/11/15/101115taco_talk_hertzberg#ixzz14gI0qDpA

So once again, when republicans are elected, Americans are angry and confused. But when democrats are elected they unicorns are descending from the heavens on rainbow bridges.

Hopefully you guys will keep drinking that flavored koolade.

[Himu]

democrats aren't the ones mulling over getting rid of medicaid numb nuts.

[Phoenix Dark]

Hendrik Hertzberg with one of the year's best political metaphors:

As for “the American people” themselves, it seems clear enough that their rejection of the Democrats was, above all, an expression of angry anxiety about the ongoing economic firestorm. Though ignited and fanned by an out-of-control financial industry and its (mostly) conservative political and intellectual enablers, the fire has burned hottest since the 2008 Democratic sweep. By the time the flames reached their height, the arsonists had slunk off, and only the firemen were left for people to take out their ire on.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/11/15/101115taco_talk_hertzberg#ixzz14gI0qDpA

So once again, when republicans are elected, Americans are angry and confused. But when democrats are elected they unicorns are descending from the heavens on rainbow bridges.

Hopefully you guys will keep drinking that flavored koolade.

Gotta be the stupidest meme you've introduced us to lately. Where did you read it?

November 1980: were Americans happy? Yes
November 1982: were Americans happy? No
November 1984: were Americans happy? Yes
November 1986: were Americans happy? No

November 1992: were Americans happy? No
November 1994: were Americans happy? No
November 1996: were Americans happy? Yes
November 1998: were Americans happy? Yes

Take your victim complex somewhere else. 2010 was a referendum on the bad economy, and democrats. Americans were not happy, excited, positive about the future, etc. In 2008 people were quite hopeful, just as they were hopeful in 1980 only to be upset two years later. It has little to do with dems and reps, and more to do with the economy.

[Mupepe]

Hendrik Hertzberg with one of the year's best political metaphors:

As for “the American people” themselves, it seems clear enough that their rejection of the Democrats was, above all, an expression of angry anxiety about the ongoing economic firestorm. Though ignited and fanned by an out-of-control financial industry and its (mostly) conservative political and intellectual enablers, the fire has burned hottest since the 2008 Democratic sweep. By the time the flames reached their height, the arsonists had slunk off, and only the firemen were left for people to take out their ire on.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/11/15/101115taco_talk_hertzberg#ixzz14gI0qDpA

So once again, when republicans are elected, Americans are angry and confused. But when democrats are elected they unicorns are descending from the heavens on rainbow bridges.

Hopefully you guys will keep drinking that flavored koolade.

Gotta be the stupidest meme you've introduced us to lately. Where did you read it?

November 1980: were Americans happy? Yes
November 1982: were Americans happy? No
November 1984: were Americans happy? Yes
November 1986: were Americans happy? No

November 1992: were Americans happy? No
November 1994: were Americans happy? No
November 1996: were Americans happy? Yes
November 1998: were Americans happy? Yes

Take your victim complex somewhere else. 2010 was a referendum on the bad economy, and democrats. Americans were not happy, excited, positive about the future, etc. In 2008 people were quite hopeful, just as they were hopeful in 1980 only to be upset two years later. It has little to do with dems and reps, and more to do with the economy.

PD, are you seriously arguing with a guy that can't spell Kool-Aid?

[Himu]

rofl Ed, I just noticed that

[Oblivion]

In a stunning display of bipartisanship, President Obama and the Republican Leadership have reached an historic compromise, agreeing to extend indefinitely the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthiest Americans, but allowing the President’s term to expire prematurely, sometime in mid-2011.

Mr. Obama hailed this agreement as an example of “how the two parties can meet in the middle and respond to the needs of the electorate — and without even having to spend taxpayer funds on a slurpee for Mitch McConnell, or a Merlot for Speaker-to-be Boehner.”

The President further emphasized that he had still “stood on principle, by not handing the ‘keys’ back to the Republicans,” but that he would instead “serve as their ‘designated driver,’ by personally driving the car back into the ditch.  Since the GOP  is now the party of Bachmann and Palin,” Mr. Obama added, “just think of it as Driving Miss Crazy.”

As part of the agreement, the President will also submit a resignation confessing that he’s a Muslim socialist who tried to replace the Constitution with the Koranic Manifesto, but will avoid the harshest demands made by FOX News and Rush Limbaugh: that he be deported to Kenya.

Senate Minority Leader McConnell indicated that he initially harbored some reservations about the agreement, since he “originally wanted to not only impeach the President, but to actually annul his first two years in office.” But McConnell made clear that he and GOP House leaders had moderated their demands with the taxpayers’ best interests at heart, “by saving money on the forest of paper we would’ve used for subpoenas.”

“Besides,” McConnell concluded, “this is much better than our original goal to limit Obama to one full term. After all, we Republicans think it’s an historic compromise to have the nation’s first black President serve only 3/5ths of a term.”

http://satiricalpolitical.com/2010/11/07/white-house-gop-compromise-bush-tax-cuts/

[Phoenix Dark]

Hillary 2012

[Cheebs]

Hillary 2012

Obama could switch Biden with Hillary and make Biden Sec of State (which is what he wanted more than VP in the first place) lolololol

[Phoenix Dark]

nah, how about Hillary primary challenge Obama and we get a leader with balls

[Cheebs]

empty your inbox maurice

[Phoenix Dark]

aite

[Mupepe]

empty your butthole, maurice.