Originally Posted by KaiserD2

On topic:

Romney's campaign has done something clever and despicable. They have a new ad based on statements Obama made during the 2008 campaign about the economy, the last of which is, "If we keep talking about the economy, we are going to lose." The catch is that Obama, in saying that, was quoting a McCain strategist.

Now what is brilliant about this isn't the ad itself, which would have been stronger if they had used the full entire quote. What's brilliant is that the Democratic leadership and the msm are jumping all over it pointing out that it's distortion. And of course, that is exactly the kind of attack Romney needs--to solidify his standing within the Republican base.

It's brilliant in a Machiavellian or Orwellian sense. But is also extremely dishonest, and it is unwise to start lying early. One eventually gets caught.

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

It's brilliant in a Machiavellian or Orwellian sense. But is also extremely dishonest, and it is unwise to start lying early. One eventually gets caught.

He's already been caught! We're calling him on it! With two results: (1) we're calling attention to the ad and (2) The Other Side has one more thing to cry out "Left-Wing conspiracy!" about.

If we caught one of theirs buggering a little boy at knifepoint, they'd scream "Left Wing Conspiracy!" and "High tech lynching!" about it. Talk about teflon armor.

Originally Posted by The Grey Badger

He's already been caught! We're calling him on it! With two results: (1) we're calling attention to the ad and (2) The Other Side has one more thing to cry out "Left-Wing conspiracy!" about.

If we caught one of theirs buggering a little boy at knifepoint, they'd scream "Left Wing Conspiracy!" and "High tech lynching!" about it. Talk about teflon armor.

My point exactly. An attack by the "reality based community" is a badge of honor in Elephantland!

Originally Posted by The Grey Badger

He's already been caught! We're calling him on it! With two results: (1) we're calling attention to the ad and (2) The Other Side has one more thing to cry out "Left-Wing conspiracy!" about.

If we caught one of theirs buggering a little boy at knifepoint, they'd scream "Left Wing Conspiracy!" and "High tech lynching!" about it. Talk about teflon armor.

It might be worth looking into a moribund thread on authoritarianism and politics.

http://www.fourthturning.com/forum/s...m-and-Politics

Right-wing politics generally begins with the assumptions of the innate depravity of human nature and the distrust of mental processes -- in short, pessimism. Such creates low expectations and pervasive distrust. Low expectations imply that people must tolerate scummy behavior by political, religious, and economic leaders who get the power to regulate others but wax fat through exploitation or outright graft.

Right-wingers cultivate mass support among people best described as sheep toward their leaders but wolves toward any opponents. If allegations of misconduct arise against their leaders they defend their leaders. Without trust in their rational processes right-wing followers are slow to catch onto the dishonesty and corruption that the leaders can get away with and demand new leaders. They are also more tolerant of sleazy behavior on the side because human nature is inherently vile and are likely to discount accusations and bad pasts of leaders.

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

Right-wing politics generally begins with the assumptions of the innate depravity of human nature and the distrust of mental processes -- in short, pessimism. Such creates low expectations and pervasive distrust. Low expectations imply that people must tolerate scummy behavior by political, religious, and economic leaders who get the power to regulate others but wax fat through exploitation or outright graft.

Right-wingers cultivate mass support among people best described as sheep toward their leaders but wolves toward any opponents. If allegations of misconduct arise against their leaders they defend their leaders. Without trust in their rational processes right-wing followers are slow to catch onto the dishonesty and corruption that the leaders can get away with and demand new leaders. They are also more tolerant of sleazy behavior on the side because human nature is inherently vile and are likely to discount accusations and bad pasts of leaders.

This irrational analysis of nearly 1/2 of the US population explains a lot about your fixations on fascism and other fantasies. You should get out more and actually meet some people on the conservative end of the spectrum. They are not sheep, dishonest, corrupt, stupid, or pessimistic.

Its funny how one axiom of the left - that it is the one that is in touch with reality and fact based - has to be continually repeated. Its like they have to continually reassure themselves.

James50

Originally Posted by James50

This irrational analysis of nearly 1/2 of the US population explains a lot about your fixations on fascism and other fantasies. You should get out more and actually meet some people on the conservative end of the spectrum. They are not sheep, dishonest, corrupt, stupid, or pessimistic.

Its funny how one axiom of the left - that it is the one that is in touch with reality and fact based - has to be continually repeated. Its like they have to continually reassure themselves.

James50

I'd say more of the people who vote right of center are ill-informed versus their left of center brethren. I think race and religion are the biggest motivators for too many on the right.

That said, I could be completely satisfied with a candidate from the center right along the lines of Eisenhower or Nixon (with a better character). Hell, even a classic conservative like Goldwater who doesn't have hidden coded agenda.

Originally Posted by TeddyR

I'd say more of the people who vote right of center are ill-informed versus their left of center brethren.

That sounds like a faith statement. I see plenty of idiotic comments from the left. Some from lefties on this forum.

James50

Originally Posted by James50

This irrational analysis of nearly 1/2 of the US population explains a lot about your fixations on fascism and other fantasies. You should get out more and actually meet some people on the conservative end of the spectrum. They are not sheep, dishonest, corrupt, stupid, or pessimistic.

Let's give up the bugaboo about fascism. It's easy to call any pathological politics 'fascist' -- just call them pathology whether they imply the official racism of Apartheid, the lunatic despotism of Idi Amin, the perverse populism of Robert Mugabe or Hugo Chavez, the kleptocracy of Anastasio Somoza, the vague economics but contempt for freedom of the late Moammar Qaddafi, or the absurd denial of objective reality of Kim Jong-il.


If I told you that every Commie regime is pathological, would you see me as more even-handed?

Commie regimes either destroy, co-opt, or marginalize all possible opposition. They reject political competition from non-communists, enforce political conformity, and remove all checks and balances upon government. They might not allow people to get rich through the ownership of business, but they certainly allow well-connected people to enrich themselves fantastically through the exploitation of bureaucratic power. They get a stranglehold on media and establish a political orthodoxy yoibn culture and education. Power gravitates to persons beyond election.

I look at what some of the current GOP does and I see much of the same stuff (except that the GOP is four-square behind the plutocrats) in the Commie playbook.

Its funny how one axiom of the left - that it is the one that is in touch with reality and fact based - has to be continually repeated. Its like they have to continually reassure themselves.

James50

Almost everyone, irrespective of ideology, needs that.

Five Ways that Financial Elites are Destroying Democracy
http://www.alternet.org/news/153169/Five_Ways_that_Financial_Elites_are_Destroying_Dem ocracy_/

As the top 1 percent gains more and more of the nation’s income, the 99 percent effectively become disenfranchised. And of course, the Citizens United Supreme Court decision makes it even easier for the rich to buy political power. Lopsided campaign contributions by and for the super-rich are making a mockery out of elections. In 2010, for example, business outspent labor by a factor of 14 to 1.

Don't look now, but the New Hampshire primary is suddenly wide open. Gingrich just got the endorsement of the Manchester Union Leader. It looks like a race.

Here's an amazing piece by Robert Reich. He sees the generational divide growing and people turning inward during this rough economic ride. IMHO, his insight into the comparison to the Great Depression and the anti-establishment attitude of the Tea Party and Occupy movements, are right on the mark.


A Thanksgiving Reflection: Looking Beyond Election Day

Most political analysis of America’s awful economy focuses on whether it will doom President Obama’s reelection or cause Congress to turn toward one party or the other. These are important questions, but we should really be looking at the deeper problems with which whoever wins in 2012 will have to deal.

Not to depress you, but our economic troubles are likely to continue for many years — a decade or more. At the current rate of job growth (averaging 90,000 new jobs per month over the last six months), 14 million Americans will remain permanently unemployed. The consensus estimate is that at least 90,000 new jobs are needed just to keep up with the growth of the labor force. Even if we get back to a normal rate of 200,000 new jobs per month, unemployment will stay high for at least ten years. Years of high unemployment will likely result in a vicious cycle, as relatively lower spending by the middle-class further slows job growth.


This, in turn, could make political compromise even more elusive than it is now, as remarkable as that may seem. In past years, politics has been greased by the expectation of better times to come – not only more personal consumption but also upward mobility through good schools, access to college, better jobs, improved infrastructure. It’s been a virtuous cycle: When the economy grows, the wealthy more easily accept a smaller share of the gains because they still came out ahead of where they were before. And everyone more willingly pays taxes to finance public provision because they share in the overall economic gains.

Much more: http://robertreich.org/post/13317294020

It appears that many of the GOP presidential candidates thought/think they are ordained by GOD to run for president. I actually thought that Rick Perry might have the lead with the evangelical crowd. But surprise, it's Saint Newt! Granted, he is one of four but when evangelical women are impressed with him, I suppose that says a lot. (Yeah, like what the hell have they been smoking?)

Yet on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, when most of the GOP candidates gathered in the First Federated Church in Des Moines for a FAMiLY Leader forum, the consensus was that Gingrich came out on top.

YIKES!

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newswee...-gingrich.html

Newt Gingrich., Stephen Voss / Redux

Bye, bye Herm, you are evicted from the GOP house:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...n_1117364.html

Originally Posted by TeddyR

Bye, bye Herm, you are evicted from the GOP house:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...n_1117364.html

All he has to do is ***REPENT*** and he is in like Flint with evangelical women.

Originally Posted by Deb C

... he is in like Flint.....

Errol Flynn resents this..

Originally Posted by TeddyR

Bye, bye Herm, you are evicted from the GOP house:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...n_1117364.html

If every politician who'd ever had an adulterous affair were out of the running, how many would be left?

Originally Posted by The Grey Badger

If every politician who'd ever had an adulterous affair were out of the running, how many would be left?

I was thinking about this too. Some can pull it off, namely one William Jefferson Clinton. Then others get completely sunk like Gary Hart. Cain can join Hart on the sinking Monkey Business, he is done.

Originally Posted by TeddyR

Errol Flynn resents this..

But not the super agent hero who saved the world from a woman's organization attempting to take over the world. The character is from the movie "In Like Flint."

Originally Posted by The Grey Badger

If every politician who'd ever had an adulterous affair were out of the running, how many would be left?

Very few. I will not regret Herman's passing (politically), however.

The right-wing Republican Party can't sit still with Romney. It has to flirt with one right-wing crazyman after another. Bachman, Perry, Cain; now Gingrich.

Cain appears to be in very serious political trouble but I see a silver lining in the cloud. The following statement was released by his lawyer.

Cain's attorney, Lin Wood, provided WAGA with a statement before the broadcast saying White's claim "appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults -- a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public."

"No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private sexual life," Wood's statement said, according to WAGA. That statement, apparently made before Cain's appearance on CNN, said the presidential candidate would not speak about the allegations.

Perhaps some day we will look back at this as the day the US began to recover its sanity. . .but I don't make that statement with great conviction, I must admit.

Originally Posted by KaiserD2

Cain appears to be in very serious political trouble but I see a silver lining in the cloud. The following statement was released by his lawyer.

Cain's attorney, Lin Wood, provided WAGA with a statement before the broadcast saying White's claim "appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults -- a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public."

"No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private sexual life," Wood's statement said, according to WAGA. That statement, apparently made before Cain's appearance on CNN, said the presidential candidate would not speak about the allegations.

Perhaps some day we will look back at this as the day the US began to recover its sanity. . .but I don't make that statement with great conviction, I must admit.

'
I guess its not surprising that a member of the pie-throwing clan would be the one to call-off the war. Unfortunately, Henry Hyde is no longer available to provide a trenchant comment.

Originally Posted by KaiserD2

Cain appears to be in very serious political trouble but I see a silver lining in the cloud. The following statement was released by his lawyer.

Cain's attorney, Lin Wood, provided WAGA with a statement before the broadcast saying White's claim "appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults -- a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public."

"No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private sexual life," Wood's statement said, according to WAGA. That statement, apparently made before Cain's appearance on CNN, said the presidential candidate would not speak about the allegations.

.... and then he went on CNN and spoke about the allegations!

Originally Posted by KaiserD2

Cain appears to be in very serious political trouble but I see a silver lining in the cloud. The following statement was released by his lawyer.

Cain's attorney, Lin Wood, provided WAGA with a statement before the broadcast saying White's claim "appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults -- a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public."

"No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private sexual life," Wood's statement said, according to WAGA. That statement, apparently made before Cain's appearance on CNN, said the presidential candidate would not speak about the allegations.

Perhaps some day we will look back at this as the day the US began to recover its sanity. . .but I don't make that statement with great conviction, I must admit.

If the factor of race can be eliminated from it, that may certainly be the case.

Best...

One would think that from many interviews with Evangelical women, they will be the ones choosing the GOP's presidential candidate. At least it appears that way. After all, they do carry a flag and a cross.

Only a Confessed Sinner Can Be Redeemed

If the women of Iowa were none too pleased with Herman Cain after allegations of sexual harassment were made against him, they're not likely to take well to Cain's latest sexual imbroglio -- allegations of an adulterous relationship that lasted for more than a decade. If Cain confessed to the affair and begged forgiveness, well, that might be another matter. To fall and be redeemed through forgiveness, that is the Christian story. Why, even Newt Gingrich, with his three marriages, two of them the end product of adulterous affairs, has been cleansed, thanks to a 2007

http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/153...r_herman_cain/