The GOP Slander Machine

next week i'm going to colorado to dj at a fundraiser and hang out in denver and do one of two things, either:
a-lament the fact that obama is losing his lead in the polls by not standing up to the gop
slander machine.
or
b-enjoy the fact that obama is finally standing up to the gop slander machine.
we(as in 'we non-republicans')need to go after the republicans.
they're sitting ducks.
they've had 8 years, and in 8 years they've managed to fuck up just about everything they've
touched.
even now john mccain talks about how we're 'winning' in iraq.
we're 'winning'?
his definition of 'winning' is a strange one, i guess he means 'winning' in that fewer
u.s soldiers are being killed.
it's great that fewer u.s troops are dying, but that's not 'winning'.
'winning' would be american troops coming home because the iraqi government and military
are capable of looking after their own country, and there's no sign that either of those
institutions are even close to being able to run things on their own.
as i've said before, i hope the democrats don't lose this one they way they lost 2000 and 2004.
the economy blows, and john mccain doesn't have a decent plan to fix it (in fact he and his
party have had 8 years in which to decimate the economy, and now he wants to fix it? it's like
asking a wife-beater to give counseling to his spouse).
all john mccain does is stand on hotel ballroom stages and complain about obama. mccain doesn't
really offer any solutions to the problems that his party has created over the last 8 years, he just
stands around sounding like grampa simpson complaining about young people and their
denim jeans and their pizza pies and electric guitars.
and could john mccain please shut up about 'pursuing bin laden to the gates of hell'?
he and his party had 8 years to pursue bin laden, and bin laden is still at large.
the u.s troops were closing in on bin laden when mccain and bush pulled them out
of afghanistan and pakistan and sent them to iraq.
do we really need more tough-talk from ineffectual gop leaders? the gop are famous
for idiotic tough talk, like gw bush saying 'bring it on' to the terrorists. well, the terrorists
did what bush asked and they 'brought it on', killing tens of thousands of u.s troops
and iraqi and afghani civilians in the process.
tough talk from republican leaders is equal parts dangerous and idiotic.
if mccain is so serious about pursuing bin laden to the 'gates of hell' why doesn't he borrow his second
wife's private plane, fly to afghanistan, and start looking for bin laden?
and can't someone in the media ask mccain if he's referring to the literal or figurative gates of hell
when he talks about his pursuit of bin laden?
or maybe obama could bring this up?
the gop have had 8 years to run the country and they blew it. and if we democrats can't work up the nerve to remind
the country that the gop are ideologically bankrupt and utterly inept, then we don't deserve to win.
it should be an interesting convention.
i really hope someone in the democrat party has the balls to actually ridicule mccain and his republican cohorts.
i just want someone at the convention, ideally obama, to say, 'john mccain and the republicans talk tough, but they've
had 8 years to find bin laden and they blew it. john mccain and the republicans have made america
weak and vulnerable. they've made america weak economically, and they've squandered our great military
on a war that never should have started. they've had 8 years and they've done a terrible job running the country.
it's time for change.'
here's hoping, although based on past performances i imagine democratic speeches will be more like, 'the middle
class in america deserve a pro-rated tax credit that will offset some of the burdens imposed by the inequities
of the marketplace. as democrats we promise to keep the middle class in america average and in the middle.'
come on democrats, stand up and take on mccain and his inept and corrupt party.
it's so simple, they had their 8 years and they blew it.
in 1980 ronald reagan defeated jimmy carter by asking america 'are you better off than you were 4 years ago?'
can't obama just ask the same thing, but maybe phrase it, 'we've had 8 years of john mccain and republican rule, and are we as a country better off than we were 8 years ago?'

Comments

[bacaja]

A simple message to Obama: "No guts no glory." Hell, all he's got to do is state the
facts!

[genia]

Nice ...thanks for writing this....
IMO...it's all a mute point....The media..the press they are casting a view of these candidates...and they are corporate..so, I guess....they want ..........mo money ! Mo money=republican.

You're right though...we, the democrats need to find a way to force the media to focus on McCain.....(like the house count)
Obama is such a breath of fresh air...hone­st...brill­iant...sin­cere in wanting to help us as a nation...l believe ...but....it makes no difference.
Obama ...needs...to dumb it down...make it simple...make it stick. Once it sticks and the media has to pick up on it.......

[egal]

To be fair, if the middle class were anywhere near the middle instead of firmly near the bottom, that would be great. Any plan that seeks to bring us that would be a sound improvement. But, then again, sitting on our hands and doing absolutely nothing or using random number generators to produce action plans would be considerably better than the status quo.

[DALOWELL]

Obama is running on a message of "change." He cannot just blame various debacles such as Iraq, Mortgage crisis, Oil crisis, etc. on McCain and the Republicans.

People want to hear what he is going to change and how he is going to do it.

And he has not done that yet.

This is why the polls are showing the race currently even.

Moreover, Obama and the Democrats are making a big mistake if they think they just need to "show up" to win in November.

Just this week, they have realized that this is not going to be the case.

The Republicans have dominated Presidential elections for 40 years losing only in the post-Watergate election where Moby could have been elected and to the Clinton years where Perot siphoned off a lot of Republican votes in the first Clinton election.

This is no string of coincidences.

There is a silent majority of Republicans in this country that rally around flag, faith and family which are issues owned by the Republicans.

Now, it is easy to denigrate these issues and scoff of their importance.

But that is the reality.

Back to my point - Obama cannot just link McCain to Bush and expect to be elected. That is now delusional thinking.

Obama needs to get more detailed on issues especially economic issues and what he plans to "change" - since that is his message.

So, he has some convincing to do.

[londongal]

Dalowell: I've been listening to Obama on the campaign trail since he began his general election run. He has done nothing but talk about what changes he'll make on the economy, Iraq, education, and healthcare. You MUST have gone on a trip to Mars to actually believe that Obama "needs to get more detailed on issues".

I've listened to many of McCain's town hall speeches on the radio. He simply offers no inspiration or even a clear vision for this country. McCain is offering no new direction -- same old cowboy mentality approach to foreign policy, a weak healthcare proposal and energy plan that'll do nothing to help struggling families.

[alieninvader]

Moby,

I love you, but your writing's very difficult to read. Please use capitals, paragraphs and more punctuation.

[Brainspore]

Seconded. Get an intern to work as an editor, if you must.

[certainot]

the problem with Dems/progr­essives/li­berals is they have been listening to music while the talk radio monopoly and its coordinated uncontested repetition was used by the roves and norquists like an invisible club.

it doesn't matter what the Dems do if they don't address talk radio directly. rove may have been the architect but limbaugh and sons blasting from a thousand radio stations all over america, laundering and prechewing GOP talking points and threats and distortions to make them more acceptable in the rest of the MSM, did the heavy lifting. what should have been a downhill ride for gore, kerry, and now obama is all uphill. and talk radio is the difference.

print and TV generally cannot appear to be overtly partisan (or they become fox and the wash times)- they serve by omission and diversion. on a large scale nothing can create, distort, exaggerate, intimidate, swiftboat and threaten media and politicians like talk radio. and because progressives get a headache listening to it they continue to ignore it and blame their losses on fictitious public shifts to the right, or the 'genius' of rove.

the most powerful political force in the last 20 years was limbaugh, as the leader of the monopoly. and where we are now reflects that fact.

[HBeachbum]

The problem with your analogy is that Carter was President for the four years preceeding Reagan's election. Bush isn't running, and no matter how hard you wish it to be, McCain is not Bush.

[Bobzmcishl]

McCain is 95% Bush which is 90% too much. McCain is very similar to Bush only older. He is beholden to the rich and corporations, he has a worse temper than Bush and advisors who are the same old neo cons we have had for the last eight years. His idol is Ronald Reagan - what does that tell you?

[RepugsOut08]

I've been worried about Obama's seeming lack of agressiveness too, and I've been posting here about it as well.
Well, today I'm breathing easier. Obama's coming out strong, and he's starting to unravel the American flag that scoundrel McCain has wrapped himself in. I'm really starting to look forward to the well deserved chastising the Repubs are sure to get next week.
Obama is now defining McCain, which is all we hand-wringing worriers were asking for. As Bette Davis said in one of her movies; "Hang on, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

[ofbbg]

The simple reason that B. Hussein can't ask the question about being better off is that someone from the VRWC will ask him how he's going to make things better. I really don't think the American people are interested in higher taxes and more wasteful spending, or the Marxist economic theories that NeoComs have come to love so much!

[research]

tax the rich folks with incomes over 250k. since that's only a few percent of the population, it shouldn't be a problem.

Remove the limit on Social security, It's the only flat tax we have, and surprise, the conservatives still hate it.

[paixa3]

Just read your headline paragraph and say no, they are too stupid and spineless.

[torrrep]

Go ahead and ask. I'm better off than I was four years ago. My family is better off than they were four years ago. My friends are better off than they were four years ago. So, go ahead and ask.

[MarciL]

Well, lucky you. But most people are NOT better off than they were four or eight years ago.

Maybe you can afford to keep buying gas at $4 a gallon. Most people can't.

[cheforacle]

If you saw Obama's speech yesterday then you would notice that he asked the very question : "Are you better off now...?" Many Democratic followers are claiming the sky is falling and not even paying attention to what Obama is doing. He has attacked McCain in many ways this week but people who degenerated in to such panic that no one notices that Obama is actually doing the things that so many want him to do.

[thereigoagain]

yes, Reagan asked the question but he also had to prove he had the stuff to be President. Until he did that, he would have lost. BHO is still a mystery. Reagan was well known.

[martinspringfield]

Reagan was regarded as such a joke in 1976 that even Ford could mock him. Carter inherited an inflationary mess from Ford/Nixon and a decades-old foreign policy fuckup from the Dulles brothers... so Reagan, with help from 3rd party candidate John Anderson, won out as an alternative to our humiliation and "malaise".

And then proceeded to do exactly the opposite of his most strident campaign promise: balancing the budget. Reagan never proved himself with anyone but the bonehead US media.

[thereigoagain]

this has nothing to do with Reagan's performance as President. Until he proved in the debates that he had what it took to be President, Carter, the worst prez, still would have won. that's the point. if you're hung up on demonizing every great Republican, and not learning from history, you will remain ignorant and whining at another lost election.

[rcozad]

Reagan is just now being credited with starting the complete downfall of the American Economic System and ending American economic domination. Carter is just now being credited with early realization that we can not sustain our buy now borrow now economy. Reagan ran on smaller government as have every Republican since and they have all significantly increased it. Reagan and every Republican since have run on the balanced budget platform and each has ballooned the deficit. Reagan ran on the platform that " Government is not the solution to our problems..­.governmen­t is the problem" Now I ask you if someone has this philosophy do you really expect them to prove themselves wrong by solving any problems as president !?I thought not.
Obama 08 may well be our last chance to recover our lifestyle , and even then it might be too late (particularly if you read Andrew Bacevich "The Limits of Power"!

[homesteader]

Does anyone but me remember when "Democrat Party" was the equivalent of "Rethuglican Party"?

That is, the creation of the Other Guys?

[fedupandgrumpy]

"Does anyone but me remember when "Democrat Party" was the equivalent of "Rethuglican Party"? "
Does anyone but me remember when "Democrat Party" was the equivalent of ""Democratic Party"?

[radicalcentrist44]

Another multi-millionaire suffering. I will bet that you use every tax loophole possible. This post will probably get sensored because you cannot post anything but celebrity-worship on this site when the poster is famous.

[fairwitness]

I really wonder if any of this genuine, anguished, righteous grassroots anger is getting through to the Obama people and Himself--it sure doesn't seem to be so. If he's so damned good at "rhetoric", he had better be proving it, or his (and our) loss will be legendary and devastating to our children's future.

Imagine: Bushism-Ch­eneyism-Mc­Cainism triumphant despite 8 years of catastrophe, death and destruction. Almost half the electorate were defiantly ignorant and immoral enough embrace Bush & Cheney and their gang and bring hell on earth and are sitting there ready to complete the task in November, with only Obama to stop them.

He'd damn well better be talking.