Barack vs. the Bully Brigade, Part 1: Playground Politics at its Worst

If you were subjected to the whims of a bully or two in your youth, and especially if you're a parent today who frets for your kid's emotional safety, you probably recognized the behavior on display in prime time last week from Minnesota. Politics is really not that different from the schoolyard. Especially for Republicans.

On the schoolyard, what do bullies do when they can't get their way? They lash out. They call people names, take swings at them, and generally cry and complain and make life miserable for everyone else. They make themselves the center of attention, but not through anything positive or remotely fun. They make themselves the center of attention by being mean. By being ugly. By going negative, and hoping that will bring the other kids around. Coercion and tantrums.

Sounds kind of like the Republican National Convention. Fred Thompson, who could barely stay awake for the task of having any idea where to lead the country back when he was allegedly running for president on the Sominex platform, suddenly morphed into a red-meat eating tiger when given the role of bully. Rudy Giuliani, the biggest bully the fair city of New York has ever seen (and that's saying something), came onstage and did pretty much the only thing he's good at: mocking a more honorable person through unsubstantiated ad hominim vitriol. Charming back in his Brooklyn youth at the playground, I'm sure. Equally so from the stage of the Xcel Energy Center.

Ever the hopeful little shit in knee pants, Rudy whipped out 9/11 again, the way a bully whips out his cool toy - "wanna play with me? I have this great model of the burning towers with action figures of me and W standing next to it!" Still, as the delegates all rose for one more toxic play date with Rudy, all the cooler heads watching from home had to be appalled: Do our kids really need to turn the keys to the family car over to a crowd of sugar (oil)-addled children shrieking "Drill Baby Drill!" and cackling along as Rudy lies and calls Obama names?

Can you say Lord of the Flies?

And then there's the lady of the hour, Sarah Palin. Is it just me, or did she seem like the girl who would hang out smoking cigarettes and take other girls' lunch money during recess - sort of a roughneck remix of Heathers? Judging by the way she baited and taunted and lied about the guy who nobly said that her family should be off-limits to the media, she didn't get that name Barracuda for nothing back in high school.

My daughter has known a bully or two in her young life already - kids who can't figure out how to be part of the gang and have fun, so they whine and yell and hit people. Barracudas. I don't know about you, but I tell my daughter to stay away from people like that at all costs, no matter how charismatic they are or how nice it feels when they decide you're one of the cool kids.

The talking heads on CNN were so cowed by the fact that Palin could effectively deliver the overwritten nastiness of the generic RNC faux populist speech, that they failed to notice it was just another variation on the theme this party of bullies always resorts to when things aren't going their way, when Americans decide they'd maybe rather play with someone else. That theme is all about how the Democrats are elitist, celebrity whore-mongering, pointy-headed socialists who aren't patriotic enough, aren't hard working, and have nothing in common with all the decent people who quietly go about the business of fighting the nation's wars and working in its factories and farms. It's a tired ploy from a bunch of people who love to throw around words like "maverick" and "gunslinger" but who, at the end of the day, are way MORE elitist than the Democrats. The difference is that the Democrats are, again in playground terms, generally nice people who will go over to someone who fell and skinned their knee and at least offer a hand. The Republicans will never stop being what they are, no matter how many mavericks or hockey moms they put at the top of the ticket: bullies.

When you can't win an argument on the merits, change the subject. And when you can't get your way, lash out, kick, cry and punch, then tell the teacher it was the other kid who started it. Not what I teach my kid, but pretty much what the Republicans have been doling out for 20 years. Nice family values! Here's hoping that the Dems this year can walk that fine line, and neither shrink from the fight nor turn into the churlish little thugs they must stand against toe to toe. And here's hoping that most of the American electorate isn't taken in again by these sucker-punching, pathetic little schoolyard cowards.

Comments

[PumaAnn]

Hang out and smoke cigarettes? It's just you. Obviously, you got O and Pal mixed up in your head. :)

But, that aside, the bullying tactics I do recognize. O tried to pull a familiar snark attack on her and got caught, big-time. Nobody I've listened to in 2 days had any doubt that he was slyly referencing Pal with his lipstic on a pig joke. And the fact that his supporters immediately started chanting, "No more pitbulls!" rather makes the case.

His faux outrage that this is a distraction is disingenuous at best, but worst? Stupid. Nobody's buying it this time.

If he wasn't referencing her, then he's incredibly stupid to have chosen that cliche. If he was referencing her and lying now to get out of trouble, then he's just a bit of a mean streak.

Either way, this was O's mistake. And here everyone was waiting for Biden to make it.

[Pete Cenedella - Huffpost Blogger]

Not surprised to hear such carping from someone with PUMA in their handle. This is precisely the kind of "work both sides of the street" act on gender that I find reprehensible -- Palin wins raves for detouring the campaign into the gutter, then her surrogates and the PUMA crowd cries foul when the boys give her a small dose of her own medicine? Please. Anyway, it's always nice to hear from trolls and McCain moles.

[NickOLess]

No one you've listened to in the last two days has any doubt? Seriously? You need to get out more.

The fact is, McCain has showed his character with all this whining: like most bullies, he's also a crybaby. So much for tough guy maverick. On top of that, he's a hypocrite:

"McCain's campaign said Obama's remarks were offensive and a slap at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin -- despite the fact that the Arizona senator himself used the phrase last year to describe a policy proposal of Hillary Clinton's."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/10/campaign.lipstick/

Seriously. Caught red-handed using the same exact phrase against a woman. And no whining about sexism from her! Why? Because anyone with half a brain understands that it's simply a phrase and not a sexist remark. Sadly, that apparently excludes a significant portion of the population.

It's become obvious that the McCain campaign is afraid to discuss real issues, and insists on petty distractions to dazzle and perplex the more simple-minded among us. The debates ought to be a laugh-riot. Try to keep up now!

[rayr1763]

The only way one can effectively counter a school yard bully is to temporarily sink to their level.
Sock him or her in the eye and as they are reeling and before they have the chance to counter punch, call them on their B.S.

[ProudLiberalDan]

Oh please.

The Obama campaign in their desire to do "new politics" didn't stand up and fight early on and SQUANDERED three months of campaigning when they could have been destroying John McCain's credibility and vigorously attacking the conservative movement when they were on the back foot. Then they wouldn't have had effective bullying ability which increasingly makes it look like they will win this unwinable election.

What this election has proven is that "new politics" is just a rebranding of the same failed Dukakis, Gore, Kerry approach to campaigning as an excuse not have to fight. Once AGAIN the Democrats brought a pillow to a knife fight.

The corporate-financed congressional Democrats practically hid under their desks since 9/11, and even in the majority they have spent most of the time caving instead of fighting.

As history has CLEARLY shown us from the early democracy seekers, abolitionists, suffragettes, labor unions, etc., conservatives NEVER give or share power willingly and progressive change only happens when progressives stand up and fight for power and use it against the will of conservatives who prefer their positions of power, privilege and the old social order. Name one significant progressive change that came from "negotiation" with conservatives. Like naive lambs to the slaughter go the Democrats yet again.

Clinton may have been a aggravating DLC-triangulator, but he knew how to win elections and he wasn't afraid to fight when campaigning.

[NickOLess]

Sad but true. I hope the Obama campaign takes note.

[Pete Cenedella - Huffpost Blogger]

Hey Proud Liberal Dan, First off, I don't believe I defended or extolled "New Politics" in my post. If I did, it would be a first for me. I spent months telling the naive Obamaniacs I knew, whose sole reason for hating Hillary was her "Old Politics" approach, that they better get the stomach for politics. New, old, whatever, politics is politics, and it's a dirty game filed with ugliness. In fact, I'm advocating Obama taking the gloves off -- although more so in today's post, Part 2:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pete-cenedella/its-a-boys-life-obama-vs_b_125608.html

Second, the story's not over. I agree that there are times when the Obama camp looks like they're actually using the Kerry-Dukakis playbook. But taking the high road and then being forced to fight tough is more heroic -- if it can be sold to the electorate that way -- than starting in the gutter and then rooling to the ditch. Look how quickly the narrative can turn -- McCain has made ridiculous headway in a matter of days. If Obama doesn't toughen up, that may well stick. But if he does, and finds the winning counter-punch, then he may yet turn it around. The point is to get the storyline to read "MAN OF PEACE PUSHED TOO FAR!" It's the great American hero story. That headline should be above the door of every Obama campaign office from now till November.

[ProudLiberalDan]

Thanks for your intelligent response to my post. I sincerely hopes his campaign takes your advice and has the courage to take the gloves off, finally.

[jackie4444]

Excellent description.

[bandithappy]

Announce a boycott of the media outlets that enable this campaign as grade school bully tantrum. They do it for ratings. Let's hit them where they live.

[MyLeftIsRight]

These cheap people remind me of the bullies in "Christmas Story". Remember Ralphie? Well, I'm looking forward to the day (hopefully real soon) when Ralphie (Obama) starts smacking the crap out of McCain and his gang of "toadies"! He can do it with finesse and class; he doesn't have to resort to the trash talk that these Rove Robots speak. I think he got a good start today when he made the whiners look like a bunch of immature idiots and finally got the media to admit that the McCain campaign is out of control. How long will they be in this state of mind? Probably until tomorrow when the "toadies" start politicizing 9/11 as they always do and the media will let the Rethugs "own" it again. After all, the Rethugs think the only people who died on 9/11 or in Iraq and Afghanistan are Republicans, none were Democrats. Bullhockey-Mom!

Has anyone else wondered why we have allowed a president to represent only half of our country for 8 years and degrade and demean the other half? How patriotic and Christian is this? Not much! Like everything else about these criminals, it's just a phony charade, but a very destructive one. This cannot happen again - people cannot possibly be that ignorant. But those Diebold voting machines will certainly come in handy again.

[intrepidzed]

I listened to Palin's speech at the convention and my impression was that she is something akin to a community college dropout who had risen to leadership by her ability to complain and blame others louder than those around her, kind of like the managers at UPS that I worked for in the 80's.
Then I was shocked, SHOCKED to hear interviews with delegates who seemed to think that she is the next Ronald Reagan! (not particularly a compliment, in my opinion ... but it showed how impressed those interviewees were by her speech) I continue to be amazed at the level of critical thought coming out of America these days.
And I'm shocked more only by the fact that McCain picked her and that so many seem to be thinking how great she is. But then, those are the same people that elected W. for 2 terms, so maybe it's not so shocking.

[Pulemerci]

Get used to the McCain/Palin administration my friend. Their theme is "Country First." That resonates with normal Americans (even community college drop outs). They don't care how wildly popular Obama is with German socialists or Hollywood. They want an administration that will keep this country safe and moving forward (think young, energetic and accomplished Palin vs., well Biden). At the end of the day, I want the cranky war hero over the community organizer at the helm.

[NickOLess]

Not very critical thinking, I'm afraid. The Bush administration has made us less safe by its blind, shoot'em-up response to the Middle East. They've created a breeding ground for terrorists overseas while destroying our economy at home, and thus our ability to continue combating them.

[Pete Cenedella - Huffpost Blogger]

Senator, is that you? Nothing on your schedule this morning?

[joesnuffy]

Country First? Just because McCain has a sign that says it doesn't make it so. The Republicans are doing well because low-IQ people like yourself (or "normal Americans", as you call them) are manipulated by their BS. It's a lie, Intrepidzed. Can't you see that. It's so obvious, and it's right in front of your face. It's the same lie that you fell for twice in the past 8 years. If I could translate that sign for you, it really says, "Me first, Evangelicals second, oil companies third, wealthy people fourth..." They ran out of space well before they got to Country.

I'm not sure how you can think that candidates will move the country forward who are against stem-cell research, who don't believe that global warming is man-made, who want to take away women's rights, who are ignorant and uneducated about the world, who willingly manipulate people like yourself to keep themselves and their self-interests in power.

How can you think that candidates will keep us safer who supported a war against the wrong enemy that has exhausted our military, angered our allies, and weakened our ability to fight more relavent fights?

I don't get McCain/Palin, and I especially don't get people like yourself who buy into the lies and manipulations. If they win, you deserve them.

[lbcny]

You are correct in everything you say but, these schoolyard bullies win elections.

I am not giving any more money until I see some fight from some of Obama's people and the 527's.

As Obama would say "Enough".

The media doesn't pay attention to nice. They own mean.

[EvasDaddy]

Let me understand: You agree that republicans are bullies, so you will withhold contributions until your own requirements are met? You evidently missed the point of the entire piece, because that reaction makes YOU a bully. You're the parent who watches his kid get picked on, then withholds support until the poor kid "fights back". Democrats like you are leaving all the heavy lifting to those of us who truly believe in change. I invite you and your ilk to come over to the winning side; we will most definitely prevail when we come together.

Send your money. Now.

[4cats4]

GREAT post, Pete! Unfortunately, it looks as if they have succeeded in bullying all the media outlets into silence or concurrence. Of course it doesn't hurt that all the media are owned by the same four repugnican monoliths.

[peterfay00]

When you have run the country into the ground for the past 8 years, I can't think of a better strategy than to go on the attack. Haven't you heard? Name calling and personal attacks are the perfect antidote to cure what ails America.

[Sagitar]

Yes, they certainly act like children, Peter.

Consider their response to any public dissent at the convention: U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A.! They forgot to put their hands over their ears.

And that awful 9-11 tribute film was just like popping a rerun of "Friday the 13th" video into the player. They want to be scared.

The hell with Dora pull-ups, let's get McCain-Palin pull-ups for all not-so-big kids.

[NickOLess]

Insightful! We can only hope that America will wake up in time to see it. The Republicans seem incapable of anything but empty-headed and aggressive jingoistic rants designed to distract us from the desperate situation they've gotten us into these past 8 years.

[obamasdaman23]

You hit the nail on the head Pedro!
Sarah Palin is the new bully on the block. I hope America is not swayed by her everyday "hockey mom"
persona. She is a wolf in sheep's clothing a Barracuda on the Playground if you will. It is so transparent to me what the Bully Party has done, they have propped up their beauty queen as a last resort a last chance to steal what they have stolen for 8 years. Obama says kids are off limits but then you have the token spew insult after insult. To me this election is about waking people up getting people together to change this countries path. I believe the good people of America are ready for change.

[kc1963]

BARRACUDA according to dictionary.com: 2 definitions listed....

1. any of several elongated, predaceous, tropical and subtropical marine fishes of the genus Sphyraena, certain species of which are used for food.

2. Slang. a treacherous, greedy person.

OR

Any of various fierce, mostly tropical marine fishes of the genus Sphyraena that resemble pike, have a projecting lower jaw with fanglike teeth, and include some edible species.

[American Spanish, from Spanish dialectal barraco, overlapping tooth.]

kinda fits.....don't it??