Thu, 07/16/2009 - 9:15am — gqmartinez
Is trying to hold people accountable nothing more than "spreading the blame"? Shouldn't those who, you know, have earned balme recently be blamed and held accountable.
Its implied that I don't accept Obama as president. But isn't the focus on the GOP when they are a dwindling bunch much more like not accepting that we have a Dem pres and Congress? As far as I'm concerned given the mandate from 2006 and 2008 (what was it, 15 Senate seats and scores of House seats?) the GOP is now irrelevant. Why are some fighting so damn hard to keep them relevant?
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We still need to keep an eye on the GOP...
but only, really, for their ability to exploit populism by turning anger away from Versailles
and against the very policies which would actually help people. They've always been rather good at turning rightful anger to their own side, no matter how harmful the effects. At this point, the GOP is rather like Saruman after his staff was broken; he still had the power of his voice to do evil in some small, mean way.
Of course, much, much more critical right now is to combat the same faux-populist memes that are emanating from 'Moderates', since they have both the memes and the political power to enact them.
You don’t know me, son. So let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake, you’ll be facing me, and you’ll be armed.
-Malcolm Reynolds, “Serenity”
Agreed. Though, I would say they are near their
lowest ebb rather than dwindling. I wouldn't count on things to stay this way, which is precisely why it is so important to focus on the Dem's now. Obama is squandering the largest Democratic majority in a number of decades. We won't have this chance again. Republicans are merely a distraction today. Save your fire.
Medicare for All is Civil Rights
Excuse du jour
2006: Well the Democrats would spring into mighty action once they recapture the House and Senate, so it's all the Republicans fault...
2008: Well the Democrats would spring into mighty action once they recapture the White House, so it's all the Republicans fault...
2009: Well the Democrats would spring into mighty action once they have large enough majority in the Senate, so it's all the Republicans fault...
2010: Well the Democrats would spring into mighty action once they {insert excuse}, so it's all the Republicans fault...
Repeat regularly until complaints about lack of real change go away.*
If all else fails talk about abortion, Sarah Palin, etc.
Actually...
... the new thing is that Republicans are racists, due to the Sotomayor hearings.
I know, you're shocked, too. Happens to be true, but then I was a racist during the primariez, so at this point it's all instrumental and crying wolf and a little green soccer balls-style circlejerk and the truth of the matter has nothing to do with it. (Because soccer balls are so much more progressive than footballs, don't you know.)
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
And we all know that
race trumps everything else.
If they're not careful, being racist may end up standing for real political courage.
P.S. Lambert, I adore the "little green soccer-balls"
Except
That it doesn't just "happen to be true" but is relevent because one doesn't have to be in power to effect negative change at the state and nation level. Their racism, as so disgustingly portrayed by someone like Jeff Sessions, for instance, is both very real and very consequential to the non-whites and non-men that someone like Sessions has to represent.
There is actually a level of government below that of the national government, a level, in fact, that is often far more consequential than the national government given the shape of our politics (stacked). The GOP is reeking very real havoc in many state and municipal legislatures and councils.
I don't accept for one minute that self-described critical thinkers can not both chew gum and walk at the same time, and thus don't believe for one minute that the GOP is somehow inconsequential, defeated, a distraction, or overblown. Speaking truth to power is, indeed, the most important role of a thoughtful citizen, but it's not the only role, and to reiterate it, again, the GOP is still the power in many regions of this nation.
I'm really beginning to see that maybe I don't quite fit over here, anymore, as I've seen very little undeserved and unimportant criticism leveled against GOP, lately. I'd hope that calling evil when and where one sees it would not be turned into some mind-fuck gymnastics, and by that I mean the frame where the first thing is to ask from which direction the evil is coming from and then putting it through two different filters. That is, this automatic filter which incentivizes all criticism of the GOP to be filed under "unimportant" and criticism of the FKD to get preferential treatment as "important".
But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...
Do feel free to post on the GOP all you want
Nobody's stopping you -- if you really feel it's important enough for you to do personally, as opposed to having others fulfill your needs because you express them.
Oh, and "happens to be true" as a statement (not in reality). When you use "any stick to beat a dog" that's what happens. So they're not beating me with that stick any more, they're beating somebody else. Yay!
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
I don't feel I'm being stopped
And, personally, I haven't found anything, yet, that has piqued my interest enough to post on them. My only issue is on the gross and lazy dismissiveness of anyone here, or in the rest of the blogosphere, who make light of anyone criticism of the GOP as if they are unimportant. I'm a bit confused as to how some can place an incredible sense of vigilance, urgency, importance on say always calling out sexism where it rears its ugly head, but become dismissive of recognizing an ideology that not only makes a feature of sexism, but every other kind of vile -ism that there is.
Calling a duck a duck shouldn't have to go through filters; it shouldn't matter where it's coming from, and too often here some take almost a mirror approach to the crap that happens on the other side of the blogosphere where they are unable and unwilling to criticise themselves or their own. Things are becoming far too reactionary; that's my concern.
The GOP isn't some Emmanuel Goldstein being resurrected to scare America for the Democrats gain. The GOP is a very real, very much alive, and very corrosive entity. That the FKD is also, in many regards, doesn't change that.
But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...
Not as special
Hey that's just ordinary "racism".
You have to live in MA to get your own special kind of "racism."
Sadly, on more than one occasion I've listened to "excitable" Obama supporters proclaim how "racist" Massachusetts is because we voted by a large margin for Hillary in the Democratic primary!
This despite just a couple of years earlier selecting a black man (Deval Patrick) for the Democratic primary for Governor over a field of white men, then electing him Governor over a white woman.
Then in the actual Presidential election we voted overwhelmingly for Obama over white male McCain.
But hey we're still racists because of voting for Hillary in the primary!
Maybe all the other stuff was just us "faking" it? ;-)
+100
Bingo! Demanding accountability and not accepting excuses seems old-fashioned (and actually makes the Dems just like the GOP).
the Dems
could hold 100 Senate seats/438 House seats and we'd still be checking for Republicans hiding underneath our beds.
Also:
2009a: Well the Democrats would spring into mighty action once they have Al Franken to get to 60, so it's all the Republicans/Norm Coleman's fault...
2009b: Well the 60 Democrats would spring into mighty action, but lions Byrd and Kennedy are on medical leave, so it's all the Republican's fault...