What is your reaction to comments like Kristof's about Dean?

[lostnfound]

I have a visceral reaction to the thread started about Nicholas Kristoff's column which states that "Mr. McGovern was defeated in a landslide. As Howard Dean will probably be, if the Democrats nominate him."

My reaction is that IF the American people are so incredibly brainwashed and cowardly that they will cling -- in 'landslide' numbers -- to a person like George W. Bush (!?!?@#?#!?!!) rather than elect a perfectly decent candidate like Howard Dean (Yes, OR Clark OR Edwards or Kerry (even letting them off the hook of my choice Kucinich)

THEN
my disgust with their gross laziness ("intellectual" that is) and their arrogance (believing that the rest of the world knows so much less than them about George Bush) and their lack of curiosity (ditto) is sufficient that
I NO LONGER CARE whether or not they take their country down the tubes any longer.

To h--l with Nicholas Kristoff. HE and his ILK are a major part of why we are in this mess. HE can take his opinions straight to the rigged electronic voting machines and BUY another dang president ready to LIE his way into another DANG war.

But..my friends, perhaps you have a different reaction...?

[joeybee12]

1. I voted yes, however, you must remember that people like Kristoff like

to think they have power--they truly don't. People read opinion columns of people they agree with--people like Kristoff probably hasn't changed any minds.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

3. My sentiments exactly

Anyone who takes the guy seriously already pre-agrees with him before he's even said anything.

[lostnfound]

12. You're probably right, but I do remember my high school & college years..

when I earnestly thought of op-ed pieces as the wisdom of experience being passed down from the intellectual elites. Hence I assumed then that the opinions there were authentic, and represented the full range of opinion, from the Buckleys or Safires on the right to the Kristofs and Friedmans on the left (or their equivalents of the era).

We don't exactly equip our youth with a sufficient degree of skepticism (cynicism) toward the establishment.

[wtmusic]

2. Will enjoy reading the column

after Dean is elected

[slinkerwink]

4. ha, me too!

;-)

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. McGovern lost because we had 10 solid years of Liberal policies.

Things were happening way too fast for some people in the 60s. An assassination of a president and two pro-liberal politicians should attest to that.

Now, times are different. We're dealing with a conservative scourge that has been getting more and more bolder since the 1980s.

In a nutshell, this isn't your daddy's era.

[Myra]

6. You said it quite well

Thanks for saving me the trouble.

[Armstead]

7. Sleeping while Rome Burns

"Liberals" like him are the kind who have been sleeping while Rome burns for years.

We need to start telling the truth and stop buying tepid corporate centrism.

And we have to stop listening to status-quo nitwits who keep repeating the same talking points. Who from on high has deterined dean is "unelectable." Maybe he will lost, but this kind of pre-ordained crap is what is killing politics -- especialiiy liberal change-oriented politics.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

9. So

I guess you're not impressed with the psychic powers of the naysayers? Me neither.

Dean carries plenty of risk as a candidate, I freely admit that. What a lot of the skeptics overlook, I believe, is that this election is in large part going to be a referendum on George Bush, not on the Democratic challenger. This is not to say that Dean (or whoever) won't have an extremely difficult, uphill battle to beat him, but I honestly believe that Dean is the candidate with the most tenacity and the willingness to take the fight to Bush.

This is not to take anything away from the other candidates --- I don't see any of them rolling over and playing dead if they get the nom, and of course Clark and Kerry bring military experience to the table, which is something I wish Dean had. However, I don't think that's going to make a difference. If the republican party can successfully tar Max Cleland as a soft-on-defense terrorism supporter, they can easily do the same thing to any other candidate. The real question is whether or not we can have a candidate who transcends the talking points that we already know are coming. I honestly believe Dean is the man to do that.

[LSdemocrat]

8. Kristof's just an idiot who thinks he knows what he's talking about

The fact is, politics is unpredictable, and anyone who claims otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about.

[virtualobserver]

11. believing the conventional wisdom

is seldom wise. It is amazing that people can make a living writing nonsense like that.

[izzie]

10. My feelers have been up for days as they think this........

they have to get Dean and do it fast.