Well, the C word officially jumped the shark today..

[tridim]

I sometimes listen to a few minutes of RW radio at lunch just to determine what we're up against. Today Rush Limbaugh fully adopted the "Obama supporters are cult-like" meme.

From here on out every poster who claims the Obama campaign is a cult agrees with Rush Limbaugh. Not passing judgment, just posting a fact.

Please think before you post. DU will be better for it.

[mitchtv]

1. being that Rush is late to jump in the subject

One might say Rush agrees with them?

[tridim]

3. Either way, same result.

[TheUniverse]

Rush Limbaugh likes to eat drink and sleep.

Maybe we should stop eating drinking and sleeping.

[tridim]

7. Everybody eats drinks and sleeps

Not everybody calls certain campaigns a cult.

Besides my point wasn't that some DU'ers are Rush lovers, just that they agree with him on this bullshit issue.

[Tarc]

2. Ahh, you have just uttered the most glaring logical fallacy of them all

X believes in Y.
X is a bad person.
If you believe in Y, you are as bad a person as X is.

"think before you post" indeed. You are an embarrassment.

[EFerrari]

10. Another poster for Rush!

lol

[libbygurl]

16. Agree with this common fallacy here. Some lessons in logic needed, methinks. nt

[Jed Dilligan]

19. The Clinton camp uses that fallacy constantly

it drives me nuts. When they stop saying that any criticism of Her Holiness is a "RW meme," I will join you in jumping on this poster's fallacy.

[libbygurl]

60. Actually, it's 'His Holiness, Barack', isn't it? nt

[Jed Dilligan]

64. Well, you know, tit for tat.

There is a very strong identification that some people have with Hillary, to the point where any criticism of her is seen as an attack on the individual poster or women in general. That sounds cultish, doesn't it?

[libbygurl]

71. Nope, not cultish, just human nature. What bothers me are the uncritical, fawning descriptions...

...of BO's vague attractiveness to his supporters - they feel inspired by him, etc., without mentioning actual measures he proposes as being the reason they support him - these reactions are what put me off him and his supporters, and yes, they even feel creepy, to me, since I find an uncanny similarity between this behaviour and the descriptions of the mesmerised flock of preachers and cult leaders, which I don't think a president of the USA needs at this time. I think we need someone who exudes a confidence and has shown competence in getting things done. I don't expect miracles of the next president - heaven knows he/she has a ton of garbage to clean up, and it's going to take years, if not decades, to fix the royal mess that the US is in.

Here's the thing: I accept the imperfections of my candidate, and don't agree with her on a few things, but I can live with her imperfections. I agree, however, with her overall plans, which go into much greater detail than I've ever seen a presidential candidate do. These plans she proposes are precisely why I'm throwing my support to her. And she constantly talks about what she's going to do - others read that as being 'unsexy' or 'uninspiritational', but I actually like her policy wonkishness (why is there such an anti-intellectualism and this seeming need for emotional uplifting more than anything else in America these days?- just my observation).

It's the unmerited criticisms - no, slanderous and libellous attacks on her person that I dislike. And many of them reflect the same old, baseless accusations that the right-wing camp spewed during the 90s - she's shrill, cold, calculating - or weak (in a moment of exhaustion and NOT 'crying'). If you had been the subject of relentless attacks at the hands of the media and the right wing for over a decade, you would watch what you do and say, too. Instead, Hillary just goes ahead and does what she has to do on the campaign trail. And only the naive still thinks that one can't play hardball and win in politics. (Even JFK had his daddy Joseph, Sr, help out a lot with votes, y'know.) And I do think today we've all become so inured to the sexist comments with regard to her that a lot of people don't even recognise their sexist/misogynistic nature.

And I really don't believe in Obama's relative saintliness - politics isn't for saints. Saints can preach all they want, but you need a realist, a pragmatist to get things done. Hillary's shown her competence and ability to work even with the other side in the US Senate, and I've yet to hear a nasty word spoken about her from her Republican colleagues, some of whom have expressed genuine surprise at her likeability and charm. (I don't have the story link right now.)

Anyway, sorry to ramble on like this, and I will understand if you stopped reading after the first paragraph, but I thought I'd explain my views a little bit more now - for whatever they're worth.



Edited for grammar.

[Jed Dilligan]

72. Thanks for explaining your POV

If more were capable of doing this, we wouldn't be having the problems we're having right now.

I see Barack as far from perfect, but I am pretty skeptical about campaign policy proposals. The only one that I've ever seen enacted is Bush's promise to start wars on two fronts. I would rather have a Democratic leader that appeals to typical Americans enough to create some grassroots support for a Democratic agenda.

[libbygurl]

73. Yes, we ALL should be skeptical about proposals offered during campaigns,

...but then, that's all the candidates can give us before they're actually in office, no?

Afterwards, it's up to the people to hold the president's feet to the fire, but then we should also not expect miracles to happen. Many of the proposals will need to go through Congress, too, and I'm hopeful that a Dem Prez and Dem Congress will make passing genuinely helpful policies a lot easier than when Bill Clinton was Prez.

Problems happen when people think that their job is done once their candidate is elected into office, and leave everything to the politicians. It probably won't be different this time around, but I hope more people become more active in firmly encouraging the next prez and Congress to deliver on their promises, keeping in mind that reality can make that a rough process.

Anyway, thanks for reading through my comment!

You have a good weekend now. :hi:

[Jed Dilligan]

74. Have a good weekend too

It's my birthday and one of those rare occasions that old Bay Area friends will come up to Sacramento. So I'm happy.

I find disturbing that most people's image of the President is that of a super-legislator--we can't get used to not having kings and queens.

[libbygurl]

75. Ooh, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

:toast: :party:

Ah, so you live in California? Very nice and beautiful state, but much too high cost of living for me!

Yes, and our media certainly do nothing to encourage citizen participation in the political process - if they not downright discourage it. (It's been all about entertainment and profits now, even the news, since at least the early 90s.)

Have a fun birthday celebration with your pals! And may you have more b-days to come!

[Jed Dilligan]

76. Thanks!

It's not as exciting as when I was younger (I'm 34). And two of my friends are boojie so I have to do massive housecleaning today. But it'll be fun I'm sure!

Here's to the grassroots and the netroots!

:toast:

[libbygurl]

77. Amen! See you around! Stay well. G'nite, then it's nearly 8 pm here).

Have lots of :beer: - or whatever your fave beverage is!

:toast:

:hi:

[Kittycat]

29. Ever considered that Rush and his cronies might actully

READ Lib blogs and sites, scouring for information and weaknesses to use against us? Now there's a thought - I'm sure they never do that. :eyes:

Way to go Rushlite

[Tarc]

33. Even worse than fallacious ignorance

are those like that see conspiracy and dirty deeds around every corner and pathway. Be less hysterical/gullible, please. People may begin to take you more seriously.

[Kittycat]

38. Don't support the Cult meme. It's that simple.

There's a 50/50 chance you'll need to support Obama someday soon. Would you like to be lumped under the "cult" header? Somehow I think not.

[BlackVelvet04]

42. Why would I "need" to support

Obama?

[Seabiscuit]

61. Indeed. Ann Coulter now supports Hillary. Ann Coulter's a moronic hate monger.

Therefore, if you support Hillary you're a moronic hate monger.

Same illogic as the OP.

[quinnox]

4. Should the word "cult" itself be banned?

I mean from the english language, it seems to be very offensive to most people.

[tridim]

9. No, but it is an insulting term by definition.

[sfam]

5. Congrats to Hillary operatives for Giving Rush new material!!!

We really do appreciate their commitment to the Democratic party. We can think of no better way than for Hillary supporters and surrogates to get this type of tripe into the hands of the Wingnut tripe-meisters.

Great job! What's next?

[NMMNG]

66. Yeah, because the Obama supporters never give him any material

Riiiight. :eyes:

[K Gardner]

6. This is exactly what I and others have been saying today. But I'm guessing Hillary supporters

are fine with this. It plays right into the game plan.

[BlackVelvet04]

43. But it's fine for the Obama supporters to

bash Hillary 24/7? That doesn't play into the game plan, right? You guys are a joke.

[tridim]

49. I've never bashed Hillary in the least

I like her almost as much as I like Obama.

However, I will continue to criticize Hillary supporters that use childish RW talking points against other Democrats.

[Kaylee]

8. Whelp, can't say we didn't see that one coming....

It's a shame this vile meme was promoted here on this site.

Stick to the policy differences....slinging each other with these malicious labels will only hurt us all in the end.

[TexasObserver]

11. Rush is supporting Hillary. It's no surprise.

[Tex_Dem]

34. So why isn't he urging Repubs to cross over to vote for her . . .

. . . in the upcoming open primaries?

If he really wanted the Repub nominee to run against Hillary, he just about has the power to get that done. All he's got to do is to prod a few hundred thousand GOP'ers to cross over to vote for Hillary in the open primaries that are coming up in Virginia, Ohio, and Texas.

It's the easiest thing in the world to do and it would virtually guarantee a big win for Clinton in those states.

Truth be known, the last thing Rush Limbaugh or any other right wing blowhard wants is another beating by the Clinton political machine in a presidential election. I think they figure that two is enough.

[AndyA]

12. You know, when you have Obama supporters themselves using images

like the one below in their signature lines, how could anyone possibly think it wasn't a cult?



Why not go directly to the source of the problem?

[tridim]

13. Because it's a campaign, not a cult.

[DS1]

15. Lirwin2 is a Clinton supporter, so your entire argument is wrong

My sig, of course, is a nice FU to people slinging around the cult word

[AndyA]

35. I've seen at least one other using it, and it was an Obama supporter.

I don't recall their user name, and we're not supposed to call people out here at DU anyway, but the person you mentioned isn't the only one using that image or a similar one.

[malletgirl02]

68. It's suposed to be a joke

the Obama supporters using it are satirizing the cult meme.

[islandmkl]

27. oh...that's how you know it's a cult...well, hell...

i thought it was the BHO tattoos on the foreheads, the walking backwards, and the constant "OoooooooooooooBaaaaaaaaaaaaaMaaaaaaa" they chant in low tones.

[southernleftylady]

14. I dont listen to rush so I dont know what words he is using sorry nt

[tridim]

18. That's why I posted it here.

I'll post the transcript later if it's available.

[southernleftylady]

22. You are much braver than I am .. I couldn't listen to that idiot for 5 seconds!! nt

[islandmkl]

17. yeah, Rush...are they kind of like the NeoCon cult currently in the White House?

Like Mustapha said to Harry Callahan about Bobby Maxwell in "The Enforcer": "Stone waste of white."

[MonkeyFunk]

20. By your logic

anybody who says anything about Bill or Hillary Clinton that's negative agrees with Rush.

[tridim]

25. No, I said nothing of the sort.

I simply posted what Rush said about Obama's campaign and it's exactly the same thing I see posted here. It's a direct statement of fact, there's nothing to parse.

[libbygurl]

30. Gawd, get lessons in simple logical reasoning and fallacious reasoning already! nt

[Tarc]

37. Yes, you did

as I explained in my post above.

[ForeignSpectator]

47. what logic? He merely said that now anybody who describes Obama's campaign...

...as cult agrees with Limbaugh or Limbaugh agrees with them. Any way there is an agreement between the two. Nothing more said...

tridim even said "not passing judgement, just posting a fact" and yet you try to refute him by refuting some "logic" that is neither there nor meant to be implied.

[MonkeyFunk]

50. Right

and anybody who thinks Hillary is a power-hungry climber agrees with Rush. Anybody who believes Clinton disagraced the White House agrees with Rush. Anybody who thinks Paula Jones was reliable agrees with Rush. See how that works?

[ForeignSpectator]

51. Yeah and it puts the "cult" thing into perspective... n/t

[tridim]

52. Keep spinning.. I said nothing even approaching what you claim.

Reread my original post.

[MonkeyFunk]

53. I did read it.

Your point seems to be that because Rush picks up an argument, anybody using that argument agrees with Rush. That's fair.

I'm giving other examples of how people can agree with Rush.

[Evergreen Emerald]

21. Here is why I think of many of Obama adulators cult-like

They keep repeating the pretty catch phrases. They refuse to look at issues--rather they just like him in the god-like fashion he can do no wrong. And If something questionable arises, they attack the messenger and avoid the issue.

When an endorsement comes Clinton's way--it is given nefarious meaning. When Obama gets and endorsement, there is party in the streets.

When anyone questions Obama, they say that we are just not seeing the light, and we will come around...I swear I heard those same lines on Stepford Wives.

He is a politician. When no great new change agenda. He is mainstream with glitz and glamor as his political spin. And the masses are buying it. Not thinking, just feeling. And it is cult like.

So, those who are offended, there is a reason that the term is coming from so many sources.

[Lisa0825]

24. "When an endorsement comes Clinton's way--it is given nefarious meaning...

When an endorsement comes Clinton's way--it is given nefarious meaning. When Obama gets and endorsement, there is party in the streets."

Gimme a flippin' break. Hillary supporters do the EXACT SAME THING. Every person who has endorsed Obama has been insulted and denigrated by a large and vocal group of Hillary supporters here.

Pot, meet kettle.

[sfam]

40. Truly, who cares why you think Obama's supporters are cult-like? This is a very crass smear...

one with absolutely no basis in reality, but one which has been happily picked up by the right. There is no truth to this smear, which I'm sure Carvelle and the rest of those peddling this line would happily state off-camera. But you REALLY believe Obama is creating a cult, right? Nope, no crass spin here - the Clinton supporters at DU TRULY believe Obama is the next Hitler - who only wishes to be idolized by the world, and they really believe all of Obama's supporters are clueless lemmmings - REALLY they do...right?

At this point its fair to say that you can congratulate yourselves and start working on the next baseless smear in the hopes of killing off Obama's growth and support.

Good luck with that, but perhaps you should also consider stopping the "why won't Obama's supporters vote for Hillary" threads - after all, they're all clueless cultist lemmings, right? Keep it up and perhaps you can get a free ticket to next year's CPAC.

[Josiah1982]

23. seems plenty of folks dont mind using the rw meme's attacking Hillary but if

its against obama its wrong? take the lumps if you dish it out. sounds like a bunch of crybabies to me.

[tridim]

28. I've never attacked Hillary at all.

What are you talking about?

[Josiah1982]

32. k, maybe not you exactly, but plenty of obama suporters use rw talking points

against hillary. or you hadn't noticed?

[tridim]

44. No, I don't keep track of every Obama supporter's words.

And I try to ignore any posts using RW talking points against either candidate.

[libbygurl]

26. Yep, and many here on DU will lay the blame, predictably, ...

...and sadly at Hillary Clinton's door.

Ignoring the fact that so many others have noticed that characteristic of the Obama campaign on their own, many, many months before - no, these people would have had to have received a (cult-like) memo telling them about this a long while back.

Oh, didn't you get yours?

Stop with the obviously fallacious reasoning, already pointed out by Tarc above.

[Wombatzu]

31. everyone realizes now that the Clintons have...

destroyed the Democratic Party, right?

[krispos42]

36. So, Rush told his cultish followers that Obama supporters are a cult?

Pot, kettle, etc.

[ieoeja]

39. Every minute Rush criticizes Obama for being too popular...

... is a minute not spent criticizing him for something that might make sense to somebody.

I was just thinking yesterday that Hillary's supporters might be trying to do Obama a general election favor. Freepers are just stupid enough to think it would be a good idea to accuse Obama of being too popular. If we're really lucky this could become their prime rallying cry!

Don't vote for Obama. He's so popular it's scary.

[islandmkl]

41. 21(b). Here is why I think of many of Clinton adulators cult-like

They keep repeating the pretty catch phrases. They refuse to look at issues--rather they just like her in the god-like fashion she can do no wrong. And If something questionable arises, they attack the messenger and avoid the issue.

When an endorsement comes Obama's way--it is given nefarious meaning. When Clinton gets and endorsement, there is party in the streets.

When anyone questions Clinton, they say that we are just not seeing the light, and we will come around...I swear I heard those same lines on Stepford Wives.

She is a politician. When no great new change agenda. She is mainstream with glitz and glamor as her political spin. And the masses are buying it. Not thinking, just feeling. And it is cult like.

So, those who are offended, there is a reason that the term is coming from so many sources. --------didn't need to change much here

[Straight Shooter]

45. Does Rush agree that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west?

If so, then I agree with his observation.

He can say whatever he wants, he's taking advantage of the observations of others, and maybe he really thinks that way. Who knows. Who cares what Rush thinks anyway. I sure don't.

[tridim]

46. Doesn't change the fact that you apparently agree with him.

That was the point of my post. I'm not saying you are a Dittohead.

You agree with Rush on one point. A point that is insulting and wrong in the eyes of half the Democratic party, and massively divisive in its overall scope. I know why Rush does it, I just don't know why some Democrats do.

[Straight Shooter]

48. Well, maybe if Barack wouldn't spout nonsense like the following:

From the Village Voice.

"Once in a while, Obama makes a passing reference to our diminishing individual liberties, but hardly ever in his stump speeches. At an early-morning rally the day of the New Hampshire vote, he told some 300 students at the Dartmouth College gym: "My job this morning is to be so persuasive . . . that a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany, and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Barack."

Epiphany? Spare me the preacher talk to sway the masses, and maybe I'll view him in a different light. FWIW, I hold a dim view of politicians using evangelical rhetoric, and an even more dim view of encouraging people to chant 3-word slogans.

[Iceburg]

54. Wow ...the Cult-ivator strikes again -- he is even more dangerous than I thought...

It makes Bush41's "thousand points of light" seem rather dim doesn't it?

Thanks for the quote.

[libbygurl]

56. Creepy, ain't it?

There's another 'C' word for ya!

[Straight Shooter]

58. Bush41 and his thousand points of light ...

Another stupid slogan. Thanks for reminding me. :)

[nonconformist]

55. And every Obama supporter that posts about blue dresses, cigars...

about how Hillary is just a WIFE... and on and on and on...

What are they? Whose message was THAT?

[Omega3]

57. I'm sorry but there's alot of ppl in the media saying lots of things about everyone

just b/c I may agree with the cult reference it doesn't have anything to do with what that big fat idiot says, in fact, I wouldn't know unless you'd post what he thinks, which I dn't care what he thinks, he's a propagandist

[libbygurl]

59. Yep. Op is drawing links between two independent, unrelated incidents...

...that just happen to mention the same observation. Nonsensical post, really.

[tridim]

67. Spin it however you want, but you still apparently agree with what he said today.

In all my years I've never heard Rush say ANYTHING I agree with.

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, just pointing out a fact.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

62. Cultists are people who don't think for themselves.

I find that the whole meme is manufactured and quickly spread to be wonderfully ironic.

[DemGa]

63. It did peak---things are about to change course

Next up: The right-wing attacks are starting on Obama.

Trouble is, Obama has characterized the Clintons as causative of their own right-wing attacks. Now that they've begun on Obama, who will be to blame? Oh my, the dangerous game embracing right-wing talking points!

It will be funny if not so sad to watch what's coming up for ObamaNation.

[Skip Intro]

65. Wow, that's kinda like an Ari Fleisher "people should watch what they say" position, isn't it?

Not talking about reality won't change it, you know.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

69. That's The Best You Can Do? Guilty By Association?

:rofl:

Maybe you should be the one doing some thinking before posting. :think:

[tridim]

70. Guilty by both using the EXACT same RW smear..

and the EXACT phrasing against a DEMOCRATIC candidate. I expect it from Rush, but not from DU'ers.

It's not my fault you can't see that.