I hope last night was a wake up call for some of you

[ecstatic]

I didn't see it but I heard about Palin's speech... and the speech of another teabagger who wishes we could all go back to the simpler days of the 19th century.

I also heard about how uncritical the media was--the teabaggers were given top treatment by the press (something our side never had when Bush* was in office).

If you're ok with Palin, etc. slipping into power while we argue amongst ourselves, then fine--continue ranting against Pres. Obama and the democrats.

[HipChick]

1. k&r

[cbdo2007]

2. A wake up call??? I did watch the speech and she's nothing more than a joke.

She can't speak a sentence without contradicting something she's said before. And the idiot Tea Party paid her $100,000 for a speech from her!

Two things we don't need to worry about any more after this weekend:

palin

tea baggers

[WeDidIt]

5. I heard that shit about Bush in '99, too

Don't worry about him. He'll never be elected.

Same shit about Reagan in '78.

Yeah. Ignoring this shit works out really well.

[NNN0LHI]

13. Bush lost

The Supremos appointed him President.

Don

[laughingliberal]

19. People just conveniently forget that. Bush did not win the election. He stole it.

I don't see how marching in lockstep would have prevented that.

[BR_Parkway]

40. The sad part was that he got close enough to steal it - there should

have been such a huge margin that there would have been no possible way

[AndyA]

12. That's what a lot of people thought about George W. Bush circa 1999.

And we all know what happened there.

Sarah Palin, as pathetic as she is, seems to have caught the attention of the right wingers as well as the media. Unless something really bad happens that disgraces her, she's worth keeping an eye on.

Bush couldn't answer questions about world leaders, geography, our government, etc., and by hook or by crook he spent 8 years in The White House screwing things up. He was the guy everyone wanted to have a beer with.

Until the media gives Palin's negatives as much time as it gives her public appearances, there's no telling how far she'll go. The M$M will make her a star if that's what their orders are.

[laughingliberal]

21. Yes, we know what happened. Bush lost the election & managed to steal it. nt

[AndyA]

26. And Sarah Palin is different from Bush in what way?

If she's the shining star that the powers that be want next in The White House, they can move to steal the election for her as well. As long as she's given a pass on her negatives by the media, the outcome could be the same.

What's really pathetic is the Dems know about election fraud. They know about the corrupt software in the voting machines, yet what steps have they taken to see that it can't happen again? The Democrats are really pathetic and weak. If we can't have honest, accurate elections in this country, everything else is just a scam.

[laughingliberal]

28. My point is simply that those who are ordering us to march in lockstep or we will have Palin

for president are using Bush's 'win' as proof this is what will happen. Bush did not win. He stole the election. The vote frauds are an entirely different matter.

Our party, btw, is not supporting the run of the Ohio Secretary of State who cleaned up their election mess.

[ThomWV]

3. Enough of this nonsense- Palin at best appeals to maybe 20% of voters

It is a wildly vocal minority of idiots - that is all they are. They pose no threat what so ever to Democrats; they siphon votes from Republicans. Its that simple.

[JustAnotherGen]

8. All it takes

is for her to 'inspire' the next Tim McVeigh. I've long thought the next major Terrorist attack would come from 'within'. I'm not saying she's politically powerful - but she inspires a certain element/type of person who commit evil acts. She appeals to an angry 'element' of America. Their anger is not justified which makes them insane on top of being easily led by a woman with a silver tongue.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. I haven't been asleep

:wink: This movement and THAT woman? They're dangerous. We need to stop dismissing her as 'stupid'.

She's just smart enough to inspire evil thoughts - and actions.

Rec!

[billybob537]

6. I don't think Palin is a serious contender,

She's just making the rounds sucking up the cash before her star fades.
She's not the type of girl you take home to the White House.

[L. Coyote]

29. She is serving an immediate purpose in someone's grand scheme though.

and that someone is THY LORD GOD :rofl:

[Political Heretic]

7. If Palin, etc. slip into power, the blame will rest with the democratic party

not with people unwaveringly advocating social and economic justice

[Toasterlad]

69. Be Kind. They Don't Really Have Any Other Talking Points.

Even though most everyone by now has awakened to the absurdity of the "if a Republican wins, it's YOUR fault for not voting for the Democratic candidate, no matter how much you disagree with their position!" meme, the DLC types still keep pushing it. Because really, what else do they have? There really is no excuse for the failure of the Democratic party to advance a progressive agenda, and the anger with the party is completely justified.

However, instead of doing what they SHOULD do, and re-embrace the ideals that most Democrats hold, they'll just continue to say "Republicans! Boo!" Could it be because the same interests that control the Republican party also control the Democratic party?

[QC]

74. IF WE DON'T CLAP HARD ENOUGH, TINKERBELL WILL DIE!!!!!

Isn't that really what this argument amounts to?

[Toasterlad]

75. LOL. Yes, That, In a Nutshell, Is the Argument

[datasuspect]

9. a narrative is being woven for us right in front of our own eyes

and it is handcrafted by some of the best marketers, PR firms, and advertising agency minds in the business.

it reads like a script.

[Nay]

38. Yep, they're crafting the story right in front of us -- this is why the Pubs

are winning, folks. It matters not that Palin is dumb, tongue-tied, quit as governor, has a daughter with an "illegitimate" child. It not only does not matter, it helps in the crafting of the "story" -- a story which will appeal to large numbers of people because it is THEIR story. You know, the Horatio Alger story, except the masses won't ever get to the "rich and famous" part of their story. They will be stuck with their wayward kids, cheating husbands, etc. TPTB are forming this narrative for Palin's life in the same way (and for the same reason) as film companies do for their stars; soap operas do for their characters; the Olympic Committee and sports stations do for their athletes, etc.

The "story" grabs the emotions and instills feelings that will be unfazed by any facts. This is the object of creating the story. Susceptible people will go into the voting booth with positive feelings engendered by the story they will hear over the next two years and vote for this monstrosity.

[HughMoran]

10. It's all the rage on DU - 15 hidden threads on page 1 of GD already

:yikes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Oh phooey. She doesn't have enough hands to write down all the crib notes she will need

:rofl:

[Karmadillo]

14. Maybe the message should be the Democrats should attend to the People's business instead of

ministering to their corporate friends and conducting wars of empire. Passing genuine health care reform, enacting banking regulation, ending ruinous wars, getting America back to work, and actually fighting for legislative goals instead of tepidly pleading for bipartisanship would do a lot more to advance the Democratic Party than trying to silence its critics by threatening them with Sarah Palin. It's the abject failure of the Democrats to take bold actions that has left the vacuum the Queen of Ignorance is trying to fill.

[Nay]

41. Agree completely, Karmadillo. The big problem is that the Dems

aren't acting like they give a shit about the citizens, either. Hell, if 600,000 people protesting before the begining of the Iraq War doesn't convince the Dems that we don't want that war and now want out, I don't know what will. And health care -- if you wanted to make sure that Pubs came out of the woodwork to scream, craft a bill that forces everyone to buy insurance from the insurance companies. Come on. WTH? Everybody's granny is on Medicare, so do Medicare for all. It's really that simple, but there are a lot of folks trying to pretend differently for reasons of their own.

Calling on Dems to lockstep with Dem leaders has never worked, because with Dems, you generally have to produce results; we're just not that susceptible to bullshit and our eyes are open enough to actually process what we see with some semblance of reality, so we act like the canaries in the coalmine. I don't think we should give up being the canaries. We could save a lot of miners.

[JustAnotherGen]

15. And we need to stop looking at her from a DU'er perspective

WE may not ALWAYS agree with each other here - but I think we represent a much more 'aware' portion of society. The threads/posts where people display a stellar knowledge of history, and how government works - never fails to amaze me. Whether we have J.D.'s or not - we are a very well read, knowledgeable, and 'educated' group of people.

Of COURSE she's an idiot to us. We can see her stupid all over her.

But to the people she appeals to: Weak, perpetual victims, those who think they are powerless, those who think the feminists kept them or their husband from getting a job, those who think that blacks, hispanics/latino(s), jews, asians - are getting things for free?

To these people? She's brilliant.

Add speech intended to rile up violence and hateful/angry emotions to a weak-minded perpetual victim -

And it equals a dangerous group of people being led by 'Serena Joy'.

[WeDidIt]

16. The media has chosen its narrative and Sarah Palin WILL succeed

They'll report only positive stories about her for the next two years.

We're toast.

[HipChick]

20. Her Tax cheating, and Todd as co-governor was quickly buried..

[GoCubsGo]

22. Exactly right.

All one has to do to see that is turn on CNN--right now. As I type this, they are discussing this gimmick's "speech" last night, where she claimed that security is our number one issue. Sarah says this is the case, so fuck discussing jobs and the economy. That's how it works. They are ignoring her corrupt past just as they did Idiot Boy's. You won't hear about her tax evasion from them any more than we heard about Dumya's three failed businesses or his military desertion.

[laughingliberal]

17. So, STFU and accept anything our party decides to do?

Is that your message? Okay, starting my lockstep march. NOT.

[QC]

54. Yes. That's the only argument the loyalty enforcers have left. n/t

[Toasterlad]

70. Great Minds, QC. See Above.

[muffin1]

18. I think President Obama and the dems need to take quite another lesson

from all this. It is long past time for them to start acting like liberals instead of rethugs. Obama was elected based on the promises he made while campaigning. REAL health care reform, taking care of Main Street instead of Wall Street, ending DADT,closing Gitmo, bringing the troops back from Iraq, etc. So far, they've delivered on exactly NONE of these principles.

If we had wanted a McCain presidency, we would have voted for that.

[laughingliberal]

33. Best reply in the whole, damned thread.

Kill the messenger is the favorite game of some here. It's just not that hard for the American people to see our administration and the Blue Dogs in the Senate are handing them over to the same corporate overlords the Republicans handed them over to.

[muffin1]

52. This is just craziness.

Instead of cleaning our own house, and standing up for our principles, there are some here that think we should adopt the ideals of the repukes. Wow.

[AllentownJake]

23. I'm glad to see that it is all DUs fault

That some of the administration policies aren't that popular with the party rank and file and the populace as a whole bullshit hasn't stopped in my two week hiatus from this place.

[laughingliberal]

30. It is all our fault. Lol.

Not sure how they intend to beat on the voters who never come here and demand blind devotion but there you have it. Dissenting DUers are the entire reason Democrats may lose and demanding we march in lockstep will fix it.

[AllentownJake]

32. I think my track record of predicting the results of things politically

Speak for itself.

Of course, issuing a warning on DU or in real life is met with generally the same response, with the same anger after which. Amazing when I'm right people assume that I made something happen. If that was the case I'd be using this skill on lottery numbers and be sitting in Barbados with a fishing rod, beer, and a trophy wife.

[laughingliberal]

37. +1 nt

[spiritual_gunfighter]

24. Uh okay

The fear of a Palin Presidency means we shouldn't criticize our President's policy and hold our leaders accountable. Fucking pathetic shit.

[spanone]

25. ok,,, you tell me what to do on this fine sunday morning and i'll run right out and do it

if you think this is the fault of members of d.u. you are obviously in the wrong place

[AllentownJake]

43. I was vacationing during the Coakley fiasco

Please let me know how Martha's disaster of a campaign and the Presidents inability to sell his most important policy initiative of 2009 was all DUs fault and liberals in general.

[Lint Head]

27. This is scary stuff. I didn't notice a black person on any of the coverage.

On top of that they are calling for the return of 'Jim Crow' laws. They are nothing more than bigots and racists.

[QC]

31. Yet another STFU thread. n/t

[Berry Cool]

34. This is all such bullshit.

Palin cannot become president without the majority of the Republican Party wanting her to be president...and they don't want her to be president because, unlike Bush, she's uncoachable and uncontrollable. That's the last thing they want. The truth is, they're afraid her followers are going to take up such a big chunk of their party that they will split it into conventional conservatives and wacky wingnuts, and as a result Obama will win re-election in a landslide.

[IDemo]

35. Palin slippin' into power, not likely

I think what we will see is a bitterly divided rethug convention, followed by a third (reich) party run by Mooselini which will split the
conservative/warmongering/racist/Beckerhead vote by too much for Diebold to overcome.

[fortyfeetunder]

36. The simpler days of the 19th century

Hm, does that mean go back to slavery?

[Swede]

39. Sharpie sales are probably through the roof.

[MadHound]

42. Ah, there it is

BOOGA-BOOGA! Support the president and Democrats in all that they do (or in some cases what they don't do) otherwise the big bad Palin is going to get you.

That's truly about all Palin is good for, trying to whip liberals into that Democratic conga line. Sorry, I don't buy it. She is not going to be the Republican nominee, and if she runs third party, she'll be a bad joke.

Tell you what, just worry about the Democratic house, you know, having the Democrats doing things that actually attract the left into voting for them rather than trying to beat them into line with fear and loathing.

[DCBob]

44. The angry left seems to think Obama and the Dems will lurch to the left..

because they are angry. When will they realize that aint going to happen... for a number of reasons, both good and bad. The choice is between a centrist Obama, who is on the right side of most liberal issues or a Republican, perhaps even a teabagger like Palin, who will try to send this country back to the 19th century.

[QC]

45. True, Obama's too busy trying to appease the angry right to give much thought

to the left, angry or other.

A "centrist" Obama would be a major improvement over the one we have. Do you happen to know where we might find one?

[muffin1]

50. Brilliant

and :rofl:

[DCBob]

56. Not "appease" -- coax, persuade, influence, manipulate would be better terms...

Obama still wants to be the transformational President this country so desperately needs now. I agree with him.

[laughingliberal]

53. I do not agree that Obama is on the right side of most liberal issues, at least not the ones that

affect our economy.

Palin is not going to be the candidate. This is a stupid argument. That said, if the President and the conservadems don't start getting some liberal economic policies in place to turn the 'real economy' around we're going to lose no matter who they run against us. Results is what will matter to people and we aren't going to see any results for the average person out of these failed right wing economic policies.

[DCBob]

57. What issues would those be?

He may not be the perfect "liberal" but he's lightyears more liberal than any Republican... never mind Palin and the teabaggers.

[laughingliberal]

59. Jobs programs would be #1 on the list if we want to keep the House in November

Obama is now focused on 'deficit reduction' which will tank this economy in short order if he attempts it too soon. He needs to ignore the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the right about the deficit and get some infrastructure spending to create jobs out there soon. And he needs to hammer the hell out of the Congress about financial reforms. Everybody hates the banks right now. If they don't attempt to reign these crooks in now, there will never be a more perfect time to do it and the Republicans will continue to co-opt the public's anger at them while we look complicit. It is not enough to tell people the Republicans are worse than us. We have to show them we are better than the Republicans and they need to see it in their wallets.

Obama may be somewhat to the left of many of today's Republicans but he is to the right of Republicans past. Nixon and Eisenhower were more liberal than he. The centrist & Republican economic plans have failed. The only way to get through to people that those plans don't work is do something else and show that it does work.

[DCBob]

64. I agree jobs should top priority now.. and I think it is.

Hopefully the "jobs bill" gets passed and signed into law ASAP. But even more needs to be done. I do believe the administration is focused on this now.

Your comment: "Obama may be somewhat to the left of many of today's Republicans". -- You cant be serious with that statement? Please name any Republican today that is more liberal then Barack Obama. Ridiculous.

[laughingliberal]

67. I did not say any Republicans today are more liberal to Obama

I said he may be somewhat to the left of many of today's Republicans. That still places him pretty much right of center, though. I am speaking of economic policy here. He is, thankfully, more liberal than the Republicans on social issues. Except for the stimulus bill, his economic policies have leaned right, until now. I see his choices for his economic team as very right of center-Geithner, Summers, Bernanke's nomination for the Fed. His CofS trends right and works to elect Conservadems. His CofS's brother Zeke is an adviser and favors privatization of Medicare. After MA I did see a flurry of activity from his more centrist economic advisers like Volcker and Warren but am not sure if that will result in any change or if it was, mostly, window dressing. I think there may be some Republicans among their governors who are moderates. Of course, as soon as they run for national office, they tend to shift right, too.

[DCBob]

72. Well that's good to hear, but your wording is odd.. I would say Obama is left of "ALL" Republicans..

not just "many". In fact there is no comparison anymore -- the GOPers are a pathetic despicable lot whose only goal is to destroy President Obama and in the process they are destroying the nation.

[laughingliberal]

73. The Republican's obstructionism is frustrating and obnoxious

I have to say, though, that they would not be getting away with it if the President's agenda was more responsive to the problems of the people. The President's centrist or right of center economic policies are losing the debate for him because the results are lackluster.

His policies will never be far right enough to attract those on the right. But they are too far right to be either effective or inspiring. If the President were standing for bold reform of the financial systems and not these half measures, it would be popular and effective. Instead people are seeing 'reform' that, at best, may slow the abuses of the financial institutions down and might help a little. I think standing up at the jobs' forum and saying, "We have limited resources for this," was a mistake. That was something of a slap to people out here struggling after watching the financial institutions get hundreds of billions. It feels as if the average guy is an afterthought. If he had directed the money for solving the foreclosure crisis at the homeowners instead of the banks, it would have worked. Instead, people see the banks got another $75 billion, helped few, and pocketed the money while the crisis continues.

I believe his administration has put too much stock in the polls that say people are mostly worried about the deficit. They would not be worried about the deficit if there was spending on programs that would work and show results. Instead, we are getting weak spending programs that have managed to slow the hemorrhaging but have not had any impact on the average person. Jobs is the best deficit reduction program but we are seeing a token jobs program while the 'deficit commission' goes behind closed doors to start the gutting of SS and Medicare. He needs to call for and get passed a job's program that will show real results. Then he can stand up and tell the people that lots of good paying jobs will solve a lot of the deficit problem on its own. I have heard no one make the case that more people working means revenue increases even without raising taxes and the deficit starts coming down. In other words, if Obama would, unapologetically, track left and pass bold initiatives that show real results, the Republicans could rant all they want and it would fall on deaf ears. Passing 'centrist' and right of center policies that are showing unimpressive results allows this to continue. Good, effective economic policy would trump anything the Republicans want to throw at him.

[DCBob]

76. Its more than "frustrating and obnoxious" its anti-American and near traitorous...

The bastards are destroying this country for political gain. But the President cannot give up on bi-partisan solutions. If he does that then I believe we really are doomed... Civil War II.

[laughingliberal]

77. They are aided and abetted by our Blue Dogs

I think it's time for Obama to stand up to them. If he gets no legislation passed by standing up it, at least, highlights the fact that the Republicans are not doing anything to help people. Right now, he just keeps trying to cave to them and losing. There is no bill or policy that survives with any help for the people once we allow the Republicans to add or subtract. That's why we got a really wimpy stimulus bill with 40% going to tax cuts. I think the bill helped but not enough for the average person to see the results. This allows the Republicans to keep claiming it failed and a lot of people to believe them. At what point does our Senate change the rules and start to do something? We have at least a half dozen alleged Dems in the Senate just as treasonous.

[Marr]

46. You should be saying this to the Democratic leadership- not us.

If you think the anger is restricted to DU and the blogosphere, you're out of touch.

[laughingliberal]

47. +1000

If our leaders don't want Palin (booga booga) to gain power, they need to wake up and put some policies in place that might, actually, help someone besides Goldman Sachs. Those on DU who are not marching in lockstep with the Republican lite policies of the White House and Senate are not responsible for this mess.

[LWolf]

48. January 2008 was a wake-up call for me.

Palin is not going to stop me from working for authentic, liberal reforms in any arena, or from opposing Obama when he doesn't support those reforms, or when he pushes center-right, corporate-friendly reforms.

[dajoki]

49. I'm not falling for that n/t

[bigtree]

51. if anything

. . . she's splitting the republican vote and alienating any 'moderates' who may be tempted to peel off from supporting the president.

[NYC_SKP]

55. But she looked terrific, short skirt and nice legs and that inimitable and genuine smile...

What's substance got to do with it?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

58. Tell Obama to stop giving us refried Bush policies to rant about.

[omega minimo]

60. Is your sniffiness based on your awareness

that we now have corporate government aka Fascism? :hi:

[Skittles]

61. the wakeup call should be for Obama and staff, NOT us

[gleaner]

62. Are you serious?

She was reading the speech off her hand. She was photographed doing it. Her palm where it was written was photographed. The speech was nonsensical and made no sense. She can't string two words together correctly.

Are you taking a shot at trying to tell us yet again that we must not criticize Obama? Because if you are it is not going to work. I don't know who the Republicans are going to run in 2012, but I would be flabbergasted if it were Sarah Palin. They are attacking each other and tearing themselves apart, and yet all you seem to see is another opportunity to try to stop disagreement with Obama's badly flawed domestic policies and his growing militarism.

You need to give it a rest, you really do. It is not tracking at all. Anyone who thinks Sarah Palin is a serious threat to good order should let her write on both palms and read away. In the meantime I Obama does something I don't agree with I'm going to say so. As I was once told by someone wiser than myself, this is a general discussion forum. It is not an Obama board. If posters who admire him want to see nothing but praise, maybe you should consider staring your own sub forum. I can promise you that many of us who dislike this administration would never, ever go in there. We have our own ideas.

[Vinca]

63. The more likely scenario is Palin splits the Republican vote and Dems win more.

[Ganja Ninja]

65. Why is it always the left's fault?

Why isn't it the fault of the centrists/conservadems? After all they are the one's compromising with the right. They are the one's that keep pulling this party in the direction of the failed policies of Ronald Reagan. If they want to keep the Fem-Fuhrer out of power then get in line to the left. That's where the majority of the base is.

[QC]

68. We are an irrelevant lunatic fringe and yet we hold the world in the palm of our hands.

That's a pretty neat trick, isn't it?

[Ganja Ninja]

71. The Palin threat is a 2 way street as far as I'm concerned.

In fact I probably have a lot less to lose than some people. Ask Rupert Murdoch how well he did under George the 2nd.

[MilesColtrane]

66. The criticism of Obama and the party by the left will have little effect on the outcome of things...

in 2012.

What will sway voters is the state of the economy and events we can't see yet.

At this point I am not optimistic. I would see the Democrats holding the numbers we have now in Congress after 2010 as a huge victory.