If the left were smart...

[Dawgs]

They would figure out a way to convince the right that single payer is the answer to killing "Obamacare".

[no_hypocrisy]

1. The far right is too stupid for reverse psychology.

[rpannier]

5. The idea is foolproof

Foolproof Yes...Idiot-proof No

-Boris Badenov
Rocky and Bullwinkle Show

[Jackpine Radical]

7. And every time you build a more perfectly idiot-proof system,

the Republicans come up with a more perfect idiot.

[rpannier]

8. Amazing and disturbing at the same time

a more "perfect idiot"

You'd think those two words wouldn't go together

[nxylas]

13. Stupid and racist

At the end of the day, their opposition to single payer is all about the fear that money will be taken out of their pockets and spent on black people (even the ones that don't have any money). Some of them will come right out and say so, others will dress it up in fancy language about liberty in order to pass themselves of as philosophers. But the dog whistles will still be there.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. I'm beginning to think your subject line

posits a condition that is majorly contrary to fact.

[Dawgs]

3. Had to get your attention somehow...

:hi:

[Blue Meany]

4. The left should start exploiting divisions in righwing constituencies

the way the right does. For example, single-payer is of benefit to most businesses. It is really a pro-business policy for companies that operate in America as it cuts their costs, gives them a healthier workforce, and allows them to compete more effectively. We should be forming alliances and mobilizing the small business community to support it.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. It's pro SMALL business.

I have argued that endlessly with small businessmen who keep on thinking the Republicans are serving their interests. It's maddening.

It would also help some large businesses (e.g. the auto industry) that aren't threatened by small business, but it keeps the playing field tilted toward big business wherever it would otherwise be threatened by small businesses.

[OwnedByFerrets]

9. Its amazing that WE are supposedly the "intellectuals"...

but aren't smart enough to figure out that MEME's win in Washington AND in the Heartland of America.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. I remember a department picnic in a park years ago

when one of the faculty was trying to get a charcoal fire lighted in a grill. Finally, in exasperation he turned to the group & asid, "Is there anyone here without a PhD? need help.

[OwnedByFerrets]

12. LOL thanks for the laugh.

[tavalon]

11. We are smart, but we suck at message manufacture and maintenance

We're like a fucking herd of cats, smart cats, but still.

[Jackpine Radical]

14. We are not skilled at communicating with dumb people.

Or, to put it less pejoratively, we keep trying to communicate complex ideas to people conditioned to absorb concepts that can be expressed in sound bites.

[TheKentuckian]

15. We also have no affirmative message at this time. Everything must be hedged and compromised.

Sure WE might have a message but it is not supported or echoed by many with any clout.

People are good at saying what the message SHOULD BE but that doesn't correlate with what the message actually is. We can't work on making a message digestible when what we have is a bunch of shit that is all over the map and trying to erase the lines between us and them at any cost, including assimilation.

[Jackpine Radical]

16. Yup. You're right.