Sorry I've been away. Hope Bolling doesn't mind my reprinting his cartoon (originally published on Kos). But considering what he did in this strip, he can't fairly accuse me of swiping...!
Briefly: I thought that the VP debate was a near-catastrophe.
Yes, Pence lied repeatedly, and he espoused policies which bear no resemblance to Trump's. But he carried himself with gentlemanly gravitas, and that's what mattered. Pence returned us to old school Republicanism: Taxes bad, military good, Russia bad, Jesus good. That's all he needed to do. That's the program that wins.
Despite the bleatings of the dimwitted young BernieBros -- a bunch of slap-happy ninnies who operate under the delusion that we're all socialists now -- it is still the case that the majority of Americans, deep down in their hearts, want Reagan II. They want to vote for a seasoned white guy who looks dignified and rational as he says "Taxes bad, military good, Russia bad, Jesus good." (And they don't want to be reminded that Low taxes + Big Military = Big Deficit.)
Kaine blew it. I like the guy, but he blew it. He now admits that he "got dinged" a bit. That wasn't a ding -- it was a disaster.
This entire election has been built around the theme of civilization versus the barbarians -- or, to put it in Monty Pythonesque terms, the Sensible Party versus the Silly Party. Yet for some reason, Mr. Affable decided to go Full Trump. He actually interrupted more than Trump did. If the debate had gone on much longer, Kaine would have turned orange and rated the moderator on a scale of 1 to 10.
Kaine did not bring up Pence's horrendous record on gay rights. WTF? That's like debating Ted Bundy and neglecting to bring up the subject of homicide.
He also let Pence get away with portraying the Democrats as the party of fiscal irresponsibility. Tim: Next time some Republican tries to hit you with that nonsense, here's how to respond:
The only president to get us out of the red was Bill Clinton. If we had followed his plan, we'd have paid back the entire national debt by now. Republicans created the vast majority of the deficit. When George W. Bush put us back in the deep red, Dick Cheney said: "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter." Well, they DO matter. So stop lying about Bill Clinton's great accomplishment, and stop giving young people a false picture of the wildly irresponsible way that Republicans have actually governed."
That's how to do it.
Hillary would be twenty points ahead right now if Dems learned how to stop the Republicans from rewriting history. Most young people do not know that Reagan was the one who ran a deficit far larger than all previous deficits combined. Most young people do not know that Clinton ran a surplus while simultaneously giving this country its longest economic boom on record. Many younger people don't even know that TARP was created under Bush, not Obama.
(Hell, I'll betcha that most young people couldn't name the date on which 9/11 happened.)
Here's another suggestion: Start fighting fire with fire -- or rather, videos with videos. In the 1990s, nearly everyone saw The Clinton Chronicles, a conspiracy classic produced by a paranoid toon named Patrick Matrisciana (the same guy who later screeched about Harry Potter being an advertisement for witchcraft). In this cycle, nearly everyone saw Clinton Cash, a rather more adroit propaganda piece with a similar Falsehood Ratio. Like the earlier video, Clinton Cash was distributed -- quite effectively -- in samisdat fashion. Bizarre as these productions are, they have had an enormous impact, especially on our easily-gulled youth.
When propaganda videos start to impact the national coversation, why don't Democrats fight back in kind? I've been told that there are a few liberals in Hollywood, and I've been given to understand that there are people in Hollywood who know a thing or two about film-making.
This whole "I will not dignify those ridiculous accusations with a response" attitude just ain't working.
8 comments:
I predict there's going to be some wicked GOP commercials featuring Bill Clinton calling Obamacare "crazy." How do I know? Just a hunch.
The Republicans have been pursuing a "starve the beast" program since Reagan at least--they spend, spend, spend to benefit their crony capitalists and to try to bankrupt the federal government so the Democrats will have no resources to fund social programs.
Republicans have been telling young people that Clinton caused 9/11, and Obama caused the 2008 economic meltdown and the submarine-loans crisis.
The Dems' inept response to Republican lies leads some of us to suspect that the Dems are in cahoots with the Pubes.
When Kerry was accused of flip-flopping on the Iraq war, he did not explain that he voted against a debt-funded bill and voted for a tax-funded bill. Maybe it was determined that the electorate was not smart enough to evaluate that explanation.
Wow. I guess I was wrong and so was Chomsky when I took Bill Clinton's barbaric attack on Serbia as a Russophobic Kaine-like war crime, also in the spirit of Hillary's Cold Warrioress
history.
The NRA is spending a lot of money on a TV advert for Trump, featuring Kristi McMains, a young woman who successfully used the pistol she carried in her handbag ("purse", in US English) to fight back against a knife attacker who tried to abduct her. The association has already spent more on TV ads than it spent in 2012. , Provided the advert doesn't conflict with Trump's shtick in the second and third debates, it is likely to garner votes. If it synergises with his shtick, it could be a major help, especially with an October surprise or two.
Back in the War the Jews of Hollywood got together to co-ordinate their response to Nazism. They decided not to be push anti-Nazism because it might make people think the Jews controlled Hollywood.
I saw Clinton Cash trendimg on torrent sites.
I'm not quite young enough to be offended by your statements about the young, but considering that they and the poor are the core Democratic vote, it might not be wise to insult them. It's one thing when you do it, but that leaked Clinton audio allegedly insulting the Bernie brigade could be rather more damaging. I find that people don't like being insulted.
Anon: Very funny. The military figures supporting Trump are the MOST militaristic and warlike to be found. Trump is itching for war with Iran, a misadventure which would make Syria and Iraq look positively jolly. Bottom line: Michael Ledeen supports Trump. You don't get more neoconnish than that.
Trump is one Normandy-style priest-killing, one Boston-style terrorist bomb, one stabbing spree of the kind currently being called for by ISIS according to Michael Ledeen two days ago, one coughing fit by his opponent, away from the presidency.
Stephen Morgan:
I think you nail the big problem with this election (and most of what passes for information in this country),with your statement "but that leaked Clinton audio allegedly insulting the Bernie brigade could be rather more damaging." You never listened to the audio, just took whatever foxie said at face value, and passed it along. I had a family member (now on my spam list) that actually sent one of those right-wing drivel messages along with an assurance that it was "checked by Snopes." There was even a link in the e-mail to Snopes. I clicked on it, and it thoroughly debunked the bullshit in the e-mail; but the person who sent it along never bothered to find that out. Thank you for your concern. Next....
tle
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