If the Democratic Party wants to win big this fall and in 2024, their best bet is to oppose corruption in all its forms. And then, unlike the Trumpy Republicans, to walk the talk
Trump’s elevator speech: “Blah, blah, blah ... When Mexico sends its people ... They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. ... blah, blah, blah.”
This fall, IF after thirty-thousand-plus additional racist, hateful, xenophobic lies (warp speed and accelerating), and utter chaos in government, half of American voters still find themselves “bigly” enthralled with, and vote yet again for, the bat-shit-crazy minions of this egotistical, arrogant, fat, orange gutter ball, who evidently represents today’s true conservative, ah, “values” (self-serving, Trumpified politicians whom dumb people think smart people should sound like), and IF they prevail, by hook or by crook (Nth-degree cheating by Republicans at every level is not just likely but assured), THEN the “American experiment” will have failed spectacularly, blowing up the entire lab and everyone in it!
The other half of weary, burned out small-d democrats in this husk of democracy will have wasted seven, irretrievable years of precious life on a dying planet trying to evict one of the world’s most malignant, scandal-ridden, and worthless freeloading assholes of all time, living rent free in everyone’s brains thanks to corporate media grooming. “If it bleeds, it leads.” Profits first; truth and ethics last.
Good God — ***S.E.V.E.N.*** long, miserable, dummied-down years of this stupid sonofabitch and his gooey clogs of horseshit stuck to everyone’s boots! IF the American idiotocracy can’t buck historical midterm trends and scrape off a petty, murderous thug and finally depose him for good, along with his entire, broken-Russian-like army of morally incompetent fools and fawners, THEN the once great American dream will have turned into a horrible, recurring nightmare that is no longer the “world’s greatest democracy”... or people.
The absolute worst-case political scenario threatens the near future in just seven (!), short, miserable, dummied-down months. (If most of the mainstream pundits and polls are correct.) At that critical juncture in history, Americans will have become pariahs on the world stage, likely for a generation at least, much like their hapless counterparts in Russia, a beaten people whose leaders lie to them with every breath, like Republicans do on this side of the mightily polluted Pacific.
The hopelessly gullible in Putin’s Orwellian dystopia are the lifelong-brainwashed middle-aged and elderly, with a few young, starry-eyed zealots and well-paid influencers added to pander and propagate on social media — cohorts of Ameeerkkka’s demented zombies and trolls right here in Mudville. According to Western “intelligence” (taken with a grain of salt), everyday Russians still support their murderous war criminal Dear Leader wholeheartedly. Some estimates are running as high as 80 percent of the overall population, which speaks to the power of big lies, big liars, and the big chumps who slurp it all up and ask for more.
Hello, Republican Party! Hello, small-d democrats! Hello, all-American voters! Wake the fck up! Stop entertaining Republican/Putin lies! It’s killing people! Tons of people! Rotting human flesh fertilizing the lifestyles of the rich and famous and the wicked and evil!
This is spot on. The most important issues facing the American people are climate change and income inequality, unless you are a member of a group focused on cultural issues. But all of these issues are moot if we can't root out corruption first, and defang the elections-industrial complex. The uber-riche control just about everything, and the only way to stop them is to neuter them. Starting with the most corrupt and working down from there.
Since people have learned to believe Trump’s grift, it’s reasonable to assume that they are just bad at learning, and only certain stimuli will get their attention and motivate them to change their minds, like fear and anger. That is the beauty of using corruption-fighter as a label (whether or not it’s meant cynically) because it enrages people. And why does it do that? Because no one wants to feel like they got played. And what do Trump's cultists love to do when they’ve been played? They bask in their victimhood by sharing it with their tribe. So the trick is to convince them of the truth with the great framing and messaging that Thom listed, and show them how they are the bamboozled victims of the most amazing grift in history. At least it could peel off those who haven’t totally renounced their ability to apply critical thinking to their lives.
It's still so unbelievable, how the Trump crime family's personal corruption can't get any traction. Ivanka's Chinese patents. Dad's D.C. hotel. The Ukraine extortion call. De Joy at USPS.
(Trump corruption because it was conspiracy to sabotage mail voting re: the pandemic.) Trump only gave up on holding the G7 at (bankrupt) Doral because he got caught. But he did detour military jets and their crews to Turnberry's bush-league airstrip, and make them overnite at full rack rate. I'm sticking to the corruption headlines: mere hypocritical business while castigating Dems for same thing (Thai sweat shops; Chinese neckties) don't exactly count. But what if Hillary had been running foreign policy with huge projects on the table in Moscow and Istanbul? Oh, well. You guys already know all this. I just though Thom might have given a little nod to it.
When the Democratic Party starts a midterm autopsy report on November 9, one of the big swings and misses endlessly sliced and diced will be in how leadership framed the argument for getting out the vote.
If it turns out that the big take-away messages were only reactive within the typical Republican/corporate media framing -- in a Lucy-and-football false hope of attracting the uncommitted -- then the Republican-lite framing was obviously a full-bodied loser -- as it has been EVERY, SINGLE TIME Dumbocrats lose, forgodsake! (Who are those wavering dunderheads in the "middle," anyway, who don't pay enough attention to outside reality to have any political intelligence whatsoever other than worthless opinions?)
The paltry numbers in the squishy middle are nothing compared to the huuuge pool of disaffected Democratic voters waiting for someone, anyone, to address their multitude of issues instead of the shallow problems of rich bastards. Democratic framing should be structured around their OWN voters 💯!
Conservatives and pretend liberals in sheep's clothing will NEVER, EVER pull a lever for a weak-kneed, baby-killing DumbocRAT anyway (no matter what the Satanic pizza-eaters say)! After closing the curtain and left to their private thoughts, Republicans revert back to their natural lizard brain.
On labeling: It's meaningless shorthand unless the truth behind the "word" is driven home. In a runup to an election, though, there's no time left for lengthy analysis that doesn't target the emotional undertones, which drive action more than reason, especially in politics. So politicians use strong language and bumper-sticker slogans, true or not, repeated so often they stick in the mind subconsciously. Unfortunately, it works.
It's like soldiers stuck with each other in a trench for too long, who've told the same jokes so often they can just say the corresponding numbers and everyone laughs. (53 is pretty funny.)
#1: Socialist, Bad. #2: Democrat, really, really bad. #3: Putin, eh, not so bad.
This is all about electoral politics, and assumes that the problem is messaging when it isn't. Democratic leadership are too enmeshed with The Third Way and their defense contractor/health care/Wall Street donors to change things enough that people will notice a difference. As a physician who has studies health care policy and statistics, I can tell you about the damage done by the ACA. But then you would hang up on me and call me a Republican.
Seems to me the Dems are off to a good start. The oil execs are on the hill today to give answers on the price of gas. Bunch of damn gougers! Also, the Administration has started investigating and prosecuting people for the fraud that went on with the covid-relief for businesses. Getting back the money and the merch they bought with their ill-gotten gain will make for some great talking points. I hope they throw the thieves in jail, but then we have to feed them for months on end.
Most importantly the Dems need to make sure the public knows just exactly what any sitting members of Congress had to do with the insurrection. The discussion should also be centered around who believes in democracy and who believes in the ridiculous idea that one person has the answer to everything.
You are absolutely right; the Dems should go big on cleaning the swamp. But I fear they won't. They are a big part of it. This is why no J6 seditionists in congress have yet been indicted. Truth is, few democrats really want to hold their partners across the aisle accountable. They may get caught out next and, perhaps, they fear the MAGAMob. It's all one big club. Let's not forget, that drone strikes (state-sponsored assignations, that often killed civilians) went up by something like 1000% during Obama's term (the Atlantic had a good article in 2016 by Conor Friedersdorf for anyone interested), while Obama continued the war and failed to close Gitmo as he promised. He deported far more immigrants than Bush had done. From PolitiFact: "If you ...compare the two presidents’ monthly averages, it works out to 32,886 for Obama and 20,964 for Bush, putting Obama clearly in the lead." Clinton militarily armed the police as well as cutting aid to families in poverty, hitting the poorest the hardest. Both continued the drug war and, in Clinton's case, and in some ways, expanded it. Foreign policies have had little differences between the parties over the past 50 years, nor have domestic policies, other than culture war nonsense. It is a swamp housing both, though the stinkier parts of it are Republican.
Trump’s elevator speech: “Blah, blah, blah ... When Mexico sends its people ... They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. ... blah, blah, blah.”
This fall, IF after thirty-thousand-plus additional racist, hateful, xenophobic lies (warp speed and accelerating), and utter chaos in government, half of American voters still find themselves “bigly” enthralled with, and vote yet again for, the bat-shit-crazy minions of this egotistical, arrogant, fat, orange gutter ball, who evidently represents today’s true conservative, ah, “values” (self-serving, Trumpified politicians whom dumb people think smart people should sound like), and IF they prevail, by hook or by crook (Nth-degree cheating by Republicans at every level is not just likely but assured), THEN the “American experiment” will have failed spectacularly, blowing up the entire lab and everyone in it!
The other half of weary, burned out small-d democrats in this husk of democracy will have wasted seven, irretrievable years of precious life on a dying planet trying to evict one of the world’s most malignant, scandal-ridden, and worthless freeloading assholes of all time, living rent free in everyone’s brains thanks to corporate media grooming. “If it bleeds, it leads.” Profits first; truth and ethics last.
Good God — ***S.E.V.E.N.*** long, miserable, dummied-down years of this stupid sonofabitch and his gooey clogs of horseshit stuck to everyone’s boots! IF the American idiotocracy can’t buck historical midterm trends and scrape off a petty, murderous thug and finally depose him for good, along with his entire, broken-Russian-like army of morally incompetent fools and fawners, THEN the once great American dream will have turned into a horrible, recurring nightmare that is no longer the “world’s greatest democracy”... or people.
The absolute worst-case political scenario threatens the near future in just seven (!), short, miserable, dummied-down months. (If most of the mainstream pundits and polls are correct.) At that critical juncture in history, Americans will have become pariahs on the world stage, likely for a generation at least, much like their hapless counterparts in Russia, a beaten people whose leaders lie to them with every breath, like Republicans do on this side of the mightily polluted Pacific.
The hopelessly gullible in Putin’s Orwellian dystopia are the lifelong-brainwashed middle-aged and elderly, with a few young, starry-eyed zealots and well-paid influencers added to pander and propagate on social media — cohorts of Ameeerkkka’s demented zombies and trolls right here in Mudville. According to Western “intelligence” (taken with a grain of salt), everyday Russians still support their murderous war criminal Dear Leader wholeheartedly. Some estimates are running as high as 80 percent of the overall population, which speaks to the power of big lies, big liars, and the big chumps who slurp it all up and ask for more.
Hello, Republican Party! Hello, small-d democrats! Hello, all-American voters! Wake the fck up! Stop entertaining Republican/Putin lies! It’s killing people! Tons of people! Rotting human flesh fertilizing the lifestyles of the rich and famous and the wicked and evil!
This is spot on. The most important issues facing the American people are climate change and income inequality, unless you are a member of a group focused on cultural issues. But all of these issues are moot if we can't root out corruption first, and defang the elections-industrial complex. The uber-riche control just about everything, and the only way to stop them is to neuter them. Starting with the most corrupt and working down from there.
Since people have learned to believe Trump’s grift, it’s reasonable to assume that they are just bad at learning, and only certain stimuli will get their attention and motivate them to change their minds, like fear and anger. That is the beauty of using corruption-fighter as a label (whether or not it’s meant cynically) because it enrages people. And why does it do that? Because no one wants to feel like they got played. And what do Trump's cultists love to do when they’ve been played? They bask in their victimhood by sharing it with their tribe. So the trick is to convince them of the truth with the great framing and messaging that Thom listed, and show them how they are the bamboozled victims of the most amazing grift in history. At least it could peel off those who haven’t totally renounced their ability to apply critical thinking to their lives.
It's still so unbelievable, how the Trump crime family's personal corruption can't get any traction. Ivanka's Chinese patents. Dad's D.C. hotel. The Ukraine extortion call. De Joy at USPS.
(Trump corruption because it was conspiracy to sabotage mail voting re: the pandemic.) Trump only gave up on holding the G7 at (bankrupt) Doral because he got caught. But he did detour military jets and their crews to Turnberry's bush-league airstrip, and make them overnite at full rack rate. I'm sticking to the corruption headlines: mere hypocritical business while castigating Dems for same thing (Thai sweat shops; Chinese neckties) don't exactly count. But what if Hillary had been running foreign policy with huge projects on the table in Moscow and Istanbul? Oh, well. You guys already know all this. I just though Thom might have given a little nod to it.
When the Democratic Party starts a midterm autopsy report on November 9, one of the big swings and misses endlessly sliced and diced will be in how leadership framed the argument for getting out the vote.
If it turns out that the big take-away messages were only reactive within the typical Republican/corporate media framing -- in a Lucy-and-football false hope of attracting the uncommitted -- then the Republican-lite framing was obviously a full-bodied loser -- as it has been EVERY, SINGLE TIME Dumbocrats lose, forgodsake! (Who are those wavering dunderheads in the "middle," anyway, who don't pay enough attention to outside reality to have any political intelligence whatsoever other than worthless opinions?)
The paltry numbers in the squishy middle are nothing compared to the huuuge pool of disaffected Democratic voters waiting for someone, anyone, to address their multitude of issues instead of the shallow problems of rich bastards. Democratic framing should be structured around their OWN voters 💯!
Conservatives and pretend liberals in sheep's clothing will NEVER, EVER pull a lever for a weak-kneed, baby-killing DumbocRAT anyway (no matter what the Satanic pizza-eaters say)! After closing the curtain and left to their private thoughts, Republicans revert back to their natural lizard brain.
On labeling: It's meaningless shorthand unless the truth behind the "word" is driven home. In a runup to an election, though, there's no time left for lengthy analysis that doesn't target the emotional undertones, which drive action more than reason, especially in politics. So politicians use strong language and bumper-sticker slogans, true or not, repeated so often they stick in the mind subconsciously. Unfortunately, it works.
It's like soldiers stuck with each other in a trench for too long, who've told the same jokes so often they can just say the corresponding numbers and everyone laughs. (53 is pretty funny.)
#1: Socialist, Bad. #2: Democrat, really, really bad. #3: Putin, eh, not so bad.
I'm relieved because I now see a clear way forward for Dems. Thanks for the best report yet!
This is all about electoral politics, and assumes that the problem is messaging when it isn't. Democratic leadership are too enmeshed with The Third Way and their defense contractor/health care/Wall Street donors to change things enough that people will notice a difference. As a physician who has studies health care policy and statistics, I can tell you about the damage done by the ACA. But then you would hang up on me and call me a Republican.
Seems to me the Dems are off to a good start. The oil execs are on the hill today to give answers on the price of gas. Bunch of damn gougers! Also, the Administration has started investigating and prosecuting people for the fraud that went on with the covid-relief for businesses. Getting back the money and the merch they bought with their ill-gotten gain will make for some great talking points. I hope they throw the thieves in jail, but then we have to feed them for months on end.
Most importantly the Dems need to make sure the public knows just exactly what any sitting members of Congress had to do with the insurrection. The discussion should also be centered around who believes in democracy and who believes in the ridiculous idea that one person has the answer to everything.
You are absolutely right; the Dems should go big on cleaning the swamp. But I fear they won't. They are a big part of it. This is why no J6 seditionists in congress have yet been indicted. Truth is, few democrats really want to hold their partners across the aisle accountable. They may get caught out next and, perhaps, they fear the MAGAMob. It's all one big club. Let's not forget, that drone strikes (state-sponsored assignations, that often killed civilians) went up by something like 1000% during Obama's term (the Atlantic had a good article in 2016 by Conor Friedersdorf for anyone interested), while Obama continued the war and failed to close Gitmo as he promised. He deported far more immigrants than Bush had done. From PolitiFact: "If you ...compare the two presidents’ monthly averages, it works out to 32,886 for Obama and 20,964 for Bush, putting Obama clearly in the lead." Clinton militarily armed the police as well as cutting aid to families in poverty, hitting the poorest the hardest. Both continued the drug war and, in Clinton's case, and in some ways, expanded it. Foreign policies have had little differences between the parties over the past 50 years, nor have domestic policies, other than culture war nonsense. It is a swamp housing both, though the stinkier parts of it are Republican.