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Post by gk on Feb 9, 2009 20:41:47 GMT -6
no need to start another thread.
Bitching about the stimulus package is thread-jacking. Trying to find a methodology for the Republicans is exactly what i wanted to talk about initially.
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Post by "Redneck" Johnson on Feb 9, 2009 20:52:36 GMT -6
Yeah, but that's not where the other thread would be going. It's probably going to be "a "Has American society been collapsing for the past 50 years?" kind of thread.
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Post by fatmenace on Feb 9, 2009 20:53:53 GMT -6
Jeff Ward said the course was still in. I'm assuming it's still in.
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Post by gk on Feb 9, 2009 21:05:30 GMT -6
Yeah, but that's not where the other thread would be going. It's probably going to be "a "Has American society been collapsing for the past 50 years?" kind of thread. Ah, well, yes, then that is a whole other can of worms. Either that or a really bad AP U.S. History essay prompt.
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Post by "Redneck" Johnson on Feb 9, 2009 21:12:23 GMT -6
Well, I'm starting to write it. It gives me something to do while I run the laundry, and I may even post it so someone can tear it to shreds.
But I've given you my opinion on what the Republicans are doing- floundering around and trying to show they're different from the Democrats. They can't raise a single counterpoint as to what should be done differently- only point and say "They're wrong."
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Post by gk on Mar 3, 2009 16:34:57 GMT -6
This time the CHAIRMAN OF THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION had to lie prostrate in front of Rush Limbaugh. After calling Limbaugh's language "ugly" and "incendiary" over the weekend, he retracted everything:
"I went back at that tape and I realised words that I said weren’t what I was thinking. It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently."
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Post by fatmenace on Mar 3, 2009 17:52:38 GMT -6
For someone that hates Rush, you sure do listen to him a lot.
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Post by "Redneck" Johnson on Mar 3, 2009 18:17:10 GMT -6
I think Geoff just intended to leave it on until the end of Tom Sawyer finished, and then he would switch the stations. But it never came... ;D
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Post by gk on Mar 4, 2009 7:53:40 GMT -6
For someone that hates Rush, you sure do listen to him a lot. Ah the jig is up: I'm a closet Rush Limbaugh fan. No, actually, I don't have to listen to Rush. I can just watch Stewart/Colbert crack wise about him (and those who keep running to apologize to him) when he's the keynote for CPAC. And you thought Stewart/Colbert wouldn't have any material during the Obama administration.....
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Post by andyroosky on Mar 4, 2009 20:11:14 GMT -6
high jack alert.....
talking about the Obama camp and Rush...
why is the Obama camp and his staff/media spending a second of their energy attacking Rush?
Shouldn't they be spending time trying not to spend money and get our troops home without looking like their the ones who lost the Iraq war....
And doesn't this just give Rush more Ammo and ratings??
Or are they hoping that he sticks his foot in his mouth so they can replay and replay what he said on national TV...
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Post by gk on Mar 4, 2009 20:56:48 GMT -6
It's got to be very calculated. Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com (and Baseball Prospectus) has a good analysis of this political theater: www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/03/white-house-v-limbaugh-grand-theatre.htmlHe wraps up the post thusly: "Without any Republican willing to stand up to Limbaugh, there’s no middle ground between him and Obama, and nowhere to hide for the few moderate Senate Republicans Obama needs. Ultimately, this tactic is about the votes this year, the ones that will make or break the Obama presidency. If successful health care legislation is passed because Arlen Specter votes for it, Obama is willing to trade off a few more bucks in Limbaugh's pocket." It's basically a sort of subtler version of Karl Rove's "wedge politics" don't you think?
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Post by andyroosky on Mar 9, 2009 17:46:58 GMT -6
I doubt this guy could stand up to Limbaugh, but I sure liked what he had to say....
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Post by "Redneck" Johnson on Mar 9, 2009 18:33:02 GMT -6
I think that Rush and a lot of his counterparts on talk radio (from the Hannitys who are of similar opinion to the libertarians like Niel Boortz) are pushing in the direction of fiscal conservatism. Remains to be seen if this will be what the Republican party is going to pick up on but I think that its likely to be a winning strategy if they take it. Simple principles like balancing the budget and reducing government, eliminating wasteful spending, lowering taxes for those who pay them and not giving refunds to those who aren't taxed.
It frustrates me that the right wing media has to do this, even if the rest of the journalists in this country are carrying water for Obama. But there's too many idiots in office who are out there playing politics instead of standing on principle.
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Post by "Redneck" Johnson on Mar 9, 2009 18:45:11 GMT -6
And to add something new to the discussion (since this was what I posted a few weeks ago), this is starting to look like the direction to go. It's one of the few things the Republicans have that's generating any discussion- as much as I disagree with the stem cell research that Obama reauthorized today it's barely getting any buzz. But all the media outlets are talking about the way Obama's policies (particularly the stimulus and economic ones) are being criticized by Rush Limbaugh and the others on talk radio.
The Republicans want something they can pick to say "Hey, we have better ideas than the left. Listen to this!" And this meets those criteria. I hope they'll stop being afraid of poll numbers and plainly say what they think of Obama's plans- they're all really nervous about jumping into that discussion. And I hope the ones who speak up are not the ones currently in office- most of those need to be shown the door.
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Post by gk on Mar 9, 2009 19:12:44 GMT -6
So the takehome lesson to Republicans is... become more conservative? Continue to rail on government as an evil institution? Complain about the media? Put Rush more into the spotlight?
I didn't start this thread as a policy debate. I started because it looks like the Republicans are becoming a regional party. And their response is to veer further towards the right. The strategy, as far as I can see, is to continue to say ,"socialism," until enough people believe it and vote for them instead of the Marxist Democrats.
It's been offered before, but the Republican party appears content at just yelling as loudly as it can how much it hates Obama without offering any solution. Tax cuts? That's it? We're back to tax cuts for the wealthy again? Grant, even in your response you indicate how much play right-wingers are getting so much play because they're yelling so loudly and vehemently. But what are they offering other than ineffectual and insincere labels at Obama and his policy?
Most of the public polling shows that they see the Republican party as primarily the obstructionist party at this point. And I suppose that's fine, if that's what they want to be. It seems like the elected Republicans that are left after two disastrous election cycles, i.e. the ones in the Deep South, seem pretty content in that role.
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