April 22, 2011

"Progressives are just looking to keep the pot boiling and their base excited."

Patrick McIlheran at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, speculating about the Kloppenburg recount here in Wisconsin. The recall elections are coming up, but the protests at the Capitol have cooled off and the actual Supreme Court election is/was over. This recount then is a way to keep people stirred up. Can't afford a lull before the big recall elections. Blech!

60 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why do they call commies, ugh!, progressives?

Does anybody think that the name changes really fool anybody?

And, how could the name progressives be any more ill-suited to describing these commies?

Better to call them backwardists or, better yet, Luddites.

Which is what they really are. Glue a windmill to the top of your car and pray.

AllenS said...

Progressives suck.

FloridaSteve said...

Blech is right.. Is anger the new currency? the angrier we can keep our base the better we're doing? Yeah THAT's just the sort of atmosphere we need to bring about sensible dialog going forward. Again.. blech..

Original Mike said...

"Progressives are just looking to keep the pot boiling and their base excited."

On our dime.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I'd believe that only if I believed our political apparatchick is exceptionally shrewd and clever. And it ain't.

bagoh20 said...

The only alternative is to accept defeat and find something productive to do, and we all know the homeys don't play that.

Their tenacity would be great if they just weren't wrong about everything. I'm not even sure it's tenacity as much as most of these people just don't have anything better to do. They just need a purpose.

C'mon you guys, you gotta be able to do something useful. Just ponder the possibilities for a moment before breaking out the crayons and poster board. You can still wear the Ugg boots, but just do something real.

As Biden would say: 3 letters - J O B S.

Superdad said...

I think this might be the plan but I think it will fail. No sane person should be expecting a change in the out come of the election. And any group's base gets smaller with each loss. So, this will work to their disadvantage (I am okay with that).

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Leland said...

Yes! Si se Puede!

Viva La Protest Dog!

Rit said...

If someone would gift Kloppy a vibrator perhaps she'd go away.

Original Mike said...

"As Biden would say: 3 letters - J O B S."

If Biden were awake right now, he'd call you unpatriotic.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Kloppenburg is a state assistant attorney general. If she epitomizes govt higher-ups, it's no wonder we are f-ing broke and literally on the ropes as a country.

Unknown said...

At some point, battle (or, as Ann likes to put it, protest) fatigue sets in.

shoutingthomas said...

Why do they call commies, ugh!, progressives?

Because people found out how illiberal the Liberals were.

And soon they'll catch on to how regressive the Progressives are.

Then we get to call them Commies again.

garage mahal said...

I'm sooooo tired of democracy!

Fen said...

And we're tired of your constant temper tantrum. You lost. Several times. Now go away.

garage mahal said...

No, sorry can't do that.

Automatic_Wing said...

How 'bout if I buy you a shot? Will you go away then?

Original Mike said...

OK, garage, so we've established that Walker's budget increases spending 1% in the next bienium. What's the residual deficit?

Chuck66 said...

Makes sense. Klopper doesn't have a chance and that 15 second pause in her press conference shows that she knows that.

It is part of the never-ending campaigning.

windbag said...

If the progressives would all convert to radical, jihadist Islam--the religion of perpetual outrage--they wouldn't need to meddle in Wisconsin politics to keep themselves agitated.

traditionalguy said...

Anger is the most basic human emotion. Channeling anger before it goes away is the critical skill among Progs. Today's message is that "some super rich dudes caused this gas and food price hyper-inflation and we need to unload on them and not on Obama/Soros who are intentionally causing it".

garage mahal said...

How 'bout if I buy you a shot? Will you go away then?

I don't drink hard liquor. So, no.

What's the residual deficit?

Depends who you ask. I did try to search the LFB site yesterday and couldn't find it. DId you find anything?

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

garage mahal said...

I'm sooooo tired of democracy!

Pelosi Galore would like to see you (The gift that keeps on giving).

Phil 314 said...

What you guys don't understand is that
Wisconsin Politics is latest reality show craze.

The recount has to go one as the latest plot twist.

Just think of it like Richard Hatch rubbing his naked body against Susan Hawk.

garage mahal said...

Who said anything about alcohol?

Come over to my house and give that a whirl and see how that turns out for you, consitpated one.

Original Mike said...

I always count on you for my information, garage, so no, I didn't look. (I thought you had posted on this earlier.)

I think I read it was $30 million, but I'm not confident in that memory and I'm not sure where the claim came from.

Peter V. Bella said...

It is just a way to waste more tax money. The only things progressives are good at. If the money is there to waste, why not waste it?

zbogwan99 said...

Aside from the wasting of taxpayer's money for the recount, I think it's a good idea to have a recount. Hopefully, Kloppenburg will lose votes in the recount and Prosser will still prevail. Same will take the starch out of Kloppenburg and the rest of her union mob.

Paige Nelson said...

They keep it simmering by slandering conservatives.

btw - we've been 'conservatives' for a really long time. Shouldn't we get with the program and update our title. Maybe take a clue from libs and go with something from years back ('progressive' is a retread) - like...oh...liberal!! That'll confuse 'em! If we really want to play their game, keeping them confused by constantly redefining the terms is where we've dropped the ball.

back on topic: a link to an article from a young conservative. http://www.reaganrex.org/wordpress/2011/04/20/republicans-terrorizing-women-and-blacks-and-killing-the-poor-elderly-and-handicapped-since-1860/

Another well-spoken TeenPact alum. ;)

garage mahal said...

I think I read it was $30 million, but I'm not confident in that memory and I'm not sure where the claim came from.

That would seem really low to me. Part of the confusion to me is it changes almost monthly, due to revenue like tax receipts coming in, or not.

Quaestor said...

I'm sooooo tired of democracy!

This is what is known as a Freudian slip.

vbspurs said...

Blech!

She can spin this any way she wants, but to me, this, these days, is what makes her a conservative.

I love being on Althouse again.

Cheers,
Victoria

Quaestor said...

If the money is there to waste, why not waste it?

As if the money not being there has ever stopped them from wasting it.

vbspurs said...

AJ Lynch wrote:

Kloppenburg is a state assistant attorney general. If she epitomizes govt higher-ups, it's no wonder we are f-ing broke and literally on the ropes as a country.

You know, I didn't vote in that poll, but if I had done, I would've voted "Yes she will contest / Yes she's right to".

It was a close-ENOUGH election. Something odd happened with some votes, albeit I personally believe it was simple human error. Nevertheless, I understand the decision to recount the ballots, and would expect a right-winger to have done the same.

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
vbspurs said...

Heh, I knew it wasn't going to be popular, Sixty Grit. But honestly, I think if Prosser had won in exactly the same way, I would've expected a recount challenge. So I have to be consistent with Joanie-Woanie.

vbspurs said...

-won +lost

AlphaLiberal said...

In my visits here over the years we've had numerous debates over whether or not the Tea Party has racist elements in it, which they tolerate. And many TPers have attacked the NAACP for saying as much.

Well, here is a stunning defense of the Tea Party against racism by a very racist man. It's really "special."

That the Tea Partiers won't criticize the racists in their midst tells us a lot about them.

We know Ann Althouse sees no racism anywhere.

jerryofva said...

One wonders how the Obama and the Democrats will accept their inevitable defeat in 2012. (Yes, our high inflation, $5 gas and a stagnant economy make Obama's defeat inevitable.) Will they boycott the 113th Congress and call out the mob to stop the Republicans from governing? Is Wisconsin the new paradigm for America’s Democratic [Fascist] party response to electoral defeat? It seems like the Democrats are returning to their 1860 form. After all, succession was nothing more then fleebagging on a grand scale.

traditionalguy said...

Anyone remember Mo.Senator John Ashcroft running for reelection in 2000? The Dem beat him by sympathy vote....right after the Dem died just before the election. What would a Kloppenburg have done if she was Ashcroft? We will never know, but integrity John resigned as Senator so the Dem Governor could appoint the dead Dem's wife to the term. That is called class.

Toad Trend said...

Never let a 'crisis' go to waste (all the votes must be counted). It goes without saying that the leftist will always seize an opportunity to try and make political points.

Speaking of pregnant pauses, Kloppenburg's example after being asked if she still thinks that she was the winner of the election is great:

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/04/21/comedy-gold-the-13-second-pause/

Tully said...

I don't mind them trying to keep their base stirred up at all. It's the using a million or more of PUBLIC MONEY to do it that rankles.

Alex said...

This falls into the "we need to keep the energy going" meme I keep hearing from the left-o-sphere.

Alex said...

isn't there some 'bagger group that is doing similar pointless shit to keep themselves energized and why isn't Althouse blogging about them?

Alex said...

I DEMAND EQUAL TIME!

Alex said...

AL - John Lewis is a fucking liar. Eat me.

Charlie Martin said...

And, of course, it's a continuing source of publicity at taxpayer expense.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Funny how quickly we've drifted back into the frenzied left-wing paranoia of the Bush years.

It's as if the left LIKES it that way. Governing is too hard. It's much more fun to protest after you lose the election. Because THAT's democracy.

KLDAVIS said...

Insidious! Getting us to vote every 2 months is just the first step down a slippery slope turning more and more citizens into de facto government workers.

Unknown said...

AlphaLiberal said...

In my visits here over the years we've had numerous debates over whether or not the Tea Party has racist elements in it, which they tolerate. And many TPers have attacked the NAACP for saying as much.

Well, here is a stunning defense of the Tea Party against racism by a very racist man. It's really "special."

That the Tea Partiers won't criticize the racists in their midst tells us a lot about them.

We know Ann Althouse sees no racism anywhere.


And Alpha sees it everywhere, as long as it's only on the Right.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

I'll agree with AL. I'm not a big Tea Party fan. I agree with their skepticism of government and the need to control spending. But...

A lot of it looks like the old Bircher/Buchanan/Paul, "state's rights," anti-semitic, racist, isolationist right.

That's not everyone (far from it), and the Republican party has decisively rejected those ideas at the national level. They still have a following, and the Tea Party disproportionally represents them. It's there, I've seen it, and pretending it's not does no one any good.

Is it everyone? No. Is it more than the Republican party at large? Yes. Should we be skeptical of a movement that elects people like the Pauls? Absolutely. Simply finding a few jerks in a movement doesn't make the movement illegitimate, but when you find a lot of the old themes (repealing the VRA, going on about the "Israel Lobby," and advocating an isolationist foreign policy) again and again it's OK to be skeptical.

I'd be a lot happier if there was a Tea Party housecleaning the way the Republican Party banished the old Right after 1964.

jerryofva said...

John:

I don't think AL is talking about the Israel Lobby when talks about racism. He is on the same side as they are.

You sound like a RINO. Beyond libertarian isolationists I have found very few Buchananites, New-Birchers and anti-Semites in the tea party movement. Where did you get that impression?

Unknown said...

Hey if you keep a pot boiling long enough, all the contents boil away...

Phil 314 said...

looks like Gov Walker is doing a decent job of keeping the pot boiling too (not that I disagree with this statement)

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker (R) writes in a New York Times (4/22, A23, Subscription Publication) op-ed, "In recent years Washington has taken an obsolete program," namely Medicaid, and "made it worse through restrictive rule-making that defies common sense." He says that states such as Wisconsin have made significant improvements to the program, while the federal government continues to lag behind. Walker argues, "We need to modernize not only Medicaid's benefits and service delivery, but also its financing," because in its current form, the program "is unsustainable. Without serious reform, it is unthinkable to add 16 million more people, as President Obama's health care legislation would do."

Carol_Herman said...

Theodore Roosevelt was the first "progressive." He even used the word.

Then, he got angry at Taft. Tried to wrest the republican nomination from him when Taft was running for re-election.

So we got Woodrow Wilson. And, the "progressive movement" got set in cement.

The Great Depression happened on the republican watch of two idiots: HARDING & HOOVER. Brought in FDR. And, the rest is history.

No matter how circumstances changed ... No matter that technology kept wowing us. And, science has done the same. We get governments who are enamored of the crap that also sailed into academia.

And, oddly enough, because there are so many religious zealots in the republican party ... the party itself is stuck, like Avis, at "being #2."

Yeah. Even with Obama! What did you have? McCain. Excuse me he bombed. And, so, too, did Bob Dole.

What makes Bill Clinton a better contendah than Bob Dole? Well, one knew how to stay on top. And, one didn't know how to get there.

While I can't tell the difference between John McCain and John Kerry. Both are gigolos. Both men never worked a day in their lives. And, both men went to bed, marrying money.

And, 2012. Trump is liked more than any other republican candidate, running. (Yeah. He "sings" a religious song, now. So did Dubya.) It's like turning religion into AA meetings.

Revenant said...

This recount then is a way to keep people stirred up. Can't afford a lull before the big recall elections.

Makes sense.

Of course, there's also the possibility that Kloppenburg isn't that bright and honestly thinks she won the election. That quarter-minute pause to answer a simple question makes one think. :)

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Jerryofva-

I'm not a RINO. I'm more of a DINO.

I'm either a very conservative Democrat (which is my party registration) or a very liberal Republican (my registration from 1992 to 2008).

foxtrot said...

It seems to me that liberals have an interesting way of labeling themselves as something they're not.

Examples:

1) "We are progressives"

What form of progress do they strive for? Their idea of progress is for everyone to drive a Prius, to pay Union workers at least $15,000 too much a year (regardless of how bad they do their job), and to spend irrational amounts of money to build unnecessary civil engineering projects.

2) "We defend reproduction rights"

Doesn't the right to reproduce imply actually reproducing, thus not the aborting the left defends?

jerryofva said...

John:

Although a DINO is more honorable then a RINO I suggest that you don't make those kinds of unfounded allegations about the other party. Tea Partyers come from a wide spectrum of conservative thought. Buchananites no longer fall into the conservative camp. They are more naturally aligned with the Democrats. I would say that they are the inheritors of the traditional KKK Democrats.