The extremist Tea Party agenda won a clear victory [in Iowa]. No matter who the Republicans nominate, we'll be running against someone who has embraced that agenda in order to win -- vowing to let Wall Street write its own rules, end Medicare as we know it, roll back gay rights, leave the troops in Iraq indefinitely, restrict a woman's right to choose, and gut Social Security to pay for more tax cuts for millionaires and corporations....Vowing all these things? The Democrats' campaign — or perhaps only its scheme to extract money from those who might yield money — is to scare us about how terribly right-wing the Republican candidate is.
[T]he path ahead for Romney -- or whichever of the Republican candidates is going to emerge from this process -- is sadly and starkly very clear: to run even further to the extreme right, and make even more dangerous promises that threaten not only the progress we've made but the fundamental fabric of American society.Extreme! Extreme! Dangerous!!!
Watching the circus on TV, it's tempting to think it's almost funny -- but this is not a joke.Funny? Who writes this stuff? I'm picturing clowns — they're familiar with the circus — who really have a lot of ironic distance and have the instinct to laugh at Republicans. Think of Alan Colmes, who thought he could be funny mocking Rick Santorum for "playing" with his dead baby. I imagine that Colmes mostly talks with smart, cheeky guys whose natural habitat is distanced observation and edgy humor, and he just didn't realize that ordinary people are more closely interwoven with what some ironist trying to get serious might call the fundamental fabric of American society.
These distanced observers, who see the world in terms of humor and tell ordinary people to get serious... how do they push us to seriousness? Not with rational arguments and accurate information, but by making extreme overstatements about extremism and urging us to feel afraid. And yet they call me "Friend."
Friend... before you came, Barack Obama, I was all alone...
The full text of the email...
These Republican candidates spent in some cases more than a year -- in Mitt Romney's case seven years -- campaigning in Iowa to be the next president.
But tonight, GOP voters there couldn't decisively get behind anyone.
Who exactly leads the Republican race going forward isn't clear, but we do know two things:
1) The extremist Tea Party agenda won a clear victory. No matter who the Republicans nominate, we'll be running against someone who has embraced that agenda in order to win -- vowing to let Wall Street write its own rules, end Medicare as we know it, roll back gay rights, leave the troops in Iraq indefinitely, restrict a woman's right to choose, and gut Social Security to pay for more tax cuts for millionaires and corporations.
2) We'll be facing an onslaught of unprecedented spending from outside groups funded by corporations and anonymous donors. In Iowa alone, so-called "super PACs" spent $12.9 million on almost exclusively negative ads. These groups will turn their fire even more directly on us in the weeks ahead to prove that their candidate is the most anti-Obama.
This race is officially on -- and if we want to win, the only way is to out-organize them on the ground.
Sign up to volunteer your time now, and one of our organizers in your community will give you a call by the end of next week to talk about how you can help.
Many observers still think Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee. If he is, we will be prepared. But it's curious that no one can really explain how, when or why the 70-plus percent of Republicans saying in polls and in Iowa that Mitt Romney's not their candidate will suddenly come around.
So the path ahead for Romney -- or whichever of the Republican candidates is going to emerge from this process -- is sadly and starkly very clear: to run even further to the extreme right, and make even more dangerous promises that threaten not only the progress we've made but the fundamental fabric of American society.
We also know that candidates who take these extreme positions can, in the right circumstances, win not only a primary but also a general election in just about any state.
Just ask the Tea Party senators from Pennsylvania and Kentucky, and the Tea Party governors in Florida and Wisconsin.
Watching the circus on TV, it's tempting to think it's almost funny -- but this is not a joke.
We've got to be ready.
What you decide to do next will determine which kind of politics wins this election:
http://my.barackobama.com/After-Iowa
More soon.
Messina
Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
Posts
171 comments:
Jim Messina? Didn't he used to hang out with Kenny Loggins?
Go Foucault and put "This is not a joke" over a picture of Obama.
""This is not a joke""
Yes it is
If the subject line contains 'This is not a joke', I submit that the email is spam; at the very least, it screams 'fearmongering to follow'.
The only thing missing in the email was an offer for a free IPad.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Campaigns thrive on underestimating the intelligence of the audience.
But it makes the campaigns fit the MSM coverage by making them fit the MSM audience, whose tastes determine what narratives survive.
Conversely there's no point in running a campaign or candidate who isn't willing to do that.
It's the soap opera debate format.
Funny? Who writes this stuff?
While these are good questions, the real question is why do millions of smart liberals believe that stuff?
While these are good questions, the real question is why do millions of smart liberals believe that stuff?
It serves two basic needs at the same time. The need to feel good about oneself and the need to feel better than others.
Just remember ,Ann, as far as intelligence is concerned half of the people in this country are on the left side of the bell curve. That includes most progressives.
And 95% of all lawyers.
After eight years of Karl Rove, this guy is jasmine on my mind.
leave the troops in Iraq indefinitely,
Hilarious.
And here I thought Obama ended the war!
I still have yet to figure out what's so damn extreme about quitting spending other people's money that either A) we don't even have, or B) doesn't exist yet.
This strategy
scaring voters
has mostly worked for Dems for years. Why stop now?
They can't run on Zero's record, can they?
All extreme extremists, please stay extreme against the $16 trillion and rising debt non-extremist.
Hey!
(at least we know AlphaLiberal's real name now)
The Democrats, fully enabled by the media, will paint Santorum as the craziest person to ever hold elected office in the history of America.
Meanwhile, as more people look at his record, conservatives will be upset that he was one of the biggest champions of "Head Start" which is a complete waste of money.
Campaigns thrive on underestimating the intelligence of the audience.
But it makes the campaigns fit the MSM coverage by making them fit the MSM audience, whose tastes determine what narratives survive.
Conversely there's no point in running a campaign or candidate who isn't willing to do that.
Depressing.
"Patriot." "Friend."
Whatever happened to doing a mail merge and starting with the person's name?
Maybe you want to talk about this since this is a "law blog"
Judge dismisses Obama's lawyers motion to dismiss contest of eligibility case in Ga. There will be hundreds of these suits nationwide, by voters who now have absolute standing to challenge the eligibility of Obama the "Democrat Candidate for President".
http://www.art2superpac.com/UserFiles/file/Farrar-Welden-Swensson-PowellvObama-Motion-to-Dismiss-by-Obama-is-Denied-GeorgiaBallotAccessChallenge.pdf
I guess it's not important that a judge is allowing a case to go forward that says Obama is ineligible, as he was born British, of a British subject father.
It is not a joke, the email is a series of lies. Befitting our current president.
Trey
"the real question is why do millions of smart liberals believe that stuff?"
You know some smart liberals? I mean people who know the way the world actually works and can do math? Maybe Chris Christie is a smart liberal.
This is the sort of thing that's called "divisiveness" or "the politics of fear" when done by unlicensed individuals.
My husband and I grew up in homes in which our parents voted Democrats, his parents more heavily involved in politics then mine. So yes, we get these seething letters that demonize the other party asking for money. It doesn't matter how much the Democrat's party has transformed, most of the elder voters I know won't ever consider anyone with an (R) beside their name.
Personally I refrain from any form of Obama bashing. I try to talk about a specific form of public policy without any party affiliations, then I slowly reveal I disagree with aspects of the party's platform.
Do Republicans fear monger? Yes. But Democrats really can't deny they do the same.
You know some smart liberals? I mean people who know the way the world actually works and can do math?
Trey,
smart was satire, that's why I bolded it.
To answer your question, no!
"The Democrats, fully enabled by the media, will paint [the Republican nominee] as the craziest person to ever hold elected office in the history of America."
FTFY, as they say.
The democrats didn't call Mitt a Nazi yet. Well, there is still time. The left wing vilification machine is just getting revved up.
@ Jay 8:11
My thoughts exactly.
Has he not been paying attention the great O's achievemnts?
Oh. Forgot. Too many to keep track of.
oops. I meant Jay at 8:19.
(Though agree with 8:11 too ...)
leave the troops in Iraq indefinitely
See? 15 year olds write his stuff.
You know, I may not be too thrilled with the new commenting rules, but Mick is helping me to rethink my position.
It would be refreshing to get a missive from a candidate addressing me as what I am: serf.
@JAL: "See? 15 year olds write his stuff."
And they think it's edgy and fresh, something nobody's ever seen before.
It would be refreshing to get a missive from a candidate addressing me as what I am: serf.
The First Badonkadonk isn't a candidate, but she apparently would like to be called Your Excellency. That's at least halfway to your wish, isn't it?
You know, I may not be too thrilled with the new commenting rules, but Mick is helping me to rethink my position.
Same here pretty much. How rucking fetarded do you have to be to still be ranting about Obama's birth certificate?
Nothing says "EXTREMIST!!" like wanting to spend within ones means, or to demand that immigration laws be obeyed and enforced.
Democrats and lefties always put on the crown and dress of the Drama Queen in order to clutch their pearls over ordinary citizen participation in government of their fellow citizens.
Unless you are an astroturfed leftwing mob picking fights with the police, destroying the landscaping of public parks and demanding totalitarian punishment against your fellow citizens for the "crime" of making money and not giving it over to the demands of their violent mobs. THAT'S what they view as "normal".
This fundraising email is like Pearl Harbor.
"How rucking fetarded do you have to be to still be ranting about Obama's birth certificate?"
We all know that Mick's shtick involves extreme birthing (OK Scotty M I expect you to jump all over that one).
So feigning surprise or shock could be also considered 'bad faith'.
Wow. I didn't realize just how extremem and dangerous Mitt Romney was. Guess I'll be voting for Obama. We need to keep everything "as we know it." If we change things too much we may be able to earn a living and not be dependent on the Democrats small largess for food and shelter. We might see a return of individual rights (the ones in the Constitution). Freedom might increase. Oh, the horror.
"How much does that say about the difference between conservatives and liberals?"
Calling you "Patriot" at least would be accurate for most people's self identity, but who considers themselves the President's friend. In fact, I bet his true friends never got that email. They were shaken down in person.
OK Scotty M I expect you to jump all over that one.
Hey...why me? What if I'm not in full-metal-Scott M mode this morning?
The description of the Tea party agenda isn't exaggeration - it's just lies. Almost nothing there is even part of their agenda. I think the Dems have been successful with that false labeling though: confusing the Tea party with social conservatives. The Tea Party simply wants less government, especially the spending part. Is that really extreme, or is wanting to expand government in 2012 extreme?
There seems to be a pattern here:
-Democrat fund raising letter says "send us your money so we 'protect' other people "
-Democrat government says "you owe us money to 'support' and 'protect' other people "
People who want to keep their own money to support and protect themselves are
EXTREME
Garbage, I agree.
This is just like Pearl Harbor, in that B. Hussein and the dems are about to get nuked in the 2012 election.
I guess you are right every once in a while, without realizing it.
This is not a joke
Yes it is - and I can prove it!
"This fundraising email is like Pearl Harbor."
Meaning what - that it's a bomb?
Maybe you should try channeling "elder statesman," garbage, because your Dorothy Parker shtick is epic failsauce.
Just keep in mind, conservatives, this is the crew you're afraid of not beating in November.
We've GOT to have Romney to win, right?
Riiight,...
Interesting nothing in that very serious letter about helping the barely middle class living paycheck to paycheck, the poor who are stuck, or the children (who are of course our future). All three groups who don't expect any social security to be there when they turn 68.
Smart Liberals?
Not so much.
Highly educated liberals from state and private colleges and universities?
Plenty.
The extremist Tea Party agenda won a clear victory [in Iowa]. No matter who the Republicans nominate, we'll be running against someone who has embraced that agenda in order to win
This seems to be, at best, internally inconsistent. How can a vote in Iowa be any kind of victory if it doesn't matter who wins? If all the candidates have fully embraced the "extremist Tea Party agenda" then the exercise in Iowa is irrelevant.
"Hey...why me?"
Extreme birthing - can you imagine the TV series?
A bifurcated plot - midwives offer help to frustrated litigants.
Or something like that.
"This is not a joke" = Hatman trying to tell us who the unserious joke candidates are when we just have had an admission from the Real One.
In any case, Santorum, like bad wine, won't travel well. The Tea Party won't back him.
IA is something of a No Confidence vote for Milton, so it might be the chance for somebody well set up to jump in.
Junior McCain endorsing him is not what he needs right now.
Obama is doing this stuff because it works. Centrists, moderates, whatever you call them are the majority - Althouse seems like one to me. The overriding feature of their vote is fear of extremism. That's what makes them moderates. They only need to be convinced that a candidate is a little extreme or crazy, because they vote for the one they believe is less so. As in 2008 knowing nothing about a candidate is superior to believing even a slight chance of crazy in the other.
Even crazy, long disproved ideas are OK if they are wrapped in a candidate that appears calm and controlled. Unfortunately it's very easy to push these people off their fence either way. You don't need facts - just get them to feel a little fear about it, a possibility, bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.
From what I understand, his mama don't dance and his daddy don't rock 'n' roll.
Extreme birthing - can you imagine the TV series?
Usually, I agree, inspiration would strike and I could rattle something obtuse off. However, Mick is attached to it. The only emotions generated thus are pity and sadness.
Meaning what - that it's a bomb?
Do I have to explain everything?
"...a blot of mustard,..."
Do you realize the havoc a small blot of mustard can wreak???
Do I have to explain everything?
When you think Gore lives in Bush's house, I'm going to have to go with yes on that one :)
Friend is a code word replacing Comrade that fell onto the bad word list.
The anti-Wall Street fight is a code word replacing The Bourgeoisie, that also fell onto the bad word list.
And have you seen the EPA's hockey stick graphs of future world heat waives that establishes a crisis requiring that all energy use be taken over by the Five Year Plan of the People's Energy Czar?
The USSR actually won the Cold War the day The Won was elected.
Do they have Chávez as adviser?
Who writes this stuff???
This is nothing new. This stuff has just been cut-and-pasted from the Dem playbook of the last 50 years or more.
Every election on every level since I've been alive Dems have been screaming about how Republican X is a far right extremist, even when they are, in fact, fellow travelers with the leftists.
What is amazing -- and really is alarming -- is that there are so many people who still fall for this crap.
Althouse's blather about this email is lame.
But, it is interesting that this email takes a (figurative) 2x4 to the TP. I wonder if the TPers are increasingly seen unfavorably by the general public (especially independents) as well as Ds.
I think one could easily read too much into the term friend. With local elections, the term friend is a common term in political literature. Depending how involved you are locally in state party politics, friend would be appropriate.
This campaign has demonstrated the challenge for the Republican party going forward
-How does it incorporate an emerging young voting block that thinks Libertarian? They may not vote in droves now but give it a few years
-How does it balance "secure borders" with a growing Hispanic voting block (that should by all rights lean Republican)?
-How does it keep the religious conservatives engaged and energized since they do so much of the grunt work?
-How does it regain/maintain the mantle of fiscal responsibility when giving the voters "stuff" is the easiest way to get reelected? (Can you say "ethanol ")
Althouse's blather about this email is lame.
I wonder when we get to see Mitt! fundraising emails?
Whenever "Friend" appears in a letter or email, I can't help but think, Friendo.
Tradguy,
Let me help you remain consistent:
"all energy use be taken over by the Five Year Plan of the [Anti-Enron Super-Friend]"
You're welcome.
traditionalguy said...
Friend is a code word replacing Comrade that fell onto the bad word list.
No, the West translated "Tovarich" as "Comrade" because it was more logical colloquially, but it's literal meaning is "Friend".
The USSR actually won the Cold War the day The Won was elected.
It went away 20 years ago. Even the PRC isn't looking good right now, with all the talk of Hard Landing.
Actually, this is like the old "Star Trek" plot where the Ultimate Weapon goes on killing long after the war is over. The Useful Idiots so carefully indoctrinated and trained by the NKVD and KGB are just going on auto-pilot because they're too regimented to see they're driving off a cliff.
pbAndjFellowRepublican said...
But, it is interesting that this email takes a (figurative) 2x4 to the TP.
Really?
By repeating a bunch of silly lies?
That is some perspective you got going there.
Whether you agree with Mick's take or not, you have agree that the issue was not handles well.
The question should be answered unambiguous with all evidence available presented before an election.
What if someone wins a Presidential election and then afterward it IS found that they are ineligible. We should never let that even come close. The way Obama handled this was like a lot of what he does. It was disrespectful of our country, it's laws and it's history.
and finally, how does it retain a "core identity" and still remain "the party of choice" for Independents?
I like how our not-extremist President is going to do a recess appointment while the Senate is not in recess. To appoint a guy who will have almost no oversight.
What are you supposed to do when you are Obama? You aren't an extremist like everyone else, so you just have to ignore the limits the Constitution puts on you.
So....somehow if Romney, Mr. Milquetoast,. Mayonnaise and Cumber Sandwich Man, the most bland person on the face of the Earth, is the Republican candidate, the Democrats are going to try to make him the face of rabid extremism?
Good luck with that. Sure, they will somehow try to make out that his religion is some sort of satanic cult, but only the "J" types are going to buy into that.
If it were Ron Paul, I think the rabid looney far right meme could work.
But...Romney? Most people see a Ken doll when looking at Romney. Not even Barbie is threatened by Ken. (Ken has no dick)
LOL!!!!
Verification word: unthril
Not only is the thrill gone.....it was never there in the first place
"No, the West translated "Tovarich" as "Comrade" because it was more logical colloquially, but it's literal meaning is "Friend"."
Althouse should have said that she didn't vote for McCain because he was a total commie. You know, because he so easily referred to folks as "friend."
Presumably, that would have made sense to some of her flock.
... smart, cheeky guys whose natural habitat is distanced observation and edgy humor, and he just didn't realize that ordinary people are more closely interwoven with what some ironist trying to get serious might call the fundamental fabric of American society.
These distanced observers, who see the world in terms of humor and tell ordinary people to get serious...
This is a brilliant passage. Really.
The older I get, the more weary I get with ironists and the cooler-than-thou set.
"-How does it regain/maintain the mantle of fiscal responsibility when giving the voters "stuff" is the easiest way to get reelected?"
This was held in control by the constitution, until it ran into the Great Depression and "stuff" became more important than liberty. That never goes backward without another crisis sufficient to open people up to new solutions.
Of course we could act like thinking beings rather than sheep, and just choose to reverse it before the crisis........Naaaa, that's crazy talk. Extremist, in fact.
"But, it is interesting that this email takes a (figurative) 2x4 to the TP. I wonder if the TPers are increasingly seen unfavorably by the general public (especially independents) as well as Ds."
Gack.
No pbj, its a bag of shit, that's all it is to the 'TPers'.
Facts are stubborn things, and there isn't anything close to a fact in that pathetic attempt at fund raising. Its all smear.
Furthermore, the only thing you know about 'TPers' is what your favorite MSNBC talking head has told you. BTW - those 'independents' you speak of - they IS TP.
Extreme is not an adjective any sane person would use to describe either Romney or Santorum. It just doesn't fit. It's like saying John Roberts is an extremist and Kagan represents the warm, beating heart of the real America. Give me a break. You can say that Romney and Santorum are extremely bland or fanatically normal, but there's absolutely nothing about them that varies one click from the standard norms of American values.
the Democrats are going to try to make [Romney] the face of rabid extremism?
Even the Weasel. Absolutely.
Not only is he extremely anti-choice, wanting women dying in droves in back alleys (always the NUMBER ONE play in the Dem playbook), but Bain Capital Romney is one of the guys from the financial community who crashed the economy. And all that he wants to do is to take even more money from the poor to give to his rich friends. Romney's extreme One Percent greed knows no bounds.
Yes, the Dems will easily paint Romney as more extreme than Goldwater (and he wanted to blow up the world with nukes while pretty little girls picked daisies).
we'll be running against someone who has embraced that [Tea Party] agenda in order to win --
How many of these points have any truth whatsoever? (The Tea Party is about not spending ourselves into oblivion with borrowed money):
- vowing to let Wall Street write its own rules (name one Tea Party organization that's ever said that)
- end Medicare as we know it (who said that?)
- roll back gay rights (that has nothing to do with the Tea Party agenda, which is entirely economic)
- leave the troops in Iraq indefinitely (again, not even on the Tea Party agenda radar)
- restrict a woman's right to choose (this one is not even in the same universe as the Tea Party, what does that have to do with not borrowing 40% of our budget?)
- and gut Social Security to pay for more tax cuts for millionaires and corporations...(again, name one Tea Party group that has proposed that)
This isn't a summary of the Tea Party agenda. It's a bogeyman list that the Democrats have dragged back out of the closet and stuck the Tea Party label on. As others have point out above, it's the same thing they do every four years - declare the most milquetoast Republican to be a dangerous extremist, whether there are any facts to support it or not. When are people going to stop being stupid and stop falling for this obvious garbage. I hope the Democrats get fried for this come November, just like they were fried in the last election.
How in the world is Obama going to back down from this perch and offer a budget that makes a dent in the deficit?
When is his budget due? February or March? Why do I get the feeling that will be a joke?
See or hear the phrase "Tea Party" and the thing that follows is misinformation. It is the same bright red flag to readers and listeners as the phrase "with all due respect."
Two nights ago I heard an NBC reporter opine the Tea Party is over. See, media isn't following Tea Party right now therefore they cease to exist. Right? Right? They're gone now, right?
The Tea Party's choice is Newt Gingrich, and by a very wide margin over Michelle Bachmann. Santorum is third. Their poll was posted yesterday in an email that includes a blurb about 7th Amendment but no mention of donations.
Nothing at all extreme with comparing Medicaid to fascism, or calling for the end of "dangerous" contraception. Those are perfectly mainstream thoughts.
Ah Jim Messina; sitting in the progressive teepee pounding his tom tom.
Messina is on my 'puker's "Spam" list as are the 21st Century Democrats. If I want Looney Tunes, I go to the old time movie theater. At least their stuff is funny. Messina et al are simply pathetic.
William said...
Extreme is not an adjective any sane person would use to describe either Romney or Santorum. It just doesn't fit. It's like saying John Roberts is an extremist and Kagan represents the warm, beating heart of the real America. Give me a break. You can say that Romney and Santorum are extremely bland or fanatically normal, but there's absolutely nothing about them that varies one click from the standard norms of American values.
You could have said the same about GWB who the Dems/Libs/Media [all the same] presented as Bushitler.
Remember?
again, more presidential spam. I'm sure he at a lot of it in Hawaii.
I'm not your friend, buddy!
Off topic: I wonder if those Islamic hater hunting comedians will find anything like this down South: Frappicuno induced attack on Islamic cultural center in New York
You know, I may not be too thrilled with the new commenting rules, but Mick is helping me to rethink my position.
I don't mind Mick, because I want to see how his campaign to have Obama invalidated all works out.
He's at least trying to link to something specific now, which is progress ... sort of.
"LEAVE" the troops in Iraq indefinitely?
Wouldn't we have to re-invade at this point?
MayBee said...
How in the world is Obama going to back down from this perch and offer a budget that makes a dent in the deficit?
When is his budget due? February or March? Why do I get the feeling that will be a joke?
Zero has no interest in cutting the deficit and, if the Repubs do, they haven't shown the guts to do anything about it. Zero for them too.
What budget? There is no budget.
Frankly (a word I hate, usully precedes a lie), if there were a budget, it would be meaningless - all the gimmicks, off-line items, and unsupportable assumptions render current US budgets meaningless.
Nothing at all extreme with comparing Medicaid to fascism, or calling for the end of "dangerous" contraception. Those are perfectly mainstream thoughts.
Are you referring to something specific?
This is not a joke..
Michele Bachmann is pulling out.
Santorum is loathed by the left.
If for some weird, strange reason, he would win the nomination, we'll need a new definition for vitriol.
So, do you (DT'12) think that TPers have increased or decreased in popularity w/ the indys since:
A little more than half of Republicans, 54%, say they are supporters of the Tea Party movement. This is considerably higher than the 29% of independents and 8% of Democrats who are Tea Party supporters...
This polling was from April of '11. So, they were actively supported by less than thirty percent of indys--far from a majority. Since then we've seen a lot of TP maneuvering in Congress. Has their "sticking to principle" been a recruiting tool re indy voters? Or not? There must be newer polling, but I'm too lazy to look. Although it doesn't seem as if Congress, as a whole, has become more popular.
P.S.
Do folks think that the BHO folks have internal polling re the popularity (including w/ indys) of the TPers? Is it possible that such info could have been a consideration re the complete text of this email?
/rhetorical questions
"Santorum is loathed by the left."
Too bad the left isn't returning the lack-of-loathness that is aimed at BHO.
Nothing at all extreme with comparing Medicaid to fascism, or calling for the end of "dangerous" contraception. Those are perfectly mainstream thoughts.
Garage, one thing is to repeat what you read in some bitter clinger site (to use my president's words) and another thing is to write on behalf of the president of the US.
P.S.
Do folks think that the BHO folks have internal polling re the popularity (including w/ indys) of the TPers? Is it possible that such info could have been a consideration re the complete text of this email?
/rhetorical questions
Actually, they're dumb questions.
See, nothing in the email is true.
You can't seem to grasp that.
garage mahal said...
Nothing at all extreme with comparing Medicaid to fascism, or calling for the end of "dangerous" contraception. Those are perfectly mainstream thoughts
As opposed to saying 9-11 was something Bush/Cheney knew about and we went to war in Afghanistan for an oil pipleline.
Those are perfectly mainstream thoughts in the Democratic party.
"Are you referring to something specific?"
The voices in his head. The same ones telling him Walker is crusing for a bruising in November.
"Santorum is loathed by the left."
I can confirm. Its because he dares question their blessed sacrament of abortion.
pbj
You miss the whole point of the Tea Party. First, if we still cared about RINOs we wouldn't be TP. So polls are bullshit unless they are an actual election. Many identify as TP because they can't stand R or D (true independent).
"For those that understand, no explanation is necessary.
For those that don't understand, no explanation is possible."
This polling was from April of '11. So, they were actively supported by less than thirty percent of indys--far from a majority. Since then we've seen a lot of TP maneuvering in Congress. Has their "sticking to principle" been a recruiting tool re indy voters? Or not? There must be newer polling, but I'm too lazy to look. Although it doesn't seem as if Congress, as a whole, has become more popular.
I think the Tea Party's message has been obfuscated by a host of things:
1. The opposition
2. The media
3. Themselves — they've remained largely on the sidelines, most notably on the debt crisis issue, and haven't really been out in force in a visible sense since their initial protests.
I think they still carry weight, and may become more visible and relevant once the general election campaigning begins.
It's hard to appeal to wishy-washy independents when you can't really promise them anything other than cuts.
Instead of telling me how voting Democrat is going to help me, they just list a bunch of scarey things that the Democrat special interests are concerned about.
Maybe this is a joke:
CBS News reports “there was no cheering, chanting or clapping for the president’s message during the address, distributed to more than 200 caucus locations throughout Iowa.”
Also, a lot of TP-ers are true independents, because a lot of us don't see any backbone for real reform out of either party.
It just so happens that fiscal responsibility has more of a home on the right than the left.
Maybe this is a joke:
Maybe not. It's been reported the quality of the signal was bad.
"See, nothing in the email is true."
It doesn't matter if it's true. It just matters that it works.
Those are perfectly mainstream thoughts in the Democratic party.
Nah, you're thinking of Randroid thoughts.
"...a lot of us don't see any backbone for real reform out of either party."
Exactly right EMD.
Hard core party politics is hurting this country. There is no apparent will, or incentive for that matter, for the participants to change things.
Actually there was a poll about a year ago (no, I don't have a link) that showed a majority (by a large margin) of Democrats either think George Bush was behind the 9/11 attacks, or at least are sure.
Colmes, I see your distanced observation, and I raise you another distance observation, but I'm not bluffing.
The extremist Tea Party agenda won a clear victory [in Iowa].
I wish I had time to pick apart the email.. but I have to go because the democrat extreme agenda has made me usurious about spam.. or something.
No really I have to go.. no joke.
wv hestria = democrat spam
Denmark has seven different parties in their parliament.
I wonder what life is like with seven different political parties vying for votes.
Better or worse?
How many emails would Althouse get in Denmark?
(And yes, I realize the difference between the seven is probably miniscule and largely irrelevant, but humor me.)
The extremist Tea Party agenda won a clear victory [in Iowa].
Is this satire?
Why is it that some here insist on denying that the R platform is what it is?
Is it a bad sign for Rs if they need to hide from their plans to limit Wall Street limits, replace Medicare w/ vouchers (or some euphemism for 'vouchers'), get back to not asking or telling (not to mention NOM and constitutional amendment pledges), attack BHO for the Iraq troop withdrawal, use executive/legislative/judicial routes to stop abortions, adjust down the SS payouts to slow the program's liquidation of bonds which have been stockpiled while the SS's annual overfunding was used to fill in budgetary holes created by piss poor fiscal governance (i.e. spending not equal to tax revenue)?
For the record, (being earnest, for just a second) some of that sound pretty good to me.
But, if you, for political reasons, you can't openly acknowledge your own platform, it seems very unlikely that you'll be able to implement it.
But, it is interesting that this email takes a (figurative) 2x4 to the TP.
Writing nasty, false screeds against an "extreme agenda", one they do not define nor explain why it is "extreme" nor why they oppose it nor offer their superior solutions is figuratively "taking a 2x4" to something.
Jimmy Hoffa weeps.
Lets talk about just one issue. Medicare. Medicare is going to bankrupt the country if something isn't done. Some Republicans (Ryan) are trying to find a way to save it. Democrats are willing to let it go bankrupt. Which side is extreme?
PB, It's the tone, is it possible to disagree with someone or a party's platform without implying their points are a joke?
GMay said...
"You know, I may not be too thrilled with the new commenting rules, but Mick is helping me to rethink my position".
So tell me how it is possible that one born a British subject is an A2S1C4 eligible
natural born Citizen. NO ONE here can.
But, if you, for political reasons, you can't openly acknowledge your own platform, it seems very unlikely that you'll be able to implement it.
You don't think it would be wise/pragmatic to shelve the "gee I really wish things were like I want them" in favor of the "HOLYFUCKWEBETTERDOSOMETHINGNOW" ?
Or would you rather discuss vinyl siding and landscaping options while the laundry room is on fire?
Medicare is going to bankrupt the country if something isn't done.
Obama used to acknowledge this, before Obamacare passed.
pbAndjFellowRepublican said...
Why is it that some here insist on denying that the R platform is what it is?
You can provide no evidence that what is stated in the email is the "R platform"
I've received all the emails from the Obama camp that Ann has commented on lately and a few more that escaped her notice, though all but a few were screened as junk, one from Michelle with the subject line "I would like to say" and another from one Julianna Smoot (yeah, two n's) who's likely to share the same universe with Ponsonby Britt and Alfred E. Newman.
Of the dozen or so email addresses I use over half are managed with Outlook 2007 (since I don't use many cloud applications the cloud-enabled Office 2010 hasn't been a compelling upgrade). Two are handled by Evolution Mail on my Linux box, and the default OS X client runs one account on my hackintosh.
The spam sniffer AI in Outlook is by far the most effective. All of Obama's bullshit gets filtered and dumped into the junk folder, as does the bulk of tea party related stuff directed my way. Evolution screens fairly well though Michelle's mewlings passed muster. The Macintosh app might as well not have a junk fold. The OS X mail client, like most Apple applications, seems to be engineered for idiots by a condescending cognoscenti obsessed with style over substance. Establishing rules in Mail is easy... too easy because unwary users often set contradictory rules which are ignored by the app. Obama's stuff gets through Mail's defenses like crap through a goose, to borrow a phrase from George S. Patton.
Having looked over the filtered as junk mail from the Obama camp and other political sources I've concluded that the subject line is the culprit. The Obama stuff usually has either inane (e.g. "Hey!" from the Prez himself) hysterical ("This is not a joke") or just plain stupid ("I would like to say") phrases used a subjects. You'd think Obama could afford at least one cool head on his staff tasked with a general stylistic housecleaning of messaging practices so that at least a few more of his whingeing pleas for cash might make it to my inbox.
Is it a bad sign for Rs if they need to hide from their plans to limit Wall Street limits
Who has said this?
Which legislation addresses this?
You are a pitiful liar.
attack BHO for the Iraq troop withdrawal,
Of course that is not the same as "the troops in Iraq indefinitely" which is what the email said.
EMD said...
"You know, I may not be too thrilled with the new commenting rules, but Mick is helping me to rethink my position.
I don't mind Mick, because I want to see how his campaign to have Obama invalidated all works out.
He's at least trying to link to something specific now, which is progress ... sort of."
MANY of these suits are coming. Eventually the MSM will have to report about it. I wonder how a "law prof" can ignore it. They ALL claim Obama is Ineligible because he was born a British Subject, just like I've been saying all along. And the "law prof" voted for him!!! Imagine.
Anyway, a SCOTUS case is pretty specific:
Minor v. Happersett (1875)----
"The Constitution does not, in words, say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. "
That's pretty specific evidence. Evidence from you? Not so much.
Related to attacking the other party's position. Instead of saying "we disagree with your plan and here is why".....there is always a conspiracy theory about the true motives.
See Wisconsin and how the greedy Jew businessmen Kochs are really behind everything (according to Wisconsin Democrats).
garage mahal said...
Nah, you're thinking of Randroid thoughts.
Are you suggesting Michael Moore is not a mainstream Democrat?
Because in his movie he asserted that that George W. Bush attacked the Taliban at the behest of the energy company Unocal.
Jay,
They want to repeal the financial reform, hence less limits on Wall Street.
If you don't have a definite exit time, you by definition have an indefinite exit time. Duh.
bagoh20 said...
"Whether you agree with Mick's take or not, you have agree that the issue was not handles well.
The question should be answered unambiguous with all evidence available presented before an election.
What if someone wins a Presidential election and then afterward it IS found that they are ineligible. We should never let that even come close. The way Obama handled this was like a lot of what he does. It was disrespectful of our country, it's laws and it's history."
The Usurper handled it that way because he is not eligible, and he is trying to hide the legitimate Constitutional issue behind the BC Conspiracy theory. Now, However, the true Constitutional violation is achieving mass realization-- that he was born British, of a British subject father, and would not be eligible if he was born on the Oval Office desk, delivered by JFK.
Garage: "Nothing at all extreme with comparing Medicaid to fascism or calling for the end of 'dangerous' contraception. Those are all perfectly mainstream thoughts."
Jay: "As opposed to saying 9/11 was something Bush/Cheney knew about and we went to war in Afghanistan for an oil pipeline. Those are perfectly mainstream thoughts in the Democratic party."
Garage: "Nah, you're thinking of Randroid thoughts."
Howard Dean: "The most interesting theory I've heard so far, which is nothing more than a theory, I can't - think it can't be proved, is that he [Bush] was warned ahead of time by the Saudis. Now, who knows what the real situation is."
Wall Street banks are lining up against a derivatives regulation in the Dodd-Frank Act. Teaming up with Republicans, they may prove that procrastination ultimately prevails.
pbAndjFellowRepublican said...
Jay,
They want to repeal the financial reform, hence less limits on Wall Street.
Really?
Which "financial reform" is that?
Which law? Which candidates have said this?
If you don't have a definite exit time, you by definition have an indefinite exit time. Duh.
We've already exited.
Which candidates want to send 100,00 troops back into Iraq?
Duh.
ndjFellowRepublican said...
Wall Street banks are lining up against a derivatives regulation in the Dodd-Frank Act. Teaming up with Republicans, they may prove that procrastination ultimately prevails.
Here is what comes up to that link:
Not Found
There is no data that matches your request. Please see the latest posts for this blog
Shocking.
Maybe this will work
Scott M said...
"Extreme birthing - can you imagine the TV series?
Usually, I agree, inspiration would strike and I could rattle something obtuse off. However, Mick is attached to it. The only emotions generated thus are pity and sadness."
Now Now Scott, you false Conservative. What I said months ago is coming true. Millions now have standing to challenge the Usurper as "Democrat POTUS Candidate" by state "contest of Election" statutes. I'm usually way ahead of everyone else, including apparently the "law prof", and must endure the taunts from lesser minds, before realization hits (first they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you then you win). As MORE AND MORE states encounter these suits, look for the Usurper to use some sort of distraction-- like the war on simmer now w/ Iran, to divert attention.
pbAndjFellowRepublican said...
Wall Street banks are lining up against a derivatives regulation in the Dodd-Frank Act. Teaming up with Republicans, they may prove that procrastination ultimately prevails.
*GIGGLE*
On Tuesday, Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and 16 members of the state’s Congressional delegation sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other regulators expressing concern that proposed Dodd-Frank rules governing derivative contracts could put U.S. banks at a competitive disadvantage to their foreign competitors.
I guess those NY Democrats are Tea Partiers!
You have beclowned yourself to the garage mahal level.
Lets talk about just one issue. Medicare. Medicare is going to bankrupt the country if something isn't done. Some Republicans (Ryan) are trying to find a way to save it. Democrats are willing to let it go bankrupt. Which side is extreme?
The first thing to talk about is that we MUST separate MediCARE (which is a program paid into by people who work and who have paid in for DECADES) from MediCAID (which is a welfare program full of freebie give aways to people who don't work, never worked, never paid in and for illegal aliens)
If Congress and the States had not been using MediCAID as a piggy bank to buy votes the MediCARE program would not be in such trouble.
The next thing is to talk about the RAMPANT FRAUD in both MediCARE and MediCAID.
Face up to those two sub-issues and then we can talk.
I'm usually way ahead of everyone else
You were apparently ahead of yourself. You're on record on this blog as stating that your "plan" involves keeping POTUS from being allowed on the ballots, in all 50 states by your own words, in the upcoming election. Later, you again stated on this blog that your plan involved POTUS being on the ballot.
Either your "plan" has changed or your just pitiful and sad. Which is it?
Dust Bunnie....correct on fraud. The numbers out there of estimated fraud is.....in the billions per year I believe. And that is the big time fraud (doctors submitting reimbursement for work not done). The small fraud (lets charge a little extra to max out the reimbursment) isn't even on the radar.
That is one advantage of vouchers and private insurance. A private company has a stake in preventing fraud. The government doesn't.
EMD wrote:
I wonder what life is like with seven different political parties vying for votes.
Stand by for another vile Quaestor opinion, EMD.
Unvarnished veritas: For the Danes seven parties are mostly a junk mail problem. They have no sovereignty left, consequently domestic politics is a avocation for cranks and dilettantes.
In this country we have many more than seven. However, all but two are the homes of cranks and dilettantes. This includes the vaunted Libertarian Party, I'm sad to report.
wv: snortial - an after-dinner dose of cocaine.
I signed up to receive BO's campaign emails months ago. I really enjoy reading them.
Reading them, and seeing the condescending, patronizing tone they take tells me a lot about the audience they are trying to reach.
Their audience it supposed to be people who only get their information from the main stream media. and to that group the email's seem perfectly reasonable.
To my better informed liberal friends, I can only assume they realize there is a much bigger objective to be reached, and the Emails are just what it take to get the job done.
"... Medicare is going to bankrupt the country if something isn't done. Some Republicans (Ryan) are trying to find a way to save it. Democrats are willing to let it go bankrupt..."
No, they're willing to raise taxes to save it and keep raising them as needed.
Democrats stand for out of control spending coupled with out of control taxation. If you need proof of its success just look to Europe.
DBQ,
No, you oldies are robbing us yutes blind. According to math, you're stealing from the future generations. Typical tit suckers.
The least you could do would be to get off your high horse and say thanks.
This includes the vaunted Libertarian Party, I'm sad to report.
Indeed. I've voted futilely for a few.
Jay,
My own link clearly stated that the NY Ds, like the Rs, are in favor of letting Wall Street write the rules:
"It is of course no surprise why the New York members broke ranks, since the state is Wall Street's home turf. But it is still unclear what this little uprising will accomplish. After all, allowing U.S. banks to avoid regulatory oversight when dealing with foreign clients could still threaten the safety and soundness of the U.S. economy. Take the case of AIG (AIG), which nearly crippled the entire financial system in 2008 over derivatives. The majority of counterparties to AIG's toxic credit default swaps that the U.S. government bailed out were foreign banks -- to the tune of $57.8 billion."
P.S.
Garage, completely outnumbered, more often than not cuts through the typical BS here w/ a sentence or two. Not a bad person to be compared to.
DBQ wrote:
If Congress and the States had not been using MediCAID as a piggy bank to buy votes the MediCARE program would not be in such trouble.
Filling up the MediCare coffers with IOUs has hastened its demise, surely. But the root of the problem is structural. Even the most scrupulous fiscal management can't keep a ponzi scheme solvent.
wv: mishian - the state yoopers hail from.
pbAndjFellowRepublican said...
Jay,
My own link clearly stated that the NY Ds, like the Rs, are in favor of letting Wall Street write the rules:
Yes, but you used that as the example of They [The Republicans] want to repeal the financial reform, hence less limits on Wall Street.
And yet it involves Democrats.
P.S.
Garage, completely outnumbered, more often than not cuts through the typical BS here w/ a sentence or two. Not a bad person to be compared to.
Hysterical.
Really, that is good.
@Levi Starks
Yeah, I started getting Obama emails when I sent in a scurrilous report to the O campaign's inform-on-your-parents website. I kept on getting them because I wanted see how the opposition was thinking, and with this one I feel I've hit paydirt. Messina's email reeks of desperation. I was feeling pretty confident before, but evidence that O's campaign is truly running scared is very welcome.
"tax cuts for billionaires and corporations".....
The Dem Milwaukee Mayor wants to use $100 million of Obama business tax credit money to move Kohls Corp from the 'burbs to downtown Milwaukee. How very Progressive!!
Drinking game, everytime a Democrat says:
A) The right wing
B) Extremist
C) Tax cuts for their rich friends
D) Turn back xxxx rights
We drink. Its kind of like the new Haliburton.
I can't wait to see if Obama uses this kind of language at his high school address today.
I can't wait to see if Obama uses this kind of language at his high school address today.
Obama is going to the building he went to high school in today? Is it in Connecticut by chance, perhaps next to a federal building that issues social security numbers?
replace Medicare w/ vouchers (or some euphemism for 'vouchers'),
Not according to Wyden [far-](D) Oregon.
He and Ryan came up with a plan, both options would be available.
Obama is going to the building he went to high school in today? Is it in Connecticut by chance, perhaps next to a federal building that issues social security numbers?
Oh, leave my grammar alone!
Jay,
They want to repeal the financial reform, hence less limits on Wall Street.
If you don't have a definite exit time, you by definition have an indefinite exit time. Duh
You mean they want to keep jobs in America?
Sar-Ox has to go too.
HOW DARE THEY!
"tax cuts for billionaires and corporations".....
The Dem Milwaukee Mayor wants to use $100 million of Obama business tax credit money to move Kohls Corp from the 'burbs to downtown Milwaukee. How very Progressive!!
Someone has to pay for the school union contracts.
Scott M said...
I'm usually way ahead of everyone else
You were apparently ahead of yourself. You're on record on this blog as stating that your "plan" involves keeping POTUS from being allowed on the ballots, in all 50 states by your own words, in the upcoming election. Later, you again stated on this blog that your plan involved POTUS being on the ballot.
Either your "plan" has changed or your just pitiful and sad. Which is it?"
Her was going to be on the ballot in Ga. wasn't he? Duh
What happened to the thoughtful Althouse who called BS when folks tried to disparage tough political talk?
This new whiney Althouse seems fragile.
What happened to supporting 'death-panels' and mocking civility BS? Now, being called 'friend' and reading the word 'extreme' is too much.
Buck up.
Her was going to be on the ballot in Ga. wasn't he? Duh
You tell me. At one time you were going to prevent his being on every ballot. Then you changed your story and said part of your plan was to have him on every ballot.
If you don't see the inconsistency there, I can't help you.
Scott M said...
Her was going to be on the ballot in Ga. wasn't he? Duh
You tell me. At one time you were going to prevent his being on every ballot. Then you changed your story and said part of your plan was to have him on every ballot.
If you don't see the inconsistency there, I can't help you.
Don't need your help, since you don't care anyway, and you still don't get it (Primary Ballot). I am all ready to go when the correct time comes. Just sit back and let patriots defend the Republic. It has been said that less than 20% of the colonists were on board w/ separation from England, until the first shots. This will pick up momentum. The Usurper is already being challenged in 3 states.
http://obamaballotchallenge.com/
Don't need your help, since you don't care anyway, and you still don't get it (Primary Ballot).
You have absolutely no idea what I do or don't care about. You have no idea what I am or am not doing about the next presidential race. The only thing you have to go on re: me is words on a blog. If you think that makes you somehow prescient, more power to you, but it just reinforces the inconsistent crank persona you've got going here.
When asked what your metric for success was, you said you would prevent him from being on the ballot in all fifty states. How's that going?
Drinking game, everytime a Democrat says:...
Play while watching Rachel Maddow or Ed Schultz and see if you can go the entire hour conscious.
Scott M said...
Don't need your help, since you don't care anyway, and you still don't get it (Primary Ballot).
You have absolutely no idea what I do or don't care about. You have no idea what I am or am not doing about the next presidential race. The only thing you have to go on re: me is words on a blog. If you think that makes you somehow prescient, more power to you, but it just reinforces the inconsistent crank persona you've got going here.
When asked what your metric for success was, you said you would prevent him from being on the ballot in all fifty states. How's that going?
Hasn't happened yet has it? You're not doing anything or you would have agreed long ago. Obot. It's fun to play roles on the internet, isn't it.
You're not doing anything or you would have agreed long ago.
If you want to scroll back through all of the conversations, you will find that not only did I never disagree, I declared it so on many, many occasions when I was simply asking what you were going to do about it.
Alienating potential alleys on the internet is fun, isn't it? Almost as much fun as contradicting yourself on a presumably pivotal aspect of your "plan".
Hasn't happened yet has it?
Oh...and if by the above you mean Obama being on the ballot in all fifty states hasn't happened yet, how does that square with your statement that you want him on the ballots? Contradiction, thy name is Mick.
leave the troops in Iraq indefinitely
Vote for Obama-- He'll Get Our Troops Out of Vietnam Too!
Mick, you are not reading that passage right.
""The Constitution does not, in words, say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. ""
All that is saying is that there is an undoubtable area that everyone agrees is natural born. It says nothing about where the outer boundary of natural born is. There is a core that is surely natural born, and those are the easy questions. But there are also harder questions, but they're not presented here, so we're not going to puzzle them out. That's the way judges decide cases.
to disparage tough political talk?
Fearmongering is not really tough political talk.
It's actually the opposite.
The people that write this stuff is probably the same people who write about how Obama is a extremist islamist, communist, socialist, fascist, statist, collectivist tyrant who has seized America. Oh, and he has a funny birth certificate also. Nutty language is not exclusive to one political party.
The difference is that we do not work directly for the current president of the United States.
No, you oldies are robbing us yutes blind. According to math, you're stealing from the future generations. Typical tit suckers.
The least you could do would be to get off your high horse and say thanks
Nope. Still have several years to go before I am eligible for Medicare.
1. I've paid in more than the average person. Unlike SS the premiums for Medicare just keep chugging along.
2. I don't go to the doctor, take no medications and barring some sort of accident or unknown creeping illness that will likely kill me quickly.....I am not likely to use the 'average' benefit.
In actuarial terms, I have paid in more will receive less and am forbidden by the stupid government system from opting out and choosing REAL health insurance. My end of the cost benefit analysis curve sucks.
So...remaining on my high horse....Fuck You.
OK, DBQ isn't a tit sucker.
You could have saved half-a-zillion words and a lot of everyone's time, by just printing:
my.barackobama.com
If that's not gaggingly Dear Leader-ish enough to disqualify Obama all by itself... Of course, the exact same is true of the "this is the moment the sea stopped rising" remark, and look how much impact that had.
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