A while ago, I blogged about what appeared to me to be the Republican strategy to counter a popular Democratic president and a firm Democratic majority in Congress…..just say a lot of crazy sh*t.
From my February 24, 2009 blog post….
The current Republican members of Congress have decided to find relevancy by saying wild-eyed, batsh*t crazy stuff. The wilder and crazier the stuff they say, the more relevant they believe they become.
That's their plan.
When all your policies have failed, when your governing capabilities have stunk up the country like a rotted corpse…..how do you get the media's attention? How can you ever be noticed again?
Talk crazy talk.
And that was before the "birther" nonsense hit critical wingnut-mass.
But if crazy talk is spoken in a forest, will anyone hear it? It takes a village of Village Knee Padders to make sure that any Republican or conservative crazy talk is heard.
We now know that the town hall shout downs have been organized strategically by health industry lobbyists. The main profiteers of the health care status quo have co-opted the incoherent Tea-Party movement to do the crazy talk work for them. That way, you see, dishonest corporate media Villagers can point to those crazy-talking shouters….give them plenty of repetitive video looping exposure, you know, acting and talking crazy…..and then say stuff like this….
The town hall shout downs, Rush says…." is not ginned up, it's genuine, it's real."
Of course, that's a lie. So, other Villagers go ahead and swear to it…
MSNBC's Chris Matthews: What do you make of this firestorm that's going on across the country. We've got pictures from Texas and Long Island and Philly. Every time a congressman calls a town meeting now, the people show up and it's like — I don't know — it's like Iran! It's like the streets of Tehran!
Chris Matthews: Let me just speak real fast to the passion we're seeing at some of these town hall rallies. It seems to me that for the first time we're seeing maybe even in four years, we're finally seeing some real fire and some real passion. You didn't see it last year during the McCain campaign. I think folks now are finally fired up.
Nothing from Chrissy on who is behind the orchestrated anti-health reform crazy talk. He simply swears to the lie that these shout-down sessions are legitimate grassroots outrage.
Politico's Jonathan Martin: The, those polarizing issues, the issue about euthanasia, however credible it might be, the abortion issue, are causing Democrats problems right now because the average American hears those things and they sort of flinch, whether or not they're true or not and that's what slowing this bill down are these kinds of flash point issues out there that Republicans are exploiting.
Politico.com's freak, Jonathan Martin, doesn't care if any of the crazy talk is "credible." It's not his job to tell audiences what is true or false…..hell, he's a journalist….it's not his job. Apparently, his job is to repeat Republican crazy sh*t talk and then swear that the crazy sh*t talk is working….for anti-health care forces.
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell: AB, does it matter if these protests are organized or spontaneous? I mean, isn't it true that it's just the video that ends up on the local news that does the damage here?
The Hill's eye-candy AB Stoddard: It doesn't matter at all, and the fact is that the only goal for the Republicans right now is to scare people off this,
Why, heavens no, "it doesn't matter at all" whether the media's coverage is all based on the lie that the shout-down sessions are spontaneous or ginned up by industry lobbyists, the preening AB Hill says. And by god, she ain't gonna tell you the truth one way or the other about it…."doesn't matter."
But the crazy sh*t-talk prize goes to this guy for not only swearing to the Village lie about town hall spontaneity….but adding a new lie of his own….
Michael Smerconish: People are hot. I sense it in the phone calls that I get every day. I think they're very nervous about what's going to come out of this debate about national health care, and Chris if I've heard once in the last couple of days, I've heard it 50 times: "if they can't get cash for clunkers straight, what in the world are they going to do with my national health insurance?"
Smerconish "senses it". Town hall shout-downs are being choreographed by health industry forces, yet Smerconish swears to the lie that they're not, because he "senses it"
One final WTF moment on the Smerconish quote. The cash for clunkers program, the work of Ohio's Betty Sutton, has been wildly successful. That's the freaking reason why the money appropriated for the program ran out so quickly. It worked. Yet, Villager Mikey, in a truly ignorant attempt at comparison, asserts that the Democratic cash for clunkers program wasn't kept "straight" and, surely, we don't want to have health care reform done by the same guys who came up with a wildly successful program like that!
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
"One final WTF moment on the Smerconish quote. The cash for clunkers program, the work of Ohio's Betty Sutton, has been wildly successful. That's the freaking reason why the money appropriated for the program ran out so quickly. It worked."
This is a good program but they have no idea how much money was appropriated that is why they shut it down. THey couldn't keep track of it. Their problems are always in the details.
Also, is it fair that I have to pay the down payment for some shmuck that can't save for a down payment? Why didn't they do this before they took over GM and Chrysler? This was all it would have taken, this was the Reps idea from the beginning as well as giving money to the people instead of the banks.
Also, why are they shutting down the most honest highest volume GM dealer in Summit county? Ron Marhofer. Some thing smells like rotten fish.
Also the dealers were told they would be recieving the cash in 7 to 10 days according to the radio, the dealers aren't recieving the money yet according to friends that I know that own dealerships. This is why private enterprise doesn't want govt taking over healthcare. But I guess if they own it, it won't matter, right?
One other thing, just because there are a few crazies out there shouting down the politicians doesn't mean the American people are behind the kind of reform Obama and the Dems want to put in place. (Because no one knows what he wants to do. There is so much descrepancy in his history of comments.) When Obama discredits these people he is not talking about the rest of America. I was reading a poll that said that 74% of Americans do not have enough information to make a decision whether Obama's plan is a good one. However 68% agreed that we do need to do something to make it less expensive.
How ironic—The followers of the great community organizer complain that people have been organized,energized and led by an outside force to actively protest and rally for or against certain policies. I dont share your believe that the anger at the town hall meetings is orchestrated. But if it is how can Obama and the kool aid crowd demonize those actions? It is the very thing Obama preached and practiced for years. Rev, I implore you to read Rules for Radicals.
Obama is not demonizing protesters. Protesting is one thing. Thuggishly trying to stop a democratic town hall for teevee propaganda purposes isn't protesting. It's made-for-moronic-teevee thuggishness, all for the purpose of stopping the democratic process…..so that big insurance and big pharma win out.
There's plenty of evidence linking Freedomworks and insurance-backed organizations with the Tea Baggers. They're working together to stage these phony outrage shout-downs. Industry organized, sponsored and fully staged with wingnuts. I would think that conservatives would be totally embarassed by what they're witnessing.
Community organizing is about putting the right people together to help solve a social problem. Community organizing, by definition, has a constructive, positive purpose. Not so these "deather" nuts…..they want to stop any meaningful progress on health reform and are willing to tear down the democratic process to get what they want.
That free speech thing needs to be taken care of or nothing good will ever happen, right Reverend?
Rev,
Once again you have denied the very essence of Rules for Radicals. Power through disruption and intimidation is at the very essence of the communtiy organizers behaviour. Why dont you take a couple day off and actually read Alinsky's works.
this from ThinkProgress……."During the town hall, one conservative activist turns to his fellow attendees and asks them to raise their hands if they “oppose any form of socialized or government-run health care.” Almost all the hands shot up. Rep Green quickly turned the question on the audience and asked, “How many of you have Medicare?” Nearly half the attendees raised their hands, failing to note the irony."
My mother-in-law is the same way. Rails against government run healthcare but has no problems collecting the benefits.
I am starting to think that this discussion by the republicans has absolutely nothing to do with healthcare and everything to do with having Obama fail.
angry…..now be honest….wouldn't you agree with that?
Why would anyone have 'problems collecting the benefits' after the government has seized their hard earned dollars for the failing socialist programs, walt? It's like calling an innocent prison inmate a hypocrite for eating the gruel they serve for lunch there.
this from Ward's Dealer Business…"
Ford's Long, Hard Hike
By Cliff Banks
Ward's Dealer Business, Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM
"The last several months Ford Motor Co. officials have been dropping hints, some stronger than others, that the auto maker is moving forward with plans to “right size” its dealership network — in other words, cutting stores.
The latest reports indicate Ford is attempting to reduce its dealership body by as many as 600 stores over the next three years to coincide with significant cuts in production and its white-collar workforce.
The question, is will eliminating 600 dealerships be enough for Ford to get to where it wants its dealer body to be? A closer look at the numbers appears to indicate no — at least not without some product homeruns."
joe, where were you when Ford decided to close dealerships?
also from the Ward's article….."Ward's estimates the average Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealership will have sold 616 new vehicles in 2006 — down from approximately 840 units in 2000.
That is less than half the 1,700 vehicles the average Toyota store will sell this year. Meanwhile, Honda dealers sell an average of 1,200 units annually."
article here……..http://wardsdealer.com/ar/auto_fords_long_hard/
larry, talk to me about the "paltry" benefits medicare recipients recieve.
let's say ON AVERAGE, a person pays $X into medicare over the course of their lifetimes. ON AVERAGE, what part of $X does a medicare recipient recieve in benefits?
"Why would anyone have 'problems collecting the benefits' after the government has seized their hard earned dollars for the failing socialist programs, walt?"
Are you knowingly dishonest, larry? I certainly wouldn't want to call you ignorant. That would be insulting.
The U.S. is going through a period in which income and capital gains tax rates are at their lowest levels and the SS cap hasn't been raised for 30 years…..and you're complaining about socialist programs and talking about government seizing your stuff.
So is it a problem with honesty you're experiencing?
Paltry or not, why would folks have "problems collecting" benefits after a lifetime of paying into the failing government socialist program, walt?
You yourself have pointed out medicare is a socialist program many times, Reverend. Of course the government seizes hard earned money all the time, through taxes.
larry, all I'm saying is that it has worked for them…..why are they complaining?
If you were forced to pay $1000 for a color TV when you would have rather used the money for your children's braces, would you have a right to complain? I'd say yes. At the same time, would it make sense to throw the TV in the garbage? Not really–that would only be spiting yourself.
walter says, "Rep Green quickly turned the question on the audience and asked, “How many of you have Medicare?” Nearly half the attendees raised their hands, failing to note the irony."
There is no irony. People have NO CHOICE but to have Medicare, and they are forced to pay into it their entire lives.
And our future Medicare entitlements are UNSUSTAINABLE. That's the irony. Now, the Dems want to put everybody on a kind of Medicare program, and then deny care to the elderly who need it the most to save money. Brilliant. Every eugenicist thinks so.
angryc says "Once again you have denied the very essence of Rules for Radicals. Power through disruption and intimidation is at the very essence of the communtiy organizers behaviour."
This is what cracks me up about all the faux Dem outrage about the health care townhalls. Obama the community organizer's own tactics (he was once the chief trainer for ACORN) are being used against him, and poor Barry doesn't like it one bit. I, on the other hand, LOVE IT.
They asked for it, they got it.
King….what walter actually said was…this from ThinkProgress……."During the town hall, one conservative activist turns to his fellow attendees and asks them to raise their hands if they “oppose any form of socialized or government-run health care.” Almost all the hands shot up. Rep Green quickly turned the question on the audience and asked, “How many of you have Medicare?” Nearly half the attendees raised their hands, failing to note the irony."
what I'm asking is why those that are collecting the benefits of medicare are complaining about it?
I CAN say with some certainty that if there was NO medicare the people in that room would have NO health insurance
larry, your strawman actually makes sense for a change……but instead of saying $1000 for a color TV, let's change that to medicare contribution(or any insurance contribution for that matter).
so you pay for your kids teeth….they can pay for your triple by-pass….that's a fair trade
It's not for you to say what's a "fair trade" when my money is involved, walt.
so who's gonna pay for your triple by-pass?
My insurance company, of course. And I won't die waiting for the operation.
walter, it's no fun if I have to say everything twice.
actually King, saying something truthful would be painful for you
Whatever you say, Mr. Conservative.
AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka said, "Dems who don't support the public option shouldn't expect union support in the next election cycle…(we'll look at every one of their votes…if they're against health reform for that reason, I think it'll be tough for them to get support from working people)". As reported by the Huffington Post (not Fox News)
As usual, you, a typical liberal with a mental disorder, distorting everything. You claim that those of us who attend these TownHalls are thugs, I'll have you know that I don't carry a gun. However, I do attend and will be attending the Tea Party in Cuyahoga Falls tomorrow.
It seems to me the only one's doing any strong arming are the SEIU, AFL-CIO, ACORN, and your beloved messiah. All of the tactics that you're claiming are the exact same things that were pulled on those of us who are attempting to exercise our First Amendment Rights, something you seem to have forgotten that we have. Oh, no, wait a minute. YOU, have them, but when it's out turn to be heard, we're just a bunch of thugs carrying guns.
The Secret Service is NOT going to allow anyone near the President of the United States, carrying a gun. It doesn't matter if he's inside a building 200 feet away from the person, they simply aren't going to allow it. HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK PEOPLE ARE?
Typical liberal horsehockey, call those of use exercising our FREEDOMS, thugs, gun toters, violent, hate mongers, radical republicans, Bushbots, and so on. You're the one who needs to wake up! Your Obamagod is turning what was once the United States of America into a Socialist State. And remember, it was Time Magazine that said it first, not one of us so-called radicals.
How did they say that again? Oh, I remember now, "four legs are bad. Two legs are better." WAKE UP!
Have you even read the HB 3200? I have read it.
Pg:50 Section 152 – Will provide to ALL NON U.S. citizens, illlegal or otherwise
Pg:58 Section 163 – Bank Account Access on demand
Pg:170 Lines 1-3 Any Nonresident Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay their way regardless of how much $$ they make)
Pg:195 Officers & employees of HC Admin (Govt.) will have access to All Americans financial & personal records.
Pg.239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Govt. will reduce physician services for Medicade, Seniors, and low income. Who's affected?
Pg:241 Line 6-8 HC Bill – Doctors, doesn't matter what specialty you have, you'll all be paid the same.
Pg:335 Lines16-35 & Pg:336-339 Govt. mandates established of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. This is Rationing!
Pg:272 Section 1145 Treatment of certain cancer hospitals – Cancer patients
Welcome to Rationing!
Pg:341 Lines 3-9 Govt. has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans (part B), HMO's, etc. Forcing people into Govt. plan.
Pg:354 Section 1177 Govt. will RESTRICT enrollment of Special Needs people as of 2013. If you're diagnosed with a disability after 2013, goodluck getting health care. It's up to the Secretary General if you get it or not!
Pg:801 Section 1751 Govt. will decide with health care conditions will be paid. RATIONING!
And finally, if the Govt. doesn't like the (private) health care that (you) have. You will have the pay 2.5% overall tax on your gross income to the Govt. Why? Simply because they don't like the coverage you've chosen for yourself. Sorry, I neglected to write down the page number, line, and section that one fell under.
Yet, according to you, this is what YOU want? I suggest you move to England. Not Canada, because they are in the process of changing their health care system to what we have NOW. You see, Canada wants there to be real competition in the health care market.
Maybe tomorrow, after the Tea Party, I'll educate you on the fact that 70% of the jobs in America come from small businesses that pay a minimum of 50% in taxes to the Govt., and that doesn't include FICA and Workmens Comp. Oops, I've just educated you. Class over.