Like the mime in today's cartoon, Hope n' Change is feeling a bit speechless at the moment owing to the lack of solid news at presstime (which is when we press the whiskey bottle directly to our lips instead of screwing around with glasses) about fiscal negotiations between Republicans and Democrats. Meanwhile, the final hours continue to count down to potentially the greatest human disaster to befall our country since, well, two weeks ago when Healthcare.gov came online.
The expectation is that some sort of deal will be reached shortly, as both sides are beginning to realize that they may be playing Russian roulette against crazy opponents, using a gun that has no empty chambers (unless we're talking about the political chambers in Washington DC, which seem conspicuously empty when it's time to get serious about budgets).
In the past 24 hours, we've heard alleged negotiating points which include the Republicans dropping the sequester cuts in return for (ahem) "talks" about entitlement reform; Harry Reid demanding another $1 trillion in new taxes and spending because, clearly, he's forgotten to take his meds; and Barack Obama saying that he refuses to discuss any changes to Obamacare now that he's invested 4 years and billions of taxpayer dollars into assuring that it absolutely, positively doesn't work.
Moreover, the president doesn't have time to worry about little things like the government shutdown or the potential debt ceiling debacle, because he had a pressing photo-op to make baloney sandwiches at a food bank.
Which, in our opinion, is the only bank that he should be allowed near.
Funny, we thought he promised everyone big pieces of PIE...
Since you made this cartoon with a guy miming a phone conversation, it is pretty spot on.
ReplyDeleteGreat post today Stilton, and perfect caption for the sandwich photo, although I am pretty sure that he's getting ready to load them up with something much more profoundly processed than bologna. Something that is, to quote a favorite Dilbert cartoon, steaming and oval....and very brown.
ReplyDeleteEvidently he hasn't checked with his wife (Sorry, I simply can't say "better" half.) Baloney is much too fatty to be healthy for anyone, at least the good tasting kind is, and there is nothing good about this President.
ReplyDeleteIronically, Baloney IS an accurate simile for this President and his administration. Both are made of a mixture of the most disgusting, vile and inedible stuff and filled with fat: fat gov't, fat spending, fat taxes, fatcats and fat egos.
@anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with you 100%. Our beloved gubmint shoved bummercare down our throats and WE LOSE! And guess what, Brainiac... YOU LOSE TOO!! Yee Haw! Pass me that bottle of Valium, Bubba!
"The ACA WAS a compromise. It was voted into law by congress."
ReplyDeleteHow the hell could it be a compromise when it failed to garner ONE Republican vote? It was "passed" in the dead of night by Dems using arcane parliamentary voodoo against the wishes of a MAJORITY of Americans. Those of us with more than one functioning brain cell knew we were in deep doo-doo when Nasty Pelousy said they had to pass the bill to find out what's in it.
BTW re your "law of the land" argument. As Rand Paul pointed out to some airhead at CNN so is the sequester.
I've got a little time to waste this morning, so I may as well piddle it away trying to reason with Anonymous.
ReplyDelete1. As No Gouda pointed out, the ACA wasn't a compromise. It was passed purely along party lines, using questionable parliamentary maneuvers to bypass the 'normal' congressional procedures.
2. I'm not sure how the ACA could have been supported in two national elections. If you're referring to the two 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, the Act wasn't passed until AFTER the 2008 election. If you're referring to the 2010 midterm election and the 2012 presidential election, recall that the democrats lost control of the House in 2010. That doesn't sound like support to me.
3. As for the Supreme Court, at one point the SC ruled that slavery was legal. The same court also ruled that the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is an individual right. I assume you're okay with those rulings...?
4. The House has passed multiple Continuing Resolutions to fund the government. The Senate and obama have rejected every single one out of hand, insisting on a CR that gives them everything they want. No negotiating, no compromising. Who's the obstructionist here?
I could go on, but my 'coffee' needs refilling...
>BTW re your "law of the land" argument. As Rand Paul pointed out to some airhead at CNN so is the sequester.
ReplyDeleteAs is the 14th Amendment.
I honestly don't get it. All I hear from the neo-communists is how pitifull and inconsequential the Tea Party is and yet this supposedlty small, inconsequential group of people is going to topple the worlds economy and cause mass chaos, earth quakes, floods, fires, famine, pestilance, mass suicide, genocide and the cancellation of "Glee". Wow, I didn't know we had that much power. I'm walking a little taller now.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, didn't the SC change the definition of zerocare from, whatever, to a "tax" so they could approve it? If communism is so great why do you have to force people into it? Oh well, over 100 years of complete failure and 200 million murdered mean nothing to some people.
Something else I think about on occasion is that it's interesting to me that the neo-communists don't think a fetus is a "person". Just like they didn't think a slave was a "person" either.
ReplyDeleteSome things never change, huh?
No news is good news?
ReplyDeleteAs for Obama's 2012 "mandate": After the better part of a decade of listing to the unhinged left claim that GWB's administration was "illegitimate" because of the problems with the 2000 elections, (mainly because a bunch of Democrats in Florida couldn't follow the simplest of instructions regarding "hanging chads") why should we get to consider the 2nd Obama administration illegitimate? After all, we now know that the IRS, possibly in concert with the White House itself, was actively involved in harassing Obama's opposition. Had there been no IRS harassment of Tea Party groups, would Obama have won?
ReplyDeleteSecond, I'm of the opinion that instead of trying to hinder or delay ObamaCare, that the GOP should demand that the law be implemented EXACTLY as it was originally passed. All of the "waivers" should be revoked, Congress and staff will not be exempt, no delay of the employer mandate, restore the entire sections that were just abandoned, like the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program, the Small Business Health Option Program, and even restore the obnoxious requirement that businesses should have to issue 1099s to every vendor they've paid more than $600 to each and every year. And also nobody gets their subsides until they've been vetted by the IRS.
All of America should be made to endure this nightmare that an exclusive Democrat Congress foisted upon us in all of its flawed and self-serving glory now, instead of what's really happening; delivering favors to friends and slowly spreading the torture to the rest of us.
"I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution." - Ulysses S. Grant
@Teddy- (And I certainly hope you're not the "Ted" I'm thinking of) The choice of a mime was deliberate, both because of the silence we're getting, and because of the clownish aspects of the "negotiators" on both sides.
ReplyDelete@TrickyRicky- And when Barry serves us those sandwiches, he always asks "Want flies with that?"
@graylady- I agree, Michelle would probably close down that soup kitchen if she knew that the hungry were being poisoned with white Wonderbread and fatty bologna.
@Readers- The next few comments make references to a post from "Anonymous" who certainly sounds like someone unwelcome here, who we will call Bed Tryst. That post was nuked, but its essence was that Barry held strong against the Teabagger extortionists, Obamacare is loved and the law, and then some spit-flecked angry words in all caps, ending with "YOU LOSE!"
I return you now to political sanity, already in progress...
@Colby- Exactly. We ALL lose when our access to health insurance AND medical care are crippled. We ALL lose when a president refuses to even speak to a branch of the government elected by the citizenry. We ALL lose when the economy needlessly goes into the dumper because of the Dems' addiction to borrowing money to spend insanely.
@It's No Gouda- Exactly.
@CenTexTim- Nicely done, sir. I'll add that the Supreme Court did NOT uphold Obamacare's unconstitutional demand that all states be compelled to change their Medicaid policies (essentially putting them under federal control, which is why the feds found themselves holding the bag to create a functioning healthcare exchange system for 36 states. A system which has failed quite spectacularly.
@TheOldMan- Liberals tend to flout the law whenever they like, but if it's one they do like they think it has to be permanent, inviolable, and unquestionable. This may be true of "the law of gravity" - but with Obamacare, not so much. It's a rotten law which, like other rotten laws in the past, needs to be changed.
@WMD- Excellent points. I'd say more, but my caffeine hasn't kicked in yet. (Yes, sometimes I have to drink real coffee...)
ReplyDelete@PRY- And sometimes, no news is simply no news. So far, this seems like one of those times.
@John the Econ- I completely agree that the best way to kill Obamacare is to implement every iota of it right now with ZERO waivers or exceptions. By the way, all of those waivers and exceptions have been unconstitutionally issued, and are in violation of The Law which the Dems brought down from the mountaintop on about 20,000 stone tablets.
I also think the GOP should make this a condition of reopening the government or raising the debt ceiling, and the bill should be called "The No More Lipstick On The Pig Emergency Funding Resolution."
Every time I see that poseur I want to hurl!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it is accurate to ascribe lamont's only "miracle" to his constituency and economic prowess... "Loafs and Fissures". Now THAT has some truth to it!
My granddaughter in England wants to be a member of Parliament, (e.g., the next PM!). During a political discussion I asked her "Q- What is the difference between God and lamont? A- God doesn't think He's lamont!" It is amazing that a 16 year old English college student thinks lamont is an idiot and an embarrassment to the WORLD!
And Stilton,
I say keep the government "shut down" until they ALL realize WHO THEIR BOSS IS!!!!!!!!!!! I'm tempted to get a GIANT Chap-stick and go to Congress (emphasis on "Con") as the Uni-balmer!
Unfortunately, I don't think it's "no news" any more. As expected, Boehner's brief imitation of a man with a spine has ended. He is now prepared to join hands with his Democrat allies and give the President whatever he wants.
ReplyDeleteAnd now that the President got his way, he is ready to negotiate... Just kidding! Now he's ready to get back to the serious business of demanding amnesty again. Cause that's sure to save us a bunch of money!
I've never understood the whole "teabag" slur thing.
ReplyDeleteLike many conservatives, I've had liberals retort that my opinion was basically worthless for no better reason than because I was just another "teabagger", as if that was some sort of actual argument, or would somehow offend me.
As I am not a homosexual and do not go out of my way to be familiar with all homosexual sexual practices, I still don't even know the literal meaning of the term beyond understanding that it's a reference to a specific homosexual sex act. So why would someone think that calling people like me "teabaggers" would somehow be meaningful or personally offend me or otherwise get under my skin, or would even somehow cause other people to regard my opinion as any less valid than theirs? I really don't get it.
Beyond the obvious hypocrisy of why it is okay for avowed liberals to use a purposely demeaning and offensive slur against people they not only disagree with, but very obviously "hate", what purpose does repeatedly slinging this clearly misdirected term serve? Do they honestly think that I am so insecure in my sexuality that upon hearing it I am going to go run and hide under my bed?
If it does anything, it demonstrates how utterly clueless they are about conservatives, how they feel, and what they really think. Or if they do know better, it only demonstrates the contempt they have for their own clueless audience. It's as if none of them actually know any "conservatives", (or homosexuals for that matter) what they think and believe. Could they really actually be that clueless?
Also, it shows their midnless contempt for homosexuals who might honestly find "teabagging" to be an intimate, loving and caring thing to do.
In order for propaganda to be effective, you must know your enemy. Clearly, people who mindlessly use this term do not. If anything, it's proof that they are running on emotion over rhetoric, and letting their blind hate do their thinking for them. Rather embarrassing, I think.
As far as I can tell, it only makes them look shallow, hateful, vacuous, ignorant, insensitive (to one of their favorite identity groups no less) and just plain dumb; everything they are attempting to convince others that they are not, and I am.
@Bruce Bleu
ReplyDelete"I'm tempted to get a GIANT Chap-stick and go to Congress (emphasis on "Con") as the Uni-balmer!"
I would think that Preparation H would be a more suitable balm than Chap-Stick!
Excellent points being made ably as always. The quality of the comments here at HnC never cease to impress me.
ReplyDelete@Stilton, thanks for just deleting the Troll graffiti and moving on. I don't want an echo chamber here but neither should anyone have to waste time trying to engage the internet equivalent of an adolescent heckler.
And my, doesn't Obama look disturbingly natural and at home wearing an apron, manually preparing low quality fast food? As if that's where he truly belongs.
@Bruce Bleu- As others have pointed out, one of the unpleasant truths revealed during the shutdown is that the government really does think that it's the boss - not the American people. And pragmatically, they're right - unless the American people follow the lead of the veterans who stacked barricades in front of the White House - and do something about it.
ReplyDelete@txGreg- Boehner never really had a winning hand to play - in part because he probably knew that Barry really wasn't opposed to deliberately defaulting on our bills to crash our economy and make the GOP look bad (a twofer!).
And per the Alinsky playbook, Barry is keeping our side off guard by immediately announcing that it's time for a big immigration push, further fracturing and confusing the issues. Although frankly, I'm in favor of a huge push on immigration - and it should be applied whenever illegals try to cross our borders, to shove them back into their own countries.
@John the Econ- Liberals enjoy using the word "teabaggers" for the same reason infants enjoy playing with their own poop - it gives them sensory pleasure, and they enjoy the sometimes horrified reactions of others.
In truth, the term is only offensive because its underlying intent is to offend. And you're right that it's the height of hypocrisy for Lefties to say they want government out of bedrooms, but then want to label us with a sex act which, unsurprisingly, only they were all familiar with.
@Anonymous- You just may be on to something with the "Preparation H-balm"...
@Rufus T Firefly- Let me be very clear that I am not going to nuke opposing opinions posted here; I actually welcome them as long as the person remains civil and shows a scintilla of intelligence, and I expect (with complete confidence) that regulars here would respond to such a comment appropriately and respectfully.
ReplyDeleteBut if someone posts here and wants to call us names or POST IN ALL CAPS!!! then I'm just going to pull the handle and flush them.
And you're right- Barry does look better suited to be wearing an apron in a kitchen than sitting behind the desk in the oval office.
By the way, I'm sure someone ELSE made the bologna sandwiches in the picture. Barry's each had a slice of bread stuck between two pieces of bologna...
@Stilton, agreed, Barry does look at home in that server's apron.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings to mind an anecdote that made the rounds about the time Barry was beginning to become inconvenient to Hillary's planned anointing as Dem frontrunner in the '08 primaries. Supposedly Bill Clinton was lunching and dealmaking with Ted Kennedy when Obama stopped by their table briefly. After Obama moved on Bill supposedly said to Ted something like 'Let's face it, that kid ought to be fetching us our coffee, not shaking our hands."
Obviously Bill was lobbying to maneuver Little Barry out of the race. But it's interesting to wonder what Mr. Impeachment meant by the 'fetching our coffee' jab. Was it he considered Obama only qualified for some low level staff assistant coffee-fetching position, or literally qualified 'only' to be a restaurant waiter?
(No offense meant to actual, qualified, hardworking restaurant waiters, any of whom are better qualified for the Oval Office than its current occupant)
Stilton: I don't but would be willing to bet that possession of Prep-H anywhere in the Capitol environs is a criminal offense. Heaven knows how many Congresscritters would simply disappear if someone started slingin' that stuff around indiscriminately.
ReplyDeleteThe Boehner went limp.
ReplyDeleteThe ACA is untouched.
Republicans got less then they wanted, less then they would have gotten with the original deal the senate wanted.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/10/republicans-shut-down-the-government-for-nothing/280611/
Too much serious discussion here, so time for a little OT
ReplyDelete1997 Jeep Cherokee
I'd like to buy this thing just to meet the owner!
And as far as the Troll Anonymous - to think he had to fill out the Recaptcha to have his/her/it's spit bubble blowing rant, only proves that some still have too much time on their hands sitting in their parent's basement, eating Cheetos and staring at fading Obama posters.
Grumpy, all agreed! sounds like a DEAL. If I NEEDED another beat up Chrysler... the '01 PT I am the original owner of has 240k on it, burns a little oil but does not seem to leak, and is still turning 27mpg on daily commutes. Drops a bit when you fill it w/ crap, but 70 cuft is a LOT of crap. And I *have* gotten er - action - in the back...
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Great idea RE: Preparation 'H' balm! If you were to apply that to the Politburo in Washington, District of Collusion; they would all surely disappear!
ReplyDelete@Rufus T Firefly- I see no reason to choose whether Bill Clinton was demeaning Barry because of his race or his ineptitude, when it's perfectly likely he was doing both.
ReplyDelete@It's No Gouda- It would actually be great to fill SuperSoaker squirt guns with Prep H and spray politicians just to watch them melt like the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz.
@Anonymous- You know, the Speaker's name is pronounced "Bainer" - and not knowing that suggests you're either a bonehead (see what I did there?) or just someone who was poorly (if ever) potty-trained and so has a giggling fascination with body functions. And you probably enjoy snapping at the fart bubbles you blow in the bathtub while your aged mother squeezes water over your back with a decaying sponge.
As for your points, you'll be surprised to know that I agree with you: the ACA is untouched (and unworkable, unaffordable, and currently inaccessible) and the Republicans got less than they wanted because at least some of them (not nearly enough) made a principled fight for the American people against an entire political party that is intent on destroying our nation.
But enjoy! Your side won! Higher health insurance premiums, fewer doctors, inconceivable debt, the end of governmental "budgets," fewer jobs, and more slaves to the state - it's ALL YOURS because YOU are a winner and it's exactly what you voted for!
@Grumpy Curmudgeon- Thanks for the much needed laugh! Now I desperately want to buy that banged up Jeep Cherokee.
As for the troll, I notice that he hasn't yet told us how much money he's saved with his new Obamacare plan.
@Pete(Detroit)- You're running a card game in the back...?!
@Unanimous rote- (It is maddening when someone doesn't "stay within the lines") Republicans got less then they wanted, less then they would have gotten with the original deal the senate wanted.
ReplyDeleteThan is used only in comparisons, so if you're comparing something use than. If not, then you have to use then. It IS that simple. (from elearnenglishlanguage.com
Stilton, in this case "Boner" is what the Spite House, democraps and Grand Old Palaverers pull on a regular basis, EXCEPT Ted Cruz and Mike Lee!
The one thing I haven't deduced yet is how lamont will blame it all on repubicans [sic] when democraps win back the House in 2014 because the Gee Oh Pee "screws the pooch" by pissing off their voters! (Oh, sorry Uh-non-uh-muss, "there voters")
Buried in the agreed bill that was signed includes this little item:
ReplyDeleteThe plan includes a proposal offered by McConnell in the 2011 debt ceiling crisis that allows Congress to disapprove of the debt ceiling increase, which means lawmakers will formally vote on whether to reject a debt ceiling increase until Feb. 7. Obama can veto that legislation if it passes. If Congress fails as expected to gather a two-thirds majority to override the veto, the debt ceiling would be raised.....Theoretically, Congress could override a veto, but given the current makeup of both chambers that would be nearly impossible.
Now there is some discussion that this only applies to the next debt ceiling, but without seeing the actual bill's language, I interpret this to apply going forward - which means, the Senate has overridden the House's Constitutional budgetary responsibility - Disgusting
Reference:
Debt Ceiling Bill
@Anonymous (who obviously is a product of today's failed education system),
ReplyDeleteI must correct an inaccurate statement you so flippantly threw out there. The AHCA has been touched. YOUR messiah, Barry, has touched the hell out of it )illegally, I might add). He exempted himself, his staff, Congress, the Senate, and bigger corporations from it. Unions are next on his list. So after that, only schmucks like you and I will be stuck with it. Hope you enjoy that. I sure as hell won't.
Oh, and by the way, if this shit is so damn affordable, why are folk's premiums skyrocketing? I'll tell you why. The working class is now buying insurance for the non-working class. Margaret Thatcher once said, "The problem with socialism is, you eventually run out of other people's money."
Someday, us providers will give up and join the ranks of the users. Who will pay the bills then? Can you say "Greece?"
Seems that the rumors on the debit increase being automatic are unfounded - it only applies to any increase requested before Feb 7. Confused? Good explanation from Hot Air:
ReplyDeleteDebit Limit Increase
Well, I expected Vichy Boehner to cave, but the complete abjectness of his total surrender exceeds even my low expectations.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, defeat snatched from the jaws of victory even as he (we) were poised to win.
I expect this will pretty much complete the demoralization of whatever GOP grassroots base still thought it might be worth turning out to vote in 2014.
And it slaps the Tea Party in the face even more thoroughly than heretofore. I think Boehner, McConnell et al just threw away what had looked like a promising grassroots tsunami for the 2014 elections. The Tea Party folks may mount some primary challenges, well and good, but the die I fear is now cast.
Im sorry for the following rant but I have to get this off my chest.
ReplyDeleteConservatism cant fail you, only YOU can fail conservaism. We as a nation dropped the soap in the PRISON showers that is the halls of congress, by electing the RINO's thats what we saw last night. They took our nation away from us, against our will. The will of the people Said no, but the traitor RINO's said YES. We need to distance ourselves from the RINO SCUM who voted with the socialist democrats, Rush and Glenn already get it, they know the majority of the G.odless O.ld P.retenders have sold themselves into SLAVERY to OBAMA. Now is the time, rally our troops and kick out the GOP in 2014! Patch up as many holes as we can in the USS USA by blocking anything the dictator in chief wants until 2016 when we can get our MAN into office, I feel bad for the mess he'll have to deal with, and Im sure the smell will never come out of the carpet in the oval office!
When the midterms come, we cant let the democrats ABORT our will like they have so many lives down the drain, The American people deserve better then a teenage democrats prom night clean up!
This doesnt mean we can be complacent until 2014-16. Obama is trying to disarm us now, BOTH politically and physically, no adminstation on earth since or before the NAZIs have tried so hard to disarm its people before a hostile takeover, while at the SAME TIME giving money away to its most violent drug using elements, and making it so the CRIMINALS are better armed then the average soverign citizen. THis is why we have to oppose and block anything the Negatively inteligent great godless evil repugnant 0bama tries!
Thank you.
@Bruce Bleu- I worry about the next round of elections because the Tea Party was the only thing keeping the Republicans in the game, and now the mainstream GOP won't shut up about what assholes we are. While I don't want my non-vote to help the Dems, I sure as heck have no love or loyalty for the GOP.
ReplyDelete@Grumpy Curmudgeon- If this new way of establishing the debt ceiling is permanent, then the Constitution hasn't just been rewritten, it's been shredded. And if Barry (and other presidents) can simply spend at will, then every other aspect of our economy and freedom will be subjugated to pay the debts.
@Colby- Exactly right; "The Law" which can't be changed has already been changed (illegally) by the president so often that it bears little resemblance to the law as written.
The WSJ had a good piece today explaining that part of the problem with the Healthcare.gov website is that it's designed to only show people what they'd pay WITH subsidies, rather than the true cost which is substantially higher than previous policies were. That hidden price difference is pure redistribution of wealth. Just like we've been saying for years.
@Grumpy- Well that's a tiny relief. Thanks for the update.
ReplyDelete@Rufus T Firefly- In yet another good piece in the WSJ today, it was pointed out that Big Business didn't like all of this financial uncertainty, and so there's a likelihood that they'll start contributing heavily to "moderate Republicans" (ie, RINOs) who run against Tea Party candidates in primaries.
And regarding 2014 (and, God help us, 2016), now that the GOP's slogan is "why fight a battle you can't win," why should true conservatives both going to the polls?
@StinkingBishop43- Before I say anything else, let me commend you for self-identifying with one of the greatest cheese names ever.
A fine rant, though I'm currently scratching my head trying to figure out just how we can get the political clout to cast the rascals out of office and put in some people with integrity.
And I'm now going to cite a THIRD excellent piece in today's WSJ which talked about the efficiency of the Obama's team electronic messaging (tweets and emails) to spread their lies and propaganda. In this new and critical area, they are eating our lunch. Whether we like it or not, this is the new media from which millions upon millions of voters receive their only political (mis)information. The Left is evil but not necessarily stupid; I'm not sure that this is a juggernaut which can be matched or defeated.
@StinkingBishop...wow, great stuff! Too many Americans are TOTALLY unaware or don't care about the danger this country faces right now...and it's not from FOREIGN ENEMIES! God help us!
ReplyDeleteWell, as the old saying goes: "Put shoulda, coulda and woulda in one hand and poop in the other and see which one fills up first."
ReplyDeleteIn a bit of Thursday morning quarter-backing, I'd have to say I agree wholeheartedly with John the Econ and General Grant, enforce the damn thing as writtenand "passed."
Is it too late for that strategy?
Can Congress get it done or does it have to go to court?
If the courts are involved, I suspect by the time a decision is reached it will be too late.
@Stilton, you make a valid point about Twitter feeds and agitprop. I dismissed Twitter as a fad, justCB Radio for teenage girls for a long time, and largely that's still true. Many Twitter accounts are simply fake/nonexistent/spambots/or abandoned, 'zombie' accounts.
ReplyDeleteBut you're correct, the ADD generations after us want their low-info 'news' packaged as infotainment, and Jon Stewart both fills and perpetuates that void.
Idiocracy perpetuates itself, and the trajectory is always steadily down.
Since the GOP establishment famously can't put together a single decent 30 second TV spot for a Presidential election, it's no surprise they can't manage Twitter.
I would think the RNC could easily fund a successful ongoing Twitter operation but lacks the vision.
That leaves a huge niche wide open for the Tea Party to fill. Let's hope they do.
Is HnC available on Twitter?
It's worth noting once again that we Conservatives spend a lot of our online time and energy REACTING to the Left's latest aggression, usurpation, violation, undermining, or whatever their latest outrage du jour on the long march to total fascism may be.
The Left creates, launches and controls the memes, the terminology in which the debate is couched, the very concepts themselves ('homophobia', 'birthers', 'tea party terrorists', 'marriage parity', 'bitter clingers', 'demographically doomed', 'climate deniers' etc ad nauseum). The Right is usually reduced to disapproving handwringing over the latest fait accompli--just glance at the average Conservative blog, the content model is almost always to reblog that day's Leftist propaganda
with some passive disapproval in which either mild snark or the words 'sad', 'saddened' or 'saddening' appear with fatal familiarity.
Hope n Change is a refreshing, energized, proactive alternative to that sort of resigned defeatism. Thank you, Stilton.
I wouldn't take the "gushing" messages over ObamaCare on social media too seriously. Odds are that they're astroturf:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2430875/Barack-Obama-19-5m-fake-Twitter-followers.html
More than 19.5 million of Obama's 36.9 million Twitter followers are accounts that don't correspond to real people.
Makes sense. No "real" person would be impressed by ObamaCare.
On a side note, as events unfold I've been rereading lately my dogeared paperback copy of Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE and if it's OK I'd like to give it a shameless plug for those who aren't aware of its message.
ReplyDeleteLewis was an American reporter in Europe who'd covered Mussolini, Stalin and Hitler and the novel is a wake-up call depicting just how vulnerable the American democratic system would be to a determined, cunning demagogue with an agenda.
I imagine it's banned in schools now (Common Core = DouplePlusGood, Comrade!). I was heartened to see it's still in print and selling nicely, almost 80 years on. It would be a good gift for a student or anyone who needs to be shown how easily totalitarianism could usurp the Presidency. It's also nice that Lewis portays his fascist POTUS as a right-winger...the Jon Stewart audience can read smugly along imagining Bush even as their eyes are being opened to the ease with which extremist politics, messianic rhetoric and low-info gullibility could put a truly Hitler/Stalin-esque monster into the Oval Office.
It's a truly subversive novel, a powerful Red Pill to offer to those beginning to have the first twangs of cognitive dissonance about Obamacare and The One. I won't spoil the ending, but the Tree of Liberty gets watered as Jefferson predicted. I hope it's okay to give it a thumbs-up here at HnC.
@Anonymous- I've never really felt that our nation was existentially threatened from outside enemies. But enemies on the inside, highly placed, are another matter.
ReplyDelete@It's No Gouda- As a matter of fact, I don't think there IS a way to force Obamacare to be implemented exactly as written; Barry would sooner take down the world economy (deliberately) than let that happen.
Moreover, time is working against us: the longer Obamacare is in implementation (if you can currently call it that), the more difficult it will be to unravel and get rid of. Delaying it for a year makes sense (to let the gummint try to fix the disastrous software problems), but that would also take us a year farther down what looks like a one way street.
@Rufus T. Firefly- I didn't take Twitter seriously either. But it's quite literally as serious, and deadly, as a heart attack. I didn't think anyone could ever care about 144 character messages that couldn't possibly carry any substance - but I was wrong. Not about the lack of substance, but about the public's desire for substance, or ability to comprehend it. I genuinely fear that ship has sailed, and far too many people are perfectly happy to accept "Tweets" that tell them what to think, but not why.
In some ways, my goal in creating Hope n' Change was to try to sum up a political opinion or observation in a nice, funny, bite-sized chunk for easy consumption. And yes, when I made a new post it's available (as a link) to Twitter users - though I've only got about 150 of them. To really build a Twitter following takes dedication, and a willingness to post some bon mot about 10 times a day (or more). And I'm afraid that falls into my "life's too effing short" category.
And yes, you can ABSOLUTELY encourage people to read "It Can't Happen Here." In fact, you've just inspired me to read it.
@John the Econ- I don't doubt that many of Barry's Twitter followers are phantoms, but I'm afraid I still know quite a few people who think Obamacare just must be the best thing since sliced bread.
In what will have to pass for optimism, I think everyone will know how bad Obamacare is soon.
@Rufus: Thanks for the heads up, I've ordered Sinclair's book from the library.
ReplyDeleteAnother piece from Ed Klein about who is actually running this country:
Valerie Jarrett Obama's Shutdown Architect
I have read Klein's The Amateur, and it is positively scary about what is in the White House.