Republican Nominees for Prez

[rob]

no shit dude. this is the most meta political ad I have ever seen! maybe Herman Cain is actually just a stunt being played by the Colbert?

 

 

[video:youtube]dSlC7BxmSqY

 

I think the chicken is a hidden sign from the Rooster that he's the brilliant mind behind this campaign/art installation.

 

Well done, sir. Well done.

[prole]

[j_b]

I apologize in advance for Rachael Maddow, can't stand her. But she nails it. Punk'd by the Kochs...

 

Isn't it a matter of right wing populism using widespread popular distrust of professional politicians by further deriding knowledge and the electoral process: "it's all fake and you might as well vote for the one common sense candidate who isn't afraid of telling you so"

[prole]

Uh, yes.

[j_b]

I guess it's not what I got from watching Maddow. I understood her saying it wasn't a serious candidacy and it could be dismissed as a big joke.

[prole]

But I don't think anyone, in their wildest dreams, could've expected it to be so successful.

Edited November 8, 2011 by prole

[prole]

I guess it's not what I got from watching Maddow. I understood her saying it wasn't a serious candidacy and it could be dismissed as a big joke.

 

That's what I'm saying, she sucks. She might have nailed it as performance, but that doesn't mean it isn't useful or can't cause damage to the process, promote cynicism, etc.

Edited November 8, 2011 by prole

[j_b]

But I don't think anyone, in their wildest dreams, could've expected it to be so wildly successful.

 

True, but perhaps, this could be because we lack imagination and we systematically underestimate the draw of demagoguery with low information voters. I find the yellow flower ad posted by Oly very effective.

[j_b]

That's what I'm saying, she sucks. She might have nailed it as performance, but that doesn't mean it isn't useful or can't cause damage to the process, promote cynicism, etc.

 

I now see what you meant by "punked by the Kochs .."

[prole]

...we systematically underestimate the draw of demagoguery with low information voters.

 

To me, the issue here is that demagoguery is filling the vacuum left by the New Democrats' devastatingly failed consensus with neoliberal policy. Those "low-information voters" got that way because they've been left to twist in the wind of disinvestment, unplanned globalization and the like. The draw isn't demagoguery per se, it's a cohesive narrative that seems to hold together for people trying to make sense of their circumstances. The enduring failure of Obama's presidency (if you read him as an earnest but stymied reformer) is the inability to craft a strong narrative that not only draws on the real and enduring successes of labor, civil rights, New Deal movements and call into question the failed policies of his predecessors in his own party (hello Glass-Stegall, hello Greenspan, hello NAFTA). People are still looking for an "outsider", and apparently can't stoop low enough to find one, because the one who said he was going to make a real systemic break with the past has done no such thing in terms of policy or rhetoric.

[tvashtarkatena]

Strong Man Outsider.

 

Too bad Qaddafi's no longer available.

 

 

[KaskadskyjKozak]

...we systematically underestimate the draw of demagoguery with low information voters.

 

To me, the issue here is that demagoguery is filling the vacuum left by the New Democrats' devastatingly failed consensus with neoliberal policy. Those "low-information voters" got that way because they've been left to twist in the wind of disinvestment, unplanned globalization and the like. The draw isn't demagoguery per se, it's a cohesive narrative that seems to hold together for people trying to make sense of their circumstances. The enduring failure of Obama's presidency (if you read him as an earnest but stymied reformer) is the inability to craft a strong narrative that not only draws on the real and enduring successes of labor, civil rights, New Deal movements and call into question the failed policies of his predecessors in his own party (hello Glass-Stegall, hello Greenspan, hello NAFTA). People are still looking for an "outsider", and apparently can't stoop low enough to find one, because the one who said he was going to make a real systemic break with the past has done no such thing in terms of policy or rhetoric.

 

What, two occurrences of "narrative" and no "meme"? For shame!

 

Gawd your libtard-babblespeak is a joke.

 

[prole]

I'm sorry you can't follow along. Just go play with your genitals for awhile.

[j_b]

To me, the issue here is that demagoguery is filling the vacuum left by the New Democrats' devastatingly failed consensus with neoliberal policy. Those "low-information voters" got that way because they've been left to twist in the wind of disinvestment, unplanned globalization and the like. The draw isn't demagoguery per se, it's a cohesive narrative that seems to hold together for people trying to make sense of their circumstances. The enduring failure of Obama's presidency (if you read him as an earnest but stymied reformer) is the inability to craft a strong narrative that not only draws on the real and enduring successes of labor, civil rights, New Deal movements and call into question the failed policies of his predecessors in his own party (hello Glass-Stegall, hello Greenspan, hello NAFTA). People are still looking for an "outsider", and apparently can't stoop low enough to find one, because the one who said he was going to make a real systemic break with the past has done no such thing in terms of policy or rhetoric.

 

Strong post. I completely agree with your understanding of the conditions that make right wing populism successful. It's a formula that is unfortunately not new. One has to wonder how long it'll take to reject once again that destructive path and whether it'll involve some major war.

Edited November 8, 2011 by j_b

[The_Rooster]

 

I think the chicken is a hidden sign from the Rooster that he's the brilliant mind behind this campaign/art installation.

 

Well done, sir. Well done.

 

HELLO!

 

I DON'T PLAY POLITICS! I'M JUST WONDERIN' WHERE THE OL' CORN BUCKET WENT!

 

COCK A DOODLE DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

:wave:

[billcoe]

It's tucked back behind the "demagoguery" there which the braintrust of Larry and Curly speak of Rooster.

[ivan]

Personally, I got my money on Niggerhead.

reading jack london's "story of a typhoon off the coast of japan", from 1893, and just ran across this line:

 

On the clouds in the sky the morning of a horrid storm: "The sun had an angry look, and a few light, fleecy 'niggerheads' in that quarter seemed abashed and frightened and soon disappeared."

 

guess jack wasn't the least racist dood in the world either, but he did like animals

[KaskadskyjKozak]

 

One celeb on the 'Cain Train.

[ivan]

One celeb on the 'Cain Train.

if he'd actually made it to the top of the eiger i'd be willing to follow his lead

[sobo]

if he'd actually made it to the top of the eiger i'd be willing to follow his lead

No, I don't think we'll make it. But we shall continue with style...

Anderl Meyer

 

[sobo]

One celeb on the 'Cain Train.

 

...And then Clint Eastwood rides away and remains awesome forever.

Classic!

[tvashtarkatena]

Clint gives 'past due date' a whole new meaning.

 

How does Charleton feel about Cain?

 

 

[sobo]

Clint gives 'past due date' a whole new meaning.

Now don't you be dissin' my man Clint, ya hear...

[ivan]

Clint gives 'past due date' a whole new meaning.

Now don't you be dissin' my man Clint, ya hear...

"flags of our fathers" sucked.

 

there, i said it!

 

"letters from iwo jima" on the other hand...

[sobo]

Hey, they can't all be award winners, ya know.