Who Can Beat President Doofus? -- Ivins

[Khephra]

What ho, sports fans? Has this been a dandy spell for mind-boggling government, or what? Still no weapons of mass destruction, and every neocon in America is creating elaborate rationales for why it makes no difference whatever if we were lied to about this war.

Meanwhile, in a truly creative demonstration of their problem-solving abilities, White House staffers fixed the entire global warming problem by editing it out of a report on the environment. Way to go, team! Why pay attention to scientists when you can insert a study paid for by the American Petroleum Institute instead? That Karl Rove, just brilliant. As President Bush said on June 4, "I'm the master of low expectations." And he continues to prove it.

Now to provide some good cheer. We've got some talent here, people, and most of them compare well to President Doofus.

more..............

http://www.progressive.org/aug03/ivin0803.html

[bookman]

1. I really enjoy Molly

Thanks. I wish she felt better about Clark. But I'll listen to her. She's a smart gal.

[Dudley_DUright]

2. Thanks for the Ivins Kef

She did not have a column on Thursday at Working for Change and have been going through IWS (Ivins withdrawal syndrome) since then.

[chimpymustgo]

3. Man, she gets is right! Totally agree about Edwards.

"John Edwards in the early appearances struck me as almost a little too pretty, a little lite. But he's got a populist streak I like--his daddy spent thirty-seven years working in a North Carolina mill, and Edwards ain't forgot it. Seemed to me he might develop. In a recent speech at Georgetown University, the sumbitch hit a home run. (Look it up.)"

I think her takes on each of the candidates is on the money. And Edwards is the one with the "Elvis".

[Terazzo]

4. Gravitas AND Elvis....a tough combo

Look at presidential losers the past 20 years..plenty of gravitas...not a whit of Elvis

Mondale About as exciting as yesterday's mashed potatoes

Dukakis--John Kerry on that motorcycle was reminiscent of Dukakis in that tank. Ain't got Elvis. Never will. Mike was the only person who could have made Bush 41 look like a 3-ring circus in comparison.

Bush 41 Bland. Old. Like your dad or grandpa. Boring as hell.

Dole--Bland old guy who had plenty of experience, but couldn't
it up. Again, like your dad or grandpa.

Gore--Be it the casual shirt period, the folksy black preacher routine or the flaccid attempt at the Kennedy-esqe Family Flag Football game....poor Al just couldn't buy Elvis.


And the winners.....

Ronald Reagan--Lack of gravitas was canceled by a kick-ass attitude that in the minds of many gave him lots of Elvis

Bill Clinton--Wonderful combo.....Lots of gravitas...and TONS of Elvis coming out of every pore

Shrub--Not a brain in his head, but a certain swagger that gave him enough Elvis to make it close

and the only one of the 9 Dems....Howard Dean--smart guy...great ideas....kick-ass attitude....He's got both. Will he be too far left to get elected? Tell you this, if anyone can pull it off for the far Left, Dean can. Note which column I put him under.

[chimpymustgo]

5. Gravitas and Elvis - John Edwards!

Hands down. Stands alone.

[quirked]

6. Clark and experience

Leadership experience and experience running for public office are different things. One Clark has in spades (plus intelligence, vision, honor, etc), the other I'm glad he doesn't have. We don't need another "politician."

Dave K.

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http://wesleyclark.blogspot.com
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[dfong63]

7. we do need another "politician"

We don't need another "politician."

we do need another "politician", if we want to win. Clark has demonstrated he can win a war, given almost-infinite resources. but he hasn't shown that he can win an election, or run a country, with finite resources.

and i really reject this implicit assumption that a "general" is somehow purer or more virtuous than a "politician". a general is someone who has risen to the top of a very corrupt heap, probably the most corrupt part of our government. it's possible for a politician to be honest, just like it's possible for a general to be honest.

to me, the idea that we need a general instead of a "politician" sounds like something straight out of a south american dictatorship.

[quirked]

8. notice that politician was in quotes

I was implying the negative perception of politicians. I agree with your assessment of an honest politician. I just don't think there are very many of them, AND anyone who even sounds to much like the negative version of a politician is automatically rejected by a large amount of Americans. That was a big part of Al Gore's problem. Nobody trusts these guys.

Wesley Clark on the other hand, comes across like a very honest straight-forward guy. He answers questions directly. He doesn't take every tough question and weasel out of it.

On Hannity and Colmes, when answering Hannity's charges he said, "Politics is what makes this country run and the American people have to understand that we thrive in an adversarial atmosphere." He can play the political game without sounding like a "politician."

[lkinsale]

9. Gravitas and Elvis, that would be Graham

He even has a CD out!

[Resistance Is Futile]

10. Think money, not personality

To paraphrase a campaign slogan from the days of yore, "it's the money, stupid." Personalities do not win elections; funding wins elections.

If the Shrub Junta has proved anything, it's that an abject moron can sieze high office if he can command sufficient trust among the aristocracy that they will bankrole his election. Shrub won because the aristocracy trusted him to translate their multimillion dollar investments into government policy favorable to the aristocracy's interests.

With the effective demise of unions as political forces in the early 1990s, the only source of funding large enough to support a poltical campaign is very large scale business. This naturally plays into the GOP's hands because they are large scale business. In contrast, non-fascist parties cannot raise any funds from business as business interests are completely incompatible with non-fascist interests. Even basic things such as maintaining safe arsenic limits in drinking water is bad for business profits and any organization which furthers such ideas will be left out in the cold.

The only way the Democratic party can survive is to take advantage of the marketplace and find some way to offer more value for money for business interests that the GOP currently offers. It does not need to be said that the policies pursued by both parties will then become identical as they will both be serving the same extremely small set of monied interests.

What we're seeing now in the United States and elsewhere is the beginning of the end of the great experiment known as western liberal democracy and a reversion to fascism, mercantilism, and even serfdom.

The old can thank their blessings that they will be dead sooner rather than later and will not have to live through much of what the future will bring.

[Frances]

11. I respectfully disagree about the money.

We're Democrats and we like Elvis more than money. Which is good because we will never have as much money as the GOP.

And the only way to get the too-busy-to-understand-the-issues undecideds is with Elvis. I watched the undecideds on TV during the last election and wanted to wring their necks because they couldn't decide between Bush and Gore. If Gore had had any Elvis he would have gotten more of the undecided's votes.

[Equinox]

12. I hate the fact that I agree with your post.

I can't see any fault with that argument. You can have the most charismatic leader who really has the interest of the American people at heart put up against Neo Fascist Corporatist Money and I'm placing bets on the NFC. I hate it!

x(