Keeping Up Appearances

[renie408]

The other day I watched John Stewart shred Nagin and Clinton for comments they made earlier in the week right after I had a conversation about said comments with a right-leaning-yet-persuadable friend of mine who had also made some negative observations about the statements and I came onto the DU and posted that I couldn't understand why any sane politician would have said the things they did.

Maybe I was wrong. Not wrong, I still think, that the comments made were ill planned, but wrong to vent in 'public'. I just read the post about Reid which pretty much says he is a traitor and screwing us. At the end of it, Sand'n'sea wrote something that struck me. They said, "Just when it looks like we might be winning the game, some 'fan' runs out on the field, grabs the ball and runs the wrong way." There are several posts shredding _____________________ (insert the name of your favorite Dem politician here) every day.

What do you think about this....maybe one of the reasons the freepers win is because they seem to pull together and not against each other? When I look back at 2004, a large part of the criticism came from Dems themselves. This is the only political forum I have ever been on, but do they rip at Republicans over in freeperland like we do here? I usually think open discussion and even argument and criticism is more healthy than walking along in lockstep...but now I am wondering if my mother might have been right when she would yell at me and my sisters, "Can't you just PRETEND to get along???" I wonder if it would be better if we started to play nice, at least until after the 2006 election. Even if it is just to frame our discontent with various Dems more...diplomatically than we do sometimes?

[sandnsea]

1. Teensy correction

I didn't say winning the game, I mean I'm not that delusional. But we have had several occasions of moving the ball and even scoring this last year. I'd sure like to build on the successes.

Otherwise, yeah. As far as the remarks, all I really think about it is what I usually do...

You've got to be freakin' kidding me!!! We're arguing about the words "plantation" and "chocolate" when we just had one of their politicians respond to the abandonment of Iraq reconstruction with the words "no pain, no gain". Aaargh!!!!

[Brotherjohn]

4. Really. They argue FOR torture, do it and say they don't. And Nagin...

... basically parrots an old George Clinton tune (CC=Chocolate City) and it's all we hear about.

They illegally spy on, well, anyone they want and lock up (indefinitely, with no access to legal aid), well, anyone they want... and Hillary says "plantation" and it's all over every "news" channel 24-7.

I guess they're just better at "outrage" than our side.

[EST]

2. Jon is supposed to be funny.

He was not out of line, but his choice to jump onto the same bs as every other "current events" show was, indeed, lacking in taste, originality, and his normal thoughtfulness. That said, anyone who purports to make their way in the public arena, in today's climate, invites public ridicule. In the no-holds-barred attitude that prevails, where everyone is totally convinced he can do anything better than the person who is actually doing it, without having to demonstrate that ability, one can only expect to be repeatedly skewered, even when the objective and the execution thereof is above reproach.

When the same person, particularly political types, can blow one minute about how bad and nasty discourse has gotten and, in the next, jump in and nasty with the rest, what can be done to direct things any differently?

I know for a fact that I would not run for office, given the conditions, not for what skeletons may be uncovered, but for the constant need to be on guard about every thing I say, every cause I endorse, every position I take, and having to strategize and defend against every false attack, every scurrilous jab that some lightweight gunslinger who wants to make a name choses to air.

No, thank you!

[CottonBear]

3. Well, we Democrats are very democratic and prone to expres our opinions

on fellow Democrats and Democratic candidates.

[geiger]

5. Clinton's and Nagin's comments are unimportant

Gore's speech was important, and it was frustrating to see our very own Minority leader let Republicans change the subject. With the help of the media and Reid, they accomplished it in only one day!

Clinton can say whatever she wants; whatever you think her politics are, she can fight her own battles.

Nagin is who he is, too; if he's having a nervous breakdown, he's earned it.

Al Gore, on the other hand, put a historic national conversation into play that needs to be followed up. We should not let him walk away from it.

[MsAnthropy]

6. That's why the pukes are in control

they all spout the same crap they're told to spout, while we can think for ourselves.

[seabeyond]

7. i do not understand this behavior, having been cometitive in sports

most of my life. just not the way you win in sports anyway. nor in running a business. i would assume the same in winning in a political party

what jon missed and many on the board, repugs have been refering to democratic plantation for years. hillary was referencing that. that at least should be pointed out. it doesnt behove dems to be cutsey in htis way. it always falls flat. people on htis board demand dems do these things, but our dems just cant pull it off, it sounds false. (kerry and the lesbian mary)

the point though, hillary said some profound things. stewart and people on this board and the news found one thing to laugh or ridicule hillary with and ignored all other content in her speach. this is consistant with our media and repug and even many dems with those dems that represent us. our dems cannot be held responsible for this. it is an indictment on the challenge dem has in getting message out.

bush stumbles and misspeaks all over the place. media airbrusshes those mistakes out, they turn a deaf ear to them,..... they ignore them. they actively hunt for things in a democrats message to use, and ignore all else they say