I have finally snapped.
People asked me if I was ok following Barack Obama defeating John McCain. I told them that like Gloria Gaynor, I will survive.
Then last night, that phrase gave me an idea. Because nobody sane was around to let me know it was a terrible idea, I went with it.
So in the spirit of 1970s disco, I can now express my feelings regarding the 2008 election.
1) “At first I was afraid…I was petrified
November 4th, 2008, the music died…
I stayed at home eating ice cream feeling sorry for myself
We lost the election…I wanted to lay down and die…
But we’ll be back…take it from me…
In Twenty Ten the crowds will all be screaming G-O-P…
The people want their taxes cut, and they want their trade free…
They do not want big government, they just want liberty…
So not so fast…slow down Barack…
You get the office key but you still cannot change the lock…
We are a loyal opposition…
We will be manning our positions…
We are alive…and we will thrive…we will survive…”
2) “Remember 1992…we were so blue…
An Arkansas fast talker and his lying crew…
His wife was going to take away all that we fought for…
And when she tried…there was Newt in ’94…
Yes we came back…the Senate, House, and more…
We told the liberals turn around now, you’re not welcome any more…
We know that they can’t rule…
They are like kids destroying schools…
Right now they are living large…
But the adults will be back in charge…
So just stay calm…the left got lucky…
We’ve got Coleman in Minnesota and McConnell in Kentucky…
We’ve got Rudy…and we’ve got Fred…
Dems have platitudes, and maybe a bit more hair on their head
You want handsome…well we have Mitt…
He is full of hair and ideas, the left is full of (redacted)…
So let’s stand up…answer the call…
We stand for freedom and liberty, they stand for nothing at all
They have no agenda…they have no plan…
Obama has the flash, but that flash is in the pan…
The left will crumble…and they will bumble…
We are alive…we will thrive…we will survive…”
3) “This is only one short painful chapter…
In the reign of terror of the Pelosiraptor…
Let them drink their Frisco wine, let them eat their Brie Cheese…
In 2 years they will surrender on their sissy liberal knees…
We won Iraq…We’ll win Iran…
We defeated Germany and Japan…
To those who think the best days of America are gone…
You are liberal, you are boring, and as usual you’re wrong…
We are conservatives…and we are right…
If we can defeat the terrorists, with all of our might…
We can surely defeat liberals, they will mess it up themselves…
So get some rest and be ready for GOP in 2012
We will survive…we will thrive…
Republicans snap out if it, look alive…
We will survive!”
In the spirit of California and Proposition 8 legalizing gay marriage, I am prancing around my house singing this song like Kevin Kline in the movie “In and out.”
No, not really. Yet when nobody is looking, republicans are allowed to frolic. Frolicking is healthy.
I will not ever imply that anything about this column was remotely healthy.
The loose screws in me cranium, they are about to hit the floor.
Dang carpet. I wonder where they landed.
eric
Eric.
I used to bring a big magnet to bars in my drinking days so I could find my body parts after each altercation.
Just stay away from the balcony.
Well, it was cute. I’ll give you that. You got a few things wrong, though.
“The people want their taxes cut, and they want their trade free…”
The people don’t care about your “taxes cut”:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/15/news/economy/election_moneypoll/
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/poll010226.html
The people DO NOT want “their free trade”:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-02-23-free-trade_x.htm
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119144942897748150.html
http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/18/news/economy/worldgoaway.fortune/index.htm
You are WRONG about these two “issues.”
“We’ve got Coleman in Minnesota”
Not necessarily…
http://politicalblogs.startribune.com/bigquestionblog/?p=1214
“We won Iraq…We’ll win Iran…”
We did what? We will what?
http://voanews.com/english/2008-11-06-voa11.cfm
http://www.counterpunch.org/smith11042008.html
Sorry, colonial oil warriors – the Iraqis aren’t giving in.
And sorry again – Obama and the Dems have no intention of pulling any sleazy oil wars in Iran.
“If we can defeat the terrorists”
That’s a big “if”! LOL! Let me know when you guys finally get around to that.
We all will survive, though. American isn’t going to change all tat much. And the horrific damage done to the USA over the past 8 years can’t be repaired overnight, so Obama has a tough road ahead. We shall see.
As for a GOP comeback – history shows that you guys are going to be in the woods for quite a while. You’re going to have to find a new message – a new branding. You can’t keep running like a 20th century party. It’s the 21st century now – time for a 21st century message. Fear, greed, and pandering to the uneducated isn’t going to get you very far in the foreseeable future. Time to get with the times.
JMJ
Ya’ know, this realy gets to me, this “free trade” thing. I can’t imagine anything more unpatriotic, unAmerican, heck, anti-American and anti-Human Being, than “free trade.” It is pure greed with a complete disragard for the health of the nation and your fellow citizens. It is economic cannibalism. It is sucking dry the people’s currency for personal gain with no care whatsoever about the consequences for today’s and future generations. I find it just plain degenerate.
I have no problem with international trade in general. In fact, I believe that trade is the greatest tool in our diplomatic chest – greater than our military, our culture, our ideologies, and everything else. But the Wall Street Free-Traders don’t care about any of that – only their own personal profits, with no regard whatsoever for the American people or the people’s of the nations with which they ply their “free trade.” I believe in FAIR TRADE, that like all fair and just transactions, fulfill the best outcome for all parties concerned. “Free Traders” don’t want fair trade. They don’t care about “best outcomes.” They only care about their own immediate profits and nothing else at all. And if that means cheating, that’s fine with them. If that means stacking the deck against others, that’s fine with them. If that means destroying the nation, that’s fine with them. As long as they get what they want now, the heck with the future, the heck with everybody else, the heck with planet, the heck with everything and everyone but themselves.
“Free Trade” sickens me.
JMJ
Coleman will lose, the ratios arent there for Frankenbaby.
Actually, you’re lying again.
History shows that we win more presidential elections.
Period.
Jersey.
Theres till a majority of 48% out there that want conservatism, not this fusion McCain was trying to push on us.
Throw in a margin of error and you got nothing.
It would serve you well to humble yourself and climb down off your high donkey and stop with the pompous ass lecturing.
You have nothing yet but the most unqualified man ever elected to office.
He doesnt even qualify to be his own security.
No one voted “FOR” him.
(IMO) most votes were cast out of spite and contempt for the right, fueled by Bambis constant BDS.
Your party has not progressed at all, so please, spare me the attempted projection that your party has moved on to something new, and that we somehow are the old fogies stuck in some archived system of thought.
We hold true to our values which are endless over time.
You guys just make up the rules as you go along,repeat failed history lie, and call it progressive.
All Obama is doing is putting a new face on old a tried ideas from the past that have failed.
As far as Iraq goes, give it up.
Were over the hump, the only thing that could substantially screw it up would be Obama by cutting funding to pay for your 2.80 a day in tax breaks.
We have little if anything to do with their oil.
Right now their biggest problem is to find out which Iraqis are pilfering oil revenues to overseas accounts and how to divide revenues up amongst the three sects.
“Fear, greed, and pandering to the uneducated ”
Like all the entitlements promised to poor uneducated minorities ?
The insistance from the left that F&F give loans to those undeserved, unwilling or unable to pay ?
Pandering fear of global warming, only to install socialist initiatives thru environmentalism ?
How about the greed that cause millions to vote for Obama ?
Millions selling out for a few measley bucks, that dont even belong to them ?
That kind of greed ?
Our President’s a pretty nice guy, but he doesn’t have a lot to say,
Our President’s a very sly guy, repeating changes are on the way,
I wanna tell him I don’t know what he wants,
But the IRS is glad and I know why,
Our President’s a pretty nice guy,
He says he wants to give me pie,
Mmm, yeah,
A bigger slice of someone else’s pie.
“Free Trade” sickens me.
Well, lets make a deal, if Obama can break his pledge on financing you shouldnt be crying about Wall street ?
I dont know.
The guys on Wall street actually get paid to think. (there are jobs like that)
Obama just lied and stole
Everyone is paying attention to Obama and what he is doing… but we need not forget to watch what those ‘career’ bureaucrats are doing… those who stay on through many administrations. I wrote an article on my blog (http://reformedhippie.com/2008/11/06/shariah-alert-sleeping-with-the-devil) about our government beginning to embrace Sharia finance. In other words we might wind up paying them to attack us. We as Americans need to keep a vigilant eye and hold Obama and his cronies feet to the fire.
Hippie.
If more Americans even knew who Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, Dodd and Frank were things could of turned out different.
“Coleman will lose, the ratios arent there for Frankenbaby.”
?
I think you mean Coleman will win, Kreskin. He might. But if it wasn’t for Barkley, Franken would have won by a pretty big margin. So much for Coleman.
“Theres till a majority of 48% out there that want conservatism…”
Well, that’s a prett arbitary assumption. Ask people about specific issues, and it’s a lot more complicated than that. Most Americans want more protectionist trade, more progressive taxation, and universal healthcare. On the other hand, on social issues, Americans tend to be center-right. It’s certainly not true that most Americans are Republicans. That’s only about a third.
“You have nothing yet but the most unqualified man ever elected to office.”
I don’t know about that. I can think of quite a few presidents that could be thought of as less qualified – especially Bush, who’s resume included a string of failed businesses, zero academics, a history of goofing around, and the governorship of the state with the constitutionally weakest exective branch in the nation. Franklin Pierce was less qualified, and boy did he ever show it. Really, the whole post-reconstruction crowd were a bunch of seriously unqualified shmucks. Truman kinda came outta nowhere and he worked out pretty good. Ford was a decent man and president, but didn’t have much in the way of “qualifications.” I could go on, but I really don’t think you care. I mean, anyone who thinks Palin was qualified to be anything more than a “hockey mom” shouldn’t be throwing stones outta that glass house.
And I don’t know about “my party.” I don’t have one. I never have. I think partisanship is for thieves and fools.
As for your notion of “greed,” I think that glass house is long since smashed to tiny little shards. No one is greedier than the Right.
As for free trade, there’s a good example of why I’m not partisan. Niether party espouses reining in that disaster.
JMJ
“Reformed Hippy,” I read your post, and let me try to explain this. The US and UK, along with a few other Western powers, have been working with the Middle East oil cartels to try to “recycle” back petodollars in an effort to ween off their respective currencies’ dependence on oil values by bringing the petrodollars into Western markets rather than just palaces and junta armies. You should be happy about this effort. This has nothing to do with bring “sharia finance” to America or anywhere else. That’s just loony.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/af5f65a2-a7b7-11dd-865e-000077b07658.html
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/03/stories/2008110353561500.htm
There’s a bunch more stories out there if you bother to look. It took me all of five seconds. You shouldn’t just get your news from the Moony Times. It’s a rag by and for loonies. This is the kind of stiff that makes the Right look uneducated and paranoid.
JMJ
Awww… I miss my psychiatrist joke…
JMJ
Yea, sometimes I’m busier than I should be.
Franken will lose.
McCain got 48% of the popular vote.
A good part of us were hoping he’d come back to the right a little once in office.
Whatever, hes got less knowhow than Carter did, that—-is —-bad.
Only when anything is “NOT” a disaster does anyone want any part of it.
When you vote for a party , you’re one of em.
Meanwhile where is John McCain?
Meet The Real Sarah Palin Blog, Has a posted a “Dear John Letter” to Senator John McCain, with a link to send your feedback, about his lack of support of his running mate, election has been ABSENT “Don’t Forget Your Wingman John”
http://sarah-palin-2008.blogspot.com/2008/11/dear-john-letter.html
I was going to post this in the comments to the Quarterbacking thread but anyway….
My take on McCain’s defeat is as follows:
Even though McCain’s had to contend with an extremely unpopular incumbent and an economy sliding into recession, he still should have won. After all, as late as summer of last year he was crushing Obama by Reagan-esque margins in SUSA head to heads. McCain didn’t have to deal with an impeached predecessor (Gerald Ford in 1976), anarchy on the streets and a third party candidate siphoning off votes (Hubert Humphrey in 1968), or seven percent unemployment (George HW Bush in 1992), yet all those candidates ran their opponents closer in the popular vote than McCain did.
The bailout undoubtedly alienated all sections of society and the dismal stock market performance in October, caused by Bush’s scaremongering, probably accounted for the massive swing against McCain among voters earning more than $200k (according to the exit polls) who saw their stock portfolio devastated in October. However, the numbers of upper income voters were very small (around 6%) and there was over a month between Bush’s signing of the bill and the election, plenty of time to win swing voters back.
So if it wasn’t the economy, here’s what I think it was:
1. The idea of Sarah Palin –
Experience and national security should have been at the core of McCain’s election strategy, and for a time it was. By the end of the Democratic convention McCain had pulled back the six point lead that Obama had opened up after Hillary conceded and was on course for a three point victory in the popular vote. However, by selecting Palin, who had less experience than the Senator from Illinois, both at a local and national level, McCain threw both the experience and foreign policy card away, ironically when it was about to be needed the most.
2. McCain’s response to the bailout –
McCain, could have limited the fallout from Bush’s folly by either taking a low profile, or he could have doubled down (and done the right thing) by opposing the bailout on both conservative (waste of taxpayer’s money) and centre-left (welfare for Wall Street) grounds. Instead, his decision to suspend his campaign, and then do nothing, seemed like a publicity stunt. Ironically, both his reaction and the selection of Palin prevented a ‘flight to quality’ of swing voters towards him.
3. The reality of Palin
Palin’s cannot be blamed for accepting McCain’s offer to join the ticket. However, she is accountable for her subsequent behaviour. Even if McCain’s staff failed to prepare her properly, and Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson secretly wanted her to fail, Palin failed to meet the minimum standards of coherence and awareness expected of any serious politician during the two now notorious interviews. Similarly, her decision to ‘go rouge’ was unprecedented among modern running mates, and provided a nasty distraction during the later stages of the campaign when McCain was trying to turn things around.
4. Not picking Joe Lieberman
The decision not to pick Joe Lieberman was a disaster, since picking Lieberman would have put Iraq in the limelight, emphasised McCain’s maverick credentials and allowed McCain to play offense in the ‘Blue States’. The way in which the vice-presidential selection was handled also gave the impression that McCain was not in control of his own party. McCain’s failure to pick the Connecticut Senator was also emblematic of a lot of missed opportunities to run to the centre; whether on immigration, taxation or any issue other than national security. He also failed to properly criticise the Bush administration when it started wobbling on Iran.
5. Jeremiah Wright / Bill Ayers
McCain missed an opportunity to attack Obama on his links with Wright Although Wright was more buffoonish than anything, his comments about September 11th were clearly fair game. Done properly, this could have won over the Reagan Democrats who, as Stan Greenberg pointed out, ‘give Obama remarkably low marks on national security and have great trouble dismissing what Reverend Wright said about America’. Conversely, Palin’s botched attack on Ayers, which echoed a previous ad that was too incediary for even FOX, repelled both the press and moderate voters.
[…] Eric over at The Tygrrrr Express has finally flipped his cork. […]
“When you vote for a party , you’re one of em.”
Micky, this year I voted for a Republican sheriff and against (Florida has a strange new Judicial vote system, you should look it up, it’s wierd) a couple Democratic judges. So what does that make me? A Republocrat? You’re not a “partisan” simply because you vote for a partisan. That’s just plain childish logic. I’m not a Democrat because I am not a partisan. It’s as simple as that. Sure, I consider partisan politics when I vote (balance of power, current caucus generalities, etc), but again it would be childish to say that therefore I’m a partisan. I’ve voted for Nader and Perot too. Does that make me a “United We Standocrat” or a “Naderican.” Those were protest votes targetted specifically against partisanship. If I had been in a “safe” state, I might well have done it again this time around. So please, don’t project your partisanship on me. That’s your problem, not mine.
Politicalhipster,
SUSA is a joke. I wouldn’t use their results to wash my dogs behind.
I agree with your points 1-3 and appauld your honesty, as I assume your a GOPer. I disagree with points 3 and 4 and here’s why. Lieberman would have nothing to shore up his base and very little to garner more votes from the middle. It would have shored up his vote among Jews, perhaps, but I think most Jews that were supporting Obama (which was a majority of Jews) would have seen such a pick as cynical and would not have been swayed by it, just as McCain’s cynical pick of Palin did not shore up his numbers among women. And finally, I don’t know where you live, but in swing states like Florida (which is where I am) the GOP and McCain and 529’s slammed Obama on his controversial associations endlessly and McCain lost ALL those states. So it just goes to prove – nobody except the already rightwing Kool-Aid converted care for AT ALL those sleasy guilt-by-association attacks. If you want top keep LOSING elections, keep up the sleazy “swift-boating” style attacks. American are SICK of it.
JMJ
So what jersey ?
Your main mantra is always about how bad the cons are and how great the libs are.
Go figure ?
I know, its a identity thing, we all want to be special, well we are, but were not that different.
I am a partisan, I make comitments to my ideoligy and man up when it fails. That means I’m willing to be seen next to what I represent, even when it fails.
For you its all about being a fair weather friens, and having an out to avoid having to claim responsabilty.
Like I said, so what ?
Our state is 75% democratic and the elected a con, know why ?
Because the dem choices sucked so bad they had little choice, still, today, they are all democrats.
You even told me that you might vote for McCain based on his liberal stances.
Must be hard living in world where everyone is dumber than you.
I dont need to project a darn thing on you, are you serious ?
Any stranger to this blog would read your stuff for the first time and swear you were a rip roaring moonbat liberal fanatic.
I have to say, liberals have no sense of humor. But that doesnt take away from the fact that yer all good for a laugh sometimes
Let the Games Begin.
http://sarah-palin-2008.blogspot.com/2008/11/long-knives-are-out-and-fight-will-be.html
Sarah Palin loaded for Bear.