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Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Ted Nugent Is Just Fine and So Are You

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I cry tears of blood.

Tears of blood, no really.

Bloody tears. For the last best place. For all the little red white and blue warriors.

That was Ted Nugent, crying tears of blood no less, November 7th, 2012, the night Barack Obama won reelection in a resounding victory.

 

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Pimps and whores, oh my!

And Obama will destroy America.  Oh he’ll do it, he’ll destroy America, he will. He’s the Anti-Christ, you know. The big Black Gay Muslim Devil. 

And us, those of us who cheered Obama’s reelection? We’re pimps and whores and soulless fools. Oh yes, yes!

 

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Economic and spiritual suicide no less, that’s what we voted for! You betcha!

Sure.

Crazy, right? I mean, crazy, really really crazy, Right?

Two years later, and here’s America, undestroyed. 

Look at those tweets. Ted wasn’t just wrong, Ted was crazy wrong. Is crazy wrong.  When they call him the Motor City Madman, they ain’t just speaking metaphorically. He’s a cackling loon. He’s the kind of guy who licks the bugs off your windshield.

Crazy.

That’s what a lot of you sound like this morning.

I’m talking to you, Liberals. You sound like Ted. Oh No! Oh God Oh God Breathe! Breathe! Ohgod ohgodohgodohgod! It’s the end of the world! It’s the end of America! Soulless fools! Doomed! We’re dooooooooomed….

 

Take a deep breath, Democrats, Liberals, you’re going to be okay.

 

Yes, you lost. You lost big.

Conservatives won. They won big.

That’s how it goes, if you win all the time, you’re not living in a democracy. You win, you lose, and it all depends on the fickle whims of the frightened and the apathetic and the ignorant and those motivated enough to go pull the handle. That’s democracy. You win some, you lose some, and last night you lost. Big time. Tough shit. What are you going to do about it?

No no, don’t look away. Turn and face it.

You lost. Hard.

Conservatives kicked your liberal asses up and down and black and blue.

And you had it coming fair and square.

Democrats haven’t got anybody to blame but themselves and the sooner they start dealing with it, the sooner they’ll start winning again.

Listen to me, listen good: Republicans and their Tea Party Berserkers, they didn’t win because they’ve got any big vision, because they’ve got some big grand plan for a shining city on the hill. They didn’t win on their charm and charisma and sparkling movie star smiles, these people aren’t Reagan. They didn’t win on their smarts and calm rationality and friendly ah shucks demeanor.  They didn’t win on their compelling optimism, on hope, on the promise of a better future and a chicken in every pot. They didn’t win by rallying the nation with a message of sacrifice and patriotism and hard work and a restored American dream of churning factories and purple mountains majesty and endless fields of golden waving grain from sea to shinning sea.

They didn’t even win because of gerrymandering and Koch Brothers money, those things helped, sure, but they not why the GOP won last night.

Conservatives’ entire message was one of doom and gloom and woe and bloody tears. The commies are coming for you! The terrorists are coming for you! The gays are coming for you! The gun grabbers and the job stealers and the Ebola are coming, oh yes they are, on a tide of filthy brown Spanish speaking pestilence surging across the undefended border and it’s coming for you! It’s coming for you and it’s going to rape your women and eat your children and murder your babies and Obama is doing nothing, nothing! to stop it! Clutch your guns and your bibles and be afraid, be very very afraid! Everything sucks, and it’s going to keep right on sucking and we suck but we suck a little less than they suck so suck it up and vote for us!

They won.

With that message.

Let me be brutally honest here: if you can’t beat that, if you can’t beat these dour pessimistic dimwitted fear-mongers, then you just don’t deserve to win.

It’s really that simple.

The simple truth of the matter is that anybody could have seen this coming.

Democrats have been working on losing for two years. They were determined to lose this election, and lose they did, right on schedule.

When you think you’ve lost, when you go into the battle convinced that you’re going to lose, well, folks, you’re going to lose.

If you are in any way whatsoever surprised by this defeat, then you haven’t been paying attention.

Let us use my own state of Alaska as an example: 

Robert Heinlein once said that politicians are like diapers, they should both be changed periodically and for the same reason. But we Alaskans, we like to think of ourselves as rugged frontiersmen, we like wearing the same dirty skivvies day in and day out – that’s why we’ve kept Don Young in office for four decades. We bitch and complain about the stink, how things never change, and we scratch at our collective diaper rash … and put on the same filthy pair of underwear every couple of years, as we did yet again last night. Don Young handily won himself another term of freebies from the oil companies while we Alaskans get to scrub the skid-marks out of his boxers.  And so it goes. The guy will die in office, and we’ll probably reelect him for two terms after that. Because, well, that’s America. We claim to love democracy, and we use it to elect ourselves Royalty.  Booyah!

And nobody cares, because what Alaskans vote for or against makes no difference whatsoever to the nation at large. We’re always last and least.  Last to finish voting. Least in electoral votes and representatives and citizens. The big names, the big candidates, potential presidents, they don’t swing through Alaska on their way to Washington.  The first lady doesn’t come up here to stump for her man and rally the local boys, no, not unless she’s on her way to China by way of Siberia. On election night, by the time they get around to us it’s all over but for the crying. We arrive at the party in our dirty shorts just in time to get handed the tab and a broom. 

Nobody cares about Alaska and, really, you can hardly blame them.

But not this time.

For once, Alaska was a critical state.

It was a critical state because one of our Senators, the one up for reelection, was Mark Begich.  A Democrat.

Get rid of him, replace him with a Republican, and the national balance of power shifts.  On election day, by the time they get to us, if the senate isn’t already Republican, we’re the swing vote, and if it is, getting rid of Begich pushes it further to the right – and in the Senate, every single vote matters. Every one.  And so, for once, Alaska was important.  Koch Brother money flooded the state like the rising ocean. Patriotic Americans For Patriotic American PatriotismPAC were thick as the thieving bastards they are. Signs sprouted like weeds. Our phones rang incessantly. Ted Cruz himself came on election day to stump for Dan Sullivan, Begich’s Republican opponent – and since when has anybody in Texas given a good goddamn about an election in Alaska?

And Begich? What was Begich’s strategy? How did Begich plan to hold his seat?

Why by attempting to blow every conservative in Alaska, of course.

The first thing the Begich campaign did was abandon his own base, abandon his party and president and the people who elected him. Then he attempted to prove to conservatives that Mark Begich was a bigger Obama hatin’ small gubmit lovin’ gun totin’ Carhartts wearin’ conservative than his conservative opponent – who, by the way, isn’t even an Alaskan. 

Sullivan ran ads that said “Begich votes with Obama!” and Begich countered with ads that said “Nuh uh, I hate me some Obama too!” 

Sullivan said “Begich voted for Obamacare!” and Begich countered with “Yeah, but I didn’t want to, they made me! Besides, everybody was doing it!”

Sullivan aired pictures of himself running on the beach at Eklutna Lake in Marine Corps PT gear looking for all the world like one of those Viagra Commercials, when your manly muscles are bulging and your silvery hair is silvery and the time is right and you’ve flown twenty miles out of Anchorage in an airplane you MacGyvered together out of the bones of America’s vanquished enemies just so you can work out by running over giant boulders after wrestling a grizzly bear and chugging a pot of black coffee and polishing your pistol…  And Begich countered with, I dunno, video of himself on a rooftop wearing a big sweater or something talking about how he hates Obama and love babies.

And it was just so painfully obvious to anybody with half a brain that Begich was already lost. 

Begich was playing defense.

Sullivan was on offense the whole way like the Marine he is.

Begich was Republican Lite.  He was a man without friends, by his own choice. His entire campaign reeked of failure and defeat and second place. His entire plan depended on convincing Republicans that a liberal Democrat would be a better conservative Republican than, you know, an actual conservative Republican.  And why in the hell would anybody vote for the Ersatz when they can have the real thing, I mean, come on, if Alaska has to have a Republican well we might as well have an actual Republican – at least we know where we stand. Right behind the oil companies. And mining. And tourism.

The Irony is staggering. Last night Alaskans voted to raise the minimum wage, impose a restrictive law on mining, and legalize pot – and then they voted for the conservative big business Republican. And you’ve got ask yourself, in a state that just legalized weed, that dealt a blow to business and stood up for the little guy and the environment, how in the hell could the Democrat lose?

And that, right there, is a metaphor for the rest of last night’s Democratic disaster.

Instead of distancing themselves from the President, Democrats should have stood firmly with him.

Oh yes, they should have.

Because if there is one Democrat, one, who knows how to win and win big, it’s Barack Obama.

Unpopular, stymied at every turn, cerebral in a nation of raw emotion, and yet Obama wiped the floor with Mitt Romney. 

And he did it not by hiding from his record, but by getting it right out there. Obama played offense right from the start.  His message was hope, change, optimism. He rallied the crowd. He made us believe. And he won. He won big. He won Mitt Romney’s home state. He won Paul Ryan’s home state. He won John Boehner’s home state. He mopped the floor with his opposition and pushed their knobby heads into the toilet.

Barack Obama is the one Democrat who knows how to win and that, that right there, is why he’s the President. Twice.

Democrats like Begich, they lost and they deserved it.

They lost because they were stupid.

They lost because they were afraid.

They lost because they were beaten in their own minds before they even got going.

Rather than run away from their records, they should have embraced them, just as Obama did.  The Affordable Care Act? You goddamned right I voted for it. It’s shitty. It’s a mess. It could be one hell of a lot better, but it’s a hell of a lot better than nothing. Which is what Republicans wanted for you, worse than nothing, their only plan was the rich get richer and you better not get sick. So, yeah, you bet I voted for it, for you, and here’s why, here’s how you and you and you and you and you benefit from it. Here’s how we could make it better. Here’s the lies the other side told, death panels, do you see any death panels, mother fucker? Well, do you?  No you don’t, sit down and shut up and listen! Obama? You damned right I stand with him, I don’t abandon my friends just because the going gets hard and I won’t abandon you. Look here, healthcare reform, Wall Street reform, unemployment below 6%, war in Iraq over, war in Afghanistan over, Osama Bin Laden dead, industry thriving, banks recapitalized, stock market at record highs. Repealed DADT, that’s right, and guess what? Our military is as strong as ever, better even.  Moammar Gaddafi is dead in a ditch, even Reagan couldn’t pull that off, bitches. Pell grant program expanded.  Massively increased support for veterans. Yeah, the VA is fucked up, no doubt, it is and so what else is new? Republicans didn’t fix it, but we’re going to. And in the meantime we increased funding and support, we pushed through a new GI bill providing millions in tuition assistance over the next decade, and we got multiple tax credits to encourage businesses to hire veterans, we’re the ones taking care of veterans, the First Lady is the one taking care of Veterans, damned sure ain’t the fuckers who sent them into war, is it? Under Obama we pushed through the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act to punish firms and individuals who aid Iran’s petroleum sector.  And yeah, everybody hates the EPA, sure they do, but they damned well like drinkable water and air that doesn’t give you cancer, don’t they? Death panels? You want your kids living downwind from a coal plant, do you really?  Hey you know what else? We passed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act which prohibits credit card companies from raising rates without advance notification, mandates a grace period on interest rate increases, and strictly limits overdraft and other fees. And while we were at it, we passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, giving women who are paid less than men for the same work the right to sue their employers after they find out about the discrimination, even if that discrimination happened years ago. What did republicans do? They fought it every step of the way. They’re the party of legitimate rape. Oh yes they are. If you’re a woman and you’re voting Republican you’re basically saying you’re property. Is that what you want, is it? So now lets talk about who owns your uterus, shall we? Let us just. Executive orders? Bullshit bullshit bullshit and bullshit, look here, let’s review who issued the most executive orders over the last thirty years, shall we? It sure as shit wasn’t Obama. Scandals? Yeah, let’s talk about scandals. And while we’re at it, let’s take a look at who grew the deficit and who shrank it, let’s look at budget surpluses and who pissed them away, oh yes, let us do that.  Let’s look at where America was five years ago and where it is now and let’s look at who shut down the government.  Record? You bet, let us talk about it. Obama? You Goddamned right I stand with the President of the United States of America and you damned well should too and since when should that be something to be ashamed of? So, yes, I stand with Obama, here’s why. And here’s why. And here’s why.  You want me to go on? Because I can, all fucking day and far, far into the night! Buckle up, Buttercup, and let’s review.

But instead, Democrats took their greatest strength, their most valuable player, the one guy who has proven over and over that he knows how to win despite everything … and they sidelined him. 

Republicans took the Democrats’ greatest advantage and turned it into Democrats biggest weakness.

And Democrats let them.

Democrats let Republicans write the narrative and history, my shiny electronic friends, is written by the winners.

You play defense, you lose.

Democrats lost last night because they deserved it.

Begich is out because he’s a wimpy little shit who doesn’t deserve to hold office.

Begich is out because he tried to fight a United States Marine with, what? A Sweater? Fuck him. Good riddance.

And that’s just how it is. If you want to be leaders, then you have to lead.

Democrats lost. And they deserved it. And they’re going to pay the price for it. We all will.

But it’s not the end of the world.

It’s not the end of America.

Republicans will shortly control both houses of Congress. And so? They’re not monsters,  they’re your neighbors, your countrymen, your fellow citizens and they beat you fair and square – or as fair and as square as politics ever is, which means it’s crooked as shit and so what?

Of course it’s crooked and dirty and unfair, no kidding. Where you been? If you can’t take it, get out.

But if you’re going to stay, then goddamn it ride it like you stole it!

The question is this: What are you going to do about it?

Are you going to go all Ted Nugent? Are you? You gonna sob and rage on Twitter? Are you going to spend the next four years crying into your watery lite beer, lamenting the End of America This Time For Reals!

Or, or, are you going to get off your ass and learn from your mistakes and rally your troops and get back in the game?

Do you think Obama is going to just give up now? Do you?

Buck up, Liberals. Dry your eyes and wipe the snot off your faces. The victors have already started fighting amongst themselves, they’re their own worst enemies. Now, get your shit together and stand with your President and stop acting like losers. The tide of history ebbs and flows, but ultimately you’re on the right side of it. Remember that.

The wheel turns and turns again and this too shall pass away.

Ted Nugent is just fine and you will be too. Really.

140 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you,Jim Wright!..been sayin this over on da Facebook. Yeah, I know, I write funny. Doesn't mean I'm not in this for da long haul..I am.I have been wanting to thank you for a bit now..you have many times(including this one) said what needed to be said. ==(:*D

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  2. Well, McConnell is a monster, and Dick Cheney gives monsters a bad name, but other than that, well said!

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    1. The only things I disagree with are the part about the GOP NOT being monsters. Sorry Jim. They are. They are monsters and their agenda is monstrous. They are the "ordinary Germans" of the Nazi regime <---yeah. I said it. who countenanced genocide and worse and then exclaimed how they "didn't know" while electing those monsters with a smile on their faces. Monstrosities can occur with the most benign of faces. We should all know that from the news when we look at the Jeffrey Dahmer's of the world. These are the same people who CHEERED to "Let them die" in the debates and wouldn't even cry crocodile tears for those children who died to protect their so-called "Second Amendment" rights. Let them CHOKE on their bile and hatred. Dumbf*ckistan has won this one because the Dems were a bunch of cowards. That part I agree with. Totally. I've been screaming on my page for months and ranting at the cowardice and spoiled rotten stupidity of the far left and how they have turned their backs on that good man, our President. I disgusted and tired which is why I'm taking a much-needed break from politics but I wanted to read your take... I agree with Dennis and you for the most part except that the GOP base are monsters and the rest of us who refused to participate are just stupid and cowardly and spoiled. To think I served my country and for THIS! Makes me regret my service.

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    2. I'm very much of a mind to agree with you. Over that last 6 years, I've heard monstrous things out of Republicans that have shocked me to the core. I'd never have imagined them coming out of the mouths of my fellow Americans. Ever. I'm not even sure I have the words to articulate, but the examples you cited disillusioned me far more than the first man to stick a .38 in my face ever did. I too served my country and that our country has come to this makes me want to puke, but I will never let them cause me to regret my service. I'm a survivor. An ordinary woman. I was an average airman and didn't make a career, but my service was given freely for the time I gave it. So I'm steadfast and a bit of a plodder, but I get there. I am angry with the democrats who didn't hold faith with Obama because he didn't meet all their expectations and high hopes. I did stick with him. And I served my country even for the sake of the jerks and monsters. Goddess help me, I'll keep at it too.

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    3. LeftCoastGirl: Back in 2004, journalist David Neiwert wrote an essay, "The Rise of Pseudo-Fascism" in which he commented that the radical right wasn't quite—yet—a full fascist party. Since that time, they've come closer and closer, and the final step will be the election, or even placement, of one of their own as President. We are in deep trouble.

      Morgan: Obama could have done reasonable things like bail out homeowners rather than bankers. This is a "high expectation," but rather a sensible moderate practice. The Oama administration policies are very much part of the problem we now face.

      (My slightly longer post on Neiwert's essay, with links: http://adviceunasked.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-rise-of-pseudo-fascism-revisited.html.)

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  3. What I've been saying too, though you say it with far greater aplomb. Thank you. And I know this is a fresh baked post, right out of the oven, but 'shinning' city on the hill.

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  4. Democrats who try to be fake Republicans piss me off. First, as you say, it doesn't work- you wanna know who's best at being a Republican? An actual fucking Republican.

    Second, in these midterms it's all about turnout. Who the hell is excited about a fake? You just pissed off your own base so only the few who always vote are coming out, and you think the few right-of-center votes you're picking up are psyched about it?

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  5. BAM!! So, so well said. Thank you.

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  6. The other reason, and quite possibly as important a reason, is that the Republicans went out and voted - because they were told to.

    The Democrats, well, they stayed home nursing their collection of disappointments over not getting everything exactly as they wanted it, and right now, dammit, as they are so regularly inclined to do. Or not do, in this case.

    Our side shows itself as incapable of recognizing the distinction between someone who may well disappoint from time to time and a sworn enemy.

    Until we internalize the notion that the object of the game is to win, this will continue.

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  7. This is the shot in the arm and kick in the ass that I needed. I knew I'd come to the right place. Well, well spoken, and thank you, sir. Thank you very much. I'm Rick Jamerino, to hell with Anonymous.

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  8. Amen, Jim! Thanks for telling it like it is! Interesting article on President Obama's press conference (in 3 parts) on www.dailykos.com/2014/11/05/1342250/-President-Obama-holds-post-midterm-press-conference. I think he did a magnificent job in this conference, standing up for his policies, showing no fear, and essentially saying, "Bring it!"

    freckles

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    1. Absolutely agree with you. The WHPC or hyenas as I call them were - well - were hyenas. President had class and dignity. He was lighthearted; he smiled and he made them look like the idiots they are.

      BTW, the media is complicit in this Republican win. They, including MSNBC bashed President Obama for two years. They never talk about any of the accomplishments of this administration. They make statements like Andrea Mitchell made that "Obama was the drag..." They parrot rightwing talking points. In fact, Chuck Todd said it wasn't his job to call out the lies. The corporate media are shills for the GOP, IMO.

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    2. I totally agree with you. White House reporters are jackals and weasels (I'm waiting for Chuck Todd to blame PBO for dwindling stocks of Brawndo).

      Jim, this article is brilliant (as always) and a fresh perspective I've not seen on other blogs I read (all of which I think are very good). Thank you so much.

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  9. Excellent! I nominate you for Chair of the Democratic Party.

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    1. Nomination seconded. All in favor say "aye."

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    2. If nominated I will not run. If elected I will not serve.

      Unless there's cake. I'll do it if there's cake.

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    3. Forget the cake it's donuts all the way down!

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    4. I will bake that cake.

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    5. I'll bake cakes.

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    6. Two layer chocolate with butter frosting. the kind that hardens into armor plate. BOB

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    7. If you become the Chair of the Democratic Party, oh TOS, I will, personally, bake you a cake every single day! You da man and I salute you!!!! What kinds of cake do you like and how do we get you elected?

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    8. I will personally bake you this cake:
      https://flic.kr/p/pY23JC

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  10. I'm very disappointed by the outcome of the election but since I'm an Australian it doesn't affect me too much. I think your analysis of why the Democrats lost is spot on. I was appalled at how all the candidates refused to acknowledge all that your president had achieved.

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    1. Though we have had our own problems with "Liberal Lite" (note in Oz Liberal is the conservative party) and in part' Julia's loss was, I believe, the result of her inability to effectively counteract the negativity of the opposition and the MSM and even her own party at the end

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  11. Agree, have never seen such a cowardly campaign by the Democrats leading up here. Frankly I don't think the GOP has much to crow about. They ousted some incumbent Democrats or installed a Republican in an open seat in a bunch of DEEP RED STATES. What a SHOCKER. This was as much about the anomalies of the calendar and the map than anything else. 2016 will be a whole different story--dems defending maybe 10 seats and GOP something like 24. --TJinLA

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    1. Anon/TJinLA: I have. Is Bush v. Gore so distant a memory? Bill Clinton, despite his political and personal failings...and that impeachment thing...was still well over 50% popularity going into the 2000 election. But Al Gore - or more accurately his advisors, who got paid win or lose - decided to distance himself from that good ol' boy with the swingin' dick, forgo any association with the good of the past 8 years in favor of not getting any of the bad on him, wear lots of earth tones and generally turn what should have been a walkover into the most infamous Supreme Court ruling since Dred Scott. (Or possibly Citizens United. History has yet to tell.)

      Same party, same bloody fuckup, same bloody result.

      "And it's all just a little bit of history repeating..." (The Propellerheads w/Shirley Bassey.)

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    2. Don, you're absolutely right, this was a case of history repeating itself in a most despicable way. That campaign was just as spineless and cowardly--maybe worse in some ways because as you say it should have been a walkover and it was national instead of a red state dominated mid-term. I try not to (for fear of falling into deep depression) but once in awhile I try to imagine where we'd be as a nation and a world if we never had W and Cheney and Rove and their bloodthirsty greedy agenda. By the margin of a hanging chad. FFS. TJinLA

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  12. If people would just get up off of their lazy butts and go out and vote, instead of whining and moaning about how horrible the government is, some positive changes might actually get made.

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    1. Exactly. My students (voter registration in class, early voting on campus, no lines, every one has a valid drivers license) are more than willing to stand in line for a pumpkin spice latte, but they were "too busy" to walk a few more steps and vote. Pathetic.

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  13. Priceless Jim and spot on. Given everything this president has accomplished, why the Dems ran from him was absolutely beyond me. He remains the smartest guy in the room. Unfortunately, we all will pay dearly the next few years. I suspect, however, that our President is looking forward to the fight based on his press conference.

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  14. Thank you for this! I needed to read it. Love everything you write.

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  15. THIS should be on the front page of every newspaper in America. Thank You.

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  16. "We fight, get beaten, rise, and fight again." - Nathanael Greene

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  17. Cheering and reposting.

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  18. That's exactly what I've been saying the last month. I stopped donating to the Democratic Party and I told them why. That we were ignoring the incredible job our president had done and allowed the GOP to paint him as a failure.

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  19. Jim - you absolutely kick ass. Keep it up. People are just frickin' stupid.

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  20. Thank you for the reminder that yes, other people have noticed the Dem's "rich" tradition of Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory, Letting The Other Side Frame The Issues, and Ignoring Their Successes 8P

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    1. You forgot The Circular Firing Squad. (h/t the late Molly Ivins.)

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  21. In just over 2 years our beautiful first family will be waving goodbye and whistling as they get on Marine One.

    ALL of Congress and every local government official will be on the phone begging some rich jerk for money.

    I think I am switching to Independent.after the 2016 primary... I want to be able to vote in Georgia in cash Martin O'Malley gets in the race.

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  22. Talk about irony! Last night in Colorado, we soundly rejected the personhood amendment on our local ballot. Soundly, and for the umpteemth time. But, Mark Udall (D) lost to Cory Gardner (R), a co-sponser of the federal personhood amendment in the House. Christ!

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  23. Damn, damn, damn! Why wasn't it YOU running instead of that spineless cowardly wimp Begich? You're right, they all deserved to lose by running away from the black President like terrified little children. I also note that Gary Peters in Michigan, who embraced Obama (he actually hugged him onstage)--fucking won!

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  24. Thank you Jim. You absolutely make my day EVERY day.

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  25. Alaska is not LAST to vote, I believe we here in Hawaii get that claim to fame for the 50 states. Who know what happens in American Samoa and other territories of the vast Pacific. Oh well, here we go again. Should be fun the next two years.

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  26. Well said. The best words I have read today other than "Get up. Keep fighting. ..until hell freezes over...and then on the ice". The dems had all the ammunition they needed and they didn't bring one bullet to the fight. In fact, they didn't even bring a knife. I'd rather go down big standing up for what I believe. For the life of me I cannot understand the votes for Don Young though....never have been able to.

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  27. Once again, you are spot-on and I am speechless. Thanks for taking the time to write this and for last night's FB posts that kept things in perspective.

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  28. Why would any liberal stand with Obama. The cognitive dissonance necessary to do so would leave even the stoutest psyches a shattered and smoking heap on the floor.

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  29. Jim, as always you are spot on!! The Dems have no one to blame but themselves, I don't know how many times I screamed that to the TV. And every time I made a donation I told them to stop being so damn spineless (don't think they heard me). As far as I am concerned if you run as a Democrat then damn you better be one, if I wanted a Republican Lite I would vote for Republicans. No thank you.

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    1. Why? Maybe because he's a proven winner, just as Jim stated.

      Do I agree with everything he's done? Not at all. But what was the alternative? Where do you think we'd be right now with Rmoney and Ayn Ryan? Or McGrumpy and Sarah? What type of SCOTUS nominees would we have seen from them? How many countries would be bogged down in war with?

      And that's why I will hold my nose and vote for Hillary, if that's what it comes down to. She's another that I have much disagreement with. But when I look at the crazy clown car of Republican candidates, well, suffice to say that is not an option.

      Yes, I would love Sanders and Warren as choices, but that just will not happen, unless they run as a third party. But I suspect that they are too smart for that.

      Why? Money. Thanks to Citizens United, we will be stuck with this messed up two-party system for a long time. That being the case, I see no viable alternative than to go with a Democrat.

      SDCulp USMC

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    2. Sorry. That reply was meant for Kurt Sperry.

      SDCulp USMC

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    3. Anon/SDCulp - While I agree with you in some respects, I gotta say this (and you provided the opening) - since when was VOTING the beginning and end of public participation in a democracy (or republic, as we have)?

      Voting? Yes, it's vital - but it's not the entirety of the process.

      I am mortally tired of "I don't/won't vote because I don't like any of the candidates." My question is, "What, exactly, did YOU do to get a candidate YOU like on the ballot?"

      Walk the neighborhoods?

      Man the phone bank?

      Write the newspaper?

      Do your research?

      ANYTHING?

      Or did you just lay back and take what the hacks and mandarins handed you?

      (And no, your efforts don't always win out - but even though you might wind up voting for a "safe" and insecure candidate, you'll have done your best for both your beliefs and your country.)

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  30. With that rant, you could run for Governor of New Jersey, because your rants are much better than Christie's. You say shut the F up and sit down better than he does. thank you for all those details about how the country is going in the right direction, no matter what the (R) say. I didn't have all of them, now I know how to look some more up.

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    1. Carol, in case you need some others… complete with the F-bomb AND all the links to sources: http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com

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    2. Anne, thank you. I'm glad I have come back and re read the comments.

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  31. Sorry if I am repeating myself ... I am so depressed I can't get commenting to work right. ;-)
    LOL ...
    I am in the doom and gloom camp and you made me feel better! THX!
    and if I show up as unknown it is because I can't get google to work right either - damn replublicans, it is their fault.

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  32. Jim Wright 2016!!!

    "The Wright Choice"

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    1. I use the word "Fuck" far too much and I don't believe in Jesus, therefore I could only get elected in New Jersey.

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    2. Can we at least hire you to be the campaign manager?

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    3. Jim, with this piece you nearly had me convinced that I could successfully run for office. And I would be a worse candidate. I probably swear just as much as you. I am openly Neopagan. I am a woman. I lack your military service. I have publicly declared that I am gay. I have never made more than 20 grand a year. And I have lived on Social Security Survivors Benefits for the last decade.
      But you know what? I bought 48 acres and a house and got it paid off in 8 years. While on benefits, with little other income. How's that for fiscal conservatism? Some may say I lack "executive experience", but I am a mother. It don't get more executive than that.
      Damn, Jim, if you can convince me I stand a chance, then you sure as shit do.
      Chandra in MO

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    4. Jim WrightNovember 5, 2014 at 2:38 PM
      I use the word "Fuck" far too much and I don't believe in Jesus
      ---------------------
      And that just might be what is missing in our government! More fire and fight and less religion. You, Mr. Stonekettle, are the missing ingredient!

      It's sad how often I hear intelligent people say, "oh no, not me, I'm not political material." Yet those that haven't the brains to know better, or have less than stellar ethics, have no problem with thinking they have a right to represent us. Which they rarely do anyway.

      We will forever be complaining about those we send to Washington, and we all know individuals we think could do better. But we should all serve in some way. In a capacity where we do our best. And until we can convince you to run, you serve us all with your writings.

      bd

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    5. Oh I haven't forgotten, I know you already served your country, more than we will probably ever know. But it doesn't ever hurt to ask!
      bd

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  33. This is what my circle has been saying (only you're exactly on-target) for 6 years. Each and every time Grimes refused to say "yes I voted for President Obama" she made me ashamed to be a Democrat. I miss Howard Dean as head of the Democratic Committee. His 50-state strategy focused on strong candidates in all races. Debbie W-S has been popular on TV shows for some reason but I never saw any winning strategy from her or the committee. Says something when Grayson won in Florida and no one is more tell it like it is than Alan and with a bunch of personal garbage stinking up his campaign he still won. I'm fortunate to be living in California in a safely blue area but my plans to move back to Iowa in a year or two are now on hold...Steve King AND Joni Ernst? Mowrer should have been elected simply because he's sane and former military. Ernst had that outraged Femi-thuglican reaction perfected - Braley should have run ads that said "look I'm dull, I'm a plodder but I'm not someone saying we're going to privatize SS or only follow laws we like - kind of like your kids telling you they are only going to obey you when they want...how's that working for you? The Harkin remark had him running, apologizing - heck I'd have said the candidate has called me and the President every name in the book and that's OK but just comparing her to a successful female singer is outrageous? Give me a break. So will be telling my 93 mother that I won't be moving back to Iowa...proving one of the reasons I left 40+ years ago are still valid. Marlene

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  34. Once again you are absolutely correct! Here in Colorado it was truly Democrats race to lose, and that's exactly what they did. With our job creation going from 40th to 4th in the nation and our unemployment down to 4.7% from 9.1% in the last four years, you would think we would be shouting that from the rooftops. We didn't... Instead we let republicans hold attention on fear. Fear of Isis, ebola, and immigrants. We are known as the thinnest and one of the healthiest states in the country but we elected a man who has 0% backing from food policy action groups and only a 50% rating with the american farm bureau. We shot down the personhood amendment in unquestionable numbers but voted in the man that sponsored the amendment to begin with. I'm not saying that who we had in office was perfect but the numbers don't lie. We are better off than we were four years ago and our elected officials that helped to make that happen should have been proud of it.

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    1. Lea, watching the returns on that one come in last night took my breath away--especially after Gardner's PATHETIC responses to his sponsoring the personhood bill--how many times did he just parrot "my support for that bill is simply my support for life" (or something like that)?

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  35. Well said.

    And I think that a much higher percentage of GOTP members are monsters - or at least empathetically challenged - than Democrats.

    But we have to deal with the GOTP being in power in the legislature for two years; let's figure out how to use their institutional sociopathy against them. Shouldn't be a stretch....

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  36. As we say in Texas, preach it, brother. We fouled up; now we need to clean up.

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  37. ya know that old saw about repeating history? couldn't al gore have a few things to say about distancing yourself from the president and how it turns out? learn or repeat. and yeah!! Gary Peters did stand with President Obama and we have a democrat for our new senator - and how many of the candidates who distanced themselves from the President are getting ready to storm washington? not too many. Go Gary!

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    1. thank you for that information. I couldn't remember who he was, did remember is was somewhere around the Great Lakes.

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  38. As an ex-broadcaster, I will applaud the mix of tones - you transitioned nicely from Jack Webb to Denis Leary, with a little bit of Rod Serling in the middle.

    (You do well at "writing for the ear".)

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  39. It's the same thing Dems did to Jimmy Carter. Dropped him like a hot potato.

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  40. It's sad if you actually believe this nonsense ... Obama is a joke and that's why his party distanced themselves from him

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    1. Oh, eat shit, asshole.

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    2. A joke? A joke that was the first Democrat since FDR to win a majority of the popular vote in consecutive presidential elections? Go TROLL elsewhere....

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  41. Best rant I think I've ever read --it was lyrical even.

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  42. Yes, yes yes! Why oh why can't Democrats just use common sense. President Obama won twice, big time. He beat the Clinton machine. He beat Romney's money that was infused with Koch money. As you said Jim, President Obama knows how to win.

    As an example, when I heard Allison Grimes deny President Obama FOUR times; when I she said nothing when McConnell said KyNect is JUST a WEBSITE, I said goodbye Grimes. Oh yeah, and when she said she's a "Clinton Democrat" whatever the fuck that is, I knew it was over.

    For two years, I've waited for elected House and Senate Democrats to at least come on MSNBC (which has gone over to the dark side) and stand up for President Obama. I waited for them to counter the lies of the Republicans. I'm still waiting. Stupid. They are just stupid. You are right. I'm a Democrat through and through. But damn we sure do need to grow a pair.

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    1. From what I can tell, "Clinton Democrats" are folks who believe, like all Democrats, in progressive policies and a fair deal for all but still just can't get over having a negro occupying the White House.

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    2. 'Ja think if Grimes had said 'Kynect IS Obamacare' about 150 times a day on the campaign trail, that the election might have turned out differently? --DC

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  43. Bravo, Jim, another spot on analysis of the situation at hand. I say that next election cycle we clone you and have YOU run for every seat available including President. (I know, I know, but a girl can dream, can't she?) How I wish the Democrats would grow a set. It's just so damn frustrating, but the way I look at it now is that we all survived the Bush/Cheney years and so the next 2 years will be a walk in the park. And hopefully the Republicans have been given just enough rope to hang themselves. Because, like you so aptly stated in another post, these a-holes don't have a plan and won't be able to accomplish a damn thing. Here's hoping that people will finally be ready to change out of their old stinky diapers (aka - politicians) when the next election cycle comes around.

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  44. Well, maybe I can really read all this tomorrow, and then probably apologize, but for tonight all I can think after the first 10 or 12 lines is kiss my ass. (BTW - I'm only putting anonymous because I don't know what those other things are. Kathleen)

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  45. I agree with all of it. The Democrats that tried to be more Republican than the Republicans deserved to lose. It takes guts to stand up for your beliefs and NOONE respects the gutless.

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  46. I personally like sweaters.
    Sullivan's shit-eating smarmy smile, fake Alaskan-riding on my wife's heritage BS made me want to vomit. On most everything else, you've got good points. Democrats don't show up and vote, they should have shouted their accomplishments from the rooftops.
    I still want to whine for a couple more days.

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  47. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I shall make a libation to all the gods that you continue your good work for many moons, and that ordinary people have the scales fall from their eyes & ears, so they can hear your message, and act on it.

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  48. Still, Obama lost in Alaska in 2012. I still wish Begich had stuck with him, but Begich's chances were not good, even so.

    It would have made a huge difference if the Democrats had delivered on the economy. They did few concrete things to keep people in their homes when the economy went sour and my own Democratic Senator negotiated away the unemployment extension. Bailing out the bankers and not the public was vastly and deservedly unpopular. The Democrats could also have made the case for the stimulus, which worked, and for Keynesian economic policies, which also work.
    Obama didn't do on any of that, and It's not just that the Republicans have been messaging negative; the Dems, Obama included, or perhaps Obama especially, haven't delivered for the vast majority of Americans.

    The public has a perfectly reasonable expectation that their elected leaders will manage the economy for the good of the whole of the people, and this neither party is willing to undertake.

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  49. PS. Can someone please explain to this baffled Aussie why the USA's political system has these mid-term elections at all? What purpose do they serve? What good do they do and aren't one set of elections every four years for Congress and POTUS more than enough esp. given the election for POTUS seems to go on for about half the term of office anyhow? Even allowing for Heinlein's Law about politicians being like fouled diapers which I knew before but not that he was the one who said it - cheers!

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    1. per the Constitution : House members are elected for 2 years, Senate members for 6 years
      Alaska Pi

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    2. Well- I rarely disagree so fully with your take on things Mr Wright but I do as regards Mr Begich.
      I do agree with your take on liberal whining in public though.
      I've got another day or so of breaking my toes kicking the shit out of inanimate objects in the privacy of my own home and I'll be back ready , game face on, to keep an eye on all the doofs my neighbors voted into office out of afearadness of everything.
      I'm getting old. Sure would be nice to get more done as a regular course of events but I don't see it happening any time soon so I guess I'll suck it up... again, still, once more.
      Alaska Pi

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    3. Members of the US House of Representatives serve a 2 year term, members of the Senate serve a 6 year term, and most state Governors, in addition to the President, serve a 4 year term. Hence the mid-term. Changing it would require an amendment to the Constitution. Some states have term limits but for the most part incumbants have an advantage. Basically we want the opposing party to have term limits but we don't want term limits for our candidate.
      The good news is that the local car dealerships and furniture stores will be able to advertise in local media again.

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    4. You got me smiling on that one! i actually missed the Art Van whatever today is Sale Commercials! thanks!

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    5. The reason for staggering elections is to prevent the possibly appealing notion of throwing out the entire government at once. It makes change slower, but not succumbing to the trendy also makes the government more stable. It does incur the danger of becoming too entrenched in partisanship, but if anyone thinks that this is a new phenomenon, go read the Federalist Papers.

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    6. Ok, I see the reasoning behind it now. Thanks.

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  50. Thanks for your brilliant essay. No one can put it into perspective like you. Anyway, you made me feel better. Barbara

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  51. I love this article and I wish someone would send it to every democrat, I would vote for a third term for this president if I could and wish someone would begin to give him the credit he deserves.

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  52. Hmm ..what happened to my first comment here? (Puzzled.)

    Basically, spot on as usual Jim Wright. Pointed out a typo "Breath" x 2 needs e x 2 to become 'breathe' doesn't it? Oh and maybe an exclamation mark just before it? Also big names going to Alaska - wasn't Caribou Barbie from there? (Sorry to remind ya but ..)

    Plus the Democratic Party might have done almost everything but this but at least they didn't literally - as in *literally* literally - mess their pants to try and avoid a fight like nugent apparently did. So .. could be worse?

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  53. You are about my age so I have a question: Are you starting to get tired of watching history repeat this self fulfilling prophecy over and over again?
    Remember 2010? A midterm that really did matter because of the horrible redistricting (gerrymandering) implications. The one the dems handed over like so much cake by all becoming blue dogs at once. Remember how the actual blue dogs (the ones who watered down ACA and every other part of the President's agenda) were the ones that got their asses handed to them? Defeated by the crop of screeching baggers?
    If it were not for 2010, we could all look forward to a massive 2016 "sweep out the trash" election, where the right would deservedly lose all three branchs at once.
    ...and they say the morons of the right have short attention spans, they focused long enough to gerrymander a congressional majority until 2020. A majority that combined with a packed supreme court may finally put the oligarchs in control and out of reach for the rest of our lifetimes.
    Two years of watching the President veto an agenda that sounded better in its original German may seem like a fond memory by the end of this decade.

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  54. Jim, just a question from a long way away in Texas...how did Mark Begich run to get elected in the first place? Did he run as GOP-lite then?

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  55. One good thing is that Blue Dogs and Blue Dogs lite are gone for the most part. It's time to recruit real Dems, train them in the issues and how to address the media gotcha questions.

    So much needs to be done and we need to fight the RW fear machine starting today.

    That's for writing this.

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    1. Given the choice between a Blue Dog and a teabagger, I'll take the Blue Dog any day.

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  56. Actually, two of the three Democratic folks I helped gotv WON...Colorado is ok...so far...not feeling the gloom and doom tho...Gardner was not a real surprise...folks seem to believe lies in times of stress...I have been wading through the Federalist Papers again, looking for something...I agree that PBO hasn't sounded his horn overly much, and the Dems jumping ship was disgusting...

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  57. Amen, Jim!! AMEN, AMEN, AMEN!! Just couldn't have said it better. I feel so much more hopeful after reading your posts--and all the comments from so many others who feel as I do. Thank you...

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  58. Talk to me more about the pot in every chicken. I'm interested...

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  59. One positive side-effect from our recent wars is the development of prosthetics for injured soldiers. Perhaps Democratic candidates could have artificial spines installed.

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  60. Thank you! Almost every single blue candidate pissed me off this cycle. They lost before any votes had been cast. So disappointing

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  61. I cogitated, I pondered, the wheels spun until smoke came out my ears and I came up with this reply.

    Yup.

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  62. Just awesome! You nailed it! ��

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  63. Jim, you'd do well as the Dem's answer to Karl Rove. Unelectable as you are you definitely have the inside track for the Dem's to win without being so turd-blossom-y.

    What Americans (well, all people really) yearn for is fairness, opportunity, and a leader who projects the demeanor of a winner - a positive person with a workable plan and a positive outlook. And Barack Obama seems to be one of the few Dems out there who still fits that description.

    We need more candidates who, when a reporter shoves a microphone in their face and says "I've heard you're a librul - are you a librul?" would answer "you're GD right I'm a liberal and proud of it - and since you asked, let me take this opportunity to tell you exactly why" and then do so in great detail.

    We need candidates who, when asked "did you vote for the president?" would answer "you're GD right I voted for him - he's the leader of my party - and since you asked, let me take this opportunity to tell you why in detail" - and then do so.

    The Democrats lost - and deservedly so. When you skulk around like a chicken-s**t loser, why do you think anyone would vote for you? When Democratic candidates and elected leaders start standing up for their convictions and put more value in those convictions than in their prospects for the next election, voters would recognize that as such a breath of fresh air they would be blown away.

    JZinFL

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    1. I like to think that most of us do, as you say, "yearn for is fairness, opportunity, and a leader who projects the demeanor of a winner - a positive person with a workable plan and a positive outlook." That's the polestar decent folks navigate through life with. But I must say, the corruption has made a mess of the maps.

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    2. JzinFL, You are right with what you say, I think that this day and age corruption has made a mess of things. Just like Morgan said^ but I like to think of President Obamas actions as though he is playing a chess game, you have to stop and think about what you are doing, if you go this way this will/might happen, if you move this way this will/might happen… he's playing a chess game, and he's pretty damn good at it, and all though you do not know what he is thinking you trust his thinking, and he has proven time and time again he is a president for the people. Alas…I don't think the vast majority of US citizens understand or know how to play chess.
      P.S. Turd-blossom-y my new favorite word!!

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  64. Jim,
    You earned your donation for the month with this one!
    Thanks for saying what you say and so well, Shipmate!
    Old Navy Comm O

    PS I also found comfort in the city election of Richmond, CA, where Chevron tried with $3 million to buy the election for mayor and city council and got not even one of their handpicked candidates elected! (City is suing Chevron for numerous environmental violations which resulted in residents having to "shelter in place" numerous times while the fumes cleared....)

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  65. Apparently Dems lost also because only a lousy 38% of the American electorate bothered to vote. As you might suspect, the GOP percentage of that figure was over half, or about 20% of the total American electorate. Doesn't that just frost your balls?

    Source: http://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=21869

    P.S. I voted in September before I left on a HAL cruise to Australia and NZ from which I wouldn't return until this upcoming Sunday. At least my vote was in line with the wins in my home state of Oregon - all the right pols won and all the right measures won. But I'm really bummed, and a bit suspicious (like any good conspiracy theorist) about the GOP big/landslide wins all over the USA in what polls were saying were "within the margin of error".

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  66. Yes to all of what Jim said. But there's more. The Democratic problem runs deeper than just being a bunch of chickenshits afraid of their own convictions and terrified of their own president. It's that truism: "Democrats fall in love and Republicans fall in line." Which, almost everywhere, is not just a truism but flat out true. Republicans will vote for a tin wind up toy like Romney so long as he satisfies their (short) checklist of implacable ideological positions. A list we can all recite in our sleep so I won't bother to spell it out. And they get the whole politics is a constant grinding process that you can never relax about. They are at it 52 weeks a year and never ever miss a chance to vote. Democrats on the other hand always want, and won't turn out unless they get, or are told they are getting, a messiah figure, which means they only show up every four years. Which brings to mind another true as hell truism: half the battle is showing up. Except in this case it's a whole lot more than half. Democratic candidates need learn to show up a hell of a lot more between elections, and Democratic voters need to get off their apathetic asses and show up in the polling booths. Every time. Even when it hurts.

    BB

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  67. Jim,

    You've nailed it, as usual. But I think you missed another large reason the Dems lost (or maybe left it out because it's not relevant to your central point), which is the dislike many voters have for both parties. KaJo (and others) mention low voter turnout, and many (here and elsewhere) are blaming that on the Dems not voting, but I think it goes beyond that.

    We had someone visiting us last weekend, and when we were talking about the election she said something like "I just can't stand any of them - they're all bad." I pointed out that even though this may be true, there are degrees of bad, and that sometimes you have to vote against the worst instead of for the best. (in fact, I have voted against more than for far more often in my 25 year voting history, and I told her so)

    She agreed that the Repubs are all worse (she's a teacher in NM and has seen firsthand the negative effects of many of their policies), but when all was said and done, it still wasn't clear that she'd go and vote against them rather than just sitting this one out.

    So on top of everything else, the Dems need to keep this kind of person in mind and figure out how to attract them, or at least not repulse them.

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    1. If you think the world is a dark place, falling apart at the seams, and people are basically pretty shitty, then you probably don't have much trouble voting for the least shitty candidate. If you think the world should be a beautiful place, and if we all could only pull together it really would be filled with rainbows and light, then you will never be happy voting for the least shitty shit.
      Of course the true answer is: the world is what it is. People are basically decent, but also greedy, fearful and small. And politicians are not the best of us. But if we don't hold our collective nose, every damn time, and vote for the least turdy turd, then we allow the most turdy turds, the shittiest of the shitty, to make all the running.
      We all wish we could live in the world your friend wants to live in, where the ballot paper offered us a choice between dark and light, lies and truth, slime and good character, but that's not this world. That's a fantasy world. That far too many on the side of light think they have some kind of right to live in. But they don't have the balls to face the turdy, shitty, but not always awful, facts.

      BB

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  68. Holy shit, Chief, holy fucking shit. You didn't just hit this out of the park, you hit it out of the state! You absolutely nailed it!

    When will Democrats learn that people don't vote for spineless? They made the exact same mistakes they made in 2010. Whatever consultants they're listening to need to be banished permanently. You can't win by acting like a scared loser. For fuck's sakes stand up for what you believe and defend it!

    Thank you, Chief. Thank you.

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  69. Spot on as always. Al Franken, a life long professional comedian knew how to win big. He ran exactly the campaign you suggest. Look at the result: 2008 - won by 312 votes vs 2014 - won 53% to 42%. This time he isn't in court for months sorting through thousands of ballots, arcane voting regulations, and law looking for the few votes among millions that will eventually save his Senate seat. How bad is it when a career Navy CWO and a career comedian can see what career politicians can't? Yeah, the Democratic party is fucked up but fucked up can be fixed while fucking crazy can't.

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    1. Don't forget Alan Grayson, who comfortably won re-election in FL by being...Alan Grayson. IOW, he went out and aggressively sold the Democratic message, he didn't run away from the POTUS, he didn't try to run as GOP Lite.
      The Democratic Party needs to tap Franken and Grayson to help with the 2016 campaign unless they want to be further marginalized.

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  70. I've spent the last six months trying to get out the Democratic and Independent vote. I kept posting on my FB page and elsewhere that it's not Republican voters, or even their best bud, Gerry Mandering, who elect rightwing nut jobs -- It's Democrats and Independents who stay home! I know I'm more passionate about my right to vote than most people -- I carried petitions door to door to win 18 year olds the right to vote, then turned 18 in 1972. I vote in every primary and every general, every year. I once even showed up to the polls when there was no race in my district. Thank you, Jim Wright, for telling it the way it needs to be told.

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  71. Amen Jim. Represent! If Democrats want people to stop thinking they are gutless pussies, than they should stop acting like it. It's ok to be beaten... but you MUST show up and fight.

    Peace
    Chris in South Jersey

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  72. You have hit multiple nails on the head...and even tho there were a few people before the election saying that it was a huge mistake to abandon the very impressive recovery in every way that has occurred since Bush, the Dems were just fools and chickenshits. They bowed before the bulls butt!

    Fox News keeps saying this was a "tsunami" -- it is more like a toilet backing up and overflowing shit on everything.

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  73. Jim,

    What do you think about the ACA going before the Supreme Court again over the subsidies for insurance through the exchanges? What about the timing of the Court agreeing to hear this case a couple of days after the election. I would love to hear your take on this.

    Eidelweiss

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    1. That case is all about a tiny bit of sloppy drafting. That is all. The intent of the legislation is crystal clear. But there are Justices on the court who are pretending it don't matter what the Congress meant. In a law that fills an entire volume. One phrase left out of one sentence in one paragraph.
      It's a farce is what that case is. Or will be if the wingers wing it.
      BB

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    2. The Roberts Court, working being the worst since the Taney Court. Seating the fifth radical-right justice without a filibuster fight was another way the Democratic Party surrendered to the right.

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  74. Amazing post, Mr. Wright... once again, you have offered us hard-core Dems an insight that is sorely needed. I posted this on the FecesBook and got way many people sharing it, which is all I wanted. I stay apolitical on the FB now because there's too much raving Republicanism and Jesus in there, so it works for me. However, your essay HAD TO BE SHARED. I hope it goes viral and your words of ass-kicking goodness do for many what they did for me. THANK YOU!!!!!!

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  75. Who won the election? The money won. The money bought the least liberal candidate in the primary, which left liberals with the option of voting for the lesser of evils. If Obama only knew what we would do if he would just stand up and be the liberal we need:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nuElu-ipTQ

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  76. And here we have a note that says that more was spent per ballot in Alaska than in any other state, a full 40% more than NH, the next most expensive state. In an environment so saturated with propaganda, is there any way the election could have been decided rationally?

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  77. Fabulous! At last at last at last...Every word perfect!

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  78. Excellent Jim - truly. Liberals fall in love, conservatives fall in line. Liberals vote their hopes, conservatives vote their fears. The other team played to their base better. We needed candidates that give us hope, and yes, even make us fall in love - not necessarily with the candidate but with an ideal, a vision. Those candidates were just not there in 2014. We had the lowest voter turnout in 65 years - that's a very sad thing. We took an ass whooping and it smarted, but I'm not a whiner nor a quitter and I'm ready to do what it takes to get back in the game and win. Thank you Jim, seriously..thanks.

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    1. Until Democratic voters grow up and figure out that they gotta get out and vote even when there's nobody to love, just some jerks who want to screw things up that have to be kept out of office, to vote even when the vision thing is blurry, cause the other side they got a vision all right and it's a dark one, until Democratic voters reach the state of adulthood where doing the least worst thing is good enough to stand in for hope until hope gets here- They deserve to lose. And lose big.

      BB

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    2. I agree. Not voting is voting for the other party.

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  79. Let's run them out of Washington in 2016!

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  80. Well yes, I am of a similar mind. Well fucking said. Bravo!

    http://www.brainspank.org/2014/11/asphalt-ballet/

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