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and the destruction has already begun. The proof is in the pudding. If you have been listening to the media and listening to conservative voices closely then you know this. Where are the accusations of "cut and run" liberals? He told us that we leaving Iraq. Where are the accusations of "weak on defense" and "won't keep us safe"? He told us he is not going to torture or compromise values. Are you seeing a pattern here? Obama, using the language of bi-partisanship, has tactically destroyed all there famous talking points. Big Vs. Small government. Free market Vs. Socialism. All the typical false debates are now laughable. This is no accident.
Obama is going to work across party lines and behind the scenes its going to sound a little bit like this. You can work with us on this or lose your seats. If we all work together, then the (R) brand might survive and this will give you guys time to come up with a party platform. But, none of the traditional platforms you have are realistic in this political climate and you know it. Resist us and you will hear frames such as, "housing is the foundation of communities and families." "Health care is a moral issue and insures a respect for life" "Personal responsibility means that the government does not legislate a moral code, individuals and groups in communities need to be personally responsible for their members".
We finally have a tactical politician as a leader. He does not show other players his cards. He will go an entire campaign and not mention "affirmative action" much because he wants the media to comment on his "post-racial" campaign. Instead, equality, ending bigotry, appealing to reason and debate, and creating a government that works. He worked the media like a champ, "Obama is not meeting with prominent black leaders, Wooo!". I guess that means that the themes of equality, tolerance, and ending bigotry refers to the plight of the white man. Ha!!
Economic parity, really, you hearing it? Thats redistribution. I love it!! For once a leader that understood, avoid certain words or the debate will become about those words. Re-frame and re-label our issues so that you can have an opportunity to explain to people what these "post-partisan" programs might look like. Go figure, when Americans have the opportunity to listen to our programs and evaluate them without any pre-existing negative attitudes or biases, they sound really great.
For anyone who does not understand what post-partisan means, it means, calling us a liberal (etc) will have a negative effect because we are in an era of post-partisan politics. Thats what it means. Its a rhetorical trick bc an opponent denies his competition all of the typical frames and concepts. Of course, the evidence that we are post-partisan is that when you start the name calling, I'm going to start talking about "having reasonable disagreements" and "respecting others opinions" and remind people that I am not going to engage in the "old politics". The end result is that the perception of a post-partisan government begins to emerge as reality. One looks like a strong leader and the other one looks like a petty, mean spirited, out-of-touch, and desperate opponent.
By the way, "realizing our common interests" is one of the most common phrases used by Marx. I was loving it during the election because they were calling him a communist but could not even put it together that he was using one of Marx's favorite concepts regarding social relations. Obama understands the the capitalism Vs communism debate is false as pure forms of either have internal contradictions and that is why they don't exist.
The final blow to the repubs will be his plan to deal with international conflicts. Finally, someone gets it. Reaching out to marginalized regions via development and trade undermines conflict and increases the stability of economic relations. It is also an aspect of macro economics that stabilizes the jobs of nations. You ever notice how our jobs and corporations take advantage of war torn area's. This is because conflict decreases property values, wage labor rates, and breeds the exploitation of natural resources. If people are fighting, they must sell their resources for weapons. If it is developed, then local, regional, and international business block multinational corporations ability to re-locate. It is the most fundamental predictive relationship in economics, development explains 90% of economic activity. It has been studied time and time again and is the most stable of predictive economic relationships. This makes so much sense we should not have to even study it. Schools, roads, housing, etc, are necessary components of a successful economy. If you plant the seeds of a basic infrastructure, a forest emerges, and in the process people decide that development is better than killing each other. Duh! You want air-conditioning or a bullet in the head? We did more to
So, what does the repub. party have to offer? The answer is nothing. They will need time to come up with some new idea's. Thats all they have ever had anyway. They don't legislate, they attempt to define culture by embedding it in federal documents such as defining marriage between men and women. Thats what they offered the religious right, a definition.
Well, if liberal states can pass laws that protect civil unions then why can't they pass laws that establish "super-duper marriages", which include all the same protections, plus healthcare. I know, I know, its not marriage, its not equal and its a separate social institution. We can call it the separate but better movement. Why do we always assume that when haters deny groups something, we assume that this means we must think in terms of having less? I wonder if the state will prosper significantly from the economic stampede of people and employers who want to relocate? I wonder if we could organize region specific tax incentives that target the employers of the haters? This would not really be too difficult to begin in a small liberal state. You hate, you lose your job. Yes, its economic war-fare as a response to the culture war those assholes started. Who do you think is going to win? How many states will we turn before those assholes say uncle. How do you like that bitches.
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