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Hissyspit
Hissyspit's Journal
Hissyspit's Journal
September 7, 2012
ELECTION 2012
AlterNet / By Joshua Holland
Obama's Big Finale at the DNC -- Dems Are More Agressive, United Than We've Seen in Years
Progressives had much to savor this week in Charlotte.
September 6, 2012 |
On Thursday night, Barack Obama strode to the podium and met all of our expectations, capping a week that may have marked a transition for the Democratic Party. But the defining moment of the convention – Obama's official nomination -- wasn't what stood out.
- snip -
But while Obama's talk offered few surprises, the convention did – and not just for the fact that (by my reckoning) he gave only the fourth best speech of the three-day event. Whereas twelve years ago, many progressives rightly saw little difference between the two parties, today that is only remotely true of 'national security' policy, broadly defined. On the domestic side -- on the economy, and a host of social issues -- the differences have become stark. This was the first time a major party adopted a plank calling for marriage equality. It was the first convention addressed by an undocumented immigrant. Despite the stupidity with the platform language about Israel, Democrats seemed more comfortable in being Democrats than they have in the recent past.
Perhaps as a result, there was far more excitement in Charlotte than there had been in Tampa, and that was visible from the first day. The best speeches offered unabashed defenses of a woman's right to control her body and full-throated populist attacks on the GOP's creepy cult of wealth. Several speakers talked of liberal policy ideas as a manifestation of “economic patriotism,” suggesting in less-than-subtle terms that their opponents care less about the republic than they do. We saw real diversity not just on the podium, as was the case in Tampa, but in the audience. There was a sense that while the Democrats were certainly reaching out toward “swing” voters, they were also unafraid of what the dopes at Fox News would say about their party.
In part, that's a reflection of the growth of an independent progressive movement that was largely nonexistent during the 1990s, when the hangover of Mondale's 1984 thrashing was still fresh and triangulation was all the rage. But it's also a reaction to the GOP's growing extremism – according to Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker, since 1975, “Senate Republicans moved roughly twice as far to the right as Senate Democrats moved to the left” and “House Republicans moved roughly six times as far to the right as House Democrats moved to the left.”
It's easy to be confident in your position on abortion when your opponents want to outlaw it without exceptions. There's no reason to be sheepish in calling for progressive taxation when your opponents want to effectively gut the federal government in order to pay for deep tax cuts for those who don't need them. And it's easy to openly embrace diversity when your opposition is a party made up of white, married Christians – a declining demographic – who throw peanuts at a black woman while yelling, “this is how we feed the animals!”
In a sense, the roles Democrats and Republicans have long played are now being reversed. We live in a liberal democracy, and today the Democrats are defenders of the status quo -- "conservatives" in the true sense -- while the right wants to roll back the last century, and that may ultimately end up strengthening the Democrats' spine.
We saw a party in the middle of a gradual transition in Charlotte. We still live in the only industrialized country without a party of labor. We still face the seemingly unkillable zombie of austerity lurking in both major parties. We still don't have a party that seems up to the challenge of truly addressing our environmental crises. Democrats still feel the need to embrace a hyper-masculine discourse on war and peace. They still use too much of Frank Luntz' poll-tested conservative frames.
But progress isn't made overnight, and for those of us who have been fighting to push the Democratic Party into closer alignment with the views of its progressive base, this convention ought to give progressives a moment savor.
MORE
Joshua Holland: Obama's Big DNC Finale - Dems Are More Agressive, United Than We've Seen in Years
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/obamas-big-finale-dnc-dems-are-more-agressive-united-weve-seen-years?akid=9354.24869.OiPXks&rd=1&src=newsletter706089&t=1&paging=offELECTION 2012
AlterNet / By Joshua Holland
Obama's Big Finale at the DNC -- Dems Are More Agressive, United Than We've Seen in Years
Progressives had much to savor this week in Charlotte.
September 6, 2012 |
On Thursday night, Barack Obama strode to the podium and met all of our expectations, capping a week that may have marked a transition for the Democratic Party. But the defining moment of the convention – Obama's official nomination -- wasn't what stood out.
- snip -
But while Obama's talk offered few surprises, the convention did – and not just for the fact that (by my reckoning) he gave only the fourth best speech of the three-day event. Whereas twelve years ago, many progressives rightly saw little difference between the two parties, today that is only remotely true of 'national security' policy, broadly defined. On the domestic side -- on the economy, and a host of social issues -- the differences have become stark. This was the first time a major party adopted a plank calling for marriage equality. It was the first convention addressed by an undocumented immigrant. Despite the stupidity with the platform language about Israel, Democrats seemed more comfortable in being Democrats than they have in the recent past.
Perhaps as a result, there was far more excitement in Charlotte than there had been in Tampa, and that was visible from the first day. The best speeches offered unabashed defenses of a woman's right to control her body and full-throated populist attacks on the GOP's creepy cult of wealth. Several speakers talked of liberal policy ideas as a manifestation of “economic patriotism,” suggesting in less-than-subtle terms that their opponents care less about the republic than they do. We saw real diversity not just on the podium, as was the case in Tampa, but in the audience. There was a sense that while the Democrats were certainly reaching out toward “swing” voters, they were also unafraid of what the dopes at Fox News would say about their party.
In part, that's a reflection of the growth of an independent progressive movement that was largely nonexistent during the 1990s, when the hangover of Mondale's 1984 thrashing was still fresh and triangulation was all the rage. But it's also a reaction to the GOP's growing extremism – according to Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker, since 1975, “Senate Republicans moved roughly twice as far to the right as Senate Democrats moved to the left” and “House Republicans moved roughly six times as far to the right as House Democrats moved to the left.”
It's easy to be confident in your position on abortion when your opponents want to outlaw it without exceptions. There's no reason to be sheepish in calling for progressive taxation when your opponents want to effectively gut the federal government in order to pay for deep tax cuts for those who don't need them. And it's easy to openly embrace diversity when your opposition is a party made up of white, married Christians – a declining demographic – who throw peanuts at a black woman while yelling, “this is how we feed the animals!”
In a sense, the roles Democrats and Republicans have long played are now being reversed. We live in a liberal democracy, and today the Democrats are defenders of the status quo -- "conservatives" in the true sense -- while the right wants to roll back the last century, and that may ultimately end up strengthening the Democrats' spine.
We saw a party in the middle of a gradual transition in Charlotte. We still live in the only industrialized country without a party of labor. We still face the seemingly unkillable zombie of austerity lurking in both major parties. We still don't have a party that seems up to the challenge of truly addressing our environmental crises. Democrats still feel the need to embrace a hyper-masculine discourse on war and peace. They still use too much of Frank Luntz' poll-tested conservative frames.
But progress isn't made overnight, and for those of us who have been fighting to push the Democratic Party into closer alignment with the views of its progressive base, this convention ought to give progressives a moment savor.
MORE
September 7, 2012
5 Brilliant Things Barack Obama Did In His Convention Speech
By: Jason Easley September 7th, 2012
President Obama did a lot of good things in his convention speech, but here are the five brilliant points in his acceptance speech.
1). The Republican Obsession With Tax Cuts
What Obama Said, “Now, our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn’t have much to say about how they’d make it right. They want your vote, but they don’t want you to know their plan. And that’s because all they have to offer is the same prescription they’ve had for the last thirty years: “Have a surplus? Try a tax cut.” “Deficit too high? Try another.” “Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!”"
Why it was Brilliant: The President could have made some dry argument about tax cuts, but instead he made a joke that was completely true. No matter what the problem is, the first Republican and sometimes only Republican solution proposed is tax cuts. Obama’s tax cut humor was not only true. It is going to be replayed and repeated for the next 24 hours on every newscast.
2). Mitt Romney the Blustering Bumbler a.k.a George W. Bush
What Obama Said, “So now we face a choice. My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy, but from all that we’ve seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly. After all, you don’t call Russia our number one enemy – and not al Qaeda – unless you’re still stuck in a Cold War time warp. You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can’t visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally. My opponent said it was “tragic” to end the war in Iraq, and he won’t tell us how he’ll end the war in Afghanistan. I have, and I will. And while my opponent would spend more money on military hardware that our Joint Chiefs don’t even want, I’ll use the money we’re no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work – rebuilding roads and bridges; schools and runways. After two wars that have cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars, it’s time to do some nation-building right here at home.”
Why it was Brilliant: President Obama used his Commander in Chief status to remind viewers of George W. Bush, the Republican pro-business president who blustered and bumbled the nation into two wars. The characterization of Romney as stuck in a time warp also plays into the idea that on the world stage he will be another George W. Bush, and the last thing roughly two thirds of the American people want to see is a return to the days of W.
- snip -
4). Obama Takes Back the Flag
REST AT LINK[p]
5 Brilliant Things Barack Obama Did in His Convention Speech
http://www.politicususa.com/5-brilliant-barack-obama-convention-speech.html5 Brilliant Things Barack Obama Did In His Convention Speech
By: Jason Easley September 7th, 2012
President Obama did a lot of good things in his convention speech, but here are the five brilliant points in his acceptance speech.
1). The Republican Obsession With Tax Cuts
What Obama Said, “Now, our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn’t have much to say about how they’d make it right. They want your vote, but they don’t want you to know their plan. And that’s because all they have to offer is the same prescription they’ve had for the last thirty years: “Have a surplus? Try a tax cut.” “Deficit too high? Try another.” “Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!”"
Why it was Brilliant: The President could have made some dry argument about tax cuts, but instead he made a joke that was completely true. No matter what the problem is, the first Republican and sometimes only Republican solution proposed is tax cuts. Obama’s tax cut humor was not only true. It is going to be replayed and repeated for the next 24 hours on every newscast.
2). Mitt Romney the Blustering Bumbler a.k.a George W. Bush
What Obama Said, “So now we face a choice. My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy, but from all that we’ve seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly. After all, you don’t call Russia our number one enemy – and not al Qaeda – unless you’re still stuck in a Cold War time warp. You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can’t visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally. My opponent said it was “tragic” to end the war in Iraq, and he won’t tell us how he’ll end the war in Afghanistan. I have, and I will. And while my opponent would spend more money on military hardware that our Joint Chiefs don’t even want, I’ll use the money we’re no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work – rebuilding roads and bridges; schools and runways. After two wars that have cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars, it’s time to do some nation-building right here at home.”
Why it was Brilliant: President Obama used his Commander in Chief status to remind viewers of George W. Bush, the Republican pro-business president who blustered and bumbled the nation into two wars. The characterization of Romney as stuck in a time warp also plays into the idea that on the world stage he will be another George W. Bush, and the last thing roughly two thirds of the American people want to see is a return to the days of W.
- snip -
4). Obama Takes Back the Flag
REST AT LINK[p]
September 7, 2012
President Barack Obama - 2012 Democratic National Convention Video
September 7, 2012
PART 2:
PART 3:
Pres. Obama DNC Speech - Parts 1-3: 'They Want to Take Us Back to An Era of Bluster & Blundering...'
PART 2:
PART 3:
September 7, 2012
U2 - 'City of Blinding Lights' Inauguration 2009
September 7, 2012
Springsteen! Yeah.
"We Take Care of Our Own." The song is a question, of course...
September 6, 2012
Ex-employee of Bain-managed firm: ‘Personal experience’ tells me Romney likes to fire people
By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, September 6, 2012 14:13
As America enters the final throes of the 2012 presidential election, rife with it’s own unique set of problems and platitudes, the Obama campaign appears determined to party like it’s 1994 by resurrecting a powerful jobs-based platform that crushed Mitt Romney’s first election bid for national office.
That’s why former AmPad employee Randy Johnson was on the front lines of the Democrats’ rhetorical war on Wednesday night, just as he was in Romney’s 1994 campaign against Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA). “Mitt Romney once said, ‘I like being able to fire people,’” Johnson told convention delegates. “Well, I can tell you from personal experience, he does.”
Johnson was one of about 350 people suddenly fired one morning in 1994, after his company had been purchased by the Bain-run AmPad. “They rushed in the security guards and we weren’t even allowed to take our personal items. They handed us job applications and told us, ‘If we want you, we’ll let you know.’ Now, the truth is, some folks were hired back. Lower wages, fewer benefits, no retirement. But many others weren’t. And seven months later, they closed our plant for good.”
That should sound familiar to astute political junkies who recall the 1994 campaign. Johnson and the closure of AmPad turned out to be terrifically effective public relations, and Sen. Kennedy used it to bludgeon Romney’s aspirations into defeat. And even though Johnson skipped a few important facts, like the labor dispute and strike that occurred while Romney says he wasn’t actively running the company, Bain did ultimately fire everyone once Romney was back the helm in 1995.
MORE AT LINK[p]
Ex-Employee of Bain-Managed Firm: ‘Personal Experience’ Tells Me Romney Likes to Fire People
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/06/ex-employee-of-bain-managed-firm-personal-experience-tells-me-romney-likes-to-fire-people/Ex-employee of Bain-managed firm: ‘Personal experience’ tells me Romney likes to fire people
By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, September 6, 2012 14:13
As America enters the final throes of the 2012 presidential election, rife with it’s own unique set of problems and platitudes, the Obama campaign appears determined to party like it’s 1994 by resurrecting a powerful jobs-based platform that crushed Mitt Romney’s first election bid for national office.
That’s why former AmPad employee Randy Johnson was on the front lines of the Democrats’ rhetorical war on Wednesday night, just as he was in Romney’s 1994 campaign against Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA). “Mitt Romney once said, ‘I like being able to fire people,’” Johnson told convention delegates. “Well, I can tell you from personal experience, he does.”
Johnson was one of about 350 people suddenly fired one morning in 1994, after his company had been purchased by the Bain-run AmPad. “They rushed in the security guards and we weren’t even allowed to take our personal items. They handed us job applications and told us, ‘If we want you, we’ll let you know.’ Now, the truth is, some folks were hired back. Lower wages, fewer benefits, no retirement. But many others weren’t. And seven months later, they closed our plant for good.”
That should sound familiar to astute political junkies who recall the 1994 campaign. Johnson and the closure of AmPad turned out to be terrifically effective public relations, and Sen. Kennedy used it to bludgeon Romney’s aspirations into defeat. And even though Johnson skipped a few important facts, like the labor dispute and strike that occurred while Romney says he wasn’t actively running the company, Bain did ultimately fire everyone once Romney was back the helm in 1995.
MORE AT LINK[p]
September 6, 2012
Top Ten Ways we are Better off than in January 2009
Posted on 09/06/2012 by Juan
It is breathtaking impudence that Republicans should try to campaign on whether we are better off than were were in the last six months of the Bush administration. I can’t believe we are even arguing about this. Seriously? The country had fallen off a cliff in the last years of Bush, or rather had been pushed off one by GOP policies.
1. In January 2009 we lost 600,000 jobs. In 2008 over-all, we lost 2.6 million jobs, the most in 6 decades! We’re now adding over 100,000 jobs a month.
2. Home mortgage foreclosures had spiked 80% in 2008!
3. We were at war in Iraq in January, 2009, with 314 American troops killed in 2008 in what had become a fruitless quagmire launched on false pretexts in contravention of international law. The US military is out of Iraq, despite the lobbying of the Republican Party and elements in the Pentagon to try to stay there in the teeth of Iraqi opposition.
- snip -
6. Non-hydro renewable energy only supplied 3% of American electricity; now it is nearly 6%, in large part because of Obama incentives. Green energy reduces carbon dioxide emissions and so helps decrease the worst effects of global warming, and its increases US energy inedependence.
- snip -
10. Dick Cheney was vice president!
REST OF LIST AT LINK[p]
Juan Cole: Top Ten Ways We are Better Off Than in January 2009
http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/top-ten-ways-we-are-better-off-than-in-january-2009.htmlTop Ten Ways we are Better off than in January 2009
Posted on 09/06/2012 by Juan
It is breathtaking impudence that Republicans should try to campaign on whether we are better off than were were in the last six months of the Bush administration. I can’t believe we are even arguing about this. Seriously? The country had fallen off a cliff in the last years of Bush, or rather had been pushed off one by GOP policies.
1. In January 2009 we lost 600,000 jobs. In 2008 over-all, we lost 2.6 million jobs, the most in 6 decades! We’re now adding over 100,000 jobs a month.
2. Home mortgage foreclosures had spiked 80% in 2008!
3. We were at war in Iraq in January, 2009, with 314 American troops killed in 2008 in what had become a fruitless quagmire launched on false pretexts in contravention of international law. The US military is out of Iraq, despite the lobbying of the Republican Party and elements in the Pentagon to try to stay there in the teeth of Iraqi opposition.
- snip -
6. Non-hydro renewable energy only supplied 3% of American electricity; now it is nearly 6%, in large part because of Obama incentives. Green energy reduces carbon dioxide emissions and so helps decrease the worst effects of global warming, and its increases US energy inedependence.
- snip -
10. Dick Cheney was vice president!
REST OF LIST AT LINK[p]
September 6, 2012
BREAKING: Democrats Nominate Barack Obama for Second Term as President.
Source: Associated Press
Sep 6, 12:15 AM EDT
DEMS NOMINATE OBAMA FOR SECOND TERM AS PRESIDENT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Democrats have nominated Barack Obama for a second term as president, setting up a showdown this fall with Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
In a raucous roll call of states that stretched into early Thursday, Ohio put Obama over top, giving him a victory that was a foregone conclusion before the first caucus in January.
Four years ago, Obama prevailed in an epic primary fight against Hillary Rodham Clinton to become the first black presidential candidate to lead his party. This time around, Obama was the only Democrat on the ballot in every state and former President Bill Clinton put Obama's name in nomination.
Democrats are scheduled to nominate Joe Biden for a second term as vice president later Thursday.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CVN_OBAMA_NOMINATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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