I think the left leaning blogosphere just got punked.

[Clio the Leo]

1. POTUS/VPOTUS call out the "whiners"

2. those who THINK they are the subject of the remarks start ... well ... whining

3. Obama draws record crowd of young, enthusiastic, fired up voters

4. left leaning blogsphere look foolish and out of touch. "See these young voters? They're not listening to you ... they're listening to ME!"


You can mockingly call it 3d chess if you like, but it's what he does ... did it to the Clintons (compared Bill to Reagan, got them irate and caused them to overreact) and he did it to McCain (too many times to count.) I suspect he will KEEP doing it to anyone who gets in his way.... except, of course Ben Nelson. :)


President Barack Obama shakes hands after speaking at a rally Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010, on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, Wis.

[bluestateguy]

1. There is goo whining and bad whining

Good: Holding the Administration's feet to the fire on the issue we elected them upon.

Bad: "Oh heavens to Besey, these elections are going to be so bad. What are we going to do? The sky is falling, etc. "

[nofurylike]

3. Bad: "so i'm not going to vote." then, the "holding the

administration's feet to the fire" folks not standing up, with those of us who fight exhaustively every day to keep repukes out of power, and telling the election-boycotters that they are not on the same side, but that WE ARE on the same side. - that in bycotting the election - supporting repukes - they are a danger to us all....

that's bad.

[Whisp]

2. right on, Clio. K&R

[Divine Discontent]

4. going to see the POTUS is an event. Too bad he's not on the ballot, but not sure how that'd turn

out even. In all likelihood, youth voting will be very low in a few weeks for this congressional election.

I don't think it's positive to tell unhappy Democrats who you asked to keep you honest about your promises to 'stop whining' or being 'irresponsible'. When he says he's accomplished 70% of what he promised, many cannot help but realize that the big things were very watered down and heavily compromised into a joke. ("health" care bill being one of the biggest, when it's an insurance companies dream and is not single payer or even a public option, but it's something he checks off as being "accomplished")

Great to see a big record crowd regardless, and I hope it guarantees 90% of them will vote! It's important for the President to energize the base, because many of these races can be won! I don't think he hurts candidates by going around and doing rallies like these. He can be a very good generator of positive energy, and I'm sure he's willing to go where asked.

[LiberalFighter]

15. We don't need all of those that voted in 2008.

If our voters want to make sure they are heard they need to vote. If they had paid attention to what Obama has done since he was elected they wouldn't be so disappointed. And understand the ins and outs of the 2 branches of government.

If they don't make sure that Democrats maintain control of both houses they can pretty much forget about anything else happening that is needed.

There are so many different factors that will make 2010 different from other mid year elections.

[pa28]

5. Actually I think those playing "pile on the left" got punked.

The WH rhetoric seems more like a campaign strategy than an attempt at conversation. If you want to be a tool without really thinking about what it means then keep the misguided attacks coming.

To borrow a football metaphor we're in the red zone here. If we really want to be loyal Democrats and help local candidates we should be turning our attention to a cohesive message against Republicans.

[boppers]

20. WHOOOOSH!

Those who were trying to pile on Obama, Rahm, Biden, Warren, Geitner, Bernanke (etc. etc. etc.) got shown up as folks more interesting in tearing things apart than attacking the actual enemy.

Lets try an imaginary role play, shall we?

Disgruntled: "OBAMA IS A SELL OUT CORPORATIST!!!"
Obama: "I'm your ally, not your enemy. Attacking your enemy is a better tactic for winning."
Disgruntled: "OBAMA ACCUSED ME OF ATTACKING HIM!!!!"
Obama: "..."
Disgruntled: "OBAMA ISN'T REALLY MY ALLY!!!"
Obama: "..."

(Later)

Biden: "It's time to stop infighting and attack the Republicans."
Disgruntled: "BIDEN INSULTED ME!!!"
Biden: "..."
Disgruntled: "BIDEN ISN'T ATTACKING THE REPUBLICANS, HE'S ATTACKING ME!!"
Biden: "..."


...and so on.

[pa28]

25. OK. No sense of Irony but I'll re-phrase. More slowly this time.

This party is need of soul searching and we should do so at the right time.

Right now we have a little over four weeks until election and I want the food fight to stop long enough to focus our attack on Republicans.

Do you see how a bitter war between sides in the party just at the time the general public is beginning to pay attention might be a backdrop for disaster? Take Obama's jabs for what they are; a campaign strategy. Think twice before you consider it an instruction manual for how to behave in the final days before we vote.

[boppers]

26. Thank you for typing slowly. :)

I don't see a "bitter war between sides", however.

I see one side saying "The enemy is over there, and is attacking us now", and another side saying "No, I won't fight them, because my feelings are hurt."

Perhaps both of our irony meters are so far overloaded that we're missing the other's point.

[CTLawGuy]

34. right on the money

nt

[depakid]

6. When "punking" ones constituencies takes priority over fighting for their interests

that's a recipe for electoral disaster.

As seen here: http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/

And this in a redistricting year.

Wow.

[Clio the Leo]

9. I hardly think DC journalists constitute the party's constituency. nt

[depakid]

13. You and I both know that's not who's been- and who's beeing referred to

Tell you what though, it will be interesting to read what the DC journalists think of the "harangue the base" strategy on November 3rd and thereafter.

[Clio the Leo]

14. Clearly I dont....

.... as the subject of the thread indicates.

But, as I said, if you THINK they're talking to you.....

[LiberalFighter]

16. The damn efn media is creating the story beyond reality.

I wish there was a way we could turn a knob and shock the hell out of those that exaggerate the facts or lies.

[depakid]

18. If the administration and its surrogates would knock it off the story would subside

Crikey, Krugman warned them to knock it off last July.

[FrenchieCat]

23. Then it would be something else......

cause it doesn't really matter,
as long as it is negative.
Might as well be this story......

[depakid]

35. I suppose we could go back to arguing about "the mosque at ground zero"

even though the critical decision in the local planning process had already been made.

That was fruitful, too.

[Iris]

65. exactly. During mid-term elections of Bush's presidency, he was out BEGGING people to "help" him get

the job in Afghanistan and Iraq done by voting for Republicans.

Where's Obama's plea for that kind of support?

[provis99]

7. how come Republican leaders flatter the Tea Partiers,

while Democratic leaders love to shit all over the liberals?

[Clio the Leo]

10. Why do you think the Washington press is the totality of "the liberals."

.... 'cause I can assure you they're a tiny minority.

[SidDithers]

44. Did you just equate liberals on the left with Teabaggers on the right?...nt

Sid

[treestar]

64. The Tea Partiers fight

They don't give up in disappointment. They don't even have the Presidency or Congress right now. While they had it, they supported the hell out of Bush and the Republicans, in spite of the fact that they didn't win the wars right away, haven't eliminated Muslims from the face of the earth, abortion is still legal, gays are still allowed to be gay, divorce is still allowed. They have nothing of what they want and it's not close, yet they fight and never give up and support anyone even to the left of center of their side.

And you you likely would shrug these people off and say the left can afford to just give up. Makes it look like the left does not even want what it says it wants. Or at least, not nearly as much as the TPs want what they say they want.

All of the claims that the POTUS doesn't "fight" hard enough! From people who don't even begin to fight themselves! Ironic.

[FrenchieCat]

8. I don't think anyone got punked.....

I've read the writing from folks, some who even post here,
who have been complaining and unhappy about everything non-stop
since January 2009 about one thing or another,
but always unhappy, negative, cynically all knowing, patronizing,
and totally critical about whatever they could find....no matter the
issue...because their consistency has been in the negativity all along,
posted often and truly neverending.

They pretend that somehow, they were just holding the Prez's feet to the fire,
but unfortunately, anytime anything positive happened, they are never to be found,
until one of them finds something negative about the positive, then they are
typing a mile a minute. These folks haven't been punked, because most set up the
dissatisfaction meme from the get go...as they were always disatisfied, and always will be.

This stuff is so blatant, even a whining child whose feelings are hurt could see right through it.
The point was always to depress whatever audience they could find, and is still, to this day.

The President spoke the truth, and of course, like everything else,
they are thinking it's hell. But then again, most likely they love the hell,
cause it gives them some more negativity to push.

Which came first, the President addressing the whining,
or the whiners dogging out the President?

[Clio the Leo]

11. But to be clear, again, I'm not talking about your average voter....

.... or your average DU'er .... or even your extra-ordinary DU'er lol ..... I'm talking about people who make their living writing about the misfortunes of the President ... those who think of themselves as liberals/progressives but are nothing more than side-show snake old peddlers.


Chief among them...





and, of course my buddy....

[FrenchieCat]

17. Well, they have a living to earn.......

and there's no money to be made in being seen as a "Cheerleader".......

These folks pictured "opine" and not much more.
They don't have all of the answers, if any....
nor do they have a real clue on how to navigate politically to get anything done.....
they just know how to pontificate, and how to speculate, and how to gossip...
just like all of us know how to....
the difference is that they get paid to do it,
so they have more invested in being proven right.

Anything that Obama does that's good for the people, after all of this time,
will simply double their resolve to be proven right on all of the negativity that they have
peddled, and nothing else will do (although I do think that Ed has a soul, and will admit
to being wrong, when it is really, really obvious).

But in my eyes, the only folks who get punked, are those that follow these folks around,
just like the Beck Folks follow him around. There's not much difference
at all...since at the end of the day, these folks don't seem to ever be
part of any solution that is actually thoughtful, possible, and doable;
by that, I mean, they never actually listen to anyone that actually accomplishes anything
that helps the millions that are in real need.

[Bryan]

19. Nicely put.

There are a lot of ostensibly sympathetic media figures who are, in a practical sense, little different from the Republican base; they profited wildly from the Bush era and are insulated from the actual consequences of Republican policy.

[ClarkUSA]

28. So "left-leaning blogosphere" = professional shit-stirring media whores. Gotcha and agree.

Funny how your Gallery of Whiners feature two former Republicans (Arianna Huffington and Ed Schultz) and a PUMA (Jane "Grover Norquist and teabaggers are my allies" Hamsher).

BTW, you forgot to add Cenk The Young Turkey's mugshot. He's another former Republican. Biden hit a huge nerve, judging by the tantrum Cenk threw today.

[JTFrog]

30. I don't buy that former bullshit anymore.

Who benefits the most from their raving spewages? Besides their ever growing pocketbooks?

[druidity33]

32. oh, please...

really? Arianna too? You forgot Glenn Greenwald, John Cole and Krugman.

People are upset. They're not whining when they talk about the Civil Liberties we've lost since Obama took office or the failure of the Education system under RTTT or how every Bill passed seems to be compromised legislation.

Why don't you quit calling people whiners who have Legitimate complaints, whether you agree with those complaints or not. Why not try and address those complaints? Because i don't see that happening here on DU. I see a lot of name calling (whiner and conversely cheerleader) but no intelligent human discourse. There are a few exceptions of course. It's pitiful.

We're better than the Freeps, but man lately we haven't been acting that way...

:(

[Clio the Leo]

46. If I thought there complaints were legit, I wouldn't call them whiners...

... you'll notice I've not include folks like Kerry Eleveld, Dan Savage or Rahcel Maddow on that list.

People like Arianna make their living off of selling the news .... writing that Obama is awesome and everything is hunky dory (whether it is or he is) does not sell papers.

[Radical Activist]

12. It's a personality issue for some.

For the small group of people you describe, it really doesn't matter what Obama does. They'll always see Bill Clinton disappointing them again.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[uponit7771]

31. yeap

[Hello_Kitty]

24. That makes me really glad I canvassed for 2 and 1/2 hours tonight.

To log into DU and learn I've been "punked".

You're welcome. :thumbsdown:

[Clio the Leo]

47. Again, not talking about you love ...

.... unless you're really Ed Shultz. ;)

[Hello_Kitty]

50. Yes you are.

Your OP says blogosphere and when called out you change it to Ed Schultz.

[Clio the Leo]

53. lol .... I think I know who I was talking about...

.... and, again, I'm not talking about your average DU'er ... or your average voter. To voice displeasure at the President on a message board is one thing ... to get PAID for it is another matter entirely.

ETA: If you bash your party's leader for a living ... then you'd better buy some thicker skin for the inevitable blow back. If you can give it, you have to be able to take it. Again, "you" in general, not you specifically.

[Hello_Kitty]

58. Ed Schultz praises the President all the time.

If you want someone who has nothing but good things to say about the President what you want is a propagandist.

[Clio the Leo]

59. Ever notice how I've NEVER said anything negative about Rachel?

Or how many times I've, in my sad, hyperbolic way, called her the Walter Cronkite of our time? .... I think you and I would agree that Rachel Maddow is no Obama cheerleader.

Informed opinions, whether I agree with them or not, are always nice.

Rachel Maddow is a journalist, one of the best out there.

Ed Shultz is a side show carnie.

I'm talking about side show carnies.

And I think the administration is as well.

[Aramchek]

60. only whiners were punked. are you a whiner?

[lamp_shade]

27. Your Point #2. So true. So true.

[babylonsister]

29. "except, of course Ben Nelson."

:rofl: :thumbsup:

[Clio the Leo]

48. Even I am willing to admit...

... if my argument has a small, Ben Nelson sized hole. lol

COME ON OBAMA!!!! PUNK THE BLUE DOGS!!!!! ha!

[Mefistofeles]

33. What are you clio, part of the center-leaning blogosphere?

Are you a self-identified centrist?

[Clio the Leo]

49. No, I work in retail....

.... I dont write about politics for a living.

[girl gone mad]

36. Aside from bashing liberals 24/7, what do you stand for?

What do you believe in? What do you believe to be state of the union? What can we do to improve the sotu, or do you think it's perfect as is?

It strikes me that all I know of your point of view is that you are a tremendous fan of the person Barack Obama and you will go to great lengths to defend his every action.

[Dinger]

38. I Was Wondering The Same Thing

Kind of a nasty post directed at Democrats imo.

[w4rma]

40. Obama worship? DLC corporatism? Following others instead of leading? (nt)

[dionysus]

42. you can do better. try to work "cult" into it.

:eyes:

[Clio the Leo]

54. and "KoolAid" drinker. nt

[DevonRex]

69. Or "Obama freak."

Cuz you know we all hang around in airports, wearing long flowered skirts and handing out tracts saying "Follow Obama To Get To Heaven."

[dionysus]

71. one time wadsworth came in and caught me at my obama shrine. i quickly tried to hide the sage i was

burning, but the smoke had permeated the entirety of the upper chambers.

i was quite embarrassed, but wadsworth told me a story about his days of following the rolling stones, and i felt better about myself.

:P

[DevonRex]

73. I just waxed my Obama Summer of Love VW Van. It's periwinkle blue

and has yellow and pink daisies painted on it and Obama's face is in the center of each flower. And on the inside there's a black light and when I turn it on, Obama's teeth glow in the dark in all the pictures of him that I have tacked up.

You'll have to get one of these vans. That way you can have a mobile shrine and Wadsworth won't catch you burning sage again. But try salvia instead. At least that's what they burned at all those Neil Young and Led Zeppelin concerts. Or so I hear. :evilgrin:

[dionysus]

75. how many times have you seen neil? 5 for me.

[DevonRex]

76. Let's see...

Four that I can think of right now, but I have the feeling I'm forgetting one. Twice at Red Rocks, once at the Pepsi Center, once at Denver Performing Arts Complex and... Dammit. I'll have to think.

[dionysus]

77. ever with CSN? only the crazy horse shows for me.

[DevonRex]

79. Yep, one at Red Rocks and the one at

Pepsi Center. The Red Rocks one was Young's Living with War tour and he had CSN with him. The other was an out and out CSNY tour.

Well, doh. Twice at the Pepsi Center. So, 5 shows. Three with CSN, 2 by himself.

[treestar]

70. How many posts have their been demanding Obama "lead?"

Cognitive dissonance here.

[Clio the Leo]

51. lol ... when have I ever "bashed a liberal"? Link please. nt

[girl gone mad]

55. ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=459652&mesg_id=459652

[Clio the Leo]

56. ....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=459652&mesg_id=459717

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=459652&mesg_id=459722

I'm not convinced that someone who USED to be a Republican then started writing as a liberal once the Dems gained control of Congress counts as a liberal.

[Clio the Leo]

57. ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=433&topic_id=454617

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=433&topic_id=444420

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=433&topic_id=412549

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=433&topic_id=381476

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=433&topic_id=368427

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=433&topic_id=366887

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=433&topic_id=366688

.. and I'm now tired of searching.

Interesting isn't how the threads where we "fight with one another" ... even though I wasn't directing this thread to anyone here ... get more attention than the threads about actual policy?

[w4rma]

62. The OP attacked everybody here. (nt)

[DevonRex]

67. It didn't attack me. You think you're everybody? LOL. nt

[w4rma]

83. You're here on the "left leaning blogosphere", too, if you are posting here.

And I see you are and have posted here quite a bit.

Or maybe you think you're too snobby for the rest of us here on the "left leaning blogosphere"?

[pschoeb]

37. It's a free rock concert on a college campus, no surprise

The Nationals and Ben Harper played a free concert at a college campus, the numbers would be the high with or without the President.

[dionysus]

43. decemberists redux.

:rofl:

[Coexist]

78. rofl!

the Decemberists are HUGE!

that was funny

[Aramchek]

61. you really think 6,000 people would be standing in line outside the venue just to see Ben Harper?

give us all a big break.

[DevonRex]

68. Oh sure. I see 1000s of people standing outside sold-out concerts

ALL the time. :sarcasm:

Don't you? :rofl:

[Vinca]

39. It all boils down to who will get out and vote.

I am a proud, leftie whiner who will be voting. Can he guarantee all the young and enthusiastic in his crowd will do the same? Unlikely. They would have shown up for Lady Gaga, too.

[COLGATE4]

41. Perhaps - but let's see how many of the young, enthusiastic

crowd we saw actually go and vote. Past experience shows that the number will be disappoingly low. It's one thing to go to a pep rally with the President of the United States, quite another to drag your ass out of the sack on election day.

[Clio the Leo]

52. Yep. There in lies the question. nt

[Canuckistanian]

80. Gzactly

Show me a fired up crowd with a free concert by The Eagles.

Then 'll be impressed.

[DevonRex]

81. Good grief.

:eyes:

[joeybee12]

45. Whew! Got in just in time to unrec this crap!

This is my lucky day!

[HughMoran]

63. Not sure if it's all planned

...but he get's the picture - he's not as dumb as his critics.

[JamesA1102]

66. Well said nt

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

72. To my utter delight, Big Ed's poll the other night showed that 96% of viewers

agreed with the POTUS/VPOTUS. Though it's not a scientific poll, it was still good enough for me...

[ibegurpard]

74. yeah, he sure showed them!

[VMI Dem]

82. Unrec.

[jgraz]

84. Wow. How many dimensions of chess is this one?

:eyes:

[Fearless]

85. That's some fuzzy logic...

How do left bloggers impact those who go to rallies?