Montana's lone Representative to the U.S. Congress, Republican Dennis Rehberg, was injured in a boating accident in Montana Thursday evening.  See it at....

http://www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_6cad3fbc-93f3-11de-8d60-001cc4c03286.html

I've been horribly perplexed watching the right wing hysteria concerning health care reform. Apparently we're all going to be living in collectives or reeducation camps, forced to grind granny into Soylent Green, while Obama sends the Sandmen after any oldster spry enough to escape the fryer. Thousands of amok running state funded abortion doctors will be selling baby parts wrapped in the Constitution, and millions of wise Latinas will be cloned from stem cells to oversee the Workers Paradise.

Holy crap! I don't know ANYONE who is happy with their insurance. Mundane everyday claims denied, apparently just to see if they can get away with it (there's easy money in just checking the "nope" box), getting dropped because you had the audacity to get sick, profit motivated leaches (not government bureaucrats) standing between you and your health care provider, and on and on and on.

Then it finally struck me. Stockholm Syndrome. These people have been abused by the system for years, and the Right is playing on their fears such that they can't leave the status quo. Scared abuse victims going with the devil they know.

It's going to be a hard road. I'd be interested in other thoughts on why the Right can so successfully twist people to agitate/vote against their own self interest, and how to turn it around.

Ok, so it's not Cronkite laying out the failure of the Viet Nam war, but in this infotainment soaked country I think it's dam close.  Whoever came up with synapse challenged idea of suspending the campaign should be withering to dust under the baleful gaze of the candidate.  Watch the video (HuffPo links to YouTube for an edited 10 min clip of the highlights.)  Think of the audience that went out too.  Not TPM wonk news junkies (viva elitistas!) but I'm betting primarily those who are just getting interested.  There was high interest in the upcoming debate, and you don't move the opening game of the World Series.

It might have worked when you actually had to climb on a horse and JOURNEY to Washington, but now we've got "the email" and videoconferencing, and TELEPHONES for crissakes.  Do all the communicating and negotiating you want, and I bet you could even put a vote on a shedule so you can fly on one of those aluminum aeroships and get to DC in plenty of time.

The wise pundit Paul Schaeffer described it succinctly.

A Drubbing

The title says it all.  Charles Blow used it in his NYT column today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/opinion/20blow.html?ref=opinion

I literally shot my coffee out my nose (no, it was NOT pleasant).

Everyone's had a pretty intense week, so in the interest of completely inane therapeutic goofitoffity, would any of you all like to populate the rest of SnowJobs world?  Keep it clean please, it's a family show.

Just saw on Rachel Maddow, and other sites, that McCain spokespeople are yakking on about her not cooperating with (the bipartisan instigated) "troopergate" investigation, and are essentially taking over her defense.

What the hell?!  I'd think most Alaskans, on either side of the aisle would get pissy about these outsiders mucking around in their state business.  Are we going to see any push back?

Just askin'.

Short post.  Lipstick, pigs, elderly fish, erotic kindergarten  education.

I've seen all the responses that go along the lines of "McCain's attack is cynical",  "What a cynical attack" yadda yadda yadda.

I realize bullshit isn't a term that will play on prime time news, but take any statement with the word cynicism and substitute the word bullshit and I think you're much closer to the mark.  Joe Sixpack may think getting all cynical is an namby pamby response to being dissed, but he certainly understands what "calling bullshit" means.

I'd love to see Obama in the first debate look McCain in the eye and say "you ran an ad saying I promoted sex education in kindergarten.  It's a huge load of crap.  Is shoveling crap on all Americans your campaign platform?"

Sorry for the rant, but I'm up to my ears in cynicism today.

After reading the Roger Simon article awhile back titled Relentless, I was struck by the absolutely crazy obsession these guys had with getting more votes.  It's like they think you can win an election by having more of those quaint little tokens than the other guy.  Concentrate on the Electoral Map as the battleground?  Puh-Leaze! We know the election is really won by who's side has generated the largest volume of pundit spittle and bile.

Palin the Stepford Bulldog has indeed energized the base with magic teleprompter inspiration, and time will tell whether it's reborn or simply a reanimated corpse, but it's numbers are static at best.  Obama's campaign has been about expanding his base.  No matter how energized with zombie-like power the Republicans are, they can't win if they are fewer (conspiracy theories notwithstanding).

Has Obama got McCain fighting the wrong battle?

I guess for Dem supporters it comes down to the grunt work of registering and getting out the vote.  Not as sexy as cage matches with neocon pundits, but it can win an election.