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mcShame campaign in a Nutshell - Update and Commentary
Early in Sept I called the repub campaign this way: Lie and Cry (wolf). With "lie" subsuming both tactics. This still applies. This is how their campaign behaves.
Now an even darker undercurrent is apparent. One which I'd describe as what the mcShame campaign tries to stir up in its followers. Again I can boil this down to two words: Arouse and Inflame. They are playing on passions.
Into a campaign which had been tired and boring, they poured "Palin." Eye Candy. That's the Arousal Part. You doubt that? Look at this article and accompanying picture.
Now put that together with recent events inciting crowds through comments geared to inflaming hatred, resentment, and rage. I doubt I need to provide any links.
So there you have it. What they do is Lie and Cry (wolf). For the purpose of inciting their supporters via the two most powerful passions. They want to Arouse and Inflame.
So we have this titanic struggle going on. Between Obama, who appeals to reason, restraint, our better selves. And mcShame who appeals to the basest animal instincts.
(I realize ClearThinker won't like my terminology. But all I can say in reply is mcShame!)
Now an even darker undercurrent is apparent. One which I'd describe as what the mcShame campaign tries to stir up in its followers. Again I can boil this down to two words: Arouse and Inflame. They are playing on passions.
Into a campaign which had been tired and boring, they poured "Palin." Eye Candy. That's the Arousal Part. You doubt that? Look at this article and accompanying picture.
Now put that together with recent events inciting crowds through comments geared to inflaming hatred, resentment, and rage. I doubt I need to provide any links.
So there you have it. What they do is Lie and Cry (wolf). For the purpose of inciting their supporters via the two most powerful passions. They want to Arouse and Inflame.
So we have this titanic struggle going on. Between Obama, who appeals to reason, restraint, our better selves. And mcShame who appeals to the basest animal instincts.
(I realize ClearThinker won't like my terminology. But all I can say in reply is mcShame!)
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TheraP, I think we are seeing the start of the brownshirts here in the US. They just need to agree on a uniform.
Violence is already starting.
October 19, 2008 10:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
And let us not forget the children in the mosque in Ohio who were gassed back in Sept.
Dreadful.
What the mcShame campaign is seeding landmines. Landmines across the land.
October 19, 2008 10:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a lovely symbol of hatred in Ohio http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/19/racist-obama-effigy-hung_n_135971.html
October 20, 2008 4:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
The video Josh posted yesterday of the attendees standing outside a Republican event was appalling. Even after Obama is elected, no enlightened dialogue will ever reach people like that...but it's disgraceful for a Republican presidential ticket to pander to them. History won't absolve McCain, any more than it will Bush.
October 19, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
TheraP, you said it yesterday in a blog (can't remember which one and my comment thingy is slow or not working) that fascist control of the people is close!
I don't know if you saw my reply that included a quote from McCain in August where he advocated use of the military for social control.
Damn!
October 19, 2008 11:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
I missed your comment yesterday, seashell. (and good to see you by the way) Mine was related to how the mcShame folks are unleashing something, which they hope will lead to Dems acting out, so they then can claim a need for cracking down and restoring order.
Your comment is exactly the kind of thing I am referring to.
What I think the mcShame folks miscalculate is this. They are able to incite their own supporters. And they mistakenly assume they can also manipulate and incite Obama supporters to lash back. They're wrong. Obama's whole demeanor and campaign encourage us to transcend our passions and put them to social use in adaptive ways.
But mcShame is unleashing people. He's taking away constraints. Just like military training does. It eliminates the taboo against violence. mcShame is doing something similar. It is the most degraded thing any politician can do, I think. To undo social order.
And then what you point to is the next step. Once you've branded certain people as unAmerican. And you've empowered a mob mentality. Then, God help us! We're in for Fascism. And a crackdown by the most vicious members of society on the intellectuals, the poor, the homosexuals, etc.
Our best hope, then, is the very kind of campaign Obama is running. Together with the fact that his supporters will not retaliate through violence.
The worst case scenario is "fake supporters" doing dastardly deeds. I pray this never occurs.
October 19, 2008 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think it's really hard to do the "fake supporter" game these days. Anyone sufficiently nutty enough to do something like that would have already left a giant trail of slime online, as well as past party and group affiliations... I think the bigger and (hopefully) quicker story to come out of it would be "Impostor Dems Try To Make Obama Look Bad."
October 19, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you, acewrap! I think you're right!
(they might be stupid enough to try... but like Joe the Plumber, it won't last 24 hours!)
October 19, 2008 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent post!
October 19, 2008 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
For me, the Obama campaign is a perfect example of Ghandi's principle, "you must be the change you want to see." I must admit that deep down, I want to see the war criminals and false patriots dragged out into the streets; the Obama campaign quells me into hoping they will just be swept from history.
October 19, 2008 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
I so agree. Of course we feel angry. But Obama brings out the best in us. As did Ghandi. As did MLK. As does the Dalai Lama. Yes, change comes first from inside ourselves.
October 19, 2008 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
You left one thing out - one of the ways they are inciting and inflaming their supporters is through sex.
Specifically - Palin, the sexy candidate.
October 19, 2008 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
It really is disgusting. She was acting like a second rate stripper up there during the debate.
I really don't get how people seriously want to put her anywhere near the presidency. It scares the living shit out of me.
I attended a GOTV rally recently with a former PUMA. It was beautiful. She was still pissed about Hillary, but she was furious over Palin.
October 19, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I didn't leave that out, Tena. I referenced the very article you mentioned yourself (that was in the prior paragraph).
Two passions. Sex and aggression.
I often skim myself and miss things. But indeed you are right on target in terms of the points I was making!
October 19, 2008 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oops - I'm an idjit.
I read your post too fast. I did click your link; I'd already read the article but I should have put it together.
I remember everyone used to call what the Repugs do appealing to our lizard minds, which I think is a bit silly, since nowhere in our evolution do lizards actually appear, IIRC.
What we are are an overgrown, overstimulated troop of chimpanzees. They are appealing to those instincts that never developed above that level - sex, hatred of the "other" and intense tribalism which are about the same thing - all the instincts we have evolved sophisticated psyches to try to keep under control.
October 19, 2008 1:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eggzakly.
October 19, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
(not the idjit part of course)
October 19, 2008 5:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
You've nailed it, Tena. The biologists classify us as cooperative predators. Fear of the other. Aggression unleased. The Repukes are going for the lizard stuff.
October 19, 2008 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Lizard minds" isn't the proper analogy. It's appealing to the part of our nervous system common in all species within the subphylum Vertebrata. So it's appealing to that part of our brain we share with lizards. I believe what you fail to understand about the Republicans appeal to what we share with lizards, is that it is actually a reach across the aisle and upwards from their broad base of gastropods.
Your chimpanzee analogy is way out of line. It defames Bonobos, a species which the human race could learn lessons from.
The part I don't get is Palin's physical attractiveness. She's truly not my type. The thought of her carrying a make-up kit out on a moose hunt in the bush is more baggage than I could possibly sanely deal with. No, no, no, not in my tent! It is blasphemous to the god of nature. It must have some sort of dark Freudian undertow I am immune too.
== == ==
Hey TheraP! Are you doing alright? There's light at the end of the tunnel, but still miles to go before we can actually see the sun again. I've been mixing it up with the Paultards on libertarian/third party boards, and have now been associated with the "anarchist" wing of the LP. It's a badge of personal honour given that they barfed-up Bob Barr on their ballot this year.
Liberty and Justice must be for ALL or NONE. there is no third way. Will peace; the else is manifest evil.
October 19, 2008 10:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
PseudoCyAnts, I've missed you, buddy! I've been writing up a storm since the Palin nomination. Now heaving sighs of relief (sort of).
I promise you I will Will Peace.
And I totally agree our liberties are for all or, I'd phrase it, for naught.
I hope to see you here more. It's gotten better here, especially lately. And I notice that many more reflective pieces are being written. Perhaps because we can all breathe a bit more easily. Or we feel the winds of change - even though, as you say, miles to go before we sleep.
Well, I've missed your amazing ability to "play" with words and ideas.
October 19, 2008 11:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
"For All or Naught" is very good.
This codebase running this site has made marked evolutionary leaps since I last did more that quickly visit it. Still has too much of the transitory Web_2.0 flog-and-roll feel. It's understandable, as pop and fresh data streaming does wonders for page views, and the revenue creating click-throughs are but an infinitesimal fraction of those. I can have fun riding the waves of change about as well as anybody, but there is still a need for static cling methods, for eddies and pools that allow for conceptual iterations on a theme. (still working on this, but stillness/resting will always an essential part of working the changes, or it is not growth, not building substance from chaos blocks)
I need variation in interactions presently though, so looks like I'll be ravening round these here parts for at least a bit.
October 20, 2008 7:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree totally, ThersP. Where clearthinker's thinking gets fuzzy is in comparing what goes on here with repub reactions. I believe the two disparate parties have fear in common. I genuinely fear the republicans and their policies. However, I have experience the repub policies and I know how toxic they are.
The big difference is that republican voters fear Obama, but they fear him because they believe the lies that are not even rational on any level. They have no idea what Obama or the Democrats for that matter stand for. They're willing to believe because he's different, because he's Black, or? I don't know exactly.
October 19, 2008 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, I have another post up (just after this one, you can click on it above) and I think you pose something that links these two posts. FEAR.
I think we Dems are fearful of things getting worse and worse if the repubs get in. We truly want change.
And I wonder if the repubs sense that true change is coming. And that scares the bejezus out of them. They may be folks who don't like change and don't really want that in-between-time when you're letting go of the old and the new has not yet come into fruition.
I wonder if we haven't already let go of the old. But not the repubs. They're hanging onto it for dear life. And ready to do battle in their fear that change will mean letting go of all they hold near and dear.
So thanks for your words. And even your questions. They helped me to put these thoughts together.
And to see that these two posts of mine are in a way two sides of a coin.
This one - trying to analyze the mcShame campaign.
The next one - trying to parse how Obama is a transformation figure.
October 19, 2008 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, they do not fear. They hate. They may distort the latter as the former as justification, whenever they at-best-semi-consciously reflct on themselves. But, no: they are too full of themselves, their false righteousness and arrogance, to fear.
And it is not only dangerous to believe they fear -- look at the males in the photograph in the article to which TheraP links; they aren't showing fear -- but almost tantamount to making excuses for them. If you're trying to feel compassion for them, fine; but though compassion understands, it does not also necessarily affirm or agree.
October 20, 2008 9:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
ThereP - Thank you - as usual. You have excellent posts. This is exactly what we need to think about in the 16 days until the election.
As David Plouffe said in his video this morning, we cannot get complacent. There is no sewer deep enough to hold all the venom, all the hatred McCain and the repugs will unleash in the next two weeks. We have to be ready, not just with money, but with our time - canvassing, phone banking, networking, GOTV, voter protection efforts. We need many, many attorneys in battleground states as the repugs effort to intimidate and disenfranchise voters, especially minorities and first time voters, is going to be huge, much worse than 2004 or 2000.
Some more endorsements (Bloomberg, Hagel, Lugar perhaps) would help but essentially it's on all of us to work as hard as we possibly can for the next two weeks. Otherwise, I think we'll be facing armageddon if McCain is elected. People I connect with in phone banking and canvassing feel this way as well.
October 19, 2008 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
You've taken this to the next level. Thanks. All your advice is excellent. We cannot waste this moment... or risk seeing it evaporate.
October 19, 2008 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you. I saw it slip away in 2004. I am very worried about voter intimidation. The Obama campaign is actively recruiting attorneys to travel to battleground states - I've been phone banking to donors who are attorneys for several days now asking if they can help. And, working in the Chicago volunteer office, I've heard some stories from people who are out canvassing about really nasty voter intimidation in both Indiana and Ohio with the early voting. Here is the campaign's own voter protection area:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/vrachome
Common Cause has a voter protection site also, but it's non-partisan and I do not feel would act with a true sense of urgency. How do we get the word out on this to a wider audience?
October 19, 2008 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I saw it slip away in 2000. That killed me!
As for the word getting out about voter protection, just you wait! I'm sure we'll get ample info coming. Wed maybe from Obama?
We'll hear. This is long in the planning. And I'm very glad of it!
October 19, 2008 8:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
My favorite Gandhi quote which Barack uses in "Audacity" is:
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win".
Aren't we at the last days of the "fight" stage now?
Now all this hate talk is turning into Obama being hung in effigy in OH outside Cincinnati.
http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/jnail/blog/&blogId=4953
For the life of me I just don't get it other than the final dying gasps of a wounded and dangerous rogue "elephant".
October 19, 2008 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think we're in those last stages.
For years I've spent too much time talking to other liberals online. What is amazing me these days is how every single thing we all predicted has happened and continues to happen -
I know we all thought that if Bush got a 2d term, everyone would end up totally sick of him and sick of the Repugs cause most of us thought they'd break the country in just about the way they did.
And we all thought they'd go down fighting like cornered weasels, and that's just what they're doing.
They never reckoned on a movement against them - they thought they'd hold the majority and we'd become irrelevant. They thought they were America, end of story.
I wonder how many of them will wake up and realize that in fact, America doesn't like them much at all?
October 19, 2008 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
They are indeed taking the low road. A sorry Republican tradition.
October 19, 2008 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting, I went to the article and this is what I came away with:
===============================================
But some male fans do seem to feel a deeper connection to Ms. Palin. To a surprising degree, they mention the unusual nature of her candidacy, the chance to make history, break the glass ceiling.
“They bear us children, they risk their lives to give us birth, so maybe it’s time we let a woman lead us,” said Larry Hawkins, a former truck driver attending a rally late Thursday at Elon University in North Carolina. Mr. Hawkins said he would rather vote for Ms. Palin than for “McCain and Obama combined.”
Men have done plenty to mess up the country, he said. “The sexual drives and big egos of male leaders have gotten in the way of politics in this country.” Mr. Hawkins said he talked to fellow truckers, and a lot of them feel the same way. “They think it’s time for a woman, too,” he said. “This one. Palin is our kind of woman.”
There is a kind of “conservative feminism” here, and several men cite the appeal of Ms. Palin as a can-do caretaker. She can be glimpsed lugging an overstuffed bag of books, papers and baby supplies onto her plane and bottle feeding her infant son, Trig.
“I love the idea of someone like her being allowed into the White House,” said Matt Cude, who drove three-hours to Weirs Beach from Jericho, Vt. It would be “absolutely fantastic,” he said, both for women and for the country.
Mr. Cude brought along his teenage daughter, Kate, who was holding a copy of National Review, with Ms. Palin on the cover. Kate made her way to the front of a rope line and asked Ms. Palin to sign it. Ms. Palin did so, signing her name in large letters across the headline, which said, “The One.”
October 19, 2008 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for your comments, Dsidero. What I find interesting about "it's time we let a woman lead us," is the generic nature of that comment. As if any woman would do....
I wonder if indeed any woman would do.... Intriguing.
But do you find Obama transformational? And if so, how?
October 19, 2008 8:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent, you made it through paragraph 2. A gold star.
Now how about we continue to paragraph 3 before we take a break? “They think it’s time for a woman, too,” he said. “This one. Palin is our kind of woman.” There, now go get some apple juice in your sippy cup, good girl.
October 20, 2008 2:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes: Palin was chosen as much for the white male vote as for the women's vote. It appears it is getting mostly the former -- and it is all sex-based.
What these fantasists don't "get" is that Palin is beyond their reach. She wouldn't look at any of them twice -- and the first and only time would be looking down at them.
October 20, 2008 9:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
For what it's worth, since my name has been invoked several times in this blog and commentary, I will post the blog which is being referred to.
Make no mistake, there is not shame in pointing out illogic and lies. It is not a crime to force emotionalism back with rationality. I have never claimed passive resistance. And I believe in the aggressive fight.
But I do want to be perceived as better than the opposition. I don't want to just win, I want to transform.
October 19, 2008 8:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for posting these thoughts. Well pulled together. :)
October 19, 2008 11:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, but you said it over here, not there. ;-)
October 20, 2008 12:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
I didn't realize you wanted me to say it over there. I was referring to what you said here. :)
October 20, 2008 12:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Parents are reporting that the horrible calls talking about Obama and terrorists and bombings are scaring the hell out of children who pick up the phone.
You can sign a petition to John McCain to protest the ugliness of his campaign at http://therealmccain.com/.
October 20, 2008 4:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
McSlimer couldn't care less. He wants to be president, and nothing will stand in his way. Honor? Forget it. Morality? You're laughing too, right?
Reason? What -- are you nuts!?
October 20, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
TheraP, love your posts and enjoy your comments all over TPM. I do have a question and a favor to ask. First, I'm curious about your avatar. what is the significance of the eighth note in conjunction with the other symbols? As a favor, can you, or any other commenter for that matter, instruct me on how to create (or choose) and avatar and insert it into my comments? Thanks in advance.
October 23, 2008 10:30 AM | Reply | Permalink