The most shocking thing, and the worst thing, about the fake healthcare riots and the very real thuggishness of the paid Republican operatives involved in them is not that they're happening. That's what Republicans do, after all. No, the really terrible thing is that by all appearances, the Democratic party was caught completely by surprise.This persistent Donk trope is patently hilarious, authentic frontier gibberish if I ever heard it. Yo, Trist, you think a congressman's "town hall meeting" is a spontaneous eruption of the popular will? A dorm-room bull session? A real, uh, give-and-take?
-Tristero at Digby's House of Ohmigodohmigodohmigod!
In fact, there is a certain art to it, a performative metafiction in which one phony, staged event interrupts another phony, staged event, prompting a whole lot of phony, staged outrage on the part of various partisan actors. Town hall meetings, explicitly promoted as attempts by one political party to "sell health care reform" to their constituency are interrupted by the other party's agitprop operatives. Woe betide Democracy!
32 comments:
"less filling!"
"tastes great!"
I can't believe it's not butter!
postmodernist crap. you think there's no difference between these 2 "modes of discourse"? you're full of it. the representative who sets up the town hall makes no promise to obey whoever shows up, or even take notes assiduously. but interesting things do get said, heard, and carried forth. you wouldn't want to live in a country that never had such meetings, and you know it, so why make believe? the other "mode" is infantile thuggery, and you know that, too. so wake the fuck up, weimaraner.
"but interesting things do get said, heard, and carried forth."
Like what?
in a healthy representative political system, town hall meetings would be spontaneous and consist of angry mobs outside corrupt politicians' homes making demands.
Wave of the future, Dude.
you wouldn't want to live in a country that never had such meetings, and you know it, so why make believe?
Dude, I do live in a country that never had such meetings. Whether I want to or not is irrelevant.
Weimaraners are fast and powerful dogs, but are also suitable home animals given appropriate training & exercise.
"socialist!"
"astro-turfer!"
...i think the best part of the back and forth so far was the claim by Pelosi that the protesters are showing up with "swastikas and symbols like that" to the dem's spontaneous eruptions of democratic orgasm on healthcare.
godwin's law goes IRL
They were Nazis, Nancy?
they're nihilists, IOZ, nothing to be afraid of.
well, since Mr. Fun is not here...
Oh, come on IOZ, they were threatening castration! Are we gonna split hairs here? Am I wrong?
...i thought maybe "castration" should be paraphrased, but at this point i am not entirely sure that phrase will not be thrown into the mix in the next week or so. here is to hoping...
the pwog is going ape shit that their big chance might be slipping through their fingers...
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/achenblog/?hpid=opinionsbox1
is there no cognitive dissonance on this stuff for these men? how is it possible you think its perfectly reasonable for 100 people to make far reaching decisions for 300 million, but if 6 people emerge to try to take over the process and affect those 300 million lives...OMFG THE SKY IS FALLING
Rodney King wants to know "Can't we all just get along?"
As someone who has taken cash from both parties to be a professional dick, I can say without hesitation that there is nothing authentic about any town hall, q&a, conference call or any other event where constituents get anywhere near their elected officials. The events are perfect little Potemkin villages to begin with, complete with pre-picked supporters in the audience to ask the right questions. The manufactured opposition is (usually) equally scripted. Not in a conspiratorial way or anything, it's just that the big funders who throw money to local 501(c)3 and 4s who organize earned media events typically have a narrow set of talking points on any given issue. It's gotten somewhat more sophisticated, but if you watch a lot of the intercept videos on youtube you'll see a similar script.
The funniest thing about the whole kabuki dance is that whenever there is genuine grassroots activism, it freaks the hell out of professionals. Actual volunteers terrify the shit out of politicos.
So no incremental improvement in our collective lot is possible? The dems lack of perfect virtue, and our unworthiness, absolutely precludes anything other than a complete overturning of the system from having any positive effect? This is the wisdom of the great and powerful Ioz? Someone pull the curtain, I can't take it anymore!
Brother, the Donk doesn't lack perfect virtue. The Donk lacks virtue. Exeunt.
So no incremental improvement in our collective lot is possible?
Mo' betta? Small steps?
Feel free to take your incremental improvement and ram it right up your collective lot, you useless couch-dwelling do-nothing pwoggie bloggie demotard.
AlanSmithee: The charm of Karl Rove with the vocabulary of Frank Booth.
bush leauge psych-out shit. laughable man. ha ha!
a professional dick
A brother shamus?
Like an Irish monk?
Well, maybe you and me could pool our resources, you know, trade information? Professional courtesy? Compeers, you know?
STAY AWAY FROM MY FUCKING LADY FRIEND MAN
I'm just helping her conceive, man!
Don't tase me, bro.
So no incremental improvement in our collective lot is possible?
I'd say so, depending on how you're defining collective. Individual improvement in your personal lot however is far easier to accomplish and a much better use of time.
Mongo only pawn in game of life.
better than a prawn in the sea of life.
You mean, the United States is not nor was intended to be a democracy? The sky is falling and I want my mommy.
I've got information, man! New shit has come to light!
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