Obama hits McCain on 'great progress' in the economy
By Steve Benen Monday Jun 02, 2008 7:30amLast week, Obama went after McCain on the GI Bill. Over the weekend, Obama continued to hammer away at McCain’s confusion over the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. And yesterday, in a speech in Troy, Michigan, Obama highlighted a classic McCain quote.
“Senator McCain says we have made, and this is a quote, ‘great progress economically’ these past eight years, and he promises more of the same.
“Well, I couldn’t disagree more. Since George Bush took office, we’ve gone through the first period of sustained economic growth since World War II in which the incomes of American workers have actually dropped. 7 million more Americans don’t have health care. 1 million more Americans are out of work. Millions of families are facing foreclosure. You’re working harder for less, and paying more for tuition, more for groceries, and more at the pump.
“To me, this isn’t ‘great progress.’ This is a cause for concern and an impetus for change. Yet Senator McCain wants to double down on the Bush economic plan.... In fact, Senator McCain conceded not long ago that he didn’t know much about the economy. That’s not his interest. That’s not his priority. But it will be mine.”
The “great progress economically” originally came up in mid-April, and it was one of those gems we just knew we’d be hearing again.
When Obama first started pursuing this, a very annoyed McCain campaign responded, “American families are hurting and Barack Obama is being recklessly dishonest. It is clear that Barack Obama is intentionally twisting John McCain’s words completely out of context.”
Is the McCain campaign right? Is the “great progress economically” line being taken out of context? Not so much.
ThinkProgress has the video clip of McCain chatting with Bloomberg Television in April. The reporter offered the senator a “version of the Ronald Reagan question,” and asked, “Do you think if Americans were asked, ‘Are you better off today than you were before George Bush took office more than seven years ago?’ What answer would they give?”
“Certainly, at this time, we’re in very challenging times. We all recognize that. Families are sitting around the kitchen table this evening and figuring out whether they’re going to be able to keep their home or not. They’re figuring out whether they’re, why it is that suddenly and recently someone in their family or their neighbor has lost their job. There’s no doubt that we’re in enormous difficulties.
“I think if you look at the overall record, and millions of jobs having, being created, etc., etc., you can make an argument that there’s been great progress economically, over that period of time. But that’s no comfort, that’s no comfort to families now that are facing these tremendous economic challenges.
“But let me just add, Peter, the fundamentals of America’s economy are strong.”
McCain suggested that he’s familiar with the difficulties currently facing millions of American families, but when asked about the economy under Bush’s leadership, McCain believes that the “overall record” points to “great progress economically” over the last seven years. The context shows that McCain seems vaguely aware of the fact that some have enjoyed this “progress” more than others, but McCain’s overall assessment of the Bush economy is a positive one.
And Obama seems anxious to remind voters about this. My hunch is Republicans will erupt, much the same way they did about the “100 years” line, but the quote is accurate. McCain said it, he meant it, and now he’s being called on it. McCain may wish he could take it back now, but it’s too late.
As for Obama, I can’t help but enjoy seeing a Dem presidential candidate go on the offensive and stay on the offensive, especially on subjects that seem to irritate McCain to no end.
Noting Obama’s rally tonight at the site of the Republican convention, Ezra noted, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say the strategy here is to tweak McCain often enough that he uncorks his famous temper and forces the American people to decide whether they really want to hand the presidency to a cranky, touchy old man. Actually, come to think of it, I don’t know better....”
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1st!
The only people "Enjoying" THIs economy are the corporate managers.
The Lords of the Land.
We Serfs are hurting.
I do as well. I just hope that we (Dems) can keep up the pace and the pressure.
GOBAMA!
Today's the day, folks.
The next step towards taking back the White House.
The next step towards taking back our country.
The next step towards taking back our stature in the world.
GOBAMA
This could be fun, actually. Since we have watch Obama handle months of crap being thrown at him (from within his own party as well as from the Repugs) getting under the skin of the old dude shouldn't be too difficult. Not only will he lose it, the rest of his self-serving party will eat each other up trying to affix blame somewhere. When these nut cases are through with each other, maybe we can pull together and get to work on the set of horrific issues we now have to deal with because of their mishandling - as I count it - everything.
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 2:
Unfortunately, the people enjoying this economy are the opinion makers. Moooooo!!!
Great economic progress for some http://www.aztlan.net/oiltanker.htm and http://rawstory.com/news/2005/....._1011.html
I'm fantasizing about a presidential campaign that has the Dems unified, and the Repugs eating their young.
It's a bright, shiny fantasy, and it's so close I can almost smell it...
Yes, we most certainly can.
seazen @ 5:
Right on! Get him and them with their own words and deeds. They will have to outdo
themselves with outrageous spins, to sell McBush to the public---minus the unthinking
26%.
NICE! Damn that guy is good. Now just if the feminazis would get over the loss of Billary, I'd say Barry [Horace] O'Bama has got a pretty good chance of getting elected (especially if you emphasize his Irish roots, he'll clinch Boston no problem. Hey O'Bama! You need a new church? The Catholics are always welcoming to new members. We look especially good now that the Pope finally met and apologized to the abuse victims. C'mon, give us a try. :-D )
Great economic progress for some http://www.aztlan.net/oiltanker.htm and http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=118&contentid=2857
This is the real change. For once in a very long time, our Democratic candidate is committing the crime of not conceding positions to his opponent. This was what John Kerry did, you know, in order to appease the "centrists" that wanted to make sure we all played nice. So Kerry conceded that some of Bush's positions were valid.
Bush drank his milkshake in the election.
Republicans have gotten so spoiled with this that they don't really even try anymore. Their platforms are whatever sounds good to them, and they expect Democrats to fail to oppose them with any substance, concede ground to them, and lose.
I have a 48-year-old coworker. An NRA Republican. Living in the woods in southern Indiana. She's recently changed her registration to vote Democratic in November. She has told others that she will either vote for Barack Obama, or Mickey Mouse in November. But she won't vote for John McCain. She is afraid that another four years of this bullshit will be the end of the middle class.
Bush's policies succeeded for years and years and years because he only hurt some people, some of the time. But I think the signs have been evident at least the 2006 election that a tidal wave of change is washing over the electoral sentiment. So now he's gone for broke, and he and his corporate cronies are hurting all of the people all of the time. And they've started to notice in record numbers.
Here's to the end of the Kleptocracy of Bush.
sounds like somewhat of an error on obama's part. when mccain says there have been great strides in the economy and he promises more of the same, Obama replies with: he couldn't disagree more. right on one count (could the economy be any worse?) and wrong on the other (McCain promises more of the same). I would agree with that. His policies reflect the policies of GW therefore we can expect more of the same from McSame.
If Senator Obama can just keep the lid tight on McCain's boiling pot and keep turning up the heat, the pots gonna blow at some time. Hopefully in front of a microphone and a camera.
From what I understand, McCain does not like people who disagree with him on anything. So if Senator Obama just keeps pointing out McCain's screw-ups, McCain has to begin to seethe.
The economy has turned so many corners
It reminds me of Iraq
So I'm getting dizzy
And ready to hurl.
This is why so long as we don't take the fight to the convention, we win. Pissed off patricia ia right--he's a boiling pot. When McCain squeals about taking quotes out of context, turn up the heat. Watch pots blow over. Supply microphone and camera.
take off the gloves and hit full force. expose them for what they are. I still would like to see impeachment proceedings. Even with obama in the oval office surrounded by sage advisors and a Congress that will ratify his proposals, the cleansing still has to occur for the country to heal. we've been through a terrible period, worst in our short history, but for us to survive and re instill our place among great nations on the planet, a thorough cleansing must occur and the wrongdoers and their supporters must be sought out, impeached, prosecuted and incarcerated. only then can we begin the healing.
no longer a proud american @ 17:
As Jack Nicholson says in Batman, "This town needs an enema."
At last, a presumptive Democratic nominee who knows how to throw an effing punch. Al Gore was too nice and Kerry was, strangely for a guy who actually fought like Rambo, too much of a wimp. I'm feeling better about this guy. Obama is not the sort of guy to take smears and BS lying down. I wish I could have said that in 2000 and 2004.
From TP ThinkFast (& USA Today):
55 percent: Americans surveyed who said their families were financially worse off than they were a year ago. The USA Today/Gallup poll finds that “Americans are more downbeat about their personal financial situations now than they’ve been in decades.”
McCain is an over-ripe tomato. Watching him slump and rot isn't going to be pretty. By all rights and measures, the Republican nomination was his in 2000, and I think we'd be in much better place if he'd been president. But unfortunately this is saying much given the chimp droppings we're wading through.
Obama is a man for this time and place, and that is the only thing I thank GW for. Good thing there is dark rock on Washington's right at Mt. Rushmore.
no longer a proud american @ 17:
I absolutely agree! Impeachment has as much to do with showing the world and ourselves that we will work aggressively to protect our Constitution and the (former?) reputation as the World's Greatest Democracy. Even if these birds are "pardoned" at least some cleansing has to take place, and Impeachment will get everyone to look at what's been done to our country.
pissed off patricia @ 14:
You got that right POP, McKettle is likely to start whistling a few days into being questioned about the economy and his constant memory problems.
McSame is right the 2% have made great progress while the rest of us fall farther behind by the minute.
But republicans don't give a shit about anyone but themselves after all wasn't it jesus that said do unto others before they do it to you? that is the christian republican way of life!
[Deleted. Off topic. Let's look at the headline: "Obama hits McCain on 'great progress' in the economy". That doesn't say "[candidate of your choice here] hits [candidate of your choice here] on [statement of your choice here]". Please take it to an open thread. Thank you. Site Monitor]
dan hussien @ 4:
United we cannot lose. The Democratic Party is STILL the party of the people. The GOP never cared about working people...EVER. It was liberals and the Democratic Party that created the Great Society. Hopefully, the lesson has been learned, once and for all.
We are going to take back the country. We are going to show...once again...how you REALLY raise all boats. How you REALLY bring about economic prosperity for ALL. How you REALLY bring about justice and fairness and equality for ALL. How you make friends in the world, gain allies in the world and serve as a beacon of hope for all.
The elitists have had their fun...at the expense of the common man and on the dime of the common man. Government and business operate for the betterment of society, not as lord and master over serfs. The people control their own destinies and the destiny of the country.
It's time to show all those who question our patriotism, what it really means to be a patriot. It's time to show all those who would deny rights to others in the name of protecting "family values", what family values REALLY are. It is time to show those who have called us cowards, what it really means to be brave.
Let's get on with it.
McCain is trying to make Iran and Ahmadi Najad the issue of this campaign.
He thinks that is the real issue now.
Since McCain does not know or care about the economy,he is looking for a way to win..and what better way for a guy like McCain other than to scare the hell out of people by continuing to compare Iran to Nazi Germany.
If indeed Iran is the new Nazi Germany,then the big concern for such a state should come from Russia who lost 20 millions of its people in 2nd.World War.
Russia is only 300 miles from Irananian northern border,but Russia is not concerned at all by Iran and do not agree with McCain's and Neocons war rhetoric.
All Iranian neighbors have good relationship with Iran.
McCain will continue to use Ahmadi Najad to sell his presidency ,but this time people are not going to gobble it easily,as McCain hopes.
The majority of Americans in lastest surveys support talking to Iran instead. But McCain is obviously pandering to AIPAC members.
He called Ahmadi Najad 'anti - Semite'...not knowing that AhmadiNajad is a Semite himself,so are all Arabs.
Ahmadi Najad does not possess power cards in the Iranian political system..
Power in Iran is in the hands of the Shiite top leaders and the Ayatollas.
I think in a one-on-one debate, Obama's smooth demeanor and continuous needling of McCain's weak points will make McCain snap and say something that will embarrass himself and will show his true colors. Obama is such a superior speaker that he will piss McCain off to no end.
nothings going to change if you dont hold obama to the fire ! the war er sorry occupation in iraq will go on , the war in afganistan will go on, the bush gang will have ,if they leave at all, will devide up the profits from this steal america blind project and be on thier merry way with no one being held accountable or sent to prison , the oil companys will still be jamming thier hands down your shorts looking for any loose change you might have left, and the house and the senate will cut thier work week to two days a week, and all movies made from now on will be based on comic books!
25 Randy
Little correction: his Christian name (so to speak) is Mahmoud, his surname is Ahmadinejad.
It's issues like this that will win the election for Obama. He has McCain over a barrel here. The frail, aging GOP nominee has no real accomplishments to defend. He can fantasize all he wants about how good things are but everyone who isn't making over 200K knows better.
There's a storm comin'.
One shouldn't judge the economy by the effect on one's own stock portfolio, Mr. McCain. Just because your investments in Halliburton ar doing swimmingly, doesn't mean the rest of America has jobs or can pay for gas and food.
I'll vote for Obama,
There are international forces which will still cause our economic downturn to continue weather he likes it or not. People should take a closer look at history and know what is really causing this economic downturn. The FED has printed too much currency and it will make it hard on importing nations, to stay competitive they too will print too much of their currency and then we are all in trouble. Obama can't fix it.
Nothing is ever going wrong for the republicans. It's either going great, or we just got through tough times and have made significant improvements. The problem is, the administration doesn't tell us they made a mistake until later.
McCain still thinks the fundamentals of the American economy include buggy-whip manufacturing and whale oil.
I'm still nervous about November. There are too many people who won't vote for someone because they feel they can't have a beer with him, or some other ridiculous reason. I don't think Obama is a lock, though I want any Democrat to win. The history of the middle of this country is to vote AGAINST their own best interests to stop gays from being married. That's a real dense crew out there in the middle. 2008 is no exception.
Obama needs to do this a lot more. We all saw McCain stumble while he searched in vein to answer the various economic questions that were thrown at him during the Republican Presidential debates. Romney and Paul basically made McCain look like an idiot when it came to that topic. McCain has stated in the past that he has little knowledge about economics and Obama should keep bringing that up especially with the economy the way it currently is.
VegasRage @ 31:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/03/news/economy/bernanke/index.htm?cnn=yes
Here, see what Bernake is saying...
At the same time, Bernanke said that some of the more troubled aspects of the economy are starting to show signs of stability. He said the battered financial markets had "improved of late but conditions remained strained." He also said the pressures on the U.S. economy are being softened somewhat by foreign demand for U.S. goods and services.
"We may see somewhat better economic conditions during the second half of 2008, reflecting the effects of monetary and fiscal stimulus," he said.
People this will make it seem like we are recovering for a while but when exporting nations feel the pinch from the US not buying their goods, then they will turn up the presses on their currency and then the down turn will continue. We are in for a rougher ride than we are being told. The rich know this and have already positioned themselves so they will get richer in the downturn. This isn't the first time this has happened in history.
Why no new comments?
At the same time, Bernanke said that some of the more troubled aspects of the economy are starting to show signs of stability. He said the battered financial markets had "improved of late but conditions remained strained." He also said the pressures on the U.S. economy are being softened somewhat by foreign demand for U.S. goods and services.
"We may see somewhat better economic conditions during the second half of 2008, reflecting the effects of monetary and fiscal stimulus," he said.
Rusty Shackleford @ 33:
Sounds like a fun date though.
Weird my posts are getting filtered, look at the above and see what Bernanke said today. This will make it appear like our economy is doing better for a while, but when the big exporting nations feel the pinch from lost US dollars they will turn up the printing presses. We are in for a bigger downturn than most realize and no one president will be able to do anything about it alone.
Fuk McNuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VegasRage @ 39:
I agree with your assessment. I was watching the stock indexes, gold and the dollar react to his comments and there was an uptick in the stock indexes and the dollar while oil and gold fell lower. Bernake's words seem to be losing their impact as everyone around the globe is beginning to see through his sham.
1. During and after the election, the media are going to focus on how Obama is fixing the mess the republicans made and the commercial media facilitated by not asking tough questions.
2. Why anybody who gets a W2 at the end of the year would ever vote for corporate republicans is beyond me. They have to be ignoring the last 6,000 years of history.
3. Republicans are going to focus on the arrogance of Obama... but what they really mean is Obama has the audacity of asking them to pull their fair share.
4. They are calling Obama a 'post turtle' who believes he got up there all by himself. Well for certain the republicans needed no help pushing this economy off the post. They did all by themselves.
5. And of course the stream of republican emails has already started to focus on how unfair the news media is. I guess this is the same fantasy as Bush's Snake Oil tax breaks as a cure all for everything.
Yes leave it to the Dem's.
The Cons are practically begging them to win in Nov, handing them the election on a silver platter and the Dems figure out a brilliant way to screw everything up and implode the party.
I think what McCain meant, is that the economy is making great progress.... just not for most of us.
Michael @ 44:
The economies great for our "Representatives".
Take John Kerry. Of all the representatives on the Dem side John has the largest investment pie in defense industry investments.
Yeah, times are so f@cking good that I just received word this morning that my pissy part-time job is cutting me back from 36 hours to 30. My car is worn out, my clothes are worn out, my health just about has me worn down and out, and I can't afford to go and apply for new jobs or an extra job. How do I get there, and can I wear worn out shit? Who wants a beat up 50+ year old worker? It took over two years and four months to find the job I have. Good times indeed.
Obama and the Dems also need to acquaint the voters with McCain's economic guru (and Friedman disciple): Phil Gramm. Olberman is taking a close look at the guy and the record ain't good.
As they say: when your wife earns $6 million last year, mainly from investments, when there have been no foreclosures on any of your 9 residences, hey, that's a pretty good economy. I guess.
Liberal AND Proud @ 24:
Amen to that. I've got to do more than just pace the fucking floor. I'm jacked up and ready. Now what? I need to do more than just sit on my hands and wait until November. And, I just got screwed on my job this morning with a cut back in hours, so I can hardly type because I'm so pissed off.
Great economic progress? McCain you are insane!!!!
McCain says he will cut taxes,but willing to keep our troops in Iraq..at one point he said that 100 years is no problem for him to keep US troops in Iraq.
He is also now trying to push for bigger war with Iran and Syria.
McCian seems not to understand the basics of elementry economics that the government does not produce wealth,or revenues..government simply spends the revenues of collected taxes from taxpayers.
If McCain insists on more wars,with huge rise in energy cost as a result of thess wars...then how is he going to come with the money.
We are now issuing Treaury papers to other foreign countries like China and many others in exchange for using their savings.
We are now over 9 trillion dollars in debt.
This voodoo economics of cut taxes,start wars..borrow money will not last for a long time in addition to skyrocketing oil prices. At one point the bubble is going to burst.
Spending 120 -140 billion dollars a year on a war adventure with uncertain outcome is not a smart thinking when it comes to balancing the budget,and helping the economy.
When every dollar spent on these wars is badly needed here at a home
A war that has no end ,financed by borrowed money,with little positive achievment to show is not what the country needs now. Just because Neocons wants it and the contractors need it, it does not mean that these wars are what the American people need.
#14 and #22: We saw how bad McTemper acted when Obama & Webb double-teamed him on the GI Bill, when he started saying that as a vet he better understands veterans or some crap like that. Look back 2 weeks ago here on Crooks and Liars.
NOW you have to wonder who the GOP will vomit onto the stage to be his VP if he blows a gasket if Obama or Biden or Keith Olbermann (or a blogger) catches him in a logic fault or an indefensible position.
Will it be Huck the preacher (do they really want another John Hagee on the stage) or Mitt Romney the Corporate Champion? Or heaven forbid Rudy the Gangster or Drag Queen?
Twisting his words? Those are his words and the meaning is crystal clear.
Even if McCain tries to cover his ass saying he understands "families are facing tremendous economic challenges" hes basically saying "Tough luck get used to it because the economy is making progress and I wont change anything"
Well let's put this into context.
McCain himself is out of context.
Whatever he says is in context of whatever time warp he believes he is experiencing.
obama is a lightweight who would be bad for this country; therefore, it will be Hillary or McCain if O is the Dem. nominee.
I do not know anyone who is struggling, in any area of the country, except with the high costs of fuel and related items. And oddly enough, those prices have increased 153% since the Dims took office with the sole platform of reducing those costs. Unemployment is still at historic lows and hourly wages are at historic highs. It is very odd that the only people that are hurting are the ones that are for Obama. Weird.
Hit....em Obama and hit...em hard as hell.
Obama hits McCain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3_YBzb2QZk&feature=related
“I think if you look at the overall record, and millions of jobs having, being created, etc., etc., you can make an argument that there’s been great progress economically, over that period of time. But that’s no comfort, that’s no comfort to families now that are facing these tremendous economic challenges.
“But let me just add, Peter, the fundamentals of America’s economy are strong.”
WEEEEE DOGGIES..... WHAT A BUNCH OF CRYBABIES.... I ALONE HAVE REAPED BILLIONS FROM THE WAR AND THIS PRESIDENT.... I OWN HUNDREDS OF HOUSES, SO WHAT IS THIS HOMELESS SHIT I KEEP HEARING..... WHY JUST YESTERDAY AT THE CORNCOB CORNER STORE IN BUMFUCK IOWA I WAS TALKING TO FREDRICK WHITEGUY, A REGULAR KINDA GUY, WHO SAID "GEE MISTER MCCAIN, THE ECONOMY IS GREAT, I REALLY LIKE THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION, I LOVE WHAT THE SURGE IS DOING FOR US IN IRAQ, AND EVERYTHING IS GOING GREAT--- NOW CAN I PLEASE HAVE THE 5 DOLLARS SO I CAN FEED MY 4 CHILDREN.
Pragmatist @ 57:
Obama is a lightweight? McCrazy is as light as a feather, here's a guy who knows jack shit about the economy, doesn't have a clue who is fighting who in Irag, wants to bomb Iran and can't remember what he said yesterday. If you got any lighter then McCrazy you would float right off the planet.
Eric Hussein Elite Almighty @ 6:
Well, they sure as hell don't make my opinion!
Sachem @ 20:
Ya know, I have to say that my fiance and I ARE better off financially than we were a year ago. Having said that, I would never go so far as to say that Bush's policies have caused that to happen. I also can look around the neighborhood and see the empty houses with for sale signs in front of them, and I know that we are in the minority, financially.
Go Obama!
Reptile brains, reptile bodies
The idea of keeping the Republicans constantly reacting with anger to ever fresh provocations is based on sound physiologic principles. It's how the alligator wrestlers wrestle half-ton alligators without being eaten.
Now, it has long been evident that Republicans haven't evolved past the reptile brain. The only brain functions they possess relate to reacting to existential threats with fight or flight, to sensing and seizing their prey, and to alligator love. I will quote form the Wikipedia article on the reptile brain, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilian_brain, and leave it to the candid reader to say whether or not this is a fair description of all of the essential elements of contemporary Republicanism:
"The R-complex is named for the most advanced part of the brain higher mammals share with reptiles. It is responsible for rage[1], xenophobia[1], and basic survival fight-or-flight responses[1]. Often, the R-Complex can override the more rational function of the brain and result in unpredictable, primitive behavior in even the most sentient of creatures, humans included. A well developed and healthy neo-cortex can monitor R-Complex activity in sentient beings. The Reptilian complex is the most ancient part of a very successful brain scheme, evolutionarily speaking."
Now, this is not to say that, anatomically, the Republicans lack a neo-cortex. It's just that functionally, it is vestigial, serving only to do things like misidentify teh gay as teh foreign, to allow xenophobic rage to be applied to a wider range of targets than a truly dumb beast would ever be sophisticated enough to misidentify. An alligator can only be provoked by actual, real, physical, existential threats, while your Republican is capable of imagining that a head-scarf is about to kill us all in our beds.
If you will allow a more speculative application of Political Physiology, let me suggest the hypothesis that the Republicans suffer from a reptile muscle physiology to match their reptile brains. Alligators differ from us in that their major muscle groups, specifically those controlling those deadly jaws and claws, are made up almost entirely of fast-twitch muscle. This kind of muscle is specialized for brief bursts of tremendous strength, but are incapable of sustained effort. It fits the alligator's ambush attack style of predation to a T. The predominance of fast-twitch in alligators, where humans would have a balanced mix, is what makes alligator wrestling a safe occupation, while appearing to be so death-defying.
The alligator wrestler will begin his perforamnce with a great show of riling up the alligator with a long pole while standing safely outside the tank. The alligator will thrash and snap, often breaking a stout pole clean in two with a bite from its massive jaws. It looks to the audience that the wrestler, who is about to jump into the tank protected only by some scant singlet, is being incredibly foolhardy by enraging such a powerful beast. But the wrestler is carefully observing the alligator for the first signs of the profound weakness that will overtake it as soon as the fast twitch muscle has all exhausted its four minute supply of glycogen. He then jumps into the tank and dramatically bends the alligator into a half-nelson, or pries its massive jaws open to stick his head in, etc. It looks incredibly dangerous, or to the cynical, that somehow they trained the alligator to this behavior. But this cynicism, at least, is misdirected, for no amount of training can teach the alligator brain to suffer such provocation without trying with all its might and in deadly earnest to rend its tormenter limb from limb. It lacks the neo-cortex, it lacks the circuitry required for the self-control needed to keep from doing the same useless self-destructive thing over and over until it has reduced itself to pitiful helplessness.
This is obviously not just idle theoretical speculation. This knowledge of reptile physiology, applied to Political Physiology, can insure victory this fall, and, given their inability to adapt, for as long as it takes to drive the Republican reptiles into political extinction. Obama needs to just keep on rilling them up regularly. At an extreme, one might suggest that he do something like choose someone in a persistent vegetative state as his running mate whose family planned to withdraw life support. The running mate would have to be replaced every two weeks or so, of course, to keep the Republicans in a high state of frenzied thrashing. Though this is obviously a theoretically sound approach, as a practical matter it might run into the difficulty that the voters we're trying to attract do have neo-cortexes, and might find this behavior as strange and off-putting, for different reasons, as they would find the predictable Republican reaction to this parade of Schiavos for VP. The ideal stimulus would be some dog whistle that the Republicans cannot keep themselves from reacting to, but that nobody with higher congnitive functions would even notice as being mildly strange. Perhaps Obama doesn't need to do anything more than to not change his Kenyan parentage, which, added to his continued articulate tweaking of their candidate, will be provocation enough to get the job done.
Randy @ 26:
First, Ahmadinajad is not an Arab - he's Iranian. (there's a difference - you could look it up)
Second, you're right that Arabs are technically Semite in origin. That doesn't mean that Arab fundamentalists (all Islamic fundies, for that matter) like the Jews and wish them well. They would like to see Israel, and all Jews everywhere wiped off the map.
If you want to mount arguments against the policies of Bush and mcCain, at least do your homework first. Otherwise, you just come across as being even less informed than McCain and Bush.
But there has been great progress in the economy -- if you belong to the top 1% of property owners in the U.S.
Therein lies the tale, I believe. It's not that John McCain is a complete idiot when it comes to the economy -- rather, he's Marie Antoinette. Just like Marie, John lives in extremely wealthy circles, isolated from the masses. To his group of incredibly rich and powerful friends, it does seem that the economy has improved, as more and more wealth has come to them. Never mind that there has been a corresponding impoverishment of everyone else.
While we probably don't need to solve the John McCain problem the way the French solved the Marie Antoinette problem, the possibility of an arrogant, ignorant, wealthy McCain presidency definitely needs to be decapitated.
After the boom, comes the bust- every time. Changing Presidents is not going to change that fact.
A credit bubble will burst and deflate. Changing Presidents will not change that fact.
Stock and housing bubbles in 1920's and repeated in the last 10 years. There is no going back to the economic boom of the last decade. The excesses of the boom must and will be corrected, regardless who is the next President.
The 10 year cycle has not even turned down yet. Recession 1981-82. Recession 1990-91. Recession 2001.
If you think things are bad now, wait until the turn of the decade. We are looking at an era of economic depression.
Ron.j @ 68:
Changing Presidents means changing key advisors and decision makers as well--and competent, reality-based people collecting data, analyzing it and formulating policy based on facts instead of greed and wishful thinking can certainly foresee and mitigate the fallout of boom-bust cycles.
Aside from economic policies and cycles, how different would the response to Katrina have been if competent professionals had been making decisions before and after? I believe it would have been much different and thousands of people would not have died and survivors would not still be living in toxic trailers 3 years later.
Changing Presidents can have profound effects on the lives of Americans.
If either of the last two democratic nominees had followled that advice, I don't think we'd be in the terrible shape we are right now. Obama has to hit McSame hard and often. A day can't go by without him smashing his opponent. Stay positive abour your message and savage Johnny like a fox gutting a rabit. If anyone asks about Hillary, tell them, I'm running against John McCain. I have no interest in discussing Sen. Clinton. Then jump right back on whatever that moron said in the last hour. The best words we have to use aginst Johny McNotsobright are the onses that keep coming out of his mouth.
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