Kristol sees Dems harming themselves through Yearly Kos attendance
Kristol and his ilk spend their lives reassuring their supporters that every move the Democrats make will hurt them in future when the public gets to vote. They have made this claim and been wrong so many times I'm surprised they are still allowed to make these predictions, but make them they do... with surprising consistency.
Attendance at Yearly Kos is the latest thing that Kristol thinks will harm them at the polls... But just as with opposition to the Iraq war, he is merely making noises to console the base. I've also noticed that O'Reilly is making similar noises concerning Kos. What they're both missing is that most people have no bloody idea what the Daily Kos is never mind their convention.
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What they're both missing is that most people have no bloody idea what the Daily Kos is never mind their convention.
And how many people knew what a "Swift Boat" was prior to the last election? Previously unknown events/entities/whatever have shown that they can still influence voters. The Daily Kos is populated by hate-filled extremists. Association with such a group cannot be a good thing when the electorate has demonstrated time-and-time-again that they prefer centrists.
I think they, and you, are pissing in the wind here, Jason. The Daily Kos is not populated with hate filled extremists, and I say that as someone who can't bear the Daily Kos. O'Reilly and others are talking about comments posted by readers of the Daily Kos in the comments section. You can say those views represent the beliefs of some sections of the readership, but I don't think you can say they represent the Daily Kos as a whole or even it's readership in general. Any more than your comments on here could be said to represent the views of The Osterley Times.
And I happen to agree with you that "the electorate has demonstrated time-and-time-again that they prefer centrists".
I disagree that Bill Kristol, and indeed yourself, represent that centrist position.
I think both you and Kristol represent an extreme right wing position, whilst pretending to yourselves that you are centrists.
The Daily Kos is not populated with hate filled extremists
Really? Referring to some murdered contractors who had their mutilated corpses hung from a bridge, Kos stated, "Screw them." Seems pretty hate-filled and extremist to me.
I disagree that Bill Kristol, and indeed yourself, represent that centrist position.
You are trying to insinuate that Bill Kristol and I hold the same opinions. While I would find it statistically aberrant if we didn't hold some of the same opinions, I can state fairly confidently that I do not.
I think both you and Kristol represent an extreme right wing position, whilst pretending to yourselves that you are centrists.
I have no comment on Bill Kristol because I don't really care. As far as me representing an extreme right wing position, that's laughable. While Hilary Clinton probably seems like a conservative to many Europeans, and while I would classify myself as somewhat conservative, I am not all that conservative for an American (of course I would never be classified as a liberal). I simply don't hold many of the social views that would be required to catapult me too far to the right. Near as I can tell from conversations with others, I would be considered center-right.
Interesting anecdote (well, I found it interesting anyway). I live in the suburbs of two major east coast cities. Definitely a blue state. The county I live in did manage to have something like 43% vote for Bush in the last election, however the county is definitely heavily Democrat. That said, in my professional work (software engineer) and in my volunteer activity (firefighter), many of the people I end up having political discussions with seem to be generally conservative. I was on my way to a fire dept. related class the other day with a 21yr old Indian immigrant, a 18yr old high-school student, a 40yr old stay-at-home mother, and a 45yr old gentleman. We were having a political discussion as we drove and I was amazed to find that despite our different backgrounds every one of us was backing the President. I've had similar discussions in work (all college educated software engineers) and it seems the conservatives have generally outnumbered the liberals (I did make a liberal coworker of mine a tinfoil helmet once though).
I'm not sure what to make of this of course. Maybe those with degrees in fields like math, computers, and engineering tend to be more conservative for some reason? Maybe those who are willing to volunteer time to their communities tend to be more conservative for some reason? I don't know, I can't explain it. Naturally it's a small anecdotal sampling on my part but I do find it somewhat surprising (given the area) and definitely interesting. It also reinforces to me the fact that my views, while somewhat conservative, are quite mainstream.
I can see how an American who is even slightly conservative might seem extremely so in your situation though.
I do agree that most American Democrats are quite a way to the right of most European leftists. And I found your anecdotal story interesting, even if it is undermined by every opinion poll, which suggests support for your president to be at an all time low.
And as for the comments at Daily Kos, I would simply remind you that those are comments made by the readership, they are not endorsed by Kos itself.
And as for the comments at Daily Kos, I would simply remind you that those are comments made by the readership, they are not endorsed by Kos itself.
The comment I mentioned was from Kos himself (Markos).
I followed your link, Jason and read the comments that you referred to. Dumb, dumb, dumb. However, to be fair to Markos, he does supply a link to another article where he totally withdraws that stupid and senseless remark. He states:
"There's been much ado about my indifference to the Mercenary deaths in Falluja a couple days ago. I wrote in some diary comments somewhere that "I felt nothing" and "screw them".
My language was harsh, and, in reality, not true. Fact is, I did feel something. That's why I was so angry.
I was angry that five soldiers -- the real heroes in my mind -- were killed the same day and got far lower billing in the newscasts. I was angry that 51 American soldiers paid the ultimate price for Bush's folly in Iraq in March alone. I was angry that these mercenaries make more in a day than our brave men and women in uniform make in an entire month. I was angry that the US is funding private armies, paying them $30,000 per soldier, per month, while the Bush administration tries to cut our soldiers' hazard pay. I was angry that these mercenaries would leave their wives and children behind to enter a war zone on their own violition.
So I struck back.
Unlike the vast majority of people in this country, I actually grew up in a war zone. I witnessed communist guerillas execute students accused of being government collaborators. I was 8 years old, and I remember stepping over a dead body, warm blood flowing from a fresh wound. Dodging bullets while at market. I lived in the midsts of hate the likes of which most of you will never understand (Clinton and Bush hatred is nothing compared to that generated when people kill each other for politics or race or nationality). There's no way I could ever describe the ways this experience colors my worldview.
Back to Iraq, our men and women in uniform are there under orders, trying to make the best of an impossible situation. The war is not their fault, and I will always defend their honor and bravery to the end of my days. But the mercenary is a whole different deal. They willingly enter a war zone, and do so because of the paycheck. They're not there for humanitarian reasons (I doubt they'd donate half their paycheck to the Red Cross or whatever). They're there because the money is DAMN good. They answer to no one except their CEO. They are dangerous, hence international efforts (however fruitless they may be) to ban their use.
So not only was I wrong to say I felt nothing over their deaths, I was lying. I felt way too much. Nobody deserves to die. But in the greater scheme of things, there are a lot of greater tragedies going on in Iraq (51 last month, plus countless civilians and Iraqi police). That those tragedies are essentially ignored these days is, ultimately, the greatest tragedy of all."
So whilst I would agree that it was totally dumb to have said what he said, I think "a hate filled extremist" would not have withdrawn the phrase. I'm not a huge fan of either Markos or the Daily Kos, but I'd cut him some slack on that one.
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