“She goes to Washington, D.C., it’s a little bit like one of those dogs, you know ‘fetch.’ She goes to Washington, D.C., and get all of these taxes and red tape and bureaucracy and executive orders and agencies and she brings all of this stuff and dumps it on us in Missouri.”All right, Claire McCaskill is a Blue Dog Democrat, but Akin takes the analogy way too far. How can anyone vote for this man?
In case you've forgotten, Akin is the guy who said women do not become pregnant from "legitimate rape".
The disrespect with which these so-called upstanding ultra-conservatives address women can only be fear - fear of competence and freedom and control over our own lives that threatens their deep seated assumptions ..., and their hatred of women is showing ...we can only hope that the women of MO will not stand for it now or ever.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it? Republicans can say anything about Democrats, no matter how ugly or disrespectful, and get off free?
DeleteI think other Republicans of the Repulsive Strain consider it a sign of strength to be offensive to "politically correct", sensitive Democrats and the media is trying so hard to be "objective" that they won't call them on it with any conviction ... the word games they play are of the sort that the louder it is, the less likely anyone is to object (the hominid with the big stick threat strategy)in what they would consider a "credible" way ... so it slides. Also, I think they get away with it because regular people consider it so outrageous it can't be serious/must be a joke. But we shall see - after all Paladino lost in New York and Angle lost in Nevada ... we can hope Akin is but a blip on the scene in Mo.
DeleteI think Akin has thrown the election to McCaskill, who is no more than a DINO and not always to be counted on, but she is surely better than Akin.
DeleteI'm sure the Republicans wish he would get at least one of his foots permanently stuck in his mouth. He is such a disaster that I admit to being more than a little amused at their predicament. There is no way they can prop this looney tune up.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think Akin can be propped up, and admit to schadenfreude in this instance.
DeleteGrandma,
ReplyDeleteWhy has your election become vitriolic? I'm sure no major European politician could get away with this. As an example our Prime Minister's right hand man, his Chief Whip who makes sure all his party's Members of Parliament turn up on time and vote as required, has just had to resign this post. Andrew Mitchell was eaten alive by the press and TV after berating twopolicemen on the gate of Number 10, Downing Street (the Prime Minister's London residence). They asked him leave by the side-gate at ight and not by the main entrance (he was on his bike - do any congressmen cycle?) and he asked them "Don't you know who I am?", called them "plebs" and told them they should know their place. He tried to bluff the insult out but that was the end of him!
Your troubles matter to us - the President and his gang are still the most importanrt politicians on the planet. And we all need decent incumbents, Charley Farns-Barns.
Charley, our elections did not just become vitriolic. They've been vitriolic. Republicans in the recent past have taken the very lowest road, seeming to set few boundaries, but Democrats do their dirty bit sometimes, too. There is still something of the atmosphere of the Wild West in politics and political campaigns here in the US.
DeleteI know the politics of the US matter to the entire world because of our vast armory and our meddling in the affairs of other countries. Last night, Obama said, "America is the one indispensable nation." Romney, "America is the hope of the Earth." I find that sort of hubris from both candidates disturbing. Of course, England's hands are not completely clean if we go a bit further back in history. ;-)
Oh, so that's alright then! (Sorry, that's cheap shot.)
ReplyDeleteDear Grandma, I can see that these unpleasantnesses upset you and I hoped you could tell how the perpetrators can get away with, esp as you've been to the UK and know Europe better than many other Americans.
Is it that European countries being smaller find that their press and TV is generally nationwide so that any gaff is instantly nationally known? And that in much the bigger USA these services are far more regional and so the effects of any gaff is thereby limited? I ask 'cos, as you agree, your politics matter worldwide. Or do you (nationally) just like it theway it is?
For America has been and can be again "the hope of the world" and for many is still "the one indispensable nation", a tremendous force for good.
Regards, Charley Farns-Barns.
Dear Charley - another one weighs in: there is in America an assumption that competition is the key to finding the best solution to any problem, that the joust sorts out the complexity, that "the market" will eliminate inferior products and reward excellence. It is both myth and mantra and entirely useless in the realm of government and public service whose goals ought to be ensuring justice, not just producing "winners", but the competitive model will prevail as long as money (particularly the deluge of cash from corporations and special interest groups)determines who the candidates are and who wins. We little people can fix it with our votes and I have to believe we will, if not this time around, then next. The fanatics always go too far, eventually.
DeleteCharley, first of all, the free speech clause in the First Amendment to the US Constitution is interpreted to give broad leeway to say almost anything about anyone, short of threats and such actions as crying "Fire" in a crowded theater. If one is libeled, one must go to court to have the record set straight.
DeleteSecondly, our press and other media do not do their jobs. The prime mover in reporting is "fairness" or equivalency" coverage...he said, she said...even to the point of quoting outright lies from one side or the other in the name of fairness, after the conservatives began crying "Liberal bias!" However, recently I note that CNN and other outlets are now making a big thing of fact-checking. Well, pardon me, but I thought fact-checking was part of the job description for journalists.
Back as far as the launching of the war in Iraq, the MSM (so-called Mainstream Media) did a piss-poor job of fact-checking the Bush administration on weapons of mass destruction. I knew the administration was lying because of information from bloggers and reports on the inside pages of major newspapers, even as the sycophantic reports on false info from administration insiders were on the front page. So now the reporters are back to fact-checking, at least during presidential campaigns. Sometimes I despair...
And what Marthe said, too.
Hmm, well thank you Marthe; I wish you well - for all our sakes.
ReplyDeleteUs Europeans, of course, worry about the philosophy of "it'll all be alright in the end" or "next time we'll get them out". Fascism and communism showed us how long we might wait and the cost involved. And with Putin in power (perpetually?)in Russia and Fascists on the move in Greece (I think they have a quarter of the vote) we've enough reminders to make us think. As you say, the fanatics always go too far but if they have the chance you lose the vote in the process. That's too strong a suggestion to make for America, but I can't say I like the attitude of some of your contenders.
Charley F-B.
We don't much like some of their attitudes either - particularly the ones who seem to think "influence" in the world is actually our right to dictate to other countries (am sure Romney and his ilk think it's our missionary duty to tell everyone what to do) ... many of us think other countries are actually sovereign and free to decide for themselves what sort of government to have, even if that worries us a bit sometimes. Respect for others, an expectation that diplomats will listen, work for peaceful co-existence, and offer (not inflict) assistance when that seems helpful - those are the values more Americans hold than one would think if only listening to the media. Really, there are quite a few reasonable sensible people here ... just not being heard as often as one would like.
DeleteTodd Akin is a dick. Just thought I'd say.
DeleteYes, he is, Cathy.
DeleteNever trust a man with a comb-over. See Trump, Donald.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree, Bex. Grandpère tried for a while to cover his hair loss with a comb-over, but I finally said to him, "If you're bald, just be bald...please!" And he did, and he looked so much better. Bald is beautiful.
Delete