David Kahane;
One of the most terrifying moments of my political life came last summer at the Republican convention in St. Paul. No, I don’t mean seeing John McCain careering around the Xcel Energy Center like Eyegore in Young Frankenstein, his face frozen in a Lon Chaney Sr. rictus grin as he reached across the aisle to his erstwhile friends in the media and got his hand bitten off. Rather, I’m referring to the aftermath of Sarah Palin’s outrageous acceptance speech, which whipped up the Rotary Club delegates into a frenzy of white-boy fury that not even heckling by a brave Code Pink embed could deter. Truly a fascist classic and one that sent shivers down our collectivist spines.
Even worse was the glaze of horror on the phizzes of the assembled heroes of the Mainstream Media. Andrea Mitchell — yes, the very same Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, Washington, whose employer saw no conflict of interest at all when she married then Fed pooh-bah Alan Greenspan — stood there gaping like a frog while the rest of the assembled Finemans and Matthewses and Olbermanns scurried around like roaches when the light gets turned on: What the hell just hit us? For one horrible moment, it looked as if the carefully crafted plans of David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel, George Soros, and the Second Chief Directorate, first department, of the old KGB were about to gang agley.
Not only were we offended at the sheer effrontery of McCain’s pick: How dare the Republicans proffer this déclassée piece of Wasilla trailer trash whose only claim to fame was that she didn’t exercise her right to choose? Where were her degrees from Smith or Barnard, her internships at PETA, the Brookings Institution, or the Young Pioneers? We were also outraged that the Stupid Party had just nominated a completely unqualified candidate nobody had ever heard of, a first-term governor of Alaska whose previous experience consisted of a small-town mayoralty. As opposed to our guy, Barry Soetoro of Mombasa, Djakarta, and Honolulu, a first-term senator nobody had ever heard of, whose previous experience had been as a state senator (D., Daley Machine) in Illinois. After eight long, illegitimate, lawless years of &*^%BUSH$#@! tyranny, how dare you contest this election?
Your must read of the week. (h/t Paul A.)
“What you clowns need, in other words, is a Rules for Radical Conservatives to explain what you’re up against and teach you how to compete before it’s too late.”
Been saying that for years. This IS a “must read”, best advice I’ve heard for conservatives in a long time.
If you had any sense, you would start using our tactics against us. After all, you have a few lawyers on your side. Sue us. File frivolous ethics complaints against all our elected officials until, like Sarah, they go broke from defending themselves.
Wouldn’t work.
The Democrats have very deep pockets, judges in the U.S. don’t like nuisance suits when they’re being filed by Republicans, and the MSM would ignore the entire effort, except when the judges slapped down the nuisance suits.
The Democrats have the judiciary, the MSM in their pockets, and lots of guys like Soros, just to name one.
The only thing holding the Democrats back is that their economics are going to bite them, and hard.
Perfect outline. Just perfect.
I am a believer in karma and I do believe that one day the nutjobs who hate the Palins will get it and get it good.
Just my thoughts.
This is the must read of the month, if not the year. I certainly hope someone is researching BHO’s past and his citizenship. There is too much smoke there for there not to be a fire.
Outstanding!
Sarah should do talk radio and just slam all the dumbocrats, media types, Hollywood fart catchers and New York latte liberals, all the while getting rich.
She could be the female Rush . . . and she wouldn’t need a teleprompter like “The One”
This is great summary of what has already been said here, and in other intelligent discussions.
Sarah Palin was the surprise that almost thru the Dems down the hole and they reacted with vengeance, with the full co-operation of the media.
And that threw off the Republicans.
This is why I like the attack ads that Harper’s team put up against Dion, and now Ignatieff. They work. You have to set the message, and do it again and again, and again. It’ll be repetetive for the inside-baseball types like us who follow politics close, but for the bloke who happens to catch an ad watching a game, an idea has been planted that will be hard to overcome.
The Palin thing has been unbelievable. I’ve watched current events for most of my life, and never have I seen reporters so openly angry as the night she was nominated. They really let their facade down.
It will be hard to fight back. Right wingers are generally nicer people, it’s not their nature to be mean, to stretch the truth, in other words, to spin. But they have to if there’s any hope.
Generally, conservatives are labelled as either dumb or evil. We need a comparable label for liberals, say either they’re corrupt, or naive. So those can be the cornerstones of your attacks.
For instance Kahane’s missing one obvious theme: all this stimulus money is bound to create some scandal of mis-spending. Start auditing where the money is going show that it’s being wasted. And imply that the Democrats are getting kick-backs somehow. If they’re complicit, you’ve got them on the corruption meme. If not, you’ve got them on naivete.
National security is easy; Obama is all hugs and kisses with really evil people. Just wait until something bad happens either at home or abroad and hammer him on the clenched fist/open hand nonsense.
They’re the party that cares. Show how they really don’t, that they want to force everyone into mediocre healthcare.
They support illegal immigration. Show how costly that is (I heard today that fully 15% of California’s budget goes to illegal-related costs; they could almost balance their budget). There’s bound to be corruption in that.
Keep showing that unemployment chart. And when inflation kicks in, put that up as well.
Like Churcill said
David Kahane is my new hero. The guy knows what time it is, and he’s not afraid to tap his watch and clear his throat, if you catch my drift.
Bang-on piece. Great to see.
Interesting article. Points out that the only ones who know a war is going on, are the democrats. Conservatives better pull their heads out of their asses and fight back just as dirty or kiss your country goodbye.
I prefer the General Sherman philosophy of warfare myself.
HAR!
A real writer with something to say.
We all have a phobia, be it a snake or a spider,perhaps a fear of flying but all libs fear a real person with values! Many bloggers on Blogging Tories were supporters of Obama and gleefully highlighted Palin’s alledged gaffs. Personally I would be thrilled if we had politian with Palin’s energy but we don’t and we now know it is not a temperature issue. The biggest issue is of course that those who support conservative values tend to recoil from dirty pool. This does create a huge challenge but if one speaks the truth god things will follow.
Winning the liberal way will only destroy the conservative brand tough as itmay be.
Gez, you guys really are a bunch of wimps who worship victimhood aren’t ya? Poor Sarah had to resign ’cause evwybody was just so mean to her. Boo-hoo!
Never heard of the Truman adage about heat and kitchens, huh?
No wonder GWB couldn’t catch Bin Laden. Christ, we’re only lucky he didn’t sell arms to him like Reagan did to the Iranians.
“The Biden Curve” from James Taranto is great too:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124699072588807121.html
Gibson: What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?
Palin: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don’t think that we should second-guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security.
Gibson: So if we wouldn’t second-guess it and they decided they needed to do it because Iran was an existential threat, we would cooperative [sic in ABC transcript] or agree with that.
Palin: I don’t think we can second-guess what Israel has to do to secure its nation.
Gibson: So if it felt necessary, if it felt the need to defend itself by taking out Iranian nuclear facilities, that would be all right.
Palin: We cannot second-guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend itself.
I absolutely love Palin. She gets it. I have full confidence that whatever she is not fully up on, she could not only learn the relevant geopolitical details, but know what the moral course is.
Obama is not only ignorant (call Putin the President while snubbing Ukraine and Georgia), but he is a moral relativist. I cannot wait to see what Palin does next!
Among its other virtues the article explains the Leftist personality.
I spent more years than I care to remember on the far left. These were not stupid people. Quite the opposite. They could also be very funny and creative. When they wanted to, they could work at something with great dedication for weeks at a time.
However: they/we hated ourselves. We didn’t think we deserved to live. Some of us believed in God, but we didn’t think God believed in us.
We felt profoundly guilty over things we had nothing to do with, like the arms race or something that happened a hundred years ago. This guilt was so real you could almost taste it. It never let up.
Low self-esteem that manifested itself in bathos and fury.
And the 60s nostalgia aspect is huge. It ain’t nostalgia if you weren’t there, it is true, but that didn’t stop us. The decade has been valentined in so many movies etc that it is hard to resist.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel,and that is the demise of the newspapers and televised media news. We can also help our cause by being aggressive when the left repeat their lies in their smug all-knowing way. If you hear someone say 2 million dead in Iraq,challenge them. When they say Bush said that Saddam had WMD’s,challenge them. When they say Ms. Palin said “I can see Russia from my window”,challenge them.If they start talking about the poor polar bears,challenge them. On a more timely point,when they start praising M. Jackson for his genius,shoot back with “but how do you get past him diddling kids”. Sooner or later ,they will avoid you completely,or will just shut up when you are around. It works for me.
Bleet, glad to see you’re still an idiot. Women like Sarah Palin threaten your non-exitent masculinity, do they? The smear job the MSM and the slimy-tards who call themselves progressives did on Palin only highlights how bereft of humanity, common sense and respect the self-important left is. The back-blow you leftards are going to get from the real folk – you know, the ones you rent-seekers exploit for your own profit – is going to be spectacular once Obama’s corrupt house of cards collapses. Having a rent-seeking leech like you invoking an honest man like Truman is indeed the height of hubris. I will enjoy the day progressives get their comeuppance, yes I will. The people whose hard work keep society going have a breaking point – and that breaking point is getting closer and closer. Enjoy your arrogance while you can, before the peasants you so despise wipe it off your face.
Joel points out that the Vancouver Sun ‘news’ doesn’t get it , in contrast to David Kahane getting it.
http://www.proudtobecanadian.ca/blog/
It’s a good read and I largely agree with it. A key point I’ve learned is that there’s no point being nice to liberals. Goodness knows they never try to be nice to conservatives. So when I confront them, I make sure that:
1. I confront them on the issues on which I have the facts. This is crucial. Churchill himself pointed out that it was essential to be “master of the facts”.
2. i don’t try to be nice to them and don’t compromise. They often try to pull the bartering nonsense i.e. “I’ll accept that such and such may be the case, but you have to admit that . . . etc.” I just tell them that I don’t barter the truth. The facts are the facts.
3. Don’t let them hide and run away. Arguing with a liberal is often like chasing someone around a table. Their thinking seems to be, “If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the subject.” Keep bringing them back to the original point.
4. Don’t be afraid to ridicule them. Throw their so called “progressive, open-minded” tolerance and “caring” right back in their faces.
When they’re confronted with strength and push-back, they back down and they back off. The other important effect is that the quiet ones in the room seem to become energized and start expressing long-repressed thoughts and feelings, typically far more conservative that what the MSM will endorse and that the liberal elites will tolerate.
It’s one of the great things about blogs like this — it reminds us that we’re not alone, and it allows us to exercise the intellectual muscles needed to take the debate into the real world.
“Sooner or later ,they will avoid you completely,or will just shut up when you are around. It works for me.”
Posted by: wallyj at July 8, 2009 10:11 PM
It works for me too!! Everyone must start to challenge those around you to spread the facts on all the issues the Left constantly lies about. Unfortunately most people are so brainwashed they tune out when you use logic and hard facts. The leftards only understand feelings. But try we must!
What doesnt the left hate?
@8:31 – Lucy, is that you?
Elizabeth:
Your example is one of the reasons why I think Sarah Palin in the final analysis was a bad pick for VPOTUS. She clung to her scripted talking points while Gibson attacked her. HAd she the political gravitas of the likes of newt gingrich he/she would have turned the tables and said some thing like this “If we, the US, felt that a strike on Iran were necessary would you, Charlie, expect Israel to stand by us?” her word for word doggedness showed to me and lots of others that she was not knowledgable in depth on the issues – particularly foreign affairs. (for a real example of how its done when you actually have firm grasp of the issues, check this vid out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ie8LDlgJ0c )
And the lack experience on her part ruined the greatest strength of the McCain candidacy – competency on the world stage. Picking a novice lightweight for the ticket devalued that currency.
And yes as the writer quoted above noted, she was/is the anti-christ of the effete elite that predominates the national political press corps – she has none of the pedigree they expect a leader to have. But she has exactly what red state GOP members – particularly ardent social conservative members – are looking for in a CV. You could hardly make up a better one. That BO has what the media elite was looking does not qualify him for POTUS (as more and more people are beginning to realize). And Palin’s qualifications are equally lacking for the VPOTUS/POTUS role. They are both political pygmies on stilts.
Unless she in the next 2 years or less demonstrates that she is a fabulously quick study on national/international politics and develops a supple understanding of those issues with an ability to think and develop her own ideas and positions on them, there are dozens of better qualified GOP candidates.
To me (as i have noted before) she is the Douglas MacArthur of our era. Her triumphant “fade away” moment was the very first national audience she had at the convention. Since then it has been a slow decline in popularity and a hardening and broadening of her negatives. And thus she is in the midst of her own ‘fade away’ – a heroic soldier for a hardcore segment of the GOP – a trivia question for everyone else a decade from now.
so is this guy Dennis Miller’s speech writer or something?
he’s basically right you know. in conclusion Palin sent a engraved invitation to repubs and dems alike to do her in. some sort of neo-Nixon syndrome. politics is after all, a blood sport.
There is no doubt that the Democrats, and their MSM puppets, actually panicked (no other term fits) at her appearance at the convention.
Regarding Barry Soetoro’s reaction to Honduras—when his birth certificate finally shows up—who will escort him from the White House (he won’t go willingly or quietly) and load him onto the first plane to Nairobi????the US Marshalls or the US Marines…..
I recommend the Marines to outnumber ACORN.
I have long thought that the user of the pseudonym “David Kahane” was in fact Mark Steyn.
The article above(read in its entirety)certainly doesn’t do anything to dispel that notion.
What talent.
Lets learn to play with our own rules, not thiers.
Power is wroth nothing if we end up like them. Inchoherant emoters of made up nonesense.
I have stopped using the terms of the Statist as well as its artifiacial designations for folks. Thats how we partly defeat them. Never giove in again to any Phrase that passes though the lips of a socialist or liberal.
Defy them at every corner. Make themn explain every word & what they mean. Time for being skittish is over.
JMO
My own tactic for the past decade or so has been to challenge them on everything they say, and it really does shut them up. My approach does have it’s drawbacks thought, the main one being our decreased social life, great I don’t have to see them, but hard on my wife. She now goes alone as I am not welcome at some houses where we have mutual conservative friends that keep their mouths shut. Challenging these people right to their face is the only way, and very satisfying.
“No wonder GWB couldn’t catch Bin Laden. Christ, we’re only lucky he didn’t sell arms to him like Reagan did to the Iranians”
No, bleet, but GWB’s daddie and reagan both GAVE weapons to osama bin laden…then colin powell went to afganistan in eary 2001 and GAVE Osama and the taliban 47 million dollars…wondered if any of that financed 9/11?
Only in republi-nut land or here at SDA could a word salad spouting barbie doll who walked out on her job be somehow cast as a victim…I mean good lord, didja not see her weakass speach the other day? Can you say vacuous personality?? Can you say failed politician??? Can you say…can’t handle the heat so got the hell out of the kitchen???? wonder how this chicky woulda done as president right after crazy old Mccain had “the big one”…think she woulda quite the moment the north koreans attacked south korea…or somesuch difficulty ??????
bleet writes (pathetically):
“Poor Sarah had to resign ’cause evwybody was just so mean to her. Boo-hoo! Never heard of the Truman adage about heat and kitchens, huh?”
Perhaps bleet might consider that the only media criticism of Truman’s family involved a writer commenting on daughter Margaret Truman’s piano-playing, and bleet might also wish to consider Harry Truman’s response to that relatively innocuous comment.
Life is for the living.
The Left won’t let us live.
Therefore we cannot tolerate the Tyranny of the Left.
We cannot tolerate the Left’s Tyranny, therefore we must destroy it.
No Tolerance for Tyranny!
War is justifiable when it comes to defending against tyranny.
The Bible does indicate that there’s a time for war, a time for fighting, amongst other things (Ecclesiastes 3).
It’s time for another Crusade, a modern-day Crusade. We cannot afford to wait four centuries again to begin to fight back against the incessant onslaught, invasions, occupations and enslavement.
Gord Tulk said:
“Your example is one of the reasons why I think Sarah Palin in the final analysis was a bad pick for VPOTUS. She clung to her scripted talking points while Gibson attacked her. HAd she the political gravitas of the likes of newt gingrich he/she would have turned the tables and said some thing like this “If we, the US, felt that a strike on Iran were necessary would you, Charlie, expect Israel to stand by us?” her word for word doggedness showed to me and lots of others that she was not knowledgable in depth on the issues – particularly foreign affairs. ”
Gord, I don’t think it showed that at all. I agree that she was and is naive about the media and needs to learn more about putting questions back on them. However, to me her answer showed unrelenting clear headed thinking. No ifs, ands or buts, she would stick with Israel. That shows a much better outlook than Barry O.
If she decides to go for it in 2012, she will have to prove herself in a GOP primary. I think she would rather wait (in 2024 she would be the same age Hilary was when she ran, so there is tons of time), but O is wrecking the country so quickly that that may convince her not to wait. Watch her debate with Biden again.
Right on Elizabeth. Gibson was asking the typical bait question. Not the fluffy ones they ask BO and Hill-Billy.
Of course
BO would have given the syrupy empty answer and Gibson would have been giddy.
Elizabeth and bluetech:
Fine. please provide an example that demonstrates that she is not knowledgable in depth on the issues – particularly foreign affairs.
Give the lady a year or two to study, craft coherent policies (domestic and international)and surround herself with, and this is the most important part, loyal and savvy political strategists–then she’ll be ready for prime time.
We have to acknowledge that Mrs Palin wasn’t quite ready to face the MSM and the political cloak and dagger for which Washington DC is renowned. She’s a great lady and I hope she uses this tactical pause to get herself prepared for what we all hope to be a resurgence of US leadership, capitalism and conservatism. Because this current state of economic affairs isn’t doing Canada’s economy any good (ie our largest trading partner is putting itself in trillions of dollars in debt and putting up protectionist barriers).
Good luck to her.
~~favill~~
The money quote,
” This is a deadly serious attempt to realize the vision of the 1960s and to fundamentally transform the United States of America. This is the fusion of Communist dogma, high ideals, gangster tactics, and a stunning amount of self-loathing. For the first time in history, the patrician class is deliberately selling its own country down the river just to prove a point: that, yes, we can! This country stinks and we won’t be happy until we’ve forced you to admit it.”
One of the most accurate and succinct observations of today’s American left I have ever read.
I just don’t see how two years of cramming gets it done. true leaders are masters of the issues pretty much since very early adulthood.
truman was arguably a bit of a novice but he was also the most well-read potus ever. Potsdam was a disaster and some of that blame rests on HST’s inexperience and lack of knowledge.
Palin from what little evidence there is, seems to be very poorly read indeed. and she has neither the experience on the national and international stage of a Romney, nor has she written books or articles on policy like a gingrich.
I would love it if she had a multi-hour interview with Hugh Hewitt on the issues of the day – that would expose her strengths or her weakness on this key point. I’m sure she has been asked to have one – why has she declined? It certainly would not be an adversarial session.
Gord…I appreciate her answer on Israel. The problem for Gibson was that she wouldn’t say the empty fluffy stuff.
“Fine. please provide an example that demonstrates that she is not knowledgable in depth on the issues – particularly foreign affairs.”
Back at ya Gord.
Is it possible you put an extra word in that challenge? I am of the mind that she IS knowledgable based on her answer.
Gord..it still comes down to this: If she wasn’t so threatening(i.e. a very capable candiate and governor) would the left and media have been so vicious on irrelevant issues? That I beleieve is well demonstrated in the Kahane article.
“It’s Neet, Bleet!”
This appears to be the offspring of a union between “bleet” and “new”. The result …. twice the lunacy for the price of one.
I’m with Canadian Sentinel, where do I sign up?
I keep asking that and nobody knows, at least no replies. That tells me a few things: People really might not know how to fight back, or lack the desire to, or that we’re all sticks laying in the sand waiting to be driven over.
We need organization.