AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE…
The Daily Howler reported recently that the WaPo finally printed an article pointing out that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is no raving liberal, regardless of the spin. This is just the sort of thing that makes Bob Somerby so useful – if anyone was listening:
Several thoughts about this matter: First, we again note the failure of Dems to run an effective message machine. Over the past five months, pseudo-con spinners have endlessly claimed that Republicans voted to confirm Ginsburg despite her wild-eyed, kooky ways. (In her column, Marcus debunks specific claims they have repeatedly made.) On cable, voters have heard these claims again and again-but libs and Dems have rarely offered the countervailing evidence. At present, the Democratic Party is simply unable, for whatever reason, to run a capable message machine. For that reason, we badly need leadership from the liberal web. We need to find a way to publish and push elementary info-information of the kind Marcus offers this week.
I’ve been thinking for a long time that there has to be some way to put pressure on the party leadership to read the damned weblogs!
Really, it’s shameful to see them going on television and falling for – and even repeating – RNC spin and falsehoods. They need to study-up, and it’s just plain stupid to ignore the fact that the information is available gratis and easy to find.
It’s pretty obvious that the level of discourse at places like Liberal Oasis, Daily Kos, MyDD et al. is significantly higher than the stuff that comes out of the party itself, and it’s about time they acquainted themselves with what’s really going on. A rep could do worse than to check The Daily Howler, Media Matters, and Eschaton every day just to get a handle on what kind of bull is being spit out by the right-wingers and that it really is just lies.
And it wouldn’t hurt them to check out Nathan Newman regularly to see what these monsters in the GOP are doing to us while the Democratic leaders waste time – because these are the things that really concern Americans, that affect our lives and the country’s future.
On a related subject, I see that the Oreo story is breaking out, with Media Matters and Somerby both covering it:
How will Dems and liberals handle this matter? Again, Ehrlich – a consummate phony, and we rarely dislike pols – seems to be playing the public for complete, total fools. For years, we have made a simple suggestion; we have suggested that Dems and liberals tell the public that the pseudo-con empire does this routinely. But Dems and libs have tended to gambol and play while pseudo-cons work – work on their completely inane but highly effective stories.
If Democrats would spend more time reading The Left Coaster and Political Animal and less time listening to the tediously bland fraidy-cats they use as political consultants, they would know more, have plenty of verbal karate at their fingertips, and be prepared for all the lies that come out of the RNC. They should at least be ready to point out that Steel and Ehrlich want to talk about Oreos instead of the issues that are of vital importance for the people of the State of Maryland.
We’ve been offering Democrats, for free, better advice than they’ve been paying for over the last several years, and their response has been to let the GOP convince them that anyone who disagrees with rabid right-wing talking points is some kind of loony. They can dismiss us as mere bloggers even while the Republicans make terrific use of their own “mere” bloggers. They use their resources while convincing Democrats to shun their own. And Democrats fall for it.
Democratic politicians are just too easily embarrassed about all the wrong things. If you compare me with Michael Moore, I’m not embarrassed – I just say, “Michael Moore was right about the invasion, and you were wrong.” I can say this because I’ve actually paid attention to what Michael Moore has said and what the facts behind it are. No one should be ashamed to be compared with Moore; they should be ashamed to be backed down by people who think saying, “Now you’re in Michael Moore territory,” makes a worthwhile point. They should be able to retort with, at the very least, “Now you’re in FOX News territory.”
And if the GOP wants to smear left-wing bloggers, well, hell, tell ’em to look at their own. No decent human being should be proud to be repeating the mendacious and hateful trash that can easily be found on the leading right-wing blogs.
Look, the right-wing lies about liberals and about issues, pure and simple. They spin and fabricate and spread hate. You don’t defeat that by cowering in the corner, you defeat it by shining the bright lights on it. They lie. We have the issues, we have the facts, and the American people agree with us. All we have to do is say it out loud.
Update: I have been remiss in not also recommending the excellent Digby on that list, for a moral dimension that the Democratic leadership has clearly forgotten. (And then, of course, there’s The Sideshow….)
