Today I watched the McLaughlin Group on TV, and, I must say I deserved a medal for getting through the thing without losing my mind. The notion they were peddling is that Obama has "been a divisive figure", an ideologue, blablabla....
After I regained my IQ points (watching drivel always costs me for a while), I began thinking that the DKos community could write ads for the DNC (and/or the DCCC & DSCC) debunking these idiotic notions.
It always seems to me that the recent messages sent by these organizations ignore the most important fact: the Republican party has morphed into an organization that is really ---- Un-American. I don't know how else to say it concisely.
So, I thought I would try to write a 60 second ad for the DNC. After I wrote it, I tried reading it aloud. It is really, really tough to get all the ideas across in that period of time.
I will share it momentarily, but the idea here is that, with all the brain power here, couldn't we generate ads that are orders of magnitude more hard-hitting and more effective than the junk that we see every two years?
Anyway, here it is. The ad is called "Divisive?".
In 2008, Barack Obama won a decisive victory, promising to be a uniter not a divider. Now critics claim he’s been “divisive”. The truth? Even before he took office, Obama’s enemies said he wasn’t born in this country. When that lie faded, they pushed an equally false idea that Obama is a Moslem. Since then, we’ve seen pictures of Obama portrayed as Hitler, Marx, even the Anti-Christ. Why all the lies, the hate, the bizarre stories of death panels?
The motivation became clear when the unofficial head of the Republican Party stated what we suspected: “I hope he fails”. They voted against the stimulus, against healthcare reform, and, with a few exceptions, financial regulation. Republicans say these are principled votes against bad policies. But the record says otherwise and the record is clear.
In November, you can reward obstructionist hate by giving Republicans one or both houses of Congress, or you can say no to a party that would rather see America fail --- just so they can gain seats in an election. America must reject this “disloyal opposition”, so we can all get back to work trying to save our country.
The previous message brought to you by the DNC, etc. etc....
The notion here is that this group of Republicans has stepped over a very important line. They've gone beyond the dirty tricks of Lee Atwater and Karl Rove, beyond the creation of imaginary scandals (e.g. 'travelgate'), to a new low: Actively being disloyal to the United States of America.
I didn't use the number of times they've filibustered --- that would have been a tasty fact to throw into the mix. I wasn't sure whether any Democratic Congress has ever done anything comparable (like the old racist southern Dems of the 1950s)....
Try this exercise sometime; it is very tough to be concise, clear, hard-hitting and memorable at the same time.
Then imagine the pictures that could go with such an ad. They would be gruesome, but I think it would touch America's sense of fairness. They know that there is something wrong with the Republican party. They might not be able to put a finger on what it is...
We should help them understand...