Bulllying the Bully and the CW

The Democrats are in a position, or at least percieved to be in a position, that they cannot extricate themselves from no matter how hard they try.  As efficient the debunking is and as well studied the response, you cannot defeat a bully with just reason and facts.  

Over at the Daily Howler and at Talking Points Memo we can see examples of how this playing out.  

The problem though, is that we cannot win a debate in the public square at this time in our history.  At every step we are fighting the conventional wisdom.  No matter how masterful the argument, the perception of the Democrats is what it is, and its representatives and talking heads are always responding to some attack.  

The only way to beat a bully is to not just defend yourself, but to bully back.  Hard.  Its not about winning any argument here, its about changing the conventional wisdom.  When Josh Marshall points out that the Republicans plan on using humour and making Kerry the object of ridicule, it appalls us, but it works for the public and the media in a way that Democrats doing the same thing would not.  Its acceptable because its the nature of the relationship between the two parties as it is defined by the CW and as it is writ in the media's script.

I've seen it in my own relationships with other people.  If you are the object of ridicule, for no good reason, no matter how much 'better' a person you are you will never change that situation until you assert yourself and take the dominant position.  

We have to bully first, hard and change the conventional wisdom. And the question for us is, what can we do about it? The blogosphere is perfect at reacting. Countless eyes, ears and keyboards attuned to every event. In a rational world, it would be the perfect defense. But what are our offensive capabilities, and how do we deploy them?