The long ball
or, Waiting for a good reception opportunity,
or ,Can’t the democrats be slightly less stupid?
The problem with the democrats isn’t just the leadership. I don’t really understand why Bush was greeted with protesters in Denver on Tuesday, in the beginning of the holiday season. The people who already agree with the protesters already agree with them, and can be counted on to continue to vote democratic or stay home in disgust, as they see fit. But there are a lot of other people out there, who, like cable tv-engorged lab rats, will see the protesters protesting this and that, and, tuning out the actual words...
They’ll just see them as no-good liberal protesters, protesting at the start of the holiday season, and conclude that the noisy opinion-mongers on Fox News(and CNN, and MSNBC, and most of talk radio...) are right, that those no-good liberals hate Christmas. (And freedom. And America, and numerous other things...) When Cindy Sheehan was finally arrested in October, that strategy achieved what it could and had run its course, for the short and intermediate term.
Look: I don’t know if George Bush jnr is evil or not. But I imagine that if he is, he’ll probably be just as evil in early January. If you don’t believe me, just wait four or five weeks.
(And parenthetically, if he really is just the puppet of Cheney and Rumsfeld and the oil companies, wouldn’t offering him a plea bargain to rat out the real villians make more sense than impeaching him? Even big oil would probably be more than happy to leave Cheney and Rummy out in the cold if it left them comparatively unscathed. It's the American way, and winter's coming.)
It’s pretty simple. Mile-high city-- think John Elway. The democrats, on the few occasions they have the ball, tend to have a poor field position. Why, I don’t know. Possibly because
a.they’re stupid, and fail to capitalize on the wealth of issues on which they hold common ground with most voters, or
b. their opponents cheat, and
c. nobody has told the refs about those naughty voting machines that are said to do creative things with the instant replay thingie.
So: If you have the ball, and you have a poor field position, should you
a.perpetually badger the refs(and the fans) about the other guys going offsides, or
b. wait a while, for a wide receiver who’s worth a damn to get open, and go long?
image courtesy Sports Illustrated.
Fortunately for me, I don’t run the democratic party, because I think I’d have to fire the entire starting lineup, or darn near all of ‘em. I’d keep Georgia’s John Lewis and California’s Barbara Boxer(but not Diane Feinstein), Philly’s Chaka Fattah, and maybe a few others.
( If Paul Wellstone had a number, they’d have to retire his jersey.) As I said, fortunately for me, I don’t run the democratic party, and don’t have to worry about these things. But they could sure use a John Elway and a Terrell Davis right about now. Or, perhaps more appropriately, a Doug Flutie and a Gerald Phelan.
And yeah, I know, TD was a running back, not a wide receiver. There’s Shannon Sharpe, but I think he was a tight end. Work with me, ok? At least the Super Bowl isn’t held until after New Year’s. I got that part of the analogy right...
Story:
or ,Can’t the democrats be slightly less stupid?
The problem with the democrats isn’t just the leadership. I don’t really understand why Bush was greeted with protesters in Denver on Tuesday, in the beginning of the holiday season. The people who already agree with the protesters already agree with them, and can be counted on to continue to vote democratic or stay home in disgust, as they see fit. But there are a lot of other people out there, who, like cable tv-engorged lab rats, will see the protesters protesting this and that, and, tuning out the actual words...
They’ll just see them as no-good liberal protesters, protesting at the start of the holiday season, and conclude that the noisy opinion-mongers on Fox News(and CNN, and MSNBC, and most of talk radio...) are right, that those no-good liberals hate Christmas. (And freedom. And America, and numerous other things...) When Cindy Sheehan was finally arrested in October, that strategy achieved what it could and had run its course, for the short and intermediate term.
Look: I don’t know if George Bush jnr is evil or not. But I imagine that if he is, he’ll probably be just as evil in early January. If you don’t believe me, just wait four or five weeks.
(And parenthetically, if he really is just the puppet of Cheney and Rumsfeld and the oil companies, wouldn’t offering him a plea bargain to rat out the real villians make more sense than impeaching him? Even big oil would probably be more than happy to leave Cheney and Rummy out in the cold if it left them comparatively unscathed. It's the American way, and winter's coming.)
It’s pretty simple. Mile-high city-- think John Elway. The democrats, on the few occasions they have the ball, tend to have a poor field position. Why, I don’t know. Possibly because
a.they’re stupid, and fail to capitalize on the wealth of issues on which they hold common ground with most voters, or
b. their opponents cheat, and
c. nobody has told the refs about those naughty voting machines that are said to do creative things with the instant replay thingie.
So: If you have the ball, and you have a poor field position, should you
a.perpetually badger the refs(and the fans) about the other guys going offsides, or
b. wait a while, for a wide receiver who’s worth a damn to get open, and go long?
image courtesy Sports Illustrated.
Fortunately for me, I don’t run the democratic party, because I think I’d have to fire the entire starting lineup, or darn near all of ‘em. I’d keep Georgia’s John Lewis and California’s Barbara Boxer(but not Diane Feinstein), Philly’s Chaka Fattah, and maybe a few others.
( If Paul Wellstone had a number, they’d have to retire his jersey.) As I said, fortunately for me, I don’t run the democratic party, and don’t have to worry about these things. But they could sure use a John Elway and a Terrell Davis right about now. Or, perhaps more appropriately, a Doug Flutie and a Gerald Phelan.
And yeah, I know, TD was a running back, not a wide receiver. There’s Shannon Sharpe, but I think he was a tight end. Work with me, ok? At least the Super Bowl isn’t held until after New Year’s. I got that part of the analogy right...
Story:
"Chanting, drumming protesters greet Bush"
By Jon Sarche, associated press writer.
DENVER -- About 300 people blew whistles, pounded on pots and pans and chanted "Impeach Bush" in a noisy but largely peaceful protest before President Bush arrived Tuesday for a fund-raiser.
Air Force One landed at Denver International Airport a few minutes after noon, and Bush left by motorcade for an appearance at the Brown Palace Hotel for Rep. Marilyn Musgrave.
Protesters briefly blocked the path of two press buses that were trailing the motorcade, and some shouted and made obscene gestures before police cleared them out of the way. The motorcade was not blocked.
Musgrave, a second-term congresswoman, is considered by some GOP analysts to be among the party's most vulnerable lawmakers in next year's elections. She became a lightning rod for criticism by promoting a constitutional ban on gay marriage, a campaign she said she has put on hold while she runs for re-election.
Jeb Bennett, 51, carried a sign saying "Musgrave is Bush-league." He said gay marriage and other issues are being used to distract voters from more important matters.
Eve Ventrella, 31, said Bush's backing for Musgrave and her support for a gay marriage ban were the big reasons she attended the protest.
....Carla Lanza, 59, said the Bush administration has never proved its contention, voiced before the U.S. invaded Iraq, that Saddam Hussein had ties to al-Qaida and the Sept. 11 attacks...
"It's a culture of deceit, corruption and cronyism, all under the guise of patriotism and Christianity," she said between blasts on a whistle. "Where is the morality in permitting all these deaths of young people?"
©1996-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer and ©2005 AP, as far as I know.
posted by Jonathan Versen at 1:38 AM
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