Apr 18, 2008

Framing The "Debate"


A friend called me early this morning. He's a default Texas John McCain supporter, which means : He won't vote for no split tail or no negro, by God.

A day before I had ripped McCain to this Truck Driver- and explained why he should be voting Democrat for the rest of his natural born life, apparently, 24 hours set in and he forgot the fifteen damn factors I had instilled in him via reason, logic, and historical example.

He called me from his cell as he was truckin along, and he asked me if I was still supporting Obama. Before I could answer, he followed up with : "Have you seen the news?" - Now, I am a news JUNKIE. I mainline C&L, I shoot MSNBC Straight, I chase it with NPR Radio , and while I'm at it, I have a slice of Yahoo and smoke a bowl of CNBC. And I wash it all down with a suicide of various blogs. So, sitting down at my desk that early morning, I hadn't even booted up my PC yet. All I had was my morning drive with NPR's tibetan updates.

I thought- 'Well, shit! what did I miss?'

"Obama got a terrorist working for him.Yep, it's all over the news!" He exclaimed.

Unawares of what the heck he was talking about, I kinda mumbled- "I didn't see that on the news" But nonplussed, I followed up with the standard West Texas talking point- "Well, hell, Rocky, I'll still vote for a terrorist over Hillary or McCain". That got a chuckle.

"Well, I just thought you should know that's what I heard. That your boy got terrorists working for him."

He couldn't cite a news agency or details, and he had to go abruptly. I quickly got online, thinking to myself- What-in-the-fck-now?

Unsurprisingly it dawned on me that there was no news concerning this soundbite. I had forgotten that the rest of the country isn't quite up to speed on current events. Maybe he had finally heard some shit about Madrassas. Maybe he had heard about Weather Underground. Maybe he heard some uppity black preacher was badmouthing the flag. But whatever bullshit he took in one ear, didn't quite make it out the other.

All that careful conversation I had with him the day before, meant nothing now. All he heard was that I was supporting a black man over the white one. And although he listened carefully and even told me what a sorrry ass Bush was, worst President ever- a day later all that registered was that crazy ass nigga's middle name was Hu-saaaaannnnne and he won't say the pledge of allegiance by damn!

...

He wants to vote Republican. Because he's been told to. But everything is shit and it has been for the past 8 years. Nothing has quite worked out like the Republican party told him it would. He just don't know. But ho-shit- It's not just a split-tail running for President, that's a god-damn Clinton! By Jesus, He'd take a bj in an outhouse with his wife holding a roll of toilet paper outside, but he cain't abide the Preznit getting his jollies in the oval office!

Not if he's damn democrat, at least! And then the other option is a half-breed! And half breeds ain't so bad, Hell this guy's grandson is a "half-breed". But this fucker is half (whisper- BLACK! whisper)

Sumbitch!

McCain is a white guy and hell he's even a War Hero. (If it all it takes to be a war hero is to be captured by a rice farmer in a paddy where you've been bombing civiilians)... So when he hears "Hussein" or "Farrakhan" or "black President" his mind is made up.

The wit and wisdom, the facts and the figures, the history and the truth isn't going to sway him.

UNLESS...

So, what I propose- is to fight like a dirty, piece of shit Republican. Do what they have done to Obama and to Hillary before him- Make up a bunch of bullshit and pass it down the line. Who knows? Knowing the Middle Amerkan dipshit like I know so well, they will PROBABLY improve on it as it goes in one ear and out their ass.
I'm sure you've heard some dirt on McCain. Well, do what THEY do, and just assume its true and pass it around. But frame it in the worst possible way to Right wingers and their ilk; Make a headline about McCain. Say that you heard it from a "reputable source" and let that fucker fly. We are dealing with idiots, slaves, and sycophants. For four years of blogging, I've laid out the truth in careful little lines only to be ignored by morons who want to know who's Britney's Sister's Baby's Daddy is.

FUCK THEM.

McCain wants to Double the Estate Tax! I read it in the Wall Street Journal!

McCain owns interest in a Chinese Nuclear Weapons facility! It was on FoxNews!

McCain called one of Mitt Romney's three wives' (the thirteen year old) a bitch! I heard it on Rush!

McCain beat his ex-wife as she lay in a cancer ward, then had sex with his mistress in the same room as she lay bleeding afterwards! it was on Drudge, I Swear!

McCain wants Cheney as his Vice President! (that might be true)

Rove threatens to blow the whistle on McCain's Bondage Affair with Condi Rice, her lesbian girlfriend and Jeff Gannon! I read it at Free Republic!

McCain secretly vows to George Bush in a satanic blood brother ritual that they will do a 9-11 in every major city until the Democrat party is no longer a majority in Congress! I saw it on Perez Hilton!

Because the horrible truth is- THESE Lies are more likely to get attention than Bush okaying Torture, Blackwater pulling guns on American soldiers with no consequences, Iraq going to hell in a handbasket, our President funneling millions of dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia and Israel, our government allowing crooked corporations to loot American stockholders, or our military being destroyed by the Incompetent Republican leadership.

So lie all you want. The truth is far worse.

23 comments:

Utah Savage said...

This is an excellent proposal. I will stay up nights thinking up lies. However the truth is plenty embarrassing where Mccain is concerned. But the most embarrassing of all is the cocksucking press corps that follows him around eating his line of shit and saying it tastes great and smells good too.

Did you know I'm a Texan? Born in Paris, then stayed with aunt and uncle in Sherman, then married (my third and final mistake in that department) to a man whose family lived in Abilene, on Don Juan St. There was a message in that street address.

The Future Was Yesterday said...

I really think we may have been separated at birth. WONDERFUL stuff!

Anonymoustache said...

Good stuff Fade.
Dont overlook the lie that Rove?Bush used to scuttle McCain back in 2000---McCain fathered a---(whisper)---black---baby.
That'll twist their nuts.
The 'aggressive' lies will only make him more popular with the fundies---so you gotta go with the lies that strike fear in their hearts-----like McCain has promised to make gay marriage legal; McCain is pro-choice (hey, he's for stem-cell research, so he's deemed a baby killer anyways, right?); McCain never goes to church; etc.

Targa said...

Man, this is good stuff.
I linked this over at the Tirade.

Batocchio said...

Made me wince, then made me laugh!

Freida Bee said...

pssst... most annoyingly, I tagged you. Take it or leave it, of course.

Utah Savage said...

Are you hiding out? Where have you been? I miss you no end when you disappear like this. Now, do I sound like a nagging wife?, ex girlfriend, mother? What the fuck man. Where have you gone?

anita said...

Excellent, Fade. I keep getting these e-mails about how much Michelle Obama hates American ("read her dissertation!!!") and that Barack is a closet Muslim (you'd think that one would have circled the planet eight times already and disappeared, but NO). I have no idea how I get on these lists, but I always write back, respectfully, "PLEASE REMOVE MY NAME." The response I keep getting is even more bizarre, "Hey, You're My Girl, I Can't Remove you." WHAT ?????????

"It's the End of the World as we Know it ... "

Faded said...

Utah- I generally don't blog on the weekends... Blogging is what I do in my spare time at work. My wife does not like me spending all my free time committed to my "internet bitch" as she calls it. I've been working on a post that I got tagged for, but its slow going- Here's a rundown of my day -
Woke up at 8:30am. My daughters slept in the living room last night, their bimonthly treat- the pallet on the floor, watching movies til they finally crash- anyway- I found my youngest awake watching toons. Hungry, I decided to cook a five course breakfast: Mini omelets, bacon, sausage, Texas style biscuits, hash browns and (my favorite: GRAVY) I had to take orders, Rain: Bacon, Lotsa Cheese, Amy: Sausage No cheese, Lauren: Sausage, Pepper Jack, and lots of hot sauce. Of course, I was the last one to eat, after that- I went outside, put another coat of stain on the porch, reglossed the pieces that were already stained, and watered the yard.... Did the dishes, put away the skillets, took a shower, then got the girls in the bath... Lauren blowdried their hair and informed me she wasnt going to "town" to visit the family because she didnt feel good. Kay= loaded up the kids -drove the 30 min drive to visit my family. While we were there, we stripped two elm branches and made walking sticks for the girls. We ate , visited and then It was off to see my older brother and his new harley. Went halfers on a 30 pack and went to the hotel where my bro is staying. His gf kicked him out last week (for buying the harley "Hope you can sleep on it!") Drank two beers, bullshitted. Girls were fussy by this point, totally bored. Loaded them up and we headed back to Levelland. came home- Amy crashed on the way home, but Rain didnt. We ended up singing Devo "whip it" about 3 or 4 times "Again, Daddy!" before we made it home. Got home,kissed the wife, sat down for a minute. Then was challenged to a game of Air hockey, which ended up being 10 games of air hockey, one of which I played blind (yes, with my eyes shut). Rain got (I'd say fussy, but really she was just pissed off and tired. So, I conned her into coming to laydown on my bed while Lauren cooked dinner and I checked my email... And here we are. SO, that's why I haven't blogged. (and usually DON'T on the weekends) My kiddos keep me way too frickin busy.

old hack said...

See...? this is why I don't support ANY OF THEM. I support myself. did you read my pop up book biography of the legendary Barry Obama?

sure as Shit. just another crooked lawyer on the hill taking our money with us not having any say one way or the other. And then to top it off they make you Vote FOR them.

Mike Gravel said it best when he said "Politicians can tell you to go to hell and make you look forward to the trip".

droudy said...

Fabulous, Fade! I always thought we Democrats played too nice.

Let's not forget also that McCrazy is still spewing anti-Iran propaganda labeled as confused. More & more lies.

Utah Savage said...

Gravy! Mummm. I like grits and gravy. Biscuits and gravy. I like shit on a shingle too.

The Poor Blogger said...

"Old Hack," right on!

Fade, I have to admit that, even though McCain scares me, I still default to hoping that he wins just because I was raised super-conservative. That kind of stuff gets in your bones and it's hard to get out. At least I'm aware of it, but it still kind of annoys me.

Faded said...

Old Hack is against everything just to be against it.

Kurt Kaletka said...

John McCain's preacher hates Catholics, too. Seriously. The guy's a TV preacher named Reverend John Hagee, and he's referred to the Catholic Church as "The Great Whore." I'm not making this up. McCain was even asked about Hagee's "Great Whore" comment by George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, April 20, and McCain said he still valued Hagee's support.

Granted, this news might not make much of a dent in west Texas, but in the Rust Belt and the Northeast, where there's plenty of white Catholics who don't cotton to having their religious sect likened to prostitutes, this could wind up poisoning McCain in their hearts worse than anything Hillary Clinton could do to Barack Obama. Try it!

Faded said...

kurt- McCain Hates Catholics! Tears up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live! Vows the destroy the papist horde!

The Poor Blogger said...

Hagee isn't McCain's preacher. McCain initially sought Hagee's endorsement because he is weak in the Conservative Right (which he will have to have if he's going to defeat Clinton or Obama). Since then, McCain has distanced himself from Hagee because of his comments regarding Catholicism.

My problem is that everyone has at least one opinion that is offensive to someone else. We can't hold anyone, including Obama and Clinton, accountable for what people in their lives think. It's a non-sequitor and an ad hominem rolled into one.

Be against them for their policies (like McCain's warhorse predilictions or all of their rampant Federalism), not something like that.

Faded said...

Oh, Hell - "has distanced himself" Would that THAT Simple statement worked as well for a half black Democrat as it does for a white Republican. Sheeeyit.

My take is that I don't give a damn what anyone's preacher says. Who their High school teacher, or their co-worker, or their momma. I am interested in what Obama Believes. I am interested in McCain believes. But more than that, I am interested in handing a blow to the radical group who has screwed up so much in the past 8 years. And, that, my friend, is the Republican party.

Batocchio said...

Umm, McCain distanced himself from Hagee? I must have missed that. He actively sought his endorsement (although he tried to keep that part quiet) and appeared with him publicly to earn points with the evangelical right-wing. He later said he didn't agree with everything Hagee said. Given McCain's actions, I can't call that "distancing," I call that trying to play the right-wing and the press. Meanwhile, the press showed a remarkable double standard with McCain on the matter. If McCain just knows some wingnut, that's one thing, but if he's actively courting them, or if they have a role in policy, that's quite another. Leaving aside even any anti-Catholic bigotry from Hagee for the moment, Hagee is a raging homophobe and wants to bring about the "Rapture" with war in the Middle East. It's certainly fair to press McCain on his positions on gay rights and warfare with or without Hagee, and those positions are pretty damn bad. Now let's see if the press actually notices.

Faded said...

uh, yeah, what Bat said!

Batocchio said...

BTW, Poor Blogger, if you're not familiar with it already, you might enjoy a great logic site run by two philo profs, called The Non Sequitur actually, that recently had a great post on how ad hominem is often invoked imprecisely. In this situation, I'd go with "guilt by association," "prejudicial framing" or "irrelevant," but your mileage may vary.

I'll say again that I don't have a problem pressing McCain on a pandering poltical maneuver that also contains the potential for backlash, because that's the standard McCain himself has set with that behavior, and it completely violates the public persona he's running on, one that most of the press shills uncritically. Most MSM types either cover up for his reversals or downplay them — I've seen journalists use a 'his heart isn't really in this pander' excuse for McCain more times than I care to remember. Leaving aside Hagee, McCain's actual record, current policies and some of his rhetoric are far more extreme, delusional or dangerous than most of the public knows. Americans can judge those matters for themselves, of course, but only if the press actually covers that stuff, and accurately. McCain's chief pitch right now is a false public persona; on policy, he's essentially promising Bush's third term. The key point I think everyone seems to agree with here is that McCain (and all the candidates, actually) should be grilled thoroughly and accurately on their actual policies versus trivial BS.

The Poor Blogger said...

Here's the deal, and why I like Obama as a person better than McCain. McCain (and Hillary) both tried to distance themselves from the people who made comments which could hurt their campaigns. Obama didn't. Instead, he embraced the person, if not the idea. And he tried to explain the statement in the context of the culture in which it was made. I appreciated that.

However, McCain will be taken to task by Democrats and Liberals for the statements of Mr. Magoo (apparen't even to the point of being connected in a "pastor-parishioner" relationship) in exactly the same way that Republicans and conservatives will do it to Hillary and Obama. It's because we're all sophists. We don't care what the truth is as long as our words achieve the desired result.

As for the Republican party screwing up, I agree. Every bit as much as the Democrats screwed up before them. As long as we look to the Federal government to fix our problems, the problems will continue for the Federal government ALWAYS looks to itself first.

Interesting tidbit (which I may have mentioned here before): Did you know that JFK and his brother as well as Lyndon Johnson all approved wiretaps on MLK Jr.? Yup. Even the bigtime "proponents" of Civil Rights in the White House were more about "keeping the peace" than "making things right."

It will never stop. Not as long as there are people with power and influence in high places.

The Poor Blogger said...

Bat,

McCain did actively seek his endorsement (as I said) but then distanced himself after everything came out. He's playing that dangerous game where he wants to keep the endorsement while not the opinions. McCain will desperately need the Catholic vote.

Also, you're right about my use of "ad hominem." I was going to modify it, but don't know how to say "beside" in Latin, as in "against the man beside the first man." But it just sounds so much better in Latin! So I hoped that adding "non sequitur" would suffice.

There's a FANTASTIC video on youtube where a catholic priest takes a Fox news reporter to task for their coverage of Obama and Rev. Wright. If you can find it, you'll love it.

Speaking of "Wright," my last name is "White." I used to teach with a black woman whose last name was "Wright." We had the same students, and they kept getting our names mixed up. So she encouraged them to call me "Mr. Black" and her "Ms. Left." It was the coolest I've felt since I saw the clip from "Reservoir Dogs" when "Mr. Pink" tries to change his name to something more cool.