Drinking Liberally

Sad to report that Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio has passed away. Rep. Jones suffered a brain aneurysm earlier today and was removed from life support shortly after noon. She was the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in congress, a proud democrat, chair of the House Ethics Committee, a spirited campaigner and a dedicated wife and mother. May she rest in peace.

Why are we all so excited about Rachel Maddow? News of her being tapped for own MSNBC program has excited the progressive grassroots/netroots, leading Living Liberally's blog to be "All Maddow, All the Time" today in her honor.

So what's the big deal?

Well, first of all, Maddow demonstrations that someone can graduate from the world of "progressive media" into a role in the "mainstream" media. People across the country know Maddow -- if not from her stints on Air America, then from her confrontations with Pat Buchanan and take-down Joe Scarborough. She has become a brand, a recognizable name and face, and -- according to that ultimate arbiter, the bottom-line of business-driven MSNBC -- a bankable commodity.

This is a great success for progressive media, and the components of it that had promoted Maddow at different parts in her career. And it's a signal to other smart, funny, liberal personalities that there is an avenue to advance their careers and their ideas.

Second, Maddow is a team player. She respects and engages the progressive movement. We, at Living Liberally, experienced that friendship when she wrote a guest post for Screening Liberally on her recommended weekend video rentals, and when she joined us for our 5th Anniversary party in May.

When we've asked her to participate, she's participated. That's a great quality.

And finally, it a strong, left-leaning voice will reach the homes of many more Americans. Yes, there are satiric news programs that do a great job challenging right-wing dominance, and some broadcasters like Keith Olbermann who challenge the administration, but we're still short on proud progressive personalities in the spotlight. The right has them. Now we have one more too.

Part of building a progressive movement is ensuring there are structures that recognize and promote talent: whether candidates, organizers or commentators. Maddow's next move shows that some of these structures are in place...we need to keep making them work.

And we need to tune in to MSNBC on Monday, September 8th at 9pm to help keep Maddow on the air.

Congratulations.

Much more on this over the next week, but know that there will be a place in NYC for you to gather during the DNC and RNC.

Check out the complete schedule -- the abbreviated round-up is below:

Free Admission. Cheap Beer. Big Screens. Special Guests. Comedy. Trivia. Prizes. Oh, and Conventions.

Day-By-Day Schedule
All Events FREE; 7-11pm
at The Tank (except where noted)

Mon, Aug 25—Kick-Off Festivities with Laughing Liberally comedy throughout the night
Tues, Aug 26—– Let Your Voice Be Heard – (6pm) Open Mic on your vision for the next Prez streamed to Denver, hosted by the Manhattan Young Dems
Wed, Aug 27— Political Pub Trivia hosted by The Big Quiz Thing's Noah Tarnow
Thurs, Aug 28—Obama's Acceptance speech (and drinking game)

Mon, Sep 1—Bush's Last Stand & Labor Day Barbecue (4-7pm at Rudy's Bar – 9th & 44th)
Tues, Sep 2— Political Pub Trivia, hosted by The Big Quiz Thing's Noah Tarnow
Wed, Sep 3—Laughing Liberally (comedy throughout the night)
Thurs, Sep 4—McCain's Acceptance speech (and drinking game) – with special guest Markos Moulitsas Zuniga founder of Daily Kos, author of "Taking on the System"

McCain's anti-Obama ads show that he sneers
when Americans cheer someone likable & popular
...boy, McCain must hate Michael Phelps.

His international policy is to go-it-alone,
& he scoffed when Germans gathered to support
an American that came in the spirit of peace.
...the torch ceremony must've made him nauseous.

He accuses Obama of elitism, though Obama
worked his way up from a humble background,
while McCain's family got him his placements
...impartial international judges must drive him crazy.

He's against enthusiasm, internationalism & meritocracy
...John McCain must really hate the Olympics.

Or maybe he wishes they were more like the old days
when men competed naked & women stayed home.

Come out to toast the Olympic spirit & global goodwill
& debate whether Obama or Phelps has the bigger fan club
as you share a night & a few drinks with fellow lefties
at your local progressive social club.

DRINKING LIBERALLY
Find - or start - a chapter near you.

What is... DL Idaho Falls?

Crystal just moved to Shelley from California, and will be a great new member of DL. I am organizing an unauthorized "Welcome to Idaho" visit and potential cleaning/moving crew for tomorrow (Sunday). Write back and let me know what time would work best for you.

Just excellent. It's great to see DL members welcoming our new friends and trying our best to get them settled into the local liberal community. This is one area in which the progressive movement could use some growth. It's these personal connections and relationships that serve as the foundation of everything we do at Living Liberally, because after all, what is a liberal community without the love?

Obama offers a comprehensive energy plan,
& accurately notes keeping tires pumped
saves more than offshore drilling will produce.
The reaction: Conservatives mock conservation.

The Bush team ordered a forged letter
to mislead America into invading Iraq,
deceiving Congress, distorting the press....
In short, Republicans subverted the Republic.

And in a military trial at Guantanamo
secret evidence & closed proceedings
are supposedly the road to justice.
Because the Right-wing opposes Rights.

Anti-conservation conservatives...
anti-rights right-wingers...
anti-Republic Republicans...

At least these lunatics are consistent.

Take a deep breath & enjoy a deep swig
and share deep debate or (light libations)
at your local progressive social club.

DRINKING LIBERALLY
Find - or start - a chapter near you.

1. Wal-Mart's attempts to sway the political attitudes of its employees go horribly awry.

2. n+1's Dark Knight review paints the film as Bush administration propaganda. Tell us, n+1...why so serious?

3. Proof that John McCain doesn't know what bad press looks like.

4. File this one under horrible-but-not-actually-that-surprising: Ron Suskind's revelation that the Bush administration forged a letter linking Iraq and Al-Quaeda.

5. Also, Grandpa got totally drunk at the Buffalo Chip competition and embarrassed New Grandma.

Ed Fallon, the challenger who lost a heartbreaking primary to Bush-Dog Leonard Boswell, endorses the Liberal Card for his own personal reasons.

Tell the world that you are a card-carrying liberal, and get awesome discounts while you're at it!

Get your Liberal Card today at TheLiberalCard.org.

Conservatives in America have perfected a campaigning technique – it's often credited to Karl Rove, but it has roots that go back to his mentor, Lee Atwater.  If there's an issue where they have a severe deficit, they try to convert the strength of their opponent into weakness.  In 2000, the GOP selected a fairly dumb candidate.  So they converted their opponent's intelligence into a weakness by labeling him an elitist intellectual who couldn't be trusted.  In 2004, they faced a veteran with a heroic record, who had the sense to reject the reasons behind both Viet Nam and Iraq.  Their candidate was a coward who went AWOL during his duty, and who was a rank incompetent in prosecuting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  How do you fight that?  By attacking the veteran's war record:  mock his convention salute, wear purple-heart bandaids, fund slimy attacks like those of the Swift Boat liars, etc.

What do they face in 2008?  A very popular black candidate.  How can you attack that?  Well, you attack his popularity by making it seem like a weakness.  When he draws 80,000 people in Portland, you start talking about Obama-bots and his cult status.  When he announces that his acceptance speech will be in a stadium with 75,000 people, or when he draws 200,000 in Berlin, you compare him to Hitler.

The race part is problematic.  You will have a tough time attacking his blackness.  You can try to use side issues to make him seem different, foreign, unAmerican.  By doing that, you have his blackness working for you.  People who are already uneasy about electing a black man will connect all the dots – he's a scary, Muslim black man who hates America.

The other thing you can do is take away the power of the racism accusation.  You can make it impossible for people to accuse you of racism.  That way you pave the way for more nasty racist arguments to be used later.  How do you do that?  By exaggerating what people say into false accusations of racism that look totally absurd and baseless.

I experience that tactic this last week in the IdahoFallsToday.com (formerly IdahoFallz.com) website.  On a thread about the New Yorker cover, I commented (as 'Idahogie') that a small subset of people who forward horrible lies in emails like "Obama is a Muslim" and "Michelle hates America" were just covering for racism.  A poster named Bundy did his part to take a little bit of power out of the racism card by exaggerating that to the extreme:  "I am intentionally calling you on your baloney liberal theories that paint any opposition to Obama as racist."  That is obviously not true.  I did nothing of the sort, and Bundy was just lying.  I corrected him nicely once, but he kept at it, repeating his lie 4 or 5 times.  He even got some defenders to support him.

I don't think that Bundy knew that's what he was doing.  I think your run-of-the-mill right-wingers just pick up these techniques through osmosis and emulation.  But his lie had a purpose – to weaken the racism accusation in general.  If the conservatives do this enough, they will be able to paint any racism claim as just the absurd accusations of politically correct liberals.

There was another example of this tactic from the GOP last weekend on the national scene.  John McCain had badgered Obama about his lack of foreign trips to visit the troops and talk with the commanders for so long that he was faced with a huge problem when he saw Obama's trip going so well.  So he took advantage of a particular incident to smear Obama.  The US Army command at the military base in Landstuhl, Germany, denied Obama permission to visit the base, giving the reason that they didn't want a political event to take place, politicising the troops, etc.  They would have transported Obama there alone, but Obama didn't want to go without his advisor - a retire Air Force officer (and, given that he'd already been ambushed by a lying McCain supporter in Afghanistan, I can understand why he'd want his team with him at all times).  Instead of making a big deal of it, Obama deferred to the Landstuhl commanders.  After his plane left Germany, the Landstuhl commanders also rejected the press's request to accompany him to Landstuhl.  That was a separate request, which was moot at that point anyway.  McCain's campaign then put out as slimy and underhanded an ad as you could concoct.  I'm sure that Karl Rove was proud.

And now, he made time to go to the gym, but cancelled a visit with wounded troops.  Seems the pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras.

Did you see that?  Besides lying through deceptive juxtapositioning of facts, McCain used the wounded troops as a club to attack Obama.  He politicized them, when Obama's decision not to visit was based on avoiding that outcome.  McCain took an Obama strength and tried to make it a weakness.  The good news is that it seems to be backfiring in McCain's face.

This countering tactic is really the only thing the right has.  They certainly can't run on their record (ha!).  Or their basic philosophy – most Americans are liberal on the issues – they support abortion, public education, universal health care, getting out of Iraq, social security, support for the poor, immigration, speaking foreign languages, etc.  So conservatives have to be sneaky to get people to vote against their own best interests, and to defend horrible candidates like Bush and McCain.  They're doing what they have to do.  And people like Bundy fall in line to help them.

Don't fall for it.  This conservative tactic relies on all of us to ignore the deceptions that they are purpetrating.  Call it out when you see it.  When you read someone like Bundy making absurd claims, point it out and tell her that you're not falling for it.  If you have a wingnut friend who forwards stupid emails about Obama, send a correction back in reply, and include every email address from the original.  Don't sit back and say "it's just a he-said/she-said thing – we can all just have our own opinions and agree to disagree."  Show them that deceptive political tactics can't be used to steal power in this country.