As long as democrats keep rolling over and not fighting back nothing bad republicans do will matter. Democrats haven't fought once since 911.

I can't even begin to count the number of "THIS ONE IS GOING TO DO THEM IN!" strings here over the last five years, there has to be hundreds of things and they suffer no consequences ...

A few weeks ago it was the moron who was holed up, they got behind 100 percent and he went on an endless rampage of painfully racist comments.

THIS ONE IS GOING TO DO THEM IN!

Except, it is a few weeks later and they suffered nothing from that and doing what they have 100s of times ...

That event was used to pressure, bully and beat down democratic causes by exploiting fear and Democrat's ridiculous insecurity about not looking patriotic. We should've demanded accountability and made heads roll but the leadership caved...thank you Sen. Max Cleland for being one of the only ones other than Paul Wellstone and Russ Feingold to have the courage to stand up for what's right.

keeps harping on Bowe's "desertion" to discredit him BEFORE he discredits his fellow soldiers for something they are afraid he will reveal. Close examination of the soldiers that FOX brings on the air to discredit Bowe is something that the media should be doing...but they probably won't.

What I don't get is that he was promoted twice while being held. If he walked off, then why in the world would he be promoted?

Nothing to see here.

Btw poster, not sure you realize that 'if he walked off then why promoted yadayada' is one of the standard Rethuglican talking points referred to in the smear campaign the OP refers to. Sgt. Bergdahl has never had a hearing - no facts of his disappearance have been determined yet. Just sayin, not accusing.


My talking point is that the US Military never leaves it's own behind. Period

I just thought the promotions cast doubt on that one talking point, not that that it should matter as far as getting Bowe out.

Irving Peress, who was accused of being a communist by Senator McCarthy. While the investigation was going on, Peress was promoted from captain to major. McCarthy started blathering about "Who promoted Peress?" Given that McCarthy himself was a former military officer, he actually knew the answer perfectly well. After a year or two, unless the medical or dental officer in question had been court-martialed, promotion from captain to major was automatic. Thus, the system promoted Peress.

think tank coordinated radio stations and their 450 ignorant lying blowhards yell over everything we do.

you're going to blog and whine about how your reps and obama can't give you your unicorn while your local radio station takes free pot shots at them all day long.

there's one simple thing democrats can do to change the whole dynamic- stop ignoring rw radio.

But I'm lucky to live in a very liberal area. The fact is at higher leadership levels my beloved democrat brothers and sisters simply seem to lose their backbone and lose fights with the republicans because of it. Not all democrats but way too many considering we have basically had war declared on us by the Right. Our Hillary Clinton's and John Kerrys don't go to protests anymore...they vote to go to war instead and try to persuade us to go along

ignore it

i have a hard time blaming democratic reps for much, even the blue dogs, while we let the fascist GOP think tanks take free pot shots at them all day long from 1200 radio stations. that'll remain the same until the left realizes what's been kicking their ass for 20 years and stops giving them a free speech free ride.

But where is our equivalent? We are naive fools if we think it will be MSNBC or the like on radio. The fact is we have to come to terms with the fact that it is Big Money vs The People. That's it. We need louder voices and grassroots activism. A corporate owned media entity will not provide that. We will see if Greenwalds new venture pans out and speaks truth to power as he had shown he is capable of doing.

think tank coordinated blowhards on 1200 radio stations are so loud and scripted and repetitious that our reps don't have to listen to their real constituencies if they don't want to - they can get on the red velvet limbaugh bandwagon like the GOP has done. what dems don't are being trashed all day long and we don't get their backs.

they have a monopoly and it's a lot louder than any documentaries.

there are ways to challenge their most important weapon- here are some:

Four ways Democrats and progressives can challenge the talk radio advantage before the 2014 elections:

1) Right wing radio has been successful because it has been ignored. Use the latest transcription software to make transcripts of the major local RW talkers available for searching and reading.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024974398 Lies and distortions can be responded to in other media, or with picketing at stations, BEFORE they hurt Democratic candidates and progressive causes. Most advertising the GOP and its candidates do is built on and reinforced by lies and distortions popularized and made acceptable with the unchallenged repetition that only talk radio is capable of. Correcting the talk radio gods and their propaganda publicly will reduce the effectiveness of those ads and the numbers of disinterested fence-sitters the dittoheads and teabaggers can mobilize on election day.

2) More than 28% of Limbaugh stations piggyback publicly funded schools. I don't think the RW radio monopoly can survive without its parasitic relationship with our institutions of higher learning. Shame colleges and universities that broadcast sports on RW radio stations. Get them to honor their mission statements and look for apolitical alternatives. The benefits those schools get from their associations with the loudest stations in the state pale in comparison to the damage RW radio has helped shills like Walker do. The RW stations and their talkers use college sports logos to boost their community credibility and attract advertisers while they help ALEC and the Koch brothers and their candidates defund and privatize public education, attack teachers and unions and Democratic candidates, and deny global warming and other science. Those stations also weigh in on elections of regents and the short lists of candidates for school presidents. The radio component of the media licensing revenue a school receives (usually packaged with all media) may be minuscule compared to total licensing revenues and schools need to be asked to reveal those details. What's the price to get a university to trash its own mission statement? The amount may be surprisingly small.

3) Support the Rush Limbaugh boycott efforts and extend it to all advertisers on right wing stations. Most stations include some innocuous and apolitical programming during the week but they are primarily part of the larger RW propaganda operation. Any damage done to progressive radio will made up for many times over as the right wing radio monopoly disintegrates and stations become available.

4) Where appropriate, include radio stations and talk show hosts in peaceful protests. For 25 years a few hundred RW talkers with big soapboxes have attacked, distorted, and sabotaged the citizen activism of millions- with little protest or acknowledgment from the 'Left' or it's organizations. Protests at state capitols are routinely minimized by the state RW stations and their carnival barkers. Those attacks can continue long after the protestors go home. Almost any major issue is appropriate, from social justice and equality, fair wages, global warming, the Keystone XL pipeline, fracking, media and election reform, voter suppression, gun control, wall street, and political corruption. All could legitimately be picketed at those giant megaphones - the true source of 'popular' power of the new irrational Republican Party. Media and politicians used to being intimidated and enabled by RW radio and its made-to-order think tank talk radio constituencies, will notice.

We can't take anything for granted and always need to fight.

Contest the newer media. Better use of resources.

Radio works where people listen to radio. In the south, at least, especially in a state as big as Texas, wide open spaces mean long driving distances, and that means a lot of listening to radio.

Without National Hate Radio, the South would be looking for solutions, not scapegoats.

that's what they're still screaming from 1200 of the loudest radio stations in the state and liberals have ben walking by with their fingers intheir ears for 25 years. considering the time lost on global warming that is the biggest political mistake in history.

we don't have time to wait for it to die- it would have a while back if it wasn't so important to them and they will keep it going.

bergdahl and benghazi are perfect examples why rw radio still kicks internet ass- their place in our national media cycles would not be possible without that dominating national rw radio buzz, scripted and coordinated by teh well-paid PR pros in those koch funded stink tanks.

whatever you're active in, whether it's global warming or gun control or net neutrality or getting a liberal elected, those radio stations are crapping all over it, and the dem party and the left orgs are wasting your volunteer time and donations because there is no organized opposition to it.

you may even go to or did go to a school that rented you school mascot to a local rw radio station to help it crap on your activism, trash you when you protested, and egg the cops on to beat you.

there's no activism today that would benefit liberals more than to challenge rw radio.

Four ways Democrats and progressives can challenge the talk radio advantage before the 2014 elections: (from:http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=359225 )

1) Right wing radio has been successful because it has been ignored. Use the latest transcription software to make transcripts of the major local RW talkers available for searching and reading. (Here's a way to record multple rw radio streams simultaneously that can then be transcribed with latest software: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251364203 ). Lies and distortions can be responded to in other media, or with picketing at stations, BEFORE they hurt Democratic candidates and progressive causes. Most advertising the GOP and its candidates do is built on and reinforced by lies and distortions popularized and made acceptable with the unchallenged repetition that only talk radio is capable of. Correcting the talk radio gods and their propaganda publicly will reduce the effectiveness of those ads and the numbers of disinterested fence-sitters the dittoheads and teabaggers can mobilize on election day.

2) More than 28% of Limbaugh stations piggyback publicly funded schools. I don't think the RW radio monopoly can survive without its parasitic relationship with our institutions of higher learning. Shame colleges and universities that broadcast sports on RW radio stations. Get them to honor their mission statements and look for apolitical alternatives. The benefits those schools get from their associations with the loudest stations in the state pale in comparison to the damage RW radio has helped shills like Walker do. The RW stations and their talkers use college sports logos to boost their community credibility and attract advertisers while they help ALEC and the Koch brothers and their candidates defund and privatize public education, attack teachers and unions and Democratic candidates, and deny global warming and other science. Those stations also weigh in on elections of regents and the short lists of candidates for school presidents. The radio component of the media licensing revenue a school receives (usually packaged with all media) may be minuscule compared to total licensing revenues and schools need to be asked to reveal those details. What's the price to get a university to trash its own mission statement? The amount may be surprisingly small.

3) Support the Rush Limbaugh boycott efforts and extend it to all advertisers on right wing stations. Most stations include some innocuous and apolitical programming during the week but they are primarily part of the larger RW propaganda operation. Any damage done to progressive radio will made up for many times over as the right wing radio monopoly disintegrates and stations become available.

4) Where appropriate, include radio stations and talk show hosts in peaceful protests. For 25 years a few hundred RW talkers with big soapboxes have attacked, distorted, and sabotaged the citizen activism of millions- with little protest or acknowledgment from the 'Left' or it's organizations. Protests at state capitols are routinely minimized by the state RW stations and their carnival barkers. Those attacks can continue long after the protestors go home. Almost any major issue is appropriate, from social justice and equality, fair wages, global warming, the Keystone XL pipeline, fracking, media and election reform, voter suppression, gun control, wall street, and political corruption. All could legitimately be picketed at those giant megaphones - the true source of 'popular' power of the new irrational Republican Party. Media and politicians used to being intimidated and enabled by RW radio and its made-to-order think tank talk radio constituencies, will notice.

only talk on the radio

& not the organized opposition you mention.

Individual action doesn't go too far (I know from experience).

I think what we need is to convince one of the major organizations to get something going.

1) all dem state offices should be monitoring state rw radio blowhards or at a minimum should be getting the results of their monitoring from national dem party. progressive anti-ALEC groups working on ANY major issue need to know what those stations are saying and should be responding to their lies because those talk radio teabag/dittohead made-to-order constituencies are being portrayed as 'popular' sentiment to enable and intimidate media and politicians in opposition to those issues and legislation- and it's all based on their unchallenged ability to create their own facts.

2) every progressive and dem group in those universities is getting shat on by their own universities- their efforts undermined and yelled over by a few blowhards with big megaphones with their own mascots on them. they also work to destroy public ed, raise tuition, destroy unions, and attack teachers. it's stupid for those student groups not to work to get their schools out of rw radio.

3) all rw radio stations should be targets of boycotts- orgs could help with that

4) any organization doing a protest that they hope will get media and political attention should be considering those stations in their picketing plans

"should" and "could" are the problem. Those Dem state offices, anti-ALEC groups and university groups obviously are not doing any of this now. How to get that going?

The impractical element: boycotting & picketing takes so much effort and has no effect if the media doesn't carry it.

although crucial to ignoring it is the lack of written material to study and research and the new transcription software coming out is an important part.

as for boycotting, the limited-scope limbaugh boycott is hurting the industry and now they can't have all that pro alec GOP advertising for free anymore. there will be a lot more shenanigans going on to subsidize the propaganda - dems need to watch to make sure it's legal

and as far as protesting, protests at major talk stations would be the kind of unique events that would attract media.

No one seems to care

there are a bunch of ways besides the hopeless task of a new Fairness Doctrine or trying to compete with their well protected monopoly:

Four ways Democrats and progressives can challenge the talk radio advantage before the 2014 elections: (from:http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=359225 )

1) Right wing radio has been successful because it has been ignored. Use the latest transcription software to make transcripts of the major local RW talkers available for searching and reading. (Here's a way to record multple rw radio streams simultaneously that can then be transcribed with latest software: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251364203 ). Lies and distortions can be responded to in other media, or with picketing at stations, BEFORE they hurt Democratic candidates and progressive causes. Most advertising the GOP and its candidates do is built on and reinforced by lies and distortions popularized and made acceptable with the unchallenged repetition that only talk radio is capable of. Correcting the talk radio gods and their propaganda publicly will reduce the effectiveness of those ads and the numbers of disinterested fence-sitters the dittoheads and teabaggers can mobilize on election day.

2) More than 28% of Limbaugh stations piggyback publicly funded schools. I don't think the RW radio monopoly can survive without its parasitic relationship with our institutions of higher learning. Shame colleges and universities that broadcast sports on RW radio stations. Get them to honor their mission statements and look for apolitical alternatives. The benefits those schools get from their associations with the loudest stations in the state pale in comparison to the damage RW radio has helped shills like Walker do. The RW stations and their talkers use college sports logos to boost their community credibility and attract advertisers while they help ALEC and the Koch brothers and their candidates defund and privatize public education, attack teachers and unions and Democratic candidates, and deny global warming and other science. Those stations also weigh in on elections of regents and the short lists of candidates for school presidents. The radio component of the media licensing revenue a school receives (usually packaged with all media) may be minuscule compared to total licensing revenues and schools need to be asked to reveal those details. What's the price to get a university to trash its own mission statement? The amount may be surprisingly small.

3) Support the Rush Limbaugh boycott efforts and extend it to all advertisers on right wing stations. Most stations include some innocuous and apolitical programming during the week but they are primarily part of the larger RW propaganda operation. Any damage done to progressive radio will made up for many times over as the right wing radio monopoly disintegrates and stations become available.

4) Where appropriate, include radio stations and talk show hosts in peaceful protests. For 25 years a few hundred RW talkers with big soapboxes have attacked, distorted, and sabotaged the citizen activism of millions- with little protest or acknowledgment from the 'Left' or it's organizations. Protests at state capitols are routinely minimized by the state RW stations and their carnival barkers. Those attacks can continue long after the protestors go home. Almost any major issue is appropriate, from social justice and equality, fair wages, global warming, the Keystone XL pipeline, fracking, media and election reform, voter suppression, gun control, wall street, and political corruption. All could legitimately be picketed at those giant megaphones - the true source of 'popular' power of the new irrational Republican Party. Media and politicians used to being intimidated and enabled by RW radio and its made-to-order think tank talk radio constituencies, will notice.

some balls again. Hell when Bush was president all things republican were word. Now
when Obama is Presidet repubs still run the place. Something has to give somewhere,,,

republicon Diane Feinstein runs over to her real party the republiCONS whenever they make up a controversy.

I can't wait for her to retire so CA can have someone who wins because they represent CA views and not because of name recognition. She is a neocon wearing democratic stripes.

as I watched her once again agreeing with republiCON nonsense that her and the republiCONS have 1930's, 40's thinking..

Its about Big Money. Military contracts, NSA contracts and assorted police state contracts that her and her husband benefit from.

They lied their asses off about Bronze Star recipient, Max Clelland, a guy who had three of his four limbs blown off, and are unrepentant about it a decade later. The same goes for their swiftboating of John Kerry, among others. In light of that, I don't see them caring one iota about what their actions are doing to this kid and his family. They don't give a shit who they hurt, just so long as their agenda is advanced.

And the few who are not totally crazy or corrupt will just shake their heads in bewilderment.

and GOPers are looking at 2014 like its 2010.

have been caught and tortured.

keep repeating it until it becomes truth in their warped universe. Truth and facts have ceased to have any
meaning for these people. That is what will be their demise.

Their brains are filled with narratives, not facts and truth. I really wish we could make them see it.

I wish I could share your optimism that it will be their demise, however as long as the right exclusively receives their information from the sources that propagate the narratives, they will remain strong and unified in the cocoon of their ignorance.

for every election and they've gamed the system so that the minority of voters controls the House of Representatives. That and the Senate Repubes have no shame an filibuster every thing. They have paralyzed the government and their propaganda outlets are very effective at keeping the base on the verge of insanity. Normal people don't vote Republican.

Perhaps this exchange needs to be seen again, as I feel it could not be more appropriate in this situation.

"Let us not assassinate this lad further. You've done enough."

I can think of saying to conservatives these days. What else can you say to them? They are dug in and won't listen. Their rabid hatred for our President has made them like Medea. They really are hell bent on destroying anyone and anything that might make him look like the honorable person he is in a vain attempt to hurt him and his hard fought legacy.

THAT SHOULD BE THE DEMOCRAT'S TALKING POINT!!!!

We rarely if ever discuss politics. She brought this up. She feels sorry for Bergdahl. She doesn't understand the Republican stance on this. She's glad he was rescued. I doubt this campaign is playing well among R women, especially moms.

I also think it won't play well with independents. While the right can rally their base with this issue, at least the crazy ones, it won't play well with anyone who has a brain. I think that independents have been getting more and more tired of the right wing BS, but attacking a POW they way they are is going to hurt them big time with this group, as well as women, vets, active military, etc. The use of this for political reasons, like making the president look bad has gone way over the line if you ask me, and it will hurt them in November, and maybe even beyond that to 2016.

with being called a sargent by the nurses and staff at the hospital ,stating " I havnt been before the board.shows me this lad has character. The more we find out about this young man I think the more the repugs are going to look bad.

Good to have you with us! I think you'll be proven correct. We should really be anticipating this kind of thing, the way events have played out every single time. Every time the republi-CONS think they have a new fresh kill, it turns awfully sour and moldy and diseased on them. Benghazi fizzled. They yammered about the VA until that started running out of steam, and now this. Just looking for ANYTHING with which to smack President Obama around. And it usually proves to be a big fat nothing.

I just wish that big-fat-nothing effect would stick to them more permanently, and cost them more. We may have to wait til 2016 to see them pay any real price for this shit. If they do get the Senate back at the end of this year, they'll likely lose it again in two more years because more of us on OUR side will be voting, and they'll have many more seats at risk and harder to defend. Unfortunately, the damage they can do between now and then is utterly horrendous, and certainly rather frightening.

I didn't know that about him, but that does speak to the quality of his character. He doesn't want to be credited with something that he didn't earn.

not because he didn't want to.

He being troubled he didn't earn it could be taken as a sign he is conflicted with his own actions over there ,or just moral lessons from a moral father and mother growing up in Idaho ( if you didnt really earn something like everyone else, you feel uncomfortable taking it)

maybe Chambliss will say they're lying, too.

so the Taliban is hardly unique in this.

has poisoned their hearts and they are now sick beyond recovery.

They have their Auto-targeting system locked on "round about path to my own Foot"?

One would think, after the first 17 times it hurt real bad, you would adjust the setting.

...you just play the odds.

Just shift to a new narrative and declare 'we've always been at war with Eastasia'. Who's going to call them to account? The major broadcast & major cable networks?

If that isn't torture, then I don't know what the hell is.

Terrific to have you join us! It's sheer torture, seems to me, just for all of us to be subjected to these assholes and their non-stop crap. That's the biggest torture job being perpetrated in America - ON America, and Americans.

another Benghazi circus event but it's so dispicable that I think they are going to abandon. Poor CNN and Blitzer, "Werent laws broken here somehow? Pleaz?"*

*I made up this statement.

about as much as they care about wrongful imprisonment and execution. Any attempts to appeal to their empathy are doomed to fail.

Hit back on this
Hit back on this
And
Hit back on this

Imagine that Obama had notified Senators Diane Feinstein and Mike Rogers of the upcoming prisoner swap
to free Bergdahl. What might have happened differently? Would ANY other outcome have been better?

Feinstein or Rogers might have objected. Obama would have gone ahead anyway, adhering to the principle that we
never leave a soldier behind. Result? More bad fallout for both Obama and the 2 senators -

Obama because he defied the law and defied the opinion of key senators on the senate intelligence oversight committee.

The esteemed senators because they had put their committee and personal egos ahead of the life of an American soldier.

Either of the senators might have accidentally leaked something OR been overheard saying something OR been observed meeting
with Obama or his representative OR been wiretapped OR whatever. Result? Deal is off, Bergdahl is executed, Feinstein and Rogers egos survive.

Same outcome if Feinstein and Rogers had agreed to the swap, but Obama's discussion with them was leaked or inferred by the Taliban.

Let's get real about this -

Whether Bergdahl was a deserter or not, we always attempt to retrieve our captured soldiers.

We often conduct POW exchanges. This is different than "negotiating with terrorists".

Bergdahl's "defection" has yet to be proven in a military court. We now learn that the soldier who is Bergdahl's principal accuser
has questionable standing - he left the service with "less than honorable discharge".

The unit in which Bergdahl served has been reported to have suffered from morale problems and bad leadership.

Were drugs involved (a common occurrence in Afghanistan) ? Was Bergdahl high on drugs? Were some of his buddies
high on drugs?

Was the unit sent on an impossible mission? Were they forced to set up camp in an indefensible position, following
the dictates and bizarre pacification theories of the now disgraced general, David Petraeus?

How dangerous are these 5 Taliban ("the worst of the worst&quot in the overall scheme of things? For each one of these bad guys
there are a hundred more like them roaming around Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. These 5 have been
out of touch and out of practice for 5 - 12 years. Haven't they been replaced by even worse guys who are
now in the field and in command? Will releasing (free to leave Qatar) these 5 Taliban 12 months from now materially increase the risk to the US forces remaining in Afghanistan?

The arguments against the swap of 5 Taliban for Bowe Bergdahl are vacuous, partisan, unpatriotic and without a rational basis.

The complaints from Diane Feinstein and (less vociferously) from Mike Rogers are mainly the expression of
damaged egos.

Folks, can we behave like compassionate, patriotic adults now?

For some original cartoons relating to this and other political tom-foolery please go to:


http://stuartsdesk.com/Tea_Party_Tales.html

spouting that the swapped terrorist will kill Americans. The non-journalists just let him talk without facts re: over 500 "terrorists" released during the Bushie circus as well as other prisoners swaps, i.e. to name one, McCain.

Specifically, the part where you say,
"Obama because he defied the law and defied the opinion of key senators on the senate intelligence oversight committee."

Obama did not defy the law. We should not be accepting this right wing talking point as fact. Obama was acting under his inherent, overriding power as commander-in-chief in a situation requiring urgency and extreme secrecy in order to save the life of an American soldier in a theater of war. That lame 30-day notice reg Congress passed re GITMO detainee release is trumped by this power and accompanying exigent circumstances. Also, under the Geneva Convention, to which we are signatories, we would have had to release these 5 Afghans anyway, now that the Afghan war is ending.

But you are right about Feinstein. It was all about ego--she was pissed that she was left out of the decision and made to look like she can't keep a secret. Her whining has been disgraceful. We need her replaced by a true progressive befitting the great state of California.

Hello Sunseeker -

Thanks for your careful reading of my rant and your thoughts regarding the "law".

I agree that the President's responsibilities and authority as Commander in Chief
trump the 30 day notification law.

However, presently the law does stand. If Congress should bring suit against the President
(through the Justice Department?) or there are impeachment proceedings over Obama's actions,
then the law will be tested.

Clearly it is unconstitutional in the way it limits the power of the Commander in Chief.

But, good luck in getting a fair interpretation from this court - Justices Nino, Samuel, Clarence and
Roberts in particular.

Regardless, it appears the requisite 30 day notice under that 2012 law was given last December:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5065883

That explains why in February of this year McCain already knew about the proposed swap involving these 5 particular detainees for Bergdahl --and he was on CNN in February saying he supported this deal.

Sunseeker -

I agree. As reported in the following link, Obama followed the law when he gave a "general notice" in 2013.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5065883

Thank you for bringing this to my attention and thanks to Babylonsister for her original
posting.

I'm curious - Why doesn't anybody bring this up on the news-talk shows?

Are you the only person who does their homework?

That gets down to who owns the media.

And that is about 3-5 HUGE corporations.

Who do Republicans represent above all others? Corporations. And, the very wealthy who typically own them.

That's why.

The mainstream media in the United States has little to no integrity anymore. They are basically stenographers for the Republican Party.

Their pointing out that the 30-day notification requirement was satisfied would destroy GOP narrative on this.

And they're not going to do that.

and we hear crickets....

We know Obama did the right thing.

...this scandal, at least for the last few weeks, has done exactly what republicans wanted it to do. Took the place of Benghazi which had run out of steam. This took it's place. Something they could harp on and on about, demand hearings about, question, attack and get the media focused on, so that all the real stuff gets ignored. Like the VA scandal (their lack of funding for it), unemployment, and all the other things that they always try to find a way to avoid dealing with--or say "no" on and want to hide that fact. This is their usual, all-too-effective tactic. Their "bread and circuses."

And guess what? This worked. It headlined the news, made the cover of Time magazine, got a parade canceled in Idaho and the family's had threats. They got EXACTLY what they wanted out of this. Everyone is looking at this, and not at the stuff that matters. Because in the end, this is really nothing. And if the republicans hadn't make a stink about it, it would hardly have been remarked on. Obama would have gotten some credit, but it wouldn't have been a big deal outside of the town in Idaho. One mention on the news of "the last POW coming home..." and that would be it. The end.

This isn't a mere smear campaign. It's a distraction. Just like Benghazi. If it makes Obama look bad, that's gravy.

So I sure hope this DOES come back to bite them badly. Otherwise, they will have won even if they seem to have "lost." They will have gotten exactly what they wanted. A big distraction that had people divided, questioning, bickering, and ignoring all the really important stuff.

This is the most egregious example of a political party going completely against what it's supposed to stand for (i.e. support the troops, the constitution).

It demonstrates just how malleable the conservative voter is - it's kind of scary really. What will they (whoever 'they' is) be able to convince them to do next.

...if they hadn't gotten his fellow soldiers to say what they sad, if all there'd been was the president talking about the exchange at a press conference, this would be no big deal. This is only headlining the news because Republicans are shouting about it. THEY are making it a big deal because they need a new distraction, one that will divides Americans. Divide and conquer is how they keep getting what they want. And usually, the division is over something that wouldn't have divided us at all if republicans hadn't manufactured a controversy over it.

This is why you see them jumping on things again and again, trying to manufacture controversies. It's not that they hate Obama (or that they just hate Obama)...it's that every time they leap on these things there's a chance it might turn into a big deal. Most times, it doesn't. But when it does, they really benefit from it. Because that is all the news talks about, that is all Americans talk/argue about, that is all congress talks about. And NOTHING else gets discussed or done. Mission accomplished.

So, no. The POW coming home is NOT a big deal. The repukes going against what their party stands for IS a big deal. But that's not the "no-big-deal" I was talking about. Again, imagine if no one had made a fuss about it. Do you honestly think any newspaper or news outlet would *still* be discussing it now? The only reason it's being still discussed, the only reason anyone thinks it's a big deal that the guy was traded for Gitmo prisoners is because the repukes are making sure that everyone *thinks* it's a big deal.

Yes?

I wish it would, but we've seen it all before. Not with the media constantly blowing Repuke talking points at every turn and deliberate willingness to change the subject once it runs out of gas.

See, this is how the Democrats always end up on the defensive. This "play possum" strategy that worked well 50 years ago, but is dead in the water today.

They need to learn the advice of the late arch-enemy Lee Atwater who saw the 24 hour news cycle well in advance with the advent of CNN: "The media can only chew on one ankle at a time." In other words, strike back quick and hard, then nail the coffin shut.

Tell you one thing, if Axelrod was still around, he wouldn't put up with this shit.

Glad you're here! BEAUTIFULLY put! A verbal drone strike! Hits the bulls-eye like nobody's business!!! Looking back and studying lee atwater would be a VERY good thing for our side to do. LEARN. Take notes. Analyze. Look what worked. And be ready to counter it - FAST, IMMEDIATELY, and HARD AS HELL!!!

Every "scandals" that the Republicans yell about has been manufactured by them - none of them are actual scandals. Even the VA scandal is a Congressional issue, not Presidential issue (hello, where's the funding?)

And it's already backfired on them, and will continue to backfire on the Republicans.

The only thing that's causing the problem is the lying media.

I honestly wish I could agree, but they're still breaking Bergdahl's nuts as I write this.

Democrats need to go on the OFFENSIVE, not the DEFENSIVE. The play-possum that's been going on since Nixon needs to stop. How long does a losing strategy have to go one before someone realizes it's not working?

bugs me the most about these flaps. ESPECIALLY this one. They handle these Repub blasts worse than bunch of amateurs. The administration is getting fired on for bringing home a POW. Really? Get somebody out there and fire back!! Handle this stuff. They learned nothing from Swiftboat and are still using the "This story is so stupid/obvious/despicable it will blow over" strategy. Didn't Clinton have a strategy of fighting everything? Sheesh....

They need to quit this pussyfooting around. Clinton knew how to handle these piss ants and LBJ would have roasted them over a Lubbock spit.

What's the Obama crew do? The Kerry template. "Oh, I'm just going to wait to prove them wrong"

By the time any proof comes out, those bastards are off two or three bullshit "scandals" down the road, leaving the Dems in the dust.

Can't put it better! And it's my exact hope as well, Vogon_Glory!

I hope it hurts 'em, and hurts them BADLY!!! Unrecoverably.

republicans didn't twist fact to fit their fiction? They have a facts be damned narrative, and they will not deviate from it. The less credible it becomes the more they will double down, make stuff up and lie through their teeth. You can do this when your political base already knows the lines and likes to wear costumes. It's kind of a Rocky Horror Picture Show for Obama haters.

The bigger, juicier, more scandalous the better.

There are many people that find it easier to tear someone else down or to just believe the worst about others than to build themselves up. The worse someone else looks the better you can tell yourself that you are.

The Base is still out there hating on the French for trying to stop us from invading Iraq.

The GOPee lacks compassion, morality, patriotism, truth, decency, goodwill, honor, intelligence, Christian values, etc., etc., etc.

According to BuzzFeed, “A former Bush administration official who was hired, then resigned, as Mitt Romney’s foreign policy spokesman played a key role in publicizing critics of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the released prisoner of war. The involvement of Richard Grenell, who once served as a key aide to Bush-era U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton and later worked for Romney’s 2012 campaign, comes as the Bergdahl release has turned into an increasingly vicious partisan issue.”

If this attack fails, as it seems to doing, they will just move on to the next attack. Their objective here is to always be attacking, and as there is little to no cost for any mistakes they make, they will continue their game plan.

The same idiots can be wrong 100 times in a row, and for try 101 they will be treated as an authoritative source by the media, who will replicate their talking points unexamined and wait eagerly for the reaction.

Would love to see it. but it just isn't going to happen. Back in 2000 with the selection of GW by our Republican Supreme Court we toasted the little over 200 year run for our republic. We are so done for I don't see anyway out.

She's always good for explaining how everything hurts Obama in particular and Democrats in general.

Of course, that might take some time...

More Americans need to catch on. Was sitting in an airport with a mostly apolitical but reliably D-voter this week and she said, "This time, it looks really bad for Obama." I told her it was just another spaghetti bowl toss that would end up messy for the Pubs, but I couldn't talk her down. Maybe this news does the trick. Until the next round...

Any false moves by the Republicans will be forgotten about in a week or two.

if cowards fail to stand up for truth in the media.

Every time PBO ends up turning their attacks back at them makes me glad.

They'll say, "see I told you, he is deranged, he is making this up." Mark my words.

every time they pull some bullshit like this i think now they'll go away. now we can have 2 viable parties: democrats on the right, and another on the left. i could live in that world. but it never happens. too much money, too much air time, too much hate being swallowed by ignorant people.

at the very least i hope this hurts them as much as it should: more than it hurt the bergdahls. these fucking assholes make my head hurt.

Texas is the keystone of the Confederacy.
Take that over & the Republican Party will die on the national stage.
Once they die on the national stage, they will eventually die on the regional stages without a central organizing body.

California has the most electoral votes & it used to be a Republican stronghold.
Texas has the 2nd most electoral votes & if you secure that one, they're finished.
Florida & New York are currently tied for the 3rd most electoral votes.
The Republicans'll never see New York again & Florida tips to the Democrats already.
So that means every election would be a wipeout for the Republican Party.
That means they either double down & go down the drain or try to change & go down the drain.

Listen to this Young Turks clip from after the 2012 election to see how real it's getting for them.

See my post # 54 here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5060577

When the news of Bergdahl's conditions of incarceration come out, some Americans will be reminded of the conditions in which we held some prisoners during the Bush administration.

BLOWBACK...

What goes around comes around.

or

KARMA.

Obama's alleged "mishandling" and "miscalculation" -- my gods this continuing treatment of every single thing the POTUS does as some kind of stunt to be judged as if it were a reality show makes me weary.

If they howl and screech and treat a long-suffering family like dirt, it's because Obama made them do it. Obama kept the deal and transfer secret, which probably saved Bergdahl's life, but that was a mistake because now Congress is mad that they didn't have a chance to kill it. Obama announced the recovery with Bergdahl's parents, but that was a mistake, because he should have known that the GOP rounded up disgruntled soldiers in advance to trash Bergdahl and his family before he even made it back to the US. He also should have known that the Gitmo Taliban that we collected early in the war are the second coming of Hitler and OBL combined--just fucking MASTERMINDS, I tell ya. So terrible, that we...don't have a way to convict them of anything. If the Repubs declare something Obama does is bad, then it's bad.

Last edited Mon Jun 9, 2014, 10:50 AM - Edit history (1)

he who never served a day in his life, is claiming this will be "hard to prove." What say we just pick him up and drop him in Talibanstan one day next week and refuse to pick him up for 5 years? Bet he'll be singing a different tune, and it'll be in the soprano register, and in Pashto too!

...himself in 5 seconds if he were picked up by Taliban forces.

And, after what he did to Senator Cleland, he certainly knows all about lying.

What a prick.

the RW pile on commenced, I, as a veteran would wait for the FULL story. And shame on the people threatening his parents and his hometown people cancelling his welcome home. Americans, especially the hateful group, it's a large one, is so judgmental. I hope this situation comes back and bites them where it hurts. The voting booth.

with this bullshit. If an American soldier gets captured - GOPers in power won't care. They will swiftboat them and destroy their families, this is what they are thinking right now.

Its backfiring. Now GOPers are spouting about the "5" swapped and that they were the 911 crowd per McCain. Not true.

Their hate of anything they consider even close to their vision of a bin Laden overrules their ability to reason. Now it is coming out his father is Republican, (he should vote for the other people after this) may twist the noses back into place. I doubt if many of the hell raisers knows what torture Bowe may have gotten and I try nit to let my mind wonder very far.

Bowe's release is somewhat like many of our Vietnam veterans faced but with many more piling on to one person. If Bowe was my son I would nit have tried to hammer the capturers with hate about Muslims, this may have resulted in more torture or even death to their son.

He was the Army doc who was courtmartialed for refusing to deploy because of his Obama birther bullshit.

I wonder how many of the neocons who were praising him back then are now ready to put Bergdahl in front of a firing squad.

who used to usual Republican "it may be true or may not be true we just don't know we weren't there" nonsense in a statement that was incomprehensible.

More here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025066001

They can be as evil and destructive as they want while their base, and much of the media, still cheers them on.
Even when hypocrisy and outright lying is exposed no one seem to suffer unless it has to do with a sex scandal.

There is just too much selfish, blind toadyism in this country for any impact to be felt from truly immoral behavior by conservatives.

Their narrative has already been cast. No amount of facts to the contrary will change the narrative. (See also: birth certificate, death panels, Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi, etc. )

Thanks for the thread, babylonsister.

There are enough lapdogs embedded in the media and enough activist bloggers to blanket the airwaves with chaff while they wage their war on everything.

The "news" will let them get away with it, and then John Stewart will roast them for it. And then ten nanoseconds later the American public will forget about it and go back to "doing it Gangam Style."

EOM