Then I saw your post.

trolling for a DUzy? lololol

A Liberal and Progressive Democratic Party. A real Democratic Party, representative of the people. Not the party of DINO's we have now.
With the DLC takeover of the Democratic party complete, moving to the Right far enough to Replace the Sane part of the Republican party (hence the Clown Car of Presidential candidates that is left of the Republican Party).
The DLC was dissolved last year because its job was done.

Last edited Mon Feb 13, 2012, 02:19 AM - Edit history (1)

I've long suspected that the conservative P.T.B.'s were ready to ditch the Republican brand once they'd trashed it beyond retrieval.

I only realized within the last 8 years that their plan was to replace it with the the Dem party.

"this country could use a third party, and it desperately needs a second one"

We really need a 2nd Party that represents Americans who have to Work for a Living.
We've needed one for over 30 years.


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]



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We already have the conservative party the author is wishing for, what we really need is a liberal party to provide opposing ideas.

The Dems have moved so far to the right that they are sucking all the oxygen out of the political center and center-right. The republicans are squeezed all the way over to the crazy fringe of the spectrum. Explains the clown car perfectly.

of ideology used to cover up greed. SImply put, it is impossible to act on a false premise for very long- eventually, the lies they tell others and the lies they tell themselves, compounded be the need to justify their greed and ideology, eats away at the brain, and they become crazy and destroy themselves. This has been repeated throughout history, and the GOP, while they seem to think they are exempt from reality, repeats history once again.

Let this also be a lesson to the left, while we may have altruistic motives and a desire to help our fellow man, we essentially contributed to the rise of the greedy GOP - sins of omission, etc.. WE did not consider that people that crazy and greedy could actually gain power, and we didn't act until they were in power and had control of the media. We did not challenge them, and we did not pay attention to their behind the scenes kingpins until it was too late. But now we have the 'net, and let's hope it won't happen again.

Normally I avoid Tom Friedman articles because the bad writing hurts my brain. (I do enough of that on my own as those who read on will see).

"There’s a reason for that: Their pile is out of date." is just nonsense in the terms of Scrabble, and even in the way he set up his own metaphor. Scrabble never goes out of date, nor do the spelling rules of the English language. What he's implying is wrong too -- that the player was creating good words previously. The thing is, as azureblue says, conservatism is based greed, anger and ignorance, the afflictive emotions that cause all our suffering. It is therefore by its nature internally inconsistent. You can't spell words with it because it's only good for incoherent whooping and grunting. If I want that kind of communication I'll stick to Whitman and Ginsberg, (and maybe Howard Dean), who reclaim yawping and howling at a higher level. I won't try to validate a pompose Conradian fallacy of conservative safety to tame the multitude. That's just government by hollow men for hollow men.

No, as others have said, we need a second party to the left of the dems. That's what happened in New Zealand. The right collapsed under the weight of its inherent stupidity, and elections became contests between the Greens and the center left. We can still hope it will happen here too as the environment gets worse and educational standards improve.

You forgot to mention fear.

it is dedicated to preserving the power and money of the rich.

This statement leaves nothing out. Drop one conjunction and you could publish it as " A Conservative Primer in 25 Words".

Wrong about your bad writing!

that in scrabble or English having only vowels does not spell "nothing".

Damn good points here!

Except for the "lets hope it won't happen again!" It is happening right now and continues to happen. I have been batshit about the state of America and what that's supposed to mean since the Selection of 2000.

I have come to realize I am utterly and completely non-aggressive as a person. I can be crabby and selfish, but, by and large I am big on fairness and live and let live and the goodness of humanity.

So, I don't have the will to aggressively fight, unless it's something I believe in. Hench my proudly displaying my "Teabaggers are astroturf puppets of fascist corporations" sign at the September 10, 2009 Hartford Tea Party.

My contribution is a drop in a hurricane for changing anything, but, as my hero Frank Zappa has said (about his "success&quot First, you don't stop. Second, you keep going.

I think now that Republicans are committing Jonestown caliber suicide on their entire brand, and Obama talking progressive-like again, we can relax because our job is done.

Nope, ain't done. Not until major fucking perp walks for all the criminals that have been fucking up our system and ruining the faith that institutions must have to function as institutions. This would include all the treasonous war criminals that betrayed their oath to the Constitution and starting a war based on bullshit? (Uh, they did indeed violate the constitution in some way with that one, didnt they?)

Now's the time to fight harder. I owe my love to working to fix the world so the next generation can enjoy it, in a life liberty and pursuit of happiness kind of way.

-90% Jimmy

I predicted years ago that the GOP would self destruct when it became the party of Rush Limbaugh (1994, the "majority maker&quot . The neocons (Cheney, Rove) held it together briefly, but the nutjobs spawned by Limbaugh and later Fox News made this crash an inevitability. They are finished, held together only by their aged voters and haters. Not enough. This year they will gain in the Senate, lose seats in the House, and Obama will win, albeit narrowly. And that will be it for the GOP. By 2014, they will be finished as a political party.

lips, ears, wadeva

state level after all and are gerrymandering those states to keep it that way.

and 2014. If there is an Obama re-election in 2012 (I would lay odds at 60% to 65% as of this time, provided there is no massive negative turn-down in the economy in th next 8 months, no suprise brokered GOP ticket of import, and no false-flag terror event and/or Iran war disaster) the Dems will facing some really choppy waters starting in 2013.

There are large new tax increases (many that are regressive in impact) that will affect the poor, middle class and small business owners (ie. not just the rich) to a high degree: the new Obama care tax kicks in, the FICA rate will go up, states will be raising sales taxes and the general income tax rates will increase at state and federal levels. The Eurozone will be in tatters, and all the increased US debt and Fed Reserve 'can-kicking' will start to finally catch up with reality.

Also, provided Iran is not attacked prior to the 2012 elections, it will be sometime between 2013 and 2014, as even the most dovish Israeli miltary leaders say Iran is less than 2 years away (if they withdraw from the NPT) from having missiles capable of extended nuclear payload delivery. As of now, Iran is NOT pursuing a nuke, but they can change to pursuit, and combined with the advanced missile systems they are making, Israel will attack or goad the US into doing so.

Combine all this with the history of 2nd term POTUS-holding parties' off-year Congressional election outcomes, and that the US is LOCKED into a horrific 2-party only system, the Repuglets will be far from dead by 2014.

IMHO

Even if you waved a magic wand and made every GOP disappear, the fact is thr right is based on thr worst parts of the American psyche, which means that people will rise up to fill the gap.

They are nominating a guy who reminds everyone of the snooty rich kid you hated in High School. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous will not sell in Peoria in a depression. The only thing that could save them is if the total economic collapse hits before the election. It could be that they want to lose so as to blame everything on the DNC. This happened to the Whig Party a long time ago. Here they are babbling about the Constitution after passing the Patriot Act, Part D, and the DHS and TSA.. More recently the Defense Bill. The rhetoric is so easily seen through it will not work. I predict a clean sweep by the DNC.

. . it's just pining for the fjords!!

Monty Python's Flying Circus predicted today's discombobulated GOP presidential campaign many years ago when they did the "Upper Class Twit of the Year" obstacle course race sketch.

[img]

[/img]

They do appear to be the members of the "Bushwood Country Club" though. RP is the Gopher.

Oh, and the clean sweep by the DNC is what we all have to work to bring about. To quote the Beatles, Let It Be!

A belated welcome to DU, BTW.

and the monster grew tentacles like a Medusa, each a full blown serpent representing the core GOP wedge issues. And the snakes are now biting each other along with the head that sustained them.

Seems Rubens captured this very starkly almost 4 centuries ago.

[IMG][/IMG]

Wow. Just Wow. Do you know that this fool gets paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to tell you what you already know?

Thanks for playing catch-up, Tom.

I swear, The Brain Is Flat.

Like most other conservatives, he acts as though we have no memory. He thinks that we have forgotten that, when the GOP was in charge, he went along with whatever they wanted, absolutley uncritically, so long as they did what he liked on his pet issues. He would always go around saying "Hey, look, I'm liberal on social issues," but then spend ZERO time and effort talking about social issues. And he is one of the so-called "sensible" ones, who were quiet while Rove & Bush & Cheney made the GOP into what it is today.

Part of the problem. Oh, and by the way, Tom, Obama's almost as hawkish on the mideast as you are, and he's liberal on social issues. Sounds like a better match for the person you claim to be than anyone your party could possibly nominate.

Broken clocks...

what we need is a progressive liberal party.

The Friedman Unit (F.U.), is a tongue-in-cheek neologism coined by blogger Atrios (Duncan Black) on May 21, 2006.[1]

A Friedman Unit is equal to six months in the future.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The Huffington Post cited it as the "Best New Phrase" of 2006.[9]

The term is in reference to a May 16, 2006 article by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) detailing columnist Thomas Friedman's repeated use[10] of "the next six months" as the period in which, according to Friedman, "we're going to find out...whether a decent outcome is possible" in the Iraq War. As documented by FAIR, Friedman had been making such six-month predictions for a period of two and a half years, on at least fourteen different occasions, starting with a column in the November 30, 2003 edition of The New York Times, in which he stated: "The next six months in Iraq—which will determine the prospects for democracy-building there—are the most important six months in U.S. foreign policy in a long, long time."[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_Unit

Brokered Convention = Jeb to the rescue.

I agree with your sentiment, but suspect ^ this ^ will happen instead.

If you've read this book, it is entirely plausible that we are merely watching a scripted drama unfold, produced by the Bush Family Evil Empire.

They've done it before, from a remarkable coincidences perspective. (Such as GWB in business with one of Bin Laden's many brothers and the Bush family being close friends with the Hinckleys and GHWB not being able to remember where he was on Nov 22,1963)

Jeb 2012! Because we miss Katherine Harris!

-90% Jimmy

1) The radical Republican party - extreme right wingers, many of whom who would have been laughed at if they even tried to run for office 20-30 years ago.
2) The DLC - moderate to conservative Democrats, many of whom would have been Republicans 20-30 years ago
3) The Democratic Party - a majority of Democrats, but not enough to implement a truly progressive agenda.

Which happens to be to port.

They unleashed and empowered their scallywags because scallywags is all they have. And now they have a mutiny on their hands.


Will Captain Romney heed Father Friedman's advice and find the courage to stand up to the mutineers, or will he be made to walk the plank for being a spineless landlubbing hornswaggler?

Stay tuned...

The repubs have just gone so far to the right they have fallen off the edge and now are nothing more extreme wignuts.

It's called Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's Democratic Party. Why don't you just vote for Obama. He is more conservative and more willing to compromise than either Eisenhower or Nixon. Come on. Does the word "Democrat" scare you?

completely and utterly disgusts me.

Friedman placed first in my own personal "Most likely to give me a stroke" contest -- followed by such luminaries as Cokie Roberts and, I dare say, a couple of posters on this message board. Luckily, I don't watch any corporate TV, or the field would be a lot more crowded.

Actually a little more corporate directed, but still.

We need a Democratic Party.

The republicans have become a SNL parody of their worst instincts.

The second rate candidate meant to run against a strong candidate that will probably win the 2nd term.

The current Clown Show/Media Circus is scripted to keep donations rolling in with Contrived Controversy,
the appearance of a Horse Race, and the illusion of a difference.
The Republican party has not fielded a serious candidate,
and unless they are counting on a Brokered Convention,
they are saving their ammo for 2016 when they are scheduled to Re-Take the White House.

Many BILLIONS of Dollars will be collected by BOTH Parties and their Partners in Crime, the Media,
and that Pay Day is too RICH to pass up.

The "contest" will be enhanced with all of the successful "Dumbing Down" marketing techniques
that the experts have gleaned from Jerry Springer, American Idol, and The Apprentice. The 2012 Campaign Season will be a Media Extravaganza that will shame the Superbowl, American Reality Television, or anything ever produced in Las Vegas,
AND
the American Working Class will ultimately pay the bill.

We can't be reminded of it because it might become "The thing everyone is doing" - see Friends haircuts and Coors Light.

Freidman actually references globalization which was implimented in a horrific fashion and as an influencial NYT Op-Ed writer he played a large role in supporting. Just last week he wrote about how the iPhone screens showed up at a factory in China and the managers woke up the workers in their barracks to assemble them..... he stated that this can't happen in America. Well of course it can't - WE DON'T LIVE AT THE FACTORIES. And neither should people in China....even with the nets constructed to get the suicidal workers back on the line.

Friedman is a dull thud and is scared because his wife's shopping mall empire crumbled in the recession.

By adopting and implementing their conservative Policies, especially on De-regulation, Privatization, Tax, Trade, Militarism, and enhancing the power of the Unitary Executive, the modern Democratic Party has made the current Republican Party largely irrelevant.

Several months ago, Lawrence O'Donnell called this co-opting of conservative policy a brilliant political move ("The Rope-a-Dope&quot
because it left the Republicans no place to go except to the extreme Tea Party fringe.

While Triangulation, pioneered & mastered by Bill Clinton in the 90s, may be politically "brilliant" if ALL you care about is a "Political WIN",
the results is devastating for the people who have to live with the results.
The ever Rightward Shift in policy and legislation has destroyed the American Working Class,
and created a void in the American Political spectrum that was once occupied by the FDR/LBJ Pro-Working Class Democrats,
who are now forced to vote against their own economic interests because "the Republicans are worse."



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
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stifle creativity, buy up or destroy competition, and have corrupted any semblance of fair, honest government. It amazes me that these people who supposedly worship at the altar of free markets and creative innovation refuse to even look at this. If a Teddy Roosevelt style trust-buster repub came along promising to enforce Sherman Antitrust lawss Id vote for him/her in a heartbeat. That is where the true divide is now, between corporatist and... well, do we even have a name yet?

is the moniker I prefer for those of us who must slog onwards and upwards in our efforts to recover our political system, our media, and our global economy from the sociopaths infesting our now global corporations.

go without ratcheting up the criticism of the Dems as well. 'Tis a very curious thing, that...

if you throw out the misogynists, xenophobes, racists, white militia movement, Sovereign State movement, Christian Dominionist movement, Paul-Tards, Rand-Tards and global warming denialists, you won't have a GOP left ...

Such a warm and happy thought !

if he said 2+2=4

The GOP is not dead, it has merely exhausted it's ability to Bullshit the majority of people. Stupidity may get tired, but it never dies, especially with religion always on hand to revive it.

Always figured he was Republican...

of the losing party.

fuck yourself.

the GOP will continue to serve the 1% but until you fire limbaugh the bad smell like month old chicken in the back of the fridge is going to linger and as long as the left keeps ignoring those 1000 coordinated radio stations and their repetition the rest of the country may also be fucked- like the last 20 yrs.

a Democratic party that is liberal?

We already have a party that offers "constructive conservative proposals on the key issues." They are known as Democrats.

We also have a religion that offers non-constructive hate in distraction from all key issues, paid for by masters who offer lots of money to anyone or anything that they feel will provide them more power/more money. That would be the Republicans

What we need is a second party that offers constructive liberal proposals on the key issues.

Crappy Tuba Liner
Carnal Burp Piety
Urine By Claptrap
Pricey Lap Turban
Try Anal Piper Cub
Prune Crypt Labia
Capably Prurient
Pry Bacterial Pun
Trip Penury Cabal
Aberrant Icy Pulp
Puny Brat Replica
Pry Banal Picture
Try Appliance Rub
Bury Placenta Rip
Cranial Burp Type
Burn Capital Pyre
Burp Captain Lyre
Rip Puberty Canal
Try Incurable Pap
Brutal Panic Prey
Ably Crappier Nut
Burp Any Particle
A Crab Nipple Yurt
Barren Lip Pay Cut

[IMG][/IMG]

Then we got our asses kicked in 2010 because we got complacent. We allowed a "dead, leaderless" party to control the message in the mid-term elections and got creamed in the House and Senate, which ultimately has lead to near complete gridlock in 2010 and 2011.

So before we start up our grave dance again, lets remember some very recent history.

The 1% has done everything to push their agenda. Their solutions are to enrich themselves at the expense of the 99%. Now they, the 1% wants the rest of us to support their self-interests. They have broken the system and now want us to repair their system and blame liberal policies for their failure.

it is a pleasant fiction to think the RW is finished. Pleasant, but fiction. They'll be baaaaaa-aaaack.

First of all, the Scrabble analogy is a poor one. Vowels can stand alone to make words, albeit short words (perhaps that could render the analogy relevant?).

Second, our entire political system is broken, as has been noted hereinabove by one of my fave DUers (kudos, bvar). Frankly, I am not surprised that we see a multitude of responses about GOP vs Dems, Conservatives vs Liberals, and other dichotomous representations of our political parties du jour. We are well trained by our corporate masters to snarf the partisan red herrings that keep us divided and divisive, even as the Wealthy Aristocracy plot their next move in the Grand Kabuki Theater that was once our hallowed democracy.

The inner tubes (e.g., blogs like this one, a global impact, etc.) are facilitating a global push-back. #Occupy, Anonymous, and countless erudite individuals are gaining momentum in a burgeoning effort to recover democracy, facilitate global equality, and rescue our fragile planet.

I hope we succeed. Otherwise, I suspect our species will be witnessing our evolutionary dead end.