Let's win this election. IT'S THE WAR, STUPID!

We must keep the Iraq invasion in the foreground! That will win this election.

If we could pressure the media to cover this war, it would be all over. But just crescendoing our discussion of the war to every other word will win us this election.

There isn't a single issue that deserves as much attention as these invasions. And not just the killing, but the environmental impact. It's huge. We've got to hit the republicans over the head with this. Yes, Dems voted. But that's another issue.

When I talk to some people it's like there is no killing going on. Of course there isn't. It's not on tv. It's not in our discussions. It's not affecting our lives in any meaningful way. But therre is, for all practical purposes, murder going on in our names. For some of us who watch Linktv, or other real news outlets, we see what is going on.

If Americans saw, they would vote, and we would win Congress and the White House in a landslide. Republicans as well as us.

If only I could mention what I saw on the news. But it's not just that one incident. It's people all over these countries we're shooting at.

Edit- I think this post is more about "How do we do it?".

How are we going to get an invasion/killing/war dialog going in one week. We only have days. Pinhead Palin is a detail in the smokescreen. How do we alter this landscape to get the discussion where it should be? The wars. The death in the name of those who call themselves patriots. There's so much more, but this is a death sentence for people living in those countries. And our ticket to winning this election.

That is a fact, not what should be.

The sad truth is that McCain dominates polling on who you prefer to handle the situation in Iraq, and that kind of entrenched issue perception is not subject to reversal in a 50 day campaign.

The war has its place in motivating a sub-set of potential Obama support, like among the young, but it is a terrible national issue for Obama this year.

The economy is the issue.

One reason I posted this is because I see a nation that appears oblivious to it's actions.

IF people could see what was happening. IF they could sense how that feels to be at the other end of guns.

This is why they stole the media from America. So they could do this.

What I'm asking, can't be done through channels. It has to be done from the people. Just like impeachment. Americans are so busy living their lives (translation- consuming stuff), they don't have the driving force to get up and care.

And then maybe I'm naive. I do remember Vietnam. I saw the Footprint of the Chickenhawk bumperstickers with the peace sign being dengrated.

I'm appalled. If people can't care about killing, then what the hell is life all about.

But people seem to have accepted the "surge has worked; victory ahead" thing and there's no time to educate them right now.

Elections are high-noise low-information media circuses, so they are always about the manipulation of existing attitudes.

The Iraq war is no longer the majority of American's concern, it's the economy now. That's the issue that will put us over the top, if Obama/Biden can define a clear plan and generate confidence that they can improve our economy, that will win them the election.

As I posted in another thread last night, they have pollsters that keep their eyes on what the most important issues to Americans are. They poll daily, they have focus groups daily. If they aren't mentioning the war a lot, there's a reason for that. Obama is hitting big on the economy, as is Biden, and it's working—it's getting the crowds at their speeches fired up.

You're right. I was just have an "empathy moment". I thought about what it's like to have my dog shot in front of my eyes. Or worse. And my water and electricity off. Among all of the other things.

But humans aren't very nice creatures. I forgot that it's about politics.

And it's true that Obama's crew are on the pulse of this thing.

Sometimes I think about the important stuff. Not just about me, but about them. Whomever they are. Innocent people in jail. No, I don't care about those who borrowed more than they can pay back. They deserve what they get. After all, they made their own mess. Some of them were hoodwinked. Or not smart enough to know better. They, I feel sorry for, and wouldn't mind bailing out.

So I guess we just let the people die as we talk about something else. I do appreciate your post. Because I am learning from this process. I see Obama and I watch his exemplary behavior.

I'm the kind that just goes after the target. That is the simple approach. And only works some of the time. I'm sorry we let this president and his sidekicks go unapposed. It's just hard for me to understand how people work when they can ignore something massively horrible, just to be comfortable.

And I can't type any more because I cut my finger. Ouch. Haha. Well, I better get back to work.

We're going to win. But it's sickening to meet people who think this war is the greatest thing. I know better. And in a country with a fourth estate, everyone would know better.

It's sad that when Palin talked about Obama wanting the folks in Gitmo to have rights, the crowd boo'd/laughed. It's sad that the Repugs think it's alright to take away anyone's rights. It's sad that the divide in this nation has become so wide, that I wonder how we all somehow manage to get along. It's sad that most voters vote a singular issue instead putting "country first." It's sad the Shrub administration squandered a great opportunity at unity following the tragedy of 9/11. It's all so friggin' sad!

I have to hope that the issues the Obama camp are pounding on are enough to get him elected so they have a chance at affecting some real change, just not at home but globally as well. As the other reply to my OP said, the war created this economy—well, it played a part in it but there is so much more to our rotten economy than the war. Our government has been mismanaged for 8 years now and we really can't afford another 4 (or Dog forbid, 8)—and I'm not talking just financially. The Repugs are so narrowly focused on their own agenda and issues, they can't see how the ruination of the US does not bode well for the world at large.

*Steps off soap box and puts it away*

GET UP!!!!!!!! and let us do everything we can to get these thugs out.

I see answers. But I also forget that we're not in a perfect world. In a perfect world, people would actually care about other people. Like those being shot at.


But since I feel so silly about all of this sophisticated political stuff, I might as well be silly.

It's the wars, national policy, the economy, the loss of rights, class warfare, health care crisis, the environment, education crisis, government secrecy/ineptitude/criminal behavior/cover-ups... it's EVERYTHING.

I like that. However...the economy isn't killing like the invasions are. Oh, but that's out of sight out of mind.

I agree. It's everything. We're going to make progress. I know it. We're communicating.

MUST READ:

Abramoff, McCain, Palin, Corruption & the GOP...
dengre - Aug 31, 2008 - http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/1829/47514/959/581800
(Since 1999 dengre's been researching Jack Abramoff and the Culture of Corruption as a "hobby") ......

John McCain is not a reformer, a "maverick" or even a honest man. ALL of this is a carefully crafted myth!

And now McCain has a Mini-Me—a younger version of himself. The Republican Party has manufactured yet another "reformer with results’ in the mold of McCain and his patron, George W. Bush and now she is on the ticket.

I’m talking, of course, about the Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. And to become Governor, she defeated the only Republican ever to oppose Jack Abramoff BEFORE the Abramoff scandal became news.

Like McCain, Palin’s reform credentials are built on a carefully constructed myth. ...... Palin, McCain and their Republican Party are mired in corruption. They can not clean up Washington or anything else. They are the problem.

......... LOTS of details ....

This has been foremost on my mind, regarding Palin, since I heard the words pipeline and Alaska.

I feel like I'm living out the movie Airplane. Haha.

Abramoff's four more years may just do the world a lot of good. And that's only ONE OF THEM. We're in deep shit with the courts being packed. This was the biggest damage Bush did. I want Ashcroft behind bars. Right where he put Tommy Chong. Tommy Chong? Good lord. This is a bizarre episode.


Thanks for that link. I now see that according to a long time Kos member, that oil is really tar sand.

I wish we could avoid meltdown and be smart enough to make smart changes before the painful disasters occur.

The key is getting people aware. A media might help. A fourth estate is what is missing in America. We're really dead without it. We can only rely on the internet to reinforce ourselves. I don't think we can use it to convince the conservative drunks. People can talk. But the media has weight. I mean, my aunt is a wonderful woman. My father's sister. She married a super conservative. Everyone else in the family is very liberal. We're trying to wake her up, but it's hopeless. But I can tell she listens to the "news", because she spouts talking points. If the news were doing real investigative journalism, these kinds of people would be hearing alternatives to just spin and hype. Anyways, that's more sociology than a reply to your post.

What I was thinking was that with the corruption, these people will self destruct. But it takes us. We have to do it. But if we are asleep, or if enough time goes by, nothing happens.

I'm very optimistic. At least until Obama says the surge is working. Then I slump into a depression. God I hope we can keep digging at the research and pull out of this.