Posts Tagged ‘Rush’

Obama vs Cheney it’s on!

Posted: May 21, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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It has been suggested that the president is very wise scheduling a speech suddenly today against the former Vice president:

1) The Obama White House runs the savviest information ops of any White House in modern history. This is all about rebutting an increasingly effective exponent of aggressive counter-terrorism policies. 2) Why do it? The simple answer is that the public is listening to Cheney on the issues, and if the Democratic Congress’s decision this week to deny funding to close Gitmo is any indication, finger-in-the-wind politicians are listening, too.

Already today on Morning Joe Vice president Cheney’s speech is being called the “Republican response” even though it was scheduled long before the president making it seem a “me too” speech in perception. That’s smart right?

My opinion is different. These guys are falling into the Rush CPAC trap.

Consider a few months ago, the White House and Limbaugh traded barbs (the White House STILL hasn’t taken Rush offer of radio time cluck, cluck ) because of this the CPAC speech which would have normally been ignored by the networks was carried by both FOX and CNN live exposing his ACTUAL opinions and positions directly thousands of people who would have never heard a word he ever said unfiltered by the media. It’s hard to demonize someone when you have actually heard him someone yourself. The increased audience for Rush and the success of the Tea party movement show this.

Now if the president had not given his speech today, the vice president speech would have been given and individual sound bites would have been picked up by the MSM and spun according to their whims to favor the White House.

Instead because of the president’s speech Vice President’s speech will be covered live and unfiltered. The public will not only be able to hear his position articulated but also articulated in a speech that he has had time to write and develop. At best it could be a game changer for the debate, at worst people who have only seen a filtered or caricature of the vice president will see the real thing.Minds will be changed.

Meanwhile the president, a fine speaker, will be reading a speech developed quickly in response to political issues. He has a good staff and I’m sure the speech will not be bad, but it’s very nature is reactive and it is not credible to assert that a speech written over the course of a day will be superior to one developed over time.

Add to that the Vice president convictions and experience on the issues of government and the difference will be noticed!

The end result will be pressure to pressure a policy that keeps America safer. That makes us all winners.

Update: Michelle nails it:

I, for one, and gratified to see this White House forced to put national security on the front burner. If not for the forceful public defenses by Vice President Cheney of the aggressive, proactive measures the last administration took to keep us safe, the current commander-in-chief would be happily gabbling about solar panels and weatherization subsidies or somesuch.

Niche marketing works

Posted: May 12, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Anderson Cooper is losing to Olberman’s RERUNS!

The amiable star is about to be passed in the late evening cable ratings by Keith “Worst Shouter on Cable News” Olberman taped reruns.

Ouch!

Maybe the Obama White House’s recent expressed preference for MSNBC, reported here in The Ticket, is helping out the NBC outlet.

This is a great example of Rush being right. To wit:

Fox is clearly right leaning, anyone who denies that is not honest. They have been for years and have earned a large amount of loyalty from the right.

MSNBC is clearly left leaning (actually in my opinion beyond left leaning but a person of the left might say the same about Fox) anyone who denies that is not honest. They have in my opinion made a decision to program in that direction. They have earned the loyalty of liberals who have over the last few years moved farther left.

CNN leans left but doesn’t affirm the left to the degree that MSNBC does. They will throw the odd bone to the right but the right doesn’t trust them.

If the audience was in the middle or even center left CNN could draw them, but the country is center right. CNN is in the wilderness that is not where the people are.

Moderates are not a majority.

David Frum on Meet the Press what a shock

Posted: March 15, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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If anyone had any doubt that the gravy train has arrived for David Frum the fact that he is on Meet the Press this week should confirm it.

With Kathleen Parker and David Brooks they will now be the favorite Republicans in the world. He follows the well trodden path of Andrew Sullivan and will make his fortune.

And just to note something from the show, when Frum defended Steele’s statement on abortion, he said that it should be permissible in the Republican party to have that opinion, however when Tavis Smiley then stated that positions would have to change before the party can attract minorities, Frum didn’t defend the pro-life position he offered that Republican positions would change.

In other words to all we have to do to attract new people to the republican party is to stop being Republicans. Great Idea; after all we saw how well abandoning orthodoxy worked for the Catholic Church in the 60’s and 70’s didn’t we?

Hitting Rush will make him money, hitting republicans will make him money and will make him quotable on networks like CNN.

Oh and it is now 11 days since Rush issued his challenge.

Distraction isn’t a policy

Posted: March 12, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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During the early days of the Civil War Albert Sydney Johnson faced problems on the east west and center fronts of the west. Johnson knew he didn’t have sufficient troops to cover any kind of a coordinated advance. So his strategy was BS literally. He planted false stories in his papers about the overwhelming strength of his forces and how they seemed to be preparing for advances everywhere at once. The North was convinced ht it and it slowed down. It bought him some time but eventually when the North started to move bluff and distraction couldn’t cut it. Defeat came at Forts Henry & Donaldson and Death came at Shiloh.

Karl Rove notes that this seems to be the strategy concerning Rush:

What better way to divert public attention from these more consequential if problematic issues than to start a fight with a celebrity conservative? Cable TV, newspapers and newsweeklies would find the conflict irresistible. Something has to be set aside to provide more space and time to the War on Rush; why not the bad economic news?

Here’s the problem: Misdirection never lasts long. Team Obama can at best only temporarily distract the public; within days, attention will return to issues that clearly should worry the White House.

Not even Team Obama can forestall unpleasant reality. And among those America now faces is Mr. Obama adding $3.2 trillion to the national debt in his first 20 months and 11 days in office, eclipsing the $2.9 trillion added during the Bush presidency’s entire eight years.

In fact James Carville is still playing the game:

James Carville fired back Wednesday at radio host Rush Limbaugh, who earlier in the day had taken the Democratic strategist to task for saying of President Bush in 2001, “I certainly hope he doesn’t succeed.”

Carville told CNN that unlike Limbaugh, who recently said he wants President Obama to fail, Carville retracted his own missive — uttered to a group of reporters on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 — just minutes later, when he learned of the terrorist attacks on America.

“Thank God that I had the good sense to realize that the United States was at war and that changed everything, Carville said. “Once I found out that the country was at war, I said: Whatever I said, disregard it; it’s inoperative.”

I find it interesting that as long as Carville felt there was danger he needed George Bush. Apparently the president must have done a hell of a job since we feel so safe we can even have John Walker Lindh’s defense attorney work for Justice and nobody blinks an eye.

This is the difference between this president and the last one. One acts one distracts.

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