Democrat Party Profiles In Courage

Email Print posted by KenTX 07/14/2008 02:53:33 AM EST

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The following congressional leaders lined up in soldarity behind the President at the Rose Garden Signing Ceremony. Here's a clip of the occasion.

Steny Hoyer - House Majority Leader

Silvestre Reyes - Chairman, House Select Intelligence

Jay Rockefeller - Chairman, Senate Select Intelligence

These Democrat Senators voted for FISA: Bayh - Carper - Casey - Conrad - Feinstein - Innuoye - Kohl - Landrieu - Lincoln - McCaskill - Mukulski - Nelson (Neb.) - Nelson (Fla.) - Obama - Pryor - Rockefeller - Salazar - Webb - Whitehouse.

Here's a clip of the occasion.

I can get White House replica pens, if anyone is interested. You can pretend like Bush wrote the "W" in his name with the pen when he signed the FISA bill.
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Democrat Party Profiles In Courage | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 hidden)
Valid Point (none / 0)

I have nothing to say about what you posted, Ken, I agree and I'm very sad that those senators decided to vote in favor of the thing.

But did you really, really need to call it the Democrat Party? Do we run around calling the GOP the Republic Party?

by Khabi on 07/14/2008 07:12:22 AM EST

I'll modify my useage, (none / 0)
when you start referring to yourself as a "Democratic" rather than a "Democrat".

by KenTX on 07/14/2008 07:22:20 AM EST

[ Parent ]
ken (none / 0)
You're so cute and snarky.  That Democrat thing is worth posting like 5 threads a day just so you can use it, TROLL.

by schmoab on 07/14/2008 01:14:26 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Parts of speech (none / 0)
Learn to use them.

by jarett on 07/14/2008 04:50:24 PM EST

[ Parent ]
He could call you democratic (none / 0)
but then he would miss an opportunity to slur you and everyone he disagrees with.

I recommend everybody read this essay (linked above) by Henrik Hertzberg, if you haven't seen it before. It is an excellent dissection of the use of this name-calling by conservatives. Hertzberg says it best himself:

There’s no great mystery about the motives behind this deliberate misnaming. “Democrat Party” is a slur, or intended to be—a handy way to express contempt. Aesthetic judgments are subjective, of course, but “Democrat Party” is jarring verging on ugly. It fairly screams “rat.” At a slightly higher level of sophistication, it’s an attempt to deny the enemy the positive connotations of its chosen appellation.

Ken has no doubt read animal farm, and understands the value of dehumanizing his opponents. He doesn't grasp that terms like "liberal" and "conservative" are arbitrary categories that represent a preference to vote a certain way, but beyond that don't tell you much about a person.

Of course, Ken is free to use insults like this if he wants. But it speaks volumes about his character.

"If you're not worried, you're not paying attention." --Cenk Uygur

by hazmat on 07/14/2008 01:15:49 PM EST

[ Parent ]
I don't even think it's about "rat" (none / 0)
It's because "Democratic Party" implies that the Democrats are democratic and thus associated with democracy (which we have associated with "freedom"), which Bush and the Republicans have appropriated for themselves.  They can't have that, so they change the name to remind everyone that Democrats are not democratic.  They hate freedom and love terrorists!

This is a Frank Luntz creation, and like many of his tricks, is underhanded, appeals to subconscious aspects of language, and is highly effective.

by jarett on 07/14/2008 04:53:43 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Read the essay, its short (none / 0)
and well worth your time. You'll find that the term predates Frank Luntz as well.

"If you're not worried, you're not paying attention." --Cenk Uygur

by hazmat on 07/14/2008 04:57:20 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Jarett is smarter than Hertzberg, (none / 0)
and almost every other person in the entire Democrat Party. That's why I admire Jarett. In good time, he will become Dick Cheney's Mini-Me.

We refer to it as the Democrat Party for three primary reasons:

1. It drives you guys nuts. I've never understood the reaction. Who cares what Republicans call it? When Democrats call us "rethugs" and "cons" and a bunch of other names, I can assure you that it doesn't bother us in the least.

2. We will not cede democracy to liberals, just like Jarett explained.

3. Most importantly, we plan to do the same thing to the word "Democrat" that we did to the word "liberal". In the long run, we want to make it a word that nobody in America wants to be associated with. They will have to change the name of the party to the Progressive Party.

Then, we'll start calling it the Progress Party.

by KenTX on 07/14/2008 05:22:14 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Ken is actually making a very good point here (none / 0)

but I still believe that "Democrat" is intended as a slur. Its different from the epithets like "rethug" that people use on this forum, because the Democrat slur has come into accepted usage by public figures like George W. Bush, from whom we have come to stop expecting a higher standard. I can guarantee you, if Barack Obama called McCain a "rethug" with the frequency that Bush uses "Democrat party" the press would jump all over him for being "shrill" and "uncivil".

Guess what? That's because it is shrill and uncivil.

"If you're not worried, you're not paying attention." --Cenk Uygur

by hazmat on 07/14/2008 06:36:08 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Hazmat, you're a DEMOCRAT! (none / 0)
The preceding slur employed an epithet that was intended to be both shrill and uncivil.

Here's a little hint: The more you protest, the more we will use the word. Soon, the word "Democrat" will become just like the n-word. People will gasp whenever it is uttered in polite company.

Do you hear us complaining about words like "rethug"? Knock yourself out.

by KenTX on 07/14/2008 06:53:42 PM EST

[ Parent ]
here's a hint (none / 0)
I'm a democrat. And proud of it. What are you? Someone who reads without comprehension.

"If you're not worried, you're not paying attention." --Cenk Uygur

by hazmat on 07/14/2008 07:37:30 PM EST

[ Parent ]
perhaps you missed the title of my previous post (none / 0)
effectively agreeing with you. idiot.

"If you're not worried, you're not paying attention." --Cenk Uygur

by hazmat on 07/14/2008 07:40:23 PM EST

[ Parent ]
haz (none / 0)
Please read the post again. Are you unable to take a joke?

by KenTX on 07/14/2008 11:21:17 PM EST

[ Parent ]
A Texan to Texas aside (none / 0)

Ken,

You know how pathetic and retarded the Aggies look when they insist on calling UT t.u.?

You look exactly that stupid and retarded right now.

And whats up with you being some creepy-ass eugenics guy who is always trying to rank us by our intelligence?

I am just waiting until you get out one of those weird phrenological compass looking things and trying to measure our skulls.

by ProfRich on 07/14/2008 07:19:03 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Progress Party? (none / 0)
I can get behind that.  Who's against progress?

The thing is, "progress" is a word outside of the context of political parties.  "Democrat" is not.

by jarett on 07/15/2008 03:56:09 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Progress party (none / 0)
I'd rather be a member of that party than the republican party. That name is poison, and we didn't even have to slime it.

"If you're not worried, you're not paying attention." --Cenk Uygur

by hazmat on 07/15/2008 11:11:43 AM EST

[ Parent ]
In case you doubted rats (none / 0)
look no further.

"If you're not worried, you're not paying attention." --Cenk Uygur

by hazmat on 07/16/2008 01:30:50 AM EST

[ Parent ]
The money Lebowski (none / 0)

It's always the money.

Telecoms were covering their own ass. It had nothing to do with that retard in the White House.

Obama? It is not politically smart to take on a fight you can't win in an election year unless you see a change in the near future. Your hero Rove could tell you that. 

by z1p101 on 07/15/2008 03:49:45 AM EST

$8000? (none / 0)
All it takes to buy a Senator's vote is $8000?

That's a bargain!

by KenTX on 07/15/2008 06:59:38 AM EST

[ Parent ]
I hear (none / 0)

congressmen are selling fellatio for $20. Now that's a bargain.

I couldn't resist. 

"If you're not worried, you're not paying attention." --Cenk Uygur

by hazmat on 07/15/2008 11:14:53 AM EST

[ Parent ]
But (none / 0)
they are not, and never have been, gay.

by richardshort2001 on 07/27/2008 02:28:52 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Democrat Party Profiles In Courage | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 hidden)
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