Reply #8: That's the beauty of the whole Madison WI story. The bad guys aren't used to Dems [View All]

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who actually stand up and have a backbone. They aren't used to resistance as strong as what they've seen here. The template the republi-CONS have for the general behavior and response tactics of our side is a four-letter word: CAVE. Because up til Madison WI, that's what everybody has done on our side. Maybe complain a little and write a couple of "sternly-worded letters," and then - CAVE. And the Wisconsin 14 have NOT. And I think the bad guys, deep down, are just completely flummoxed - they do NOT know what to do about this. They don't know how to respond or react because it's just completely new territory for them. They have no template for insurrections like this - especially an insurrection that is A) not stopping and B) gaining ground.

Remember: this is the crowd that was bottle-fed astroturf'd emails and LTTEs, manufactured bus tours, coached and massaged media mouthpieces all vomiting up the same blast-faxed talking points that circulate to ANYTHING with an "R" after its name, and hate radio blowhards repeatedly trumpeting messages like "you don't even HAVE to think! I'LL do the thinking FOR you!!!!!" (and then believing it and swallowing it whole, without questioning). I actually heard limbaugh say that once. I made a point to remember it.

Perhaps their mental acuity is failing. Maybe their ability to consider logic and odd things like facts and anything beyond the party line has just atrophied from lack of use. Or perhaps they're lazy and don't care to study or read at all, especially if their "faith" tells them what's what. And there are the adorable, folksy, plain-tawkin' default statements upon being confronted with those odd things like facts: "well, I don't know..." or (with arms folded over chest, chin jutted out in defiance, and heels dug in) "well, I know what I know!" These people have been programmed. Dial tuned to WILLFULLY STUPID.

And for the first time in memory, some Dems decided to stand up, stay standing, and never bending over.

Remember too, another line I made a point never to forget: george w. bush said this while campaigning for election in 2004: "you may not agree with me, but you know where I stand." And that's powerful stuff. TAKING A STAND. It's so powerful people will vote for the very act of it, regardless what that stand is. From the "well, at least he STANDS FOR SOMETHING..." (another one of those mindless default statements in which these folks tend to specialize).