Many here don't seem to get it--the best way you deal with these people is IGNORE THEM!

[Bicoastal]

Yes, we're all aware that there a few so-called "Democrats" who insist they will vote for McCain before they vote for Obama. Yes, many of them were once ardent (some might say die-hard) Hillary supporters who feel slighted. And yes, a few were once DU'ers who got the boot.

HOWEVER--

This group has no political power whatsoever. Their numbers are tiny. They are loathed by most Democrats and considered highly suspect by most Republicans. Their written output reeks of racially-tinged words and phrases, but when they are asked to give facts about, say, John McCain's qualifications to be president, they simply shout their insults louder. Even the person they want to be president has formally and informally asked them to stop. This tiny group should rightly be considered a huge joke.

AND YET--

They have one potent weapon against Barack Obama, and that is a media hungry for stories about a divided Democratic party. They relish the opportunity to give interviews and go on Fox News because, let's face it, when's the next time deluded nobodies like themselves are going to get coverage by the press? So they continue to say the most divisive and outraged things as possible, and the press keeps giving them a bully pulpit quite out of proportion to both their numbers and their importance.

But aren't we partly to blame?

These groups, for the most part, are based around Internet forums and blogs, the names of which I will not link to or mention here. Sites such as ours are (understandably) outraged by the content of these sites, and then the jackasses pretend to get outraged by OUR outrage, and the interns at the networks pick up on the controversy (not to mention their sites' internet traffic), and the cycle starts up anew. And don't say nobody at the network looks at DU, because they DO--we've appeared as cameos on cable news stations enough times to let us know that someone is indeed watching these days.

SO, I BEG YOU--

Stop linking to their sites. Stop repeating their latest nonsense. Stop looking up former members that crossed over to the dark side. Stop stirring up the controversy. We don't need to focus on them because they aren't our enemies--the Republicans and McCain are, because THEY have all the power. These other fools are the sideshow freaks of the media circus surrounding this year's election. They are the proverbial dogs that are all bark and no bite. They are the monsters under our beds that we were always told were imaginary, that if we simply close our eyes and ears and pretend like they don't exist--

--THEY WON'T.

[Marrah_G]

1. Thank you- a voice of sanity

[redstate_democrat]

2. psyops to the nth degree

[mdmc]

3. I had no idea such a group existed

My uncles were both big Hillary supports (they both maxed out).
One of them is voting for Obama (he has younger adult sons that are down with Obama in a big way).
The other is voting for Bob Barr. "McCain is too old" he says.

[Cha]

4. "Old" is the least of

mccain's shortcomings.

[elocs]

5. "Ignoring them" is how a deal with a good number of people here. Life is too short,

and for me they are not worth the trouble. (I reckon I'm on a good number of ignore lists as well--I can live with that.)

[patrice]

6. If you really want to piss them off, if you really want to get one-up on them, treat them like 0.

That's what they hate far far more than anything you can say to them. Anything you say to them is fuel to their ego. Being 0 starves their egos.

[newmajority]

7. A lot of people ignored the complaints about the LAPD in the 1980's

The Rodney King case wasn't an exception, it was just "fortunate" enough to be filmed.

And when Daryl Gates nazi pigs got away with what they did, all Hell broke loose.


Why am I making this comparison?

Because the pharma lobbyists and CIA tools bankrolling and manipulating this PUMA bullshit are planning to make Denver look a lot like Los Angeles looked in 1992.

Weak comparison?? Do you really want to find out?

Why not put this piece of shit "movement" out of our misery, and not take that chance?

John McLoon prays to Satan each and every night for violence in Denver. It's probably the only chance he has of winning.

[Flabbergasted]

8. Amen. They have no political sway at all. Exactly my thoughts. nt

[scheming daemons]

9. How did ignoring the swift-boaters work out for Kerry?

You can't ignore your critics. You have to slam them TWICE as hard as they slam you.

It's about winning, not fair play.


PUMAs are this year's swiftboaters.... and they need to be destroyed (metaphorically).

[Bicoastal]

12. Not these guys. The harder you hit them the more self-pitying they become...

...and the more they'll convince themselves they are being persecuted. And then they just get noisier.

Swift-boaters had power because they had friends in high places. These guys--do you think the Republicans will go out of their way to help people who love the Clintons? It seems like the GOP is conscious of how ugly these people come off, otherwise they'd be popping up in pro-McCain ads all over the place. Even the media, for all of their coverage, still treats them like a sideshow.

[MonkeyFunk]

13. No, they're not

the Swiftboaters were a well-funded group that ran ads. The people referred to in the OP are just a handful of people who blog. You give them far too much credit.

And how are you going to stop them? By bitching on DU?

[newmajority]

25. These idiots are potentially better funded than the swift boat liars

They have the legal drug dealers in the pharmaceutical industry and the illegal drug dealers in the CIA bankrolling this shit. That's a lot of money.

[MonkeyFunk]

27. That's paranoia

[newmajority]

30. How so?

The links to the pharmaceutical funding of PUMAbot sites have been repeatedly pointed out. Larry Johnson is a known CIA thug. Mush Limpdick and the black ops front website "ReCreate68" just happened to start floating the idea of protests in Denver when it became obvious that Obama had the nomination wrapped up.

So what am I being paranoid about again?

[AtomicKitten]

14. I agree that it would be smart to err on the side of caution.

I have a problem with Clinton acolyte Lanny Davis as a guest on PUMA radio. There is nothing anyone can say that would mitigate that bullshit. That reeks of "2012 or bust" in a big way.

Also, the hair on the back of my neck stands up when anyone advises paying no attention to the bitter, hostile people seeking revenge for an election loss behind the curtain.

[newmajority]

28. Well, in fairness to Lanny.....

I can't begin to understand why he agreed to be interviewed by those fools in the first place, but I listened to the program, specifically for that reason, and he did not support the PUMAbot objectives. Basically he told them that Hillary has moved on and supports the nominee, and they should do so as well. And the pizza-eaters in their chatroom went nuts! "Fucking traitor" "Fuck Lanny, he's with HUSSEIN!!!11!", etc.

Of course he still had to tow the DLC party line otherwise, and get in some good old fashioned Dean bashing. But I would expect nothing else from that camp :puke:

[politicasista]

15. Kerry did NOT ignore them. The media buried his response

And the left-leaning pundits didn't not fare well at all against the right-leaning pundits. Not to mention he didn't have as much defense from a Democratic Party like Obama has now. Kerry is doing for Obama what the Dems should have done for him in 04.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_oet&address=358x2555

This fact has been repeated over and over and people still don't get it. Why people complain about the media, yet buy into everything they fabricate is beyond understanding. Oh, if it's not about my candidate or favorite progressive/liberal it must be true!

Comparing apples and oranges is fun for some of you here. I am glad Obama himself appreciates and respects what one of his best surrogates does for him. It's too bad some (not all) of Obama's supporters don't.

[AtomicKitten]

17. No, Kerry did not ignore them. You are absolutely right in correcting that misinformation.

That was precisely when Democrats should have moved into the void to help, but they didn't. The DNC just sat on their hands. Not this time.

[politicasista]

18. Exactly

I am sorry if I sound angry or bitter, but I want Obama to respond and smackdown McCain and these other lying fools as much as everyone does. But he is not a machine. (LOL!) He can't operate or do everything by himself. He can't shut off the power to ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC or Faux News (that would be fun!) That's why he has Dean, Kerry, Gore, just to name a few helping him learn the lessons of the past, what to do, what works or doesn't work, and so on. Did they each make mistakes, yes (don't we all in our lives?). But they know how things work. We have to be the grassroots. We have to say enough is enough. That's how Obama will win and be in the WH.


BTW: I like the pic. :)

[woolldog]

10. Would you mind informing a certain angry floridian of that?

[MonkeyFunk]

11. Absolutely

I would never know anything about these groups if DUers didn't run here breathlessly with every new development. I just don't understand why they want to give these folks so much attention.

It's like the Log Cabin republicans. Gay forums just go batshit crazy over them, but I've always maintained that their numbers and influence are so inconsequential that they should just be ignored. The media loves to highlight them because it seems so incongruous, but they get far more attention than their numbers would indicate.

Just ignore 'em.

[Marrah_G]

16. Unfortunately the ones doing it aren't listening- they prefer to act like school yard bullies

They are attacking anyone who dares think like you do.

[madfloridian]

19. Wait! While we ignore them, they wreak havoc.

This ignoring outrageous stuff is getting to be a habit around here.

[AtomicKitten]

20. we must be careful not to hurt their feelings, mad

or so the unspoken directive seems

[madfloridian]

26. See what I just posted....video and article.

I would love to hurt their little feelings.

[pecwae]

31. Who said that?

Does that go only for former Clinton supporters or just suspected PUMA members?

[MonkeyFunk]

23. And bitching about them here on DU

stops them, how, exactly?

[WA98070]

21. A lie undenied is assumed to be the truth--no mater how stupid. Hit back 10X over.

[Bicoastal]

22. These aren't lies, though, are they? I mean no one cares what these people are SAYING...

...they just have them on TV to say "I'm not voting for Obama and I'm a Democrat! Neener neener neener!"

[iconicgnom]

24. Well, I enjoy insulting the self-pitying fools.

Like taking headshots at zombies in a video game -- gotta be shot that takes the head clean off -- it's not the highest form of entertainment, but sometimes it can be mindlessly fun and that's just the way it is.

[barack the house]

29. Exactly don't feed the PUMAs.

[GeorgeGist]

32. If you really want to get even with them ...

sinking to their level is your only option.

[MonkeyFunk]

34. "get even with them"?

For not supporting Obama? How are you going to "get even"? Bitch about them incessantly on DU? Yeah, that'll teach 'em a lesson or two.

[Arkansas Granny]

33. I agree with you completely. Ignoring them is the best way to handle this.

Without attention they will fade away much like a fire that is deprived of oxygen.