Memes that need to be put to rest

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

In the aftermath of last night's amazing election, I think it's high-time that we put to rest several memes that have long been floated:

Old meme: The election will be stolen!!

It wasn't stolen in 2006. It wasn't stolen in 2008. While we must remain vigilant against the Ken Blackwells and Katherine Harrises of the world, it's time to stop this shrill meme unless there's concrete evidence (and no, we haven't had it yet.)

Old meme: We are a conservative or right-leaning nation.

Two landslide elections later, I think it's safe to say that we assuredly are not. What we were was a country in a typical swing to the right, following backlash against the Clinton era and prolonged by 9/11 fear and divisive politics. We are much more of a moderate or left-leaning nation, and history bears this out.

Old meme: Only a southern Democrat can win the Presidency.

President-Elect Obama hasn't lived anywhere near the south. That one should be easy to kill out-of-hand.

Old meme: We must pander to the south to win elections.

Doing some rough math, we'd have won this election without Virginia, Florida, or North Carolina. As I've said before, there are paths to victory through a very ripe mountain west and midwest, and we've seen that hold true in this election. Should we be inclusive of the south? Absolutely - but don't think for a moment that we need to bend to back-assward ultra-conservative politics to lead this nation. We do not, and we should not allow the south to wag the dog any longer.

Old meme: Fiscal conservatives exist.

They exist... but only if they're out of power. As soon as they take control, they realize that spending money is the only way to keep this nation running. Unfortunately, they forget the part about needing revenue to pay for that spending. The only true fiscal conservatives come in the form of pay-as-you-go Democrats - PERIOD.

Old meme: A black man cannot be President of the United States of America.

I saved the best one for last here... and it gives me chills just being able to put that meme to bed FOREVER! :woohoo:

Please feel free to add to the memes that need to be retired today, once and for all.

[Joe Chi Minh]

1. Experts have the goods on the fraud. Like it or lump it.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. If you mean anecdotal goods, sure.

Nothing that would ever, or has ever withstood a courtroom test. Sorry pal, no smoking gun.

[Joe Chi Minh]

7. Staistics make first-class circumstantial evidecne - and that... is how fraud is proved in court.

Next question?

What's your interest in downplayng the prospect of prosecutions? You don't think causing voter queues of up to seven hours amounts to voter suppression? Go back to sleep.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

10. Lies, damned lies, statistics...

...and statistics in the hands of partisans. :shudder:

[Joe Chi Minh]

11. I don't know how you have the nerve to show your face on here:

http://bradblog.com/

Oprah Winfrey's and Tim Robbins' testimony, and the belated impounding of some of the vote-flicking machines not enough for you? Just read the right-hand column on Brad's Home page.

I'm sure if you could comment on the way Democratic votes were suppressed by forcing voters in heavily Democratic-leaning areas to wait for up to seven hours, sometimes in the rain, it would amuse us no end. We're all waiting.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

13. I'm sorry, you're right.

The election was stolen. All hail President McCain.

[eridani]

15. You've never heard of "probable cause"?

If unauditable machines are trade secrets, how do you know if there is a smoking gun or not?

[GreenEyedLefty]

3. "We're not ready for a black president."

That one always set my teeth on edge. Die, meme, die!

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. You know what? I'm guilty as charged on that one.

During the primaries, I really didn't think it was possible. I'd looked at what racism still exists in this country and I just didn't see it happening. It did, and it happened not only through huge African American turnout, but with the support of a whole lot of white folks. I'm very happy to bury that meme forever.

[Tarc]

5. The biggest one to bury is the "Liberals hate Palin because they're afraid of strong women" bullshit

I opposed her because she was the second coming of Phillis Schlafly, tye type of person who shouldn't be allowed to win a post for town dog-catcher, much less a vice-presidency.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

6. I'll add some to the pile.

Old Meme: Bush is going to declare martial law / cancel the election!

New Meme: Bush is a lousy president, an evil twit, and he's stupid. He's just not *that* kind of stupid.

---

Old Meme: Osama bin Laden will be dethawed and paraded in shackles before the next election.

New Meme: Fuck knows where Osama bin Laden is. Maybe we should GO LOOK FOR HIM.

---

Old Meme: Bush did 9/11 and there will be another terrorist attack before the election!!

New Meme: Obama is part of teh konspiarcy!

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Old Meme: The good guys never win.

New Meme: Yes, Virginia, sometimes the good guys *do* win.

[blondeatlast]

8. Old meme: fuck Nader. New meme: Nader's irrelevant (but he's a twit with a microphone, sadly). nt

[DeadElephant_ORG]

9. "He just can't 'seal the deal.'" and "He doesn't 'connect' with ordinary Americans."

[AtomicKitten]

12. Glad Obama proved the "he can't win" charge wrong.

Unfortunately that charge came from within the party.

Glad Obama proved them wrong. :patriot:

[Blarch]

14. BULLSHIT.

they tried to steal it in 2008

I don't know what the fuck you were doing...but we all know about how they were purging in all the swing states.

THEY TRIED TO STEAL IT .......AGAIN.

I see people here telling me to 'let it go' just cause we won, well maybe next time we won't. WTF is wrong with you guys ?

[eridani]

16. Enough turnout to override fraud doesn't mean we should ignore fraud

That's the problem with elected officials in general. If they win with 52%, they don't give a shit that the real number might be 54% or 55%. The problem is that the fraud might just make a difference next time.

[No Elephants]

17. Cons do not spend only to keep the nation running. They spend to get re-elected. Dems do

the same. A Woodstock Museum is not necessary to keep the nation running. However, upstate NY votes might well result from the jobs it creates there. Ditto Unca Ted's and Auntie Sarah's Bridge to Nowhere.

On the South. New rule. Not meme, rule. The Southern Strategy must include massive, persistent and inclusive voter registration.

On election theft. It is not a meme. Vote caging and other forms of vote suppression are real. So are machine break downs and other irregularities that just always happen by coincidence in swing states more than anywhere else. It is real that the Florida ballot in 2000 was confusing. Even Pat Buchanan admits that a lot of the Florida votes he got were intended for Gore. It's real that every Bush SCOTUS appointee should have recused himself in Gore v. Bush and did not.

Etc.

[seabeyond]

18. how stupid to ignore becase we won. we KNOW it was stolen. that votes were STOLEN

we KNOW this. because we won in '06 and '08 does not mean it wasnt stolen. it means that there were still enough votes to outride the theft.

oh ya. that sounds smart to me. ignore stolen votes cause we were able to still get enough to win.

how fuckin stupid

or we do something about it

[Orsino]

19. Elections in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 were all stolen...

...to varying degrees.

This is a fact, not a "meme." Calling it a meme, or saying "get over it" will guarantee that the thefts continue.

Please join us in fighting vote theft.