John Kerry & My Mom

[THUNDER HANDS]

I think I can measure most national attitudes towards things based on my mom's opinion and level of interest. My mom is a registered nurse, a regular, ordinary person who likes to relax, watch tv and rarely engages in anything to the point of obsession (much like we do with politics).

So if my mom comes out and says something like 'I don't like George Bush' I think it's a pretty good bet that most of the nation probably feels the same way. And it was right around the time that Bush's poll numbers started to go south that she started talking about how bad he was doing.

So after the whole Kerry-comment flap came out, she was talking about it and she basically said 'well, he'll never be president now.'

So, if my mom thinks that Kerry killed his chances at becomming president again, it's a safe bet to assume that it's the last time we've seen him on the national stage.

And for those curious, she is a Democrat, she votes every now and again, usually not in midterms, and she thinks Hillary has no shot at being president. She likes Obama, but doesn't think he'd win either.

Oh and don't get me started on my dad. He's not a republican, but you'd have an easier time dragging him to his own execution than you would a voting booth.

:)

[speedoo]

1. Your post really saddens me.

Why your parents rarely vote is something I just cannot comprehend. Of course, they are just a couple of data points in the huge number of Americans who do not vote.

Still, it's very sad.

[Mass]

2. OK, if she does not think Clinton or Obama will win either, who does she see winning.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. she doesn't know anyone else

But she doesn't think Gore would win either. And those four (Kerry, Gore, Clinton and Obama) are pretty much all the Democrats she could name.

[Mass]

7. Ok, so it is not Kerry only. She does not think a Dem can win.

[THUNDER HANDS]

10. i wouldn't say that

she knows enough to know she doesn't know everyone who could run.

[sandnsea]

23. Oh criminy

Buy the woman a Christian Science Monitor subscription for Christmas.

[blm]

3. Media spin. She'll likely reassess during the series of debates where ANYONE can

try to prove they are more readyy, more consistent and more eloquent than Kerry.

If they are then they will be the nominee. If they aren't then who will care about just another LIE created by BushInc?

BushInc lied about the Clintons trashing the White House and it that lie stuck around for MONTHS, and even to this day many people believe it.

Give in to lies or fight the liars?

[seabeyond]

5. does she know the facts. that what kerry is accused of is not what he did

that it was leaving out one word us.... and that makes kerry NOT a contender inyour moms eyes. or.... does she buy the "he was dissing the troops bullshit" either way... it is sad that you mom thinks that. and since she just got to the point of not liking bush well after the 2004 can we assume your mom didnt vote kerry and is not a fan.

[THUNDER HANDS]

8. no, she voted for Kerry

but I think she looked at the comment and made the assumption that most people wouldn't understand what he meant and would assume he was bashing the troops, and thus, not give him a shot to run again. I think she would vote for him again if he ran, but she doesn't think most Americans would.

[seabeyond]

11. thanks magic rat for you clarification. i understand what you are saying

now.

[Kerrytravelers]

6. Well, that convinces me...

... that the White House spin still seems to be working.

[patrice]

9. Would you consider qualifying your statement ". . . it's a safe bet to

assume" with no change in the way campaigns are managed "that it's the last time . . . "?

I'm usually troubled by absolutes, most things are probabilities of one degree or another and very dependent upon situaitonal factors that could change.

[blue sky at night]

12. sorry to hear your mother couldn't grasp the sentence,

his whole train of thought for herself, without the help of the rw noise machine. I guess she hasn't experienced making a mistake and being forgiven for it. Man, we just have to get a grip on what is really important here. I am damn proud of Kerry for finally standing up and saying things that needed to be said, I only wish ANY of my friends or family would do the same, but they are all so cowed by the political climate now they won't give an opinion on any matter of importance. Gee, let's see we have THE most corrupt government in the history of our country, yet a man speaking the TRUTH and forgets one word in a sentence is somehow shit canned forever!! I would ask anyone making that judgment, "What have you ever done to compare with what John Kerry has done with his life, that you could pass judgment on him for one mistake?" I think we all need to get a freaking backbone and quite trying to live our lives inside the good opinion of others.

[Kahuna]

13. Even without his lastest faux pas, he was never going to be president...

:shrug:

[wisteria]

18. Oh, another fortune teller present! Please you know nothing! n/t

[Nedsdag]

20. Thank you

There's no way he's going to be President. The Democratic money people will not put money towards a loser in spite of his accomplishments. The days of Adlai Stevenson are over. Even Hubert Humphrey had to learn that. Some DUers have to learn that as well.

By the way, my mother is also a die hard Democrat and she's not voting for Kerry either.

[Bluerthanblue]

14. if you accept

your Mom's comment- and leave it at that, then you are complicit-
I say this, because I just had a very heated conversation with my brother last night about this very thing-
He even hung up on me-

And I called him back- I asked him what he knew about the statement Kerry made- Asked him if he understood it was not only an incredibly bumbled mis-statement, but if he had listened to anything other than the news media's sound bites?

After over an hour of 'disgusting' (one of my sons mistaken, but profound word-gaffes for "discussing") conversation, He not only said that Kerry had been screwed over, but that the joke he had intended to make was pretty 'spot-on'.

I IMPLORED him, to look beyond the sound bites- and gave him this 'epiphany' that taught me about how the media uses our 'busy-ness' to manipulate and influence us, often without any clue on our part.

Shortly after the 9/ll incident, I was driving the carpool of kids into my youngest son's school. Of course we were discussing what had happened, what our thoughts and feelings were-
I'm not one to let the half hour drive be spent in silence - the oldest boy, who was 9 at the time said:

"I think we should shoot Ossama bin Laden with a machine gun like he did us"...

"What are you talking about Zach?" I asked, trying to figure out why this normally peace loving, mellow child would suddenly come out with such a statement.

"I saw him on TV-" he said, "They showed him kneeling down and shooting his gun at the buildings in NY, and then the buildings fell down"-

And sure enough as I took the time to really pay attention- I saw that the footage played OVER and OVER and OVER again, were the burning towers- an old clip of bin laden with his AK-47, and some silly 'training camp' video, all linked together- to GAIN EFFECT-
- to plant the connection in our minds, that it was all so slick, simple, and clear cut-

Since that day, I've been very aware of the 'clips' and 'teasers' that the media throw out at us- Children take things in very literally- and they notice, and POINT OUT what for many of us, is often over-looked. What the media is subliminally programing the 'masses' to simply accept-

Call me paranoid, call me an 'over-thinker' but I have found this experience to be a profound lesson, in listening to what is NOT being said- and why what IS being said. To question why what has been chosen out of all available sources of 'news' and 'imformation' might have been picked to pound home to the people.

Take the time to ask your Mom what she knows- and help her learn the truth- Then SHE can pass along the truth to others who are as plagued by the 'tyranny of the urgent' - sort of an opposite kind of 'gossip'- spreading knowledge, and TRUTH, rather than distortions and lies-

It's worth the effort- if we give in and let things 'go' because we don't want the argument- then we are playing right into the hands of those who will use any means possible to advance the lies- and the agendas that benifit those who least need their agendas advanced.

sorry this is so long
blu

[THUNDER HANDS]

15. my mom got it

she was just making a general observation about America and what it, collectively, would think. I think my mom is smarter than I give her credit for, she knew what he meant.

[Bluerthanblue]

24. self fulfilling prophecy if

she leaves it there- and if you do too-

We have to put some effort out to even have a hope of achieving results-
Apathy is worse than opposition. At least opposition gives the chance of change-

This is not meant as a dis- just what I believe-

"Why vote-? We 'know' we can't beat them." = we have already lost everything worth anything.

[wisteria]

16. So your mom get it right once with Bush and she is always right?

I would say,her opinions are based on spin rather then clear thought. Did she actually say way she thought as she did about kerry? Could it be possible she was listening to the spin? What exactly is the point of your post any way? Huh? her guess is no more valuable than the pundits that are pushing for washinton insiders. Seems you want to carry the spin further.

HEY, MY PREDICTICTION, KERRY COMES OUT AHEAD OF ALL OF THIS AND HIS WORDS LIKE, BUSH SHOULD APOLOGIZE BECOME COMMON PHRASES.

Kerry 08 and 2012.

[Elidor]

17. With all due respect, your mom being a reflection of conventional wisdom

Does not quite make her an oracle. Kerry is not going to fade away anytime soon, no matter how much the Kool Kids in DC wish it were so. (And I bring them up because they are likely the ones who gave her that idea.)

[wisteria]

19. Absolutely true! n/t

[yurbud]

21. when I saw your headline, I thought you were going to say Kerry is your dad

"Son, there's something I have to tell you..."

[sandnsea]

22. You're happy about a media execution

We are so fucked and Washington and the media are NOT the problem.

[blm]

25. Did your mom blame Gore for "creating the internet" too? Did that disqualify him

from running for office or being president?

I say FIGHT the lies, don't be fearful and give in to the LIARS. Too many Dems blame their own instead of exposing the LIARS.




“During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet,” Gore said. “I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country’s economic growth, environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.” On the whole, this was the kind of chest-thumping statement which candidates routinely make on the stump. But as anyone who followed this election will know, Gore’s initial, sixteen-word comment was widely dissected for the next twenty months. Almost surely, Gore’s brief remark about the Net was the most widely-discussed statement of Campaign 2000. The spinning of this one remark drove a nasty War Against Gore—a spin campaign which almost surely decided the 2000 race.

Gore’s remark would be widely attacked. But surprise! At the time Gore made his statement, it received no attention whatever. Blitzer didn’t ask Gore to explain his remark; he showed no surprise at what Gore had said. And in its on-air promotions for the taped interview, CNN showed no sign of thinking that Gore had “made news” with his comment. Meanwhile, major papers which covered Gore’s interview completely ignored the comment. On March 10, for example, the Washington Post ran a full report about the Gore-Blitzer session. But the paper only discussed Gore’s remarks on U.S. relations with China. On March 11, the Washington Times’ Greg Pierce reviewed the interview in his “Inside Politics” column. But Pierce only mentioned what Gore had said about early campaign polling. Similarly, the AP’s dispatches about Gore’s interview completely ignored his Internet comment. And another major organ passed over Gore’s statement. On March 10, the Hotline—the widely-read, on-line digest of the day’s political news—ran extensive excerpts from the Late Edition Q-and-A’s, but omitted the Internet remark altogether. In fact, in the first two days after Gore’s appearance, no press entity remarked, in any way, on what Gore said about the Net. Gore’s comment would be critiqued, attacked, burlesqued and spun over the course of the next twenty months. But it evoked no reaction from the press—none at all—at the time Gore made it. Repeat: No one in the press said even one word about Gore’s statement at the time it was made. No one showed the slightest sign of thinking Gore’s comment was notable.

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh120302.shtml