Where is the DEM LEADERSHIP on the UAE Port Deal?????

[NoodleyAppendage]

The UAE port deal is a LOSING ISSUE for King Chimp and his Neocon brethern. The Freepers are all up in arms and the red state "dumbass xenophobes" are in a tizzy.

These Repuke-splitting opportunities do not come up often. Dems could really bite off a few Repuke supporters by forcefully and LOUDLY getting on the mainstream media NOW and make the point that King Chimp's port plan is UNSAFE! NOW GODDAMN IT! Where's Biden on this? He practically has a hotline to the MSM? Where's Reid? Where's Kerry...oops, sorry I guess he's crafting a "forceful letter" on the issue.

I'm so friggin' sick of the INEFFECTUAL Dem message machine. You watch. The Repukes will get out ahead of this issue and only after then will the Dems generate a message. Ugh...<hand slap to forehead>

JB

[Greeby]

1. Clinton and Menendez are moving up a bill to block such a sale

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021806X.shtml

[NoodleyAppendage]

4. Great! So, where is the PRESS CONFERENCE!!!!!

Modern politics is played out for the cameras, not in the halls of Congress. We are talking about triangulating the Red State populace on this issue. Do you really think these folks will hear about Clinton and Menendez bill if the message isn't on TV?

JB

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. There were several articles last week

They must have had a press conference, the papers are on it.

[Pirate Smile]

14. Schumer had one yesterday.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x471305

[NoodleyAppendage]

16. On Sunday. How brave and crafty of him...

If you want to look forceful, but not really do anything about it the modus operandi appears to be a "forceful letter" or a Sunday press conference (knowing full well it won't be widely covered a media "dead day").

This week's media cycle started TODAY, not yesterday.

JB

[maddezmom]

17. here's another link

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=57230

[NoodleyAppendage]

22. Sounds like a good press conference set up...but WHY ON SUNDAY??

Sunday is generally one of the WORST days for media coverage. Schumer should know this...or maybe he does and it was intentional?? It seems odd not to do this on a media-ready weekday.

JB

[ClassWarrior]

24. Why are you wasting your time asking people who don't have...

...the damn answers? Why don't you call our national Dems yourself? Why don't you motivate others to call them too, rather than spending all this time trying to "trap" a DUer into a gotcha?

Well?? Not a rhetorical question...

NGU.

[NoodleyAppendage]

29. You presuppose that I haven't contacted my representatives.

I haven't contacted my representatives because they are Repukes...Dole and Burr. I have, however, called the DNC to voice my complaints and wonder where Dean stands on the issue.

JB

[ClassWarrior]

38. Did they give you an answer?

And I don't think a little (D) has ever stopped the RW legions of hate from ever calling their reps. Why should a little (R) stop you?? They're supposed to represent you too - and they need constant reminding.

NGU.

[NoodleyAppendage]

39. Good point. I wasn't calling them because I didn't want to tip them off.

I was hoping to give the Dems the "heads-up" first before contacting my Repuke reps. I've contacted Richard Burr's office quite a few times with issues and I always receive the same bullshit "I hear your concerns" letter after the call.

JB

[FreedomAngel82]

25. You don't always have to proclaim to the world what you're doing

All you should do is be outspoken whenever you're doing an interview. Why do people want the democrats to do a press conference for every little thing they do?

[NoodleyAppendage]

30. Because in the media bias world...press conferences are the best method.

Without gaining some larger form of press attention, the Dem message can get buried. I don't deny the media bias issue. I only deny that we are helpless to circumvent their filter.

JB

[sandnsea]

36. Gosh Ask the PRESS

They aren't reporting it. DOH. Why is this such a surprise.

[ruggerson]

2. Ummm, Hillary is one step ahead of you n/t

[upi402]

42. I wish she would have not spoken so eloquently

Folks like single syllable, very short soundbites that fits within their attention spans.
I think gnats followed her,however. Not criticizing our American attention span, but think that our ability to think critically is toast.

[NoodleyAppendage]

43. Exactly!! We need short catch phrasing to catch the public's attention.

I bemoan the dumbing down of America, as well. But, the sad reality is the need to conform to what works in the modern mass media in order to get our message out.

Hillary should have said the following, "President Bush says he'll keep you safe...then why is he selling our port security to foreign nations who helped fund 9/11. It sounds like President Bush and his party may be giving aid and comfort to our enemy, not the Democrats."

Dems need to go after Bush's "manliness" and neuter his ability to play the security card. To do this, we have to question him language bordering upon calling him an outright coward. Rove has proven through results that fighting dirty (while reprehensible to our sensibilities) works in modern politics.

JB

[KittyWampus]

3. You must not be paying attention.

[ClassWarrior]

5. Or hoping we aren't...

LOL

NGU.

[NoodleyAppendage]

7. Again, where's the press conference? Where's the TV statement?

This is EXACTLY why the Repukes kick our ass. Their media machine realizes that one must get the message out loud and forcefully on TV.

I applaud Clinton's efforts, but she needs to call a press conference NOW before the Repukes get ahead of the issue. She needs to make "stake to the heart" statements about King Chimp that will get lots of media play. Something like, "Apparently, George Bush is more interested in making money with this foreign port deal than protecting our country." That statement will get attention and goes straight to King Chimp's manhood and the public's perception that he's strong on terror.

JB

[gratuitous]

18. Unfortunately . . .

The Democrats don't control the media machine. The media cover what they want to cover, and they don't want to cover responsible opposing viewpoints. Perhaps you noticed the media coverage on the run-up to the invasion of Iraq (for just one example)? Anyone opposed to a military invasion of another country was reduced to caricature and mocked incessantly while anyone who'd go along with the administration line, even with such ludicrous pronouncements as "being greeted as liberators" or "the war will cost only about a billion dollars" or "it'll all be over in six weeks or six months" was treated as an oracle.

So, Hillary or any other Democrat can holler opposition to the highest heaven, and the only notice the popular media will take is that Clinton "seems too angry to be a presidential candidate" or some other irrelevancy.

If you have a better, workable idea, I for one would love to hear it.

[NoodleyAppendage]

23. The media bias excuse doesn't fly with me at all.

I just saw a nice CNN International coverage piece on the UAE port issue.

JB

[FreedomAngel82]

Note the keyword

INTERNATIONAL. You don't buy the media bias? Uh where the hell have you been?

[gratuitous]

28. So on your television

During the run-up to the Iraq invasion, there was no shortage of responsible folks soberly discussing the poor planning, the poorly-defined objectives, the likelihood of the invasion turning into a quagmire, and a full and frank discussion of alternatives to invasion?

I sure wish I lived in your world. In my world, the media couldn't give a tin shit about responsible dissent.

[Coastie for Truth]

6. Coast Guard League and Coast Guard Veterans of America

came out against it.

[NoodleyAppendage]

19. This is good to hear. It goes against Chertoff's statements yesterday.

Thanks for the info.

JB

[Coastie for Truth]

20. Politics

The League and the Veterans are a way for the senior CG people to get the word out without be court-martialled or swift boated.

[NoodleyAppendage]

21. I knew nothing about them, but it's nice to know of their existence.

Regards

JB

[Coastie for Truth]

27. Their biggest victory to date

was lobbying to get the Coast Guard Icebreaker USCGC Healy built and named after the first African American Flag Officer, Michel Healy.

<>

Captain Michael A. Healy was born near Macon, Georgia in 1839. He was the fifth of ten children born to Michael Morris Healy, an Irish plantation owner, and his wife Mary Elisa Smith, a former slave. This family produced a number of distinguished individuals. Three brothers entered the priesthood; James became the first black bishop in North America, Patrick was president of Georgetown University, and Sherwood became an expert in canon law. Three sisters became nuns, one reaching the level of mother superior.

When his siblings became bishops, priests and nuns, it may have been to compensate for the man who became known as "Hell Roaring Mike".

Michael Healy was uninterested in academic pursuits and so began a seagoing career as a cabin boy aboard the American East Indian Clipper JUMNA in 1854. He quickly became an expert seaman and rose to the rank of officer on merchant vessels.

In 1864 he applied for a commission in the U.S. Revenue Marine and was accepted as a Third Lieutenant. After serving successfully on several cutters in the East, Healy began his lengthy service in Alaskan waters in 1875 as the second officer on the cutter RUSH.

He was given command of the revenue cutter CHANDLER in 1877. Promoted to Captain in March 1883, he was given command of the cutter THOMAS CORWIN in 1884.

Finally in 1886, he became Commanding Officer of the cutter BEAR, taking her into Alaskan waters for the first time. Here he remained until 1895.

Although already held in high regard as a seaman and navigator in the waters of Alaska, it was as Commanding Officer of BEAR that Healy truly made his mark in history. During the last two decades of the 19th Century, Captain Healy was the United States Government in most of Alaska. In his twenty years of service between San Francisco and Point Barrow, he acted as: judge, doctor, and policemen to Alaskan natives, merchant seamen and whaling crews.

<>

[OneBlueSky]

8. you're right . . . this is a time for the party leaders to be . . .

holding a mass press conference on the Capitol steps to denounce BushCo putting our ports and our country at risk . . .

once again they're proving how really inept they are at politics . . . quite a significant weakness for a political party, no? . . .

[NoodleyAppendage]

10. I love my party at it's core...but we need a message guru very badly

It makes me so frustrated to see such wasted political opportunities...

JB

[acmejack]

11. If the media quashes your message you are at a disadvantage huh?

That is our problem!

[NoodleyAppendage]

15. BULLSHIT. That lame excuse doesn't play anymore...

Hillary could be on Hardball tonight with a simple phone call. A forceful, but sound-bite ready, statement about the issue could be crafted right now and given in a public forum.

Yes, there is corporate media control...but that same corporate media thrives upon controversy. If a Dem leader made a controversal statement about the issue, it would be played on CNN and the other major networks.

JB

[mtnsnake]

35. It HAS been played on CNN and the other major networks

I saw it several times on CNN and also on MSNBC where they said how Senators Clinton and Menendez are proposing legislation that would prohibit Bushco from selling out our ports to foreign governments.

[NoodleyAppendage]

41. We need video of Dem Leaders supporting the port deal blockage.

Schumer's the only Dem I've seen so far on CNN or MSNBC talking about the issue.

JB

[HockeyMom]

9. When you have Freepers saying,

"Never in a billion years thought I would agree with Hillary", "Hillary, is dead on with this", "why does it have to be HILLARY leading the charge on this?", "where are our REPUBLICAN Senators on this?", or my favorite, "has Bush lost his MIND?", IT HAS TO BE BAD.

[NoodleyAppendage]

12. EXACTLY! That's why we need to capitalize on the issue...NOW!!!!

If the Repukes are given the opportunity, they will kill the deal without much Dem opposition and then come out of this appearing to be strong on home defense. If the Dems make it clear that this was a REPUKE idea before they have an opportunity to backtrack, then we can really score with the "common man" in Blue and Red states.

JB

[izzie]

26. I guess no one thought to put their finger in the air to feel the wind

How could they be so far off?

[NoodleyAppendage]

31. CNN is running a piece on the issue right now (2.20.06, 1:01 EST)

The issue is getting more play in the general media right now, and they are running Schumer's comment. I'll be damned. I would note, however, that CNN is phrasing the issue as being one where "some" Democrats and Republicans are opposed.

Baltimore's mayor will be coming up soon to talk more about the issue.

JB

[sandnsea]

37. CNN is phrasing the issue

Well there you go. Direct your anger where it belongs. Pick up the phone and call CNN.

[Lindsay]

32. Noodley, I hear ya (I am also an unfortunate consitutent of

Dole and Burr, and that evil jackass Taylor besides) but I think you do seriously overestimate the willingness of the media to give the Dems face time. Wish I could remember the reason for it, but within the last year the House Dems announced and held a press conference and not one media member showed up - except C-Span with their camera and mic, or I wouldn't have known about it either.

The timing of the announcement of the sale was probably not unintentional, either - just before Congress took a week-long break, which means members may get heard by local media but most of them are away from the major media centers.

Corporate media is not there to inform us; it is there to make money for the stockholders. And if they believe that interest is best served by presenting only one side of the story, then that is what they do. Like the Repugs, they seem to believe that if they ignore the Dems they'll go away.

[NoodleyAppendage]

33. I know there's media bias, but I don't think it is insurmountable.

Call me an optimist, but I think with a media savvy guru the Dems could really make some headway in circumventing the Repuke, corporate media machine. I think the key is to realize that controversy "sells" and that packaged sound bites are key. Corporations favor the Repukes in the media because they make them money. If Dems were smart, we could pull some stunts to make media money while simultaneously getting out our message.

JB

[mtnsnake]

34. Well, since you asked, I guess "DEM LEADERSHIP" lies with Hillary on

this one. I posted about what she and Senator Menendez are doing about it this morning. Since so few people on this forum like to discuss her in any positive light, I thought I'd bring the subject up today, even though she made her press release about the legislation 3 days ago.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2470856

[NoodleyAppendage]

40. I applaud her efforts...she needs a press conference not a press release

Schumer is the only Dem that I have seen on video address the issue in public. Hillary's efforts are noted as an afterthought in the MSM...in part because there's no video snippet to attribute to her.

JB

[mtnsnake]

49. I wouldn't say they're noted as an afterthought, but we do need more

of our spokespeople standing up and getting their voices heard in the media. I agree about that. At least Hillary has gotten their attention on this very important issue with the legislation she's co-sponsering. Now the others should step up, hopefully, and express their own dissent about this ports thing.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

44. Is it just me, or does it seem like the neocons are playing a game

called, "Let's see how much they will let us get away with?"

Every week they push the envelope one more inch with tactics that shock and amaze the country, but not enough to cause the congress and the press and the people to unite and bring the hammer down on them. Is this game designed to numb our senses, to get us to accept by increments the unacceptable? Are we being desensitized into accepting another war, Iran being the obvious guess, or is there a bigger surprise coming on the horizon?

[Avalux]

45. They know they can't be stopped.

Of course they're continuing with they're plan - they own every branch of government. Our Democratic leaders can't stop them, we can't stop them. The Constitution and our laws have been rendered useless.

[NoodleyAppendage]

46. The death of democracy comes in drips and drabs...not a flood.

Just like a frog in a pot of water on slow boil, our country is dying in increments and without too much fuss.

JB

[NoodleyAppendage]

47. CNN with Leslie at 7pm will have coverage of issue.

JB

[otohara]

48. Somebody Need to Run Commercials

like the DNC -

The MSM isn't covering this much -

[mtnsnake]

50. Here's the kind of commercial we need

It's by Americans United for Change and I saw it a few times a couple weeks ago. It's the best anti-Bush TV commercial I've seen.

http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/#