"We can sit in here put our heads between our legs & die or we can go out there and kick some ass"

[wndycty]

That is the speech my high school football coach gave us at halftime of the first game of our season my senior year. We were losing at half, ran out won the game and didn't lose until 11 weeks later in the state semifinals in double overtime. That was 25 years ago, 1985.*

That is how I feel about Democrats right now. There appears to be so much gloom and doom about our chances in November and it seems that rather than doing what we can do to win and keeping our majorities many of us would just give up.

We can't give up, we must not give up. We have to fight and fight hard to keep control of both the House and Senate.

Who knows what will happen in November, but regardless I want to have the confidence that I did everything I could to help the team and I encourage others to do the same.


*I will apologize in advance for what I think will be a few references to my high school playing days in the near future, but a learned a lot about life, success and teamwork on the football field. I attribute a lot of my success to lessons learned from coaches, especially my football coaches.

[lonestarnot]

1. K & R and I hate professional sports!

[indepat]

15. How else can macho guys earn enough to afford a 2 1/2 carat diamond for each earring?

:shrug:

[msongs]

2. after 19 months of NOT kicking ass it might be worth a try - the hail mary play nt

[KakistocracyHater]

46. or the Heidi move

*

[Tippy]

3. K&R......Giving up is not an option at least not for me....

My daddy taught me early on those who give up easily, will hardly ever become winners. Winners never give up they only work harder'

[vi5]

4. That would be a great analogy, assuming...

...that the leaders and the key players on your football team at their top dollar best and most motivated insisted on sitting on the sidelines for fear of getting hurt and saying "Well we can't do too much because look that other team is REALLY BIG!", and at their worst and least motivated insisted on actually trying to score touchdowns for the other team. And then got pissed at the coach because he yelled at them.

Honestly is that the kind of team that you'd feel compelled to bust your OWN ass for and stick your own neck out for?

[still_one]

5. The doom and gloom is there because that is what the polls have been reflected

DU ISN'T the problem, the problem is that the Democrats in Congress, and for the most part the administration do not know how to fight

Just compare the republicans constant attacks, and the timid or lack of response to those attacks by the Democrats. Not only do the Democrats not defend themselves, for the most part they don't even defend what they have done. In fact, many in Congress run away from the HCR and Financial reform.

Forget for a moment whether we think those actions were good, bad, or not far enough, you would think those running for office in November would at least be able to spin it. For the most part they are not even defending it, and that is the problem, the party as a whole is not united.

[vi5]

9. I have no problem fighting for those who can't....

..fight for themselves.

I have a big problem fighting for people that have every means and every opportunity to fight for themselves but chose not to and then complain to others with lesser means and fewer opportunities that they should fight for them.

[still_one]

13. All good, but as I said below, as long as the Democrats allow the repukes to define them

we will have problems, and that is probably the biggest issue we have. It was the issue Gore and Kerry had, and I thought we overcame that during the 2008 campaign, when no charge was left unanswered, and was responded to in a clear straight forward manner

Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case. The talking points you hear mostly are the repugs talking points, where are the Democrats to refute that, or even provide the talking points?

It isn't just the media either. When Gore was called "boring", or jokes hurled at him that he "invented the internet", he pretty much ignored them. The fact is it was legislation that Gore introduced which made the internet a reality. The same thing occurred with Kerry when they misrepresented his Viet Nam service. In the beginning he ignored, a very big mistake. In the race for Kennedy's seat, Cloakly took the "victory" for granted, and was lazy during the campaigning

You would think we would have learned by now

[Billy Burnett]

6. Fight Club?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxYikbiB0nY&feature=player_embedded#t=29

[butterfly77]

Al pacino any given SUNDAY..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rFx6OFooCs

[wndycty]

34. Thanks for that. . .

. . .its an awesome speech. . .and its so true.

[kentuck]

7. Obama needs to be that coach...

He can do it.

[TBF]

10. Actually I think Obama needs to listen to the pep talk from that coach -

it would be much more useful than listening to his current advisors.

[kentuck]

12. I think his current advisers, most of them, are a big part of the problem..

He needs to hear more opposing viewpoints. He is not being served well.

[wndycty]

29. You can blame his advisor all you want but what are you doing to win?

Anytime a team loses, anyone who blames someone else for the lose most likely hasn't done their part, especially if they are pointing fingers before the game is even over.

[ldf]

31. team? what team?

we are nothing more than the waterboy. or the player that is never allowed to play except when there is no hope of winning, or losing.

and then it is merely token.

i think a better analogy would be whores (us) who's pimps (dlc) have formed a union and decided to reduce expenses. not only will we take what we can get, and be happy for it, we will take it for less.

afterall, where else can we go?

[wndycty]

33. Another one to leave off the team bus. . .

. . .we will talk to you after the game is over.

[ldf]

36. and i will be eager to hear

how wonderful it is after you have won absolutely nothing.

please remember to update me.

[wndycty]

37. Typical sports fan, talk a lot of shit but don't have the talent, courage or heart to suit up

There is a reason why sit on the sidelines always unhappy.

:kick:

[Radical Activist]

18. No. We don't need authoritarians looking for coaches.

We need a movement that acts on its own without expecting everything to be directed by a leader at the top.

[still_one]

8. As long as the Democrats allow the repukes to define them, we will not do well in November /nt

[rug]

11. But we can't move the ball unless we're on the 60 yard line.

[pscot]

14. I just emailed my congressman

to ask about getting a yard sign. That's just a start. He may not be a perfect Democrat, but the teabagging cement head the Repukes have put up would be infinitely worse. It's time to man up. We need to quit moaning and get off our asses. We're in a fight and we better start acting as if we know it.

[NJmaverick]

16. K & R

[gophates]

17. Obama and the leaders need to do their part.

But we need to do ours, too. And that means from the personal level up. Do not accept even the slightest hint of teabaggery. Zero tolerance is typically bullcrap, but not in dealing with Pukes.

[wndycty]

19. When you are on a winning team you don't point fingers. . .

. . .you worry about yourself and worry about how you can support your team. You don't point fingers. When you are worry about what your teammate isn't doing you usually neglect your responsibility. Let the coach worry about that.

[griffi94]

26. yeah this isn't a football team

this is high unemployment a wrecked economy a half assed HCR a half assed finance reform bill and a deficit commission that was hand picked by the president and who seem to have it in for social security and veterans benifits add to that the record number of foreclosures and the bank bailouts. but at least the bankers areseeing high profits and and higher bonuses.

sorry but i don't consider this to be a team sport. it's sad that so many people do imho that's why we get crappy leadership because we accept it and keep on working for the team anyway.

[wndycty]

28. Thats too bad, if were a football team we'd know that when it comes to facing your opponent

You put the the team's internal differences aside. Any good team, with folks who want to win has a bunch of tension, but a good coach and players who understand what it means to be part of a team knows how to work together when it comes to game time.

You can give me all sorts of excuses about what is wrong with Dems, but now that its election time you have two fucking choices: come together and when the god damned game or lose it by thinking the real enemy is on your fucking team.

What is going to be?

[griffi94]

30. yeah it is too bad

but for all the teamwork and let's go big team talk on this thread it doesn't change the fact that
this isn't a team sport. you want to talk about all the finer points of teamwork and if that were the reality it would be great but it's not.

you want a football analogy go watch the last 10 minutes of north dallas forty.

"we're not the team, they're the team. we're the equipment".

[wndycty]

32. lol

Keep digging for reasons not to come together.

So I guess you won't be jumping on the team bus, let me know because if you are not we can tell the driver to leave you behind. We don't anyone on our team who doesn't want to be a part of the team.

[griffi94]

35. i've already been told i wasn't on the team

i was also called a retard and it was suggested that i needed to be drug tested.

but now my money and my vote are needed and i should forgive not just the policies that i thought wre wrong but the personal insults that i got when i said i thought they were wrong.

you were a jock in high school who played on a team that went pretty deep in the finals, good for you.

this isn't football and it isn't high school. those examples i posted about the failure of leadership represent actual people. people who have lost everything. their jobs their homes their money their futures. they desperately needed help and believed when they gave the democrats both chambers of congress and the whitehouse that help was on the way.

imo it's going to take more than a halftime pep talk to get them to follow the democrats again this soon after the let down.

[wndycty]

38. Well if being told you aren't good enough to be on the team is enough to keep you off. . .

. . .the team we don't need you, real winners play despite the challenge.

They prove themselves when everyone else doubts them, they fight for their spot on the team regardless of the obstacle.

Those that pack up and stay home? We don't need them.

[griffi94]

39. good luck then

[KakistocracyHater]

47. you mean when the Dems were literally locked out of the House Chambers

or Senate, & they did not break down the doors so they could vget in & vote? So THAT'S your team, huh? Jock:eyes: not you Griff

[hulka38]

20. What school? Were you in the Chicago area?

[wndycty]

21. Rich East

Bob (not Vince) Lombardi was the coach. . .the game was against Bremen.

[hulka38]

23. Were you guys 4A or 5A?

I went to Glenbard West at that time and we had some good teams too. Kendall Gill Rich East?

[wndycty]

25. 5A lost to Forest View (Arlington Heights) that year in the semis

Kendall went to Rich Central, we went to junior high together.

[LWolf]

22. Line up Duncan and Obama and I will be there with bells on

to kick some neoliberal ass.

[wndycty]

27. We don't need to be kicking each others asses between no and November. . .

. . .we need to be kicking Republicans asses.

[LWolf]

41. "Each other."

Duncan and Obama have taken themselves out of my "we."

[Capn Sunshine]

24. Polling fallacies

Remember, polls do the following: They call land lines and ask questions of those who answer.

How many of us even HAVE a land line, let alone one we answer?
Do you think it's remotely possible asking questions of those who answer land lines would skew republican?

[wndycty]

40. I hope so but now is the time to take to the streets

:kick:

[pstokely]

48. Younger voters probably only have cell phones

but they probably won't vote. Therefore people with landlines are likely voters since they are probably older.

[david13]

42. Last time I went out to kick some ass I got my ass kicked. I'm not leaving

the house, thank you very much.
dc

[sabrina 1]

43. But what if the coach had not been on your side?

What if he had been helping the other team stay in the game?

The reason the Democrats are having problems right now has little to do with the voters. It has to do with them not fighting for the people who elected them. And why should the people elect them, throw out Republicans because we didn't like their ideas, only to have Dems after they win, bring Republicans back into powerful positions.

It takes more than a motivating coach to get the team going, it takes knowing that when you win, the coach won't give away the trophy behind your back.

[Skittles]

44. OR

THEY could start acting like DEMOCRATS - *THAT* would help

[Scurrilous]

45. K & R

:thumbsup:

[GeorgeGist]

49. Tell it to your players.