So sue me, I have concerns -- about Colbert's 10/30 rally --

[smalll]

So what are they calling it? The "Keep Fear Alive" rally?

Stewart's rally makes more sense so close to election day -- he's aiming to put across the moderate, rational view. "I may not agree with you, but I'm pretty sure you're not Hitler" -- which is cool.

But Colbert's rally is set up to be tongue-in-cheek "irony."

Sometimes, that kind of stuff works. I remember the "Billionaires For Bush" in 2004, which was cool, because they took their humor by dressing up as richies, and getting across the message that voting for Bush meant voting for that kind of crowd.

But what will happen at Colbert's rally is not that people will dress up as generic richies (shooting up) -- they will dress up instead as generic Tea-partiers (shooting down) -- the rally-goers, not to put too fine a point on it, will be a bunch of snot-nosed trustafarian hipsters trying to make themselves look like declasse overweight Americans with poor fashion sense and worse spelling.

But in today's economy, if the "jeunesse d'oree" (read up on your French Revolution) try to play-act as down-market non-coastal Americans, it won't come across so well.

Now, we've faced this threat before, and came through with flying colors -- I remember when Obama was set to give his Berlin speech, and I must admit, I saw the dangers, and hoped (at the time) that it would all go wrong -- (after all, at that point, Hillary still had a chance) -- I was waiting for the rally-going Berliners to show up with banners festooned with the hammer and sickle, pierced, tatted, and just generally looking either communist and/or hopelessly decadent. But they didn't. They did the equivalent of "clean for Gene" plus someone made sure they had NO signs at all (as they enforced at the Glenn Beck rally) and all they waved were little American flags. So that worked out fine.

But mark my words, unless someone sensible takes charge of Colbert's "Keep Fear Alive" rally, it will come across as a bunch of privileged hipsters snickering at real Americans. A few days before election day? That won't be a Good Thing.

:shrug:

[Sky Masterson]

1. I wouldnt worry about it

I would almost bet its just one big comedic rally not 2. And I think it will help far more than harm

[Tunkamerica]

2. you get it's the same rally right?

and that it's comedy?

[smalll]

3. Yes, I get it's a combined rally. But again, Colbert's half of it

will come across as a bunch of snot-nosed, bi-coastal, under-employed trustafarian hipsters making fun of "real Americans" and their concerns.

When we have to see Josh and Megan taking a break from American Apparel for once, and showing up instead in "ironic" teabag and Statue of Liberty outfits, there will be a wave of general sympathy for those goddamn teabaggers from the general population. Teabaggers are not well-loved. But hipsters are hated worse.

In today's economy, people will have little patience for that kind of thing.

[Tunkamerica]

4. I think you underestimate the size and scope of Colbert's audience

I'm not a hipster and if I wasn't working that weekend I'd be there.

And I doubt it'll be covered very closely anyway.

[marlakay]

7. we are 54 & 60

and if we hadn't scheduled major trip for our anniversary at same time we would have gone. We watch them every night because they are the only news that makes sense, jokes or not.

[Codeine]

57. Your average American doesn't have Clue #1 about what a hipster is or isn't.

You silly person.

[FrenchieCat]

5. Come on Smalll, you're giving yourself away!

If you think that Hillary had a chance by late July of 2008,
that's weird, cause on June 28, 2008, Hillary and Barack had held a Unity Rally, in Unity, NH.

So the fact is, what you are clearly telling us is that an entire month later, you were sitting around hoping that Barack Obama would fail at his Berlin speech. How interesting!

What that should tell anyone, is everything they need to know about your "feelings" for
Barack Obama. You actually thought that a month before the Democratic Conventions,
and a month after Hillary had already step out of the primaries, that "she still had a chance"!
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

UNITY RALLY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.....

ARTICLE ABOUT RALLY DATED JUNE 23, 2008--->http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/obamahillary_unity_rally_set_t.php

BARACK OBAMA IN BERLIN.....

ARTICLE ABOUT OBAMA'S BERLIN SPEECH DATED JULY 25, 2008---> http://www.observer.com/2008/arts-culture/obamas-berlin-speech




Smalll getting caught admitting that he was wishing failure
on Barack Obama as the designated Democratic Nominee for President
when Obama's only opposition was John McCain. ---> Priceless! :rofl:

[Jim Sagle]

6. Zzzzzzzzzz.....

:boring: Wha' hoppen? Are the primaries still going on? :shrug:

[JTFrog]

10. They've never ended for the OP.

:shrug:

[dionysus]

42. or mr sagle.

:shrug:

[babylonsister]

12. Great post, Frenchie!

:rofl:

[AtomicKitten]

16. Nice catch, FC.

:thumbsup:

[msanthrope]

20. Nice post Frenchie. n/t

[Spazito]

21. Great catch!

The bit about Obama and Berlin in the OP is very telling, indeed!

:thumbsup:

[treestar]

22. LOL

Great catch!

[HughMoran]

23. Sounds about right

:thumbsup:

[Scurrilous]

25. LOL

:thumbsup:

[azmouse]

30. Best post I've read all day!!

You nailed it! :rofl:

[Tarheel_Dem]

31. I think you might have caught one!

:rofl:

[Top Cat]

40. Great post Frenchie...

[Radical Activist]

60. It kind of makes you wonder

when the poster finally stopped hoping for Obama to fail. huh

[lamp_shade]

8. You're kidding.

[jefferson_dem]

9. You hoped Obama's Berlin speech went all wrong, huh?

Oopsie. Exposed. As expected.

[dionysus]

43. i was shocked, SHOCKED i tell you, to read that bit.

:rofl:

[JTFrog]

11. A little early in the morning to be showing your ass isn't it? n/t

[NYC_SKP]

13. Obama = Glenn Beck?

:wtf:

"...Now, we've faced this threat before, and came through with flying colors -- I remember when Obama was set to give his Berlin speech, and I must admit, I saw the dangers, and hoped (at the time) that it would all go wrong -- (after all, at that point, Hillary still had a chance) -- I was waiting for the rally-going Berliners to show up with banners festooned with the hammer and sickle, pierced, tatted, and just generally looking either communist and/or hopelessly decadent. But they didn't. They did the equivalent of "clean for Gene" plus someone made sure they had NO signs at all (as they enforced at the Glenn Beck rally) and all they waved were little American flags. So that worked out fine..."

I'm just checking here.

Just possibly, the Berlin crowd looked as they did because of who they are and how they felt about a long-awaited change in administration in America.

That's the theory I'm going with.

:donut:

[Mass]

14. Stop watching Fox. So many ridiculous things in this post it is hard to know where to start,

[lamp_shade]

15. Excellent observation. As a DUer recently posted "If I wanted your opinion I'd watch Fox news".

[Sparkly]

17. Last night, he asked people to come in costumes of things we should fear.

As for being "privileged hipsters snickering at real Americans," I say fine. What's really tiresome is feeling there's something wrong with being intelligent, being from a coast instead of "the heartland," being anything but -- well, what you described, basically ("overweight Americans with poor fashion sense and worse spelling").

We can't keep allowing "what they will say" to keep us hiding.

[CreekDog]

18. The same people will go to both rallies, give me a break!

you really think 2 rallies in the same place on the same day are attracting different crowds?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

19. Your "concerns" always come across as bullshit. This is no different. I think

you're better off keeping the fear alive about muslims.

[niceypoo]

24. I cant wait to see it

Republicans wont get it. They won't see the irony.

[southernyankeebelle]

26. Colbert will leave no doubt where he stands. He will get his position out. He can't help it if

people are stupid and think he is a conservative.

[Uzybone]

27. ahhh....thanks for your concern

[Born_A_Truman]

28. "jeunesse d'oree"

Maybe some reading up on the 2008 presidential campaign would be time better spent.

[Tarheel_Dem]

32. +1. This is definitely not going as planned. He hasn't returned to comment, and

now we know why. It's like he swallowed Fox News, and threw it up all over DU. :rofl:

[smalll]

33. Well, let me say that yes, honestly, there was still hope for Hillary at the Berlin rally date --

If it had ended up in disasterous optics, there was still time for the superdelegates to throw their votes behind her.

Also, I have no idea what Fox News is saying, as I do not have cable.

[Tarheel_Dem]

34. PWND!

:rofl:

[FrenchieCat]

36. If it ended up with disasterous Optics, like what you were wishing for?

At least the riddle is solved as to why you have consistently
been an anti-Obama poster since forever! that's for sure.

The only folks thinking Hillary had a chance by late July of 2008,
were delussional hard core PUMAs.

Because by then, Barack Obama had been the presumptive Nominee since June 4th,
and there weren't any superdelegates votes left to throw behind Hillary.....

Obama Clinches Democratic Nomination
Democratic Superdelegates Push Obama to Victory Before Final Primary Contests
June 4, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4987177&page=1

So at least when folks read your posts from this point on,
they will understand who you are, and where you're coming from.

I think I've done a public service......

[AtomicKitten]

37. I posted on this subject in August 2008.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=6621631

In this post, I have links to the Clinton campaign threatening the nuclear option and machinations to get her name on the ballot.

As Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, was preparing for the convention, others were still plotting, scheming, hoping, dreaming ...

[FrenchieCat]

38. IT appears that this plotting, scheming, hoping and dreaming

is still the MO of "some". :rofl:

[smalll]

41. Well, I think I sort of have to thank you --

Yes, up until the convention, there remained the issues of the Florida and Michigan delegations. And the superdelegates were free to vote for whomever they felt would make the best nominee, despite declarations they had made before the convention. I was far from the only person who was aware of this at the time. In the words of the Sage of Minvera, "Politics is not touch football; politics is winner-take-all. It always has been, and it always will be."

There was still a distinct possibility that unforseen cicumstances (such as a disastrous Berlin rally, etc.) could result in a different choice of nominee by the convention itself.

So I guess that's why I raised the issue in my OP -- to say, yes, some plans for major events have huge downsides available -- but that those bullets CAN be dodged -- as they were at the Berlin rally. I hope those bullets will be dodged at the 10/30 event.

[Mass]

44. You were wrong then and are wrong now.

Anybody having a basic knowledge of present time Germany would not have imagined a rally like that. The main risk was that the media try to raise the xenophobic feeling in this country. They tried and did not succeed.

The risk you describe is about as inexistent as the one you imagined then.

[smalll]

49. Berlin is a pretty hipsterish and "out there" city. The concerns were valid.

The risk this time is that the relatively young and well-heeled crowd will show up dressed up as pseudo-Teabaggers. That wouldn't look good. Some of them might take their "irony" even further and try to dress up as "socialist Muslims" or what have you (maybe some old Soviet military gear with a turban on top?)

If this happens, it will look condescending and turn off independents, and of course it will make the actual Tea-partiers that much MORE angry and "energized."

[dionysus]

46. suuure you do.

:rofl:

[FrenchieCat]

48. there remained the issues of the Florida and Michigan delegations?

Well, at least we are getting away from the "Superdelegates could throw their votes
to Hillary at any time!" stuff.

So how about those Florida/Michigan Delegates?

Democrats Approve Deal on Michigan and Florida - NYTimes.com
Jun 1, 2008
As the votes on the agreements were taken, one woman, wearing a blue “Team Hillary” shirt, shoved a man in a suit and tie wearing a small Obama button on his lapel. Another woman in a white Clinton shirt hung her head in her hands.

“That was a crime!” a man shouted.

“McCain in ’08! McCain in ’08!” a woman yelled from the back of the room. “No-bama! No-bama!”
....
The deep wounds among Democratic partisans — and the unification challenges that lie ahead — were laid bare when the committee rendered its judgment around 7 p.m. Supporters of Mrs. Clinton jeered the decision.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/us/politics/01rules.html

That's why Hillary Clinton had a "UNITY" rally with Barack Obama later in June of 2008.

Only in the minds of those who were rooting that Obama would fail on his overseas trip,
and would fail to this day, did anyone think that this shit wasn't settled as far
as Obama and Hillary were concerned by July of 2008! Why do you think she gave her Delegates
to Obama first thing during the Convention? Because she realized that with the Hard Cores,
she had to leave no room for doubt as to what team she was on, and it wasn't the PUMA team.

That must have been a big let down, when he didn't fail, hey? :shrug:

[Number23]

39. "I think I've done a public service......"

Oh girl, you most DEFINITELY have! :rofl:

And err, anyone surprised by Frenchie exposing smalll as a PUMA, please PM me. I have a bridge to sell. CHEAP! And YES I take PayPal!

[dionysus]

47. more like eating faux news and crapping out FDL pellets.

[Tarheel_Dem]

53. A very apt, and graphic depiction. Thanks for that.

:rofl:

[Monk06]

29. Lemme get this straight. Your worried about a comedian making fun of a teabagger pseudo-rally

financed by the Kocke brothers? If Colbert and Stuart
fill the Mall then they will show the baggers for the
assholes they are. Even if they don't fill the Mall
they will show the teabaggers for the assholes they are.
Why do you think the Repugs are so upset about Colbert
'testifying' before congress? Because ridicule kills
hypocrisy like Raid kills bugs.

[DevonRex]

35. No, no, no. She has "concerns."

:rofl:

[dionysus]

45. that's very concerning. i have chewed my nails to nubs worrying what the tree, er, teabaggers will

think of it.

[DevonRex]

51. Seriously the treabaggers have probably chewed themselves

into tiny toothpicks by now. Crisis mode, you know.

[dionysus]

55. eleventy. maybe they can make me some golf tees with all that gnawing and gnashing.

[MellowDem]

50. Snot-nosed trustafarian hipsters?

Wow, it's like YOU are a teabagger! :rofl:

The amount of steryotyping and bigoted comments on this site doesn't surprise me anymore.

[Tarheel_Dem]

52. I hope your "concerns" were all addressed. I know mine were.

:rofl: Hope this helps. After a serious beatdown, apply liberally.

[and-justice-for-all]

54. Colbert is on our side, stop panicing...nt

[Codeine]

56. MMMMM. Just taste all that delicious concern. nt

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

58. Yep! And I don't think it's just a coincidence that the M$M and even some Dems

are demonizing Colbert. I think there's an effort to depress the attendance; or, make Colbert into a buffoon because of the message he brings...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

59. Have you forgotten about Colbert in Iraq?

He has a big military following, and I'm pretty sure they're not hipsters. And there's plenty of military in the DC area who might just turn out for this.

I'll be there with friends -- ages 37 to 72 -- and I can assure you, none of us are trust-funders or hipsters. (Hasn't someone declared hipster bashing passé yet? It's tiresome.)

It's amazing how wrong a person can be in an OP -- and how clueless you are of Colbert's appeal. But amusing, so thanks for that.

[TexasObserver]

61. Unless you have a deep pocket, No.

The approach of the Stewart-Colbert rally is something for everyone except the right wingers.

If you're among the "come on now, get in there and vote sanity" camp, Stewart's theme is inviting.

If you're among the "why haven't Democrats done a lot more" camp, Colbert's theme is pleasing.

A lot of DUers would not be enamored of Stewart's approach, but still find the Colbert approach of taunting the right attractive.