"Teh true leader" to indoctrinate your children?

[the_leander]

I have to say when I read some of the fallout of this online I was both shocked and disappointed that this crap is still ongoing.

Even as an outsider these "spontaneous" grass roots campaigns are clearly being orchestrated by arms of the Republican party. Every move Obama makes and now every speech it seems, is quickly followed by "ZOMG HES GONNA EAT OUR CHILDREN!!!!" or some such bollocks. Which in turn spawns its own movement.

I don't have a huge amount of time for Obama after his refusal to stop the illegal military tribunals being held at Guantanamo.

The speech itself wasn't a bad one and certainly in line with previous presidents. The optional writing assignments are a red herring - I really cannot see how tens of thousands of kids writing "Dear Mister president, my daddy says his job is at risk, can you fix it?" and similar is indoctrination. If anything, getting folks to write to their elected representatives is a decidedly good habit to get into.

I must admit I've never seen such underhanded smear tactics used before, at least not on such a large and prolonged scale. It's kind of saddening that it's come to this.

I'd like to say it's better in the UK, and perhaps it is, but only because New Labour haven't the resources available to them to pull off this kind campaign.

 

[ltstanfo]

I must admit I've never seen such underhanded smear tactics used before, at least not on such a large and prolonged scale. It's kind of saddening that it's come to this.

I'd like to say it's better in the UK, and perhaps it is, but only because New Labour haven't the resources available to them to pull off this kind campaign.

Welcome to (US) national politics Alan. As for the UK being better, I'd imagine that others here might have a thing or two to say. Perhaps New Labour isn't doing this sort of thing but there are certainly enough UK scandals to keep the likes of BBC and other media outlets busy.

As far as I can see, these sort of debates will continue until both sides can reach agreement and there in lies the problem. Neither side wants to play with the other (IMO).

Regards,
Ltstanfo

 

[faethor]

Neither side wants to play with the other (IMO).

The Healthcare companies a few years ago were spending about $1.5M/day on lobbying efforts. One can only imagine this has increased. Pulling the cash cow is difficult no matter your constituents opinion.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

As for Rush, say what you will but I don't see him as being marginalized within the Republican party.

I think the intent was not to marginalize him within the party but to push the party to embrace/defend him and thus identify the GOP with Rush's marginal demographic.

 

[ltstanfo]

As for Rush, say what you will but I don't see him as being marginalized within the Republican party.

I think the intent was not to marginalize him within the party but to push the party to embrace/defend him and thus identify the GOP with Rush's marginal demographic.

That's an interesting thought. I actually see that as somewhat benificial to Republicans (on the whole) as the so called "leaders" of the party are currently about as "wishy-washy" as they can be. Whether they agree with Limbaugh or not, they should pick and opinion and stick to it but they don't. What I do find interesting is that Rush's "demographic" seems to be gaining momentum, clearly something that those who sought to marginalize him, did not anticipate (IMO).

Regards,
Ltstanfo

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

What I do find interesting is that Rush's "demographic" seems to be gaining momentum, clearly something that those who sought to marginalize him, did not anticipate (IMO).

Maybe according to Rush
He had a blip right at the start of April but interest pretty much fell back to it's old level within a couple of weeks. It seems that the increase was mostly looky-loos and rubberneckers of the same sort that show up to gawk at accidents. After seeing that there was nothing to see they went away.

It is possible that the Dems may have been worried that they were giving him free publicity, but it turns out they didn't give him any audience.

Interestingly Arbitron has recently started to deploy new technology to track listening and it seems that, at least in some markets, the change in measurement has lead to a large drop in share for Rush. Maybe he doesn't really have that many listeners - more loyalists who like to write that they listened to him in their Arbitron diaries but didn't actually listen.

He still dominates in the over 65 segment. Those people do have time and influence but they can't really be considered the future. The kids don't seem to be tuning in.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Check out THIS lovely bit of in-school indoctrination, why doncha:

Mr Rudy "9/11" Giuliani fully supports it of course.

One of the main goals is to help students entering middle and high school, who may been too young to have strong memories of the attacks, to develop a tangible connection to what happened.

Yup. Teaching kids who weren't around at the time why it's OK to kill brown foreigners today.

"In a few years, we will be teaching students who were not even alive at the time of the attacks," said Anthony Gardner, the executive director of the Sept. 11 Education Trust.

And making sure they don't question the official version too.

It's put out by the Taft Institute which was started with heavy funding from the Rockefellers and still receives grants from Rockefeller funds - so perhaps how you feel about Taft and it's brand of indoctrination depends upon what you think of the Rockefeller agenda and your agreement with the Council on Foreign Relations.

"The real trick is to get kids to see that it's not just a dramatic event like 9/11 that connects them to these issues, it's connected to their lives in the everyday, said Michael A. Krasner

Yup. That's the real trick. Stuff like always striving to do your best, to see how you can improve your life and the life of your community by your hard work and commitment - that's just "indoctrination" - but understanding why we have to attack people who live far away - that's the real trick.

 

[Robert]

@Fluffy:

Yup. That's the real trick. Stuff like always striving to do your best, to see how you can improve your life and the life of your community by your hard work and commitment - that's just "indoctrination" - but understanding why we have to attack people who live far away - that's the real trick.

Now that kind of thing is something worth discussing.