The laughable 2006 election. Where the Democratic Party shows real spine . . . in creating the new Joe Lieberman.
There are a lot of contenders for the hybrid donkaphant, the center rider. For our money, the most obvious choice is Harold Ford Jr. who has the best attack machine and a zillion spinners to support him.
One of the most laughable moments (a tough call, we know) in this election cycle may have been when the spin was Harold Ford Jr., an African-American male, was being Willie Hortoned!
He wasn't and you have to wonder if all the oxygen left the brains when that ridiculous claim was being made.
The Zucker effect is being felt in G.O.P. commercials. (Lefties, discard your Airplane! DVDs immediately.) That was most obvious in the commercial about Harold Ford Jr.
In the commercial, various claims are made and they all have a tiny basis in the truth. That is the face of future Republican commercials, so people might want to familiarize themselves with the ad. Harold Ford Jr. did return a contribution coming from the porn industry. That wasn't noted in the attack ad. It wasn't 'accuracy' in advertising. It wasn't a racial stereotype either, though some rushed to tell you it was.
Willie Horton was the specter that hung over the 1988 race. The machine behind Poppy Bush used Horton, a convicted rapist, to scare voters. The Black Rapist.
In the advertisement against Ford, a woman is shown, White and blond, who says she met Ford at a Playboy party and after her brief moments of ditziness, she emerges at the end to make a phone with her hand and say, "Call me."
OMG! as the net set would say.
It's racism, why it's racism, that's what it is! It's a stereotype! It's Willie Horton! It's unmentionable!
It's really none of the above except a stereotype. There's nothing in the ad to indicate Ford would rape any woman. The stereotype is the blond, White ditz who is a stereotype of all Playmates. (Renee Tyson not withstanding, the image is still of a White woman, blond, as the "Bunny.")
Who was the one offended by this ad and why? Factions of the left and 'left' hollered "Willie Horton!" and excuse the f--k out of us, but since when is a consentual relationship between two people of different races rape?
Or is it such an insult to our supposed lefty and 'lefty' voices that an interracial relationship might occur?
After the Superbowl, Harold Ford Jr. did go to a Playmate party (not at the Playboy mansion -- proving that there are higher standards for character at Hef's than in the Democratic party). The confusion seems to stem from what one's understanding of 'party with Playmates' is -- apparently a trickery question than what the definition of "is" is.
[For a discussion of the actual racism in the ad, see Jeff Birkenstein's article at CounterPunch.]
"I like football, and I like girls." A thirty-six-year-old man in politics needs a bit better explanation than that but how nice of the 'left' and left to turn an ad commenting on his boorish behavior into 'racism.' It was probably racism as well, right, when in November 2005 he show boated by screaming, on the floor of Congress, at the hideous Republican Jean Schmidt?
No, it was evidence of his disdain, the same disdain that prompted then vice-president (and ultimate wimp) Poppy Bush to brag, in 1984, about kicking "a little butt." Schmidt hadn't commented on Ford. His explosive behavior (widely and wrongly applauded as "spine") struck some as nothing more than another bully boy bound and determined to decide when and how a woman speaks. Schmidt wasn't attacking him, she wasn't even talking about him. She was insulting Jack Murtha whom, last time we checked, could defend himself. But Ford knew damn well he needed to do something quick if he's ever going to be a Democratic vice-presidential nominee and the 'right' thing to do was to humiliate Schmidt and himself with some of the ugliest behavior the House has ever seen (which is really saying something).
If no "thank you" was said by Junior when Daddy's safe House seat was passed on consider it no surprise because manners don't appear to have been passed down. There's really something sad about the Juniors, Harry and Bobby, who couldn't make their own lives and chase pathetically after their father's career. (Well, Harry Jr. couldn't pass the bar, could he?) The Junior phenomenon really ought to be studied, the dynamics that enter into an equation where a grown man decides to imprint his own name on a son and the little boy, always a boy, who runs through life tagged little Junior.
Suffering some form of emotional sacrs hasn't confused Harry about where he stands. On the right side of the center line, Yes Sir!
He's an abotion opponent (he opposed late term abortions and has self-described as pro-life), he's an enemy to gays (opposing both legalized marriage and benefits). He's also the victim of a man crush that, should he win office, should allow for some major lip-locking with the Bully Boy whom he's stated he loves. He's also another War Hawk who never served (in peacetime or in combat) and thinks, golly, Democrats need to be supporting this war.
He got really insulted, when, at 32, he decided he and not Nancy Pelosi should be in the leadership post for House Democrats. (Tell us, Junior, was it again the issue of gender? If she put on a Bunny suit and agreed not to say anything you didn't like, would you have agreed not to oppose her?) During that failed attempt he was called "high yellow." Betty wanted it made clear that, in Georgia, Harold Ford Jr. would never be called "high yellow." He would be called "Lemon."
Hope that clears it up for Junior.
Thomas-Friedman-in-waiting, Jack E. White was drooling all over the right-leaning centerist in Time magazine ("Harold Ford Jr. Reaches For the Stars" is the laughable title of this Teen Beat piece from 2002 -- no link, we don't link to trash). Foaming at the mouth and squirting in the front of his shorts, Jack E. penned the following, "What truly distinguishes Ford and his fellow Generation X black politicians from their forebears in Congress and elsewhere is not simply their willingness to take moderate or even conservative stands on issues such as school vouchers or capital gains taxes. Rather, it's the realism of their aspirations for winning higher offices that older black politicians could only dream of. " Silly Jack E., sell outs have always known they could benefit by playing the token to hide behind. There's nothing "Gen X" about that unless Jack E.'s trying to claim that Uncle Tom was Gen X.
If any of the above info shocks you, don't blame us. Blame your independent media which wants to sidestep the issue and your 'liberal' blogs. The same energy they expanded into creating an opponent for Joe Lieberman was used to defend this right-winger and advance his shot at Congress. "The Torture Election"? Tortured in the sense that logic and common sense went out the window. Whether Lamont takes out Lieberman on Tuesday or not matters very little when there are a whole host of Baby Lieberman's to take his place.
If it's not bad enough that he repeatedly exhibits boorish, if not sexist, behaivor (he was in Congress when he decided to attend the Playboy party), if it's not awful enough that he's a War Hawk, if the fact that he pushes the right wing lie of a 'death tax' hurting millions, how about the fact that he's stupid?
Speaking on October 27th, the 'brain' decided to discuss the dangers of nukes and listed off countries that were a threat including Australia. Australia is one of the few countries remaining in Bully Boy's so-called coaliton of the willing; if John Howard (prime minister of Australia) isn't kissing Bully Boy's ass at any given moment, it's only because Tony Blair beat him to it; and, here's the kicker, Australia has no interest in aquiring nuclear weapons.
That's the reality of Harry Junior. The reality of the commercial? It's gotten loads of attention (played in full on one program that then attempted to dissect it). But the G.O.P. has a habit of test-marketing during off-year-elections. Point? Expect to see a lot of more of it because they've learned that they can have their cake and eat it too. They could, and did, disown the commercial but the attention only increased and it has a life of it's own now. Expect to see similar ads in 2008.
[Cedric and Wally, who participated in the writing of the piece have both endorsed Green Party candidate CHRIS LUGO in this race. Due to the fact that both were involved in getting out the vote for the Democratic Party, we'd held off on writing this feature. Last weekend, Betty told them if they were going to make us wait here on addressing it, she would address at Kat's site where she is currently filling in on Mondays. At that point, they agreed that something needed to be written and not just noted -- as it has been here before.]