By Rick Morris
It's commonly accepted that the Democratic battle for president is the messiest since 1980, if not 1968 (and folks, we're headed for some Days of Rage out in Denver if Obama gets this nomination ripped from him). Everyone attributes two factors for this state of affairs:
1. The volatility of the usual Democratic obsession with identity politics being mixed with the certainty that either the first black or first woman candidate will be nominated.
2. The unparalleled ambition and ruthlessness of the Clintons.
But everyone's forgetting the vital third element in the equation, and this amnesia is surprising because it related directly to the rage Democrats have felt against George W. Bush since his first national campaign:
3. The legacy of the tactics deployed by Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election -- or rather, his refusal to accept the outcome of the 2000 election.
You remember the conduct of Sore-Loserman in the aftermath of the vote, don't you? The transformation of infantile drivel such as "the will of the people" becoming the official mantra of the Democrat party?
[Side note, Dick Nixon legitimately had the 1960 election stolen from him by crooks manipulating the "graveyard vote" in Illinois and Texas. Four decades later, Gore lost primarily because some of his core voters were illiterates who couldn't understand a simple butterfly ballot. Nixon refused to contest the election and conceded so our country wouldn't be divided at a time of peril in the Cold War. Regardless of what voters intended in their hearts, Gore lost the election by losing Florida and yet divided our country with relish at a vulnerable time when his president had spent eight years not facing up to the terrorist threat plaguing our nation. And yet it's Gore who gets made into a secular saint by the simpletons who comprise the ranks of "opinion leaders" in the U.S.A.]
Gore ran around the country trumpeting the fact that he won the popular vote, which is Constitutionally irrelevant under our system of government. Democrats demagogued the Electoral College, pronouncing it an anachronism when it suited their purposes. One of the chief phonies at the time was Hillary Clinton, who pronounced it undemocratic and who is now being blocked from the nomination by other phonies who pronounce her efforts undemocratic. Yes, there is a God and He has a sense of Karmic humor!
Gore picked a fight in a game of chicken he knew he could not possibly win, for it was certain that even if the U.S. Supreme Court backed the partisan hacks on the Florida Supreme Court and allowed the little old ladies with hatpins surreptitiously poking holes in the chads to steal the election that the House of Representatives would vote to recognize the legal Katherine Harris slate of electors. So he had no chance -- not immediately that is, as the clear endgame was to bloody up Bush for a rematch four years later and that scenario would have played out had Gore not chickened out when Bush was still in his post-9/11 popularity phase.
By posing as if they were the only ones concerned with "counting all the votes," Democrats ended up creating an extra standard in all elections. Now, even though the rules don't give Barack Obama any edge whatsoever because of it, he can claim a Divine Mandate because he's ahead in the popular vote and elected delegate count. Hillary has to augment her logical argument with "the rules say nothing about those factors" with more of her patented say-anything drivel like "caucuses are undemocratic."
By working so hard to delegitimize the winner of the 2000 presidential election (and I pronounce Bush the rightful winner of the election despite the fact that I did not vote for him, but rather, Patrick J. Buchanan), Democrats created a set of circumstances where tactics unexceptional by historical standards would call for the language of delegitimization to be invoked. The bitter fruit they are now choking on can best be called their just desserts.
Showing posts with label Al Gore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Al Gore. Show all posts
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
It's America's loss, not Fred's
By Rick Morris
Fair warning: Bitterness Alert!
Every four years, you always hear people whining about the choice for president. "I can't believe it's Bush and Kerry. Can't we do better than that?" Four years before that, people were appalled by the choice between Bush and Gore. And on and on it goes.
Almost invariably, though, this country generally has at least a decent chance to do better, but rejects it in favor of a flashier or better-funded empty suit. The USA blew it again today when Fred Thompson dropped out of the race. Hence, history will repeat itself later this year when people are crying about the pathetic choice foisted upon this nation by the Democrats and Republicans.
Fred had it all: he possessed common-sense ideas that have been validated over the decades, he took on volatile issues like entitlement reform, he was a solid communicator and he treated the American public with decency and respect and had the courage to ask the same in return. This country, and in particular the Republican Party and the conservative movement, chose instead to their everlasting shame to continue their pattern (broken only by Reagan) of foisting crappy mediocrities on this land of ours.
Some of my friends who are Republican insiders, including some members of The FDH Lounge family, believe in the "Jim Rome Scoreboard Theory of Politics." That is, if you're the last man standing, that you're the best man because you proved your worth by going through the gauntlet. Scoreboard!
I couldn't disagree more.
Fred Thompson was the best man and it is only a broken system that kept him from being able to break through the glass ceiling put on him by the jerks in the media and the political class. His failure is an INDICTMENT of our political system. This is one reason that, although I don't like it, I'm not as consumed with hatred for McCain-Feingold as my aforementioned friends. Granted, the law is unconstitutional and was a bad idea. But unlike my friends, I refuse to glorify the present system and pretend there's nothing wrong with it. Winning a nomination by being the best at conspiring in smoke-filled rooms with party puppet-masters is the proven way to get ahead -- as the nominations of both political parties have shown over the past few decades. But it is nothing for our country to be proud of, as it is evidence that our democracy is broken. Now before any of my friends get the urge to go more-conservative-than-thou on me for appropriating the language of The Nation magazine for my critique, let me remind them that our Founding Fathers, whom we on the right respect greatly, did not intend for the pursuit of our nation's highest office to be just another game of casino capitalism.
Political pundits are now wondering where the Thompson support will end up now. As for me, I am disregarding early indications that Thompson will not make an endorsement and I anticipate that he will endorse John McCain -- and, given the prominent right-wingers (i.e. Gramm/Kemp/Coburn) who have recently surrounded McCain and figure to serve as his braintrust if elected president, I will probably give McCain my reluctant support as well.
I do want to beg any of my fellow Fred supporters, who have by definition been smart enough not to get hoodwinked by Say-Anything Mittens (rumor has it he's going around saying he's the only person who can get Axl Rose to release the Chinese Democracy album!) not to give into this vile fraud of a campaign at this late hour. Not only are Romney's convictions demonstrably only an inch deep, the rotten Romney campaign should pay a price for the whisper campaign waged about Fred's viability from Day One -- with the low point being the cancer-mongering put forth by one of their chief mouthpieces. This nation today suffered the loss of its best candidate for president -- let's not compound the error by awarding the GOP nomination to a denizen of the political gutter.
Fair warning: Bitterness Alert!
Every four years, you always hear people whining about the choice for president. "I can't believe it's Bush and Kerry. Can't we do better than that?" Four years before that, people were appalled by the choice between Bush and Gore. And on and on it goes.
Almost invariably, though, this country generally has at least a decent chance to do better, but rejects it in favor of a flashier or better-funded empty suit. The USA blew it again today when Fred Thompson dropped out of the race. Hence, history will repeat itself later this year when people are crying about the pathetic choice foisted upon this nation by the Democrats and Republicans.
Fred had it all: he possessed common-sense ideas that have been validated over the decades, he took on volatile issues like entitlement reform, he was a solid communicator and he treated the American public with decency and respect and had the courage to ask the same in return. This country, and in particular the Republican Party and the conservative movement, chose instead to their everlasting shame to continue their pattern (broken only by Reagan) of foisting crappy mediocrities on this land of ours.
Some of my friends who are Republican insiders, including some members of The FDH Lounge family, believe in the "Jim Rome Scoreboard Theory of Politics." That is, if you're the last man standing, that you're the best man because you proved your worth by going through the gauntlet. Scoreboard!
I couldn't disagree more.
Fred Thompson was the best man and it is only a broken system that kept him from being able to break through the glass ceiling put on him by the jerks in the media and the political class. His failure is an INDICTMENT of our political system. This is one reason that, although I don't like it, I'm not as consumed with hatred for McCain-Feingold as my aforementioned friends. Granted, the law is unconstitutional and was a bad idea. But unlike my friends, I refuse to glorify the present system and pretend there's nothing wrong with it. Winning a nomination by being the best at conspiring in smoke-filled rooms with party puppet-masters is the proven way to get ahead -- as the nominations of both political parties have shown over the past few decades. But it is nothing for our country to be proud of, as it is evidence that our democracy is broken. Now before any of my friends get the urge to go more-conservative-than-thou on me for appropriating the language of The Nation magazine for my critique, let me remind them that our Founding Fathers, whom we on the right respect greatly, did not intend for the pursuit of our nation's highest office to be just another game of casino capitalism.
Political pundits are now wondering where the Thompson support will end up now. As for me, I am disregarding early indications that Thompson will not make an endorsement and I anticipate that he will endorse John McCain -- and, given the prominent right-wingers (i.e. Gramm/Kemp/Coburn) who have recently surrounded McCain and figure to serve as his braintrust if elected president, I will probably give McCain my reluctant support as well.
I do want to beg any of my fellow Fred supporters, who have by definition been smart enough not to get hoodwinked by Say-Anything Mittens (rumor has it he's going around saying he's the only person who can get Axl Rose to release the Chinese Democracy album!) not to give into this vile fraud of a campaign at this late hour. Not only are Romney's convictions demonstrably only an inch deep, the rotten Romney campaign should pay a price for the whisper campaign waged about Fred's viability from Day One -- with the low point being the cancer-mongering put forth by one of their chief mouthpieces. This nation today suffered the loss of its best candidate for president -- let's not compound the error by awarding the GOP nomination to a denizen of the political gutter.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
A viable 200 mpg car -- coming your way soon
By Rick Morris
On National Public Radio's Friday science show, the panel featured a young woman with an extraordinary story to tell. Her name is Anna Jaffe and she is a student at MIT who is part of a group called the Vehicle Design Summit. This consortium is a gathering of top students, professors and other experts in various engineering fields and they are endeavoring to feasibly build in the next few years a workable 200 mpg car that would revolutionize the automobile industry.
Anyone who knows me might find it somewhat odd that I would promote this project. I am not known as a huge environmentalist, as I am not a fan of what I consider to be some dubious science and scaremongering from the likes of Al Gore. I do acknowledge that there are credible threats to the Earth's environment (i.e. industrial pollution, which I think is a commonly accepted fact), but I may differ with many "green" people on what they may be and how they should be addressed. So my biggest impediment to endorsing environmentally-minded actions is the fact that they almost always act against the workings of the free markets and lead to "solutions" that further burden businesses and put people out of work.
But not this project.
Rather than whine about the environment, rather than petition the government for higher CAFE standards, these people are doing something about it -- indeed, if they succeed, the current debate in Congress about CAFE standards will be completely obsolete. These folks are not gnashing their teeth about the futility of persuading people and governments to adopt a set of environmental restrictions; they are eagerly grasping the shockingly bold goal of emulating the space race and completing a project that appears impossible from the outside perspective. In short, they are embracing the markets, demonstrating a profound confidence in their own skills and displaying the kind of entrepreneurial skills that have always made the world go round.
I was very impressed with the summation Anna was able to provide during the NPR roundtable and I also thought very highly of their website. We urge you to check it out as we certainly wish the Vehicle Design Summit all the best and we will be endeavoring to book Anna or another representative of their choosing to appear on The FDH Lounge program to explain the project to our audience.
On National Public Radio's Friday science show, the panel featured a young woman with an extraordinary story to tell. Her name is Anna Jaffe and she is a student at MIT who is part of a group called the Vehicle Design Summit. This consortium is a gathering of top students, professors and other experts in various engineering fields and they are endeavoring to feasibly build in the next few years a workable 200 mpg car that would revolutionize the automobile industry.
Anyone who knows me might find it somewhat odd that I would promote this project. I am not known as a huge environmentalist, as I am not a fan of what I consider to be some dubious science and scaremongering from the likes of Al Gore. I do acknowledge that there are credible threats to the Earth's environment (i.e. industrial pollution, which I think is a commonly accepted fact), but I may differ with many "green" people on what they may be and how they should be addressed. So my biggest impediment to endorsing environmentally-minded actions is the fact that they almost always act against the workings of the free markets and lead to "solutions" that further burden businesses and put people out of work.
But not this project.
Rather than whine about the environment, rather than petition the government for higher CAFE standards, these people are doing something about it -- indeed, if they succeed, the current debate in Congress about CAFE standards will be completely obsolete. These folks are not gnashing their teeth about the futility of persuading people and governments to adopt a set of environmental restrictions; they are eagerly grasping the shockingly bold goal of emulating the space race and completing a project that appears impossible from the outside perspective. In short, they are embracing the markets, demonstrating a profound confidence in their own skills and displaying the kind of entrepreneurial skills that have always made the world go round.
I was very impressed with the summation Anna was able to provide during the NPR roundtable and I also thought very highly of their website. We urge you to check it out as we certainly wish the Vehicle Design Summit all the best and we will be endeavoring to book Anna or another representative of their choosing to appear on The FDH Lounge program to explain the project to our audience.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Live Blogging: Comedy Central’s Last Laugh ‘07
By Samantha Jones
Last Laugh '07 started off with a pretty tasteless cartoon open that touched on the following subjects....
-Senator Larry Craig
-The iPhone
-Don Imus
-George W. Bush
-George W. Bush wiping his ass with the Bill of Rights
-Dick Cheney
-Osama Bin Laden
-The Soprano's Finale
-David Hasselhoff
The whole open centered around "what's up the president's ass". It was all just one huge gross poop joke. Now, I like poop jokes as much as the next guy, but this was just bad.
Lewis Black did a little opening bit, mostly about the president. He did talk about the disabled veterans not getting their checks, which is were you get the "I can download 13 million vagina's in a minute, but they can't get their checks" joke from the promo.
Cue first commercial break.
The online pole question, "Who is the biggest failure of 2007" was posted by Lewis Black. The choices - Britney Spears, Michael Vick, President Bush, and the Soprano's Finale. My vote? All of the above.
Dave Attell was up next. His subjects of choice were the following:
-Getting older
-Dog the Bounty Hunter saying the N-word
-Michael Vick
-Al Gore receiving the Nobel Prize
-Vanessa Hudgens nude photo
After that, he went into his usual gross stuff, talking about porn and such.
I like Dave Attell. Insomniac used to be one of my favorite shows. He did have a funny moment here and there, but nothing you'll want to quote around the water cooler. This time around, he wasn't really that funny.
Cue second commercial break.
DL Hughley was up next with.....
-How much white people love dogs
-OJ Simpson
-Barry Bonds
-Chinese imports
-the N-word
-Isiah Thomas
-the Presidential race
-Alec Baldwin
-How kids are soft and weak these days
-Teachers having sex with kids
-Star Jones having gastric bypass surgery
Holy crap did he run through a lot of material. It was hard to keep up with how fast he talked. Again...nothing that funny.
Cue third commercial break.
And now, the man I was waiting for...Lewis Black...
-Global warming
-Scooter Libby
-Alberto Gonzales
-Senator Larry Craig
-Michael Vick
-OJ Simpson
They broke up his set with the fourth commercial break.
Aaaaaaand....we're back with more Lewis Black...
-The 2008 Elections, where he said we should vote for Santa
-We need one headline on the front page of the newspaper that makes you "laugh until coffee shoots out of your nose". A headline like "Hippo eats Dwarf".
Lewis Black then dedicated the show to the men and women of the armed forces in an unusual serious moment.
Fifth commercial break...
And the biggest failure was.....George W. Bush. Big surprise.
Back from break, they had podiums set up for a question and answer session. I didn't even bother writing down the questions because most of them were stupid and the answers were not funny.
I'm very disappointed in this year's Last Laugh. Previous years have been really funny, but this year was just awkward. Dave Attell was the drunk perverted guy, D.L. Hughley was the rich black guy who thinks he's still in the hood, and Lewis Black was the angry smart guy. Lewis Black was the the only person that actually made me laugh was Lewis Black. But then again, he could read the phone book and make me laugh.
Overall, the show isn't worth watching.
See you next year!
Last Laugh '07 started off with a pretty tasteless cartoon open that touched on the following subjects....
-Senator Larry Craig
-The iPhone
-Don Imus
-George W. Bush
-George W. Bush wiping his ass with the Bill of Rights
-Dick Cheney
-Osama Bin Laden
-The Soprano's Finale
-David Hasselhoff
The whole open centered around "what's up the president's ass". It was all just one huge gross poop joke. Now, I like poop jokes as much as the next guy, but this was just bad.
Lewis Black did a little opening bit, mostly about the president. He did talk about the disabled veterans not getting their checks, which is were you get the "I can download 13 million vagina's in a minute, but they can't get their checks" joke from the promo.
Cue first commercial break.
The online pole question, "Who is the biggest failure of 2007" was posted by Lewis Black. The choices - Britney Spears, Michael Vick, President Bush, and the Soprano's Finale. My vote? All of the above.
Dave Attell was up next. His subjects of choice were the following:
-Getting older
-Dog the Bounty Hunter saying the N-word
-Michael Vick
-Al Gore receiving the Nobel Prize
-Vanessa Hudgens nude photo
After that, he went into his usual gross stuff, talking about porn and such.
I like Dave Attell. Insomniac used to be one of my favorite shows. He did have a funny moment here and there, but nothing you'll want to quote around the water cooler. This time around, he wasn't really that funny.
Cue second commercial break.
DL Hughley was up next with.....
-How much white people love dogs
-OJ Simpson
-Barry Bonds
-Chinese imports
-the N-word
-Isiah Thomas
-the Presidential race
-Alec Baldwin
-How kids are soft and weak these days
-Teachers having sex with kids
-Star Jones having gastric bypass surgery
Holy crap did he run through a lot of material. It was hard to keep up with how fast he talked. Again...nothing that funny.
Cue third commercial break.
And now, the man I was waiting for...Lewis Black...
-Global warming
-Scooter Libby
-Alberto Gonzales
-Senator Larry Craig
-Michael Vick
-OJ Simpson
They broke up his set with the fourth commercial break.
Aaaaaaand....we're back with more Lewis Black...
-The 2008 Elections, where he said we should vote for Santa
-We need one headline on the front page of the newspaper that makes you "laugh until coffee shoots out of your nose". A headline like "Hippo eats Dwarf".
Lewis Black then dedicated the show to the men and women of the armed forces in an unusual serious moment.
Fifth commercial break...
And the biggest failure was.....George W. Bush. Big surprise.
Back from break, they had podiums set up for a question and answer session. I didn't even bother writing down the questions because most of them were stupid and the answers were not funny.
I'm very disappointed in this year's Last Laugh. Previous years have been really funny, but this year was just awkward. Dave Attell was the drunk perverted guy, D.L. Hughley was the rich black guy who thinks he's still in the hood, and Lewis Black was the angry smart guy. Lewis Black was the the only person that actually made me laugh was Lewis Black. But then again, he could read the phone book and make me laugh.
Overall, the show isn't worth watching.
See you next year!
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