We shouldn’t be surprised at the latest vile ad:
…we’re dealing with something in the Obama campaign that we haven’t seen much at the top of American life, except in the worst moments of the Clinton era. We’re dealing with a president who is entirely without any sense of ethics, honor or morals. He has lived a lie for most if not all of his life, hiding his true political convictions in gauzy language that makes him appear reasonable and moderate. Having lived a lie, what’s one more lie, in the service of keeping himself in power? What’s one more lie if, in Obama’s mind, it accomplishes the “good” of keeping Romney out of power?
The danger for the Obama camp is that they risk going over a tipping point. There is a point at which the negativity becomes absurd, and instead of depressing the opponent’s vote, angers the opponent’s supporters and draws the undecided over to the opponent’s side. No one can really put a finger on where that point is, but it’s real and we saw the effect of reaching that point in the Texas Senate run-off last week. The Dewhurst campaign went too far into negative territory, no one really believed their last-minute attacks, and the backlash ended up ensuring that Cruz would win running away. Obama risks the same dynamic hitting him.
I hope so. I’d like to think that there are limits to the tolerance of the American people for politicians who blatantly and obviously lie to them, but my faith in that was shaken by the Clinton administration.
[Update a few minutes later]
Obama and damage done:
What many of our youth, and foreigners, think they know about America and American history, comes from movies and TV shows. Hollywood bombards us with the viewpoint that rich evil conservative white men (RECWM) are behind all of our troubles, and those of the world. Our heroes should be the brave lawyers who sue corporations; the brave journalists who expose the nefarious plots of the RECWM conspiracy; the brave activists who stand up to the “violent” gun nuts of the Tea Party; the gutsy abortion clinic workers who live in fear of their lives; the brave public servants, e.g., cops and perky assistant district attorneys, who protect us from the RECWM who, of course, are what all of us fear to encounter when we are in a dark parking lot. We should stand in awe of people with PhDs regardless of whether what they say corresponds to the reality we see, because they know what’s good for us. They are the “experts.”
Obama has captured this movement and its view, and represents and promotes it better than anybody else in living memory. Unlike Carter, Obama is not incompetent in promoting his hatred for America’s traditional values and in embedding it into our institutions, e.g., the ruinous Obamacare, the rapid expansion of the federal dole, the insistence on apologizing for our successes, the disastrous “stimulus” spending, the glorification of the “victim” culture, promotion of envy and cynicism, and denigration of individual effort and success (“You didn’t build that!”) That is the real threat posed by what Obama represents. Overcoming that threat will take years of sustained effort. It begins, of course, with voting Obama out of the White House next November, but does not end there.
You know a president is bad when he makes you nostalgic for Jimmy Carter.
Tipping point is so far back in the rear view mirror it’s gone.
Agreed. It may be that the reality of this maladministration hasn’t fully reached most of the people of good will in America these days, but it will — there is simply no taking back what the Obamarrhoids have already unleashed.
Ken,
I agree. Lying as become a way of life for both the left AND right. And the Blogsphere has just made it worst.
No wonder most folks don’t bother to vote. The sad thing has been watching folks like Rand descend into the muck.
[rolling eyes]
No wonder most folks don’t bother to vote.
The exception is the Tea Party. They vote. And they don’t cooperate with the standard polling institutions.
Sucks to be you.
Do you ever get the impression that Matula is, off the comment board, a guy who rides around on public transportation or haunts the parks, rambling on to anyone who listens–or can’t get away–that he’s the missing Lindbergh baby or that space aliens assassinated JFK? I do.
No need for speculation — we got him on video.
OMG Titus. I don’t want to know how you found that clip but thanks for posting it.
Bilwick,
Maybe you are describing yourself as I drive an SUV and never use public transit. But I guess if you don’t buy the Tea Party propaganda you are stereo typed as a Central Park liberal 🙂
Which BTW shows you are part of the problem and not the solution…
Curt,
Exactly. Extremists on both end of the spectrum are more likely to vote then moderates and as a result they pull the candidates to the extremes, especially in the primaries. The result is the political environment is polarized and you get the gridlock we have today. Even more important, the extremists are not interested in compromising but instead view is as a battle of good vs. evil where anything goes, including lying, just as long as you win. And so you get the mess we have today.
“extremists on both sides”.
Concern troll is concerned.
meh, troll was just sticking to the topic.
People do get too much of their history from movies, for sure. The same could be said for using works of fiction as a guide to life. People don’t seem to realize the outcome of a book is dictated by the author and not some universal truth.
***
Most people are prepared for their politicians not being 100% honest and are accepting of it. It is impossible to market yourself without a little embellishment. The same is true about marketing your opponent. But they can go too far.
Is anyone really surprised that a Democrat would accuse a Republican of killing someone by taking away their health insurance? The stupid thing is that Obama didn’t vet this guy because if he did he would know that the man’s wife had her own health insurance.
What Romney should do is make an add with a Delphi retiree who lost his pension because Obama wanted to punish non-union workers in the GM bailout fiasco.