Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Droit du Seigneur



John McWhorter has an intriguing article in The Wall Street Journal today.  It is coming to us on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Mr. McWhorter is a professor at Columbia University and writes a column for Time magazine.  He is a linguist.

If you are not sure what that’s all about, please check out his TED lecture from earlier this year.  Or even better, see yesterday’s post on Miley Cyrus at the New Republic.  John McWhorter can change the way you think.

His article in The Wall Street Journal discusses how we should honor Dr. King’s dream.  As background, he shows how “The Dream” has been co-opted by our culture to place Americans with dark skin tone in a position of eternal indignation; where they think of themselves as “underdogs with a bone to pick.”

Mr. McWhorter is showing us what a “conversation on race” looks like.

In contrast, we will not see that point of view reflected in today’s speeches.  Instead, we will see classic objectification and further evidence of African Americans being held in the Democratic Party’s Droit du Seigneur.


Thursday, August 22, 2013

The Democratic Party and Mike Coffman

 

Congressman Mike Coffman is up for re-election in 2014.  He represents our 6th Congressional District here in Colorado.

Mike is a veteran, and has served in both the Army and the U.S. Marine Corps.  He is distinguished by having resigned his position as State Treasurer of Colorado to serve a tour of duty in Iraq from 2005 to 2006.

He was elected as Colorado's Secretary of State in 2006, and then elected to the House of Representatives in 2008.

The 6th CD in Colorado is "competitive," and Andrew Romanoff is the Democratic Party candidate.  The advertising supporting Mr. Romanoff will not be engaged in enhancing his image.  Rather, it will work to denigrate Congressman Coffman, portraying him as a bad person.  In marketing parlance, these are "negative ads."

This post will chronicle the advertising that is done against Mike Coffman during the 2014 campaign.  Let's get started!

June 2013 - This is an ad released on Spanish-language radio stations. It is sponsored by the House Majority PAC and tells us about Rep. Coffman's sinister intent. The Spanish-speaking announcer says Congressman Coffman intends to deport 800,000 young people who just want to achieve the American dream:


August 2013 - This ad, sponsored by the League of Conservation Voters, characterizes Rep. Coffman as a person who is unreasonable, keeps his head in the sand, and holds extreme views:


August 2013 - A second ad from the League of Conservation Voters criticizes Rep. Coffman  for holding extremist views, being in the pocket of "Big Oil" and denying climate science:


UPDATE 9/3/2013:
Steven Hayward at Power Line explains the 97% consensus claim made by LCV.

September 2013 - A third ad from the League of Conservation Voters continues the "He's a Denier!" characterization:


October 2013 - The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee begins a radio ad campaign against Mike Coffman.  Here's the script:

(Doorbell rings).

(Male VO): Hello, Congressman Coffman here, just in from Washington.

(Female VO): Uh.  Hi.  Aren’t you supposed to be doing something about that shut down?

(Male VO): I’m here to talk about what I’m doing these days.  First, I’m working hard to take away your new health care benefits.

(Female VO): What?  Congressman Coffman !?!

(Male VO): That’s right.  We’ll put the insurance companies back in charge of your health care.

(Female VO): You’ve got to be kidding me.

(Male VO): Oh we’re dead serious -- so serious that we shut down the government over it.

(Female VO): Congressman Coffman -- that’s just irresponsible.  And, well… reckless.  Oh, and what happens to your health care?

(Male VO): Oh, don’t worry about me.  Voted myself taxpayer-funded healthcare for life!  So I’m taken care of, but thanks for your concern.

(Door slams shut).

(Female VO): Paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, www.dccc.org.  Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.


June 2014 - The VoteVets Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization chartered to focus on nonpartisan education and advocacy on behalf of veterans and their families.  While billing itself as non-partisan, VoteVets.org is the largest progressive organization of veterans in America.

It has released this ad which characterizes Representative Coffman as being insensitive to veterans.


While the ad says that Mike Coffman "voted against troop pay," it fails to note that the vote came on the National Defense Authorization Act, which covers diverse social issues such as Marriage and Civil Rights as well as the overall budget for national defense.

Characterizing Mike Coffman as being anti-military is a stretch, but the Democratic Party shows how it is done.

September 2014 - CounterPAC tells us Mike Coffman takes political contributions from unknown sources, that might include Russian oil billionaires, Too-Big-to-Jail Wall Street Bankers and a Chinese Casino Owner!


September 2014 - The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee teaches us that Mike Coffman is a threat to women.


October 2014 - Erica Payne and the Agenda Project use the outbreak of Ebola to demonize Republicans.  The ad flashes a picture of Mike Coffman (at 44 seconds from the beginning) and warns us that Republicans are killers.


October 2014 - The Andrew Romanoff campaign continues the "War on Women" narrative against Congressman Coffman.


November 2014 - Mike Coffman wins re-election 52% to 43% over challenger Andrew Romanoff.

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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

It's The Culture, Stupid!


January 21, 2008 photo of Bill Clinton by Tami Chappell / Reuters

James Carville coined the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid” for the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton.

The phrase comes to mind in the wake of the personal devastation we see from political confrontation with the Democratic Party.  Tuffy Gessling and Mark Ficken are casualties at the 2013 Missouri State Fair.  Paula Deen is a victim of the Democratic Party’s pursuit of racial politics.

In each case, the operative phrase is, “It’s the culture, stupid!”

Byron York’s analysis of the Missouri clown incident is revealing.  He points out how President Bush was depicted as a chimpanzee and a clown.  Prize-winning books were written about President Bush being assassinated.  Bill Maher remains a staple on HBO, not despite his vitriol against the former president but because of it.

It doesn’t get any clearer than that: Anti-Republican culture dominates our United States of America.

Just ask a rodeo clown.

UPDATE 8/14/2013:
Michelle Malkin has 10 images that support Byron York's thesis, complete with the tag line, "Lighten up, buttercups."