Now that Barack Obama has returned from his victory lap which happened to take him around the world, where he has a considerably higher approval rating than 51 percent, one thing certain to outlast this campaign is the bitter discord sown by such an abjectly negative campaign.
The domestic distrust and loathing of Obama is quite the reverse in the wider world. After all, why wouldn't some nascent despot like Morsi of Egypt enjoy Obama when it leads to a check and more power? Barack Obama may have soundly alienated almost half the country, but division is seen as a good thing by this president and these Democrats. A riven America is seen by the left as easier to distract and control. So control is key, but it can only be done through the Liberal Media Complex, now that the campaign ads have vanished.
I must dine on some crow here. I felt Romney would win and the Liberal Media Complex would be sundered. No such luck. The LMC is now preening like a peacock. In their minds, they are responsible for getting Obama across the finish line. In truth, I think they're right. Albert Kesselring, Erwin Rommel's commander in North Africa used think that the Desert Fox's myth, legend, propaganda etc. was worth at least two good panzer divisions. There weren't too many other reasons propaganda minister Goebbels lent him a cameraman as a permanent member of his staff during his time in the Afrika Korps. Using this admittedly rough calculation, if the LMC added at least two to three percent to Obama's vote total, then subtracting that would put Romney just ahead of Obama in total votes. If you pull that 1-2 million votes from Obama's total in close states like Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire etc., then Romney wins.
I don't want to go down the trail of what ifs because I think for America, now, there are much much bigger issues in the domain of political discourse. The LMC has tremendous power and they used it to secure the outcome they wanted. As an added benefit of fighting the battle against the right, they have a whole set of propaganda weapons for the next four years.
In a radio interview, long before the 2012 campaign, Barack Obama said the goal is to "reward our friends" and "punish our enemies." Because of Solyndra and other boondoggles, we know how the Obama folks are rewarding and will be rewarding their friends. One can almost hear the cry, "Government cash for all my friends!" However, more pertinent now is the other side of the coin; punishing one's enemies reached a crescendo during the recent campaign and is likely to continue for the rest of Barack Obama's term as president. The evil rich who won't pay their "fair" share (though Democrats seem always to have a shifting definition of fair) has been around for some time.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
No surprise the author takes the name of a baseball player famous for taking LSD after reading this distorted view of reality. Have to go but the descriptions of what Fluke and Matthews said are both false
2 - Glenn Contrarian
From an undisclosed location deep within the conservative media bubble, Dock Ellis issues a missive that - if facts were calories - would be the perfect calorie-free diet! Yes, Fox News has become the Roach Motel of facts - facts go in, but they don't come out! (and thanks for the idea of the metaphor to a Shark named Kevin).
Um, Dock - dude, you really need to get out some and get your head out of the Limbaugh/O'Reilly/Hannity Axis of Conservative Pie-hole. A good start would be to hold your own people to the same level of criticism as you demand of us liberals - after all, how can you consider yourself a fair judge of others if you don't hold your own people to the same standard?
3 - Tommy Mack
Your line, " . . . like a sadistic little boy squeezing the paw of a kitten named America until it yells" is a good line. As to the rest of this audition script, your side lost. It must suck to hold such opinion as yours on so many levels.
However, you have an opportunity to articulate a positive -- right, white, conservatism is failed.
What do you propose? Another four years of hating the president? That will really suck.
Tommy
4 - Glenn Contrarian
And Dock -
Looking at your tags above - Goebbels, Kesselring, Rommel, de Sade, Marxism, Putin - why don't you say what you really think: the guy in the White House...could it be...Satan????
And btw - if you'll read some real history, you'll find that Rommel was a very honorable man stuck in a bad situation. He, like Yamamoto and Robert E. Lee, chose to serve the wrong side to the utmost of his ability not because he believed in the goals of that side, but because he believed that it was his nation, his country that had called him to duty. Even the Brits who faced Rommel held him in high personal regard.
5 - Dr Dreadful
The best bit of these four pages of fantasy is the line on page 1 about the widespread "domestic distrust and loathing" of a president who just got re-elected.
Even if 48% (or whatever) of the electorate didn't vote for Obama, it doesn't follow that all of them, to a man or woman, actually loathe him. A large slice of those folks most likely just mildly preferred the other guy.
I think Dock is one of those people who gets so wrapped up in his own opinions that they get completely taken by surprise when it turns out that a majority don't share them.
6 - Igor
@5-Dreadful: good points. I know two middleaged sisters who couldn't decide who to vote for, so one voted Obama and the other voted Romney. And I think that's an honest vote.
The republicans have been following a very destructive plan the past few years, of characterizing every issue as Good vs. Evil, with no compromise possible. It's a "rule or ruin" policy and IMO will end by destroying the republicans, not their opponents.
7 - Dr Dreadful
In other news, President Obama has appointed John Kerry to be his new Secretary of State to replace Hillary Clinton: the obvious and, in my opinion, an excellent choice.
I wonder how many seconds it took after the announcement for Scott Brown to declare his intent to run for Kerry's vacant Senate seat?