The Enemy Is Worried, My Friends

[The Magistrate]

Here is a letter solicitation that appeared recently in one of my mail-boxes, under the title, "The Left's Secret Weapon In 2004!"

No comment seems necessary, beyond mention that this wretch is right to be worried....

Dear Fellow Conservative:

Two years ago I started writing a book that would tell the real story that's never been told before-how conservatives came to power by creating their own alternative news media. That book, America's Right Turn, is now published. I should be happy. (And I am happy that the book's finished!)

But I am also deeply disturbed, because my research for this book uncovered a development on the Left that threatens everything we conservatives have worked for. I was shocked. We conservatives are in deep trouble.

Don't get me wrong. Our cause has come a long way in the past 40 years. We've learned how to use the alternative media-political direct mail and talk radio and cable TV-to build our movement and convert more and more Americans to our cause. "Liberal" is now such an unpopular label with the American people that every liberal I know has run for cover and calls himself a "progressive."

If we've made that much progress, then why am I so worried? Because history never stands still. No political victories are permanent. And smart people on the Left are learning from the past successes of conservatives.

Now they are carrying the ideological battle a step further, using the technology and techniques of the future, and if we conservatives don't wake up in time, the Left will win by default.

Let me get specific.

In the 1990s the Internet made its debut as the newest of the alternative media. The Internet is rapidly becoming the most powerful of the alternative media, and the Left is way ahead of us in using the Internet for political fundraising and organizing. If we don't change that situation-if we don't get as good at this as they are, and better-then we WILL lose the fight for America.

You don't think that's possible? Let me give you just a few disturbing facts of how the tide is shifting in this election campaign.

* Last year, Gov. Howard Dean became the first presidential candidate to raise most of his money (more than $40 million) over the Internet in small donations. 60% of Dean's contributions were for $200 or less, compared to only 17% for President Bush. (See pages 313-314 of America's Right Turn.)


* Now, in 2004, John Kerry and the Democrats are doing even better than Dean did last year. Kerry has raised 7 times as much as George Bush in small donations over the Internet-$65 million to only $8.7 million for Bush.


* With these small contributors, Kerry is creating a new mass base for the Democratic Party. In 2000, Al Gore had only around 350,000 donors from all sources. This year, Kerry already has more than 1,000,000 donors just from the Internet alone. (He's also getting as many as 40,000 contributions a day by direct mail.)

While the Bush campaign is getting most of its money from fat-cats and special interests, Kerry is building a massive grassroots army of contributors through the Internet and direct mail.

This is not a healthy development for conservatives and conservatism. Small donors are the motivated voters who also get out the vote. And in a nation that's divided 50-50, the most energized and motivated side will win.

Why is the Left able to raise so much money, and enlist so many people in their crusades, over the Internet? How do they do it?

That's what I tell you in America's Right Turn, and why I'm offering my book to you at a greatly reduced price.

Most importantly, what can we conservatives do about this?

That, too, is what I tell you in America's Right Turn, and why I'm offering my book to you at a greatly reduced price.

You and I have invested our time and energy on behalf of conservative causes and candidates. Don't let all your efforts go down the drain! Learn what's at stake and what we can do about it-click here to order America's Right Turn today.

Yours truly,

Richard A. Viguerie
Chairman and CEO
American Target Advertising, Inc.

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[ibegurpard]

1. Such integrity!

If you care about the heart and soul of America then BUY MY BOOK!

[bpilgrim]

2. they can't keep up with opensource

http://war.globalfreepress.com

they had better be WORRIED ;->

:hi:

peace

[info being]

21. He just figured this out? Dumb-ass.

[grasswire]

3. shiver!

What a mailing list to be on! That guy creeps me out!

[sangh0]

4. You're darned right, they're worried

As I thought from the very beginning, their arrogance is their undoing. They've become so over-confident that they went too far for the American people, and now they're in deep doo-doo.

(PS - Nice to see you still hanging around)

[The Magistrate]

8. My Recent Absence, Sir

Has been due to computer malfunction. This morning a spare machine is briefly available to me.

Vile as this wretch is, his analysis here is pretty good. The number of small donors contributing to Sen. Kerry's campaign is unheard of, and betokens a genuine energy that almost certainly is missed by the conventional pollings, particularly the likely voter screens. If a "likely donor" screen, based on past actions, would have missed do many people who actually part with cash, how accurate can a "likely voter" screen based on past actions be just now?

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[chiburb]

39. I too have missed you, Magistrate...

To the point that last week I did a search for you. When I saw that you'd been hanging out in the Gungeon, I was at peace.

Nice to read you again.

[The Magistrate]

41. Mr. Locke Likes To Call It 'The Sand Trap', My Friend

Israel v. Palestine is my most usual haunt; blood can always be found for the combative spirit there....

[chiburb]

43. Oops! Of course that's where I saw you posting... n/t

[JohnLocke]

59. The Gungeon is the next floor down.

;)

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. So bottom line is

He wants to sell his book? And at "greatly reduced price." What's the matter, it ain't selling so good? Heh!

[The Magistrate]

11. Apparently Not, Ma'am

Cheery thought, is it not?

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[ck4829]

6. Richard Viguerie...

Worked with Paul Weyrich in the AIP, a political party that welcomes the KKK.

http://politicalamazon.com/fcf.html

[wryter2000]

7. That a-hole

Haven't heard anything from him for a while.

I'm intrigued as to why he thinks liberals are being so successful at getting lots of small donations (not intrigued enough to buy his book). Could it be that the right has gone a long way toward ruining the country and we're taking it back?

[The Magistrate]

15. That Would Seem To Be The Case, Ma'am

The aims of these reactionary reptiles are clear, and becoming impossible to conceal from even the willfully distracted: they want to exaggerate disparities of wealth till our social structure resembles that of Indonesia or Brazil, by driving down wages, dumbing down education, and exempting the wealthy, or the nobility, from taxation. Such a program is absolutely incompatible with democratic rule or political or social freedom; it can only be maintained by extremities of violent repression. These creatures are the most profoundly un-American political force to appear in our country's history.

"Democracy is a system of government based on belief the people know what they want, and ought to get it, good and hard."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Beetwasher]

9. More People Giving to Kerry in Smaller Amounts Means Kerry Has A HUGE

base...These morons should be scared. They made the game about money, well there's MORE of us and we ARE putting our money where our mouths are now...

[democrat_patriot]

10. Thanks 'author man' for putting the Dems on

a pedestal. And telling the truth about the 'fat cats' that support the Reugs.

The letter says it all. Over 1,000,000.00 small donation.

Thanks for the endorsement. I would never, ever, ever, buy your lame-ass book.

[cally]

12. I went to a large Kerry fundraiser

and volunteered at another one. This was the first political donation for every person I spoke to except one. Folks like us are scared of * and his minions and are doing everything we can to defeat him. The Rethugs should be scared because formerly non-political folks are now obsessed with defeating *.

[DrWeird]

13. Sho nuff.

"Please forward this e-mail to ten of your republican friends, or else the liberals will do something horrible to you. Serious, this one guy from Tampa decided not to forward this letter, and the next day he was forced to marry a homosexual. Don't let this happen to you."

[Beetwasher]

14. LOL!

Forward the letter and send me money or you will TURN GAY and begin hating guns!!!

[blm]

16. Did RevMoon stop paying Viguerie millions of $$? Is that why he's whining?

I guess all those millions of dollars from RevMoon wasn't enough for poor Richard.

[TahitiNut]

17. I'm happy he's asking folks to buy his book ...

... rather than spending that same amount of money as a small donation. This aptly demonstrates that neoconservatism is a self-destructive ideology - with a hysteresis effect that benefits only the 1% wealthiest of Americans.

Now, if that book was actually educational (i.e. supported healthy reasoning abilities) or informational (rather than disinformational), it'd be even better. But I'm willing to take second best: propaganda that's toxic to the sheep.


It's again revealing that a 40-year timefram is characterized for the "movement" - a clear obsession with "the 60's" again.

[The Magistrate]

22. An Excellent And Subtle Point, Mr. Nut!

These wretches view even saving the country on their own terms as nothing more than an occassion for profit fot themselves....

"The love of money is the root of all evil."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[JHB]

35. The 40-year timeframe...

Not that my darker side doesn't get a chuckle from ol' Rich being reduced to "please buy my book on the cheap" e-mails, but the 40-year time frame isn't just an obsession with the 60's -- that's when efforts to create an "alternative conservative media" was born: the Goldwater campaign, Buckley's National Review, Edith Efron's The News Twisters (ok, that's '71, but close enough), Viguire's own direct-marketing mailing lists, etc.

It was conceived and born in the 60s, milk-fed to large childhood in the 70's, and has been an increasinly punacious bully ever since.

[peacetalksforall]

18. Typical tactic - progress by scaring....(and sell a book along the way).

Their small donation base is pretty deplorable...all the really big right wingers have probably met their legal donation max. All the traditional suit and tie and pearl necklaced right wingers have probably bought as many expensive seats at a dinner as they are going to, but will do more if pushed (thought they might not buy the book). Then, they probably can count on much more from gun lovers and abortion haters. And...Robertson and Falwell will squeeze out some more. But there are a lot of selfish right wingers and libertarian supporters out there who have a tight grip on their pocket and some of the contingent who believe every anti-christian lie about liberals probably don't have any money.

[DancingBear]

19. Good morning Magistrate!

Nice to see you back and prowling the board again.

I must say, I am proud to be yet another small cog in the Kerry fund raising juggernaut, and in the spirit of fair play I humbly offer any of my recent posts to Mr. Viguerie - at a greatly reduced price.

'Tis only honorable, after all... :)

[gasperc]

20. offering it at a reduced rate, I don't want this shit book for free

fuck you, Dick Viguerie

[markses]

23. Richard Viguerie can be justly called the Father of the New Right

His marketing lists and direct mail solicitations built the New Right over the 1970's and early 80's. The man is almost single-handidly responsible for the popularity of neo-conservatim among the holy rollers. Serious stuff here, Magistrate. If Vigueurie is out with stuff like this, they are scared shitless, and firing with all cylinders.

STICK IT TO 'EM!!!!

[The Magistrate]

24. Indeed, Sir

That is why his effluvia is allowed in my mail-box. The wretch is regretably good at what he does. For what it is worth, he seems to have been driven to a tone of despair over the last couple of years....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[belle]

55. Oh, I'd never heard of him. Nice to hear! Thanks for sharing.

[Renew Deal]

25. Thanks Magistrate

I haven't gotten to tell you before, but you are one of the best people here. :yourock:

[opihimoimoi]

26. Thanks to ALL YOU PEOPLE THE MESSAGE IS SLOWLY GETTING OUT

Richard Viguire(sp) is one of the founders of the neo con movement...he perfected the mass mailing for big bucks system and raised mucho money for the conservative cause/candidates.

other names comes to mind..Paul Weyrich, Terry Dolan(des), Tim LeHaye, Robertson, Falwell, etc

Its Ideological warfare gone beserk

[KansDem]

27. I was intrigued by this statement...

While the Bush campaign is getting most of its money from fat-cats and special interests, Kerry is building a massive grassroots army of contributors through the Internet and direct mail.

Why would someone wanting to sell a product to a selected market refer to those customers in that market in such terms? Why alienate your target audience by saying they are, or they support, "fatcats and special interests"? It reads to me like a "liberal" statement...

[nini]

30. I wondered the same thing..

hmmmmm :shrug:

[ewagner]

31. Same question here

I found that remark curiously out of context with conservative thought (yeah I know...there really isn't any such thing).

[Beetwasher]

32. Yup, He's As Much Admitting A Small Minority Has Hijacked The Country

and that a sizeable majority disagree w/ their views. IOW, these people don't care and reall want to force feed their minority views onto the majority of the population by hook or crook... Too bad the majority is starting to pull together and put their money where there mouth is...

[The Magistrate]

34. The Rightist Coalition, Sir, Is Inherently Unstable

Its mass strength is provided by a number of people who receive no real benefit from its programs, but adhere to it through their attachments to symbols of community and patriotism, that they are convinced the left is out to destroy. These people resent privileges they know they cannot aspire to, and have no love themselves for their bosses and the rich who lord it over them. Vigurie is here attempting to portray to these people a situation in which the right of family and community and patriotism, that they identify with, and which they honestly think is what the right stands for, is threatened with capture by the rich, who will use it to nefarious purposes. The truth peeks out through this construct despite itself, since the right is wholly a tool of the rich, has never had any but nefarious purposes, and delivers nothing but delusions of satisfaction to these people it depends on for its mass strength at the polls.

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Karenina]

49. Does that explain this:

"While the Bush campaign is getting most of its money from fat-cats and special interests,..." It just jumped out at me as a bit incongruous at first.

[noiretextatique]

47. cause he's not tragetting bush supporters

even some on the right aren't pleased with the occupant, especially the lunatic right this guy represents. they think he's too "liberal," among other things.

[The Magistrate]

57. A Good Point, Ma'am

There are several sources of real disatisfaction with this wretch on the right, and you have put your finger on one of them. "Cultural conservatives" are, by and large, not very well off, and resentful of privilege. They like to imagine the corporate reactionaries they vote for are "just folks" like them, hence the pandering to down-home tastes and mannerisms their favorite politicos generally affect. They like to believe "the elite" are all liberals, and accordingly do fear that elite elements in the Republican Party may at any moment turn out to be liberals in disguise bent on taking it over. This is not much use to our side, of course, as it offers no good tool for detaching them from their allegiance to reaction, but it may spread a bit of the "not a dime's worth of difference" virus in the enemy camp....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Renew Deal]

28. This nut donated to Pat Toomey (Fascist-PA)

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?NumOfThou=0&txtName=Viguerie&txtState=VA&txtZip=&txtEmploy=&txtCand=&txt2004=Y&txt2002=Y&txt2000=Y&Order=N

Contributor
Occupation
Date
Amount
Recipient

VIGUERIE RICHARD
FAIRFAX,VA 20110
PATTON BOGGS LLP/ATTORNEY
5/7/2001
$1,000
Burton, Dan

VIGUERIE, ELAINE
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
12/10/1999
$500
Allen, George

VIGUERIE, ELAINE
MANASSAS,VA 20110
HOMEMAKER
5/7/2000
$1,000
Sessions, Pete

VIGUERIE, ELAINE
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
12/13/1999
$250
Allen, George

VIGUERIE, ELAINE
WASHINGTON,VA 22747
10/16/2000
$500
Allen, George

VIGUERIE, ELAINE O
WASHINGTON,VA 22747
HOMEMAKER
4/28/2000
$1,000
Barr, Bob

VIGUERIE, ELAINE O MRS
WASHINGTON,VA 22747
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
6/12/2000
$1,000
Bush, George W

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
1/5/2004
$1,000
Bunning, Jim

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
3/30/2004
$500
Toomey, Pat

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
2/26/2004
$1,000
Kaloogian, Howard

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
7/11/2002
$500
Crane, Phil

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING/ADVERTI
2/8/2002
$500
Patterson, Norwood James Jr

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
VIGUERIE CO./PRES. & CEO
10/1/2001
$1,000
Weldon, Dave

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
FAIRFAX,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET
9/26/2000
$1,000
Burton, Dan

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
8/24/2000
$1,000
Liddy, Thomas Purcell

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
8/3/1999
$250
McCollum, Bill

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
12/28/1999
$1,000
Sessions, Pete

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
4/30/2000
$1,000
Hutchinson, Asa

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
5/15/2000
$1,000
Sessions, Pete

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
11/7/2000
$500
Koster, John

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING INC
8/6/1999
$250
Allen, George

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
CONSULTANT
11/8/1999
$500
Istook, Ernest Jim Jr

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
TARGET ADVERTISING
9/5/2000
$1,000
Fund for a Free Market America

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
VIGUERIE & CO
4/17/2000
$1,000
Northup, Anne

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
3/14/2004
$500
Toomey, Pat

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN ADVERTISING AGENCY/EXECUTI
10/27/2003
$500
Crane, Phil

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
6/12/2002
$1,000
Talent, James M

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
SELF/CONSULTANT
3/29/2001
$500
Istook, Ernest J

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
FAIRFAX,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET
4/15/2000
$1,000
Burton, Dan

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
FAIRFAX,VA 22033
VIGUERIE & COMPANY
10/26/1999
$1,000
Burton, Dan

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMER TARGET ADVERTISING
3/30/2000
$500
Coffey, John

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
8/17/1999
$250
McCollum, Bill

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
4/19/2000
$250
McCollum, Bill

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
4/30/2000
$1,000
Hutchinson, Asa

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
10/16/2000
$750
Allen, George

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING INC
5/24/1999
$250
Allen, George

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING INC
8/6/1999
$750
Allen, George

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
INVESTOR
12/14/1999
$1,000
Reiser, Thomas A

VIGUERIE, RICHARD
MANASSAS,VA 20110
THE VIGUERIE CO
4/12/2000
$2,000
Conservative Action Team

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
12/31/2003
$500
Hyde, Henry J

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN ADVERTISING AGENCY/EXECUTI
6/21/2001
$1,000
Crane, Phil

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING/PRESIDE
4/12/2002
$1,000
Young, Tom

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING/PRESIDE
6/18/2002
$500
Barr, Bob

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
3/10/2000
$1,000
Santorum, Rick

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMER TARGET ADVERTISING
4/13/2000
$500
Hart, Melissa A.

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
4/28/2000
$1,000
Barr, Bob

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
10/17/2000
$1,000
Fund for a Free Market America

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
INVESTOR
5/22/2000
$1,000
Hutchinson, Tim

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
VIGUERIE & ASSOC./PRESIDENT
8/7/2000
$500
Quiggle, Dan

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN ADVERTISING AGENCY/EXECUTI
3/31/2004
$500
Fund for a Conservative Future

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING INC./PR
6/28/2002
$500
Garrett, Scott

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING/PRESIDE
4/12/2002
$1,000
Young, Tom

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
6/6/2000
$250
Sabrin, Murray

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
10/1/1999
$1,000
Americans for a Republican Majority

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
10/16/2000
$5,000
American Conservative Union

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
CONSERVATIVEHQ.COM
10/6/2000
$500
Mattingly, Mack

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A
MANASSAS,VA 20110
SELF-EMPLOYED
3/24/1999
$1,000
Fitzgerald, Peter G

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A MR
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING INC./CH
12/23/2003
$1,000
Bush, George W

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A MR
MANASSAS,VA 20110
CONSERVATIVE HQ.COM/PRESIDENT
10/26/2001
$500
Senate Majority Fund

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A MR
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADERTISING/CHAIRMAN
6/12/2000
$1,000
Bush, George W

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A MR
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING INC./CH
3/26/2004
$1,000
Bush, George W

VIGUERIE, RICHARD A MR
MANASSAS,VA 20110
AMERICAN TARGET ADVERTISING
5/12/2000
$500
Limehouse, H B Jr

VIGUERIE, RICHARD MR
MANASSAS,VA 20110
VIGUERIE COMPANY/CEO
7/21/2003
$2,000
Weldon, Dave

VIGUERIE, RICHARD MR
MANASSAS,VA 20110
VIGUERIE COMPANY/CEO
7/21/2003
$1,986
Weldon, Dave

[The Magistrate]

38. Always Good To Know Where The Money Goes, Sir

What an illuminating "little list of those who'd never be missed...."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[nickgutierrez]

29. "We've hijacked this country -- now buy my book...

...so we can keep doing it."

What an asshole.

The right fears the internet because it is a place where large corporations can't steer all of the possible traffic in their direction. If they can't do that, then they have a much harder time getting everybody to walk in lockstep, which is key to the conservative agenda, and this guy pretty much comes out and says as much.

[Old and In the Way]

33. I thought the Bush Bastards got you, Magistrate!

Glad to see your still with us.

Yeah, he ought to be worried.....he still doesn't "get it". The internet proves that there are far more Americans who support liberal (I'm not afraid to say that word) and progressive values than the con agenda.

Very illuminating about the Gore v. Kerry contributions. I think we can thank the "uniter" for reawakening and energizing us.

[The Magistrate]

36. Thank You, My Friend

Perhaps an even more encouraging point is that this offers a practical possibility of breaking the hold of big corporate monies on politics. A flood of small doners may be able to swamp these as a source of funds, and hence reduce the big contributor's influence on actions and policies....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASATARDS!"

[A_Possum]

37. Oh, darn, they finally found us out.

Poo, can't keep the net a secret from anybody anymore. ;(

I hope there's a good book soon about the rise of the liberal internet (yeah LIBERAL, by golly, I'm not skeered to be one of them things.) I stumbled across DU a year ago, in my darkest days of feeling isolated, scared and furious, unable to talk freely to anyone about what I felt without provoking unpleasant scenes. It was as if everyone I knew had turned into zombies and I was the only one left alive. It was like a horror movie.

OMG what a relief, what a thrill, what hilarious and joyful dialogues I found here--what a gift it was to discover I wasn't alone. When I read my first Hate Mailbag, and best of all, the replies, I laughed till I wept. I'm kind of a lady-like sort, but bless your hearts, I was ready for some of that language, and the sense of humor that went along with it.

Unfortunately for conservatives like this guy, I very much doubt the concatenation of circumstances that has resulted in "our" internet strength can be purposefully reproduced. The underground swell of anger with Bush, the rise of blogging (and the sense of connection and community it provides), the Dean phenomenon, Meet-up and MoveOn--all of these things have driven it and none of them can be repeated just because the conservatives now want to get a piece of the pie. Same way we can't repeat the rise of conservative talk radio. We can try, but it's unlikely to have the same vigor, because the net's already sucking up that energy on our side.

So, thank you all (well ok, most of you :P) and dream on, Pugs, about the wave you missed.

Poss, here for awhile but I can't seem to resurrect my previous account

[newyawker99]

48. Hi A_Possum!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

50. Yes, YES, Possum. Especially for those of us living in RW areas.

Welcome! :bounce:

[Susang]

40. So good to see you, friend!

Your post is excellent news, particularly since it is apparent that this earnest and hard working conservative idealogue is really only concerned about campaign contributions and selling his book at "a greatly reduced price". He seems unconcerned about such trivial issues as terrorism, crime and poverty, and thus does not bother to mention them at all in his riveting email. Truly amazing.

[The Magistrate]

46. Thank You, Ma'am!

Hope to see you again at a future Chicago gathering!

Vigurie is interested principally in a reactionary dominance in social mores, that can nowadays only be imposed by government fiat, and even then without much real hope of success. All else is merely a tool to this end for him; he has no real patriotism or concern for the well-being of his country and its citizenry.

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Catherine Vincent]

42. This ass is upset because liberals use the internet to raise a lot of

money? They can do it but we can't?

[hippiegranny]

44. ooo! ooo! i know the answer to this one!

>Why is the Left able to raise so much money, and enlist so many people in their crusades, over the Internet? How do they do it?<

they tell the TRUTH!!!!! that's one thing the "right" will never have on their side as long as they continue on the same path they're on.

[The Magistrate]

45. Even More Than That, Ma'am

The great bulk of the people in this country are not reactionaries. They may not be wholly to the left, but they are definitely not creatures of the right....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[DaveSZ]

51. I like how he admits

that most of Bush's money comes from fat cats and corporate special interests.

[Samantha]

52. Welcome back, Magistrate

We missed you.

[Zomby Woof]

53. good to see you, sir

Your presence in GD is always greatly appreciated, sir. :toast:

[bemildred]

54. It is a profoundly interesting situation Sir.

The internet, before all else, provides cheap connectivity
and cheap access to information. It has already affected
destructively the position and livelihoods of many who
trade on their special knowledge and access: accountants,
salesmen, pharmacists, for example. Outsourcing is part of
this too. But what is a machine politician if not one of
these? And what happens when an aspiring leader need not
kowtow to the party machine at the State and Federal level
but instead has the option of going direct to his constituency?
Nobody knows, but we are soon to find out. This has the possibility
of bringing down the two-party duopoly in this country and
breaking the power of the current ruling oligarchy. I don't
expect that they will take it lying down, anymore than their
friends in China are, but I expect it will be a much more
difficult task to stifle this development here.

It is probably worth observing here that the mass media as they
have existed and controlled the political dialog in this country
are also profoundly threatened by the internet. I no longer get
a paper, I come here (and other places) and it is a far better
source of news and entertainment than anything on the TV, and
there is no real way to control the "terms of the debate".

[The Magistrate]

56. Indeed, My Friend

Beyond the enjoyable, and very justified scare, that the operation of this has thrown into one seasoned enemy operative just now, the entire phenomenon is an encouraging one. To take just the question of funds, for instance. Politics will always require money, and so politicians must have some assured supply of it. They have therefore courted those who control large sums, and of necessity kow-towed for their largesse. But this new means of gleaning funds offers the possibility of a larger supply, and one that is more assured to a politician who is at the head of a genuinely popular cause. Sooner or later, just as Sherman cast off his supply lines to ravage Georgia, some politico of vision will resolve to live off the land and cut free of the conventional sources of money. This development will be accellerated by the fact, known to all, that what the mass of the people want is different than what the controllers of concentrated corporate wealth want, and so in attempting to raise funds from both the old and the new sources, a politician must come to find that what gains contributions from one costs contributions from the other. The new way has the benefit of reflecting voters directly, without the same need to expend monies solely to rouse people to vote, which means that money raised this way is a more efficient item, and this, too, will commend itself to a person of some acumen and vision. It promises a much better way to weaken and break the stranglehold of corporate wealth than any conceivable regulation, or any imaginable agitation.

It is also true that this new device renders control of political dialoge, and of the dissemination of information from central sources, a progressively less viable enterprise. In some ways it functions as a group mind, in which we are each individual synapses, and which is in sum far more acute and powerful than any directing individual or clique possibly could be.

"We are clever monkeys, when all's said and done."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[leesa]

58. These idiots have long ago forgotten WHAT they are fighting for...all they

want to do is win, no matter what the cost, even the destruction of their own country, families and happiness.
Winning is all that matters.
Is this what a steady diet of highly propagandized team sports does to people? Just a thought...they all seem like rabid football fans to me.