Best repub quote ever...

[Desertrose]

Republican Quote We Like (got this from my local Dem newsletter...)

 

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 11/8/54


So...can we show it to * ? :evilgrin:

[Goldmund]

1. Here's where he fucked up:

they aren't stupid.

[fob]

3. No, he was right they are stupid, they just bought better marketing.

[Goldmund]

5. LOL

He was right that they are few.

Now they rule everything, and they are hundreds of times as rich as they were in Eisenhower's time, at the expense of 99% of the population.

They are the only ones around here who are achieving their goals. We sure aren't.

You decide who's stupid.

They WANT you to think they're stupid. They WANT you to underestimate them, and they WANT you to think that the Iraq war was "fumbled", that on 9/11 they just fucked up, that the economy is failing because they're "incompetent", etc. It's bullshit. Everything that's happened is benefiting them. They are neither stupid nor incompetent. Chimpy may be, which is most likely the reason that they selected him as their public face (to make YOU think they're stupid, and to make the stupid think that he's "a common man") -- but the cabal is not.

[Desertrose]

8. I have to agree ..obviously they are not as stupid as we wish

they would be.

....and yes, they have been working on this for a long time. (Ike probably saw big clues even then, but like 99% of the population, never dreamed they could actually accomplish so many of their goals...of course once you have the media in your pocket, well :shrug: there ya go:)

[Goldmund]

11. Even the media...

...didn't just land in their pocket when it fell from the sky. They've played their cards masterfully, they've had no morality and no scrupules, and they've been brilliant.

[Desertrose]

13. I agree...nothing has been accidental.

They knew exactly how to counter things before they happened. It has all been planned for a VERY long time....I'd certainly add patience to your list above.

[Goldmund]

15. Yes, patience

absolutely. You're so right.

[fob]

16. Oh I'm not saying they don't have smarts. They surely do, it's just that

they're catasrophically successful savants in the ME, ME, ME department. They know how to sucker people in, they know how to tank markets to allow them to buy low and then ponzi scheme their way back to the top to sell high. But that's the very definition of stupid. It's not that they don't know the consequences of their actions, they know that quite well, they just don't care. In a word, they're STUPID.

[Goldmund]

17. I need some evidence of their stupidity.

"Stupid" is, by definition, not being able to make the most out of your environment in the context of your goals.

[fob]

19. That's not necessarily stupidity. That could be laziness.

American Heritage College Dictionary
Stupid - adj - 1) In a stupor (Stupor n - 2: Mental confusion, daze)
Example of def 1 - bush*s assertion that he* doesn't support "killing life to save life" when that is his* EXACT last rationale for the war on Iraq

Stupid - adj - 2) Slow to apprehend, dull
Example of def 2 - bush* actually makes a LOUD, PUBLIC call for "terraists" to "bring it on". He* declares "Mission Accomplished" but doesn't end war on Iraq.

Stupid - adj - 3)Showing a lack of sense or intelligence
Example of def 3 - Closing/downsizing US bases during "war" to save $50 billion over 20 years and then the next day asking for additional $48 billion for Afghan/Iraq wars for THIS YEAR!

Proposing private accounts to "fix SS" and then admitting that it actually makes the situation WORSE! Continuing to beat dead "SS reform" horse AGAINST public polls. Polls show bush* is a 6-10 point DRAG on private account plan if his* name is mentioned.

Stupid - adj - 4) Uninteresting
Example of def 4 - Well you got me here, they are a lot of things but certainly NOT uninteresting

[Goldmund]

20. OK

"Stupid - adj - 1) In a stupor (Stupor n - 2: Mental confusion, daze)
Example of def 1 - bush*s assertion that he* doesn't support "killing life to save life" when that is his* EXACT last rationale for the war on Iraq?"

It WORKS, doesn't it? What's the purpose of Bush justifying his policies -- to share with us his thinking, or to play political games? The latter. In that sense, what he's saying accomplishes the purpose.

"Stupid - adj - 3)Showing a lack of sense or intelligence
Example of def 3 - Closing/downsizing US bases during "war" to save $50 billion over 20 years and then the next day asking for additional $48 billion for Afghan/Iraq wars for THIS YEAR!"

Did he get the 48 billion? Case closed.

"Proposing private accounts to "fix SS" and then admitting that it actually makes the situation WORSE! Continuing to beat dead "SS reform" horse AGAINST public polls. Polls show bush* is a 6-10 point DRAG on private account plan if his* name is mentioned."

The outcome of this remains to be seen.

So, in conclusion, the problem is that you're taking what Bush says at face value, assuming that he actually means what he says. But he doesn't. He says it to play a move in the political chess game. And as far as I can see, he has been winning the game handily.

[fob]

34. No. I'm saying that just because you are WINNING at getting to your

goal, DOESN'T mean the goal is a wise one! I know that as close as possible to 100% of the time as you can get what bush* SAYS is the exact opposite of what he* INTENDS to DO. But what he* ends up doing is just plain STUPID.

On your answer to #3 - Case is NOT closed. You equate getting what you want as varifying that what you wanted was a good or "smart" idea. You need to look at the definition and the example again. Closing all those US bases to save $50 billion over 20 years and instantly proposing to spend $48 billion in the next year alone shows "A LACK OF SENSE", aka stupidity. The fact that the request to spend the money was approved doesn't make it a good idea.

I am in fact NOT taking what bush* says at face value, I am applying what he actually DOES to it's TRUE affects. And any decent review of that will show the entirety of his policies to be the epitome of STUPID.

The names of his* policies bear this out;
Healthy Skies Initiative that allows MORE pollution
Leave No Child Behind that is leaving ever MORE children behind
etc, etc.

If I were taking him at face value then as a Democrat I would be in favor of something called Healthy Skies, but when I look at the substance of his* intended actions, it's just stupid.

In summary, stupidity has no component that says if you do accomplish your stupid goal it is no longer stupid. Remember, stupid is as stupid does. That's bush* and his* policies in a nutshell.

[Goldmund]

36. I do get what you're saying

but the thing is, their goals are "stupid" only if you assume that they are for the good of the country. I never said that; to the contrary. They are for the good of the relatively few ghouls on the top ladders of their breed of corporatocracy. Now, if you think that this will in the end prove to be their undoing, I admire and share that faith. After all, every single empire, no matter how smart, has always fallen. But as the facts so far show, they have enriched themselves beyond belief, they have consolidated unprecedented power, they've impoverished everyone else, and they still have the support of about a half of the country.

[Mr Rabble]

18. Totally correct.

Evil- yes.

Stupid- no, no way. Their plan is being executed perfectly.

[POAS]

26. Doesn't it depend on what kind of stupidity you mean

A man can be very smart and cunning about achieving a goal but totally lacking in wisedom as to whether acheiving the goal will be beneficial. Short term gain traded, through stupidity, for long term pain.

If the Empire that the USA has become comes crashing down on them and their children what will it have profitted them?

[Goldmund]

27. Doesn't it depend on what kind of benefit you mean

The dude does not work for US national interests.

[POAS]

28. I'm talking Karma here

The mightiest empires have always fallen, usually by over-reaching. They always feel invincible, they never are.

That said, their demise may be a long ways off yet.

[Goldmund]

29. Well, that's faith, so far.

Facts speak otherwise: everything that's happened was ultimately for the benefit of BushCo and their corporate cronies.

I admire your faith in karma, and even share it to an extent; but it isn't sufficient basis to call them "stupid".

[lonestarnot]

31. Yeah called Rigged Vote machines!

[XemaSab]

22. They are stupid

because they clearly haven't thought out the consequences of their actions.

Do we really want 95% of humanity to be illiterate peasants?

Like, buddy, you're a member of the elite until the illiterate peasants start talking, and before you know it your head's on a pike on the wall of the castle that your granddaddy built.

[Goldmund]

23. Why do you think they haven't thought out the consequnces of their actions

?

So far, what hasn't gone in their favor?

Edit: and by the way, "They said X and Y happened" doesn't count. The fact they SAID X doesn't mean they actually thought X was going to happen, but that they knew that their intiatives wouldn't fly if they said they would lead to Y. For example, no way would they have gotten their invasion had they said "we'll be there for years, Iraq doesn't have WMDs and thousands of soldiers will die."

[XemaSab]

33. I just really don't think

that they've thought things through very well.

For example, in the buildup to the Iraq war, my opinion, and the opinion of many people here, was that it was a terrible idea. Iraq wasn't about to attack us even if they did have WMD's, and going into the country and removing their dictator would plunge us into an unwinnable war that would foment anti-US hatred throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds, and we'd be better off letting the inspectors do their job.

I think history has so far demonstrated that I, and the other folks here who thought similarly, were right.

My thoughts about where their economic plan will lead indicate that the common people will be reduced to peasantry, and we'll have a return to feudalism where labor is an owned commodity worth little or nothing, so people are basically enslaved to their corporate masters.

As one poster put it, "why replace the economic system that defeated communism with the one that spawned it?"

[Goldmund]

35. Ah but you see...

"For example, in the buildup to the Iraq war, my opinion, and the opinion of many people here, was that it was a terrible idea. Iraq wasn't about to attack us even if they did have WMD's, and going into the country and removing their dictator would plunge us into an unwinnable war that would foment anti-US hatred throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds, and we'd be better off letting the inspectors do their job.

I think history has so far demonstrated that I, and the other folks here who thought similarly, were right."

Of course you were right. And I was right with you. And I don't know about you, but I'm no geopolitics, military, or history expert. In addition to that, we didn't even have all of the information they did. So what do you make of that? That we are just so much smarter than they are? That's naive, with all due respect.

THEY were right too. That's the thing. Do you actually believe that they sincerely thought that the war was going to be over in "weeks not months", that the troops would be "greeted with flowers" and that they would find WMDs? Of course not. They had their goal -- war -- and they had the task of getting enough political support for that goal in order to accomplish it. And so they made up the story about flowers and WMDs. And after the fact, when those claims were proven wrong, their whole image as "stupid" and "incompetent" serves as a safety net -- because, you see, you now are saying "they were wrong, I was right" and not "they made the whole thing up to get political support".

Don't ever take what they say at face value. They don't say what they think is true, they say what they think will politically work. And they were right -- it worked.

"My thoughts about where their economic plan will lead indicate that the common people will be reduced to peasantry, and we'll have a return to feudalism where labor is an owned commodity worth little or nothing, so people are basically enslaved to their corporate masters."

And here's where we come to my next point: these guys don't work for US national interests. They work for their narrow circle of corporatocrats. Yes, you're right, common people will be reduced to peasantry, labor will be worth nothing, people will be enslaved to corporate masters; but THEY WILL BE THE CORPORATE MASTERS. That's what they want. We call it "bad economy", they call it "getting ahead".

[XemaSab]

38. I don't disagree

that much of the war was about getting political support, but as a long-term goal, it's very flawed reasoning. There will be an initial spurt of USA USA USA rallying, but when people start coming home in bags and there's no end in sight, the country starts questioning the war, and they lose support bigtime.

Similarly, right now they're on top and leading members of the corporatocracy, but looks at what happens to captains of industry in Latin America and other places: they and their families have to be surrounded by armed guards 24/7 so they don't get kidnapped or shot, and there are inevitably cracks in the armor and before you know it your daughter is being held at gunpoint. Do they really think this is good? Because this is the logical outcome. They're lucky that we're just throwing pies and salad dressing instead of grenades. It's easier to fall from positions of power and prestige than it is to get up there in the first place. And what's the fun of being wealthy and powerful if you're living in fear of the common people? They just don't seem to me to have thought this through.

[dansolo]

24. But the people who follow them are

People keep voting for these cretens while the plunder the Treasury.

[Goldmund]

25. Oh, nobody is disputing that.

But that is just another proof of their brilliance: they are getting people to vote against their own interests. The art of politics is, among other things, the art of playing stupid people like violins. That's more true for some political movements than others; these particular people (neocons) are particularly good at that, and for a reason: their goals are so dissonant with any public interest by any definition of that phrase that they by default have to play their game by playing the stupidity card. Hence the glorification of stupidity embodied in Chimpy, hence their anti-intellectualism, etc.

[nonconformist]

2. Awesome quote

Adding that to my collection.

[aquart]

4. This needs to be an ad in the NYT, LAT, WSJ, CSM...

All by itself.

[Desertrose]

6. That would be sweet, wouldn't it??

Sure makes a point, doesn't he....he was either a very farsighted man or he had some inside info on what was coming down the pike....

[Finn MacCool]

7. Eisenhower also was the first to warn of the military industrial

complex becoming too powerful

[Desertrose]

9. He obviously saw it beginning back then....

too bad we didn't pay a bit more attention....


hindsight is always much clearer than the current muddle we are in though...

[AntiCoup2K4]

30. He saw it beginning, because they were the people who put him there.

Ike was an "old golfing buddy" of Prescott Bush, and it was Grandpa Bush who introduced Ike to Dick Nixon, who became his running mate. It wouldn't surprise me if Grandpa Prescott and his friends intentions at the time were to continue the fascist coup they had attempted against FDR earlier, and thought that who would be better to lead it than the man who defeated their old buddy Hitler.

Eisenhower probably had no idea of their agenda going into office, but his numerous warnings to the people suggest it didn't take him long to figure it out. It's just too bad that his warnings weren't taken seriously.

[ggppink]

10. Doesn't this belong in the Politics forum?

[Goldmund]

12. Welcome to DU

GD and GDP have been pretty fluid and intersecting in substance. I've never seen anything get moved from GD to GD/P or vice versa.

You'll most often see things get moved out of LBN into GD or GDP, or GD/GDP into the Lounge.

[Desertrose]

14. Hi gg...welcome to DU ...and yes, I debated

but figured since we are a political board...either GD or GD-politics was suitable for this one.:)

[NMMNG]

21. Gee, I've read that somewhere before

Where could it be....???

[Bozita]

32. Excellent quote. Didn't Barry Goldwater warn us about the changing ...

... complexion of the Republican party?

IIRC, it was shortly before his death.

[Just Me]

37. Apparently, a spot of wisdom completely forgotten by repubs.

I just wish they would listen to what we fellow Americans have to say instead of creating enemies of us. I wish they would STOP listening to those who don't give a f*ck about their interests or well-being,...those who are betraying them and USING them.

*sigh*