Enough with the stupid little "gotcha" stories, for fuck's sake.

[smoogatz]

I don't care if Hillary left a tip, or if she cackles when some Faux Nooze dipshit asks her a stupid question. I don't give a rat's ass if Obama wears a lapel pin or puts his hand over his heart. I don't give a flying fuck at a rolling donut hole about the price of Edwards' haircuts or the size of his house: he can wear a wig made of Princess Di's pubic hair and live in the frickin' Taj Mahal for all I care. I don't care that Kucinich's wife is a foot taller than him and has a tongue stud (!), or even that he saw a UFO. Politicians are people and people do all kinds of weird human shit, and that's just fine with me. I care about their ideas, I care about their ability to lead the country and run the government, I care about what they're going to do about Iraq and the looming fiscal crisis (advice to investors: sell!) and global warming and healthcare and national security. I don't give a shit about the rest of it, and I don't understand why half of DU seems to think this picky little bullshit matters. If someone could offer up a rational explanation, I'd appreciate it.

Rant off. Thanks for listening.

[maddiejoan]

1. K&R

[Sparkly]

2. Hear, hear!!

:applause:

[Berry Cool]

3. Do you realize where the world would be if EVERYONE thought like you?

We might actually elect some good leaders.

Oh, and Chris Matthews would be out of a job.

[mikelgb]

4. I propose a posting moratorium for 1 full day

NO POSTS OR REPLIES ON DU

IT IS DISTRESSING THE MEMBERS

[NC_Nurse]

5. I concur.

Sadly, I think this will continue. Just like the stupid stories about Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan.
I guess it makes the networks moeny. :eyes:

[liberalmuse]

6. LOL, Thank you!

I guess I'm in a foul mood, because I'm so irrated with the 'Hillary farted!' stories. Who cares? I'm also irritated with people on this board who order others to post or think a certain way. That makes me want to do very violent things. Like I said, I'm in a foul, foul mood. I do have to say that hearing the news about it's veto being overridden made me laugh with joy. Anyway, thank you for this. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who is sick of this tripe.

[JuniperLea]

9. Ordering others on DU!!!!

Yep! That will piss me off more than just about anything around here. All the high and mighty, self-proclaimed perfect people who know oh, so much better than the rest of us! They tell us how to act, how to think, and worst of all, they call us delusional and other screwed up things when we don't agree with them.

Not very liberal, is it?

[11 Bravo]

90. For shit's sake, try reading the damned post.

You weren't "ordered" to do a fucking thing. The OP pointed out that they are bored by some of the nitpicking bullshit which some people at DU feel passes for informed discourse. It bores me to tears as well. Surely you're not "ordering" me not to express the fact that many here find said bullshit tedious to the point of narcolepsy?

[FloridaJudy]

7. Amen! n/t

:thumbsup:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. Best rant I've seen in ages!

Timely and to the point. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :toast:

[Yael]

10. Adding a rec

:thumbsup:

[Patsy Stone]

11. Why don't you take a flying fuck at the moooooooooon?

Great rant!

I don't know the answer, but I think it has to do with the dumbing down of America and the fact that the media has become so programmed to look for the negative, they lose the plot.

[smoogatz]

14. Thanks.

Any friend of Mr. Vonnegut's is a friend of mine.

[Patsy Stone]

18. RIP

To your point, Chris Matthews is currently doing some very important investigative work on why Hillary claps so much on the campaign trail.

:eyes:

[Wiley50]

23. Hillary got The Clap on the Campaign Trail? From Chris Matthews?

Gotcha!

[Yael]

29. LOL!!!

:rofl:

Well played. :D

[Mnemosyne]

36. I applaud your insight and diagnostic abilities!

:applause:

Is there an epidemic of applause out there? Frightening. :evilgrin:

[n2doc]

66. Been thinking along the same lines for a long time

Starting with all of the crap about Edwards' house and Gore's house. We are sooooooooo easily distracted, at least too many of us are.

[progpen]

12. Now that's just crazy talk!

People don't want to listen to news, they want entertainment, manufactured conflict, name calling, and petulant whining because you don't have to think in order to be entertained. Real news is many shades of gray, which means you have to think, and discuss, and maybe learn, which is hard work.

People don't want to hear the truth, they want to hear lies. And not just little white lies, but the huge, monstrous, "in your face", "I dare ya to call me on it", "what reality are you living in" lies. Because lies are easy. Easy to tell and easy to believe, no matter how stupid or immoral. The 'willing suspension of disbelief' is the law of the land.

Convenience is our God given right, and thinking and personal responsibility just don't fit the American lifestyle any more.

[kenfrequed]

13. Gee

Unlike Hillary gotcha stories, ones that attack the other candidates like Obama and Edwards are recycled frequently on the magical medium of television.

And Kucinich doesn't have to wait for hit pieces on Fox news, he gets attacked with absurd triviality right up on the debate stage.

So Hillary has to deal with a few obscure bits of stories dredged up and put up here, Big Friggin deal. My only complaint is that there are far more damning things on her record that she still hasn't addressed.

Moreover my sympathy bar will be minimal until ALL of the presidential candidates get equal time up on the debate stage!

[emilyg]

15. Kick

[Canuckistanian]

16. Hear, Hear

And each of these little gems are offered as the KILLER of candidate X's campaign.

[gateley]

17. Thank you! nt

Edit - Man, I'm tired.

[truedelphi]

19. K & r'ed...

Normally I'm not a fan of Hillary but the thing about her abusing cats made me feel for her. If Socks was happy with his home with the secretary, so what??
And the thing about her "Cackle" What is that?? Any of the D. candidate's have a more pleasant laugh that Mr W and his Beavis and Butt head-perverted "heh-heh"

The Talking Heads are very very sick. I was gonna say, "Sick people," but caught myself in time.

[MinneapolisMatt]

20. Post. Of. The. Year.

THANK YOU.

[Subdivisions]

21. Word. n/t

[Kaylee]

22. THANK YOU!!!! nt.

[shenmue]

24. Wow. Me too.

People love to argue about crazy things. It doesn't make a difference, and it just alienates people. :(

[Strelnikov_]

25. Agree. During the 04 primaries there was acrimony, but at least the

discussion revolved around issues and elect-ability.

The primary season this time around is like some Junior High student council race.

[xxqqqzme]

72. and it hasn't helped that

this election cycle will be nearly TWO years long. I know it is corporate media controlled...but why? Are we all supposed to be sooooo sick 'n tired of it all, that no one will want to vote?
or will the corporate media announce the new president before anyone even goes to the polls to pretend to vote?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. If they're going to set up and pose for photo-ops they deserve what they get.

Instead of putting forth their stands on issues they parade around pretending to be "just like us" and "feeling our pain" they don their L.L. Bean costumes and talk to the ordinary folks...for the cameras and with well-paid advisers telling them what to say.

When they screw it up they whine.

[MLFerrell]

27. Well said, smoogatz.

And as Jay of the Viewaskweniverse would undoubtedly say: Snoogins.

[cali]

28. A five star rant. thanks for that! n/t

[Toasterlad]

30. Sorry, I'm Not Voting for Any Candidate Wearing a Wig of Princess Di's Pubic Hair.

That's just wrong.

[Lilith Velkor]

31. Fuckin A.

:yourock:

[Bongo Prophet]

32. I think you speak for a great number of people on DU and everywhere

We are being inundated with trivial attack BS, psyops and oppo-ratfucking.
Too many here spread it, just because they THINK it helps their candidate. It does not. Rather, it drags us all down.

I don't care who the candidate is, policy differences or even personality/character histories are legit, but keeping it above a certain level would really help. Trouble is, everybody has their own level, and some here are clearly not on the level. :) Unbalanced, I say.

We live in a trivialized, infantilized consumer culture. DU is a microcosm of that, and even a subset of "progressive" members of that culture will have this place a buzzing like flies on shit. And as you can imagine, it doesn't take very much shit to spoil a stew.

That is as rational as I can be right now. The stupid makes my headache worse. Mean+stupid+trivial=major headache.

Hope it helps to just say --you are not alone in this, smoogatz. Thanks for the rant, as this is what I have been feeling the past few days.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

33. 50 pair

of big toes up. thanks.

[DemCam]

34. Yeah, baby...FINALLY!

Wish I'd said it first....but have been thinkin' it for weeks now.

[Mnemosyne]

35. I feel that it comes down to this asinine nitpicking because the campaign

started waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy too early. Everyone's bored already, thus the bs "gotcha" fascination.

I stay out of those type threads most of the time. I learned long ago that you need to choose your battles well and to decide what is important enough to be riled over. Not much is worth such pettiness.

Although I must confess, I do enjoy the 'caption' this threads!

Great rant smoogatz! :woohoo:

[Vektor]

37. I couldn't agree more.

Thanks!

:thumbsup:

[Lugnut]

38. Hear, hear!

Thanks for posting! :toast:

[TheDoorbellRang]

39. The "gotcha" story strategy backfires -- at least for me

I'm still in the "Waiting for Go(re)dot" camp, but I've been looking at other candidates a bit in case I have to decide amongst them. When I see someone from one candidate's camp doing a "neener, neener" story about another candidate, it makes me think less of that candidate's supporter doing the trivial mudslinging, and by extension that person's candidate, for attracting such a petty person.

K&R

[road2000]

55. No, we cannot have Gore at any cost.

He wore earthtones. You wouldn't want to have a beer with him. He sighed. These traits mark him as a definite loser.

Oh, and John Kerry looks French.

------------------------

Also adding my thanks for the OP. Nice touch on a Friday!

[TheDoorbellRang]

93. Heh! Actually, I would like to have a beer with him

:toast:

[Auggie]

40. Kicked. Thanks smoogatz

[watercolors]

41. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Good rant, it gets frustrating to see all the posts that are pure crap!. I find my stomach cannot take much more, and DU is losing a lot of creditability, we look like a bunch of freepers and we should be better than that and stand behind every one of our candidates regardless!

[WinkyDink]

42. ITA, but I also think MUCH if not ALL of the above matters to J.Q. Public, sad to say.

[Toots]

43. But we must have some reasons to hate Hillary...

Why do you hate America?

[OzarkDem]

44. How candidates react to voters on the campaign trail

is important and NOT the same as the cost of a haircut or the color of a suit.

Responding to voters is a measure of the candidate, how they perceive the issues and what they stand for.

[smoogatz]

46. So which story are you referring to?

The "Hillary didn't leave a tip (but her staff did)" story? Or is there another one I haven't heard yet? "Hillary unaware of dryer lint," maybe, or "Edwards kisses goat: thought it was a baby?"

[OzarkDem]

47. Hillary telling the waitress she was proud of her

without really addressing what is wrong with our country that requires people to work 3 jobs in order to barely scrape by.

I do agree w/ you on all the other trivial crap that gets thrown out there, e.g. haircuts, tongue studs, etc. Its going to be an ugly race in 08, the GOP will pull out all the stops.

[Alter Ego]

45. "he can wear a wig made of Princess Di's pubic hair"

Is it wrong that I laughed at this?

Seriously, though, you're right. People, especially the Hillary and Obama factions here, will do anything to smear the other's candidate. I can't stand it--it reminds me too much of 2004.

[mindfulNJ]

48. Oh c'mon!

The media is performing a valuable service here...

After all they did save us from electing a president who sighs a lot and wears BROWN suits! AND what if we had elected that snobby, chardonnay swillin' guy who WINDSURFS!!!!:eyes:








great rant ;)

[The Straight Story]

49. Hell, we do the same for bush, et, al

What's good for the goose :)

[Hobarticus]

50. I appreciate any given candidate's humanity....

Hell, it shows they are real people, after all.

[underpants]

51. Well for crying out loud what else is there to talk about?

This is freaking high school in fancy suits at least as far as most of the DC establishment sees it and certainly how the press sees it. Watch those idiotic pundit shows (aside from KO of course) and all you see is trifling highschool banter about what people did or said or what they are gonna do or say. "Fact Check" is now a highlighted feature why on earth isn't that THE feature???? Because them there is no gray area for the Buchanans and Broders and so forth to not have an actual track record to follow.

[bagrman]

52. Hillary is after the volleyball vote witht all the clapping.

Right, I mean they're always clapping. After a point or good shot, well it could be, ya think, maybe, maybe she played volleyball once.

Latr

[Hardrada]

83. Wheel of Fortune vote where Vanessa is always clapping

when someone guesses a helpful letter.

[nxylas]

53. I guess this is why you don't work in the media

You obviously don't know what's important to voters :sarcasm:

[indimuse]

54. BRAVO!!

thank you.

[alcibiades_mystery]

56. Best line on DU this year

I don't give a flying fuck at a rolling donut hole about the price of Edwards' haircuts or the size of his house: he can wear a wig made of Princess Di's pubic hair and live in the frickin' Taj Mahal for all I care.

That's fucking hilarious!

[LuckyLib]

57. Bravo! Well said. In the same way national TV news has degenerated to info-tainment,

and local news is complete silliness ("Can your dog read your mind?"), DU is experiencing its share of 6 postings on the same topic, and a focus on all the wrong stuff. I won't watch the "debates" -- nothing there but posturing and posing. Keeping fully informed means reading. Lots of Americans do very little of it.

[Kajsa]

58. Thank you, smoogatz!

You speak for me.

You're someone who cares about the REAL ISSUES
and rejects the distractions.

I love it!

Ever notice how much the MSM plays up the distractions?


:hi:

[Gman]

59. "flying fuck at a rolling donut hole"

I like that. Tucking that away in my back pocket for future use!

[sutz12]

60. It sure would be nice to have one election based on principles over personalities.

:shrug:

[shireen]

61. great post, so agree with you! nt

[RufusTFirefly]

62. Waaah!! I miss wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage!!

What's amazing to me about this bread and circuses bullshit is how many supposedly reasonable people look at you with a straight face and defend this sort of trivia and even grow indignant when you ridicule or dismiss it. Sure, there is something to be learned from almost anything -- even a discarded gum wrapper on the sidewalk. But it's a question of a proportional response.

Besides, all these political stories detract from the finite amount of time we have to focus on the truly important stuff, like the continuing repercussions from the Anna Nicole Smith death.

[polmaven]

74. Cheer up, RufusT....

We will soon be having more wall to wall OJ coverage. That oughta refocus all of us.

[road2000]

76. Damn straight.

Bumpersticker:

OJ for President. He's killed fewer people.

[guruoo]

63. K&R, and ....THANK you!

[DutchLiberal]

64. Recommended! Thank you! Excellent post! Now, tell this to the media.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

65. I like that rant.

K&R!

[tandot]

67. I would draw the line if Edwards would wear a "wig made of Princess Di's pubic hair"

I'd have to conclude that there are some minor mental issues he should deal with first :yoiks:

:evilgrin:

[Uncle Joe]

68. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, smoogatz.:thumbsup:

[SaveOurDemocracy]

69. I couldn't agree more ... but ...

you expressed it so much more eloquently than I ever could. :hi:

[Mad_Dem_X]

70. Post of the Day!!!

:applause: :applause: :applause: :patriot:

[Hekate]

71. Thumbs up to a righteous @#$%&!! rant. Some DUers are beyond gullible at this point...

Must back away from keyboard at this point, or I will join you in ranting and it's too early in the day for me.

:hi:

Hekate

[earth mom]

73. Yeah I don't give a flying f*ck about any of it either.

Turn off the corporate media whores people! :argh:

[karlrschneider]

75. The matter admits of no explanation.

Apologies to Asimov...
;-)

[youthere]

77. That's just silly...pubic hair is way too itchy.

[toadzilla]

80. maybe you should get that checked out?

:P

[youthere]

81. NO fear...

It's all taken care of thanks to my friends in Brazil.
:evilgrin:

[debunkthelies]

78. gotcha

I couldn't agree more, ooorah!

[toadzilla]

79. amen!

[RoccoR5955]

82. I've been...

ROTFLMAO for an hour now... I sprayed my coffee out my nose, and had to clean up my keyboard.
I can say that I can agree totally, but the way you put it, it is just so funny!

[Hardrada]

84. Why can't the press ask important questions like the Quemoy

and Matsu issue? I don't think anyone ever resolved that. did they?

[Deep13]

85. Chris Dodd looks like a frog.

[redqueen]

86. Now THIS is a rant I can get behind!

:thumbsup:

[AikidoSoul]

87. You're making total sense, but

even DUers want to be entertained with shallow BS stuff.

We, like the politicians you describe, "...do all kinds of weird human shit..." :evilgrin:

[bjobotts]

88. The waitress called them on it, said you guys are really nuts

Layed it out on the line about soldiers, health ins, torture etc and you are writing about ...this!

Press insults its audience constantly. Only people interested in this shit is them.

[ecstatic]

89. Sorry, but haircut gate was a serious issue

}( Series!

[EV_Ares]

91. Good One smoogatz; maybe now this might end a lot of these stupid

threads about Hillary and the intentional flaming ones to just stir things up.

[frogcycle]

92. I actually logged in for the irst time in a long time just so I could say

You got that right!

Do what I have been doing for a month or so - only visit DU maybe once a week, browse for about a minute, say "still a waste of time" and then go do something else.

I'm going to a John Laesch campaign event at his hq tomorrow - called "turn Dupage blue!"

Won't miss DU a damned bit.

fc

[smoogatz]

94. Yep.

I can feel my blood pressure going up every time I log in. See you in about a week!