Republicans enjoyed a hate fest last night, spending a lot of time trashing grassroots community organizing. Yet they claim to understand America at the grassroots level. This was one of the best examples that i've seen that says plainly that they don't get it.
This nation was built on Community organizing.
After all of these months of the Republicans and their lap dogs in the media painting Barack Obama as an elitist... you couldn't get more elitist than the Republicans were at their Convention. Keep in mind... the theme for that particular day was "prosperity"... (Prosperity for them). Who were the speakers? Corporate elites. After the rich CEO's finished speaking...Mike Huckabee gave his speech. Huckabee, in a roundabout way, suggested that Americans who are struggling were whiners who were waiting for the Government to rescue them.
And they capped the night off with an attack on grassroots community organizing, with Giuliani and Palin.
Amazing!
Roland Martin struck back with a great response:
The Obama camp issued a response shortly after
Hopefully Obama will speak on this later in the week.
Unbelievable!
Of course, the speeches focused on attacking Obama rather than talking about their record over the past 8 years...or laying out a detailed plan for how they would deal with healthcare, jobs, and the issues that voters are most concerned about.
They stuck to their usual themes of war, 9/11, Terrorism, family values, scaring voters, and pushing the myth that they somehow have a monopoly on patriotism.
When will this sickness end?
Thursday, September 04, 2008
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2 comments:
Hi AI
I was aghast as well at the venom and bile that the Repubs aimed at Obama on a personal level. Belittling and mocking him. What took the cake was the absolute belittlement of community organizing as a profession.
What really got my goat was their cooptation of anti-Establishment Populist rhetoric and symbolism. I felt like I was watching an episode of the Twilight Zone. It's like the Establishment are portraying themselves as not just champions of the little guy -- but that THEY THEMSELVES ARE THE LITTLE GUYS AND ESTABLISHMENT OUTSIDERS out to reform Washington. Huh?
There really was nothing substantive discussed on the specifics on how actual "little guys" will benefit from four more years of a Republican administration. No mention was made of health care, education, unemployment, the economy, reforming or ditching free-trade policies like NAFTA, etc.
I found it interesting how the Republicans scoffed and ridiculed community organizing last night. I was under the impression that community organizing was part of the Republican "Thousand Points of Light" in terms of how they want to deal with social and economic problems.
From GHWB's first (and only) inaugural address, lauding community organizations as "a thousand points of light":
"I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good. We will work hand in hand, encouraging, sometimes leading, sometimes being led, rewarding. We will work on this in the White House, in the Cabinet agencies. I will go to the people and the programs that are the brighter points of light, and I will ask every member of my government to become involved. The old ideas are new again because they are not old, they are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in."
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