But to what genuine avail? What is it that we're seeking to accomplish by doing so? Feeling good about ourselves, is that it? Because if that's it, it is nothing but mental masturbation: we're doing one thing, but not at all what we think we're doing; feeling good, but going nowhere.
On this we might profit by taking a few clues from Dancing With the Stars, and the criticisms frequently offered by judge Len Goodman, "Your technique was just absolutely wonderful, but you're just not connecting with the audience," and judge Bruno Tonioli, "Your technique was a little weak, you missed a few steps, here and there, but I loved your passion, and the way you connected with the audience - it was just fantastic!" The audience we've got to connect with is not 'us,' it's them, all those folks who either did not catch the fact that Palin was reciting the McCain campaign's talking points, or did and do not and will not care. Face it, Sarah Palin did in fact connect with the audience she had to connect with.
Or, another way to regard the battle situation is to be much like that of a football coach. He never denigrates or disparages the opponent, he respects the opponent for its strengths, and constantly looks for ways to meet them head on, or for ways to outmaneuver those strengths.
I wonder whether I'm making myself clear. Essentially what it comes down to is this: We need to cut the nonsense about Palin and talking points, and get to the real task, that of concentrating our energies, pointing out to all who she really is beneath the veneer, and how neither we nor the world just cannot afford it, the risk of Palin heading to the repair shop when things go awry.
Here are the most recent facts. An additional 159,000 jobs were lost in September. (Labor Department) Average factory production was 4% lower in September. (Commerce Department) The DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average; 30 companies) has lost 4,000 points in just the last month. In that same period, more than $1 TRILLION just evaporated from the stock market. Read this as IRA and 401(k) deterioration. US auto sales, for all manufacturers, is off 30%! The ISM (Institute for Supply Management) reported that US manufacturing posted its worst single-month decline since 1984 (That was mid-Ronald Reagan, by the way.) The prices for raw goods inventory was up 6.2% in September, one of the worst inflation indicators in nearly thirty years! Housing values continue to sink unabated, while foreclosures continue to accelerate at record rates.
THOSE are the issues we need to pound hard, those and how Senator John McCain's voting history and his past statements offer clear evidence that not one thing is being offered by him that might ever portend a departure from the policies that have been devastating, and that threaten even greater devastation in the future. NOT ONE THING!
As to Governor Palin, we need to ensure our relatives, friends and associates are reminded that her cute, snappy "you becha" repartee will likely prove a poor salve to them when their life's savings and other assets are fully in the toilet and she has no clue whatsoever concerning either what happened, or how to solve the problem. Or, better yet, ask them whether they today truly want to trust everything they have and hope to have to Governor Palin's care. Because, via their votes, that's what they're really talking about. EVERYTHING!
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