Wednesday, March 05, 2008

A Political Lesson!

A young woman was about to finish her first year of
college. Like so many others her age, she considered
herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and among other
liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes
to support more government programs, in other words
redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather
staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed.
Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and
the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her
father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to
keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition
to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more
government programs. The self-professed objectivity
proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she
indicated so to her father.

He responded by asking how she was doing in school.
Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had
a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain,
insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load
and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go
out and party like other people she knew.

She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really
have many college friends because she spent all her time
studying. Her father listened and then asked, How is your
friend Audrey doing? She replied, Audrey is barely getting
by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and
she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus;
college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the
parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for
classes because she's too hung over.

Her wise father asked his daughter, why don't you go to
the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your GPA
and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you
will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a
fair and equal distribution of GPA. The daughter, visibly
shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back,
'That's a crazy idea. How would that be fair? I've worked
really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and
a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing
toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, 'Welcome
to the Republican Party'.

Whoever wrote this, deserves a big round of applause.
Maybe if some of these "hot-shot" college rookies,
who are backing Obama, took a closer look at his policies,
they might get the point!

Momentum and Ginsu Politics

Sen. Clinton and Amy Poehler of SNL

"in the last several ... I seem to get the first question all the time. And I don't mind. I -- you know, I'll be happy to field them, but I do find it curious, and if anybody saw Saturday Night Live, you know, maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and needs another pillow.

I just find it kind of curious that I keep getting the first question on all of these issues. But I'm happy to answer it."
—Sen. Hillary Clinton, MSNBC Ohio Debate 2008

The truth was she wasn’t happy about the way her campaign was going nor was she happy with the media coverage so with this one masterfully laid criticism Sen. Clinton was able to flip the script on the media and Sen. Obama. Sen. Clinton changed the national dialogue from exulting Sen. Obama to poor Hillary can’t catch a break.

Based on the subtle but insidious critique that the media had been soft on Sen. Obama but hard on her, Sen. Clinton was able to sic the media attack dogs on Sen. Obama, making the last couple of days his worst, while she laughed it up on SNL and on the Jon Stewart show. Thusly turning the momentum in her favor.

Sen. Clinton pointed out a perceived injustice against her, “the boys piling up on her again” but this time it was the media piling up on her and her point was that it was so blatant that even SNL had seen it and spoofed it.

Sen. Obama could have been cut with a Ginsu knife and not known he was cut (until he saw the bleeding) because that is exactly the effect that Sen. Clinton’s complaint had with voting Liberals and Democrats.

Obama didn’t even realize that he was bleeding until he lost Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island last night.

Momentum’s a funny thing. Though you don’t really see it when it begins to change, you can see it’s after effects but only when its much too late to do anything about it.

Seizing the momentum Sen. Clinton went on to appear on SNL before the March 4 primaries to further emphasize her allegations of the media unfairness towards her and alleged favoritism of Sen. Obama. SNL was only too happy to oblige. (See below)



And then as a coup de grĂ¢ce Sen. Clinton made an appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart just before the voting. (see below)



Again Sen. Clinton made the point that she was somehow being treated unfairly. The result?

Sen. Obama is just now realizing that he has been cut and that he’s losing momentum fast!