I know sometimes we have to put a positive spin on not so good news. We have to look for the bright side of life, just so 'the team' can be motivated to carry on. Other times he have to be brutally honest; telling the truth can motivate when people get complacent.

In the winter, with the thousands of people who marched in Wisconsin in the snow, it looked like those crowds would be a force to be reckoned with. When calls for recall where in the air, thousands signed petitions to recall Republican candidates. Ah, the smell of victory was in the air. Lest we forget, which many have in less than two days, the day of the recall election when there was a need to recall at least 3 candidates to get a tie in the legislature and 4 would be the magic number to gain the majority, there were many on the liberal side who were predicting sweeps. I saw them and heard them on TV and radio thinly contain their glee at the prospect of pulling it off. There where the stats they quoted, of this being a Presidential turn out of voters, of long lines at precincts. At halls they showed large crowds cheering, sure they were in the middle of a historic victory for labor, for the little guy against the corporate, soulless money machine. A few pundits were brave enough to predict if the liberals couldn't win with these conditions, with this perfect storm, there was no way they could win anywhere else. There was talk of the energy of the liberals sweeping across the nation, leading Obama to victory.

Funny how human nature and reality can ruin a perfectly good Hollywood ending.

The Democrats only one two seats out of six. Control stayed with the Republicans. The spin started soon after the loss was inevitable, trying to bring up the spirits of the crowds, both in Wisconsin and throughout the country. What has surprised me has been how willing liberals and progressives have been willing to drink the kool-aid. Every excuse and changing of the facts have been done. Blame has been put on the millions of dollars poured into the campaigns by the evil Koch brothers. The spin was put on that even with the loss, the scare of losing two seats will make the Republicans tremble.

Let's be realistic of what really happened. One of the politicians who lost was the infamous one who had left his wife to be with his mistress who happened to live in another district. Not only his wife but his maid signed the petition for recall. IN any normal circumstance he would have been voted out of office. With those odds, they may have, on the face of it, really ousted just one. The guy with the mistress was a gimme. One politician targeted for removal fought off the challenge.

Now instead of the sugar coated fantasy being passed off to people, what can be learned from this? It is the same lesson being missed nationally when people talk about the President. Politics isn't a movie. Jimmy Stewart isn't going to give an impassioned speech and pass out in the Senate, thus showing is devotion to the body. Kevin Kline isn't going to have a televised budget meeting and shame people into making cuts in a bill to save a pet project. We can't rely on the magic Negro to say some inspiring words and cause people all over the country to change their ways. The biggest thing I see is people thinking changing minds is little more that showing up a few days, maybe contributing money and then underestimating the 'laziness' of the people to get off their collective butts and getting to work.

When the Wisconsin protests were happening in the winter, it took some time before the national media showed up and they were surprised with the large crowds. That only inspired people who wanted to be in the spotlight to join in. They weren't true believers; they were glory hogs. When the cameras left and you needed the real work to be done, sure you had people who helped out, but many still had the glory hound mentality. They would be there as long as the cameras were there, as long as the national spotlight was on them. When it was gone, you couldn't count on them being as fired up as the true believers. The people who were true believers overestimated their power. They saw the crowd numbers and figured it would be an easy victory. The thing is the energy of the summer couldn't be sustained until the summer of August. Pundits talked about huge voting crowds and Presidential turn out. When all was said and done, instead of the 60% or higher of a Presidential election you had the more modest number of 40%. A strong turn out to be sure, but not one to ensure a historic victory.

Instead of telling the truth, the progressive pundits want to keep with the fantasy. As time goes on, when things sink in when the crowds leave, more may get discouraged, more might get angry with the failed state of affairs, and conclude it might not be worth it to vote.

<< PREVIOUS
NEXT >>

Copyright © Chaotic Fringe LLC. All rights reserved.

Liberals, Stop Lying to the Base about Wisconsin - August 11, 2011
Home | News | Entertainment | Blog | Podcast | IMVN | Everquest 2 | Links | Photos | V-Blog