The Party That Cried Wolf....

Today was President Obama's feared address to the school kids of America. I wish I could blog about how Obama was superb, and motivational as expected...but that would be lying. The sad fact is, Obama wasn't expected to give a morally sound, non-political, purely motivational speech as he did this morning, it was supposed to be "something Chairman Mao would do" --or at least he wasn't from the right.

But lo and behold, Obama's speech turned out to be harmless after all. I spent the day searching for a single conservative response to the speech that in effect proved his "socialist scheme". Of course, as I was looking I knew I wouldn't find anything, but I thought it would be worth a try. What you did have however, are conservatives claiming, this is a harmless motivational speech. Even the extremes didn't have anything "indoctrination" to say about it. Glenn Beck was silent as far as I know--which was highly disappointing. Limbaugh had no more to say about the "socialist scheme" either...although that did not stop him from spewing some nonsense about how he KNEW Obama did not mean a word of what he said.

However, one thing which surprised me was that there was no apology from the GOP, let alone a single person claiming responsibility for what they spew. Now I am not talking about Beck, or Limbaugh, or any other conservative in the media...it is their job to spew nonsense as part of the Conservative media. However, the elected officials that cried wolf on Obama's speech is another matter entirely. These people are elected to lead the people, and they should take full responsibility for spreading notions that ended up being false. However, the unfortunate truth is they didn't.

Which begs the question...will this idea of the GOP crying wolf eventually turn their constituents off their far-fetched notions? There really hasn't been an event where the GOP's bold faced lies were proven wrong so clearly and quickly. I feel the incessant stream of crap that comes out of the GOP along side with the false-proven indoctrination ideas, those on the moderate right will start to dissociate themselves with those on the extreme end. Eventually what will happen is one of two things...1) the moderate intellectuals in the GOP will take a stand against those on the extreme end and restore the integrity of the GOP (as they did during the Cold War). 2) the GOP will forever be known as the girl who cried wolf.

Paints a pretty picture huh?

Huffington Thanks Beck For His Smear Campaign.

That's right, Arianna Huffington, founder of the notably liberal Huffington Post, thanked Glenn Beck for his vicious smear campaign of Van Jones in her latest blog. Now, now, before you start throwing your wine glasses at your computer screen, it is not what you think. Huffington, despite claiming the contrary, was shedding a positive light on a bad situation. Huffington argues in her blog that despite Jones' being the best qualified person for the position, she feels the the job was not the best position for Jones. She argues that Jones' unique mind and great charisma was ultimately put to waste behind a desk, and that he would be better utilized rallying troops and furthering "green" movements. Ultimately she argues, Glenn Beck running this smear campaign on her long time friend, was for the best.

She is wrong. I don't disagree that Jones' was better suited for a job that utilized his incredible ability to influence minds and further a cause. There is no question in my mind that man who was listed in Time's Magazine 100 most influential people in the world, would be better utilized influencing people rather than punching numbers.

But while Van Jones' may be a good guy, that is better suited away from a desk, as Arianna relentlessly points out in her blog with countless bumper sticker quotes and high achievements, Arianna seems to be missing the big picture. The message sent from the resignation.

The question is not, and never was, is Van Jones suited for the job, or if the job was the best fit for Jones, or even if Jones is really a communist. The question always was is how war can the GOP cross the line and get away with it? How far will the Obama administration let elected officials and political pundits on the right distort the truth and spew nonsense? Will those on the left take a stand and say "enough with your bullshit."? The answer to these questions is no. At least that's the message the left is sending to the right.

This whole thing is bigger than Van Jones, because like Huffington points out, he is better utilized in a job away from the desk anyways. Because if that was the only issue, Arianna would be spot on. But, again, its not.

As the saying goes, you give someone an inch, they will take a mile. And that's exactly what the conservatives have been doing. Over and over the Obama administration, and the left in general have been really giving conservatives a pass over and over when it comes to hypocritical statements, far-fetched notions, and bold faced lies. And those on the right, eagerly accept the lenience on the left and begin their marathon of bullshit. Even those on the left who are supposedly "rock hard" and "immovable" buckle at the conservative incessant wave of smears. Van Jones was supposedly the strongest of the left, one of the few who advocated being "assholes" like the conservatives. So much for that... To make matters worse, it wasn't just Van Jones that ultimately buckled, it was the entire Obama administration that let him fall. Gibbs declined to defend Jones, and the administration as a whole let Jones' go without objecting to his resignation.

Think about the message that sends to the right. If the strongest of the liberals folds to the likes of Glenn Beck, it really is no surprise conservatives are trying to bring down Obama's entire agenda with, really, nothing more than a more elaborate smear campaign. I know what some of you are thinking to yourself right now, only the extreme right really believes these smear campaign crap. Only those on the extreme right is really "mistaken" enough to believe such far fetched notions of fascist communists and indoctrinations. To which I have two questions. The first is: If it is really those only those on the right that believe what comes out from conservative pundits, then why does Jones feel the need to resign and why does Obama not object to it? It is not like the extreme right, or even the moderate right for that matter is the majority. Really what the smear campaign came down to was Fox news. Secondly, what do you think the perception is of Jones and the Obama administration is to those moderates who are really to smart to believe the far-fetched lies of the GOP? The answer is simple, its the same thing me and you are thinking right now. The left is too weak. If Van Jones and the left can't handle Fox news, who can they handle? Ultimately what happens are things like Obama's decreasing poll numbers. People begin losing faith in the administration, and in the left in general.

So, while Arianna makes the best of a bad situation, this is still nothing more than a bad situation. The only thing that will fix it, is a new spine for the left.