Kittypie070: soupafi 2012-03-12 07:34:10 PM

Are the republicans doing this on purpose????

Yes, they are.

And it works.

The derposphere will come out from their gun encrusted caves and vote for him.

There was a scene in the Game Change movie on HBO where Palin tells one of her aides to load her speech into the teleprompter. Is that one of the things Breitdead says is a lie?

downstairs: I tried, only made it through about a minute of the first episode.

wow, a whole minute, eh?

jjorsett: vartian: That's some good small government conservatism for 'ya right there.

I don't know what's funnier, the implicit jab at Obama or that partisan-crazed morons actually think he meant it literally.

[i42.tinypic.com image 316x266]

Oh, we know it was a Sarah Palin-esque whiny biatch comment about Obama. But I would like to see a reporter call him on his whiny biatchedness.

"Senator, you said that you would like to make it illegal for politicians to use teleprompters when campaigning for President, because you believe that if they use teleprompters when speaking, their words would not be their own, but the words of their speech writers."

"That's right. I think-"

"And what would the fine be if a politician were to break this new law?"

"Well, I don't-"

"Would it be a simple fine that they could mail in, or would they have to go to court over it?"

"Look, I-"

"Or would it be something more serious, like a policeman coming along and arresting them for such an illegal act? Taking them away in handcuffs?"

"Okay, let's-"

"Since you have used a teleprompter on a few occasions while campaigning recently, what fine or penalty do you think that YOU personally should pay?"

"Okay, stop. I'm just a stupid whiny little biatch and I made that comment in order to irritate rationally-thinking people. That's all. I'm just a petty little man and I have petty little thoughts, and a lot of them don't make any sense, but on a reptilian-brain level, you can see where I was going with that, right? I was just saying that Obama doesn't speak for himself. Or at least I'd sincerely like to believe that, and more importantly, I'd like my stupid supporters to believe that. Anybody with half a brain can see that Obama is a good speaker if he's in front of a teleprompter or not, but my constituents aren't those people. My constituents have about a quarter of a functioning brain at best. My constituents can only dream of a day where they could have half of a functioning brain. 'Ooh, look at me! I have a full half use of my brain today! I think I'll tie my shoes and think about what I'm going to do today at the same time! This is great! Look! I'm rubbing my belly and patting myself on the head! Oh, what a wonderful day this is! I think I'll stop voting Republican! Wheeee!' Those are my stupid constituents, and I am proud to be one of them!"

"...thank you for your time, Senator."

Smoking GNU: Kibbler: GOP: "Obama uses a teleprompter!!!11"

Translation: "We've got nothing. Nothing!"

They've had nothing since bush, and they know it. Thus the insanity.

I care not for the insanity of candidates, the concern I have is of the electorate which is motivated by it to support them.

Lando Lincoln:
Oh, we know it was a Sarah Palin-esque whiny biatch comment about Obama. But I would like to see a reporter call him on his whiny biatchedness.

And there's the rub. The media has abdicated its roe as the critical voice of the people. It is complicit in the message of desperation.

Terrible Old Man: I don't have a problem with this. I'd actually like my politicians knowing what the hell they are talking about for once and you should too.

Not that they'll stand beside a single thing they're saying mind you...

Knowing what they are talking about is important, certainly. But I'm a teacher; I talk for a living, and I know how helpful cues can be. I use PowerPoint slides to organize my lectures, but I understand that political candidates can't always do that. The TelePrompTer takes the place of slides, reminding the speaker of the organization and structure of the speech. I do not have a problem with using those, any more than I have a problem with someone reading from a script. Ad libbing is a useful skill, but it's not always appropriate.

Ultimately, it's about an attempt to deny an opponent an advantage.

The problem being, that EVEN if they managed to figure out how to deny the use of tech in elections, and only specific tech, the GOP would then be stuck with it as well.

And do you really want to hear Eric Cantor trying to ad lib a speech? Do you really want to see Newt Gingrich trying to control his contempt for his fellow humans without words directly in front of him? Do you really want to see Mitch McConnel try to rein in his turtley dickishness when on the campaign trail?

It's a nice idea--he's only a better speaker because he has better speech writers and practices more--but then again, if you support free speech, and you support a free market, wouldn't you then support hiring the best speech writers? It rests on the idea that anyone can just spew words on a screen, and is essentially an attempt to muzzle a guy who keeps making great speeches, while downplaying their own somewhat muddled message, by making the false assertion that they'd be equal, if only there wasn't that teleprompter.

It isn't the tech. It's the ideas contained in those speeches, and power of actual oratory--something that not a lot of GOP candidates seemed to have studied as part of their classical education. Yes, it is unfair that a black man actually watched and listened to the clergy of his youth, and learned the lessons that come from watching powerful speakers, while folks like Santorum just sort of glossed those things over, played with their papers, and looked at their watches.

It's not all equal. As a tactic, it's understandable that you'd want to follow the Rove playbook by trying to paint an opponent's strength as a weakness, but in practice, it's harder than it looks, and Rick just isn't all that gifted...

_{*clears throat*}

Excuse me, JLEM.

Do NOT.

Make fun.

Of the CHILD.

**SMACK!!**