Friday, August 15, 2008

Politics: McCain - Unfit to lead



This version of the video is a draft that has spelling errors but it got the early web momentum so I am just going with it. If the spelling bothers you then the final version can be found here.

I am sick of the Rove attack machine. I am sick of McCain using Rove as an adviser who comes up with character smears and gimmicks. Now we have a new swiftboat style book being released by the same old Rove operatives. It will go #1 on the NYT best seller list because Right wing organizations are buying them in bulk and giving them away. It is full of made up facts and footnotes that point to the authors opinions in other books. . it is easily debunked but people will be parroting what it says anyway.

Politics used to be like fencing. People would duel but it was mostly honorable and fair. Stuff got dirty but it wasn't really the norm. Somewhere around Reagan or Dukakis or at least by election 2000 the Republicans started to bring guns to this sword fight and institutionalizing dirty politics, literally, so that today it almost happens on an assembly line. Unfortunately, the Democrats still think they are fencing.

I don't believe that people will one day just get sick of the dirty politics and stop listening. It is a very old profession. I think it is more likely that they will start seeing politics as something like professional wrestling and the one who doesn't put on a great show, with the help of their most rabid fans, is the weaker candidate regardless of qualifications.

My suggestion is that it's time to bring our own guns to this gun fight. People of conscience don't like to fight dirty anymore than they like to get violent or go to war. Unfortunately, sometimes, it is necessary for self defense. Obama can take the high road just like Bush did. He believes that this is "politics of the past" and that's fine. That won't stop the past from taking pot shots at him in the present, though. That also shouldn't stop this kind of pushback work from the grass roots. We've been waiting for the moment to arrive when the web can successfully compete with TV and publishing as a powerful messaging machine. I say it's that time is here and now. . and this is how we prove it.

I believe a good viral video can work just like a swift boat book in todays environment, only in this case we don't need to lie, or come up with the cash to publish a book and then buy it back from ourselves. With the strength of video, we can create the exact same kind of message to millions of people as a counter punch. We can get people talking and emailing each other and the next thing you know something from the video is coming up in everyday conversation. Many people don't understand how powerful this medium is becoming these days.

I didn't set these standards of institutionalized dirty politics but it's time we began using our new system to beat up on the old system in self defense. So thatis why I made this video. So we cold have our own "taste of their own medicine" payback device. Use it to help make the case. Use it to help relieve your frustration. Use it as payback. . . use it as an email link!

Copy and paste this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEmPZoRVRII

For the record much of the stuff in this video is already out there as common knowledge and the less familiar stuff is backed up by sources including Wikipedia, McCain's own biography, and work by The US Veterans Dispatch. I DO use audacity and the snarky Republican tone. I DON'T just make this stuff up.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW! Unfit To Lead is blistering, witty, funny, thoughtful and dead-on.

I've enjoyed it so much I've watched it now a few times in a row and have forwarded the video link to my friends.

Great job!

lynx said...

Excellent job!
(How does being shot down qualify a person for leadership anyway? I don't *get* it)

Great point about the press, too. All this non-stop scandal-mongering about John Edwards, who is no longer running for president, but McCain, who *is* running:
*crickets chirping*

Somehow they have a new McGod now o.0
Here we go with the creepy cult stuff again. It's blasphemy to criticize or dissent.

With a few but important exceptions.

Thanks for speaking out ;D

Anonymous said...

You got the repugs going wingnuts over this ("B.b.bbut it can't be true! blahblah") . Some of them may even do a little research and read a few things for a change. Hell, you're also doing them a favor.

Anonymous said...

Why would you add the ludicrous "against God and military honor" line? Why would you even give credibility to the idea of superstition?

Proud2bHumble said...

Great vid :), I emailed it to my winger rellies, thanx.

I think you've found your 'special purpose', not that I mean to be The Jerk, so please, "Don't delete me bro!"

;-}

Proud2bHumble said...

Hehehe

;-}

Plisko said...

"Why would you add the ludicrous "against God and military honor" line? Why would you even give credibility to the idea of superstition?"

God is very important to some people and, according to the Bible, adultery makes a person just as "unfit" as homosexuality, bestiality, and other "perversions." Adultery is in the 10 commandments. That's a pretty big deal to people of God.

Just because others may not believe in these things doesn't mean it isn't worth pointing out to those who do.

Plisko said...

Just to be clear I don't personally see homosexuality as a perversion. I was just putting it in the context of bible worshiper beliefs. To those people an adulterer and a sodomite should be exactly the same. Adulterers used to be stoned to death. Christianity also spells out very clearly that remarrying is the same as adultery.