This is what Republicans think will swing independents over into their camp? Officially approving a resolution that amounts to childish name calling?

Given the complete lack of complaint about name-calling routinely directed against Republicans and conservatives (Glenn Greenwald, for example, routinely calls anyone he disagrees with “neocon” and “warmonger” with no consequence other than his continued elevation as a beloved firebrand of the liberal blogosphere), it is not possible to take seriously your outrage at this “rebranding”. This seems nothing other than just a continuation of your tired “anything Republicans do is automatically wrong” script.

Also, the name-calling directed at Republicans on this very thread is a hilarious example of hypocrisy in action, also to no objections from those outraged at the Republicans when they are doing the name-calling.

Absolutely. Most people see conservative economics as trickle-down economics, and they are only getting trickled on by credit card and health insurance companies etc.

And Aaron is right. Obama did not create the TARP; the lead role in developing that program went to Henry Paulson (Bush’s Republican SecTreas.) On the other hand, TARP was opposed by most Congressional Republicans (along with some progressive Democrats in Congress.)

Furthermore, all these big, scary ’socialist” actions were initiated by the industry leaders themselves. Congress didn’t go to Detroit and kick in the doors at GM–it was the suits at all these places that went crawling and sniveling to the government, “Oh please, please, we made such a mess of things. We don’t want to lose the tailor-made shirts on our backs–can you please help us?”

The ugly truth is that the radical anarchists and anarchocapitalists were stabbed in the back by the very titans of finance and industry they helped created, nurture, and champion. The big suits, the heroes of the “free market” never wanted to play by the rules to begin with. They privatized profits and socialized losses, all the way to the bank. Like so many shell-shocked war veterans, folks like EI don’t have emotional and psychological capacity to deal with such a shocking, cataclysmic turn of events. So they shut down and project their anger elsewhere. They got a bad case of PTSD: “Post-TARP Socialist Disorder.”

Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com

I’m shocked that something so dumb and pointless and inflammatory has reached the level of the party leadership committee. Can we expect the DNC to follow suit, and declare that from now on the Democatic Party is going to call the GOP Bob, or Ted, or Alice? Or the Fragmented Anger-spewing Whackjob Party?

The saddest thing is that such actions are a pathetic shadow of what the party needs to do. They can’t change reality by assigning new names. Clearly many on the right are so upset and stunned by the recent turn of events that they can’t get past anger and denial to the acceptance and determination that it will take for them to rebuild.

That can only begin when the GOp is able to mount a sane issue by issue opposition to proposed new democratic policies which
1) explains what is wrong with the new policy from a perspective the public understands and shares

and 2)presents a sensible and viable specific alternative that would achieve similar useful goals that the public supports

I continue to notice how willfully conservatives are ignoring the obvious widespread evidence of just how much your average joe bag-of-donuts feels that conservative economic views have been discredited by the economic collapse of 2008 onward.

There! Fixed.

Steele’s memo is pretty much on target. The Dems are indeed exhibiting a march towards “European-style socialism,” but playing branding games would accomplish little other than to exacerbate partisan polarization in unproductive ways.

And those poor bastards are forced to run wild in the streets, aimless, leaderless, living on rats and eating dirt to soothe their hunger pangs, at the mercy of medical care dispensed by witches who oft times turn the poor victims into zombies.

The . . . horror. The . . . horror.

God, it’s hell when a government goes “socialist.” It’s just amazing that, oh, 90% of the world’s wealthy, developed nations are more “socialist” than we are. Pity the starving children of Norway, Sweden, Britain, France, Italy and Germany. Won’t someone feed little Hans?

What those guys need is some more of the laissez-faire that has made Somalia such a model of prosperity.

People: we’ve existed on a socialist spectrum since at least FDR. We were semi-socialist even under Saint Ronnie O’Reagan. Every modern and successful government on the face of the earth is to one degree or another, socialist.

So, spare us the condescending lectures about the poor ignorant Americans who don’t even understand the term, the silly suckers.

Is the GOP going to do away with Social Security? Medicare? The FDA? The FTC? The Departments of Education and HHS? No? Not so much? Then spare us the name-calling crap. We’re arguing about whether we push the slider 2% one way or the other.

And if you don’t want more “socialism” how about next time you’re in power you don’t destroy the entire economy? Just a thought.

It’s not much of a mental journey. Nationalized banks. Nationalized mortgage companies. Nationalized automotive manufacturing (with a healthy chunk run by the great proletariat, so deftly represented by the UAW). Nationalized healthcare. Nationalized insurance. And this list is just from Mr. Obama’s first hundred days or so. If the GOP gets ahold of a genuinely smart marketer, it’s a pretty easy task to stitch these together into a betrayal of the American spirit, the core purpose of a nation that was created to be a place for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Especially when/if stories of union corruption begin to surface, more billions (hundreds of billions) are pumped into these companies as bailouts, inflation begins to creep up, energy prices begin to increase again, etc.

So while this particular way of shaping the message is ham-handed, the left would be remiss to dismiss.

Guys, as silly as the “rebranding” thing is, any sane, logical person would have to at least understand the point of view that the democrat party has taken actions since January that are absolutely “socialist” actions.

Obamapologists please explain why I’m wrong. But leave the spin and wordsmithing to a minimum, if you will.