Billmon: Great Big Bounce
Right before the convention started, some dickhead on the McCain campaign dangled a memo in front of the Terry Schiavo wannabes in the press, predicting a 15-point post-convention bounce for Obama when all is said and done. At the time, it looked like a moronically obvious attempt to spin the expectations game (so of course, the media zombies gobbled it right up).
But at this point, I'm thinking it may end up looking like wizardry.
Billmon: Great Big Bounce
Posted by b on August 29, 2008 at 7:25 UTC | Permalink
These Conventions are property of the people who paid for them, which is America's plutocrats. America's corporate donors, and America's investor class donors. America's lobbying firms and bundlers, all channeling hundreds of millions of dollars to (usually) both candidates.
The media who are whipping this horse race into a dramatic frenzy are owned by these same corporations and investors. The media's job is to keep the race real close, by character assassination of whomever is a bit ahead at the moment, by spreading whatever poison and whatever praise is needed to keep it real close. Close enough for electronic voting to steal. That's about 12% max, but closer to 5% is comfortable, safe, and easy to steal.
Witness how the media carried McCain along for weeks, while trashing Obama. Now that Obama appears to be up, while McCain is suffering outright fits of dementia, the media will return to whipping Obama, and praising the POW who can do no wrong.
These political parties are the property of the people who paid for them. America's plutocrats.
No one gets to be a candidate without winning the approval of the Owners of our Ownership Society, meaning no one gets to be a candidate unless they are wholeheartedly, soulfully on board with the Owners. So, we aren't going to get anything out of our broken political system that we aren't already reading in the headlines every day. We will get more of the same, a little harder, a little faster.
The fix is in, in so many ways, so many places. There is no point in masturbating over the polls on any given day. They will be adjusted back to a real close horse race in a few days, and whomever the Owners decide on in November will win by a nose.
It has almost nothing to do with you, your life, or your survival through the next ten, twenty, fifty years.
If you don't think about how Oskar Schindler felt as he saw the Reich rising up around him, perhaps you should think about that with this morning's java.
Posted by: Antifa | Aug 29 2008 10:29 utc | 2
Some of us like to read (and think) about "bayesian devolution," and no other thread has given us the occasion to do so....
Posted by: alabama | Aug 29 2008 10:43 utc | 3
Close enough for electronic voting to steal.
polls are used to keep people on the edge of their seats because landslides don't sell and discourage people from participating who are already unenthusiastic. trackers have the means to target whoever they want when they poll to produce the desired result. for me their value lies only in the ability to observe what handlers want us to perceive.
the outcome of this election has already been decided. however the social implications of the nomination discussed in the last billmon thread, exist regardless of the outcome. (which yes i think is valuable but accept others could care less)
i don't understand why anyone bothers w/polls when results directly countering them (as in exit polls) are swallowed w/out complaint anyway. it's just stupid mindless brainwashing to convince us we live in a democracy that is anything but.
Posted by: annie | Aug 29 2008 15:10 utc | 4
Ron Paul on CNN yesterday morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqMhBEYGrXU&eurl=http://housingpanic.blogspot.com/2008/08/ron-paul-throws-fed-and-gop-under-bus.html>re Fed, elections, adventures.
What Rick said.
About Dkos and Billmon I will keep my mouth shut.
Or, with time and courage, write to Billmon directly.
Posted by: Tangerine | Aug 29 2008 21:03 utc | 6
personally, am glad of the billmon threads. Otherwise nowadays I'd never go to dkos at all.
Posted by: plushtown | Aug 29 2008 21:36 utc | 7
For annie,
(Sorry for the long introduction to skip through, the point I wish to make comes after 24 minutes into this video about Political Party affiliation/support.)
It appears to me that Dennis Kucinich is putting “Party before Principle”. The Democratic Party leaders have not agreed with Kucinich on some major political issues– no need for a link, we all know “impeachment is off the table.” In my opinion, these issues that Kucinich brings up are most significant. Regarding U.S. foreign policy, a recent post/thread by b along with good comments by MOA participants highlight a central issue of withdrawing U.S. (and all foreign troops fighting in Afghanistan) and this is something neither the Democrat or Republican Party leaders agree with. And because of such policies, Ron Paul has openly stated that he neither supports McCain or Obama. As I write this, R. Paul is holding a separate convention of his supporters with about 10,000 people attending as a sort of protest of the Republican agenda, which is occurring at the same time.
Posted by: Rick | Sep 3 2008 3:48 utc | 11
The Democratic Party leaders have not agreed with Kucinich on some major political issues
yeah but he sure speaks for us regulars, the ones they call the fringe. but we aren't, we are the norm.
there's a similarity w/paul in that the parties go to great lengths to obscure our loud presence and voice. we don't have the elite, media, or leaders on our side but we have a loud voice and we are here.
Cynthia Mckinney is radically cool, thanks for the link. i completely recommend to everyone! hopefully we will chip away one vote at a time!
Posted by: annie | Sep 3 2008 4:59 utc | 12
The comments to this entry are closed.
B,
You know I respect and support you and the other posters here 100%. But after the last Billmon thread at MOA “Billmon: Really Proud”, did we really need another Billmon DKos diary link? Count me with Lizard on the other thread. I watched a lot of the Democratic Convention and I am left asking, “Where is the outrage?” Over a million dead Iraqis, countless dead civilians in Afghanistan, countless dead in so many African nations and now this latest bit in Georgia. The Convention speakers were short on speaking out against the Bush crimes, but long on political rhetoric. How can we be proud of America now regarding Race? This is all truly ironic to me. Even the Blacks in the old south had at least economic value, but it appears that far too many Americans hold absolutely no value to the lives of other races and peoples of other nations. Even the “offical American casualties figures” of approx. 4000 dead U.S. soldiers in Iraq had little meaning at the convention. And there was far too little concern for the wreckage of the U.S. Constitution.
It is about 4:00 am in the morning here, I can’t sleep, I am just angry.
Posted by: Rick | Aug 29 2008 9:50 utc | 1