So it's not just bleating in to the void

So it's not just bleating in to the void

by digby

This can't possibly be right. Everyone knows the bully pulpit is a total myth and nobody with a thought in their head would ever dream that something the president said could ever make a difference in anything:

Public opinion continues to shift in favor of same-sex marriage, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, which also finds initial signs that President Obama’s support for the idea may have changed a few minds.

Overall, 53 percent of Americans say gay marriage should be legal, hitting a high mark in support while showing a dramatic turnaround from just six years ago, when just 36 percent thought it should be legal. Thirty-nine percent, a new low, say gay marriage should be illegal.
Interesting. I wonder if the president properly explaining the government's role in the economy would make any difference.Who knows, maybe it could change a few minds too. Couldn't hurt anyway. At the very least it could make people question the wisdom of deficit reduction as a logical response to a recession or the necessity of slashing the safety net for the future good.

They're certainly not going to get the whole story from the other side:
To Whom It May Concern:

Erskine Bowles and I thoroughly enjoyed our time on the West Coast and received an excellent reception from folks — at least those who are using their heads and have given up using emotion, fear, guilt or racism to juice up their troops. Your little flyer entitled “Bowles! Simpson! Stop using the deficit as a phony excuse to gut our Social Security!” is one of the phoniest excuses for a “flyer” I have ever seen.

You use the faces of young people, who are the ones who are going to get gutted while you continue to push out your blather and drivel. My suggestion to you — an honest one — read the damn report. The Moment of Truth — 67 pages, and then tell me if we’re not doing the right thing with Social Security. What a wretched group of seniors you must be to use the faces of the very people that we are trying to save, while the “greedy geezers” like you use them as a tool and a front for your nefarious bunch of crap.

You must feel some sense of shame for shoveling out this bulls**t. Read the latest news from the Social Security Trustees. The Social Security System will not “hit the skids” in 2033 instead of 2036. If you can’t understand all of this you need a pane of glass in your naval so you can see out during the day! Read the report. Get back to me. My address is below.

If you don’t read the report, — as Ebenezer Scrooge said in the Christmas Carol, “Haunt me no longer!”
Best regards,
Alan Simpson
Or this, which is even more bizarre and frightening:

PAUL RYAN: What we’re saying is let’s get on growth and prevent austerity. The whole premise of our budget is to pre-empt austerity by getting our borrowing under control, having tax reform for economic growth, and preventing Medicare and Social Security and Medicaid from going bankrupt. That pre-empts austerity. The president, his budget, the fact the Senate hasn’t done a budget in three years, puts us on a path towards European-like austerity. That’s what we’re trying to prevent from happening in the first place.


These are crazy people. Somebody with a very big megaphone needs to counter what they are saying. Up until now, it hasn't been the president (at least with any consistency.) Maybe the need to "change a few minds" will focus his attention. If it worked on something as fraught with tension as gay marriage, who knows what it might do to change people's misconceptions about deficits in order to preserve social programs they already don't want slashed?

Update: Dday has a good post today about the president's rhetoric on business experience. If the campaign doesn't get pressured by the Village into abandoning it, it could do some good.


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