’)Sorry to be so blunt and profane, but they are. In their ongoing effort to tear down anything resembling factual data, Newsbusters – an arm of the Media Research Center – is now trying to say that the atmosphere at Invesco field was not in fact what you saw with your own two eyes. In order to do this they cite Rush Limbaugh citing some writer nobody has ever heard of.
If you think that’s something, wait until you read some of Spengler’s description of the atmosphere at Invesco Field on the night of Obama’s Greco-Roman Oration. Rush says that what Spengler has written confirms what an unnamed friend of his relayed to him from another final-night attendee:
Senator Barack Obama’s acceptance speech last week seemed vastly different from the stands of this city’s Invesco Stadium than it did to the 40 million who saw it on television. Melancholy hung like thick smog over the reserved seats where I sat with Democratic Party staffers. The crowd, of course, cheered mechanically at the tag lines, flourished placards, and even rose for the obligatory wave around the stadium. But its mood was sour. The air carried the acrid smell of defeat, and the crowd took shallow breaths. Even the appearance of R&B great Stevie Wonder failed to get the blood pumping.
Again, I apologize for the language, but: Bullshit. How do I know? Well, the mood of a room is clear to see for any of the millions of people who watched on air or you can look for yourself right here. But furthermore I can personally say that this is crap for one simple reason: I was there.
There was no sour mood. There was no “mechanical” cheering. There was heartfelt emotion from the very top of the stadium up in the nosebleed section right down to the delegates on the floor. I saw old ladies cry in joy. I bonded with folks right next to me who had nothing in common with me rather than a desire to right our country. I saw “the wave” spontaneously start, then roll around the stadium on all three levels because people were so giddy with excitement.
And I felt the floor of the cavernous stadium literally rock when speakers like Vice President Gore, Governor Richardson and especially Sen. Obama came out on the stage. I heard people squeal with joy and saw a crowd of people rush to the railing when Michelle Obama walked from the ABC tent to the CBS tent to be interviewed.
The mood was the opposite of sour. The mood was electric, like nothing I have ever seen in my thirty years.
If you’ve ever wondered what is one of the things that drives people like me to despise conservatism and its practitioners so much, it is stories like this that they try to circulate. It isn’t an opinion piece, trying to say what they didn’t like about the event. It is opinion masquerading as fact, attempting to replace actual history with made up right-wing fantasy. It is a tactic they use on a small scale and on the largest stories of all, about this nation’s history and beyond. They make up and shovel along swill like this as easy as the rest of normal Americans breathe.
They are trying to pass off what by the accounts of the thousands of people in attendance was a joyous event into the sort of cynical showpiece conservatives find so central to their phony patriotism.
When I was walking out of the stadium on the way to the shuttle bus that would take me back to the hotel, thousands of people were still streaming out of the stadium from the upper level. Spontaneously people began.
“O-BAMA! O-BAMA! O-BAMA!”
It was thunderously loud, the event had ended, the fireworks were gone, and the VIPs had long since left the venue. Yet, here normal everyday Americans were, excited about the possibility of a new more idealistic day for their country.
So Newsbusters, Rush Limbaugh, and the rest of the right can take their made-up stories and take a long walk off of a short pier. We’ll all be better of for it.
(Oh, and people were out of their seats and rocking for Stevie Wonder)
This is in some ways the same thing they tried to do (and succeeded in doing) in the Howard Dean Scream.
I heard Fats Limbaugh spew this crap and I was trying to remember who “Spengler” is but all I really needed to know was that Fats approves of him.
All I can say about NewsBusters is that I was banned from the site for trying to post some facts.
Assume the NewsBusters story is completely false, and intentionally so. Who cares? The story is of no consequence; it will not alter the race in the slightest.
Willis will say: “Yes, but it’s indicative of…blah, blah, blah.” For the most part, it indicates Willis’s infantile emotionalism.
Another thing. Willis does not know how to write. Read the post, from beginning to end, and be amazed that one of the Left’s most prominent bloggers is a functional illiterate.
Yes, clearly I can’t write at all. Or you have no idea how to read sentences, let alone a group of them.
Shorter Brian: Lies and propaganda is fun and harmless! Weeeee!
Shorterer Brian: I’m a disrespectful asshat and don’t know what the term “functional illiterate” means! Weeeee!
Shortest Brian: I am a huge douchebag.
Shorter Brian: Lies and propaganda are fun and harmless! Weeeeeee!
Shorter Brian #2: I enjoy being disrespectful and have no idea what the term “functional illiterate” means. Weeeeeee!
Shorter Brian #3:I am a huge douchebag.
Damned double-post. Internet connection all screwy. I blame Brian for it. The waste runoff from his incredible douchebaggery clogged my internet tubes.
Brian, I’m sending you the bill if I have to pay to have this fixed.
Your desperation is becoming palpable. You’re not even taking your own advice. Surely Obama’s internals can’t be THAT bad. Can they?!?
Aside from staving off attacks against Obama, and launching attacks against Palin, there seems to be little mention of Obama’s Plans for the New America in here …
Is it assumed we have them all memorized?
OW was giddy!!
Look, we all know that Barry’s train derailed the moment he picked hairplug Biden to join the show. Not one person, Oliver included, can dispute this FACT!! He is going to lose, and he can blame Biden. This proves that “The One” has absolutely no business running the show. The first important decision he makes is unbelievably moronic and the US figured it out.
Look, we all know that John’s train derailed the moment he picked hairclip Palin to join the show. Not one person, Changey included, can dispute this FACT! He is going to lose, and he can blame Palin. This proves that “The POW” has absolutely no business running the show. The first important decision he makes is unbelievably moronic and the US figured it out.
Pretty clever Bruce. You are a proven Asshat, congrats! Also, how is it that McCain’s support has increased since he chose Palin while Barry’s is steadily declining? Bruce….
On an unrelated note, it looks like Jeremiah Wright DOES like “whitey” in certain situations!!
“Also, how is it that McCain’s support has increased since he chose Palin”
Yeah, that IS strange. The Republican base seems to be rooting for their man to win, then promptly die.
I get it, McCain is old!! Michael, I concede defeat in this war of words, you are truly an exceptional literate…
Changey McHoperson, Sep 10th, 2008 at 7:49 am
OW was giddy!!
Look, we all know that Barry’s train derailed the moment he picked hairplug Biden to join the show. Not one person, Oliver included, can dispute this FACT!!
I certainly dispute that the Republican’t fantasy you’ve just spewed is anywhere close to being reality-based. It seems an awful lot like the type of unsourced, unsubstantiated propaganda that Republican’ts try and catapult on a continual basis to me. As well as yet another attempt to toss crap into the discussion just to pi$$ the other side off. I’d wonder if the lying liar who spewed this is ashamed of itself, except I’ve seen the same tired old kimchee coming from this particular pie-hole on a regular basis in OW’s comments.
And it looks to me like you haven’t even put forth anything facutal at all – just the standard slime and deflect strategery that we’ve come to expect from Republican’ts. What FACT were you trying to allude to?
Brent Bozell’s cabana boys will do anything to please daddy
Hey, it’s not me who’s trying to pretend that the guy at the top of my ticket doesn’t even exist.
Keep in mind that the purpose of outlets like Newsbusters and the Rush show is to create an alternate reality that right-wingers can believe in, to ensure that they do not notice the difference between their ideological beliefs and reality.
That’s all that’s going on here. Cults need there myths, and the cult leaders are providing myths for their followers to believe in.
FACT- McCains poll numbers have INCREASED, while Barry O’s have DECREASED. Which part didn’t you understand?
“As of this moment, RCP averages show that the Zogby International and Gallup polls were indeed signs of a change; RCP too now has John McCain (reasonably firmly) in the lead. The average poll shows that 48.3% of American voters support the Republican nominee, against 45.4% who support Obama.”
http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=18270
(:Tom:)’s right: Obama didn’t derail with the Biden pick. He’s been derailing since the first round of Wrightapalooza back in March. Since then we’ve had:
* Bittergate
* Losing most of the remaining primaries (including PA by 20 points)
* Disowning his pastor less than a month after giving a speech saying he could never disown his pastor.
* Flip-flops … er … “nuanced improvements” on the Surge, Guns, FISA, campaign finance, Drilling, Tax Cuts, Debates …
* the Heal-the-World tour culminating with his “flight suit” moment: the Berlin speech.
* Visiting the troops-gate
* the “above my pay grade” debacle at Saddleback
* His vote on the “Born Alive” legislation surfacing
All that was BEFORE Obama reinforced his message of Change by picking a 30 year Senate vet.
McCain’s poll numbers have increased. Of course. It’s called a “bounce” and is typical post-convention. The numbers being ballyhooed reflect the immediate post-convention polling through the weekend. This too shall pass.
The crowd at Mile High for Obama’s speech was one of the most energized crowds I have ever been. Honestly more energized than any Kerry, Gore or Clinton rally I have been (larger too).
More energized than a rock concert and with the exception of the post-season more energized than any sporting event.
I can think of many adjectives to describe the crowd; jubilant, energized, attentive, committed. to say the crowd was melancholy is a LIE.
Republicans LIE. The facts don’t back up their policies so they make up their own facts. Republicans LIE.
Gotta summon H.L. Mencken to explain the bile flowing from our troll gutters: “A Puritan is someone with a haunting fear that somewhere, someone is happy.”
Note that they want to do anything but discuss the theme of the post, which is that obviously people were cheering like their team was winning the Superbowl, and that NewsBusters is flat out lying.
Sour grapes. Sour grapes. Sour grapes. Sour grapes.
Will an Obama win shut them up?
Nice to cite H.L. Mencken, a well known anti-American..
Nice to cite H.L. Mencken, a well known anti-American..
Is this a perfect example of nutwing trolling? Can’t dispute the words, so say something nasty about the author.
It’s like a reflex, right?
Do you get a nice set of “McCain” golf club covers for that post? If not, you should sign up over at the McCain website amd win valuable prizes for embarrassing yourself.
I simply stated that Mencken is anti-American, is that wrong?
Also, I would love some “McCain” golf club covers if you have extras…
I meant “was” anti-American. I do realize he is dead.
* the Heal-the-World tour culminating with his “flight suit” moment: the Berlin speech.
Bwah! So the right is finally admitting that the Preznit’s aircraft carrier stunt was a clown show? Where have you been for the last five years, Mr. Farris?
Will an Obama win shut them up?
It would be nice to think this, but did Bill Clinton’s win shut them up? Nobody can say he didn’t reach across the aisle – damn, he was the closest thing to Goldwater since Goldwater. And the result? Impeachment for a BJ. Meanwhile the next eight years have seen the Bush admin. break practically every law in the book, with no repercussion.
I suspect the republican dirty tricks are here to stay.
I sometimes have this dream – there are two parallel universes, each with their own set of facts. We can call them D and R. For some reason, they overlap in the USA. In the R universe, the mood was actually dour, while in the D universe, it was cheerful. So each set of facts is actually true, for the residents of that universe – we just disagree where we meet on the boundaries.
Surely that is a more rational explanation than Rush Limbaugh and Newsbusters being total complete lying sacks of shit.
Mobius Klein: “there are two parallel universes, each with their own set of facts.”
“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” –Sherlock Holmes
Yes, Rush Limbaugh and Newsbusters are total complete lying sacks of shit.
“Changey McHoperson:
I simply stated that Mencken is anti-American, is that wrong? ”
Yes, as a matter of fact it is.
“The most prominent newspaperman, book reviewer, and political commentator of his day, Henry Louis Mencken was a libertarian before the word came into usage. His prose is as clear as an azure sky, and his rhetoric as deadly as a rifle shot. Frequent targets of his lance were Franklin Roosevelt and New Deal politics, Comstocks, hygenists, “uplifters”, social reformers of any stripe, boobs & quacks, and the insatiable American appetite for nonsense and gaudy sham. But his life was not defined by negativity. He was positively enthusiastic about to the writings of Twain and Conrad, the music of Brahms, Beethoven and Bach, and the victuals offered up by Chesapeake Bay. ”
http://www.io.com/~gibbonsb/mencken.html
Home sick today so I have some time to waste. Hope you enjoyed Denver Oliver.
Get better soon CO Dave…
“Mencken was at the top of his game in the 1920s, when a backlash against WWI-era superpatriotism and government expansion (exemplified in the Palmer Raids) led many of the American literati to move to Europe, or to protest;
Mencken was arguably the most pugnacious of the latter. The “anti-American” label is an epithet today (and to a lesser degree in Mencken’s time); the term is not used here to defame Mencken. He would have delighted in being called “anti-American”; his contrarian spirit and admiration of continental European culture (Germany especially) led him to mount unapologetically scathing attacks on nearly all aspects of American culture.”
I simply stated that Mencken is anti-American, is that wrong?
If he wasn’t anti-American, then of course it is. Is this troll math 101?
I’m looking for the link or other documentation that supports your baseless slur against a great American, and I don’t see it.
What did Mencken do that was “anti-American?”
I would love some “McCain” golf club covers if you have extras…
You can buy that “elitist” stuff on the McCain website.
Changey McHoperson, Sep 10th, 2008 at 9:14 am
FACT- McCains poll numbers have INCREASED, while Barry O’s have DECREASED. Which part didn’t you understand?
The part where Caribou Barbie’s boost for McSenile in the polls = the Obama campaign derailing.
Oh, and, funny thing – SaveFerris notes a whole bunch of Republican’ts talking points, but conveniently ignores that the Republican’t candidate has done much worse during the same time frame. Maybe McSenile can’t remember his daily flip flops?
Then again, when stalwart liberals like Chris Wallace and Tweety “Boy does Putsch look manly in that flight suit” Matthews forget to mention the constant Republican’t lies, and treat Republican’t propaganda as if it is reality, I suppose it can try and excuse itself for blatantly lying about Obama. Or maybe it doesn’t even need to bother with its’ shameless Republican’t propaganda catapultation now that it knows that Republican’ts and their sycophants won’t even be called out on their lies (other than in the comments section of progressive blogs)…
Here’s are a few fun quotes by that great American H.L. Mencken:
“The case against the Jews is long and damning; it would justify ten thousand times as many pogroms as now go on in the world.”
“The Jews could be put down very plausibly as the most unpleasant race ever heard of. As commonly encountered, they lack many of the qualities that mark the civilized man: courage, dignity, incorruptibility, ease, confidence. They have vanity without pride, voluptuousness without taste, and learning without wisdom. Their fortitude, such as it is, is wasted upon puerile objects, and their charity is mainly a form of display”
Republican’t, McSenile… where’s Rethuglican?
Really? Is that the best you got? Come on, I know if you try really hard your little brain can do better. Give it a shot Spanky.
Changey, I’m sure you know that AT THAT TIME, racism and antisemitism was as American as Apple Pie.
It is a sad, but true fact. I’ve heard similar words from living Americans, some even related to me. American seized the property of the Japanese-Americans they sent off to internment camps not that long ago. If every racist writer was stricken from the American literary canon, there would be a vast void in it.
(Oh yea, I’ve run into Holocaust deniers in the great state of Oregon. We’ve got a long way to go, baby.)
considering how moribund their side seems lately it’s no surprise that this is what they’re resorting to. can you imagine belonging to a party in which the entry of someone like sara palin into the presidential race is as close as they can get to excitement? look at who their choices were in the primaries, how few people voted for them and what they ended up with. i’d be lying about the opposition too!
Oliver what you post here is the modus operandi of the right. The usual fare of lies after lies. But they should take a look at their own convention when McCain was talking about health care and education.
These are social issues and republicans know jack shit about them. In fact his audience was on the fringe of boredom. Not too mention that the republican convention was about as unorganized as any I have ever seen.
There was, once upon a time an idea floating around NASA, and that was to take our abundance of trash and shoot it into space. I think it would be more useful to take the republicans and shoot them into space.
Oh I know it McNobody, but save it. I have learned to play the game by republican rules, if you don’t recognize it, it is no fault of my own.
Changey it looks as though you use the Answers.com page as the source for much of your material. Ever hear of footnotes?
http://www.answers.com/topic/h-l-mencken
I know subtlety and complexity are likely lost on you but here is a quote you might be interested in:
“Far from being an anti-Semite, Mencken was one of the first journalists to denounce the persecution of the Jews in Germany at a time when the New York Times, say, was notoriously reticent. On November 27, 1938, Mencken writes (Baltimore Sun), “It is to be hoped that the poor Jews now being robbed and mauled in Germany will not take too seriously the plans of various politicians to rescue them.” He then reviews the various schemes to “rescue” the Jews from the Nazis, who had not yet announced their own final solution.”
–Gore Vidal, foreword to Mary Elizabeth Rodgers The Impossible H.L. Mencken
“Mencken attacked President Roosevelt’s refusal to relax the immigration laws: “he is sorry for the Jews but unwilling to do anything about it that might cause him political inconvenience at home.’ Mencken proceeded to argue that ‘there is only one way to help the fugitives, and that is to find places for them in a country in which they can really live. Why shouldn’t the United States take in a couple hundred thousand of them, or even all of them?’ In brief the issue is more complicated than some of Mencken’s detractors have made it seem.”
–Fred Hobson, Vincent Fitzpatrick and Bradford Jacobs in the Introduction to: “Thirty-five years of newspaper work,” H.L. Mencken, Johns Hopkins University Press.
http://books.google.com/books?id=GbkmoKLzwPwC&pg=PR17&lpg=PR17&dq=There is only one way to help the fugitives, and that is to find places for them in a country in which they can really live. Why shouldn’t the United States take in a couple hundred thousand of them, or even all of them?&source=web&ots=UKIMTk-yzX&sig=tcURDAXwcz940myGSfUz9XceJt8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result
Wow, research is hard huh?
I’m pretty sure those noted anti-Americans Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh expressed similar sentiments.
And by the way, the Mondale-Ferrarro ticket got a similar bounce in the polls in 1984. Remember how they rode that bounce to victory over Reagan? No? Me neither.
I may be an asshat, but I’m an OLD asshat, and I’ve been paying attention a long time.
So Newsbusters quoted Limbaugh quoting ‘Spengler’ from the Asian Times quoting an unnamed buddy of his who was at the convention. And human beings who presumably have the ability to dress themselves in the morning took this seriously.
Ladies and gents, the Drudge effect in action.
Oh, and George Washington – fucking un-American slave owner!
Rush & newzbusters: A couple of opening notes for the Mighty Wurlitzer. Soon to be seen is a talking head on a cable show repeating the lie. Then Bloody Bill will write an opinion piece in the WSJ that says, “It has been reported by other news sources that…”
The Mighty Wurlitzer in action.
sf: “* His vote on the “Born Alive” legislation surfacing”
Why don’t you read the bill? That bill was also offering age appropiate sex education for kids. That includes telling kids about bad touch, good touch, & the dangers of talking with strangers. So if you’re against that, you are FOR pedophiles.
McCain – I voted against children to help pedophiles!
I was there in Denver and newsbusters and rush are full of it. I was sort of dreading that the atmosphere would be a revival or a football game. It was neither. It was 80,000 people excited about a policy speech. How cool is that? The crowd was incredible and diverse. This scares the sh.t out of the repubs. Let’s keep up the good fight.
Melancholy hung like thick smog over the reserved seats where I sat
Much like what Meobius said, I believe the guy. If you were there and a republican asshat, you were probably melancholy.
Obviously Rushbo is back on the “juice”
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea that German historian and philosopher Oswald Spengler rose from the dead to cover Obama’s speech.
Man, Barack really is attracting people from all over!
By the way, that reference in Comedian Rush’s spiel to “shallow breaths” makes me wonder, he does realize that they used to call that place Mile High Stadium, right?
First time on this site. Followed a link to get here.
What a waste of a comments section! Bunch ‘a snide asshat Republithugs spewing truthiness because…..I don’t know….the mental ward has internet access and plenty of time??
Not coming back here — it’s a supreme waste of time.
This is typical transference. Accuse the opposition of what you are guilty of, or in this case, call the amazing DNC at Invesco Field “sour” – the feeling that the less than full arena for the RNC felt after McCain’s acceptance speech.
How about state some example of where Newbusters lied about a particular story or issue. You will have more credibility then just saying they lied and expecting people to believe just because you say so.