Open Left

Not So (0.00 / 0)

As you correctly pointed out during the campaign, Obama was never a progressive.  Thus now, he's not being bullied, he's being who he is.  He was elected with massive Wall Street contributions and that's who he's been working for since day 1.

The problem with getting into the bully thing is it plays into the macho rhetoric that the right feeds on.

(1) This isn't just anti-progressive.  It's anti-reality.  And it's political poison.  There's nothing particularly pro-Wall Street about it, either.  You're just tossing random odds & ends together.

(2) The bully thing is real.  Citing the fact that others may say or do stupid things under the influence of related counter-rhetoric is really stretching it in your search for something to criticize me for.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 11:26:09 AM CST

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I wasn't searching for something to criticize you for (0.00 / 0)

It's strange that you would have that reaction.

I liked your post.  But I really think getting into the schoolyard stuff gets into a sexist macho way of talking that feeds into the right.  You know I can be harsh at times, but I really try to avoid stuff that reeks of manliness.  Calling Obama an idiot, anti-reality, poison, etc., is accurate.

If it was Bowers or Lux getting into that kind of talk, I wouldn't bother.  But you I respect.  I make this point out of respect.

Full Court Press!  http://www.openleft.com/showDi...

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by: jeffroby @ Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 11:39:23 AM CST

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You Probably Didn't Have To Deal With Bullies As A Kid (0.00 / 0)

I did.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 12:56:22 PM CST

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I'm big, but yes I did (0.00 / 0)

Being big, I had to be extra careful, didn't want to be an aggressor.  Then I stuffed Jim Mercuro into his gym locker and popped Frank Bumbico's ear in the middle of an assembly, and things got better.

Full Court Press!  http://www.openleft.com/showDi...

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by: jeffroby @ Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 12:59:01 PM CST

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My Final Solution (4.00 / 2)

was making friends with the two biggest guys in school.  No one else was even close.  It wasn't calculated, really.  But it sure was convenient.

I re-connected with one of them four or five years later, in the high school hootenanny circuit.  He went by "Tank" then, a solo guitarist who vaguely reminded me of a whiteboy Big Bill Broonzy, and I was in a proto-punk jug band called "My Mother Loved Me But She Died."

Point being: the number one way to deal with bullies is perception management.  Stop acting weak, stop seeming weak, and they stop bothering you.  Bullies are all cowards at heart.  They only picked on me when it looked cost-free to do so.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 13:11:26 PM CST

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