No shame in training and rehearsing. Like playing music. Not everyone is a spontaneous genius. But like music, you practice not until you *can* do it right but until you *will* do it right.
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You are talking about performance. Acting. What people trust in political terms is some level of authenticity. Too many Dems these days are media trained by people who are out of touch with real life & real emotional responses. People who think that somebody badly beaten by ICE is a “distraction”.
aug 24, 2025, 10:55 pm • 2 0 • view
Good points, still think a bit of coaching and practice could help a number of Ds connect better, but JMO. Great point about ICE hurting people. WAY more than a “distraction”!
aug 24, 2025, 11:23 pm • 2 0 • view
Given the truly outrageous things we are seeing unfold, checking with a political consultant before responding shouldn’t be anyone’s first move. Pretending like it’s “all cool” is also mind-blowingly stupid. In a house fire to say get out! In a dem house fire they say relax no prob. No bueno.
aug 24, 2025, 11:38 pm • 0 0 • view
Yeah. That's a pretty close metaphor, the only thing is though, they're privy to much more information than the hoi polloi and that's what started Bouie's whole comment thread. It's like the reliance of students using LLM's to do their writing – it's evaporating their skills as thinkers.
aug 24, 2025, 11:55 pm • 1 0 • view
Republicans have been media trained to go ape shit over the dumbest issue Obama wearing a tan suit; while Dems have been trained to characterize a severe beating by ICE officers as “a distraction”. You see what I’m saying? Sigh. It’s okay to get visibly angry in the face of injustice.
aug 25, 2025, 12:20 am • 2 0 • view
oooo, yeah when that conflation shows up in media I lose a bit of control.
aug 25, 2025, 12:24 am • 0 0 • view
Yeah, Democratic “leadership” in general has been terrifyingly disappointing as our hope out of this fast growing hell. And to boot they seem to want to shove down the ones that get it. 🤬
aug 25, 2025, 12:30 am • 4 0 • view
I don’t know if they have more info. I’d argue that they are working with less. My parents used to talk about 90s blow dry Dems who were airhead figureheads rather than real fighters. Between Clinton and Obama, the Dems lost their way. We’re paying for that now. Trump is using that to block us.
aug 25, 2025, 12:15 am • 0 0 • view
You're right, I should qualify that statement: they THINK they have more information with polling. They do have more intimate knowledge of the private communications and interactions in committee and closed door meetings. This isn't defense, it's observing that they're blinding themselves.
aug 25, 2025, 12:20 am • 1 0 • view
They don’t. When I saw both Biden & then Harris people - plus surrogates - saying that prices at the grocery store weren’t a big deal because the stock market was good, I knew we were toast. Pol consultants earn millions. They don’t understand that ten cents means a lot to poor folks.
aug 25, 2025, 12:26 am • 2 0 • view
Or so I'm told.
aug 24, 2025, 11:55 pm • 1 0 • view
Again, this is being authentic. "It's who I am" Practice what you preach. No paladin is born. I thought along these lines soon after I punched reply. I think I understand what you're saying, and I believe might even be a facet of what the problem is.
aug 24, 2025, 7:56 pm • 26 0 • view
The befuddlement one must feel when confronted with a Crowder "Change My Mind" is unexpected. But that is the lay of the ground now. Until it evolves again the unpracticed must sit, the unready stand aside, the unwilling go home. And when they aren't needed, they too will be replaced. An opinion.
aug 24, 2025, 7:56 pm • 20 0 • view
I think Jeffries needs training. He has potential but sweet mother of pearl he makes a hash of things
aug 24, 2025, 8:02 pm • 1 0 • view
I can't say specifics, I don't "know" the man. But I think you mean rhetorical training? Everybody could use that. Especially in the face of the rambling barrage from 1600. What little I got was in boot camp. A torrent spat in your face that made no sense but you must push through.
aug 24, 2025, 8:07 pm • 2 0 • view
Yes, rhetoric. He seems like a quite smart fellow. Trump is made for propaganda. I can’t see how people stand him, but he connects with his devotees for sure, and it is a firehose.
aug 24, 2025, 8:50 pm • 2 0 • view
I don't wanna say it's like high school, but it's like high school. Some people feel that other people should just keep their place. And don't ever challenge them directly or otherwise.
aug 24, 2025, 9:48 pm • 1 0 • view
Good insight. Clique behavior.
aug 24, 2025, 9:51 pm • 1 0 • view
Yeah. Everybody calls it a cult. I used to. And there are some similarities, but maybe... Clique is better.
aug 24, 2025, 9:53 pm • 1 0 • view
I was thinking of Ds. The Rs *are* a frikkin’ cult! I thought you nailed the Democratic Party characteristic behavior. To shift to a team sports metaphor it’s like having a hissy fit if someone is allowed to compete for “your” position. I wish it would get a bit less rigid. Not radically, but…
aug 24, 2025, 10:54 pm • 2 0 • view
I was always told: day one, start training your replacement.
aug 24, 2025, 11:57 pm • 1 0 • view
Some Dems don’t like Jeffries, but I don’t have the issues with him as much as I do with the party. The Dems don’t use him enough to promote their agenda.
aug 25, 2025, 11:02 am • 1 0 • view
Interesting perspective. Seems a possible explanation of his wonky stances if the party is pressing on him.
aug 25, 2025, 1:56 pm • 1 0 • view