USA: Politics: Democrats' stealth campaign to put mass spin on Prez State of Union address

Howard Dean, Chair of the Democratic National Committee, has set himself up as the hub, or is it the nub, of a carefully-orchestrated massive spin operation to throw as much mud as possible on President George Bush's State of the Union address, to be delivered on the evening of January 31 to a joint assemblage of both Houses of of the US Congress.



Dean has been working overtime to stack the public response with entirely negative appraisals as the MainStream Media go thru the exercize of pretending the reactions they emblazon on TV are all spontaneous, and honest. Not so! The reactions to the address are being orchestrated by massing Democrats and especially the Bush-Haters among them to gather in groups to juice each other up, to fire off contrived emails from laptops to targetted print, online, TV, and politicians they consider vulnerable to such manufactured public opinion. Dean's rubric is "They won't know what hit them."

But Dean's underling, Tim McMahon, is the honcho of these mass operations, and he's been recruiting cells to swing into action before the speech, during it, and immediately afterward.

On January 31st, George Bush will deliver his State of the Union address, to be followed by the Democratic response. We can't afford to sit back and listen -- we have to act if we're going to change the direction of this country. You can kick off this year of change by hosting a Watch Party that night.

Don't let the name fool you -- these Watch Parties are about more than watching. Your event will provide crucial information to Democrats in your community before the speech, and the opportunity to hear directly from our party's leaders immediately after.

Besides connecting with your friends and neighbors to discuss the state of our nation, you and your guests can join a nationwide conference call with Governor Howard Dean, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, offering immediate reaction and opportunities for rapid response.

That one was emailed on January 13.

On January 23, the basic rhetoric was the same, but with a few more operational and hortatory details:

There's still time to invite people over to watch together, react together, and -- most importantly -- decide together what you will do to work for change on the ground in your community this year.

There will also be a Watch Party Conference Call immediately following the official Democratic response. You'll be able to join Governor Dean and other Democratic leaders for immediate reaction and opportunities for rapid response.

You can set up your own Watch Party and start sending invitations using this simple tool on our web site ....

From Anchorage to Wichita to Brooklyn people have already created Watch Parties. Everyone attending will receive background information before the speech, and the opportunity to hear directly from our party's leaders immediately after.

You can search by zip code for an event in your area ....

Where will you be next Tuesday night?

Apparently, the Dem combine wants to orchestrate the greatest exhibition of groupthink they can muster. McMahon put this one out on January 25. with "Less than a week left" on the subject line of his email.

On Tuesday night, George Bush will attempt to convince America that up is down, left is right and that staying the course is the way to go.

Republicans will be out in full force spinning reporters who are just itching to give George Bush a pass -- but we can't let them.

Thousands of Americans will join together at our State of the Union Watch Parties and become a part of the Democratic Party's rapid response efforts.

Since I wrote to you on Monday more events have been created from Seattle to Baton Rouge to Buffalo. Attending one of these historic (and fun) events is as easy as clicking here for a list of events near you:

You get the picture, Americans and Canadians both, Democrats and Republicans both, Tories and Libs and NDPers all. You know a scam when you see one, and the Dean/McMahon scam to manipulate the public perception and the media spin upon what the President has to say is not what you'd call democratic politics. There's no breather envisaged for TV viewers to mull and reflect, and more slowly form their own opinions based on their own cognitive gifts. But, hey, you don't have to watch alone as they spue out their doctored versions of what happened before your eyes and you heard with your own ears.

Maybe you should gather a Watch Party of your own. If you don't, you'll be letting this type of political discourse prevail, a line I find on the Democratic Party website:

Or do what we did during the debates. Fire up the computer and have fun on the open thread slamming every lie Dumb Fuhrer will tell that night.

Or consider this "watch" strategy, promoting drunkeness and perhaps a little drunk driving afterward, to boot.

...you could liven up the party with a George Bush Drinking game...everytime he tells a lie someone takes a drink depending on the lie told or you could hand out GOP talking points and when he touches on each one, the person with that card is required to chug one down...I figure with his track record it could turn into a lively party...although might want to set aside incentives for designated drivers as few will be ready to drive themselves home.

Had enuff? One more, with feeling.
"The Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society very quickly in a fascist way. Millions are deeply disturbed and outraged by this and recognize that politics as usual, cannot meet the enormity of the challenge. There is not going to be some savior from the Democratic Party. Entrusting hopes and energies into "leaders" who tell us to seek common ground with fascists and religious fanatics is proving to be a disaster and actually serves to demobilize people. "They're not going to be driven out by indictments. They're not going to be driven out by Senate committees. They're going to be driven out by the activity of me and you, out in the streets, screaming at the top of our voices, protesting, moving, acting, demonstrating that the world cannot wait......It's going to be up to you and me-informed citizens who've had enough and won't take it anymore....."

Pathetic! - Politicarp
[underlining is mine, plus the strikeover; all large type are quotes from the Democrats involved, from the site which you can check for yourself by clicking the live-link blog-entry title at the top]