In the wake of the 2010 losses, the attention paid to the Olberman affair is stunning.

[saracat]

I do NOT support the removal of Olberman and find the stifling of any liberal voice distasteful but I really wish more of us were cognizant of the loss of some of our great Democrats, and would be more dedicated to solving the problems of the nation and the Democratic Party. Those issues seem to have taken a backseat to the suspension of a media personality.

Now that we have all ranted, written our emails to MSNBC and vented, can we please start to talk about solutions and regrouping?

Here in Arizona we lost some of our most dedicated and loyal Democrats. Terry Goddard who has dedicated his life to Arizona for generations, and was voted the best AG in the nation went down to a low grade moron and Harry Mitchell has to watch as all the work he did for veterans , education and his pledge to reduce congressional pay is dismantled by a Palin Tea Porty criminal!My own district will now be represented by an absolutely idiotic Quayle who hadn't even ever voted here!Almost 100% of our state legislature are in favor of dismantling the Dept of Education and prohibiting a woman's right to choose!
Our state may never recover. Their was no "youth vote" and the Latinos did not vote either!

For the first time in my memory we actually had a huge GOTV and there were incredible reasons for Dems to vote and yet they did not.
There was no excuse for Wisconsin to reject a true patriot like Russ Feingold either.

We must all come together as Democrats and give voters a reason to vote.And we can only do that is we determine WHY they did not do so during this election.I do not believe we offer voters a reason to vote when we compromise away the reasons they originally supported us.And I believe that is the conversation we should be having.

What can we so so that we never face this situation again? I believe our solution lies in messaging, and constant surveillance of the opposition. We needed to bring back the "War Room" and it needs to be operational 24/7. We need rapid response from the WH and ALL of us , and NO compromise.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Without media, how do we regroup?

Regardless of your number one cause, media reform should be your number two.

[saracat]

4. I agree with Media reform but I would love to get rid of ALL the talking heads,

and return to news reporting. And that would mean eliminating our talking heads too. Ideally, I would have us return to the days when we didn't "know" what affiliation the reporter identified with. If we had genuine journalists, this current issue would not be taking place.We need to bring back real journalism.

[saracat]

6. And we do have some liberal media, which ironically some want to boycott to prove their point about

KO. But we should be demanding integrity from ALL our media and we could start with our local affliates. I have often had stories corrected or pulled. We should watch them like hawks!

[B Calm]

31. So lets get rid of the few liberal talking heads first? The right will never

agree to getting rid of theirs.

[saracat]

36. I didn't day that at all. I said, ideally, both should go. But this isn't an ideal world.

And as long as they have ranters, so should we.But it is a sad state of affairs, and reflects badly on the state of journalism.

[SugarShack]

28. It's a distraction from the election fraud in Florida?

[LaurenG]

2. When do we start? I'm living in red state hell again. nt

[cynatnite]

3. The Olbermann suspension is just at the top of the news pile for now...

Give it time.

[saracat]

5. The point is NONE of our candidates received this kind of attention!

and I will be really surprised if any solution based discussions ever do. Sadly we are a celebrity obsessed culture.

[lovemydog]

7. I agree with the op

Well-said. I don't watch much tv.
We need permanent tax cuts for the lower and middle classes and a repeal of the Bush tax cuts for the top two percent. We cannot afford to borrow $700 billion from foreign nations to support further tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. The president is very clear on this. We should keep sending that message.
Too many progressives shoot each other in the foot. We should stay focused. Our enemy is conservative policy. Not each other.

[lbrtbell]

8. You just don't get it, do you?

KO's suspension is the first step toward silencing liberal voices on TV...liberal voices that help get Democrats elected.

So Republicans won in Arizona. Wow, alert the media! Everybody knows Arizona is blood-red, and Dems are damned fortunate to get elected there.

You're the one with the screwed-up priorities. We're talking about the future of ALL states, the future of the media that controls the message that gets out to voters.

So, yeah, the Olbermann firing is pretty damned important, and if you had any foresight at all, you'd realize this.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

9. Was Olbermann fired?

[Stardust]

The truth is being silenced, slowly by surely. Great comment.

[saracat]

12. Really? I was talking about ALL states.Olberman spoke to an echo chamber.

and yet I am opposed to his being silenced.I stated that. Your casual "dismissal" of Arizona is exactly why were lost as many positions as we did.Arizona was on the cusp of turning blue in 2004 and 2008.NO state should be dismissed and the GOP knows that lesson which is why they won. They never give up.We consign entire states to the trash heap.
I too talk about the future of the media. Take control of your local media and lead from the bottom up.

[EFerrari]

16. Olbermann helped re-elect Raul.

Somehow Raul managed to get the turnout Terry did not. Instead of beating up on people who are rightfully object to Keith being off the air, maybe Terry's campaign should do some lessons learned, starting with the voting systems in AZ.

[saracat]

18. Actually Raul barely won in a solid Dem district. He did NOT get the turnout Terry

didn't. Raul almost lost his seat. He shouldn't have had a contest at all.

[EFerrari]

19. Raul won his contest. n/t

[saracat]

22. Yes but he shouldn't have had to fight in a solid Dem district and he was in danger.

[EFerrari]

25. Are you kidding? Raul stood up for immigrant rights.

Of course he had to fight, Arizona being what it is these days.

And, that's why he won, too. Just like Harry Reid.

[JI7]

27. there was a poll showing majority of Democrats supported the anti immigration shit Brewer and Arpaio

do

[saracat]

30. The majority may have supported immigration "reform" as do the majority of Americans

including the President. Most Arizona Democrats do NOT support Arapaio or Brewer or SB1070.

[saracat]

15. And another point, the biggedst contributor in Democratic party history is Jim Pederson from AZ!

Perhaps he should have kept his wallet shut as his money didn't benefit him any in AZ. Perhaps he should only contribute to local candidates in the future because that is what an attitude like yours promotes.ALL states are in this together.

[eridani]

10. Part of the credit for the losses can go to the overwhelming dominance of media

--by corporate whores. That's why the Olbermann firing is so imprtant.

[Tx4obama]

11. The election was rigged. California tossed OUT touch screens & majority of dems won.

It is time for ALL states to get rid of electronic voting.
Perhaps all states should do mail-in paper ballots like Washington state does, or is that Oregon - anyway that would solve the huge problem with the voting machines we are currently having ;)

[Stargazer99]

13. You should damn well start gettting worried about it

when an individual cannot contribute to his/her favorite canidate or party without the PERMISSION from his/her employer, it is time to WAKE UP! Just how ignorant can you get?

[saracat]

17. Real reporters were NEVER allowed to participate in partisan efforts. They were supposed to project

no bias. That is why FOX is so abhorrent to real journalists. Keith isn't being punished as an individual but as a reporter. However, I think this is unjust. And I have already stated silencing of anyone is wrong.
What is egregious is that the demand for impartiality isn't being enforced across the board. Honestly, I feel KO is more of a commentator than a journalist and as such , he shouldn't have to be bound by such and agreement. He is more in the vein of an Andy Rooney than a journalist.If Scar can make contributions, so should KO be allowed to. That being said, KO is the one that agreed to that clause long ago.

[nenagh]

14. "How Neuromarketers Tapped the Voter Button in Your Brain"

posted by OneGrassRoot, Thursday at DU..

from article "How Neuromarketers Tapped the Voter Button in Your Brain to Help the GOP Win the House" @ Fast Company website.

It is one hidden reason for the Repub success .. and Keith is a steady voice of truth to power.

I see it as OrangeMan uses ClockWorkOrange technology..

Sorry can't link... :(

[HereSince1628]

20. There was no good reason to reject Fiengold but

there was sufficient acceptance of BAD reasons to beat him. Mostly it was economic fear not assuaged by timely and effective messages about that record number of good things that were happening to make life more secure for average folks here in the Badger state.

As it is, the Badgers "dug in" expecting more economic trouble and so they voted for people who talked about protect their lives from taxes and future taxes. It may not be a realistic view of the future but it was widespread.

[OHdem10]

21. It is more than Keith. It is maintaining the outlet where you get

some perspectives from the Left. Everything else
are Right.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. I recommend a refresher on this

http://www.ellensplace.net/fascism.html

You should concentrate on point number six regarding KO... for the larger picture...

Hells bells better post it here...

6. A controlled mass media

Under some of the regimes, the mass media were under strict direct control and could be relied upon never to stray from the party line. Other regimes exercised more subtle power to ensure media orthodoxy. Methods included the control of licensing and access to resources, economic pressure, appeals to patriotism, and implied threats. The leaders of the mass media were often politically compatible with the power elite. The result was usually success in keeping the general public unaware of the regimes’ excesses.

[Skidmore]

24. I'm surprised you would turn down another

opportunity for outrage.

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. The election is over, but, on this one, we might be able to control the outcome.

[jeff47]

29. It's a matter of time

Well, we'll first start out with the diplomatic answer:
We can not do anything to regroup or otherwise repair the damage caused by the last election for at least several months.

In the KO case, swift and crushing pressure can result in keeping his voice on the air. The longer he's off, the easier it is to keep him off.

Think of it this way: What, exactly, must be done in the next week "solving the problems of the nation and the Democratic Party"? And why can't it wait a week?

And now for the more visceral answer:
Just how stupid do you think we are?

Are the brains of Democrats so addled that they are incapable of doing more than one thing at a time? Do you honestly think walking and chewing gum at the same time is a major difficulty for us?

To actually solve the problems of the Democratic party, we're going to have to do a great number of things all at the same time. If you honestly think supporting KO means we can't do anything else at the same time, then you might as well give up.

[Dr.Phool]

32. Kick and Rec!

I know the feeling. Florida went totally upside down red.

In what universe can a crook, like Rick Scott be elected Governor.

[flyarm]

33. K&R

[pipi_k]

34. Judging from some of the replies here...

I really have to wonder....

How the HELL did we ever manage to elect our politicians without help from the likes of TV personalities...hosts, commentators, "journalists", or whatever people want to call them...


That goes for both sides.


sigh...

[woo me with science]

35. Actually, the Juan Williams firing was all over the Sunday talk shows.

Has anyone seen a word about Olbermann on them?

[izzybeans]

37. It's part of the problem for sure. The personality cult gets elevated over policy and political.

strategy.

It is another form of celebrity worship, keeping many chained to the cave watching the shadows.


The rightwing had an entire framework for coopting the liberal focus on civil liberties ready in the wings, they married it to their anti-American government ideology and painted attempts to fix the economy as authoritarian, then they conducted the most successful astroturf campaign in history, and we are spinning around worried about a t.v. celebrity. The forest and trees have been melded together into a giant morass. In two years, the left has squandered its comparative advantage. This Olbermann episode is another notch on the squanderers belt. At the end of the day, the authoritarians control 2 of 4 branches of government and they convinced the wishy-washy middle of the big lie - that government is always the problem. Sure it can be, when it spies, lies, and causes people to die. However, that's the part they like about it. They've turned taking care of the poor, providing tax cuts to middle class citizens, attempting to fix our health care problems, keeping banks from exploiting their customers, etc. into something evil and made all that is evil seem good. If there is a problem with independents in this country is that they are easily spun by fairy tales.

Olberman will be back on the air. Perhaps he'll even win a suit against his employer if it impacts his earning potential. All that being equal, our focus should be on what we are doing as a movement and with our policy apparatus to improve the responsiveness of our government to the needs of its citizens. There has to be a strong framework constructed that speaks to them about the dangers of elevating powerful bureaucratic organizations, like corporations, above them in terms of sovereignty and citizenship rights. The Olberman episode could be used as one such example, but then again so should the Juan Williams episode, etc. Or at least those two cases should be debated in the context of creating a better framework for critiqing corporate power as a form of exploitation vastly more powerful than the supposedly dastardly federalism.

This American Life had a great show this past week (or two weeks) about the contemporary political culture and the current election. As far as testimonials go it doesn't really hit too heavily on the tea party, but you can see how disciplined their troops were. We on the other hand...clearly have no stomach for the political long game. The bit they did on Democrats was more telling than most things I've read in a long time. The basically asked, with all of these accomplishments why does no one seem to know anything about them and/or repeat the lies they've heard about them - yes even on the left this happens.

[saracat]

38. Very good points. I even hear spin about our own Dems right here on DU.

We dismiss our own candidates and display little interest or loyalty to their efforts, particularly those on local levels and yet turn ourselves into obsessed pretzels to defend a media figure!

I have no problem with a defense of KO and think the fuss over what he did was unwarranted but I do think more attention should be paid to the state of the party and the condition of the nation. I find it horrible that entire states are dismissed as being of no value and years of effort and achievement can be casually thrown out without so much as a backwards glance.
Some of the responses in this thread illustrate problems endemic to the Democratic party and may well point to some of the reasons Democrats did not turn out to vote.