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Instead of Infighting Read "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72"

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McCamy Taylor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-10-08 08:29 PM
Original message
Instead of Infighting Read "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72"
and you will discover why all this infighting and intra-party hatred is so destructive and so plain wrong .

I am going to keep this short and sweet. I have already written The Press v. John Edwards, The Press v. Hillary Clinton (the latter took four parts because the press hates her so much) and I am now about to start The Press v. Barack Obama which looks to be just as infuriating as the first two.

Remember 2000 and 'Gore is a Liar'? Remember 2004 and "What Exit Polls"? This year is much worse. This year is a replay of 1972 with all of Pat Buchanan's CREEPy dirty tricks that he created for Nixon being wielded by Karl Rove in a desperate attempt to get McCain elected so he can pardon their asses and protect Chevron's Iraq oil leases.

In 1972 the game was get Muskie out, keep Humphrey and McGovern neck and neck until the convention so that Miami would be as bad as Chicago 1968, covince each side that the other was playing dirty tricks on it so that the party would be fractured after the convention and make sure that the weakest candidate--whomever Buchanan and Nixon decided that was---was the winner. The used criminals, the FBI and the press to help them.

Here is Pat Buchanan's game plan. Note that spreading smears about one Dem that are attributed to another Dem is the number one strategy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/stories/buchananmemo.htm

Only three pages were produced. The Senate Watergate committee never learned that there was a fourth page. On it, Buchanan and Khachigian proposed:

"COVERT OPERATIONS -- We should have as many of these down there as needed to conduct harassment exercises, and embarrassment exercises for the Democrats. They should have no connection at all with the GOP Observation Post, and should be directed out of here, as they have been in the past.

"They should be able to help put demonstrations together, get leaflets out, start rumors, and generally foul up scheduled events -- and add to the considerable confusion and chaos that will inevitably exist."

It continued:

"The preparation of attacks on one Democrat by another -- and 'endorsements' of one Democrat by another, which has to be repudiated, are examples of what can be done. Nothing should be done here, incidentally, which can seriously backfire and anything done should be cleared by the highest campaign authority. The Secret Service, it should be noted, will be all over Miami; and any activity will have to take into consideration their capabilities.

"We should guard here against a) anything which enables the Democrats to blame us for the mess which takes place in Miami Beach; b) anything which can be traced back to us and c) anything which is so horrendous as to damage us, if the hand is discovered."

The memo was labeled "CONFIDENTIAL"


Now, the reason I suggest reading Hunter S. Thompson's masterpiece which was penned month by month for the Rolling Stone is because he had no idea of the larger web in which he and the McGovern camp (in which he was writing and which he supporting) had been swept up. So, you get a very interesting view of history. You get to see his rage at attacks on McGovern which he is convinced come from other Democrats---of course we now know they came from Buchanan and CREEP and how this lead to retaliation and intra Party fighting. We see the drugged Muskie and how no one guessed someone might have been slipping him drugs. We see the Eagleton affair bring McGovern down---and no one at the time guesses that the FBI could have been the source of the leak. The hostility at the convention was not natural. It was manufactured. The Dems should have been united against Nixon, but they end up divided.

Read the book and look for the similarities in what is happening to us now. It is all part of the plan.

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”

George Santayana
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NightWatcher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-10-08 08:32 PM
Response to Original message
1. I bet the Good Doctor would like this election
it's got everything
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Bobbieo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-10-08 08:36 PM
Response to Original message
2. Thank you McTaylor for pointing out that we are our own worst enemy!!!
Yes, I remember the disasters of '68 and '72 and we brought it on ourselves.
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zabet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-10-08 08:38 PM
Response to Original message
3. We have found the enemy,
and it is within us.

Thanks McCamy. You are one
damn fine poster.
The book is an excellent read
and a great suggestion to the
warring factions here at DU.

:toast:
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JohnnyLib2 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-10-08 08:46 PM
Response to Original message
4. Will reread it starting tomorrow, thanks to you.

Your posts lift me, for one, above the muck. :thumbsup: :kick: Recommended.
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Medusa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-10-08 08:46 PM
Response to Original message
5. Man what I wouldn't give to read HST's take on THIS election cycle
he'd think he was on one long acid trip.
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JohnnyLib2 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-10-08 09:22 PM
Response to Reply #5
7. OMG, that explains it all!
Edited on Mon Mar-10-08 09:41 PM by JohnnyLib2
:hippie: It's not just Kool Aid we're drinking....
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OmahaBlueDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-10-08 10:08 PM
Response to Reply #5
8. At one level, we need Hunter more than ever..
.. at another level, I'm glad he's not here to see this.

F&L on the '72 Campaign Trail is one of the most brilliant political works written in the past 50 years. It is as relevant today as ever.
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AndyTiedye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-10-08 09:20 PM
Response to Original message
6. Kicking and Recommending!
:kick:

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Lilith Velkor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-11-08 10:47 PM
Response to Original message
9. kicky wicky
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-12-08 03:11 AM
Response to Original message
10. Anyone notice how prominent Pat Buchanan still is on TV . . . ?
Edited on Wed Mar-12-08 03:12 AM by defendandprotect
and has been for decades --- ?? Rather than being shunned, he's been embraced and promoted!

Meanwhile, these dirty tricks, of course, are real ---

BUT . . . does that mean that we should take Democratic candidates at face value?

Does that mean that the GOP put those words in Geraldine Ferraro's mouth --- ??

Do we want to wait until we have a presidential candidate selected to find out that he/she
is wrong for us --- ????

We have set this thing too early ---

rather than shortening the time, we should be taking more time to consider candidates ---

and NOT pre-commit ourselves with delegates until the convention ---


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Johnny__Motown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-12-08 03:42 AM
Response to Original message
11. I can't, sorry, All those books make me want to go on another ether binge, I am to old for that now
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JoFerret Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-12-08 05:31 AM
Response to Original message
12. Note that spreading smears about one Dem that are attributed to another Dem is the number one strate
Great quote from your article. DU hysterics and hyperbole mongers do the damage:

"Note that spreading smears about one Dem that are attributed to another Dem is the number one strategy."

Thanks for your work.
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