Freeper Fantasies-Could Mike Ditka Have Changed The Course Of History?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Greene: Could Mike Ditka have altered U.S. history?
cnn.com ^ | Oct. 18, 2008 | Bob Greene

Posted on Saturday, October 18, 2008 5:11:18 PM by alloysteel

HAGERSTOWN, Maryland (CNN)– With barely over two weeks left until Election Day, and Barack Obama ahead in the polls, a sudden thought occurred as we were rolling through Pennsylvania and Maryland:

Could Mike Ditka, the former head coach of the Chicago Bears, have changed the course of U.S. history?

It’s not that farfetched a question. Briefly, in the summer of 2004, Ditka was being pursued by Illinois and national Republican leaders to step in and run for the United States Senate against a newcomer to the political big leagues: Barack Obama, an Illinois state senator.

Jack Ryan, who was expected to be the Republican nominee on the November ballot in the Illinois race that year, had dropped out, and his party was scrambling for a replacement. They approached Ditka; he gave it serious consideration, and then, citing family and business obligations, said no


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2109072/posts

I guess that's better than fantasizing about menage a troises with Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter...

[tularetom]

1. God can you imagine Ditka in the WH?

I realize that isn't the writer's point but jesus, Mike fucking Ditka with his finger on the nuclear button.

Never a dull moment but that mofo is nuttier than squirrel shit.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. They Wanted Him To Run For IL Senator And Stop Obama?

~

[Unsane]

3. yes

[Doctor_J]

4. they also asked Jimmy Connors, Gary Fencik, Jim McMahon,

and a host of other retired Chicago jocks. Ditka would have gotten a few more votes than Keyes, but not that many. He is viewed by most as a mean, stupid drunk. Many of the black players on the Bears loathed his right-wing politics.

[jobycom]

5. That's such a typical Republican understanding of history.

Elections are won and lost on more than personality. Close elections may come down to whether people like one candidate or another, but usually the bigger issues decide things. Reagan won because things were a mess under Carter. Carter won because people hated Ford. Clinton won in 96 because things were going well. 92, 2000, and 04 were close elections largely because people were split on the direction of this nation. Most people in those three elections didn't like the way things were going, but things weren't bad enough to force them to change, and in 04, there were factors that made some people afraid to change. So the election in part came down to personality, but even in those years, the perceptions of party ideology was really the deciding factor.

If Ditka had run, and Ditka had defeated Obama (not a given), things would still have gone to Hell under the failed policies of Bush and because of the personal shortcomings of Bush and Cheney. We would be in the same situation now, because BushCo's plans to fix things made things the way they are.

So maybe Obama wouldn't be running. Maybe Clinton would be the nominee. Maybe Biden. Either of those would be beating McCain now, too, because McCain's problems are deeper than the occassional gaffe and the overwhelming public persona of Obama. McCain's policies are Bush's. McCain's party is Bush's. McCain's ideas are the same ones that lead us where we are know, and always lead us to this place--low wages, high debt, critical national debt, and no investments in the future of the nation.

McCain would still be identified with these problems, and the Democratic nominee would still be the solution.

And forget Clinton and Biden for a moment. What if Obama hadn't been there to run? Who else could have stepped up? Could McCain beat Gore? Clark? Kerry?

The nature of the excitement might be different, but the need for a cure to the sickness of Republicanism would still be the driving force. Hell, Gravel would be beating McCain, or anyone else that idiotic party would might have nominated. The problem for them isn't Obama. The problem for them is their own failure. The problem for the Republicans is the people voting for Obama. To steal a line from Churchill, Obama isn't the lion--the people are the lion, and Obama is the roar.

[vanderBeth]

6. Is this that freeper?

[quiet.american]

7. I remember that.... instead of Ditka, the GOP ended up with... Alan Keyes. nt

[Phredicles]

8. I never got the impression that Ditka was very bright;

of course, in Rethug circles, that's considered an asset.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. Actually They Should Have Got Buddy Ryan

As his 46 defense was what got the 85 Bears where they got...

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

9. Schadenfreude is the best freude.

[FrenchieCat]

10. Maybe they can all hop into

a time machine! Good riddance! Maybe they can go back as far as when the dinosaurs roamed with hard working Americans from the real parts of America...and keep their asses there. No taxes, I heard. No wealth to keep concentrated.

[SoxFan]

11. Because there's no way a legendary coach could lose, right?

[krkaufman]

13. But that's not a Freeper pondering it, it's an idiot from CNN's policialticker blog

re: "It’s not that farfetched a question." comment in the CNN article... Actually, that's exactly what it is. It's ridiculously far-fetched, 'cause Ditka would have had his ass handed to him just as bad as Alan Keyes did. There's a reason Illinois Republicans had to resort to Keyes, because even the normally delusional Republicans within the state recognized that Obama was a steamroller that would flatten anyone standing between him and the US Senate.

I'm just surprised that Ditka, of all people, had enough sense not to get in the way.


edit: p.s. I just had to edit this post to emphasize that that is one of the most ignorant pieces of drivel I've ever read, and it's saddening that it came from a source such as CNN. It's no better than capturing the drug-addled musings of a stoner on paper.

[krkaufman]

14. Ok, so the article was utter nonsense from Bob Greene, of CNN ...

... (and past sexual infamy) ...

... but some of the posts to the thread are definitely delusional fantasy. Here's my favorite:

Here’s the dealyo...

Without Obama, We’d probably be facing Hillary.

Without Obama and Biden, Maybe we never would have got Palin in the national spotlight.

Without Palin in the Spotlight, we might not save the nation and revitalize the Republican party.

(Since this article was allowed to play the alternate universe mambo, I felt I could do the same.)

Much Love!

[RagAss]

15. and if Napolean had helicopters he would have beaten the Russians !

What a dreamscape these guys are in now !!!