Babel On, Babel Off: Why the Democrats Never Win ...

This is, pathetically, embarrasingly, two weeks late, but I can’t go without posting this. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t .

Besides, it may just still be news for those few stragglers who actually read my blog (Technorati rank: 864,492. Woo-HOO!) and who also missed this particular Daily Show segment (from March 14 or thereabouts, I gather), as I did:

Paul Hackett Doesn't Fit the Matrix

Remember Paul Hackett? He is a former marine and veteran of the War in Iraq who ran last year in a special election in heavily Republican district in the Cincinatti area. Although he lost to the Republican candidate, 48% to 52%, this by itself was gigantic: according to his Wikipedia article, his showing was the best for a Democrat for more than thirty years: since 1974, in the wake of the Watergate scandals, and which Bush carried in the 2004 election by 64%.

According to this clip, Democratic Party Leaders actually asked Paul Hackett not to run in the midterm elections this year against "vulnerable Republican Senator Mike DeWine" in Ohio, where the Democrats hope to pick up a seat.

The Daily Show interviews a Democratic operative: "There's a matrix for electability ... follow some instructions from your consultants ..." Oh, yeah. The Democrats' consultants' have done such a great job over the past 30 years. He even goes on to mention focus groups. "Take the language that people use in Focus groups and 'patter it back.' That's what it's all about" <rant tendentiousness="nauseating">Ah, yes. Focus Groups. Isn't it Focus Groups that tell the networks which Pilots will make winning shows every season? And they're always on the money, right? The TV fall lineup is never a steaming bowl of loose stools, right? It's just all part of the desperate human need to believe that they can control things. The way corporate executives and MBAs convince themselves that if their business succeeds, it's because of things they did and the way they did them (it's never due to luck, say, and god forbid it's ever their fault if it fails). It's the engine that churns endless stands of trees into the latest Business-related books on "Management" and "Leadership" and how to pat your back that as a corporate executive you're not just a parasite on society but are actually driving the economy and "making" weath. The same inane hope that convinces people that their mutual fund managers actually earn their money or that industry analysts actually have the slightest idea what goes on inside the companies they cover (other than the soulless time-sink of pointless meetings which is the prime activity of the Corporate Employee).</rant>

This … explains … a lot. Sort of makes you want to make all your contributions directly to the candidates and not to the party. As one should expect from Jon Stewart, this segment roll-on-the-floor funny ("Al Gore's 837 easy steps to Campaign Victory"), but it’s also cry-your-eyes-out-for-the-future-of-this-country(-not-to-mention-the-rest-of-the-world) sad, and it’ll make you really, really, angry.

Courtesy of Onegoodmove. Your one-stop shopping blog for Daily Show segments you didn’t watch on TV.