Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

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The hanging can continue a little while longer. Not that the Dems can be silent -- you know, once in a while shut down the Senate or something.

Soon Democrats will need to unveil some bold ideas, but for now they've been doing OK.

Dissent Protects Democracy

by cscs on 11/11/2005 05:16:56 PM EST

... can we vote for both? Ha!

Many possibilities are open to you - work a little harder.

by Rainman on 11/11/2005 08:09:10 AM EST

It's a good idea to have a "Cortex Lounge" or other such free-form diary now and again, with a regular call for newcomers to come out, introduce themselves, and express their opinions.  Booman has the Froggy Bottom for this purpose.  Even Kos used to have something similar in the distant past.

Hmmm...  What to call this place?

"Welcome to the Brain Trust?"

by Devilstower on 11/11/2005 09:28:10 AM EST

I think for right now, I want the public focused on the corruption and national security risks this country is being subjected to by the GOP.

If there were only one scandal unfolding in the Republican Party, I'd probably advise the Dems coming up with their own "mission statement" right now. But there are a lot of areas of corruption -- the CIA leak, FEMA, DeLay, Frist -- and I want the public to take it ALL in while the Dems are organizing and honing their message.

Right now, I want the electorate focused on the ten-car pile-up going on in front of their eyes. Once they've seen enough, I want us to be ready to step up and offer concrete solutions.

And frankly, I'm not sure I trust the Dems -- without a WHOLE lot of thought -- to present a mission statement in language that will engage the electorate. I think they need some time to get their message machine together.

by SusanG on 11/11/2005 09:47:19 AM EST

Geesh!  Political Cortex is PoliCor already?  If it gets further shortened it will end up being PC, or the PC that is not PC.

Has anyone ever wondered if we will ultimately speak in acronyms?  No more words? A new parlor game! If two people can have a 5 minute discussion using only acronyms, they win!  I think I'll try it.

Okay, Alex, I'll take "A blog area for lighthearted banter and less than a diary".

What is "Just Below the Surface"?

Cortex?  Surface?

Okay, I tried.

I'm working on my intro, I swear I am.

by ExcuseMeExcuseMe on 11/11/2005 09:55:44 AM EST

PoliCor sounds like some kind of medical product to me. I immediately thought of Polident, or whatever that denture stuff is. BAD image. And PC won't quite work because so many people dislike the whole politically correct business. In many circles it's just a joke.

When I talk about the site I usually just call it Cortex.

On words:
the plural of cortex is "cortices"
corticate, adjective., having a cortex
corticated, adjective. = corticate.
corticoid, noun, adjective. = corticosteroid.
corticose, adjective., of or like cortex; having a cortex

by astraea on 11/11/2005 01:03:37 PM EST

A public mission statement is that people tie you to it for good or for ill. Kind of like Pro-Choice getting firmly attached to the abortion issue when (at least for Dems) it's really about privacy including a woman's right to choose what happens to her own body. Or how Democrats somehow got labelled as "anti-religion" when, in fact, that isn't true at all. Seperation of church and state, yes, but not anti-religion. That needs to be changed as well.

So I chose to vote "Both"...let the Rethugs hang themselves, but use this time to come up with something that people can grasp easily, yet won't shackle us to one potentially divisive issue. "The Democratic Party - Making America Better for All Americans." I know that's a slogan, but it could be the basis for a mission statement, yes?

by PatsBard on 11/12/2005 02:20:34 AM EST

The dems shouldn't wait for the reps to continue their self-destruction. The reps have shown in the past they find ways to take the attention away. The media cannot be trusted to inform, and when something isn't in the news the masses soon forget.

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.~~Thomas Jefferson~~

by FLwalker on 11/13/2005 11:23:48 AM EST

Oliver Willis wrote this many months ago, it is extremely relevant now:

I think every Democrat needs to read this and take it to heart:

It's time for Democrats running for office in 2006 to understand what they're running against and running for.

You're running against the Washington Republicans. Whether you're a challenger or an incumbent, you're running against the Washington Republicans and their total inability to work for America. The Washington Republicans are everything we hate about politicians - partisan, greedy, and elitist.

Washington Republicans like Tom DeLay and Bill Frist, take expensive trips paid for by big-money lobbyists on taxpayer time. When they should be working on securing America, preserving social security, and cutting taxes - they're focused on going on expensive golf trips and hanging out smoking cigars on tropical islands. The Washington Republicans are just out of touch with average Americans.

You (the Democratic candidate), on the other hand, is going to Washington (or working in Washington) to stick up for the regular folks, to stand up for a safer America, preserve social security, and increased income. By electing Democrats, and throwing out the Washington Republicans, voters can finally get things done.
Democratic candidates are not running against George Bush, but the combination of George Bush and the Washington Republicans. They are all part and parcel of the same inside-the-beltway malady. President Bush is a lame duck, while the congress is obsessed with partisan bickering. They represent an ideology outside of the mainstream that proposes silly notions like cutting social security benefits and underfunding education. That's just crazy, especially at a time when America needs more than ever to be able to compete in the global economy. America needs to elect Democratic candidates to get us back on top, to create jobs for small and big business alike, to educate our kids so that they can beat the rest of the world, and to make it so that no terrorist or rogue government can ever threaten us again.

Democrats are running against Washington Republicans, in order to get things done.

• The Washington Republicans do not share the values of regular working Americans.

• While Democrats have tried to lower the cost of health care, protect social security from privatization, and defend our country from terrorists. The Washington Republicans have been on a campaign to inject themselves into your personal decisions, ruin social security, and to obstruct vital medical research that could save millions of lives.

• President Bush is a lame duck, flailing to remain relevant as the radical right cements control over the Republicans.

• Democrats are the only choice to keep America secure, protect your retirement, and look out for the common sense values of America's families.

• Tom DeLay and the Washington Republicans are out of touch with average Americans, obsessed with making money for themselves rather than working on our behalf.

• Only by voting for you, a representative of regular people, can we send a message to the Washington Republicans: stop working for fatcat lobbyists and breaking the rules, and start doing the people's work.

KICKING RETHUGS TO THE CURB IS WHAT I LIVE FOR!

by rduckham on 11/14/2005 01:02:48 PM EST

We have allowed the neos to frame everything for too long; we should not have them to frame at all, really!  Where they offer fear we should offer hope--make a stand, in other words.  Meanwhile, let them continue to hang themselves.

by Roni on 11/17/2005 02:01:23 AM EST