Mailwatch: Does Obama make the trains run on time?
We see lots of political mailings each year and after awhile, they all tend to blur together. Candidate talks to workers, who look on intently. Candidate talks to law enforcement officers, who look on intent. Candidate smiles, while opponent glowers. So many of these are cookie-cutter, cut-and-paste jobs.
But every now and then, a mailing comes that really catches our eye for its creativity. Today, it’s a mailing from Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative group.
Check out the front — with the little girl racing to get away from the train bearing down on her:
But wait! It gets better! Turn the mailing over and . . . look who’s running the train!
And if that photo manipulation wasn’t enough to make the point, check out the Chinese flag stuck in the tracks. Several people I’ve shown this to also commented that the train conductor’s hat looks vaugely communistic. One colleague felt it had “a North Korean feel” to it.
When Mason Adams showed me this mailing, I couldn’t help but think of two things.
The little girl reminded me of the infamous “Daisy” commercial that the Democrats ran in 1964 on behalf of Lyndon Johnson against Barry Goldwater. That commercial was so, um, explosive, that it only ran once — but it still held up as one of the most famous (and perhaps effective) negative ads ever:
Secondly, the image of Obama as the conductor of the runaway train reminded me of the 2010 thriller, “Unstoppable,” based (loosely) on a true story about a runaway train:
– Dwayne Yancey
September 28, 2012 - 6:00 AM
Conservative groups have produced some very powerful ads this campaign season, from print to tv.
What self respecting parent would allow their child to play on railroad tracks? Shame on them!
And isn’t the train going to run over that Chinese flag? Full speed ahead!
Hey, who else has the money to lend us? The British? I don’t think so. The French perhaps? The Germans don’t even want to lend it to their fellow EU friends, think they want to lend it to us? So Mitt is going to get it from where? Some caves in Ohio? (Read your early 1830′s history, my friends.)
Yeah, I got one of those in the mail too. Worth the laugh.
There was a time when it was harmful to be a liar and a purposely deceitful person or group. It was shunned and looked down on. Now, people line up to join these BIG business front groups and desert their own self interests and that of their children. This is particularly disgusting given what the TP/GOP has done and is trying to do to the future of children in this nation.
May God have mercy, I can find none.
“Ryan is not a “fiscal conservative.” A fiscal conservative pays for the government he wants. Ryan never has. His early “Roadmap for America’s Future” didn’t balance the budget until the 2060s and added $60 trillion to the national debt. Ryan’s revised plan, passed by the House in 2011, wouldn’t reach balance until the 2030s while adding $14 trillion in debt. It adds $6 trillion in debt over the next decade alone — yet Republicans had the chutzpah to say they wouldn’t raise the debt limit!”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/matt-miller-the-talented-mr-ryan/2012/08/12/1afaaaa2-e4ad-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html
Even these days it gets to the point where you’ve just got to pull out the old commie card.
“Mitt Romney says ‘Obamacare’ adds trillions to the deficit” FALSE
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jun/28/mitt-romney/mitt-romney-says-obamacare-adds-trillions-deficit/
“Obama doubled the national debt in one year” PANTS ON FIRE FALSE
http://www.politifact.com/new-jersey/statements/2012/jul/25/chain-email/obama-doubled-national-debt-one-year-chain-e-mail-/
“Cavanaugh, a public finance consultant and Treasury Department executive, responds with a book attacking what he considers the “scare tactics” and misguided fears about the federal debt. He addresses such commonly perceived dangers as debt burden to future generations, unsustainable interest, and dependence on foreign investors. “We have the strongest economy in the world,” he writes. “The prophets of doom and gloom…were (and are) dead wrong.”
http://www.amazon.com/The-Truth-About-National-Debt/dp/087584734X
http://www.justfacts.com/nationaldebt.asp
There are sources for truth and to still spread fear and lies proves your purpose.
The runaway train is full of tax payer money to pay for the Bush wars. Of course the Republicans want talk about this.
Don, are you saying that the wars were unnecessary? What would you have done in response to knowing that Afghanistan was a safe haven for OBL?
We should have done what Obama is doing now with drones and strategic missiles until the Taliban surrendered, or died. They had no navy, no air force and no long range or nuke missiles. We owed Afghanistan not one drop of American blood or treasure. It was badly done from day one and Iraq was an absolute abysmal failure and a war of convenience not necessity and that is a damned sad indictment on some “leaders” many want to install again. Romney/Ryan is literally Bush 2.0
Seems if Sandi really believed what she typed, she would be calling out obama for NOT getting our guys out of Afghanistan and replacing them with drones. I guess that makes obama Bush 1.5??
In other news, Sandi also lauded obama for using our (human) troops to catch Bin Laden.
#3 “There was a time when it was harmful to be a liar and a purposely deceitful person or group. It was shunned and looked down on…”
So you are agreeing that sending Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton out to say that the 9/11 attacks on Lybia should have this President looked down on?
#6 The runaway train is full of tax payer money to pay for the Bush wars. Of course the Republicans want talk about this.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanastan cost America $128.2B from 2001-2007.
Under Obama we have spent $442.7B from 2008-2012.
“So you are agreeing that sending Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton out to say that the 9/11 attacks on Lybia should have this President looked down on? ”
What?
#9 Gee, MMM, I’m fairly certain Sandi HAS called out Obama for not getting troops out of Afghanistan. So has Dan C. So have I. So has… Anyway.
#10 Kathie, you are absolutely delusional. First, Obama didn’t take office until 2009, so I’m not sure how you tack 2008 onto his tab. Maybe you could explain that one. I’ll wait fir it.
And we know that 7-8 years of war under Bush has NOT cost 25 percent of what 3 1/2 years under Obama has cost.
One estimate says the U.S. has spent at least $1.4 trillion straight out and another says these two wars will cost us $4 trillion.
Bush’s wars are a disaster. And Obama should have gotten us out before now. Of course if he had, right wingers would be screaming about that.
Kathie’s strategy is to make up a bunch of crap, throw it on the screen, and completely ignore the responses crushing her.
Hmmm so is Sandi saying that Bush didn’t order drones to be used in the wars in the Mid-East? I’m fairly sure he did.
Is Sandi saying that obama put on his big boy pants and immediately pulled our troops and replaced them with drones when he became our ‘commander-in-chief’?? I’m fairly sure she is not.
So gdad, are you saying obama sacrificed our troops in order to appease right-wingers’ thoughts?
#16 Please show me where I said anything of the kind, MMM.
Back to twisting other people’s words. Typical for MMM.
#16 I’m sorry, MMM, upon rereading I see that maybe you were simply asking if that’s what I meant. Right? You weren’t actually claiming that I would be saying anything so ridiculous. Right?