We need some powerful democratic voices to take this deluge of

[mfcorey1]

"it's the Democrats" lie that the rethugs are all the media selling. Schumer is too mild toned as our spokesperson. As ong as we are 'demure' when responding to their challenges, we will lose ground.

[Vinca]

1. Agree! Did you see the lead story on HuffPo? They're painting us as murderers.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. The general public knows this is all hyperbole

and are most likely face-palming with "there they go again". Click. Next channel. I know my family and friends are doing just that.

They are not obsessing like the political junkies on DU and are not glued to CNN and M$NBC or even Faux. They have Netflix or some movie channel (or god forbid access to actual "movies" at the movie theater) and certainly sports channels (big NFL conference games going on today).

I hate when DU works itself into a frenzy over something that we cannot control.

[Demsrule86]

3. Untrue...Democrats have responded but the white house gets the attention...how it works in politics.

Also, they still have right wing radio to spread their lies...consider that those likely to vote for us are in favor of this...the base Trump is playing to would never vote for Democrats anyway...just relax and let it play out.

[still_one]

4. That is true, but the bigger problem is that our wonderful media will not give the Democrats equal

time to be those powerful voices

Just as 90% of talk radio voices right wing garbage, the television networks go out of their way to exclude the Democratic point of view.

The most obvious example of this was when Comey sent the letter to the republicans in Congress 11 days before the election. Immediately after that our illustrious media was parading every right wing politician across the television screen spewing the LIE that the "email investigation had been reopened". Not only did the media NOT correct that LIE, but it was far and few between where you could find a Democratic voice on what was happening. Most of the newspapers spewed the same lie.

It started by Chaffetz who said:

"FBI Dir just informed me, "The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation." Case reopened"

Not only did the press just take Chaffetz word as gospel, paraded every right wing politician on their screen to propagate that lie.

Of course WikiLeaks was right out there on social media tweeting that "FBI has just told Congress that it is reopening the Clinton email case"

So when Shane Harris from the Washington Post tweeted in response:

"Clarifying: Comey doesn’t say the FBI is reopening the Clinton investigation per se, rather that it’s assessing newly found emails."

Our sorry excuse for the media choose to ignore that, and instead allow the republican propaganda machine to take over.

25-30% of the populace believe that President Obama is not an American, and is of Muslim faith, and I lay a significant portion of that because of the uninterrupted voice they gave to the birthers to spew that garbage, even though they knew it was false.

This started way back when John Kerry was swift-boated, and the media kept playing over and over again the swift-boaters false accusations about John Kerry as news, effectively giving them free air time to air those "swift boat ads"

At least this time the written press, NY Times, Washington Post, seem to be painting a more accurate picture of what is happening, the same cannot be said of the so-called television national news networks.

[Squinch]

6. So we need to find a way around that. I hate to say it, but we should take a page from Putin. We

don't want to hire bots, but we could have some kind of organized twitter and facebook presence, where people know where to look to find messages counter to the republican message of the day, and they jam the sites with our messages, the way republicans do with Putin's.

Great speeches like Tammy Duckworth's yesterday, that show passion and logic, DO get attention. We need more of them.

When our people DO get on talk shows, they should have items of the day that they cover, and some party lines that they make sure to get into the interview. Every single one of them.

You are right that they get more time. We know this. Rolling over because of that is not the answer. There are things we can do.

[still_one]

12. You are right, we need an organized social media presence

[Squinch]

7. Just as an example: Schumer, at the last moment, offered Trump(R) everything he asked for, just as

a poker move. He offered funding on the wall. Trump(R) refused it. Schumer did that, another poster explained to me and I think rightly, knowing Trump(R) would refuse it, because there was nothing a Democrat would say that the republican shithole would agree to.

EVERYONE should know about this. EVERYONE should know that we offered everything they asked for and they still said no, and therefore there is nothing Democrats could do to avoid this. It should be unavoidable to go on Twitter and Facebook and not learn this fact.

[still_one]

14. More importantly, the republicans have the majoirty in both houses. If they wanted to they could

exercise the nuclear option. They did it with the SC.

In fact the Washington Post is reporting that trump is asking the Senate republicans to do just that

Whatever happens, there will come a time when the tables are reversed. Perhaps it might start in 2018, but it will happen, and the poison hateful atmosphere that the republicans have cultivated since Lee Atwater, is probably as bad as it has been, and the republicans strategy of no compromise, and take no prisoners is going to come back and haunt them for a very long time once that pendulum starts swinging the other direction

[msongs]

16. no, because then people expect the wall funding offer to be renewed. trump wins in that case

[Squinch]

17. Why? We can say it was offered, it was rejected, and now it's back off the table.

[L. Coyote]

5. Pelosi holds a news conference ---- BEGINS @ 42:00 minutes

Jan 19, 2018 --- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other lawmakers hold a news conference on opposition to government shutdown.

[jambo101]

8. Republicans

Have gone mad in their need to hate,their attitude is destroying the country. i so hope on the next election we send them and their goof ball messiah packing in a landslide vote for Democrats.

[Kilgore]

9. According to my Saturday morning coffee group......

A group of us meet Saturday mornings for coffee. All are present and former union mill workers who voted for Trump. Almost all claim to be registered Democrats.

There were two consensus. First, the Democrats caused the shutdown and second was it doesn't matter.

This group is pleased with Trump because since the election, the local mill added a second shift, increased overtime, and a formerly closed production facility has been reopened.

This is what we need to address in 2020. It's what matters to these voters.

[Le Gaucher]

10. Have no worries.. all memories of the shutdown will be washed away in a trumpian moment

Of indescretion and scandal..

By next November, assuming that Government has managed to reopen for business, the shutdown will be distant memory.

As Rachel pointed out it's been only a year since President Obama became an ordinary citizen. Feels as though it's ages ago.

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. How long is going to drag on? McConnell isnt going to back down.

Why would he when he can continue to blame the Democrats. Schumer isn't going to back down, is he? ASSHOLE tRump isnt going to sign any bill out if spite, if for no other reason. So how long?

[still_one]

15. according to the WP trump is now calling for senate republicans to use the nuclear option for this

They are the majority party, and they can do that, which is why the argument this is all the Democrats fault is bogus.

[mcar]

13. I have seen many Democratic voices pushing back

The media is in "both sides" mode. Even the dotard knows he'll get the blame.