[viagracheapest]

This particular primary has drawn a lot of coverage over the fact that Castle had the full backing of the state Republican party. And it was a nasty fight, complete with a death threat to the head of the state Republican party.

What makes it interesting for non-Delaware political watchers is the big question of "What if she actually wins?"

Not so much from a "boy the Tea Party really showed 'em this time" perspective, but from a "so you forced out a moderate who actually stood a chance of defeating the Democratic challenger in November with someone on the extreme end of the conservative political spectrum, so now what?" angle.

Castle had been the presumed winner in a November showdown with the state's Democratic challenger. He was polling over 50%. Would have been an easy win. O'Donnell recently polled about 15% in the same matchup with the Democrat.

The state party is not expected to throw their arms around O'Donnell anytime soon, particularly the head of the party, who currently has his family living at an undisclosed location for their safety. So don't expect the party coffers to open up with ad money or GOTV money right away.

Congrats for now. Democrats are happy to have Castle on the sidelines this November. But seriously, did anyone really think this one through past tonight?

[daasayse]

SOme thoughts on the Tea Party....

I honestly feel so sorry for them, because this anger they have towards the democrats, the going on Fox News and saying the only hands on their candidates should have is choking a Dem. I can see being turned towards them in 2 years.

As Richard, DES, Pinky have said the American people are fickle and don't like to be told no.

[dahlilaninfo]

I like to say there is a radical fringe in America, both on the right and the left and the rest of America falls along a spectrum somewhere in the middle. I like to say that. Now, I'm not too sure. Bill Maher mentioned something on tonight's Larry King show and I thought he was joking, until I googled it and found it was true. Here it is: half of the Republicans in this country believe that Pres. Obama "sympathizes with the goals of Islamic fundamentalists who want to impose Islamic law around the world." Link

Think about that for a moment. These aren't the radical fringe, these are mainstream Americans. How the hell do you argue with that belief? We have a large population who just aren't living in reality. They live in the fantasy world of Fox News, Drudge, Limbaugh and Beck.

It gets worse. Consider what Newt Gingrich said the other day. “What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan anti-colonial behaviour, can you begin to piece together [his actions]?” Gingrich asks. “That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behaviour.”

Newt, some say, is gearing up to run for president in 2012. Nothing like appealing to the fear of the political fringe (which is much larger than I ever imagined) to set the tone of the campaign. "Kenyan" = suspicions about U.S. citizenship (appeal to birthers); = suspicions about religious beliefs (appeal to those who think he's Muslim); and the biggie, substitute "Kenyan" for "black" and you appeal to all those who still cannot comprehend there is a black man in the White House. I'll leave "anti-colonialism" to your imagination, which I'm sure is exactly what Newt intended, because it "sounds bad."

This is what America looks like in 2010. I've never seen my country so polarized and so many citizens who have completely jumped the tracks of reality. As Bill Maher says, it's mass delusion. You can't argue with delusional people who absolutely believe their delusions, especially when you have politicians and press who feed them.

[geasurpacerma]

For what it's worth, this is almost a mirror-image of the right-wing cycle of attacks on FDR's policies during the 30's. It's the same playbook, the same economic and cultural positions and the same fictional straw-men tossed into propaganda intended to produce knee-jerk reactions from an emotionally-charged public in the midst of a major recession.

What's different this time around is the lightning-fast dissemination of information from cable and Internet outlets.

The wagons began circling years before this, with the assertions from the right that the media was not to be trusted, that only their hand-selected information outlets could be believed, conveniently aligned with the folks trying to demonize the Clintons, then using 9/11 as the hammer with which to swing at everything that wasn't Evangelical-Christian enough, isolationist enough, anti-Mexican enough, anti-Muslim enough, anti-intellectual enough and anti-government enough, anti-tax enough and anti-climate science enough.

The anti-fact campaign has been effective, allowing a small group of people to attain the status of preacher/judge and attract confused, gullible, angry disciples who will believe them to be the only truth-tellers to the point where those same confused, gullible and angry people will willingly shun all other sources of information.

[Enfotanab]

Scary, Richard. I mean, really scary. You're right, the one difference is the 24/7 access to information. Everyone gets an instant voice. Just add venom.

[connandoilee]

And the greatest irony of Newt's statement is that he's complaining about anti-colonialism while his party claims to know the minds of the founding fathers, who were just about the greatest anti-colonialists in history!

I swear, they've all gone mad.

[Shipsyspeepay]

I like to say there is a radical fringe in America, both on the right and the left and the rest of America falls along a spectrum somewhere in the middle. I like to say that. Now, I'm not too sure. Bill Maher mentioned something on tonight's Larry King show and I thought he was joking, until I googled it and found it was true. Here it is: half of the Republicans in this country believe that Pres. Obama "sympathizes with the goals of Islamic fundamentalists who want to impose Islamic law around the world." Link

.

First i would like would like to congratulate you on getting the poll question correct. Something that Newsweek failed to do.

But you need to closely examine the question asked. It is very likely true that the President sympathizes with the Imam whose goal it is to build a mosque at Ground zero. A fundementalist Imam who also has a goal to establish sharia law in this country. It is also almost certain that the President also sympathizes with some of the goals of Hamas and Hezbolla vis-a-vis Israel and a Palastinian State. It is also likely that these terrorist organizations have as a goal universal imposition of Islamic Law. The question isn't asking if the President believes that Sharia should be imposed worldwide it is asking if the President sympathizes with some goals that fundamentalist Muslims have. The answer to the latter is a definite yes in my opinion, but I do not believe that the President wants Islamic Law in this country.

[MarythePuppy6]

First i would like would like to congratulate you on getting the poll question correct. Something that Newsweek failed to do.

But you need to closely examine the question asked. It is very likely true that the President sympathizes with the Imam whose goal it is to build a mosque at Ground zero. A fundementalist Imam who also has a goal to establish sharia law in this country. It is also almost certain that the President also sympathizes with some of the goals of Hamas and Hezbolla vis-a-vis Israel and a Palastinian State. It is also likely that these terrorist organizations have as a goal universal imposition of Islamic Law. The question isn't asking if the President believes that Sharia should be imposed worldwide it is asking if the President sympathizes with some goals that fundamentalist Muslims have. The answer to the latter is a definite yes in my opinion, but I do not believe that the President wants Islamic Law in this country.

I think you're wrong about Imam Rauf, Paul. First, as a Sufi Muslim, his beliefs are at odds with the orthodox Sunni and Shiite groups of Hamas and Hezbollah. Bill Maher put it this way, "Sufi Muslims are the hippies of the Muslim world." He's not that far off. Sufis are the kabbalists of Islam.

As we've discussed earlier, any radical group can take any part of any religion and twist it to their own ends. Sharia Law is no exception. Imam Rauf has denounced all terrorist activity, including that of Hamas and Hezbollah. You can take him at his word or not.

The problem with the poll question is that most Americans have one view of Islam, one view of Muslims and one view of Sharia Law and it's not a good one. Even the term "Islamic fundamentalist" has a bad connotation in this country. That poll question basically asks this: Does Pres. Obama support radical Islam? More than half of the Republicans polled answered yes. Anyway you slice it, that's pretty scary.

Imam Rauf's stated goal is to change that, to educate people on the differences between those who would use Islam for violence and those who practice Islam in peace. Both Pres. Bush and Pres. Obama have sent him out into the world as a representative of America do to just that.

This is a very short clip of Imam Rauf talking about Sharia Law on Book TV (C-SPAN2). Link