Another Republican attempt to appropriate a word and distort its definition for their own purposes. They have already done that with "moderate". We are still at war with Eastasia.

Well, Tom Coburn was gonna be the right-wing loon from Oklahoma, but he's turned out to be the conscience of the Senate Republicans. The anti-abortion, anti-spending conscience, but a conscience nonetheless.

Grumpy - Coburn is the same right-wing loon. They had to move the goalposts again when Angle was nominated.

Either that, or fascist theocrat is the new normal.

Remember, Angle is in the Party that promoted George W. Bush as "the education candidate," "the enviornmental president." and "a compassionate conservative." Words to this particular woman candidate and her Republican brand mean nothing!

Honor is yet another word that means nothing to these cooooooooooooks! -Kevo

“When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.”

The modern American right-wing lives by this quote from the 19th century master of the absurd, only they fail to recognize the irony & satire.

Orwell wrote about this kind of blatant manipulation of language in 1984, but he was looking at it as a left-wing totalitarian phenomenon. The truth, as we've learned, is that any demagogue can twist words to do their bidding.

It helps if the audience is undereducated and credulous.

It's a genuine mystery to me how voters can be so alienated from consensus reality that they might well elect this madwoman. Obviously, right-wing extremism is now "mainstream" (remember Tim Russert giving Rush Limbaugh that benediction?). But Angle exemplifies something even crazier. It's as if nihilism got together with a cultish religion and produced its own reality show. That show is the Tea Party. It exults in turning reality on its head. It's a niche taste that is close to capturing 50% of the Nevada electorate.

Meaning can be found in the Rehnquist courts decision to promote democracy by eliminating the tawdry task of actually counting the votes .
The rationale which is clucked about as being that the Gore campaign which had requested incomplete recounts therefore absolves any whiffy hint of the scandal , or of the last check and balance providing protection against injustice actually being the first resort of injustice .
Mainstream now equals Leona Helmsley being seen as a prophet .

So, cutting Social Security is a wacko position, eh? Good thing the President's Catfood Commission won't endorse exactly that, right?

Angle: "I'll be a mainstream Senator."

Only on Bizarro World.

"Cutting benefits" is an excellent example of how the language is now used to confuse rather than enlighten. Whether the proposal is to reduce benefits lower than they currently are in nominal dollars or reduce the rate at which benefits increase, the term used is "cutting benefits." Same with the budget/deficit argument, where a proposed "cut" can be either less than originally sought (though more than currently allotted), or can be less than currently alloted. Too often, the speaker doesn't even seem to understand what he/she is proposing but is merely regurgitating talking points.

Anyhow, Angle is clearly unsuitable for the Senate and the fact that she's as viable as she is should be of deep concern to all.

I'm sick and tired of politicians slamming my people: The Lazy.

Those of you born ambitious and full of energy have NO IDEA how hard it is to try and pry yourself out of bed in the morning and to pretend you enjoy your job.

The Lazy will always be among you, and if we weren't then you'd have to look behind you a whole lot more.

Don't forget she had a local football team change their uniform color because she said that the color black was 'evil'.

It's as if the renaissance and age of reason never happened, at least here in the USA. How sad.

Well, citizen pain, she may be right about the color black being evil. After all, the Antichrist Palin wears black a lot. Black leather with Gothic crosses.

Bear in mind, though, that she considers anyone to the left of her to be a crazy soshalist radical extremist. In her world, she's normal and mainstream-- her set of 'normal and mainstream' is smaller than anyone else's-- but that's just happenstance.

"bold and sometimes controversial"

So that's what we call "batshit crazy" these days, eh? Talk about "defining deviancy down..."

And, speaking of which - why aren't we and the Dems throwing back the wingers' buzzphrases at them? Why doesn't anyone on the left apply "Accountability"© to the Republicans in Congress (much less to the previous administration)? Why aren't we demanding "Personal Responsibility" © from our corporations and banks? Why isn't decreased worry about being wiped out by medical bills touted as "Freedom" © ?

Why don't liberal/progressives co-opt the GOP's language? After all, it's skillfully crafted by the best, and focus-group tested!!

When we are faced with the fact that a candidate as right-wing crazy as Angle has a good chance to be elected to the senate, we are tempted to engage in probing analysis of American political culture. But I think that there is a simple explanation. Bat-shit crazy right-wingers, whether they win or lose, are very useful to the corporate ruling class.

Seems to me that by declaring herself "mainstream", she is going to lose the support of the tea partiers. "Mainstream" in their jargon is almost the same color as "liberal". It mean 'evil', 'not conservative'.
Seems to me she just shot herself in the foot with her base.

A little philosophizing:
When someone hangs around ONLY with persons who already agree with their ideas, then that person IS mainstream. Or perhaps "maincreek" would be a better designator? We can, and should, make fun of the ideas of candidates such as Angle; one of the best ways to delegitimize ridiculously stupid ideas is to ridicule them. Often.
We need to recognize however, as reading the posts just on this blog can demonstrate, that we do the same thing and we need to avoid that. Just because "everyone" in one's circle of acquaintances believes something about healthcare, DADT or some other policy does not mean that belief is held by EVERYONE else in the Democratic Party or by the voters Democrats need to attract.
As long as there is progress, however slight, in a piece of legislation or a policy action taken by the government, we should support that move. "Attaboys" (Navy slang for 'Good job, well done!') to one's Representative, Senator or President are always appreciated and, sometimes, actually deserved.
Then we rest for six days before pushing for the next step...