May 8, 2013

Gang of Eight's well-oiled push becoming a ClusterZuck

A weasel
Repeat after me: The Gang of Eight and Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Zuckerberg and the Gang of Eight. 

It's a meme. Spread it.

A long time ago I wrote that much of modern journalism has become a form of marketing criticism. Just like movie reviews consist of critiques of how well the movie was made, the news increasingly consists of critiques of how skillfully the special interests are pushing their interests. For months, most of the "news" about immigration has consisted of admiring puff pieces about how seamlessly the amnesty pushers had gotten all their ducks in a row, marketing-wise. Americans, especially journalists, love a winner, and the Gang of Eight had checked all the boxes in setting up their marketing to make themselves look like winners.

Now, though, the Gang of Eight's once-smooth running promotional hotrod is starting to look instead like a circus jalopy bursting with clowns. The focus of the push is supposed to be the inoffensive face of Marco Rubio, not Marco Zuckerberg, who was the subject of a hit movie about what a weasel he is.

From the New York Times just now:
Silicon Valley Group’s Political Effort Raises Uproar 
By SOMINI SENGUPTA and ERIC LIPTON 
Published: May 8, 2013

“Move fast and break things” has been the motto at Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, embodying the Silicon Valley ethos of unapologetically finding new ways to solve old problems. His latest foray into politics in Washington, however, might be characterized as “Move fast, play hardball and be prepared for blowback.”

Fwd.Us, the new nonprofit advocacy group created by Mr. Zuckerberg and several technology executives and investors to push for an overhaul of immigration law, has bankrolled television ads endorsing the conservative stands taken by three lawmakers, prompting an outcry from liberal groups and a call to withhold advertisements from Facebook. 

The liberal attacks on Zuckerberg are pretty boring:
... Vinod Khosla, a venture capitalist who finances some of the same clean energy companies as Mr. Doerr’s firm and who was once a major partner at Mr. Doerr’s investment firm, said on Twitter over the weekend: “Will Fwd.us prostitute climate destruction & other values to get a few engineers hired & get immigration reform?” ...

But the point is this: You know how, these days, the worst thing you can hold on a political issue currently up for consideration is a "divisive opinion"? There is nothing worse in 2013 than a divisive individual, like you controversial creeps who aren't all on board with the Gang of Eight.

But, now, Mark Zuckerberg is on board with the Gang of Eight, and he is, by nature, divisive and controversial, thus spreading his contagion of divisiveness via guilt by association to the immigration "reformers."
Still, others say the ads signal a calculated pragmatism. Fwd.Us is led by experienced political operatives, including Joe Lockhart, a former Clinton Administration official, and Rob Jesmer, a former Republican Senate political adviser. One executive involved in the effort said the advertisements were vetted with executives backing it — and that the executives realized before they were shown that they might alienate certain liberal audiences.... 
“We did not just fall off the turnip truck,” the executive said. 

This could get fun.

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42 comments:

  1. “We did not just fall off the turnip truck,” the executive said.

    Translation:
    How dare you call me stupid, sir! I'll have you know I am dishonest.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael Ledeen5/8/13, 7:27 PM

    Move fast and break things

    Then finish them off with tikkun olam.

    ReplyDelete
  3. this is your cuppa tea, steve: ramzpaul is saying that the powers that be hung a USA flag over the puerto rican flag that was already flying in front of the Castro sex slave house in cleveland:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7bTVigeqHs

    pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, steve!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, Zuckerberh is probably unaware of how weasly he is. And he probably surrounds himself with sycophants who aren't forthcoming about it. The real question is how long he will be a celebrity billionaire before his personality ruins it.


    Gloria

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nothing could better show how both political parties are simply shills for billionaires.

    Billionaires who favor policies that will make our posterity either serfs or non-existent.

    You know how everyone ranted for years against the commies? Well, Zuck and his hucklebucks are confirming the darkest suspicions of the most moonstruck Marxist.

    "Free enterprise" will become a dirty word even among conservatives at this rate. Another sterling achievement of the Clusterzuck*, like his IPO.

    * I hereby bequeath to the earth the term "Clusterzuck," reserved, like a fine wine, for when and if the efforts to pass this amnesty go awry. Let's make that happen.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Zuckerberg shows a reckless disregard for the middle class on the issue of immigration and perhaps in general. He does not understand the source of his freedom. What shall be the remedy?

    Perhaps if the middle class were to realize that the wealthy (the middle aspires to be) do not make a good ally, they might support a large (confiscatory, maybe 90%) marginal tax increase on income levels above say $500K/yr attached to such immigration bills.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Zuckerberg shows a reckless disregard for the middle class on the issue of immigration and perhaps in general. He does not understand the source of his freedom.


    Source of his freedom? Your understanding of the world is so simplistic.

    Zuckerberg, like most other nerds, was probably slammed into the lockers, twice a day for 4 years while he was in High school. I highly doubt that he associates his life in the middle class suburban high school days with freedom. For him, it was more likely a source of daily torture.

    I have a pet theory (no real evidence to back it up), that most liberal reactionaries were bullied during their teenage years in American high schools. Some of these guys might be slightly autistic/aspergerish as well which only fuels the fire.

    For the record, I am slightly nerd'ish and I was also bullied in high school but I am a conservative. I don't have any hard feelings towards society. But, I always get a chuckle when I hear people idealize the American life as the ultimate life immersed in freedom.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Maybe start calling him Mark Schmuckberg if you really want to be insulting

    ReplyDelete
  9. Why does Zuckerberg care? I read a couple of years ago that Facebook employs less than 100 people.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Prof. Woland5/8/13, 9:05 PM

    I like your updated weasel pic Steve. Looks like it got hit by a car.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "Move fast and break things... "
    The funniest thing to me is that people think Zuckerberg did anything innovative with Facebook. He didn't. It took myspace/friendster, made it a bit faster and easier and had some clever people to make it appealing to advertisers.

    He got very rich very young. His movie character got to hang out with beautiful women in that one movie. Journalists thus worship him. Which is why they take him more seriously than, say, the kid who made WinAmp (or whatever) and didn't have a movie made about him.

    Sorkin made Zuckerberg look like a weasel, but it made people look at Zuckerberg. I'm sure he loved it. (Note that he appeared on SNL with his doppelganger. And he was laughing.)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Zuckerberg, like most other nerds, was probably slammed into the lockers, twice a day for 4 years while he was in High school. I highly doubt that he associates his life in the middle class suburban high school days with freedom. For him, it was more likely a source of daily torture.

    I have a pet theory (no real evidence to back it up), that most liberal reactionaries were bullied during their teenage years in American high schools. Some of these guys might be slightly autistic/aspergerish as well which only fuels the fire.

    For the record, I am slightly nerd'ish and I was also bullied in high school but I am a conservative. I don't have any hard feelings towards society. But, I always get a chuckle when I hear people idealize the American life as the ultimate life immersed in freedom. I doubt that, maybe Markie played lacross, your don't have to big to play it like Football. A lot of nerds in SO Calif play Lacross or do water polo. Water polo is tough but actually better students do the sport instead of football or basketball. The nerd is bad in sport is a myth, a lot do sports like swimming and polo or Lacross.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Re: Immigrant workers undermine wage growth.

    Anonymous, don't you know that the USA has different laws of gravity than Norway? In Norway immigrants undermine wages. In the USA immigrants make us all richer.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Asians dominate Golf in high school particulary in California. Its another Nerd sport. Golf, swimming, Tennis, Water Polo, Lacrosse have the highest GPA's among kids playing sports.

    ReplyDelete
  15. @Anonymous 8:31 PM

    You're projecting way too hard.

    Zucko went to wealthy schools, it's not your standard school environment. He was also captain of his high school fencing team.

    "like most other nerds, was probably slammed into the lockers, twice a day for 4 years while he was in High school"

    That's a played out trope, not the norm.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Relevant:

    Will American Immigration Bill Kill Indian Outsourcing Industry?


    http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/new-american-bill-threatens-indian-outsourcing-companies/

    ReplyDelete
  17. I couldn't get WePay to work in Chrome or Firefox.

    ReplyDelete
  18. No more bum raps for weasels.

    They're remarkable creatures.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy6oaDzy0-Q

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIK9lExPgOM

    ReplyDelete
  19. "* I hereby bequeath to the earth the term "Clusterzuck," reserved, like a fine wine, for when and if the efforts to pass this amnesty go awry. Let's make that happen."

    Nah, I'm going to steal it right now.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Probably not OT:

    Your heart attack bill: $3,300 in Arkansas, $92,000 in California
    http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/08/news/economy/hospital-bills/index.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. Whitey Whiteman III5/9/13, 4:23 AM

    "Zuckerberg, like most other nerds, was probably slammed into the lockers, twice a day for 4 years while he was in High school."


    It is my pet theory that, even as the Holocaust fades away, the eternally beta askenazi Jew will always seethe with hatred toward the gentile jocks that got to bang the cheerleaders.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I heard one of ads from Zuck's "conservative" arm on talk radio yesterday, during Rush's show. I don't know if it was a case of "forewarned is forearmed" or not, but it sounded ridiculous to me. The whole thrust was, "My God, we're some tuff (but compassionate and fair!) conservative sonsabitches."

    Seeing how Rush pretty much compassionately dismantled Rubio in an interview on the subject maybe a week or two before, I think a lot of the people hearing the ad were similarly forearmed.

    ReplyDelete
  23. There's just so much room between "really, really doing well" and the top 0.1 or 0.01% in this country...

    I like your updated weasel pic Steve. Looks like it got hit by a car.

    It really does look weaselly, dunnit? Like it wants to be a cartoon weasel so bad...

    No more bum raps for weasels.

    They're remarkable creatures.


    That's what I was thinking! First thing I thought was, "WTF did weasels ever do to deserve being compared with Zoidberg?"

    ReplyDelete
  24. "“Move fast and break things” has been the motto at Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, embodying the Silicon Valley ethos of unapologetically finding new ways to solve old problems."

    "Move fast and break things" is also the doctrine of the immigration "reformers": expedite ill-considered legislation and, in so doing, ruin the nation. It describes Obama care too.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Steal any:

    * Drop "Gang of Eight". Should always be "Zuckerberg's Gang of Eight".

    * The last time you trusted Zuckerberg, you lost your shirt.

    Visual aids:

    * Photoshop ball caps bearing the FB logo on Zuckerberg's Gang of Eight.

    * Make an Obama poster, with Zuckerberg's face under "FWD" (a small ".us" below it).

    * Poster. Zuck's face with these words on top: "I'M HIRING". On bottom: "aliens".

    ReplyDelete
  26. "Why does Zuckerberg care? I read a couple of years ago that Facebook employs less than 100 people."

    It's the current hot issue and gives him much attention.

    Also, it promotes facebook as a pro-diversity global brand all over the world. So, Zucky could be doing this more to export facebook as a brand than to import workers for facebook.

    Also, he wants to show his creds to the lib community that make up 90% of silicon valley.

    ReplyDelete
  27. 'Americans for a Conservative Direction', 'Council for American Job Growth', etc., all nicely crafted names for front groups that work to conceal who is really financing it and in whose interest they are to work for. Very patriotic sounding names. There's thousands of various groups out there pushing for one thing or another. Front groups, all of them. The landscape is cluttered with front groups all designed to bamboozle and mislead people. Somebody somewhere is funding them for their own reasons.

    ReplyDelete
  28. like most other nerds, was probably slammed into the lockers, twice a day for 4 years while he was in High school"
    Your also steotyping, I doubt he was slameed as you think. The bunch in Coloardo who were slammed were average in computers and so forth. Probably Zack was popular if he went to a rich prep school. The type of people that are slmamed are usually not wealthy nerd types but average Joes that are not that good at things like the two that killed several people in Colorado.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I bet that you started fights with left wing kids, conservatives usually are not nerds as much they start some of the bullying against left wingers. I see that with some conservatives in school. The only consevative nerd I knew was Gilbert Guzman which was rare for a mexican and no know pick on him.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Now the argument is drifting to H-1B visas for the brightest immigrants....


    Latest from Walt Hickey

    ReplyDelete
  31. Marge, don't discourage the boy. Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals! ...except the weasels.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Weasels are cute, something I can't say for Zuckerberg, who looks more like a monkey.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Zuckerberg, like most other nerds, was probably slammed into the lockers, twice a day for 4 years while he was in High school.

    At Phillips Exeter, where he was captain of the fencing team? Unlikely.

    ReplyDelete
  34. teen immigrant angst5/9/13, 12:51 PM

    I think there are memes to spare from the past 3 weeks. How about the marketing equivalent of Bull Run when the bomb youths won journalistic glory for Twitter & VK but not FB--surely that's as humiliating as Schwarzkopf's can of Pepsi in '91

    ReplyDelete
  35. "Anonymous said...

    I have a pet theory (no real evidence to back it up), that most liberal reactionaries were bullied during their teenage years in American high schools. Some of these guys might be slightly autistic/aspergerish as well which only fuels the fire.

    5/8/13, 8:31 PM"


    Yes, this is the kind of theory best researched through anonymous Internet comments

    ReplyDelete
  36. "Move fast and break things"

    That's Zee Bug's motto. Seriously? The Gods of the Copybook Headings could have handed us an enemy with a better motto. It would be better if he added, "steal what you want."

    Breaking stuff has worked out well for the Yucky Zucky, but it hasn't been so great for the people whose stuff got broken. Hasn't worked out well for the people who he stole from, and it hasn't worked out very well for the greater fools after his the pump-and-dump IPO.

    America is country. Maybe Zee Bug could refrain from breaking it?

    I wonder what Facebook's financial statements would look like if they had very, very honest accountants.

    ReplyDelete
  37. "Zuckerberg, like most other nerds, was probably slammed into the lockers, twice a day for 4 years while he was in High school."

    That's in the Sorkin universe of big goyim hulking over Jews.

    Most Jews go to good schools where their nerdy kind dominate much of everything.

    I went to a highschool of lots of middle class Jews and there were no thugs bouncing Jews off the walls. Zuck went to a much better kind of school, so he grew up like a prince.

    ReplyDelete
  38. “'Move fast and break things' has been the motto at Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook"

    And so now he's trying to break the United States?



    ReplyDelete
  39. “'Move fast and break things' has been the motto at Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook"

    And so now he's trying to break the United States?


    But faster!

    Homer: There's the right way, the wrong way, and Homer way.

    Lisa: Isn't that just the wrong way?

    Homer: Yes, but faster!

    ReplyDelete
  40. That weasel pic is awesome.

    "Stop...that...laffin'!

    Onna these days yer gonna die laffin'."

    ReplyDelete
  41. I have to admit Steve, it was hard getting past the adorable picture of the weasel on this post. They might even sway me if this is their mascot.

    ReplyDelete

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