Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 10:50 pm
Wow!
Who would have thought? Am I missing something, or was I just dreaming over the last 8 years, hearing how it was all fair and square, good for the Nation and all of that with Bush and Cheney expanding executive authority, trumping the courts, and cloaking their offices in secrecy?
Read this piece:
http://www.thenextright.com/patrick-ruffini/save-the-filibuster
SAVE THE FILLIBUSTER!
Indeed!
Didn't the Republicans threaten the "nuclear option" when Democrats attempted to fillibuster legislation, such as the Patriot Act and appointees, such as Roberts?
I thought that was being obstructionist! I heard that was Anti-American. You know, with us or against us, while we do the hard work!
Then we had political capital. That was earned and to be squandered right? Spend it on the agenda, will of the people be dammed!
Those are the things I remember reading and hearing.
Anyone remember differently?
Thought so.
quote:If you're a conservative looking at the odds, what should really scare you is not the 80 to 90 percent chance that Barack Obama is the next President. It's the very real chance that Democrats could get to 60 or tantalizingly close to it in the Senate. President Barack Obama is unfortunate. President Barack Obama with 60 votes in the Senate means a socialist America.
Hahahahahahaha!!
I can't wait.
quote:Extraordinary circumstances compel us to begin considering different strategies, including a break with the RNC's tradition as the Presidential committee in Presidential years.
Translation: Throw McCain under the bus AGAIN! Don't you think he is gonna be seriously pissed off about that? Two times, and with his temper, I wonder who will give him the news? Palin? He likes her and she's actually got a sack to handle it.
quote:And McCain should start explicitly making the argument for divided government, with him as the only hope of preserving it. This is unlikely to be a voting issue at the Presidential level, but we need to get the idea percolating that we are about to elect Obama with unchecked, unlimited power. Power corrupts... absolute power corrupts absolutely, etc.
Power corrupts!
Gee, I wonder who taught us that?
That's right! Republicans did. We all know what happens when too many people vote Republican. We get Republican wars, Republican scandals, Republican taxes (and yes, they cost us all via indirect taxes by cutting the upper class, thus putting the burden on us), Republican impotence (Katrina anyone), Republican values (gay hating, bigotry, racism, theocracy, corporatist, Republican erosion of the Constitution (habius corpus, Patriot Act), Republican courts, and it goes on and on and on.
When the Democrats, or anybody actually stepped up and pointed out how bad that stuff all was, the Republicans just HAMMERED them. Outed intelligence people, attacked family, friends, and generally did all they can to not actually address their abuses of power. No way. They were in charge.
They just got rid of the dissent!
Didn't that work out well for us? Seems to me about 70 to 80 percent of us think that sucks, right?
Well, look at the kinds of things we got when Democrats had a lot of power! We got Civil Rights, New Deal kinds of things.
Republicans?
Corruption, war, greed, depression. Yeah, two of them now.
Power corrupts who exactly?
Maybe it corrupts those that seek it for less than honest reasons. Maybe it corrupts those who abuse the process to get it. Maybe it corrupts those who court the bigots, racists, theocrats and others to get it?
Maybe, just maybe we the people know there is a lot of power coming the Democrats way. Maybe it's time to correct some of the wrongs and the only way to do that is just to deliver the hammer blow, force accountability at the ballot box and then press hard for change and some attention to our best interests, not just those of the wealthy and corporations.
Here's the money quote:
quote:Obama at 56 seats makes life hard, but a lot more bearable than Obama at 60 seats. The death of the filibuster would be like losing the White House all over again.
Ahh.. The truth of the matter. If they can't wheel and deal, the people are actually gonna get another taste of what Progressive politics is all about. This is New Deal type stuff, and everybody wants this, just like they did last time.
It's gonna work, just like it did last time.
That's going to pound home, just how badly we got fucked, just like last time.
And it will last a good long time, maybe a generation or two, just like it did last time.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 11:17 pm
Even with a REAL mandate, Obama isn't going to shaft all Republicans like Bush did to Democrats with the Rove-generated "pretend" mandate.
It would be nice if Obama did shaft a few though.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 11:21 pm
Yeah, it would, but he's not going to do that.
To do so would be a move similar to that kind of thing we saw with the "mandate". Didn't work so well for Republicans and it's not gonna work any better for Democrats.
Playing those kinds of games takes people off the higher ground and that leads to bad leadership all the way around, no matter who does it.
Much better to hold the strong position, make sure people understand it and build from there.
That's exactly what Obama is going to do. It's how he's run his campaign and it works very well.
No reason to break that.
Besides, things might just suck enough for a solid Democratic majority. Dealing from that position of strength will mean not having to get into the dirt.
They are gonna shaft themselves.
Republicans already are suffering a schizm of sorts. There are the Ron Paul types, and the Bush "theocrat" types and just ordinary, caught up in the mess decent Republicans.
When the loss happens, there will be a culling, largely based on who pissed off who the most.
After that, whoever is left will be forced to build a new platform and the cycle starts again.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 8:32 am
The few Republicans that are peeing-their-pants scared right now were not paying attention. Back in March, Barack Obama visited Dick Cheney's adopted backyard of Casper, Wyoming and made it pretty damn clear:
"Obama praised the libertarian spirit of Westerners -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- and condemned the Bush administration's use of warrantless wiretaps and a willingness to hold prisoners without charges.
"There's nothing Republican about that. Everyone should be outraged by that," he said.
As president, he said he would ask his attorney general "to review every executive order" of the Bush administration. "We are going to overturn those that were unconstitutional. We are going to overturn those that are unnecessary."
Denver Post
Nor did they take their bloodshot eyes off of Michelle Malkin long enough to notice that he said it many times during the campaign. For instance, this stop in May:
"If elected President, Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama said one of the first things he wants to do is ensure the constitutionality of all the laws and executive orders passed while Republican President George W. Bush has been in office.
"I would call my attorney general in and review every single executive order issued by George Bush and overturn those laws or executive decisions that I feel violate the constitution," said Obama."
Reuters
They were so drunk on the Kool-Aid that they missed the fact that Obama not only said the same thing to Congress in July, but that same summer day, he again warned Paulson and Bernanke about impending financial doom:
"Barack Obama told House Democrats on Tuesday that as president he would order his attorney general to scour White House executive orders and expunge any that "trample on liberty," several lawmakers said.
Obama "talked about how his attorney general is to review every executive order and immediately eliminate those that trample on liberty," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York.
"He indicated there would be a review in his administration," said Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the House majority whip.
Obama's meeting with the House Democratic caucus came hours after he spoke with both Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about the faltering economy, part of his effort to refocus the campaign on domestic issues."
Cleveland Plain Dealer
I seriously doubt that the Obama staff will be creating secret agencies to find gay porn on conservative laptops. There is a great nation to rebuild. I would suggest that the G.O.P. had better start paying attention to real issues. Without a series of bipartisan miracles, Americans 300 years from now will still be paying for their current follies and cursing the Republicans with ancient hatred.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 9:44 am
And then again , for those of us who remember the Carter administration ! Those years were unendingly miserable. One slight difference this time would be the make up of Congress.
