Tag: Democratic Party

Are the Democrats willing to bet it all on preemptively striking McCain-Palin?

There is a major difference between the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership. Democrats fight the political campaign as if it were an intellectual, academic exercise. The Republicans fight like it is an all out war, a brawl for control of the neighborhood. While the Republicans are willing to risk it all to save their hallowed ground, Democrats prefer to fight in a clean war mode. Republicans fight as if their futures depended on the win. Democrats fight as if they are right and, consequently, for the sake of fairness, deserve to win.

On any disagreement, the Republicans grab their guns and start shooting …it’s war. The Democrats pause to think. What is the problem? What are the facts? Can we negotiate with the potential aggressor? How can we avoid conflict? Should we wait until we are sure that the other party means us harm …wait until the other party throws the punch?

(cross posted at dailykos)

The real issue is not the New Yorker and what its editors and artists consider satire. I wish it were. But look at the News Headlines for the last weeks. Which Candidate has been in the news? Which Candidate has made a “flub” more often? Which candidate has had a member of his “team” or a famous supporter make a flub. Which candidate has been labeled as having an erosion in his support?

Do you see where I am going?

Rasmussen reported that 9% in a poll said that Congress is doing a good to excellent job.

That’s down from a 15% high of this year. Merely 3% of the all-important independents approve.

Further, only 12% of voters feel Congress has passed important legislation in the last six months. 62% say NO important legislation has been passed. We keep hearing from the Democratic leadership that they should make no serious attempt to protect the Republic. This would, apparently, displease the public. Instead, they tell us, they are focused on important legislation.

Add this together and here is the answer to the question:

“Is it that Congress thinks the people are stupid; or is it that Congressionals are actually the stupid ones?”…

Well the answer can only be a resounding “YES”.

It’s not just the liberals held hostage to the Democratic leadership that understands big changes are needed. America wants it, and wants it big time. If you think politicians will volunteer to make the changes we need, you might consider quitting dope.

Practically speaking, here’s one thing we might do:

Niemand sieht mich, wenn er mich sucht;

doch überall bin ich, geborgen dem Blick.

Perhaps the commenter August Adams put it best, following upon a Robert Parry article on the Democratic capitulation on telecom immunity for illegal Bush administration wiretapping:

So we are a Capitalist State

So, fascism is led by a dictator, so how does a “super” capitalistic state, one where the President and the Congress and the Senate are all in lock Step, differ from a Fascist state where the Dictator simply seizes power.

I guess we live in a State where the leaders simply use the Corporate Controlled Capitalist Media to spin propaganda and the “electoral” process is manipulated to select our rulers.

In looking back at the Bush debacle, one thing stands out.  It would never have happened, at least not so blatantly and egregiously, had there been a healthy opposition party in America.  Up until 2000 there was at least the illusion of the Democrats as a party in opposition to the Republicans, however ineffective.  And the Republicans, though always venal, have never been so nakedly predatory, never so in-your-face ‘I’m going to take your shit and you’re going to like it’, never so openly disdainful of the Constitution and the law.  Somewhere along the line, the notion of the Democrats as the voice of sanity counter-balancing Republican lunacy has become just so much political vaporware.  What happened?    

I dunno why, I watched much of the Rules Committee meeting on C-SPAN today.

It’s strange — I haven’t been following the process in detail the whole time, and yet today I ended up watching most of the meeting.

And I also spent a lot of time reading comments at Daily Kos on open threads and diaries.

I feel like a virgin who just got laid — and it wasn’t terrible or anything, but it sure wasn’t very romantic.

Yeah it was that vulgar.

They say making laws is like making sausages, you don’t want to know too much about the details or it would nauseate you.  I’d say the same for all of politics.

And I’m finally willing to be nauseated.  Heh.

Yesterday, I wrote about McCain calling Elizabeth Edwards’ comments as “a cheap shot.”

I had an inclination Elizabeth would not sit down too long to take any BS from McSame, who accused her of “cheap shots” when it came to his governmental coverage for healthcare.

And I was right. She wrote something for the Wonk Room at Think Progress, which is the bigger blog for the Center of American Progress…and where she is a senior fellow.

Opening remarks:

John McCain accused me of taking a “cheap shot” on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” yesterday for noting that people with preexisting conditions, such as he and I have, would not be able to get health care under his plan — and that he perhaps was not as sensitive to this problem as he should be since he has been in government health care his whole life.

More after the flip