Earth to Republicans: You Lost
We've all seen articles saying that clueless people have no idea that they're clueless. The person who makes the most Godawful chili in the free world always says “oh, the so-and-so’s are coming over; I’ll make my chili.” Etc. Sometimes it seems that Republicans are unaware that they lost the election last November. Consequently they're continuing the same behavior that caused the public to fire them three months ago.
The House has finally had a chance to vote on the nonbinding resolution against an Iraqi “surge.” The resolution passed, 246 to 182. But Republican “leaders” were continually squelching the possibility of even voting on it. What are they afraid of? Iraqmire is probably the biggest single cause of the Republicans’ defeat. And yet they tried to suppress a nonbinding vote on whether to keep on digging deeper into the hole we’re stuck in. Helllooo!!!
Last Fall’s election should've been a wake-up call for the American Taliban (Religious Right, Biblehumpers, whatever you want to call them). The vote was an obvious sign that the public DOES NOT want to turn the clock back to the 4th century. The idea that human life is sacred up to the moment of birth (but not beyond); that there's a “homosexual agenda” which threatens to bring America to its knees; that a 2-year-old child could turn gay from watching the Teletubbies on TV — the public trounced those wackoid/sicko ideas last November. This should've been obvious to everyone.
But NOOOOO!!! Apparently, any Republican presidential contender who wants even a prayer of getting the nomination, must get in bed — get down, get funky, get kinky — with Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and James Dobson. And they’ll be put through their paces. If they can do the smarmy kiss-ass politician’s equivalent of picking up a quarter with their ***BLEEP — this phrase has been censored in case any women or children are reading *** then maybe, just maybe, the Grand Poobah will consider them. But first they’ll have to dance. And squirm. And twist. And ***BLEEP*********
Sorry, but the American Taliban’s stranglehold on the political landscape ain't quite what it used to be. John Q. Public understands this (Hell, s/he was shouting it from the rooftops last November), but apparently some Republican White House contenders don’t get it yet. Any Republican with presidential ambitions who thinks he can go down on Jerry Falwell, James Dobson and Pat Robertson and then get right back out on the campaign trail and say “Hi, I’m a moderate Republican” — two words. Clueless. Unelected.
Republicans must secretly enjoy being the minority party. Because at the rate they're going, they're gonna stay that way for a looong time.
Labels: American Taliban, Gonzales, Iraq, Iraqmire, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, nonbinding resolution, Pat Robertson, surge, Teletubbies, Torquemada
posted by Tom Harper @ 8:25 PM
19 Comments:
Yea, we lost a really good US Atty. here in San Diego, thanks to the Bush administration.
Of course, the talking points are that she didn't bust enough people on illegal immigration stuff.
She only had a hand in busting little fish like "Duke" Cunningham and the like.
Hey, I agree with you except for one thing. The Teletubbies freak me out!
The Dems have it fully within their power to stop the war -- defund it, limit its scope, place timetables, etc. -- but they don't have the guts. The GOP may have lost the elections, but they're coming out ahead on Iraq. The Democrats need some leadership: You can't have it both ways -- passing a nonbinding resolution saying that you're supporting the troops, then on the other hand announcing a rejection of the administration's build up. The Democrats know it, as does anyone else with a bit of sense. Everyone up on Capitol Hill's scrambing to get on the right side of this issue -- notice how many Republicans sympathized with the resolution while voting against it. The ultimate political winner here is old G.W. Bush!
Burkean Reflections
Mike: Yeah, I remember that. The woman who helped to bag Duke Cunningham got fired for not catching enough illegal immigrants. Riiight.
Kurt: I’ve never watched them; I’m not in that age group (at least not chronologically). But I remember when Jerry Falwell went hysterical about the Teletubbies sending secret gay signals to infants, trying to convert them.
Donald: I hate to admit it, but you're right about this. The Democrats need guts, or spines, or something. I was against that nonbinding resolution for that exact reason (I posted about it). I wanted them to cut to the chase and start voting to cut off funding. If they had spines that’s what they'd be doing.
Far-right neo-cons becoming and staying a minority? We can only hope! As a tree-hugging liberal who grew up with a conservative father, I wish the Republicans could remember what they really stood for. I thought being conservative was about personal responsibility and small government, not corporate handouts and restrictions on personal freedom. I'm convinced if my father were still alive, he'd be voting Democratic these days.
And Yes! I'm all for increasing the federal deficit a bit if Congress uses the money to buy the Dems a backbone!
Mile High Pixie: Yeah, I sure hope those neocons stay in the minority. I don't know what happened to that "limited government" and "personal responsibility" that Republicans used to stand for. They still use the same slogans, but they stopped meaning it about 6 years ago.
A backbone for the Dems -- yes, I'd be willing to pay a bit more tax money for a miracle like that.
Man, I just get giddy watching the GOP candidates try to out-conservative each other in the primaries. The American people have their eyes wide open now and aren't gonna fall for this crap anymore.
J. Marquis: I sure hope they won't get away with it any more. I remember in '88, Dukakis said during the primary that he was a "card-carrying member of the ACLU." That phrase followed him around like an albatross for the entire campaign. And yet since then Republican candidates have been sucking up to the Religious Right and still capturing a lot of mainstream voters. I hope those days are over.
History will show Dems are wrong. Militants are massing at the 5 major commerce choke points in the world. This war is really just beginning. They chose to meet us in Iraq, good place to fight them and diminish their structure - they are realizing this and moving more resources to the horn of Africa. The South Pacific is already infused and China is leading the way there to overcome the insurgents. Point is this is much bigger than you know - that's why you will not see the funding stopped or even reduced. But the political rhetoric is always fun to watch :)
NCCM USN
www.navycs.com/blogs/
Just keep digging Republicans. Just keep digging. The promised land must be down there somewhere.
tReason
If we can manage to maintain our voices the public will eventually equate that R with the word.
I'm tired of the way they've intimidated, insulted and obstructed anyone insolent enough to ask the most basic of questions, to demand the most basic of rights.
One day we will be free of this tyranny - I just worry about the damage done between that day and this.
"The Dems have it fully within their power to stop the war -- defund it, limit its scope, place timetables, etc. -- but they don't have the guts"
Donald, somebody needs to take you (and a lot of other Americans) back to school and show you how votes in the House and Senate work.
It's not enough to have a simple majority.
What having a simple majority has done, is stopping the Republican controlled Congress from setting the agenda and ramrodding legislation through to the President.
But that's what a simple majority gets you - we didn't reverse the proportions in Congress.
No Tom Dennis isn't right.
(The other) Tom: I just don’t share your world view. Millions of evil people out there are just waiting to pounce on us if we don’t fight them on several different fronts? I don’t buy it. It’s like a 300-pound weightlifter being paranoid that a 90-pound weakling is gonna sneak up behind him and beat him up.
There's lots of hatred towards America around the world, but most of that is because of our hundred-year history of invading countries (with our own army or with a proxy) and propping up a dictator who’s friendly to American interests. But we’re the world’s only superpower; we have more military might than the rest of the world put together. Who’s gonna fuck with us?
Yes I know — 9/11. But I think that was an inside job. I’m not accusing Bush or any specific individual of being in on it, but the official story just doesn’t add up. (But that’s a whole ‘nother subject…)
Prague Twin: LOL. It'll be fun to watch them just keep digging and digging.
1138: We've been losing the rhetoric war since the late ‘70s. Think tanks and crafty speech-writers have been slowly redefining everything in the public mind. It was a slow process but it’s firmly entrenched by now. Questioning anything the government does equals being unpatriotic and hating America. “Support Our Troops” (who doesn’t?) means blind acceptance of everything the president does. I think we’re starting to turn the tide in the PR wars but it'll be a slow process.
Unfortunately Donald was right (his specific comment, not his politics). The Democrats could’ve done a lot more than they’ve done so far, but too many of them are more interested in posturing and soundbiting than actually solving problems. Some Republicans are backing away from Bush. Strong Democratic leadership (combined with a few more spines in the rest of the chamber) should have provided a binding vote to reduce funding for the Iraqi war and a strict timetable for withdrawal. Murtha has an excellent bill in the House for doing exactly that, but I don’t know what chance it has of passing.
I particularly liked McCain's reason for not being at the vote...it's disrespectful of the troops and the public doesn't want it.
Well...John...the public actually does, but perhaps not the 38% that are likely to vote for you.
Kvatch: McCain's out to lunch if he believes any of that. "Disrespectful of the troops" -- the Right Wing has gotta find a better soundbite than that. It's gotten pretty transparent.
I don't need to "go back to school," 1138. Indeed, I imagine you'd struggle passing my basic introductory political science course.
Here, in any case, is an excerpt from my post on Democratic passivity, citing John Yoo's essay over at NYT earlier this week (I know everyone over here loves Yoo, BTW!).
"The fact is, Congress has every power to end the war — if it really wanted to.... In 1973, Congress affirmatively acted to cut off funds for Vietnam. It also cut off money for the Nicaraguan contras with the Boland Amendment in 1982.
Not only could Congress cut off money, it could require scheduled troop withdrawals, shrink or eliminate units, or freeze weapons supplies. It could even repeal or amend the authorization to use force it passed in 2002.
A pullout, however, would have no chance of success, because its supporters are likely to lack the two-thirds majority necessary to override a presidential veto. But to stop President Bush’s proposed troop surge, Congress doesn’t have to do anything. It can just sit back and fail to enact the periodic supplemental spending measures required to keep the war going...."
And Tom...you're on shaky ground with your alternative theory of 9/11. Popular Mechanics debunked the myth of an "inside job," twice In fact.
Burkean Reflections
Donald: Popular Mechanics?? Well, I guess that settles that. Here we had all these intelligence agents wasting their time investigating 9/11, and Popular Mechanics had the answer all along. LOL.
I don't have any specific theory about 9/11; like I said in my earlier comment, I don't suspect Bush personally. But the official story doesn't add up. I think the wackiest conspiracy theory of all is: 18 or 19 Arab fanatics simultaneously hijacked 4 airlines and pulled off this incredibly complicated maneuver, even with the minimal flight training they'd had. And the planes weren't intercepted by NORAD, which is supposed to be standard operating procedure. I don't buy it.
We'll never know, just like we'll never know who killed Kennedy or who set the Reichstag fire in Germany in the 1930s. But the official 9/11 story is too full of holes.
Whoever or whatever is to blame for "9-11", there shouldn't be any denying that the Bush administration has used it to play the American public like a big bull fiddle until the last year or so. If Bush, et al are directly or indirectly to blame, the more shame on them. Anyway, I think people in America ARE beginning to wise up to the political chicanery of the GOP.
At this point I am actually more concerned that Bush will invade or bomb Iran more than I'm worried about getting out of Iraq. Bush doesn't negotiate, with himself or with anyone. He lacks introspection and empathy. He is a guy who has a need to prove himself, all the time. Unless he is removed from the White House (by legal means, naturally) before the end of his term, his flawed outlook may send the world into a downward spiral (or at least a steeper one that we are in already). His black-or-white thinking in combination with his biblical worldview and his problems with thinking make for a bad recipe.
I'm not saying terrorism isn't a problem, because it is a huge one. I will say that I believe Bush as a person represents a greater danger to world peace than any other factor active in the world at this time. Attacking, invading and bombing will not solve the world's problems, nor will it cause the world to unquestioningly follow the rules set down by the United States. Until we change that attitude, I think the rest of the world will continue to hate us. Having someone other than Bush in the White House might be the best way to start reversing that nasty trend.
We have less than 700 days of the Bush administration to go, and while that is good, it still provides him with way too much time to "accomplish" a lot more "freedom" here at home and around Earth. Heaven help us.
Snave: Like you say, regardless of whether 9/11 was an inside job or not, it's been so convenient to the neocons that you can't help but be suspicious. If there's the slightest criticism or questioning of our government, Bush/Cheney just has to say "9/11" and millions of rightwing automatons snap to attention and say "Yes. 9/11."
I think almost every country in the world (according to surveys I've seen) says that Bush is the biggest threat to world peace. Even South Koreans think he's a bigger threat than North Korea.
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