Gone Like A Bad Case of Fleas
Ken Mehlman can kick a barn full of Kenmores into heavy duty cycle trying to wring what he can from Tuesday’s voting. But there’s no rational way to deny what’s come out in the wash: an historic repudiation of the Bush administration, the governing Republican majority and – above all—the war in Iraq.
As we post at midnight Tuesday, the Democrats have taken the House with a majority similar to that of the GOP’s for the last handful of years; they are on the razor’s edge of sewing up or at least deadlocking the Senate; they have won a majority of America’s statehouses; and at last look they didn’t lose a single incumbent seat nationwide.
For proof it was the war that caused the national convulsion, go no farther than the tragic case of Rhode Island’s Lincoln Chafee. The most liberal Republican in the Senate, the scion of a statewide political dynasty, a man who didn’t vote for Bush and who openly opposed the war, he still went down to defeat. A mere party association with the White House that cooked up and what has become a war with no end proved fatal.
One of the few Republican success stories Tuesday was, in it its odd and very limited way, my own Golden State. Arnold pulverized hapless Phil Angelides and morning might show he helped lift a few other Republicans into statewide office, no matter that the electorate sits much to their left. Arnold is Arnold, but Arnold has also spent the last year as a virtual Democrat or, at a minimum, as the Democrats’ loyal best friend. And none other than newly elected attorney general Jerry Brown emerges as the state’s number two guy and top dog Dem, no matter which suit or another formally occupies the office of Lt. Governor. California’s lesson in bi-partisanship ought to serve as a meaty lesson to the national Republican Party, but I wouldn’t count on it.
George W. Bush has been mostly living in his own world, but all of a sudden it’s gotten pretty crowded. Like it or not, he’s going to have to reach some accommodation with a Speaker Pelosi, a Judiciary Committee chaired by John Conyers, and a certain Jack Murtha destined to be promoted to some or another higher post –maybe even Majority Leader. That’s without the very real possibility of a Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Either that, or spend the next two years whacking golf balls. Mostly, Republicans will have to face the fact that the Reagan Revolution has now crested and unceremoniously crashed. Mixing metaphors, stick a fork in it – if you can find it.
Which brings us to the Democrats. Democrats didn’t win this election as much as they inherited it from an enormously incompetent, and corrupt, GOP. With power comes responsibility and out the window go all of the lame-ass excuses of the last five years. With Democrats winning what they did on Tuesday, can we now, once and for all, lay to rest the blubbering and moaning about the genius of Karl Rove, the rigged Diebold black boxes, and the mind-bending Fox News?
Behold! The American people can, indeed, throw out the bums and elect an opposition party – a feeble opposition party at that—while all the time overcoming the above-noted Devil’s Trifecta.
So Democrats better hurry in coming up with some immediately stirring proposals both for the economy and the war. Better start searching, as well, for at least one or two compelling national leaders who can articulate those ideas in some way other than Kerryspeak. A small raise in the minimum wage and the obfuscation built-in to the very word “redeployment†aren’t nearly enough. The mood of the American electorate revealed on Tuesday is one of angry impatience, an intense distrust of the establishment, which just happened to be recently occupied by Republicans. Democrats, take a few days off to savor your victory. And then take good notice of the way the electorate shook off such reprobates as Rick Santorum, Kurt Weldon, Conrad Burns, J.D. Hayworth and a few dozen others like they were nothing but a bad case of fleas. That they were Republicans was only serendipitous.
November 8th, 2006 at 1:17 am
Good to see you back, Marc, and great series of posts.
The voters certainly have sent a message, especially about Iraq. Anti-war Americans should not sit around and wait to see what the Democrats may or may not do about that fiasco. There is no better time for the anti-war movement to get into the streets and insist that the clear mandate to begin withdrawing from Iraq be enacted sooner rather than later. To sit around and wait for the Democrats to act would be the height of passivity. No one can seriously think that suggestions from a few quarters to send more troops will be tolerated, nor very more American troop deaths. And if not, then a withdrawal, phased or otherwise, is the only alternative. Anything else would mean staying the course, and Americans have already spoken on that one.
November 8th, 2006 at 1:24 am
Bad case of fleas, indeed
BTW, interesting that the most stirring Dem speech tonight was the scripture-quoting Harold Ford, in his concession speech.
November 8th, 2006 at 1:35 am
It is a liberal sweep. Daniel Ortega, back in power in Nicaragua.
November 8th, 2006 at 3:16 am
Thank you Marc for posting when you didn’t have to.
I’m still up because it’s been so crazy tonight. Harold Ford is a 36-year-old “Rock Star” to quote CNN. Even on Fox they conceded that main reason that he lost was because of race, however he has set himself up for good things down the line if he keeps his head on strait.
It’s a tough world and it’s only going to get tougher, I agree that the Dems can’t fall into the “majority trap” and that remains to be seen. However. I am invigorated by the many Americans that I saw yesterday who were impassioned by current events to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
There are no new numbers in VA, but I do feel bad about Chafee in RI, here was someone who stood up for his principles instead of the party line and paid the price. In the end to the good voters in SD, I hope this country will return to checks and balances, which seem to have been the biggest casualty of the current administration.
November 8th, 2006 at 3:44 am
It’s terrifically annoying, at this point, to still have no clue how the Senate will settle out. I hope this doesn’t turn into something like the Florida recount.
But what annoys me most is these frickin’ voting machines! I’m a former software engineer, generally a technology enthusiast, but I can’t see the point of even using punched cards (with their “pregnant chads” and all), much less touch screens and customized hardware, for voting. What’s wrong with a checkbox on a paper ballot? What’s wrong with putting your ballot into a box with a padlock on it? If it ain’t broke, don’t “fix” it. And another law: if something can go wrong, it will go wrong.
If there’s a use for computers in elections, it would be to have webcams on top of everybody involved, to make sure that the padlocked boxes are tracked wherever they go, and that the ballots are all accounted for. We only do this one day every couple of years–spending money on computers that are only used every so often, in lieu of volunteer labor from both major parties, is just a gobsmacking waste of money. It’s also just asking for trouble. Especially when the major manufacturers of these machines are also major donors to a particular party.
My heart’s out to Chafee. Maybe Olympia Snowe will have to change parties just to survive, if the GOP manages to dig itself even deeper over the next couple years, in its flailing search for the pony.
November 8th, 2006 at 6:00 am
Note that Dems picked up at least nine state legislatures and a bunch of governorships – this is a pretty deep swing. It’s not a victory so much as an opportunity – a time for leadership and at least some significant signs of an agenda for moving forward. Iraq isn’t going to be an easy fix however. I’m thinking that one possiblilty – and I”m not sure how great this is, but it’s got to be better than the cluelessness, contempt and denial that we’ve consistently seen to date – is that it will give leverage to the Baker group to…suggest something.
There’s a better than even chance that Iraq will still be an issue in 08. Some investigations into what’s gone on there with “reconstruction” could shift the ground even more dramatically as regards public opinion on the war. But the Dems are all over the map on Iraq, although trending toward far more willingness to confront reality than the GOPers, and there’s no simple solution that can yield an outcome that will feel like anything other than defeat. Which makes it politically extremely volatile.
November 8th, 2006 at 6:09 am
“I do feel bad about Chafee in RI, here was someone who stood up for his principles instead of the party line and paid the price.”
You think he did? I’m not so sure. It seems like he always did this balancing act to try and please everyone…voting against Bush Jr. in 2004, but only write-in to appease the national Republican Party. Caucusing with the Republicans, and only making stump speeches here and there to shake his finger at the Repubs. The result is that Chaffee never really seemed to have a political philosophy. His voting record, too, was all over the map, and contradictory. Kind of a finger to the wind.
November 8th, 2006 at 6:12 am
In Kansas, two out of four U.S. House Reps are now Democratic. I can’t remember the last time that happened; at least not in my own lifetime.
November 8th, 2006 at 6:32 am
The best news in California is that the creep Pombo got trounced by an environmentalist. Also, Jerry B – who’ll probably follow in the direction of Eliot Spitzer as an activist state AG. His victory could have far more impact than the charade that passed for a governor’s race this cycle.
November 8th, 2006 at 7:23 am
It would be great if Jerry Brown (my aura smiles and never frowns) could focus on corruption in CA.
“the mood of the American electorate revealed on Tuesday is one of angry impatience, an intense distrust of the establishment, which just happened to be recently occupied by Republicans.”
Such juvenile impatience with limited war is America’s downfall; the distrust of the establishment is well deserved; the fact that recently it’s Reps is nicely said, Marc.
If America isn’t willing to nuke Tehran and Damascus, and it isn’t and I’m against such action (at least until after Tel Aviv goes mushroom), then America has to learn how to fight a limited war.
Any limited, not total war, will only end when the LOSER chooses. The timetable of losing is up to the loser to decide — because of the limits of limited war.
Every “timetable” for withdrawal is the impatient desire to control the process; but, once in a limited fight, your only decision choices are: (a) continue (until the other guy gives up),
or (b) lose. Perhaps lose on your schedule, in accordance with your desired plans — but still lose.
Unliike S. Vietnam, however, I’m confident the majority Shia and their death squads are fully capable of oppressing, dominating, and possibly exterminating any and all Sunni resistance to Shia power, if the US follows Dem Murtha’s advice to immediately withdraw.
I get the feeling that many Dems want to such a swift Shia theocrat death squad victory, in order to blame Bush for such a huge mess.
Any more human rights oriented solutions will take a longer, and uncertain, time commitment from US troops, and more casualties.
[Marc, sorry about your father. My mother, a long time resident of Commerce in ELA, died last year. Roosevelt High -- I used to run cross-country against them when I went to South Gate.]
November 8th, 2006 at 7:57 am
Michael Turner:
I agree – nothing wrong with paper ballots. Unfortunately, Diebold et al. saw a chance to make a fortune (at taxpayers expense, of course).
Another voting machine problem: how many elderly (many of whom, at best, don’t feel comfortable with hi-tech gadgets) refrain from voting when they hear that thier district is using voting machines?
Also, how can we explain the dearth of public outrage over the Florida ’00 election, republican voting machine manufacturer connections etc?
Hopefully, Pelosi will get the Dems to stand up on thier hindlegs and start acting like an opposition party!
November 8th, 2006 at 8:29 am
Spitzer in NY, good old Jerry in CA. It is indeed a good day.
Downers include the loss of 87 and 89 in California. Thank god 90 went down.
The Dems are the best we got (not that good) and are indeed better than the alternative.
The strangest thing is to click on over to andrewsullivan.com and see his reaction. He seems rather elated.
November 8th, 2006 at 8:47 am
GOP lying has finally reached its limit; too bad the racists in TN were able to bring down Harold Ford. I hope that show-boating glad-handing faux-redneck George Allen gets beaten.
November 8th, 2006 at 8:54 am
We should be so lucky that G. Dubya spend the next two years whacking golf balls.
November 8th, 2006 at 9:02 am
My condolences to you and your family Marc on news of your fathers death.
I noticed in this post you mention none of the Republican wins. Why Marc? All votes have been counted and we have done extremely well, winning the majority of Comptroller and Dogcatcher positions throughout the country. Many of them highly contested and fiercely fought for.
But nooooooooo, not a word. And we would have done much better in those other contests too if Diebold, that turncoat bastard, had given us our usually 2% cutting edge technology votes. Probably got a higher bid from George Saros. Capitalist bastards. Let the investigations begin……uh, on second thought, best to let dead dogs lie.
November 8th, 2006 at 9:31 am
“we have done extremely well, winning the majority of Comptroller and Dogcatcher positions throughout the country.”–Jim R
This is as would be expected, especially the Dogcatcher positions. It takes the kind of pitbull style tactics Republicans are good at to handle that kind of job.
November 8th, 2006 at 10:00 am
Looks like the blossom is off the turd.
November 8th, 2006 at 10:48 am
My theory on the Iraq War is that the Democrats are looking to make the administration suggest a new course. That way they can claim they’ve come through for the voters in changing course on Iraq, and the Republicans will have interest in seeing it succeed. As architects of the new course, Republicans will have difficulty pinning the ultimate disaster in Iraq on the Democrats.
I’m of the view that Iraq is lost and the goals left are preventing an even worse bloodbath, preventing greater regional chaos, and pinning the blame on the other party. Guess which consideration will take center stage for BOTH PARTIES.
p.s. I was 15 the last time Democrats actually won a national election (and more Bill C. just wasn’t that exciting). Last night’s election gathering had at least three dance parties. good times.
November 8th, 2006 at 11:00 am
Holy shit! Rummy’s gone!
November 8th, 2006 at 11:09 am
Good blogging, Marc. Don’t know how you did it, given the circumstances.
November 8th, 2006 at 11:11 am
Tester appears to be in. Looks like it’s down to Webb and Macaca, with Mr. Faux Cowboy still trailing the horse’s behind.
And now with Dr. Strangelove retiring undergound to await the nuclear holocaust he’s worked so hard to create, the rest of us can begin cleaning up his mess.
November 8th, 2006 at 11:17 am
Mavis, you’re only 25? Wow, I thought you were older. Jesus, I’m old.
November 8th, 2006 at 11:19 am
All in all this was as satisfying an election as I can remember. The Rovian thesis that you win by energizing the base since there are no “real” independents was provided decisively wrong as the indies broke overwhelmingly Dem (a record there as well as the fact that NOT A SINGLE DEM incumbent lost!).
But Marc it will take a lot to convince the great and the good that you’re right. Already I see the MSM saying that this was a vote for “moderation”. Well maybe the middle did speak but they sure sound lefty to me. They want out of Iraq, ethics reform, stem cell research, and health care reform. And they don’t like abortion bans too much either. I hope this gets thru the powers that be. The same ones telling us that Rahm Emmanuel is a genius for his candidate selection (sorry but didn’t he contest Dean’s “50 state strategy” as a loser?). And that Nancy has to show that she is no “San Francisco” liberal?
I was sorry to see Arnold win and so many props like 87 and the elections inuitiative go down. So I guess we’ll let socialist states like Texas and Louisiana have severence taxes. I see that the Dems won the other statewide races (except for Cruz – what a shock!). Some in the GOP here blame Arnold for not campaigning but he was smart enough to stay as far away from the nuts in his party as possible – lest they take him down with them.
LATE: I see Rummy may be gone. I sure hope Bush is asked why the guy who had a lifetime job last week is now toast. Does he want to spend more time with his family and (adult) children?
Oh, and for conspiraracy buffs I’ve a doosy! Bush, in the spirit of “bipartisanship” appoints Joe Lieberman who, in a spirit of bipartisanship accepts. The the GOP governor of Connecticutt gets to appoint the balance of power in the Senate!
There, now everyone can worry a little!
November 8th, 2006 at 11:58 am
WTF? I just got up from Rummy bit the dust?
November 8th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
And there it is
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/08/rumsfeld.profile
It’s good to hear that there’s someone even younger than me.
November 8th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
Well AP says Gates (Thomas, not Bill) the former CIA chief will be the new SecDef. Too bad, I loved my idea better! But please note that Gates was one of daddy’s people. Has 41 talked to his screw-up son and said “Enough!” and placed him in the hands of adult leadership?
On the other matter I mentioned I recommend the blogs by Chris Bowers on MYDD and KOS on the new media “Genius” (Rove is dead, long live the Rove!) Rahm Emmanuel and how his blunders probably cost half a dozen seats. And they also give the lie to the notion that this was a victory for “conservative” Democrats.
And Steve Gilliard cuts Greg Palast a new one for his assurance that the GOP would win since they had “fixed” the voting machines. But, to be serious, Jimmy Carter said a few days ago, that the US election system would not meet the minimum standards for fairness that the Carter Center uses in certifying elections. It is long overdue that we fix a broken system before all trust in it is lost.
And here’s one for you Marc. Laura Ingraham told her radio audience that it was appropriate that, on the same day that Dems gained control of the Congress Daniel Ortega returned to power! Guess we can expect a lot of bipartisanship Huh!
November 8th, 2006 at 12:15 pm
7,000 votes separate Webb from Allen. Now it comes down to the 130,000 absentee ballots, most from N. VA where Webb did well. Technically in VA a recount cannot be called unless there are 2,000 votes between candidates. If so the “loosing’ candidate can request a recount at his/her expense. So the latest we’re looking at knowing the outcome of the Senate is Thanksgiving.
November 8th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
Which brings us to the Democrats. Democrats didn’t win this election as much as they inherited it from an enormously incompetent, and corrupt, GOP. With power comes responsibility and out the window go all of the lame-ass excuses of the last five years. With Democrats winning what they did on Tuesday, can we now, once and for all, lay to rest the blubbering and moaning about the genius of Karl Rove, the rigged Diebold black boxes, and the mind-bending Fox News?
Marc, can you cut out your “Jews for Jesus” style political hackery and just enjoy the moment.
Sheeesh!
You have plenty of time in the coming years to do your Al Gore and Hillary Clinton are weener’s, but when it comes to Dick Armey I’d tap that ass, shtick.
November 8th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
First off, condolences to Marc on your father….
A few other points –
Bob Gates is without a doubt a realist, even a liberal. This is in many ways good news, tentatively…He’s more of the Baker crowd. He thinks Palestinians are human beings. He is a tecnocrat. I happened to read his memoir From the Shadows a few years back out of the discount bin. … quite a raconteur, contrite about many CIA errors, (though not in Central America) – was complicit in Iran Contra though. This cements my view that Bush is gonna go the James Baker “stabilization” route – and did want the Dems to win os he could have a cushion, ala Reagan in 86-88 talking to Gorbie while the right called him a useful idiot. I have little doubt that Rove wanted the Dems to win.
Ortega doesn’t seem to be a liberal or a leftist anymore…more a cult-of-personality Catholic reactionary who mouthes left talk while being in favor of CAFTA. A disapontment. Am I happy that US influence is subsiding in Latin America? Yes. Will Ortega do anything good? I doubt it.
November 8th, 2006 at 12:39 pm
Oh I forgot to say, Gates was the first to reveal that Carter and Brezinski were funding the Muj well before Soviet involvement in Afghanistan, with the expressed purpose of provoking Russia.
November 8th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Ah, the secret lives of bloggers. For instance, my sources tell me Reg is a thirteen year old girl living in East Tunisia and has never set foot in the United States. Also, J. Cummings is nearing 400.
November 8th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
I always assumed he was closer to central Tunisia; it must have been the accent.
JCummings -
“I have little doubt that Rove wanted the Dems to win.”
Stangely enough, I’m full of doubt on that score. But perhaps I’m obtuse.
Marc – condolences on your father
November 8th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
I haven’t counted but there seem to be more Dems in office or losing close elections that are anti-abortion rights and support discrimination against gays by opposing civil marriage. Dems have began to take advantage of the protection provided by Roe v Wade that has served the GOP for years. A dark lining to the silver cloud.
November 8th, 2006 at 3:22 pm
A broadcaster on CNN just made this Machiavellian comment. If Bush had really been on top of his game, he would’ve tapped Lieberman instead of Gates, making himself look bipartisan and giving the Rep governor the opportunity to fill the vacant Senate seat with a Rep and letting them keep the majority.
If Mr. Macaca wishes to have any semblance of a political career he won’t take this to court. Too much bad blood and no sane Rep wants to fall on the sword for his ass.
As long as Bush is in office and continues to ignore bipartisan solutions, the Iraq War will continue to be a win win situation for the Democrats. Define limited war? The conflict between the Shia and the Sunni? The “war on terror” which Bush said has no timetable, and after we abandoned Afghanistan ceased to have geographical boundaries? That does not sound too limited to me.
November 8th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Good sportsmanship should not keep me from noting Cooper’s creepy “Just happen to be republicans” comment, winning as it does the ultimate in booby prizes: praise from Liberty Dad.
Last night was, no honest person can fail to note, the end (for now at least) of the most reactionary possible period in American politics. Few in the media want to take note of this, as they were so instrumental in it’s unlikly occurance.
You can go to You Tube now and see Hitchens recent appearence on “Hardball”; where he was thrown off the show for using the word Nigger. But consider the CONTEXT Marc’s old hero forces it into the conversation: he was saying conservatives are afforded the same crude treatment as blacks who have been branded with that word. Tom Delay is his John Brown. For those who saw Hitchens Clinton era tactics as the gutter trash they were; he’s the bittersweet gift who keeps on giving.
The dimwits progressives who laughed at the Impeachment, who smirked along when Hitchens told Marc Cooper’s radio audience that Starr was basicly a good guy can’t really be blamed for not knowing this would lead to mahem in the streets of Bagdad.
Yet is has, along with many other travastys.
For Cooper to smear people who have often managed rather admirably to hold the line against all this is just another day of foolishness for him.
November 8th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
Wall, you really see the world through some strange goggles. Hitchens, who I am no great fan of, was not making some kind of equivalence between Republicans and African-Americans. He was just talking about how sometime people who are being insulted reclaim the insulting label and use it as their own. It was an incidental tangent. Perhaps you haven’t heard, but the Democrats have taken the House and likely the Senate. Either enjoy the moment or make some suggestions/predictions about the future, but please stop bitching.
November 8th, 2006 at 5:37 pm
I don’t find your argument that “it was the war that caused the national convulsion” convincing. Especially unconvincing is your case study. How can Chafee’s defeat be an Iraq war protest when Joe Lieberman, the hawkish Dem from right next door (well, close by anyway) won convincingly against a single issue candidate who focused solely on the war? Naw, there’s more to it than that – there are many more or less hawkish people (I’m one) who are more than fed up with the Republican Party and were willing to invite the other party to give it a try for a while (actually, I’m rather thrilled to have a divided government for a change of pace; my belief is that having all branches of government in the hands of one party is a recipe for, well, what we got under Bush and what we used to get under the Dems).
November 8th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Comrades: While you were voting, this is what happened in the nation’s capital…
An attempt at a world record for downing boiler-makers was made, I think, and I survived. I think.
I am stuck on a work assignment in D.C. where everyone’s political, but oddly the city’s voters don’t get a voting member in the US Capital, just 4 blocks away from me. The turn-out in D.C.’s city election might have actually gone DOWN from the contested primary back in September. Anyway, DC appears to have hip, bright new mayor named Fenty.
The watering hole where I silence my excess brain cells is very popular with the Hill Staffers, consultants, operatives, and Nebraska college football fans (?! seriously, nearly a hundred huskers take over the joint on Saturdays). Seems fairly close to 50-50 dems to repubs. While watching the election results, around about my 5th whiskey enhanced Sam Adams, I swear to Darwin, that I could read minds. Half the brain waves were saying, “…so, I guess I’ll NOT be re-uping that lease on the Cap Hill condo” and the other half were telepathically channeling, “…I’ll be glad to reserve that UHaul for ya, Motherf%$K#…” There’ll soon be some very nice D.C. apartments available around January.
Then, after a dog barked in the distance, and my labtop hiccupped across cyberspace trying to learn the fate of the Don’t Shoot the Doves referendum in Michigan, this young staffer from Khazastan, er Kentucky, tries to make horizontal alliance. And she didn’t even have bad eyesight! Surely, it’s a the dawn of new era. But, I must respectfully pass on Sexy Time because I know it will never work out with someone from a place where books are banned. Alright, I know, they do have books. In Khazastan.
I swear I will not drink another boiler-maker until Rumsfeld resigns.
November 8th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
And now, the race for 2008 is on!
My predictions (Democratic):
Hillary Clinton hires James Carville, but is soon forced to fire him when, during an argument, Carville calls Hillary `an ignorant slut’.
Al Gore hires Bob Schrum and relearns how to sleep after six years of manic wakefulness. Unfortunately, this occurs mostly during strategy sessions.
Dennis Kucinich hires a new hairdresser, and is cast as a regular in the new season of `Lost’.
John Kerry buys a bong from Tommy Chong, and wisely decides to sit this one out.
Russ Feingold, in a stunningly bold move, hires the California Cheese people, and goes on to sweep the primaries…
November 8th, 2006 at 6:12 pm
A polite nod to a certain Sam Cooper; thanks for giving the world a wonderful son.
November 8th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
My congratulations to all the lefty’s, democrats and progressives who regularly post her in Marc’s Blog.
The Dems won, fair and square and I hope like hell the conservatives in the Republican party now learn a lesson on governance.
As to the type of government that we will have over the next two years with Pelosi as Speaker? Well, sometimes you have to be careful of what you pray for, you might just get it.
Marc, I have enjoyed reading each and every one of your election posts. My heart goes out to you over the loss of your dad, and I’m more than amazed that you were able to still write as well as you usually do with that burden on your heart. As you are wont to say; “Many warm hugs amigo.”
November 8th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
I want a recount.
November 8th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Jerry Brown (my aura smiles and never frowns)
California Uber Alles! California Uber Alles!
A Dead Kennedys reference from Tom Grey. I have really seen it all now.
November 8th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
Where is Jello Biafra when you need him?????
Just curious: whenever they give the senate tally, Dem vs Repubs, the total always is 100 – what are they counting Lieberman as?
November 8th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Mavis…. the last time my side opted to shut up and be good be sports was… right after Clinton won the Impeachment Vote in the Senate. It’s been goose eggs ever since, don’t expect to such
menchatude this time around. The reactionary views the good natured as weak, and comes in for the kill.
The Chicago Trib, the only major market paper to endorce Bush in 2004; had an editiorial today not THAT far away from Cooper’s work, trying to belittle the Dems victory in every way possible, how they finally control the one LOWER house, blah blah blah… can’t wait to see what they say tomorrow!
I stand by what I said about Hitchens, by the way. He was equating Conservaties with oppressed Blacks. We are getting a lot of this laughable nonsense today, poor little Ricky Santorum, why can’t Nancy Pelosi be civil, she said Bush was incompetent.
Spare me, PLLUUULLEEZZEEEEEEE. That last ditch Kerry ploy what down the dumpster (no thanks to Cooper), and now they’re playing the victim. Alterman wrote a pretty good piece today, but even played the old saw about how “we were lied into Iraq.” They were lying their butts off about Iraq six months ago, or was that something I saw with my strange Goggles?
I do like Tom Grey’s somewhat fresh take: “America’s juvinille impatance with limit war.” Roll that one around on your tounge, won’t you? Better yet, Liberty Dad, send it to Rove; I think it could be a real benchmark.
November 8th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
PS;
Marc,
Sorry to hear about your Dad. I went through the loss of my father earlier this year. The best I can tell you is the pain lessens over time…
November 8th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
Wall, you’re right about the asinine (and poorly written) Chicago Trib editorial. Here’s an excerpt, just oozing profundity:
“If the nation is fortunate, leaders of both parties may realize that Americans are more interested in solutions than in continued fragmentation and one-upmanship.”
Wow. Do they copy-and-paste that every two years? Maybe they’re hiring high-schoolers to write their editorials these days, before the billionaires buy them out.
November 8th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
Tom Grey writes: “I get the feeling that many Dems want to such a swift Shia theocrat death squad victory, in order to blame Bush for such a huge mess.”
Beneath contempt, Tom.
At this point, unless some Shi’a bloodbath happens in the next couple weeks, this election outcome leaves Dems more vulnerable to charges of letting it happen, of “losing Iraq”, obviously not good for them in 2008. Especially if most of them find they (or their constituencies) don’t like the Baker-Hamilton bipartisan consensus, whatever it turns out to be (which will be most likely the recommendation of Gates, who sits on that panel, and therefore most likely what Bush prefers). If they rebel against that, block it somehow, or even give much of an appearance of doing so ….
I think what we might see instead is a lot of gamesmanship oriented around margins of blame-share rather than single-party blaming. Dem voters tend to turn out less frequently, especially when they are feeling cynical. So on the face of it, a 50-50 split of blame for Iraq hurts the Democratic party more. However, there’s a bare fact that will always favor the Dems in the final narrative: it was the Bush White House who got us into Iraq, trumping up bad intelligence and playing on voter phobias. That stain won’t wash. High school kids will be reading about it in their American history books 20 years from now.
I must say, when I first checked the news today (noon, Japan time), you could have knocked me over with a feather. The lead story on Google was about some Secretary of Defense named Robert Gates. Had I woken up in some parallel universe? And the Senate had gone to the Dems–maybe Clinton’s last-minute push on behalf of Jim Webb made the difference, even if Clinton had to swallow some bile just to appear on stage with the guy.
At any rate, no, Tom, I don’t hope for some Shi’ite deathsquad bloodbath in Iraq. And I don’t think any sane person does. Though I must confess that reports of Rumsfeld having dropped from sight have me hoping that he’s hanging by his tie in a closet. (“What’s that smell? Could it be ….”)
November 9th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
“maybe Clinton’s last-minute push on behalf of Jim Webb made the difference, even if Clinton had to swallow some bile just to appear on stage with the guy.”
Yeah, that Clinton has really compromised his stellar progressive credentials.
Personally, I think that Webb’s total among Virginia voters would have been higher had he not appeared on stage with Clinton. Any one disagree?
All of this nostalgia for the Clinton era is quaint, but let’s be real.
November 9th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
As for this support for Lincoln Chafe from Marc Cooper and others, consider his record in favor of support of free trade agreements (CAFTA, NAFTA, etc.), his resistance to consumer rights (he was for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, and co-sponsored it), and his support for the privatization of social security. Not to mention his vote against the wholesale ban on gifts from employees of lobbying companies.
Doesn’t sound like a liberal to me. Can we please get beyond this belief that someone is “liberal” just because they casted a vote that was actually sane against the Iraq War? Or that just because he is in favor of abortion, that this makes him liberal? I am not in favor of abortion; does that mean that I am “not liberal”? Where do people arrive at these terms?
November 12th, 2006 at 12:02 am
“It would be great if Jerry Brown (my aura smiles and never frowns) could focus on corruption in CA.”
Slightly more surreal than the Democrats actually winning an election is that Tom Grey, Liberty Dad knows who the Dead Kennedys are.
November 12th, 2006 at 12:11 am
There’s Tom at the Tower Records circa 1984 trying to decide between the “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” and “Plastic Surgery Disasters”. Or maybe he should go with that compilation on tape so he’ll have enough money left over for a Septic Death tee shirt and magenta dye for his seven inch mohawk.