Slightly more surreal than the Democrats actually winning an election is that Tom Grey, Liberty Dad knows who the Dead Kennedys are.

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?

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.

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 ….”)

“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.

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…

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.

Just curious: whenever they give the senate tally, Dem vs Repubs, the total always is 100 – what are they counting Lieberman as?

California Uber Alles! California Uber Alles!

A Dead Kennedys reference from Tom Grey. I have really seen it all now.

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.”

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…

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.

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.

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.

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 ….”)