I remember the morning after the 1980 election. Of course we all knew Democrats could lose a Presidential, and most knew we were going to lose that Presidential, but the idea that we could lose the Senate had not presented itself. Except for a brief period during the Eisenhower administration, Democrats had controlled both houses since 1932.
Democrats dominated all the "unofficial" government, PBS, Brookings, almost all of the DC power structure was Democratic. It took the Republicans decades to undo all of that, but they succeeded, which is how they could do so much damage.
On Wednesday morning hundreds of Republicans will be out of work and there won't be any lobbying gravy train waiting for them. The financial collapse will have the effect of drying up a great deal of wingnut welfare.
Behind all the arrogance of TV hairdos is a great deal of nervousness. These are hard times in the news industry. GE is talking about taking Treasury hand outs and the NYT bonds were just rated as junk. The remaining news moguls are not in much better condition.
Moreover, Obama has some extremely strong cards should he chose to play them, and I hope he will. As I understand it, Limbaugh and other radio hate shows have said that Obama is a Muslim. I am not a lawyer, but I suspect that is grounds for having your FCC license ripped. A lie is not a point of view, and it will be a very good thing for the country if Obama exacts a very high price for all that. At minimum, Limbaugh & Co. should lose their jobs.
The ripples of this election will wash over the whole of Versailles
, and that is a very good thing.
This idea that the right wing will immediately do to Obama what they did to Clinton is laughable.
James Carville said a very smart thing, take a look around you, because on Nov. 5 everything is going to look different.
And if posters of this board would let go of their anger for 20 seconds, they would see that this hands us a tremendous opportunity. You don't have to like Obama to understand that, you just have to have your eyes open.
This is a monsoon. The landscape will be completely altered.
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You are dreaming
if you think an Obama win will change the landscape. He's moved to the right his entire career and this election will not even begin to stop that right-ward slide, much less shift it the other direction. Obama certainly will punish those he thinks are his enemies, just like Nixon evolved into doing. But his enemies won't be the republicans, it will be all us progressives and old-time liberals.
It may end up being a monsoon, but all we'll get is wet.
Like matter and anti-matter, Republicans and the truth are unable to occupy the same space.
Like matter and anti-matter, Republicans and the truth are unable to occupy the same space.
anger warping judgment
But his enemies won’t be the republicans, it will be all us progressives and old-time liberals.
Er, did progressives accidentally-on-purpose confuse his name with Osama? Did progressives circulate emails or even get on the radio and call him a terrorist?
Unlike Bill Clinton, I don't think Obama will turn a blind eye to all that and I don't think that it would be a good idea if he did turn a blind eye to it. That sort of misconduct should be a career killer and it would do wonders for our public discourse if everyone who pulled that stunt lose their jobs.
Well, I think Obama intends to govern center right
that's why the Unity
Schtick, the Republicans in the cabinet schtick, sucking up to Rick Warren, and throwing those parts of the base that actually need government services under the bus.
I think all the right wing shit will be carefully airbrushed away (especially since as Somerby might have noted, if he has not, Obama used all of it in the primaries, starting with CDS) and the left even further marginalized.
Is that anger warping judgment? Or a model that's going to be judged by results? Or both? (since we create our own reality). If Obama turns into the next FDR, I'll be happy and happy to admit my model was broken and I'm wrong. After all, past performance is no guarantee of future results...
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
He's certainly vindictive enough to go after them
but it won't be only them. He'll go after anyone he perceives as being in his way. He already has a history of doing that. I believe he'll do that to all of us who want single payer health care (instead of his plan to give even more money to insurance/investment companies), reinstatement of 4th amendment protections (instead of immunity-granting legislation to those who violated our civil rights), bankruptcy relief and relief from usurious interest rates on credit cards and loans (instead of sniffled contempt for capping credit card interest rates at 30%).
I appreciate your hope, your desire for righteous change. I fear, though, it will be shredded like that of so many of us.
Re: the anger thingy --- I want to be clear that I'm not angry with Obama. To the extent I'm angry, I'm angry at people (maybe like you) who continue to spew Obama's empty rhetoric (He's anti-war! He'll support civil rights for all! He's for the little guy!) despite all his actions that demonstrate how false those claims are (he wants war in Afghanistan and funds war in Iraq; he wants queers to shut up and be happy with separate-and-unequal status; he acted as whip on the bailout bill). If you think I'm angry, just wait until the fan base realizes they've been snookered. Given their rage at people like me for not drinking the Kool-aid, I'd say we ain't seen anger yet . . . .
Like matter and anti-matter, Republicans and the truth are unable to occupy the same space.
Like matter and anti-matter, Republicans and the truth are unable to occupy the same space.
the media too-he's already throwing some of them off his plane--
and blacklisted some tv stations who dared to ask what they saw as "inappropriate questions" to him and Biden.
and he hasn't held a press conf in months.
He used them, and now he's throwing them away like he did to us. Like he's done thruout his career--always.
Voters are next--even those all excited for him. They go under the bus on Wednesday morning.
Dykester, a Dem takeover of Congress would be the
end of the hegemony that began in 1980.
I could get behind that.
Imagine not being hammered every day with how many different kinds of people, and how many different things, we should be afraid of.
I could get behind that.
1 John 4:18
We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
1 John 4:18
Let go of anger
Open eyes. Gee, thanks. I thought we were an observant collective.
Please throw in a "get over it" and a "Hope for Change," and I'll stop being so inappropriately skeptical.
Well, maybe not let go of the anger, but use it to
power a better future.
I for one cannot wait to let go of the "you gotta be afraid!" overall tone of public discourse.
1 John 4:18
We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
1 John 4:18
Transform, I would say
I think the landscape will be altered, no question, and there will be opportunities. So I don't hear this as a patronizing "stages of grief" post.
To me, there are justice issues involved. Anger is a spark, but the injustice is the fuel, if you will.
Anger in itself is one thing. Anger directed is another. There are many things that need to change in DC, and the Democrat Party is one of them.
And a very smart comment on wingnut welfare drying up. I think that's one place we'll see some creative destruction. I doubt we'll see Limbaugh's license pulled as such. But he's also pulled enough other shit that a rat love tap, as opposed to rat fuck, would be take him down. (IOW, I think they'll take down Limbaugh the person, and leave the system of which he is a part firmly in place.)
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Seems to me the patronizing is pretty blatant when someone says
We'd be able to see if only we'd let go of our anger. YMMV.
Fair enough
but since my name isn't on the envelope, I'm assuming it's not addressed to me!
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
It's good to hold Obama's feet to the fire
and do what one can to hold the Obama fan base accountable, or at least voice a dissent. It is another thing to refuse to see the opportunities that present themselves.
I do think that Obama will make the economy better, every Democrat has. I also think the political landscape will be so altered that Obama will be pushed to the left. Sadly I think Booman and other members of the Obama fan base will try to make us give up, but I just don't think they will succeed.
Agreed...
... but I'm not sure that "letting go" of the anger is necessary or smart (or something that it's easy for many to hear, since the OFB
has been saying the same thing since February. The Howler's still calling bullshit, and he's still angry, and he's still right.
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
DC Blogger: I agree. I see him being pushed to the left even
now, with what the Bush administration's doing on the way out
We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
1 John 4:18
Real Democrats make the economy better
but post-partisans follow Republican policies, which result in economic stagnation, if not disaster. History only tells us what's happened in the past; it is not insurance or a predictor of what will happen in the future. The Obamabots are so sure their guy is the bestest (evah!) that they're not willing to push him. I'm already hearing from his die-hard fans that they want to give him the first 6-12 months to settle in before they pressure him. My eyes hurt from rolling.
If the number of articles I'm seeing that purport to convince progressives and liberals to get on board before Tuesday is any indicator, then the election will not be the blow-out any of us dreamed about before the corrupt primary process occurred. He might win (I'm resigned to a Republicrat winning), but he won't be acting like the real Democrats we've had in the past. And his fan based won't be demanding that he act like one either, so I just don't see it happening.
I do understand wanting it though. I join you there. I'll even join you in shouting "right on!!" if it happens. But I want to see him ACT like a Democrat (and he could start by identifying as one) before I'm willing to pretend he'll govern like the ones who've come before.
Like matter and anti-matter, Republicans and the truth are unable to occupy the same space.
Like matter and anti-matter, Republicans and the truth are unable to occupy the same space.
Got a link on that 6-12 months?
I'd l-o-o-o-v-e to call that one out!
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Not from any one more than devoted fans,
but I'm reading everything I can to see when that meme takes off in the M$M. Given what suck-ups the 4th estate has been with him so far, I think it's just a matter of time til it becomes the current reason why nothing changes after January's inauguration.
Like matter and anti-matter, Republicans and the truth are unable to occupy the same space.
Like matter and anti-matter, Republicans and the truth are unable to occupy the same space.
the '10 election starts in 6-12 months, no?
that's the key--it'll only be during election cycles that he'll starting talking to or caring about voters again. Watch and see. He'll say that to make anything at all happen we'll have to elect more Dems in Congress (and nothing real will have happened at all up til then, either)
To extrapolate
The it will all be about having to ensure Teh One's re-election in 2012, so nothing gets done. Then it will all be about 2014 mid-terms, so nothing gets done. Then Teh One will be a lame-duck so busy with burnishing his "legacy" that nothing gets done.
Dems don't win another White House for 12-20 years after that.
So Obama is the lesser of the two evils how?
How do we hold Obama's feet to the fire when he isn't
accountable for anything? He's relinquished or morphed a majority of his positions. So we should hold his feet to the fire on withdrawal from Iraq, funding for Iraq, abortion, FISA, supreme court appointments, NOT privatizing social security? Why don't you tell me where he stands on any of this and I'd be happy to hold him accountable.
I love this job!
I love this job!
Well, the good news is that privatizing Social Security
is even more of a non-starter now than it was when Bush couldn't push it through.
The other good news is that Iraq is pushing us out the door, or at least making great show of claiming to. The odds of us not having a massive presence there -- U.S. military and/or contractors -- throughout Obama's first term I'd put between slim and none.
Afghanistan
I am more worried about Afghanistan than Iraq. I can see Obama and his advisers sell an expansion of that war as a righteous war. Which it could have been seven years ago but no more. All it will do now is send that whole region sliding into an orgy of bloodletting. I see a repeat of "the best and the brightest" coming. If this does not happen I will be very very happy to eat crow. Ecstatic in fact.
yup--and if Pakistan gets involved--
and they're furious already at our bombing inside their borders--it'll be a bigger disaster than Iraq is.
Limbaugh and the FCC
I would presume that the Times v. Sullivan standard would apply in this case; that is, Obama would have to prove that Limbaugh was acting maliciously and in such a manner that Obama was actually damaged by his statements. Win or lose, Obama will win enough votes that it will be impossible to prove that Limbaugh damaged his career.
Since 1934, the FCC has only denied the renewal of three broadcast licenses that have been challenged. Bruce Dixon has written an excellent article on this subject.
...for the rest of us
...for the rest of us
another of his IL pals was indicted today too-
the new Whitewater is all ready and waiting once he gets in office, i'd say---and it's actually real and not faked this time--or a fishing expedition.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/... -- Feds indict insider in Blagojevich probe -- "A federal grand jury today indicted longtime Republican power broker William Cellini in the Operation Board Games investigation of corruption in state government.
Cellini was charged with conspiring with others to force a real estate investment firm headed by Hollywood producer Thomas Rosenberg to raise or donate substantial political contributions for Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The governor is not charged with wrongdoing.
The four-count indictment charged Cellini, 73, with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe.
Cellini's name played a prominent role at the trial earlier this year of Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a former top Blagojevich adviser and fundraiser who was convicted on fraud charges.
Federal prosecutors have portrayed Cellini as a key participant in a pay-to-play scheme centered around the activities of the board of the Teachers' Retirement System. In court filings and at Rezko's fraud trial, Cellini was alleged to be part of a plan to corrupt the board and extort kickbacks and campaign contributions from firms seeking state business. ..."
Yea, and some recent history:
The two largest landslides in US history were eight years apart and won by different parties. LBJ in '64 and Nixon in '72. The question is, how did that happen? Democratic arrogance and sheer Nixonian cunning. The worst thing in the world would be for Obama to win in a landslide, and it looks like he will. You will never see a party reconstruct as fast as the Republicans will reconstruct over the next four years. Obama is incapable of playing it any other way than thru sheer arrogance. I hope I'm wrong.