Thursday, November 09, 2006
Republicans
I will attempt to include a few "gracious in victory" comments in this post about the Republican party in disarray.
Lincoln Chaffee has made noises about switching parties. He's the only Republican whose defeat bothered some Democrats. If he decides to climb aboard, be nice.
Should Allen un-concede? Brad Friedman says "Make 'em prove those numbers if they can!" I quite agree. Of course, as most of you know, I suspect (based on the exit polls, and on history) that Webb's margin of victory would not be so razor-thin if the vote were recounted. Or should I say "if it were recountable?"
Ken Mehlman: The day after Bill Maher uses the words "Mehlman" and "gay" in the same sentence on national TV, Ken Mehlman quits. If he really wanted to do this country a favor, he would out himself, stay in the job, and force the party to deal with the situation. Such things, alas, are beyond our Ken.
Dick Morris. I really don't like this guy, but I can understand why he's been sucking Republican arse the way he would prefer to suck Carrie Bradshaw's Manolos. Who else would cut him a check? Who else could have turned off the laughter spigot when his trivial (albeit funny) sexual oddities became public?
Like Limbaugh, Morris seems to feel "liberated" by the Democratic victory:
I wonder how many other Republican hacks will have these Malcolm-X-after-he-leaves-Elijah-Muhammed moments -- those bursts of samsara when the realization strikes: I don't have to read from a script any longer!
The era of bad feelings: Kos Blogger mgoltsman argues against the instinct for vengeance on defeated members of the Republican party:
Dems should not alienate the G.O.P. constituency. (I do that, whenever I lapse into one of my riffs on rednecks, but no Democratic pol should do likewise.) The best way to entice those constituents to our side is to alienate them from the party of deceit. Ney and Cunningham need company in the Big House.
And if cleaning out the congressional stables means showing a merciless attitude toward corrupt Dems, then so be it. William Jefferson must go. We need congressfolk who are as pure as the Virgin Mary in a tub of Ivory soap.
Impeachment. Some folks say that any attempt to get rid of Bush would only hurt Democratic chances in 2008. Nonsense. The knife has entered the monster's flesh, but it has not yet penetrated to the bone. We need to sink the blade into the heart of the beast -- and then we need to twist it.
The Republican party itself will benefit from the exercise. You could sense as much from Limbaugh's now-famous admission that he feels liberated. Lots of rightists now know -- and are just dying to admit -- that Bush was never up to the job. They know that the Iraq war was a mistake, for exactly the reasons foreseen by Poppy. I think that there are many G.O.P.ers (including Limbaugh) who really couldn't give one-tenth of a damn about such wedge issues as stem cells and gay rights, and they are sick of pretending to care.
These people must sense that the best hope for conservatism is a rapid end to neoconservatism. That's why Republican senators will vote for removal if the evidence is strong.
Lincoln Chaffee has made noises about switching parties. He's the only Republican whose defeat bothered some Democrats. If he decides to climb aboard, be nice.
Should Allen un-concede? Brad Friedman says "Make 'em prove those numbers if they can!" I quite agree. Of course, as most of you know, I suspect (based on the exit polls, and on history) that Webb's margin of victory would not be so razor-thin if the vote were recounted. Or should I say "if it were recountable?"
Ken Mehlman: The day after Bill Maher uses the words "Mehlman" and "gay" in the same sentence on national TV, Ken Mehlman quits. If he really wanted to do this country a favor, he would out himself, stay in the job, and force the party to deal with the situation. Such things, alas, are beyond our Ken.
Dick Morris. I really don't like this guy, but I can understand why he's been sucking Republican arse the way he would prefer to suck Carrie Bradshaw's Manolos. Who else would cut him a check? Who else could have turned off the laughter spigot when his trivial (albeit funny) sexual oddities became public?
Like Limbaugh, Morris seems to feel "liberated" by the Democratic victory:
...it is financial scandals that will do the greatest damage to Bush and the Republicans. Democratic committee chairmen will examine Halliburton contracts in Iraq, royalty deals for offshore oil drilling, defense procurement scandals, and resource leases in national forests and wilderness areas. They will examine the nexus between campaign contributions and favors from the trough of the executive branch.Morris talks as though he spent the past six years alerting the public to defense procurement scandals, shady royalty deals, and executive branch bribery. We don't associate Dick Morris with Haliburton's shennanigans the way we associate Lou Dobbs with the issue of immigration or Brad Friedman with computerized voting.
Immunized from congressional scrutiny by a compliant Congress, the administration has been getting away with pork politics of the worst sort and the Democrats will find sufficient fodder for years of hearings and investigations.
I wonder how many other Republican hacks will have these Malcolm-X-after-he-leaves-Elijah-Muhammed moments -- those bursts of samsara when the realization strikes: I don't have to read from a script any longer!
The era of bad feelings: Kos Blogger mgoltsman argues against the instinct for vengeance on defeated members of the Republican party:
Second, don't forget that these Republicans were elected by somebody. Few things would give me more pleasure than seeing them treated exactly the way they deserve - in a humiliating and abusive way, and to see a good number of them get nice juicy jail terms for their most egrigious abuses. However, they are not people unto themselves but the representatives of a huge slice of America. Sure, wingnuts may have put them over the top, but they had to have substantial support among decent citizens misguided by various factors. Treating the congressional Republicans like dirt is, in large measure, treating their constituents like dirt, and that is not what we want. Much better to allow them to have a dignified voice, even if it does not amount to any power in the end. That way we avoid further alienating the decent people among their constituents.I argue otherwise: Let justice be done, though the heavens fall.
Dems should not alienate the G.O.P. constituency. (I do that, whenever I lapse into one of my riffs on rednecks, but no Democratic pol should do likewise.) The best way to entice those constituents to our side is to alienate them from the party of deceit. Ney and Cunningham need company in the Big House.
And if cleaning out the congressional stables means showing a merciless attitude toward corrupt Dems, then so be it. William Jefferson must go. We need congressfolk who are as pure as the Virgin Mary in a tub of Ivory soap.
Impeachment. Some folks say that any attempt to get rid of Bush would only hurt Democratic chances in 2008. Nonsense. The knife has entered the monster's flesh, but it has not yet penetrated to the bone. We need to sink the blade into the heart of the beast -- and then we need to twist it.
The Republican party itself will benefit from the exercise. You could sense as much from Limbaugh's now-famous admission that he feels liberated. Lots of rightists now know -- and are just dying to admit -- that Bush was never up to the job. They know that the Iraq war was a mistake, for exactly the reasons foreseen by Poppy. I think that there are many G.O.P.ers (including Limbaugh) who really couldn't give one-tenth of a damn about such wedge issues as stem cells and gay rights, and they are sick of pretending to care.
These people must sense that the best hope for conservatism is a rapid end to neoconservatism. That's why Republican senators will vote for removal if the evidence is strong.
They should be crushed with investigations of their crimes and the subpoenas. Impeachment should be instigated but I won't hold my breath. All the unconstitutional garbage that was passed should be eliminated.
If the dems don't do this then they should be considered collaborators and dealt with. They weren't elected to play nice.
If the dems don't do this then they should be considered collaborators and dealt with. They weren't elected to play nice.
I had this conversation yesterday with several people and we agree Cannon. If the Dems are able to produce legit reasons for impeachment, if they can actually prove what we all suspect and know, how would the remaining Repubs in the Senate and House NOT VOTE to remove the President? And what message will DC send to the little people that have suffered under the imperial reign of Bush? Why if we allow Bush to go scott free when he all know he has committed crimes,shouldn't the rest of us follow his anarchial ways>>
I see complete and total anarchy as the alternative to not punishing Bush et al soon.
I see complete and total anarchy as the alternative to not punishing Bush et al soon.
It's too easy to forget now that Bush continues to represent a grave and present danger to our constitutional system.
His past crimes, including the gravest war crimes, are terrible enough, and certainly ought to be examined; but the powers he claims for himself pose a far greater danger to the nation as a whole. From signing statements to legalized torture to the "unlawful combatant" legal fiction, this guy recognizes no legal authority beyond himself.
Are we supposed to hope he doesn't exercise the powers he claims to possess in the two years which remain? If Congress takes its constitutional role seriously, is there any alternative to impeachment and removal from office of both Bush and Cheney?
That it won't happen is one measure of how much we have already lost....
His past crimes, including the gravest war crimes, are terrible enough, and certainly ought to be examined; but the powers he claims for himself pose a far greater danger to the nation as a whole. From signing statements to legalized torture to the "unlawful combatant" legal fiction, this guy recognizes no legal authority beyond himself.
Are we supposed to hope he doesn't exercise the powers he claims to possess in the two years which remain? If Congress takes its constitutional role seriously, is there any alternative to impeachment and removal from office of both Bush and Cheney?
That it won't happen is one measure of how much we have already lost....
Just a short note to say congratulations for a job well done--your blog continues to be one of the most informative, clearheaded, well-written, and entertaining. Thanks for all the hard work.
as for the liberated whores, e.g., rush and morris and who knows who else: these guys are merely exposing their whorish characters. that's all they are, whores. we should not expect anything else from them.
as for chafee, he has always impressed me, especially in writing in bush 1 in 04 and telling the world. now he has REALLY impressed me with the speed and finality of his position on bolton. in fact, he impressed me so much, bush should appoint chafee as UN ambassador.
the vote issue: i'm going to put this in a real post tonight, but i am so disgusted with atrios i could vomit. he has come out and said ok folks, we won, can we put this vote fraud crap to bed? what kind of patriotism is THAT??
finally, impeachment. liz holtzmann was on DN! this morning, with daniel ellsberg, and she pointed out that the dems kept impeachment off the table for a long time with regard to watergate. it wasn't until there was unequivocal evidence that they gave in to the voice, the clamor of the people.
so, we just need to keep that up, on impeachment and everything else.
as for chafee, he has always impressed me, especially in writing in bush 1 in 04 and telling the world. now he has REALLY impressed me with the speed and finality of his position on bolton. in fact, he impressed me so much, bush should appoint chafee as UN ambassador.
the vote issue: i'm going to put this in a real post tonight, but i am so disgusted with atrios i could vomit. he has come out and said ok folks, we won, can we put this vote fraud crap to bed? what kind of patriotism is THAT??
finally, impeachment. liz holtzmann was on DN! this morning, with daniel ellsberg, and she pointed out that the dems kept impeachment off the table for a long time with regard to watergate. it wasn't until there was unequivocal evidence that they gave in to the voice, the clamor of the people.
so, we just need to keep that up, on impeachment and everything else.
Bush has mugged the Constitution, The Congress and International law with his war in Iraq (which, because of treaties signed by the US, have automatically become part of US law, as real as any other US law). He's done it too many times and in too many damaging ways. Impeachment and criminal charges are called for.
One of the worst things Clinton did, far worse than what he was accused of by most, was to let GHW Bush & Co. off the hook for the multitude of crimes attendant to the Iran-Contra and Iraq-Gate affairs. Very shortly after taking office, AG Janet Reno announced no DOJ investigations would take place for the manifest crimes involved, wherein Bush & Co. financed Saddam, supplied him with arms and C/B warfare agents, and lost the US taxpayers some $20 billion in defaulted upon 'agricultural loan guarantees' (that were being diverted to arms purchases).
If it was a misguided attempt at comity and a peace gesture, it was badly mistaken, as the GOP immediately went for his throat and groin. Moreover, it set the stage for the rehabilitation in public memory of a genuinely unpopular president and his family name, without which this current poseur wouldn't have stood a chance at national election. It would have also have prevented this Iraq war, as no other president has ever been this reckless.
The country would be better off with the Bush family permanently out of politics, and the shaming of W, marking him with the scarlet letters of war crimes and impeachable offenses, might just accomplish that. At least, we'd have to wait the next generations, sparing us this John Ellis Bush character (known as 'Jeb').
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If it was a misguided attempt at comity and a peace gesture, it was badly mistaken, as the GOP immediately went for his throat and groin. Moreover, it set the stage for the rehabilitation in public memory of a genuinely unpopular president and his family name, without which this current poseur wouldn't have stood a chance at national election. It would have also have prevented this Iraq war, as no other president has ever been this reckless.
The country would be better off with the Bush family permanently out of politics, and the shaming of W, marking him with the scarlet letters of war crimes and impeachable offenses, might just accomplish that. At least, we'd have to wait the next generations, sparing us this John Ellis Bush character (known as 'Jeb').
