I sent an email to Pete Stark. It said: “You’re the man!”
Boy, do I feel like an asshole now.
Pete, last week, tried to insert a spine into the globulous pile of flesh that is the Democratic Party. He called out the Republicans, and had the gall (or, I thought, the balls), to assert that the troops were dying for the “President’s amusement.” Man, is it ever about time that a Democrat sounded off like that.
Too bad it lasted less than a week.
Earlier this week, Pete Stark was back on the floor of Congress. Hooray! The champion of the 70+ percent of Americans who are against the war and the President’s policies, Pete boldly takes the microphone and…cries?
He fucking choked up and shed tears while apologizing for his remarks.
What planet do I live on?
How do you have a lazy shit like me email you in praise of your manhood, and then turn around and act like an eight-year-old girl being scolded by her teacher? Or, more to the point, how do you criticize a lying, war criminal of a President with a 24% approval rating, and then do such a fast 180? Why are you caving when more than 70% of the country is in sympathy? What the hell happened to you?
I mean, I don’t get it. Or, maybe I do…
Over and over again, Democrat after Democrat, complete and total capitulation. I mean, there are hundreds of Dems, they can’t all be that weak. They can’t all agree with the President. They can’t all be ignoring the polls. They can’t all be this STUPID!
But, they can all be that greedy.
My guess is that lobbyists for our nation’s large corporations have been in contact with the Democratic leadership since before November of 2006. They have been telling Rohm and Hillary to “stay the course with the Republican plan, and the cash will flow to them.” It is the only thing that makes sense.
The war makes corporations money, and keeps oil prices high. The telecom corporations want immunity from the illegal spying they have been doing since before 9-11. The medical insurance companies and big pharma want no inroads into national health care. And even though most Americans want an end to the war, alternative energy, their civil rights and a fix for the high cost of health care, the Dems have been beyond challenged in meeting these needs; they have been totally ineffective. They have earned their pay.
And their pay is: double the political contributions of the Republicans. That is what Democratic fundraisers are getting from corporate donors right now. Now, think about that. I am so pissed at Democrats that I won’t give them a nickel (hell, I might not even vote for them). And yet corporations are so happy with them that they are shoveling the cash their way. With those wheelbarrows full of cash will come electoral victories, and more power. Power to write and pass pro-corporate legislation, which will net yet more containers of cash. Nancy Pelosi becomes Tom Delay!
This is the only scenario I can think of that makes any sense. Why else would the Dems betray us so thoroughly? Why else would their capitulation be so complete, when they have been poised for a year to crush the Republican opposition?
Why else would Pete Stark go from roaring tiger to timid schoolgirl in less than a week? Only the lure of giant piles of cash, or the threat to take said pile away makes sense.
Nothing else about the Democratic Party does these days.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Pelosi? No bueno!
As if the spring and summer were not enough, this fall has shown the utter uselessness of our current Speaker of the House: Nancy Pelosi.
Yes, we were all atwitter when she rose as the first female Speaker in our nation’s history. Even the evil puppet of President Cheney had to acknowledge the historical significance of Pelosi’s rise to the Speaker’s chair. We even thought some good might have come of it.
How wrong we were.
Last week, expressing the exasperation felt by at least 70% of Americans, California Representative Pete Stark went off, and criticized our so-called president Bush. He said that our brave troops were dying for the “amusement” of the President.
Big fucking deal.
He went easy on this president. This president, through his own, countless, thoughtless comments (and no, I won’t link to them, I have a day job, you have heard them all on Air America and U-Tube and countless blogs) has shown that he does find casual amusement in the destruction and mayhem he has caused in the Middle East, as well as the American heartland.
He should have continued to berate this president for his outright lies, and the murder of countless Iraqis for the profits of his oil company friends.
Oh, wait…that should have been Speaker Pelosi’s job! She should be leading this fight! Not some aged, multi-term congressman from a large state’s innumerable districts, the Speaker! One of the goddam party leaders of the alleged opposition. THIS WAS HER JOB!
Does she at least back up Representative Stark?
Fuck no. She throws him under the bus the first chance she gets. She calls his comments “inappropriate.”
Now, is it possible that she found his words inappropriate? Sure! And it doesn’t matter one bit. She is once again, for the countless time, responding to a barrage from the right, instead of attacking failed policies like Pete Stark did. She is letting the MINORITY opposition set the agenda, frame the debate, and define what is important in the public arena, instead of steering the conversation towards the safe harbor of 70%. She is supporting Dick Cheney instead of one of her own. How fucked up is that?
It is really fucked up. And, it should cost her her job.
I have personally written Speaker Pelosi and asked her to step down as Speaker. I also think she should have the primary fight of her life in ’08. And how sad is that. Instead of consolidating gains, and ushering in a Democratic president with an ended war and restored trust, we go into the 2008 elections with the Democratic-led Congress lower than the worst president in our history, according to the polls.
Pelosi is the least effective Speaker I can remember in 30 years of paying attention. Go Cindy Sheehan, or any other primary opponents that can topple her. You may not be great, but it is hard to imagine worse.
Nancy, we were excited, but now I am as let down as I can be. You suck. Quit.
Yes, we were all atwitter when she rose as the first female Speaker in our nation’s history. Even the evil puppet of President Cheney had to acknowledge the historical significance of Pelosi’s rise to the Speaker’s chair. We even thought some good might have come of it.
How wrong we were.
Last week, expressing the exasperation felt by at least 70% of Americans, California Representative Pete Stark went off, and criticized our so-called president Bush. He said that our brave troops were dying for the “amusement” of the President.
Big fucking deal.
He went easy on this president. This president, through his own, countless, thoughtless comments (and no, I won’t link to them, I have a day job, you have heard them all on Air America and U-Tube and countless blogs) has shown that he does find casual amusement in the destruction and mayhem he has caused in the Middle East, as well as the American heartland.
He should have continued to berate this president for his outright lies, and the murder of countless Iraqis for the profits of his oil company friends.
Oh, wait…that should have been Speaker Pelosi’s job! She should be leading this fight! Not some aged, multi-term congressman from a large state’s innumerable districts, the Speaker! One of the goddam party leaders of the alleged opposition. THIS WAS HER JOB!
Does she at least back up Representative Stark?
Fuck no. She throws him under the bus the first chance she gets. She calls his comments “inappropriate.”
Now, is it possible that she found his words inappropriate? Sure! And it doesn’t matter one bit. She is once again, for the countless time, responding to a barrage from the right, instead of attacking failed policies like Pete Stark did. She is letting the MINORITY opposition set the agenda, frame the debate, and define what is important in the public arena, instead of steering the conversation towards the safe harbor of 70%. She is supporting Dick Cheney instead of one of her own. How fucked up is that?
It is really fucked up. And, it should cost her her job.
I have personally written Speaker Pelosi and asked her to step down as Speaker. I also think she should have the primary fight of her life in ’08. And how sad is that. Instead of consolidating gains, and ushering in a Democratic president with an ended war and restored trust, we go into the 2008 elections with the Democratic-led Congress lower than the worst president in our history, according to the polls.
Pelosi is the least effective Speaker I can remember in 30 years of paying attention. Go Cindy Sheehan, or any other primary opponents that can topple her. You may not be great, but it is hard to imagine worse.
Nancy, we were excited, but now I am as let down as I can be. You suck. Quit.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Man Without a Party
God, I am such a whiner.
But, am I alone? Am I alone in my angst? I, who knew it would take the Democratic Party a little while to get used to wielding power. I should have expected a slow start. But who among us thought it would be such an unmitigated disaster?
Make no mistake: Republicans still wield the political power in our nation. They have the White House, and have made sure that that is the only office that matters. They have cowed the Democratic majority so effectively that it might as well not exist, except as a target for Bill O’Rielley’s derision. And what Bill, Sean and Rush say seems to matter most.
Where has it gone wrong?
Let’s look at the record:
• November, 2006 – Happy Days! Democrats take control of the House and the Senate. Seen universally as a repudiation of the Iraq War, and the policies of the Bush Administration. But especially, the war!
• Cheers as Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman to become Speaker of the House of Representatives! Things were looking up.
• Oh yeah, then Pelosi took impeachment “off the table.”
• Blustering talk about the first 100 hours, how they were going to “hold this president’s feet to the fire.” Of course, they weren’t going to hold him accountable for lying and spying – that was taken off the table.
• Rather than end the war, or redeploy troops home, Bush ESCALATES the war, with his “surge”! Democrats go “huh?” and look weak and stupid.
• Filibusters – or, to be accurate Republican threats to filibuster. Not that a Democrat would ever actually make the opposition go through with a filibuster. Not that a Democrat would arrange the spectacle of Republicans actually explaining why a meager raise in the minimum wage is bad, or why the war is good. Not that the Democrats would take their job seriously enough to actually make Republicans read the phone book for hours on end, looking ridiculous as they work against what the majority of Americans want! Instead, Democrats look weak and stupid.
• Harry Reid speaks truth! Says, on TV, that the war is lost! Dick Cheney attacks Harry. Harry fails to call Cheney a lying sack of shit, even though he lied, and is a sack of shit. Looks weak and stupid.
• May, 2007. Democrats send the President an Iraq funding bill with timelines. Bush vetoes. Democrats totally cave in. Totally. They authorize billions in funding with no restrictions. No effective oversight whatsoever! They say “wait ‘till September.” Fucking please. They look totally, pitifully weak, spineless and politically dumber than a sack of rocks.
• Summer, 2007. “Surge” goes horribly bad. Democrats begin to talk tough again. Even some Republicans speaking openly against the war. Looks bad for Bush. And then, the wiretapping bill. This bill authorizes the unwarranted spying on Americans by phone companies and the intelligence agencies. No judicial oversight. And even though Pelosi could kill it, she allows it to be voted on, and Democrats help pass it. Dems look ineffective, weak, politically inept, and even corrupt.
• Fall, 2007. Democrats vote to condemn Move On, an organization that supports them and gives them money. The also put forth and help pass a resolution to make war on Iran. Oh, and children’s health insurance (S-CHIP), they fail to get that past the President’s desk. Weak, stupid, perhaps insane.
• And all this time, the Democratic frontrunners, in a presidential campaign that is over two years long, say that they would happily nuke Iran in a first strike, and that they can’t promise to end the Iraq war by 2013. That’s six years from now. Beyond stupid, and decidedly into the realm of lunacy.
And all this while, the Democratic members of the House and Senate have the power to end the war. It could have ended by last spring, and the last of the troops could have been coming home by this winter. They have the total power to cut the funding. I teach civics, I know – and it isn’t even hard:
Don’t give Bush a dime. Period. And it’s over. But they won’t do it.
Just recently Rahm Emanuel and Byron Dorgan have appeared on liberal talk shows to explain, as if to children, why they can’t defund the war. In infuriatingly slow, calm voices they say that they can’t cut the troops off “in the field.” In essence, they say that they will keep funding this madness rather than abandon our soldiers in a foreign war zone.
When pressed, they acknowledge that their premise is bullshit. They know and admit that without funding, troops will have to be brought home. They will not be stranded in Iraq without “beans and bullets.” They will have to come home. Period. But, the framing of the message will be that they abandoned them.
The FRAMING OF THE MESSAGE.
So, let’s get this straight. We voted Democrats into power to end the war, but they won’t because they can’t figure out how to “frame” the argument for doing it. Our sons, daughters, husbands, nieces, nephews and so forth will continue to die and be maimed for life because the career politicians of the Democratic Party can’t craft a public message that won’t threaten their power. They can’t think of a way to explain taking an action that 70% of the American people want.
What fucking good are these people if they can’t even think of a way to say the obvious?
And yes, Rush, Hannity, and O’Reilly will call them “troop-haters,” and blame them for losing the war. Of – fucking – course! That’s their job! The Democrats need to realize that part of their job is to call them liars and assholes, and then ignore them and do what is right. But I am far beyond hope that it will ever happen. No prominent Democrat will even use the word “liar,” even when warranted.
Since Democrats are afraid of a propaganda fight, they allow our soldiers to fight and die in a lost cause. (Not to mention the deaths of all the Iraqi citizens for NO GOOD REASON!) All while fiscally and morally bankrupting our nation. They are banking on being seen as slightly less nauseating than their Republican counterparts. They want to win by doing the WRONG THING, just not quite as wrong as their opponents. No wonder their approval rating is below 20%.
I have called for the rise of the Green Party, but I don’t see it. Without a serious push from the left, the Democrats will settle in to the right of Richard Nixon’s policies and happily rake in the corporate cash (can you say president Hillary?).
Perhaps the only valid chance for a left leaning voice is support for Democracy for America . They are an organization that organizes primary fights for “bad” Democrats – like the 41 who voted to do away with the Fourth Amendment this last summer. They are a slim hope, and certainly the only Democrats I’d give a nickel to.
But I’m not holding my breath, just my nose. I now consider myself an independent. Not because I’m a centrist, but because my country’s liberal party is spineless, inept and uncaring. They won’t do their job…the job of fighting for my interests. So, fuck ‘em. I am sans party. And, though I’m sure they won’t miss me, they will regret not attending to those that think as I do. They are abandoning millions of supporters who are as disgusted as I am.
The real sad part is…it wouldn’t take much to get me back. Just a little moxie, a little spine. But from the leadershiop, not just Russ Feingold. I would like to see Nancy Pelosi walk over to John “Boner” Boehner, slap him in the yap, and shout “so…you’ll send billions to kill kids in Iraq, but not spend a cent to give kids medical care in America? I’ll kick anyone’s ass who won’t save American children!”
Now how hard was that? Iraqi kids versus American kids: framing. Private contractors versus our brave troops: framing. Torture versus our national dignity: mother fucking framing! Our Constitutional rights versus not being Americans anymore: FRAMING, YOU DUMB SONS OF BITCHES!
Someone will ultimately do it. They will frame the argument for a hungry and parched American public who yearns for a righting of the ship. And, if it is not a Democrat, it will be another party’s leader. And the Democrats will go the way of the Whigs.
Until then, I am a man without a party.
But, am I alone? Am I alone in my angst? I, who knew it would take the Democratic Party a little while to get used to wielding power. I should have expected a slow start. But who among us thought it would be such an unmitigated disaster?
Make no mistake: Republicans still wield the political power in our nation. They have the White House, and have made sure that that is the only office that matters. They have cowed the Democratic majority so effectively that it might as well not exist, except as a target for Bill O’Rielley’s derision. And what Bill, Sean and Rush say seems to matter most.
Where has it gone wrong?
Let’s look at the record:
• November, 2006 – Happy Days! Democrats take control of the House and the Senate. Seen universally as a repudiation of the Iraq War, and the policies of the Bush Administration. But especially, the war!
• Cheers as Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman to become Speaker of the House of Representatives! Things were looking up.
• Oh yeah, then Pelosi took impeachment “off the table.”
• Blustering talk about the first 100 hours, how they were going to “hold this president’s feet to the fire.” Of course, they weren’t going to hold him accountable for lying and spying – that was taken off the table.
• Rather than end the war, or redeploy troops home, Bush ESCALATES the war, with his “surge”! Democrats go “huh?” and look weak and stupid.
• Filibusters – or, to be accurate Republican threats to filibuster. Not that a Democrat would ever actually make the opposition go through with a filibuster. Not that a Democrat would arrange the spectacle of Republicans actually explaining why a meager raise in the minimum wage is bad, or why the war is good. Not that the Democrats would take their job seriously enough to actually make Republicans read the phone book for hours on end, looking ridiculous as they work against what the majority of Americans want! Instead, Democrats look weak and stupid.
• Harry Reid speaks truth! Says, on TV, that the war is lost! Dick Cheney attacks Harry. Harry fails to call Cheney a lying sack of shit, even though he lied, and is a sack of shit. Looks weak and stupid.
• May, 2007. Democrats send the President an Iraq funding bill with timelines. Bush vetoes. Democrats totally cave in. Totally. They authorize billions in funding with no restrictions. No effective oversight whatsoever! They say “wait ‘till September.” Fucking please. They look totally, pitifully weak, spineless and politically dumber than a sack of rocks.
• Summer, 2007. “Surge” goes horribly bad. Democrats begin to talk tough again. Even some Republicans speaking openly against the war. Looks bad for Bush. And then, the wiretapping bill. This bill authorizes the unwarranted spying on Americans by phone companies and the intelligence agencies. No judicial oversight. And even though Pelosi could kill it, she allows it to be voted on, and Democrats help pass it. Dems look ineffective, weak, politically inept, and even corrupt.
• Fall, 2007. Democrats vote to condemn Move On, an organization that supports them and gives them money. The also put forth and help pass a resolution to make war on Iran. Oh, and children’s health insurance (S-CHIP), they fail to get that past the President’s desk. Weak, stupid, perhaps insane.
• And all this time, the Democratic frontrunners, in a presidential campaign that is over two years long, say that they would happily nuke Iran in a first strike, and that they can’t promise to end the Iraq war by 2013. That’s six years from now. Beyond stupid, and decidedly into the realm of lunacy.
And all this while, the Democratic members of the House and Senate have the power to end the war. It could have ended by last spring, and the last of the troops could have been coming home by this winter. They have the total power to cut the funding. I teach civics, I know – and it isn’t even hard:
Don’t give Bush a dime. Period. And it’s over. But they won’t do it.
Just recently Rahm Emanuel and Byron Dorgan have appeared on liberal talk shows to explain, as if to children, why they can’t defund the war. In infuriatingly slow, calm voices they say that they can’t cut the troops off “in the field.” In essence, they say that they will keep funding this madness rather than abandon our soldiers in a foreign war zone.
When pressed, they acknowledge that their premise is bullshit. They know and admit that without funding, troops will have to be brought home. They will not be stranded in Iraq without “beans and bullets.” They will have to come home. Period. But, the framing of the message will be that they abandoned them.
The FRAMING OF THE MESSAGE.
So, let’s get this straight. We voted Democrats into power to end the war, but they won’t because they can’t figure out how to “frame” the argument for doing it. Our sons, daughters, husbands, nieces, nephews and so forth will continue to die and be maimed for life because the career politicians of the Democratic Party can’t craft a public message that won’t threaten their power. They can’t think of a way to explain taking an action that 70% of the American people want.
What fucking good are these people if they can’t even think of a way to say the obvious?
And yes, Rush, Hannity, and O’Reilly will call them “troop-haters,” and blame them for losing the war. Of – fucking – course! That’s their job! The Democrats need to realize that part of their job is to call them liars and assholes, and then ignore them and do what is right. But I am far beyond hope that it will ever happen. No prominent Democrat will even use the word “liar,” even when warranted.
Since Democrats are afraid of a propaganda fight, they allow our soldiers to fight and die in a lost cause. (Not to mention the deaths of all the Iraqi citizens for NO GOOD REASON!) All while fiscally and morally bankrupting our nation. They are banking on being seen as slightly less nauseating than their Republican counterparts. They want to win by doing the WRONG THING, just not quite as wrong as their opponents. No wonder their approval rating is below 20%.
I have called for the rise of the Green Party, but I don’t see it. Without a serious push from the left, the Democrats will settle in to the right of Richard Nixon’s policies and happily rake in the corporate cash (can you say president Hillary?).
Perhaps the only valid chance for a left leaning voice is support for Democracy for America . They are an organization that organizes primary fights for “bad” Democrats – like the 41 who voted to do away with the Fourth Amendment this last summer. They are a slim hope, and certainly the only Democrats I’d give a nickel to.
But I’m not holding my breath, just my nose. I now consider myself an independent. Not because I’m a centrist, but because my country’s liberal party is spineless, inept and uncaring. They won’t do their job…the job of fighting for my interests. So, fuck ‘em. I am sans party. And, though I’m sure they won’t miss me, they will regret not attending to those that think as I do. They are abandoning millions of supporters who are as disgusted as I am.
The real sad part is…it wouldn’t take much to get me back. Just a little moxie, a little spine. But from the leadershiop, not just Russ Feingold. I would like to see Nancy Pelosi walk over to John “Boner” Boehner, slap him in the yap, and shout “so…you’ll send billions to kill kids in Iraq, but not spend a cent to give kids medical care in America? I’ll kick anyone’s ass who won’t save American children!”
Now how hard was that? Iraqi kids versus American kids: framing. Private contractors versus our brave troops: framing. Torture versus our national dignity: mother fucking framing! Our Constitutional rights versus not being Americans anymore: FRAMING, YOU DUMB SONS OF BITCHES!
Someone will ultimately do it. They will frame the argument for a hungry and parched American public who yearns for a righting of the ship. And, if it is not a Democrat, it will be another party’s leader. And the Democrats will go the way of the Whigs.
Until then, I am a man without a party.
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