Josh Marshall is right.
Someone should tell the junior Democratic senator from Illinois, the next time he feels inclined to explain why his party's political gambit won't work, that they already have Republicans to do that shit. Once again, this fucking cat-herding shit has got to stop, period.
And there's no reason for it. Ben Nelson, okay. I get it. He's up for re-election this year in one of the redder states. But Obama? He just won his seat a couple years ago by fifty points. The Republicans surrendered before the campaign even started, by putting crazy aunt Alan Keyes up against him. There's no upside for Obama to be doing this. None of the precious swing voters you're sucking up to are going to remember this when you need them, pal. But you can bet that when Strip Search Sammy helps the rest of the Opus Dei wing of the Supreme Court gut everyone's rights, we'll remember.
Say what you want about creatures like Bugman DeLay and Manboobs Hastert, but they get the job done. They maintain party discipline; they get all the arm-twisting out of the way before the cameras show up, and then they can show their base how everyone's on the same page.
They are not herding cats.
So pretty please, ferchrissake, start showing a fucking spine, Democrats. If you think there's a problem with how your party is framing issues, then fucking re-frame them already, and quit explaining to everyone how it's all fucked up. Fix it already if you think there's a problem, just don't hang it on the goddamned clothesline every fucking time.
You wanna know why the Democrats keep losing, there ya go. Fucking stand for something and stand together on it already. Is that so goddamned difficult to understand? If your principles aren't worth standing for, then why the hell would they be worth voting for?
"The man announced the filibuster from Switzerland, people? What, he couldn't get a camera on his windsurfer? If John Kerry were serious about this filibuster he wouldn't go off gallivanting to Swizterland in the middle of it." -- John Aravosis
ReplyDeleteHow did this goof get to be so respected? He posts a few pictures of Jeff Gannon's cock and he makes his ascent to the top of Blog Mountain. Uninformed and blatantly wrong tripe just pisses me off.
With respect to your topic, Obama isn't thinking about his 55-point win in Illinois. It's also irrelevant. He's thinking about the nation as a whole, and how he can appeal to the scum of the earth in time for his inevitable presidential run. He will continue to play it safe.
My local news is reporting on Bigfoot sightings. I can't do this anymore.
(gunshot)
Mitch, if you didn't bring enough bullets to share with the rest of the class, you'll just have to put the gun away. You're not getting out that easy. Stay and suffer with the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteOf course you're right about Obama lamely trying to burnish his centrist cred for a '12 or '16 run. But he would be far more effective if, instead of bitching about the way issues are framed, he'd just either work with the party seniors on that, or re-frame the issues in a way he'd like. He's already got the mike, no one's going to stop him from sharing his master strategery.
Obviously he doesn't really have a better plan, it's just an opportunity for him to frame his public image. And he does deserve credit for at least going along with the filibuster, however half-heartedly.
It's just another instance, though, and it drives me up the wall. The Democrats never seem to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Shudder to think how inept they'd be if Bush wasn't on the ropes. They should be able to knock him over with a feather at this point; instead, they can't seem to get out of their own way.
As for Aravosis, I dunno what he's thinking, and he's not really elaborating yet. His opinion seems to be based on political machinations, but that's exactly what this is anyway. And it's an ideal chance to use the filibuster to highlight all the things these guys have fucked up.
The Rovian strategy has demonstrated quite clearly that the two things that never fail are red-meat issues and repetition. Fortune favors the bold, and all that.
I have no doubt that the SOTU will hand still more issues for the Dems to hammer; the question is will they. They could easily win on health care, but hey have to get out from under the insurance and pharma companies, so we'll see.