David "Bobo" Brooks once incoherently ranted that bloggers and grassroots activists were "rabid lambs." Rahm Emanuel Delay and his minions are blanketing the establishment media to argue yesterday's election results were a victory for conservative "blue dog" Dems, and emphatically not representative of any growing progressive movement.
There's been some good rapid analysis and reporting on this today, and I want to share some links with people as a kind of one-stop clearing house for what's been done so far. Bottom line: rabid lambs chewed up the blue dogs and spit them out yesterday:
Glenn Greenwald eviscerates the blue dog bluster.
Rick Perlstein pens an article for Lieberman Weekly (subscription only). Atrios has an excerpt, but the whole article has a lot about our Blue America successes with quotes from Howie Klein.
Howie Klein, the person perhaps most attuned to the perfidies and perfumed egomania of Rahm
EmanuelDelay, has more here at FDL, from earlier, in his Blue America review.Chris Bowers had some notes last night, late.
Matt Stoller adds more here, and in another, adds to what Howie had to say.
Ezra Klein adds his take at TAPPED.
And Pope Markos adds his perspective.
The untold story so far has been the amazing Dem GOTV operation. Even Bush cited it in his presser. MoveOn's Call for Change was an amazing success, and I look forward to getting some stats about the amazing number of calls they channeled through their infrastructure. Do More Than Vote also did amazing work to put bodies out there on the streets. The GOP 72-hour operation was always more hype for the press than juggernaut. Now we, the netroots and grassroots, are building an awesome political machine, a machine Rahm
EmanuelDelay had nothing to do with, and often fought when he could not bend it to his parochial will.Finally, Howard Dean's 50-state strategy has been more than vindicated. He's the hero of this election cycle, along with Ned Lamont, who made it possible to nationalize the election on the Iraq occupation. Had that not happened, Rumsfeld would still be SecDef.
Don't forget all the amazing work done by labor to get out the vote. Our friends in labor work tirelessly, thanklessly and effectively to make a difference for all of us.
Take a bow, rabid lambs.
Update: Chris Bowers has another after action review.
Related posts:
- Supplemental: Why Must Progressive Members of Congress Grovel For the Blue Dogs?
- Whipping Blue Dogs on Single Payer
- Red State Targets Blue Dogs Who Vote for IMF Bailout
- Maxine Waters: White House Won’t Put Pressure on Blue Dogs
- What We Learned from the Supplemental: If Obama Wants a Public Plan, the Blue Dogs Will Do It
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Pach!
ZERO! :)
Ach. So close to the 0.
Well, that didn’t take long. The DieBold machines haven’t even properly cooled off, and The Spin Is In.
Rahm, I’m going to enjoy spending the next two years telling you to vertically fornicate yourself while I continue to send donations to the DNC.
We get to do this ALL OVER AGAIN in 18 months.
America, get ready.
-GFO
DEMS!!!
Howard Dean!!
Howie Klein!!!!!
Jane, Christy, Trex, everybody at FDL!!!!
Yeaaaarrghhh!!!!
The traditional media should concentrate on the wingers devouring each other, which has already begun.
I don’t post much, but I just wanted to say thanks to y’all. FDL is the greatest.
I went to bed early last night because I just couldn’t watch–couldn’t cope with the thought of how 2004 felt–so hopeful walking the precincts during the day; so heartsick by 10 pm. Students crying in my office the next day. Feeling utterly hopeless–like I’d let my children down.
This feels *so* much better!
Hey Rover — Had enough? …But wait…there’s more!
Like being deposed on Fitzmas!!!
How are you going to work your sock-puppet-senator from under Waxman’s thumb?
Yeah – and check out Drudge -acknowledging the hammering. AND, they have up the Limbaugh quote about no longer being a watering boy for the Bush admin!
I think the only problem with the Dean ((((Scream))))) the last election was that it was to prescient (he was off by an election cycle).
Jane, Redd, Pach, T-rex, Howie, and everyone else:
WELL DONE!
Thank you for the hope and inspiration through the dark times.
Onward.
fdl: come for the fitz, stay for the blue.
Is it too early to stsrt recruiting a Blue America
primary challenger for Rahm to play with two years hence?
Finally, after thirtysome years, we have something with which to counter the right-wing machine.
Netroots: Rapid response, and a wide, wide (inter)net.
Baaa!
Nancy!
Harry!
Pach–
Thanks for the reminders–and the links. BTW, his incoherence is why I like to refer to the coiner of “rabid lambs” as David “Babbling” Brooks. It is, after all, the gushing of the Brooks, that calls the lambs together to partake.
Tell me about the lambs, Clarisse. Did they frighten you? Do they still frighten you?
So Joe isn’t wasting much time. Hannity just announced Lieberman is going to be on the program. Or maybe I misheard and he said “with the program.” ‘Cause that wouldn’t surprise me either.
not baaaad, firepups, not baaaaad. at. all.
How does bush feel now?
May I think YIPEE!, yet?
When does this lame duck congress come back into session, anybody know?
I almost can’t breathe waiting for Webb results. Yay about Tester! Guess we’re down to only one governor race, MN, now that RI has gone for the R,i [Repub, incumbent]. That’s the likely outcome in MN as well with the R,i up by 22,000.
Good to get GA08, PA06, and VT settled. GA08 the Dem incumbent, PA06 the Repub incumbent, and VT stays in the blue column with Dem Welch replacing the independent.
I can’t figure out what they are going to do with the messes in LA02 and TX23 so that’s the end of my tracking them. Some other braver soul will carry on.
WA08 still has only 31% of the precincts in, Darcy Burner’s race. I checked their Sos and this is consistent with all the WA races, not just some 08 anomoly.
GA12 is still waiting for the last 4%.
Prize for closest: NM01 they are 48 votes apart. Madrid/Wilson.
NC08 Kissell has inched up a tiny bit.
WY has more votes in, the Repub is ahead by 970.
No news, just summaries:
CT02 Dem ahead
OH02 Meanjean up by 2,000
OH15 Pryce-R up by 11,000
PA08 PMurphy-D up by 1,500
Do you think that Brooks will be counting sheep to get to sleep tonight? Bush is the one who got sheared.
Mark C @
12
No!;
Is having the recognition of the media such a good thing? Seems like people are getting the point without their help. All more recognition will bring is more demonization.
I had a sweet dream when I finally dozed off this morning!
Anyone hear how Darth Cheney’s hunting trip was? Did he shoot anyone?
Well the AFLCIO spent $40mil on the election, and even change to win was willing to hand over lists and got volunteers to phonebank(you know? those guys who said that labor shouldnt be spending so much money on politics)- im 100% sure its the reason Altmire won, but beyound that i dont know the actual impact because so many people went out due to pure anger over the war
IMO this GOTV operation was best because it REALLY set us up for ‘08- we gotta kill the robocalls tho, they need to be 100% eliminated from blue strategy, only people I heard make positive comments on them were the people who made them
Mark C @ 12:
Start now and we can have lots of candidates in two years: take out all of the blue dogs! (I voted for DiFink, but only because the alternatives were red or non-viable. Held my nose, figuratively. And thanks to eriposte and Howie for the judicial candidate list!)
OT -
This will only take a minute, Pach.
Mind freepin’ this poll for me? It’s a biz journal poll so you might need a password. If you don’t have one, no worries.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Hey kids, this seems like a great story to SPOTLIGHT to your local and national newsies. (Political Reporters looking for that next “hook” can always use some help!)
The DCCC is in major spin mode; we might as well offer the media some TRUTH to balance the LIES.
Soldier quoted on CNN about Rummy’s resignation – “What ever happened to finishing the job?”
egregious @ 21
I think that if no candidate gets more than 50% there will be a runoff of the two highest ranked candidates (Sure in LA and I think TX is the same).
Lieberman is dealing with a very weak hand. For all the bluster and posturing he may try in the next few days. Too much movement to the right and he’s going to find out the ol’ guy from Nevada’s a much better card player than he is.
Can you say “marginalize”? Keep up the push on his slush fund….
Hannity just wants someone to hold him and tell him that everything will be fine and HoJoe is just the man to do it.
This is just the start of the process. Gov. Dean, I think, understands that the net is one of the principal bastions of citizen involvement.
One thing that we must do is defend net neutrality. “Tubes” Stevens will try to ram his bill thru the senate before Jan 1 and I am betting he will try it in the dark of the night, a little rider here, a little rider there. We can’t let the telcos take control of the net.
Darcy Burner has won!!!!
Gee, my comment above had a little more to it than that. Just chit-chat, but I don’t know why … oh yes I do.
Careful with lt and gt signs in emoticons, folks.
I just went on to say something like you get your rolodex and I’ll get mine.
Anyone else pissed that Emanuel failed to thank Dean? I called his office to relate my dissatisfaction. Everyone should:
202-225-4061
That’s venomous, rabid lambs. Never give up an advantage.
Well, actually that’s “rabid lambs spewing venom” or some such nonsense. As if you could tell there was venom in all that spittle. But, I digress.
It’s funny how the talking heads almost immediately decided this was a victory for conservative Democrats and how the Democrats would be making a huge mistake to listen to all those far out there liberal types. It seems to me that conservative DLC types won some places and we won some places. This battle isn’t over, and I’m not even sure who won this round. All I’m sure of is that, as happens so often in politics, everyone’s declaring victory.
AZ Matt, I too have been wondering what wonders the lame duck congrees might try to cook up.
I saw that Doolittle won in California. I am just wondering when he gets his butt hauled in for being Abramoff’s toy. Thank god Pombo is gone.
AZ Matt @ 22
Not sheared. Neutered.
MN guv stays in Rethug hands, but the House went blue, Senate stayed blue, so Pawlenty’s not got wiggle room.
I forgot to add CT02 they are only 170 votes apart, with the Dem having the upper hand.
Gnome de Plume @ 40
I’m feeling an outpouring of lame duck recipes coming onto the lake shortly. I’ve got a great one I do for Thanksgiving, but it is at home (and I am not).
Gnome de Plume @ 40
Pelosi needs to promise serious payback if the lame ones try anything stupid.
Expect another attack on internet freedom. Soon. Open discourse saved this nation.
MFM @ 35
Hear, Hear – my congress critter gets regular contacts from me on net neutrality. We must keep our civic speech avenue open!
egregious @ 21
I’m so sorry, but at least we gave Tim[a fee] Paalunty an all Democratic state congress to work with.
Prairie Sunshine @ 33
Oh, we’re not done with “Slush Fund Joe” just yet…not by a long shot. There’s lots that’s going to come out now that the elections are done. People will feel a little freer to talk, ’nuff said.
Thank god for the fantastic results elsewhere, or I would be feeling suicidal today. As it is, I’m feeling a lot better than I expected. And that’s due in large part to the efforts of people like the ones who read FDL.
Prairie Sunshine @ 33
I agree. Reid is nobody’s fool.
Oh Richmond, great idea! I do have a yummy duck recipe. I usually make it around New Years, but perhaps I’ll do it early this year and change the name.
egregious @ 12:29 pm (#21)
King County, which includes the WA-08 district among others, experienced the double whammy of losing its head honcho for elections and starting to use electronic voting machines this year. My guess is that the latter in particular are a problem. Will have to check the local papers.
I’m so happy I can’t stand it. Last night should have involved a lot of alcohol and wild celebration, but I was so relieved and tired I had one glass of wine and went to bed. Even better was waking up today and finding out it wasn’t all a dream, we won HUGE victories last night, and now Rummy’s gone.
2007 is gonna be a blast! All the new Dems get sworn in and Congress starts kicking some ass, then Scooter goes on trial! Bwahahaha!
This Rumsfeld business. Window dressing. Bush and Cheney are the real responsibles for Iraq. Oh, and you too should leave, Ms. Secretary of State, Rice a Roonie.
Is it time to focus on quitting Iraq, starting the Middle East peace process and finding a suitable (not Hill) Democratic nominee for the presidency in 2008?
Hey Karl, Mr. Big Brain Rove, how you feeling?
Mary McCurnin @ 46
Exactly. This will be on the lame-duck agenda in the next month.
I have a dog whose name is Blue. He’s a Siberian Husky.
I call this picture “Snowdog Creek”.
Same picture with a little fire.
Alison @ 36
Yippeeee!!!! Thank you, Allison!
Alison @ 36
Sorry, guys. The diary at Kos led to a county total, not a district total.
No such luck yet. Wanna split some champagne when it happens, Egregious?
Besides all of his great work, Howard Dean, maybe the first of the rapid lambs, makes me smile every time I see him.
twolf1 @ 26
I heard he shot himself in the face. Or was that us this time?
Anybody been braving the fucktards’ websites? How are they spinning this? (I can’t bring myself to even follow a link to any of those guys, so I rely on you with stronger stomachs.)
Everyone – please go over and take a look at the Drudge page up now. It will bring more tears of joy to your eyes! It says it all.
Does anybody know what happened in Tom DeLay’s district?
Chimpy is live on CNN now
Alison @ 36
I think this is jumping the gun a little. They are only 651 votes apart and there are still 18 more precincts yet to come in.
There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip.
Lampson (D) won Texas 22 (Delay’s old seat) 52-48.
Gnome, they’re freaking out at both LGF and FreeRep. It’s hysterical. But it’s a lot more fun celebrating here.
hey, pachacutec! i just finished writing this exact same editorial over at skippy!!
i also think that last night’s victory was due in no small part, in even things as elemental as turn out alone, to the hard work and enthusiasm of us in blogtopia, and yes! i coined that phrase!
may we at skippy take this moment to wish all you firedoglakers well, and say how sorry we are that ned didn’t make it. but you guys proved something important to everyone in the united states, and i hope you all, as well as all of blogtopia (y!ictp!) will keep up the enthusiasm and hard work to make democracy work!
hooray for us all!
.
.
Gnome de Plume @ 61
Dear Mr. President
By Erick
Right now I think I’d rather you keep Mr. Rumsfeld and replace yourself with Mr. Cheney.
This is a spine. You’ll also want to find where you put these.
Your base is not happy. We backed you throughout this election. It’s a shame to see you start heading down your present path. It’s disappointing.
http://www.redstate.com/
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!
Ok, I’ll hold off on the Darcy Burner celebration. It looked like she was behind when I checked the numbers before I went to bed last night. Got a little carried away this morning. ;)
No. 25: One more time. When I finally dozed off this morning, I had a sweet dream.
I have been thinking about Ned being a sacrificial lamb for the cause. I forgot about the rabid and venomous parts.
Rummy is trashed.
yay for all the victims of this insanity.
skippy @ 68
Win a lot, lose a few. Senator Lamont is a good idea whose time may yet come.
On the 2008 candidate – and Dean. Remember who it was who was behind the move to oust Dean from the contenders? Dem insiders who didn’t like his anti-war talk. The same crew are trying to circle the wagons for the next run. (Fat chance this time).
Larry Johnson on Robert Gates:
Larry Johnson at Huffpo on Gates
anomaly
Frank Probst @
50
Harry Reid did much behind the scenes to help Lieberman and stab Lamont in the back. If I had to say keep your eyes open for one story coming out over the next week that is sure to dominate the headlines that would be it.
We’re a bit tired today after last night’s huge progressive victories and busy battling Rahm and the “triumph of the conservative Dems” meme that is spreading like crotch lice through the TradMedia, but give it a few days. People are going to start talking and there will be, I guarantee you, some real fireworks.
Joe didn’t do it alone. He had a lot of help.
thanks for aConnecticut Bob @ 49
thanks for all you have done. like you, if it were not for the hope i get from FDL, then i would be in despair. we must keep on joe. let me know if i can help.
LOL Coz, Buh Bye Backwash!
Robert Gates speaking on CNN now
egregious @ 65
And these results only represent part of the district. Probably need to go county by county and add them up, since the Sos data is still from this morning.
They’re squealing about termlimits and pulling fingernails out and the like.
Incoherent rants from most of ‘em.
Gnome de Plume @ 61
Technically, were watching Rumsfeld’s invalediction. ;-)
I still don’t like puns.
From Salon:
Alison @
36
I’ll be damned. SWEET!!!
Jari Askins. This woman is now our new Democrat Lt. Guv., along with our re-elected Democratic Governor, here in Oklahoma.
Locally we have a new Democratic State Senator.
The House is ours and we have effectively neutralized the Republicans in the Senate.
I feel good.
scarecrow @ 76
Imagine that, Bush nominating a sleazebag liar. Do you think it’s helping him get the taste of lame duck out of his mouth?
TheOtherWA @ 67
Just moseyed over to Redstate. They are in the blame mode and boy do they sound stupid!! Now I need to go wash my hands.
Rummy now thanking chimpy for the opportunity to serve as sec of def for 6 years.
I just got a thank you robocall from Nancy Pelosi, calling from Emily’s List. She pointed out that there are now more Democratic women than ever in history! I had not heard this.
It’s great to see Rumsfeld biting the dust.
Now, about President Cheney…
rummy handing over to gates his and his boss’s mess.
these people are heartless and how much blood is on their hands???
on msnbc.
Jane Hamsher @
78
Ah, but now he’s in a position to say, “We helped you out. Now take your medicine.” Joe, on the other hand, is in no position to be smarmy.
Jane Hamsher @ 78
We’re a bit tired today and busy battling Rahm and the “triumph of the conservative Dems” meme that is spreading like crotch lice through the TradMedia, but give it a few days. People are going to start talking and there will be, I guarantee you, some real fireworks.
Joe didn’t do it alone. He had a lot of help.
Your right, but there is the big picture too. What you and everyone else did WITH Lamont in Conn. spread like a wildfire all across the country, with a healthy wind to the back by the FDL and other features, GOTV campaign and ACT BLUE fund raiser. Lieberman was and is a cipher. Lamont was and is a hero, but in some ways even more so are you and all the people here who looked at what happened with Lamont in the primary, and got the courage (and will) to make it happen elsewhere. That, is the real story here that needs to be remembered too.
Sparkles the Iguana @ 85
Oops. Still think it wasn’t a “torture bill”? They got that one in just under the wire, didn’t they?
angie @ 93
Rummy couldn’t resist saying that people don’t understand the war, it is difficult to comprehend. Trying to validate his failures, basically saying that it is a great success but we are too stupid to understand that.
Bustednuckles @
86
Pierce Co. is probably going to give it to Reichert.
WA Sec. of State by County
This one was particularly funny…
not that spousal abuse is funny, but the typical repiglican’s disdain for bush is palpable.
Dobson just abandoned Haggart.
neurophius @
63
Lampson won. A caution: during the campaign, Lampson came out with a fairly virulent anti-immigrant screed. I e-mailed a friend in Ft. Bend County and asked if it had been standard campaign talk. This is the reply I received:
“Sadly, I would not count on Lampson to be a stand-up guy to the Democratic base. In fact, I had a screaming match with him last week for playing to the GOP base.
I think we’re going to have to stay on his tail, or he’ll be one of those ‘conservative’ Democrats who do nothing but vote Republican.”
I love reading that stuff, although I can’t stomach visiting those sites. We have to crush their spirit! I don’t ever want them to feel strong enough again where they think they can theocratize the Federal Govt. What they do in their churches is up to them. But stay out of the White House and the Congress!
Aw come on folks. We need to connect with Mr. Lieberman. Connect with his jaw, that is.
egregious @ 12:33 pm (#65)
I agree. A couple of hours ago, Reichert was up by over 1,000. There’s still some hope for each candidate, and no one’s conceded yet. The Seattle PI, in fact, is predicting Reichert will win.
I can’t help seeing Ronnie Earle in Texas as one of the (mostly) unsung heroes in this victory. He was indefatigable in hunting down and decapitating the bugman Delay. It was a watershed maneuver. He deserves our applause.
twolf1 @ 97
yup.
it hurts so bad — just ask Riverbend.
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
Frank Probst @ 100
at the door of a gay prostitute?
or with his meth dealer?
The elephant took a dump
George Lakoff (UC Berkeley) talks about frames-as in framing the debate. What Progressives need to do is to frame the debate in their own terms.
So rather than allow Rahm to say that “moderates” carried the election, Progressives need to say that WE ARE NOW the Democratic Party. We stand for accountability, honesty, fiscal responsibility, international diplomacy, environmental/energy policy based on science, and so on. That is hardly a radical agenda. And that’s what the majority of this country voted for yesterday.
Rahm’s kowtowing to big business, lobbyists, and K Street will simply lead to more government corruption. Democrats are not immune to the temptations either. If the Democratic Party heads down that path we are finished.
Gates took over the CIA as acting director in 1987, when William Casey was terminally ill with cancer. Questions were raised about Gates’ knowledge of the Iran-Contra scandal, so he withdrew from consideration to take over the CIA permanently. Yet he stayed on as deputy director.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..ld_resigns
Anyone bother to read this Slate turd from Bruce Reed?
http://www.slate.com/id/2153167/
No mention of 50-state strategy, netroots or ActBlue. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.
There are glimmers of insight at Redstate. From Leon Wolf:
“Senator Allen, you ran a truly horrendous campaign for which you are largely responsible. If you lose, this will be the reason for your loss. Please accept it graciously.”
joe must be so disappointed that his Cowboy didn’t trot him out as the new SecDef.
maybe he will be the new ambassador to iraq..that way he can still get his war on.
mc @ 109
YUP. Seems like we need to write a NEW-DEM manifesto with that specifically in mind.
Glorfindel @ 105
That’s right.
Jane —
Joe didn’t do it alone. He had a lot of help.
In taking on a heavily financed, entrenchned, 3-term incumbent, and having the courage to challenge that incumbent and the cw premises of the war, Lamont served as the pointman for the Dems on the issue that turned this election. In battles, you provide cover for your pointmen, because they have the hardest job and require the most courage. They are the most exposed. When Lamont showed the Dems how to win — and that’s exactly what he did — the Dems didn’t support him. Instead, they let Lieberman and other Dems shoot him and then left him on the battle field.
This is the worst kind of betrayal, and those who now claim leadership should learn that when you leave your own guy — your pointman — on the field, you have lost all honor and respect. There is no worse political sin.
“Finally, Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy has been more than vindicated. He’s the hero of this election cycle, along with Ned Lamont, who made it possible to nationalize the election on the Iraq occupation.”
This is what I have been saying all day. I have not had the opportunity to read FDL – or the comments today. But when I saw this statement above, I said “Amen”.
Great work to all rabid lambs, and bless us all.
spreading like crotch lice
Damn, woman – you always have JUST the visual to illustrate your case!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 87
From what I’ve seen it looks like the OK State Senate is now tied at 24, so Jari will be busy breaking ties.
Webb picks up more votes, is now 7,352 ahead awaiting 3 more precincts. From SecState.
I want Rahm, and the DLC out. And Hillary out of contention for 2008 too.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 110
No reason not to raise those questions again. What was Gates’ role in Iran-Contra, and why should the Senate confirm him for this job twenty years after he chose not to subject himself to scrutiny on the matter?
scarecrow @ 116
That’s just the point. Lamont wasn’t their guy. The idea of a Lamont is a threat to the DC Dems positions and peace of mind. We need more of him.
Webb up 7,409 Secstate. Will try to track down who are the last 3 precincts still out.
Congratulations to everyone here for a job well done.
Here is my eulogy, “Victory, Now Get to Work.”
And why wasn’t Lamont their man? It’s the war, ditto with Dean. That is part of the lesson of this election that I think they will be rushing especially fast to sweep away.
Patrick 4/4 @ 123
More Ned (s) and lots more work to do before we rest!
Ugh. I listened to Tweety tweet for hours last night. Now I turn on MSNBC to watch Bush preside over Rumsfeld’s funeral, and suddenly, there’s Tweety again. I wish he’d take a vacation. Give us Olbermann!
egregious @ 120
:-))))) !!!
So far the MSM has been slobbering all over Rahm Emanuel, with not too much of a nod towards Dean who really was a big hero of this effort. Emanuel should take his props, for sure, but hogging the spotlight is making him look ugly. Dean in ‘08! hehe.
Iran/Contra Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh’s conclusion regarding Defense Secretary nominee Gates:
Independent Counsel found insufficient evidence to warrant charging Robert Gates with a crime for his role in the Iran/contra affair. Like those of many other Iran/contra figures, the statements of Gates often seemed scripted and less than candid. Nevertheless, given the complex nature of the activities and Gates’s apparent lack of direct participation, a jury could find the evidence left a reasonable doubt that Gates either obstructed official inquiries or that his two demonstrably incorrect statements were deliberate lies.
[thanks to that guy who posted this link a while back….]
What’s up with Joe Biden’s face? He looks terrible.
Biden is trashing boosh right now on tweety.
Bush is in charge he says, and he’ll tell Dick to shut up.
(PS — i don’t like biden.)
Cujo359 @ 39
I never want any of these guys negotiating for so much as my pay raise.
They’ve just won the biggest political victory it’s possible to win–a national shutout. They hold both houses. The president has a sub-40% approval rating, and he’s all they’ve got.
And Dems are talking about “working with the president”? Talking about walking softly for the sake of 30 districts that just directly repudiated the President? Talk about restoring bipartisanship? Talk about how much you love moderates and invite them to set the agenda?
When you win a mandate this big, you press your advantage. It’s not only good politics to press the advantage; it’s the morally compelling thing to do under the circumstances. You say, “We invite the president to join us; but if he doesn’t, we’re going to do what the people elected us to do anyway.”
Who does?
poor wummy
This one is fairly lucid
And this one uniquely insightful
neurophius @ 132
Maybe his “teefies” hurt?
OT/
picture of Christy and TRex at Wonkette, bottom pic.
Let’s be clear what happened here – the netroots and progressives pulled Rahm Emanuel’s chestnuts out of the fire. We would not have won the Senate, and might not even have won the House, had we followed the same “pump all the money into a few key states” strategy that has lost for us time and again. Instead, we nationalized the election and brought about the climate for the change we’ve seen today.
In fact, if Emanuel had followed the 50-state strategy instead of doing his best to undermine it, we probably would have picked up several more House seats than we did. Let’s look at just those seats which are, as of yet, too close to call: FL-13, NV-03, NM-01, NY-25, NY-29, OH-02, OH-15, PA-08, WA-08, and WY-AL. That’s ten seats. Instead of spending $3 million to have Tammy Duckworth lose, wouldn’t it have been better to drop $300,000 into each of these 10 races? We might not have gotten them all, but I bet we could have picked up a couple more.
Rahm Emanuel sacrificed the good of his party to try to be a machine boss maximizing returns from corporate interests. But the electorate has rejected this view with utmost clarity.
This kind of nonsense must stop. It needs to be a hard, unbreakable rule in the DSCC and DCCC that they cannot, under any circumstances, interfere in Democratic party primaries.
Richmond @ 126
The war is big, but it isn’t everything. People put their trust in this president and congress to an extraordinary degree after 9/11 and have been screwed in general and in every particular ever since.
The DC Dems took to heart the wrong lesson from Bill Clinton: Even though tat the end of his presidency he had high approval ratings, he never won 50% of the vote and lost us control of the house and senate. He pursued moderate policies and still got attacked by rabid wesels everywhere he turned. His own personal wit, charisma and political skills kept him afloat.
The craven don’t-talk-about-anything-people might-get-upset centrism let Bush in in 2000. 9/11 made the cowardly DLC even more cowardly, which, mixed with so many people who think they should be president gave us Iraq.
Donald Rumsfel quoting Winston Churchill is like Kevin Federline covering Dr. Dre.
MayDaze @ 119
Jari will do the job too. :)))
MFM @
35
Amen!!
nicemonster @ 142
Rummy and Federline have something in common now, they both just got kicked out.
Rahm’s a limelight hog. Trouble is, it’s not his light. More corporatist, status-quo, insider slime.
When Webb claimed victory, he did it as a Marine. He came into the Vienna hotel ballroom accompanied by his brother Gary playing the bagpipes, and about a dozen of his Marine buddies emerged from behind the stage. He stood at attention, ramrod straight, as they filed in.
Uh….this reminds me of Kerry at the Convention….
AP reports Webb’s lead has shrunk a little, from 7,800 down to 6,911. But they say all votes have been counted.
EvilDrPuma @
122
I think these questions must be raised again, especially since some shadowy body keeps insisting that the people connected to them be raised again and again; it’s really quite disgusting, but this might be our chance to put the brakes on it.
As to Gates’ specific role, I’m reading up on it. I think in coming days we will hear more from Larry Johnson, and also from Robert McGovern, Pat Lang, and some of the other vocal V.I.P.s about this designation. Also from a few veteran journalists, mainly Robert Parry at consortiumnews.com, who in the ’80s and early ’90s was all over this story.
Briefly, Gates, who was DepDCI during the height of the shenanigans and was regarded as William Casey’s man, appears to have been a major blockage against investigations. When he was rewarded later by the DCI post after Casey died, he became known and reviled for accelerating the politicization of the intelligence analysis process in the CIA.
If you believe there’s such a thing as BushCo, this guy is a made man. There is a lot he should be asked.
angie @ 133
Biden. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk~~~~~~
Gates does not get confirmed by the senate until Bush 1’s presidential papers are made public and we get a chance to review his record on Iran Contra. Selling weapons to Iran a country who we may be at war with soon and a country that we officaly are barred from trading with since the Carter administration is a reason not to confirm.
UptownNYChick @ 139
Looks like Christy’s in the middle of the top picture as well. Nicely framed shot, in fact. Establishes what things were like there, I suspect.
Gaffney condemning Iran on msnbc.
Nothing has changed.
(NOT! we won, and STFU Gaffney– woo hoo!)
SPEAKER PELOSI!
SPEAKER PELOSI!
SPEAKER PELOSI!
is being interviewed by Leslie on CNN now. she sounds better than usual.
Politicians Sweep Midterm Elections
Resounding Victories In All States, Counties, Cities, Towns
Clinton’s magic triangulation success depended entirely on charming and duping the left into believing he would represent their interests, which he did not, nor does his wifey.
By way of an amen to Kenneth Fair above, isn’t diversification—a 50-state strategy—the better strategy when you’re faced with a lot of uncertain choices? When did that get to be one of the mysteries of the ages?
Jane if you’re here, were you trolling around little green footballs? Or maybe it was you, TRex…
Bush: New man will bring new ideas
http://www.cnn.com/
Gates, the new idea man just happens to be an old, old Texas crony of the Bush family. New ideas? Rubbish.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 158
more war, more oil.
President Gore, where are you?
Glorfindel @ 155
I’d like to calculate the slope and triangulate Mr. and Mrs. Clinton into outer space.
Gnome de Plume @
61
My wife has had the intestinal fortitude to brave these sites and reports that they are not even talking about it.
Play Pastor Ted Haggard’s Excuse of the Day….
-via huffpo
Cafferty File questions of the day:
4 p.m.: What should the Democrats’ priorities be in Congress?
5 p.m.: Tom Delay says, “The Democrats didn’t win, the Republicans lost.” Is he right?
7 p.m.: How will the next two years be different for President Bush?
Gnome de Plume @
61
I was (briefly!) at Little Green Whatevers and they are deep in denial. Also catastrophizing (sp) over the election of actual!! Muslims here and there and making them out to be pretty much the anti-christ.
tuneforg @ 150
I’ll bet dollars to donuts that if the Dems block Gates’ appointment Bush would then appoint Liarman out of spite.
some of us really went out on a lamb with our predictions (25, 6 for me)…
(wait – “went out on a lamb?” sounds like Ricky being unfaithful to his special flock…)
I take your point about the machinations for Lieberman, Jane. What the Leader giveth, the Leader can taketh away. Lieberman broke the rules when he chose to run as CF-UL. Nobody likes a “rule” breaker. Can’t trust ‘im.
Lieberman’s now pariah man walking, on both sides. He just doesn’t know it yet.
And when the Rethugs have dragged America so far to the right, bringing Rethug Lite Dems along with them, the moderate middle is right smack dab in the middle of we, the progressives.
Kenneth Fair @ 1:02 pm (#140)
There’s a point to be made that the reverse is true as well. Both the D?CC and the netroots had wins and losses yesterday. The D?CC lost the TN Senate race and the IL-06. Their candidates won in the PA Senate race and in Florida.
I don’t know about the others, but the Democratic Party dumped a lot of money into the WA-08. I doubt dumping any more into it would have changed the outcome.
I think claiming what the electorate has or has not rejected or affirmed is a fool’s game. Every voter has his own reasons for voting the way he does, and in nearly all of these elections, the majority of eligible voters did not vote for the winner.
I think you’re right about Rahm’s motives, however.
On this, at least, we agree. The D?CC should stay out of the primaries, and just support the winner. The CT-SEN and IL-06 are two examples of why this is a bad idea, and it’s one place where I can’t think of a good counter-example. In all likelihood, Bob Casey, who was Chuck Schumer’s preferred candidate all along, probably would have won anyway. In any case, either he or Chuck Pennacchio would have probably carried the general election.
The primaries have to be about the Democratic Party deciding its course.
punaise @ 166
Ouch! I was 3, 25. But tell me Pun; could you be happier? Maybe if we were wronger?
CNN – Webb starting to call himself ’senator webb’ and has been picking people for his team. they have not heard from george allen’s camp ad not word if he will call for recount.
I heard last week the military was banning firedoglake and some liberal blogs but not the republican blogs? Is this still going on? Maybe Pach can talk to Nancy Pelosi about restoring democracy and freedom of speech for our troops in Iraq. Or Nancy could make our military’s Generals pay and retirement contingent on performance ie win in Iraq or don’t get paid. I would love to see all those generals who backed bush suddenly start asking for more troops! Support the troops not the generals who gave bush cover to lose!
CNN – Montana – Burns still won’t concede. “montana has a system in place and we have to see it through” – apparently talking about the auto recount rule. – CNN lost the feed
WASHINGTON – President Bush on Wednesday congratulated Democrats on their takeover of the House and strong gains in the Senate and announced he had selected a new defense secretary to oversee the increasingly violent conflict in Iraq.
Mr. President: Stuff it.
Whoa, whoa, whoa there.
Worship Ned Lamont all you like but he’s not “(a) hero of this election cycle” who “made it possible to nationalize the election on the Iraq occupation. Had that not happened, Rumsfeld would still be SecDef.”
Wrong.
Those particular honors belong solely to John Murtha who opened the floodgates big, big time and long before Lamont entered the scene.
Yes, Lamont was courageous and noble to take on Joe Leiberdick, but he also LOST to that pathetic load. That puts Lamont in the category of “noble loser”, and after both Gore and Kerry, I’m tired of lionizing noble losers, prefering a noble winner, thank you very much.
I’m sorry but I’m becoming increasingly disturbed by the trashing of some of the hardest working members of the Democratic Party. Carville and Begala are washed up? Obama is an empty suit? Rahm is the anti-christ? Hillary and Bill need to disappear? You have to be kidding. Please tell me you’re kidding.
Ouch! I was 3, 25. But tell me Pun; could you be happier? Maybe if we were wronger?
it’s wrong in a good way…other than Lamont and several hopeful house seats (can’t win them all), what’s not to like?
I worked as an election judge in Maryland yesterday and can confirm that the Dem GOTV campaign had an impact. There were a number of Democratic voters who said they were there because they got calls to go vote, so they did!
new thread
Let’s make life miserable for turn-coat Lieberman.
Maybe Pelosi can add elimination of robo calls to those on the do not call list.
punaise @ 176
Rahmmy! Some people just aren’t happy without something to bitch about. Thank god Rahmmy offers so much :)
Oklahoma kiddo @ 179
I will happily comply!
tuneforg – Perhaps a letter to Murtha would be helpful.
Gina @ 175
These guys you mention may be hardworking. I cannot quibble with that. But to what end?
As for Hillary Clinton; I do not like her stance on Iraq and…
MayDaze @
165
No, I think they might actually look for another seeming “compromise” candidate, just as much a company man but without the obvious negatives. This is not an aggressive situation for them, but a clean-up in which you’d better do as Mr. Wolf says. As of yesterday Brush (and the Barbara faction—that was very shrewdly put above) are in restraints.
Larry Johnson also says Mr. Gates did some intelligence slanting in his days. Same old, same old.
How about a hat tip to Howie Klein? He is as responsible as anybody. Without Howie we would not have won. Bet on it. Thanks Howie. Thank you so much!!
Cozumel @
69
Shorter: I blame Bush.
HotFlash @ 188
Slightly longer shorter: I blame Bush, but not for the right reasons.
EvilDrPuma @ 189
Slightly shorter longer shorter: I blame Bush. Mommmmmmyyyyy!!!!!!
:-)
angie @ 182
Oh, no doubt, the man is an ass. But, he always was. The folks who need to be held to account are those who turned their backs on Ned. And Why? Were there some greater machinations that our small, unenlightened minds could not fathom? It was right there! If Reid, Pelosi…anybody; hell, if Bill Clinton’s dog (no Chelsea jokes, please) showed up, it would have been enough. Other than cowardice, is there some rational I cannot comprehend?
Great post Cujo359 @ 168.
Would add that the DCCC dumped completely ineffectual and even counter-productive millions into MN-06. They produced completely ham-handed and misleading ads “she’s gonna raise your taxes” (like her supporters will believe that) against the lunatic Michele Bachmann when they should have attacked her on her really far-out religious nuttery to alienate her fiscal conservative, but libertarian supporters. Oh, that and her church thinks the pope is the anti-christ and her district has a huge catholic population that was part of her anti-abortion base. There was that too…..
The DCCC ads here were lame and a waste of money.
herb @ 192
Thanks.
Part of what makes D?CC money so ineffective is that it comes bundled with D?CC consultants, who usually seem to miss the point. Sounds like the MN-06 race was no exception. Some of the ads they ran out here weren’t that bad, but they didn’t say much about Reichert’s support for the Military Commissions Act. Reichert spent a career in law enforcement. While I’m sure he found it to be frustrating at times, he should have understood the need for habeas corpus better than most people.
twolf1 @ 154
That’s funny.
neurophius @
128
Speaking of heroes… I’d nominate Keith too. His Murrow-like Special Commentaries over the last several months have been passed (via YouTube and CrooksandLairs links both) around as much as anything on the innertubes. A rising media star raising consciousness and a national treasure. Give us Olbermann all the time!!!!
It is critical to understand that is simply NOT true. Rumsfeld’s firing cannot have been the result of the election because they had his replacement already vetted and ready to announce at the same time. That means they must have made the decision to replace Rumsfeld days, perhaps even weeks ago.
They were just waiting until after the election so as not to demoralize their base.
The real reason Rumsfeld is gone is the revolt of the senior military chiefs — as openly displayed in the Army Times article.
This is important because Rummy’s firing is now just part of the new Bush strategy to bring Democrats in as human-shields in his phony “bi-partisanship” — which is nothing more than a cover for “stay the course.” Only now he will get to blame Democrats for his failures in Iraq — “they were responsible for the failure in Iraq because of their failure to support our troops.”
Shift the blame. It worked for Hitler, why not Bush? When you have a failed war and no way out, always remember: “Mistakes have been made, others will be blamed” is the Republican’s motto.
Old Monty Python episode shows 2 men standing outside a closet. One of the men exclaims…
“There’s sheep in there….and….and…They’ve got GUNS!”
herb @
192
I hear that herb. What an embarassment for Minnesota. What a waste of opportunity. Patty Wetterling is a good person and a hard worker; this race just needed a better political candidate (ie. someone more hard hitting) or better marketing, exactly as you’ve described. It was winnable, but throwing foolish dollars at it was a waste. That money would have been beter spent on Cowleen Rowley.
GuyFromOhio @
5
No, I’ve already started. I’m emailing around the CA-10 (Tauscher) for someone interested in running as a Democrat in the ‘08 primary. Remember this?
It’s an expensive district to run in, but the winner of the Democratic primary is almost guaranteed to win, it’s gerrymandered to include liberal pockets of the East Bay, and even the conservative areas have had several years of liberal Bay Area residents moving in for the “affordable” homes.
Short version, Tauscher is one of 30 or so blue dogs, we pick 15 of the bluest, win 6-7 primaries, 4-5 seats. We do the same thing in 2010, and 2012 and I’d wager we wouldn’t have to bother in 2014.
Caveat: This is an EXPENSIVE district to run in. Here’s a list of blue dogs: http://www.house.gov/cardoza/BlueDogs/members.htm
Does anyone have a better district to look around in?
The Democrats deserve very little credit for what at bottom was a mostly unearned victory. The Democrats have pussied out every step of the way for the last 6 years
The Democrats taking the House is the political equivalent of a Republican own goal. It is be simply the byproduct of 1) the disaster in Iraq which has become so obvious that the Republicans can no longer lie and spin their way out of it and 2) Mark Foley. — and the Democrats deserve no credit at all for the political benefits that flow out of the Iraq debacle. They have been pathetic on Iraq and everyone knows it. The Democrats, including Rahm Emanuel, get no credit for anything except for just happening to be there to pick up the pieces.
It is vitally important that the current leaders of the party and various groups that claim to speak for the party not be allowed to claim credit for our success this November. Simply stated, our “leadership” has been a joke. The gains we made in a midterm election in the 6th year of the worst president in history are only loosely related to anything any of them did. If they hadn’t been such a bunch of pussies, we might be well on the way to a full-scale long-term partisan realignment, as they held the Republicans accountable for having fucked up every aspect of government. Instead we came away with significantly fewer seats than did the Republicans in 1994.
In policy terms, it will be a long time before we face a president or a Republican party that has as bad a record as this one. Flagrant disasters like the Iraq War, thankfully, are few and far between. It is far from certain that the Iraq War will will have the same nationalizing effect in 2008 as it did in 2006, and the water will be muddied by some degreee of imputed responsibility to the new Democratic Congress, which may or may not learn how to stand up and defend itself against Republican demagoguery. Then what will we do?