Either the Republicans and the media have gone insane, or I have. Some of the reactions to Teddy Kennedy’s passing were sadly predictable, like the raw hate that vomited forth where compassion and humanity should have been, and the assertions that the Democrats should bipartisanly compromise the hell out of healthcare because Teddy was such a great bipartisan compromiser – like this latest nonsense from Stephanopoulos:
It’s not going to get through the Senate right now and I think that what Democrats may try to do is remind people of another side of the Kennedy legacy. That was Kennedy the compromiser. Kennedy the negotiator. The man who was willing to take a portion, incremental gain even if he couldn’t get everything he was calling for.
Riiiight. Because all Teddy ever cared about was getting a bill passed, and he would happily carve out its heart as a sacrifice to his hungry bipartisan god. That’s totally how he became the liberal lion of the Senate, by passing 47 years’ worth of useless watered-down crap. Really fantastic political insight there, Snuffy.
But like I said, I expected that, although I do worry that Obama and the Democrats will gleefully embrace it to kill the public option "for Ted." No, the one I didn’t see coming, the one that still has my brain gasping for air, is this one from the AJC’s Cynthia Tucker and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer:
I was talking earlier with some friends and I asked, who might emerge as the new Ted Kennedy in the United States Senate? You know who a lot of people think it might be? … That would be Senator McCain.
Tucker is slightly less awful than Wolf because she argues only that McCain should try to be the next Teddy, but it’s still crazy to suggest that he’d be capable of it even if he wanted to.
Just because John McCain displays occasional flashes of bipartisanship, unsuccessfully ran for president, and is older than television, that does not – and will not – make him Teddy Kennedy.
To be the next Teddy Kennedy requires patience, hard work, political savvy, persuasiveness, and most importantly of all… a deep and sincere concern for people other than yourself. McCain fails that test in every way.
Face it: there is no "new Ted Kennedy." There was only the one Ted Kennedy, and now he’s gone. It’s Max Baucus’s Senate now, and God help us all.
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it is not widely known that Teddy willed his spine to science. Harry Reid demurred when offered a transplant.
“Incremental.”
Honest to Christ. If I hear that fucking word one more time in the next few days I’m gonna have a shit fit.
LOL
It’s one of those words that means much the same as its apparent opposite, like “inflammable”.
Best DKos Diary Ever:
Ways in which John McCain is like Ted Kennedy
Cynthia’s logic is…well…not logic at all:
Shorter Cynthia Tucker: “If only John McCain wasn’t John McCain, he could be…ummm…Ted Kennedy.”
Good one, P.
I ripped into my mother today when she called and among other things talked about the need to slow down healthcare reform. Among my more memorable lines was why? so that repigs like Inhofe can not vote for it after having more time to not read the bill?
And then she said something nice about Teddy. I almost fainted.
so sad, but so very true.
McCain is too stupid and frankly, too old. Don’t they get it? There are no more Teddy’s out there. the one guy I might have said could come closest ain’t there no more. He’s the VP. But it’s nuts to talk about the “next Teddy.”
priceless!
Well, he didn’t know what it was, you see…it was just too frightening..
Maybe I should have used this for my video…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4pkNcE8nsM
Though maybe it could have used a crickets.wav file.
Listen – why read the damn bill if they’ve already gotten their marching orders? Ever since Election Day, they’ve all had their fingers in their ears like a bunch of four year olds going, “lalalalala..I’m NOT listening to YOU!!!”
Some funny comments.
Took me a minute to catch on. I think because I had just listened to the Teddy memorial speeches in which McCain spoke fondly of Kennedy. I was still trying to figure out on which planet I had just landed.
Hi, Eli
Can I just say, I have no doubts that you are perfectly sane. Well…as sane as the rest of us out here on the left of the left…
IOW, they’re crazy, you’re not.
Simple answers to obvious questions…
FWDiva
Did you see the Obama-Hitler woman anywhere around you?
indeed – “bucking frilliant”
I’m okay with insane, I just try to steer clear of delusional.
The right will say anything to make them look good, even lie about it.
This isn’t politics anymore. This is hate. Hate from the right to further their cause. They want the corporations to make more money to feed their coffers. They are not representing their constituents. They are representing their money.
Fuck them.
If McCain was even halfway to being the next Teddy, he wouldn’t have had Palin on the ticket last year. And he’d have voted against legalizing torture and warrantless surveillance.
I probably should have included “Don’t be a dick” on my list of qualifications.
Ack! Not yet. But I am heading out on a walk with the dogs. I will keep an eye out for her.
Oh yeah? But… but… Ted Kennedy was never a real live war hero. So there.
Oh c’mon Village, how unimaginative. Let’s get outside the box here!
Jim Inhofe = Ted Kennedy.
Chuck Grassley = Ted Kennedy.
Michelle Bachmann = Ted Kennedy.
Max Baucus = Ted Kennedy.
Roman Hruska = Ted Kennedy.
Sarah Palin = Ted Kennedy.
Spiro Agnew = Ted Kennedy.
Mike Huckabee = Ted Kennedy.
Rush Limbaugh = Ted Kennedy.
K, you take it now!
Barney Frank was inquiring.
Normally no need to say it. Goes without sayin’. But we are talkin’ about McCain here.
Fred Thompson = Ted Kennedy
I’ll be at the Austin rally tomorrow, so she may be there. I know the teabagging/secessionist/sovereignty people will be there. I got the e-mail.
Rep. Joseph Scarborough = Ted Kennedy
Well, ok then…
if you’re delusional, I’m a birfer-deather, medicare-card-carrying anti-soc*alist.
So there.
FWDiva
Realistically, if the Conventional Wisdom Machine does decide to anoint someone as the powerbroking, dealmaking “new Ted Kennedy”, it probably is going to be Baucus or maybe Conrad. And all their compromises will be “just what Teddy would have done”.
BTW, I think Peterr was wrong about the Baucuses of the world viewing bipartisanship as an end in itself – they too view it as a means to an end, it’s just that their end is delivering results for their corporate masters, and “bipartisanship” is a very convenient disguise for it.
I wrote a post a while back arguing that enabling this sleight-of-hand is basically the entire purpose of the DLC.
George LeMieux = Ted Kennedy (already!)
Theodore Bilbo = Ted Kennedy.
(Because you know if he were alive today, he’d be a Republican like the other ex-Dixiecrats such as Strom and Trent Lott, and the TradMed would love him to bits.)
Glenn Beck = Teddy Kennedy
Bill O’Reilly = Teddy Kennedy
Gary Sinese = Ted Kennedy
Keifer Sutherland = Ted Kennedy
But, hey, this is the Obama is Hitler crowd…why should any of their comparisons, analogies or syllogisms make a lick of sense?
FWDiva
I actually like that, because JoeScar knows better than to lip off about Chappaquiddick. (Google “Lori Klausutis” to see why.)
Hitler = Obama = Ted Kennedy!
george w bush = teddy kennedy
other than that they’re assholes and one was on Gilligan’s Island,, I really don’t know enough about Conrad and Baucus. I mean, Kenndy got there in what? 1962 or something. Guy paid his dues. Guy DID STUFF. Like, positive stuff.
But you’re probably right , Eli. They’re – or one of them, at least – the new Teddy’s. But if I ever actually hear somebody say that, my reaction at hearing the word “incremental” will look like a post-Communion meditation. (Do they do taht any more?)
Yeah, “the new Ted Kennedy” will be whoever can cave into the Republicans the fastest. Because that’s statesmanlike.
I was trying to explain what the Kennedy’s meant to my students today, and I grew up outside Boston. I told them about JFK going after the CIA post-Bay of Pigs, and “Ask not what your country…” and NASA, and education, and his awful assassination, and RFK going after the mob, and his assassination just down the street at the Ambassador, and Teddy and the civil rights movement and the environment.
The conversation then morphed into MLK and Malcolm X, and I as I was at a total loss to describe the meaning of the Kennedys, I though of that scene from Crips and Bloods: Made In America and of how the assassination of MLK and Malcolm, and COINTELPRO and crack led to the present day. I felt frustrated trying to explain a vision that does not seem to exist anymore.
And then I went to the lunch room and heard some conservative teacher squawking about Chappaquiddick and whether or not Michael Jackson was a more important figure than Teddy Kennedy.
What is happening to my country?
I hope it is not Teddy Kennedy = Michael Jackson…
Suze!! Haven’t run across you in ages. Meant to say – a couple times – some of the LLN music has been GRRReat! But I usually see it the morning after so I never got to say that.
glad you are enjoying it bfl – good to see your fonts again
Aarrggh. What indeed.
Blechhh!
And then I went to the lunch room and heard some conservative teacher squawking about Chappaquiddick and whether or not Michael Jackson was a more important figure than Teddy Kennedy.
Pity the children. Who is letting such a shit-for-brains teach?
apologies in advance, dear Eli.
*snicker*snicker*
right. whoever caves mosty incrementally. that’s the one!
Sonny Bono’s wife = Ted Kennedy!
ya’ll are missin some serious singing at the memorial
No no, the *caving* doesn’t have to be incremental. The caving can be bold and aggressive. It’s what’s left over *after* the caving that has to be incremental.
I have a theory, those of you who are fans of Dune will recognize this… I think we lose genuine progressive voices like Kennedy and Wellstone and the repigs just never fade (how old was Thurmond?), they either stay or become lobbyists… Well I think they’re gholas…resurrected undead clones created from stem cells and parked on the Senate floor. McCain is a case in point. /s
as jane and pheonix women have already pointed out, the public option IS the compromise and IF the democrats really want a bill they really should put “single payer” back on the table and let the republicans try to get public option back
But seriously, sad thing is that there’s nobody you can even say might, maybe, possibly sort of have a chance (if everything goes perfectly) to be anywhere near another Teddy.
Harry Reid was talking about the public option, today, and said something to the effect he would support it only if it is private (i.e. co-ops).
Don’t kid yourself, Barack Obama is looking for a compromise with the industry which you can bet will sell us out. I wonder how many of us will be outraged in a week or two, after Obama delivers Kennedy’s eulogy, when
he sells us out on the health care plan. He has triangulated us just like Clinton, except he has moved even further right. I want to vomit now when I hear him speak.
ai ai, been way too many years since I was reading Dune on the BART from Oakland to SF.
Guess it is time for me to re-read this classic.
Oh. Thanks. I thought incrementalism (is that a real ism or did I make one up?) was always good, in and of itself, like, per se.
Thanks for setting me straight.
Stephanopoulos went to the same journalism school as David Broder and Cokie Roberts. They all majored in “status quo,” and graduated with honors.
Second jaw-dropping thing about this post!
Did Strom make it to 100? Has his wife made it to 30?
So where is Teddy’s statement making a clear and cogent argument for the Public Option?
Oh, I’m not kidding myself. I suspected it, and then Obama (with help from Jarrett and Sebelius) let the mask slip. The only way the public option passes is if he’s convinced that the progressive caucus will not cave.
But if we come out of this with a healthcare bill that doesn’t suck, it will be despite Obama, not because of him.
That would let out all the GOoPers, I think. And about half the Ds (including all the Blue Dogs). They’re all dicks. (Some of them are also Dicks.)
It’s a word.
So does he want a private public option? Or a public private option?
Give ‘em hell Harry!
I would say that not being a dick is a necessary but not sufficient condition.
I would like the option to publicly kick him in the privates.
Don’t understand the question, El.
How come Barney Frank and Obama were not at the service?
ouch!
you iz right
and Sebelius?
is there anyone duller than dishwater than she?
Obama is doing the (a) eulogy at the funeral tomorrow. My suspicion is that all the bullshit that goes along with a presidential presence would detract from tonight. Barney, dunno.
Great! Thanks for that link. With Ted’s picture right next to the word, too! Snuffy was right. Last time I call Snuffy a stupid douche-drip. Wait. Did I call him that? Or do I still have one coming?
Yeah, he seemed to be saying, in his poor confused way, that he could not forgive Michael Jackson for what he had done (?) and so therefore he could not forgive Teddy Kennedy for Chappaquiddick.
I know…I know, it makes no sense, but then again the depth of the wells of hate are as unknowable and as stark as the extent of the American sense of ‘being owed something’ for a minor and selfish existence.
Where is Teddy’s statement making a clear and cogent argument for the Public Option?
I can’t believe he didn’t make it clear what mattered,
mattered to him, and mattered for us.
Biden is as good as I’ve heard him.
i think a statement would be released after the funeral and burial – probably monday
Before the Beloved Harry Reid can have any spine implants, he has to evolve from jellyfish to some form of creature able to accept a skeletal structure. Not happening in this Geological Era I’m afraid.
The distinguished senator from Nevada will someday prove to be quite the paleontological paradox… functioned as a biped with no vertebral structures evident in the fossil record.
Obama is to be at tomorrow’s ceremony,
don’t know nuttin’ ’bout Barney Frank
Agreed. The woman has the personality of a cauliflower.
Hey! He was a boxer doncha know! He’s a pretty tough ol’ fella when he wants t’be.
OT: Moyers comes down hard on Obama’s move from attack on drug/no negotiation with Pharma….and now Tauzin as Obama’s new pal….
you defame the whole phylum of jellyfish, sir.
when i was little i used to think cauliflower looked like brains so I’ve never eaten it. te wife loves it. yuk.
http://www.unitedspongebob.com…..llyfishbio
all systems go for 11:59 shuttle launch. hope i can stay awake that late.
Bwahahahaha McCain???
He has as much trust from Republicans and Lieberman has from Democrats.
Incremental is Excremental
Did Orrin Hatch speak at the service? Just please tell me he didn’t sing.
Me, too. would be fun to see ya at Late and Late-late night.
FWDiva
no argument here
:)
Who doesn’t love Sponge Bob
I’m pretty sure I saw him, didn’t stay on the channel long enough to hear if he sang. Also surfed passed “Impossible Dream” from Don Quixote. The choice of song and performer did nothing for me.
FWDiva
Uh-huh… before each match he’d meet his opponent and agree to get the shit kicked out of him as long as no one knew, and his adversary would call him a fierce and principled fighter. He continues that proud tradition today in the well of the Senate.
What the hell is “U.S Citizens Association” and who is paying for/sponsoring it? I’m just getting around to reading the local newspaper from Wed, Aug 26 and there’s a totally full fucking page ad in the main section of the newspaper with the bold screaming headline: “Barack Obama and the Democrats did not inherit the bad economy; they caused it and made it worse”
In mostly VERY small print it goes on for an entire page, saying things like, “It was socialism, not capitalism that caused the bad economy.”
At the bottom there’s a sign-up/donation form. It’s a clear call to all wingnuts with lots and lots of words to sell the story.
the url is uscitizensassociation dot com
but who is sponsoring this horror?
Thought I’d be asleep by now but maybe i’m getting a second wind. It’s kinda cloudy so not the best shuttle launch watching conditions. haven’t been here in awhile. so i’ll stick around. as Rodney Dangerfield used to say “what a crowd. what a crowd” @ LN and LLN
That is so ludicrous on so many levels.
Actually, i hate SpongeBob but after more years of Nickelodeon than I can count, that’s what i think of at the mention of the word jellyfish. How pathetic is that?
I found this from the google:
CREW urges MSNBC to stop airing US Citizen Assoc. ad: “MSNBC should be embarrassed this one got through and pull it immediately”
CREW is saying it violates FCC rules and NBC’s policy.
I understand the MSM today has very little to do with journalism, but it is unconscionable that this story was not covered. Stunning.
U.S. Citizens’ Association? I dunno. Sounds like a co-op.
It’s pouring rain here, no chance to see the launch, the one night all this week, too…
bummer.
Looks like an unholy mix of the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation, run out of a law firm in Ohio.
But I could be wrong.
ooh
I love Sponge Bob, and Patrick, and Gary.
Of course I don’t get that channel so I can’t get sick of him/them.
the new Ted Kennedy is
NOT JOE,NOT THE PLUMBER
Yes!! and Moyers even played Obama’s campaign commercial … ouch!! Moyers is taking no prisoners .. even fellow Democrats .. including the President
WWWhhhhaaaaaaaaa……LOL….on the floor..holding my gut from bursting due to excessive laughter…..Wolf Blitzer thinks he can just ‘name’ a new Kennedy??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAAAAaaaaaaaa… What a moron!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahaha…..
And then again it’s John McSame!!
WWWWhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaa…..hahahhhahahhahhahahahahahhahahhah……….
How amazingly stupid…….
sounds like a perfect candidate for a rachel maddow who’s behind the astroturf segment
It’s a right-wing outfit .. who the money behind it is .. I don’t know
GOOD
Not raining here but not good launch watchin’ conditions. I’ll check again closer to 12
Really? Can’t stand it. Maybe that hamburger plac where he works with Squidward. what is it? Krabby Patty or something?
JOHN MccRAZY slash not too bright,resembles Ted Kennedy in that they both ate Oatmeal in the morning,and used the senate potty…mens room,that is all
i see their address is ohio. what makes you say it’s run out of a law firm?
ya’ll are missin some serious singing at the memorial
can’t wait for the YouToob of that choir doing “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”.
Jaysus.
Oh yeah. And I had a boss we used to call “Plankton.” I even had a little picture of Plankton in my office.
rachel@msnbc.com
She’s really been hammering on the astroturf. It’s been great.
And ditto on Bill Moyers going at all the Dems on their healthcare campaign promises: GOOD.
FWDiva
Jeezus. Single-payer has been one of my main issues for nearly 20 years. I organized a local “town hall” about it around 15 years ago, have been part of many public protests supporting single-payer, and have been part of organized door-to-door education efforts.
Never in this time have I ever heard so many people simply knowing about the term “single-payer” and certainly so many people debating its merits. By far. This is a very good thing, not matter how much BigMedia and DeeCee politicians try to ignore and make it go away.
We’re on the verge of getting closer to a single-payer system than we have in many decades. I’ve never been so excited about the progress on this issue. Couple that with the fact that Liberals and Independents (and even some Repubs) are organizing together around this issue, which is largely a result of Obama’s emphasis on a community organizing renaissance, and we’re looking better than ever. It’s sort of like the how the organizers were able to keep the momentum after the triumph of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and pass the much bigger 1964 Act.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C…..ct_of_1957
Hopefully my fellow Liberals can learn from history.
This is happening because President Obama has put it front-and-center. Thank you, Barack Hussein Obama. We’re just getting warmed up.
Did you read the NYT’s “Good Ending” story? It was surprisingly heartwarming. It also included this little tidbit:
RIGHT. “that would be senator mcain”.. because, even though he’s almost as old as Teddy, and even though he’s been in the senate now for about 30 years, suddenly the man whos greatest peice of legislation in all that time was mcain feingold(so now we have a balanced budget), the man who chose sarah palin as his running mate and stoked the flames of racial hatred in a useless attempt to become president, that man is suddenly going to give us 40 years of historic, landmark legistlation, and gain the universal respect of not only his party ( who despise him) but also democrats, who are assuming he will retires before he runs again. Or maybe they meant that he would provide the next big media event funeral.
Eggszacktly. We’ll get there, with or without ‘em.
Ahhh
you are a crabby patty *winkity*
Make it stop!! I just heard LLoyd Benson say “I served with Ted Kennedy.I knew Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator McCain, you are no Ted Kennedy” Now he’s doin’ it again. Except for Conrad!
Right on. Right on.
Desert Beacon, a progressive blog out of Nevada, did a little voodoo with the toobz and found the domain they’re using registered to an address in Cleveland. A little more voodoo connected that address with Pearne & Gordon LLP. One of the associates at Pearne & Gordon just so happens to also be the person who registered the domain name (who also represents the Better Government Association).
just like Teddy
http://z.about.com/d/political…..ue-pic.jpg
He’s doin’ it again! “Senator Baucus, you are no Ted Kennedy.”
How was Biden? Saw his impromptu remarks the day Ted died.
Vicki came forward to exchange a hug with each speaker as they finished. Did anyone else notice that McCain blew right past her back to his seat, the only speaker to do that except for Caroline Kennedy at the end?
Orrin Hatch was reasonably complimentary within the bounds of being a fairly stiff speaker. He did take one shot at McCain (a joke about hosting SNL), who glowered.
Does anyone remember that lady (Barbara West) who was interviewing Biden during the campaign and she brought up Obama’s remak about spreading the wealth around? And she quoted Karl Marx to him and Biden laughed at her. And he said “Is that a real question? Am I supposed to answer that?” Right here in the City Beautiful. Her husband was active in R politics and when this was brought up she got all pissy about people questioning her integrity and her husband hasn’t been involved with republiocans for years, blah, blah. So guess who is one of teh loons at Alan Grayson’s town hall? You got it. Mr. “Hasn’t Been Involved For Years.” Somebody was live blogging it for for the local paper:
Wade West, husband of WFTV anchor Barbara West, just stormed out, yelling “Shame on all of us!” at the entire room.
West was reacting to Grayson saying he wasn’t going to be able to take questions from everyone – and complaining about the number of Democrats front-ended loaded into the forum.
Well, Eli, that about ruined my night, and I haven’t EVEN read comments.
In the spirit of Late Late Night, fuck the fucking fucks and the fuckers they rode in on.
I’m not blamin the messenger, Eli, just the fuckin fucks.
/pukage
*G*
i think carolyn was on the brink of tears talking about that last history trip through boston. she was barely holding them back.
A lot of Biden’s remarks were from the impromptu speech. He lost a friend and mentor and was sincere about expressing that.
thank you.
from the pearne & gordon website, they’re intellectual property lawyers with “experience in all areas of technology, including…..biotechnology……”.
(diningroomtable)
*G*
I’m gonna go watch some TV, grab something to eat and see if there’s anything to see shuttle launch-wise.
See yuz later.
All I have to say is fuck that rich fuck George Stephanopolus.
Gregg Levine is upstairs!
Late Night: Elephants on Parade
And Excrement Occasionally Occurs.
I don’t find it to be that way, it’s pretty well spot on.
Wanna ’slain yer bonkers, bonkers?
Helluva thread to arrive late to —the Horror!!
John McCain’s hair is the same color as Ted Kennedy’s hair and both have served in the US Senate for many years. Therefore, acccording to conventional wisdom as conveyed by Wolf Shitzer and a sock puppet, John McCain is exactly like Ted Kennedy except McCain is better because McCain ain’t no stinkin librul. The torch has officially been passed.
Also sprach the Shitzer. War is peace. Up is down. Obama is black and may have been foreign born. Obama’s preference for Dijon mustard is another clue. /s
I can appreciate all your personal experience, and thanks for sharing some history with us.
But what is it that keeps you so solid in the camp of present circumstances, of a positive note?
Do you dismiss the failure or TARP, the exclusion of Single Payer from Obama’s get go?
The lack of what I would call BACKBONED leadership from the WH with a Senate and House Majority?
The COMPLETE lack of ENFORCEMENT by Obama/Rahm to whip the Blue Dogs in line with threats of Dem Party Funding?
The apparently WELL Documented fact of deals with Healthcare and Pharma?
I’m just not getting the optimism . . . and I’m WAY open to being persuaded to find something to believe in other than 12th Dimensional Chess . . . hell, I’m even losing it for “Make Me Do It” at this point.
Seeking your wisdom, not snarkin on ya . . . thanks for any help possible, to be upbeat.
Wolf is all wet. Leave it to corporate media to flip to surreality yet again.
Ted was maybe too civil to the Republican bottom-feeders. How to stomach those so self-aggrandizing and sociopathic to the needs of the poor. Empathyless, empathy their great enemy.
He must have had to suffer fools a long time. He spent a lot of time in the kool-aid tank as the opportunistic frogs got boiled from cold clear ethics.
I mourn Ted, but gotta tell ya, I am wondering what members of House and Senate think their job is as they collect their pay checks. Can you really count the truly stand up guys and gals in Congress on the fingers of maybe one hand? It would seem.
Death panels exist. 60 people a day die from inadequate insurance. They don’t have to “invent” future death panels, folks. They are among us. They refuse to look at the real ones. Safer to trust the untrustworthy and go after the messengers. America needs to put its head where its feet are. Domestically and internationally.
That is an excellent post.
Yes, let us all be like children: if we don’t get our way, we will take our ball and leave.
Ignoring all other views: that is the how progressive is done.
Republicans don’t like us so we should be the same.
Yes, the ideal scene for us would be if the other party and other side would just disappear and let us just do what we want. We don’t need another party. Or, we can have one, but they just can’t do anything; they will be window dressing.
Besides, we’re right aren’t we?
Certainly, we want them to ignore us when the pendulum swings the other way–as it always does eventually.
We are all for dialogue with enemies, but only if they are enemies of the US, not enemies of the Democratic party. We think diplomacy and smart power is the sane way to handle things, except when dealing with our own domestic enemies.
Obama retreats on the public option at his peril. He won the election by attracting “not your typical supporters.” His supporters actually expect him to keep his promises. If he doesn’t, his supporters are likely to bolt. I wonder if he realizes this?
As far as who the next Teddy might be. I don’t think the media can annoint anyone. Within a short period of time, someone in the family, maybe RFK Jr., is likely to stand up and make a statement that “so and so” is no Ted Kennedy. This could be a real Dan Quayle moment.
Thanks, emerson. One addition, I said America should put its head where its feet are. It also needs to put its heart there.
What is wrong with our leaders and citizenry? Not healthcare for all, not honoring Geneva Convention laws? What body-snatched amoral zombies are governing us?
Now that Bushco is gone, is it really gone?????? I think I naively thought a small cabal were the sociopaths. There is evil. And there is lazy/cowardly. Scott Peck says evil is laziness to the nth degree. The greedy lazy in this country have crossed the line to evil so it would seem.
Sorry… you inspired me to keep on venting. :)
What do you mean, “we”?
My theory is that they’re the mirror-universe versions of the real thing, sneaking in through a wormhole somewhere around DC. (I wish it was snark.)
Don’t have time to really dive in, but basically the fascists have had over 200 years to subvert the Constitution and create the cesspool that we call DeeCee.
It will take a long, long time to undue just some of the damage.
As I pointed out earlier, there’s been great progress, and some great success, on so many issues in just 7 months that I’m honestly amazed at how much Obama’s been able to get done so far. It seems completely unreasonable to me to think one person can come in and snap fingers and tackle every issue in a few months, and let’s be real, this “Obama suckz!1!!” attitude has dominated around here and other places since before he was even President.
The main part of my optimism has to do with the re-newed emphasis on community organizing and a more engaged electorate. This must keep going. Obama deserves much credit for this, and this also highlights what’s so comical to me when people deride the “32-dimensional chess playing while upside down under water blindfolded in a straightjacket” strategies, when really so much of what he’s doing is community organizing 101. People go to school for this sort of thing, like MLK, Pete Seeger, Rosa Parks, and Ralph Abernathy did in 1957:
http://www.highlandercenter.or…..ibrary.jpg
Something tells me the people in that photo understand what it takes, and how long it can take, to change a corrupted system rigged by fascists, literally. Things have improved immensely these last few months, and this would be the absolute worst time for Liberals to get discouraged and disengaged.
History is as much about the future as it is about the past. Onward and upward, brutha!
:)
I came late to this thread. Stephanopoulos, Blitzer, etc. What we are seeing is not commentary but them beating off on television like they always do. They are intellectual voids.
Oh, and just remembered this I saw recently. Liked a lot of it:
http://wwww.dailykos.com/story…..-Take-Away
Ooooo…and just saw this one from the same guy. Nice:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/…..-Blue-Dogs
And then there’s this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC8C_JH2eQc
Don’t think we should underestimate a guy who comes from nowhere, takes down the DLC Dem Establishment, Repubs and BigMedia all at the same to become America’s first melanin-enhanced President. He might know some things.
Wolf is so CLUELESS! I haven’t made up my mind what CNN is doing (I don’t think they know either). They are either trying to out-right-wing Fox, which is impossible, or compete against them for what they think is the sane Republican. Also, a laugh. In 2009, there are 0 sane Republicans. None.
I tell you this, though — many things media people have said are embarrassing — and I could NOT say it on air without cracking up. But Wolf did it. Does he realize how stupid that makes him sound — either that he really believes it — or that he thinks he is playing a shrewd game?
Either way — EMBARRASSING. How long have the blogs been out, so to speak? At least since the 2004 election. And they STILL don’t GET it? Lieberman’s defeat, and the takeover of the House and Senate, and the presidency. And they STILL can say, with a straight face, that 2010 will be a GOP takeover, definitely of the House? Really?
Wow, you sure are projecting a lot of wholesome gamesmanship on him. I feel like he is beholding to others who are darkly empathyless and power obsessed but are alas the money brokers, and they are pulling HIS strings. Why would they let a real leader in, these rapacious fat cats who control elections and governments and wars. More and more Obama seems like a crazymaking, endearing FRONTman which is heartbreaking to me.
I hope YOU are right. I wish he had the heart of a reformer. Communication skills, playing the cards close to your chest and a nice smile…. not the same.
Citizens got crumbs from Bush. Now we are begging for croutons from Obama?
Bonkers, he invited EVERYONE to the table EXCEPT the single payer guys. You think that was strategy to help single payer? He wants the approval of the insurance and drug industry. To keep them happy and is hoping he can do that and cover himself with his naive constituents who will forgive him because of the mean old Repubs. My take.
Jesus H. on a popsicle stick… McInsane is the ANTI-Teddy. The beard has grown into his brain and strangled it.
What? McCain was a terrible candidate and a worse person. How in the hell did they ever think he was president material?
John McCain the new Ted Kennedy? No way. At his age I doubt he could get a young woman into the back seat of his car.