Comments on: Whatcha Gonna Do When Steele Comes for You?

By: dakine01

dakine01 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:58:05 +0000

When I was growing up lo those many years ago, I figured that a “moderate” Democrat roughly equated to a “liberal” Republican and a “conservative” Democrat was roughly equal to a “moderate” Republican with the Liberal Dem out on the left and the Conservative Rep out on the right.

Those standards are long in the past I’m afraid.

By: Cynthia Kouril

Cynthia Kouril — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:53:35 +0000

ALso in response ro Pluege.

My point was that the crazies like palin don’t actually repsresent the traditional GOP pronciples. So, if you want to througfh all the traditional Republicans out of hte Republican party, well…..?

Further, by adopting the false premise that Olympia Snow, Pete Sessions etc, are moderates or Dems in the GOP clothing we concede they they represent the “MIDDLE”.

They do not. They represent the maistream of the GOP, not the Palinites and Rush brainwashies.

If you allow the false meme that mainstream Republicans are somehow to the left of the bulk of their party, you MOVE THE CENTER TO THE RIGHT.

Moving the center to the right allows the Blue Dogs to claim that they are to the center. This is not true. Traditional Republicans are at the center of their own party, which makes the to the right of the true center in American politcs.

AM I being at all clear?

By: Winski

Winski — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:37:37 +0000

good…after last night..let ‘em cook.

By: fuckno

fuckno — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:52:47 +0000

More and better Dems has always been the mantra of Progressives and it has never really worked. One of the reasons may be that once within the authoritarian structure of strict Parliamentarian rules, our Progressives fall prey to capture. Donna Edwards serves as one of the latest examples.

Bad government, -and we have a pretty corrupt government-, relies on the duopoly to keep the ideologically divided population at each other’s throats, even though the government’s excesses are the source of popular discontent, and within a saner world would see the people united against it.

Today, Wall street and the government are destroying the fabric of democracy, and only some right wing ‘nuts’ (Rick Santelli) seem to notice.
The enemy of the people is our government colluding with our parasitic Financial industry towards an end of permanent debt servitude!

If we join with the popular indignation on the right on a very specific set of issues (the enemy of my enemy is my friend) we might still be able to stop this Titanic collapse of America, – but we’re quickly running out of time.

So, first rule: identify the real enemy!

By: foothillsmike

foothillsmike — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:04:10 +0000

Does the new HCR improve access to mental health professionals. There is going to be a lot of rethugs needing it.

By: demi

demi — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:42:24 +0000

To answer Cynthia’s question, I’m not going to lay back and enjoy it!

By: demi

demi — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:41:15 +0000

We don’t have a reflexive need to defend our in-group.
Oh, really? Might be a bit of a gross generalization.

By: Knut

Knut — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:26:27 +0000

There was a time — at least down to the late 1960s — when the core of the Republican Party consisted of white professionals, doctors, lawyers, university professors (incredibly) who were the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Lincoln’s grand old party. One still comes across them from time to time, people who are engaged in their community, but vote Republican because that is where their parents were, and they entered local party activity through that route. They couldn’t stand FDR, who they were taught to believe had sold the country out to the labour unions and had ruined the public finances to boot.

There isn’t much of that party left anymore. The public-spirited side of the Republican Party has been entirely marginalized on the one side by the Liberatarians (‘greed is good’), and the (mainly southern) racists on the other. There’s no place for them to go except the right end of the Dems. It’s very sad.

By: Clavis

Clavis — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:23:00 +0000

You really don’t see any difference in the details of the actual instances? I mean, it’s easy to conflate the two sets of circumstances by sufficiently abstracting them, but voting consistently anti-Democrat over a period of years, and permanent-campaign litmus-tests and demagoguery being used against you, *are* two different things.

The Republican Party is in the thrall of extremist hypertribalists. There’s no arguing it. Nancy Pelosi declared impeachment off the table when she became Majority Leader and she was good to her word, and yet she is still ruthlessly attacked in every personal way possible as a Socialist wild-eyed “UNAMERICAN” maniac out to destroy (with Obama’s help) the country. Every time Obama calls for bipartisan comity, the right responds with accusations of racism and demands for his birth certificate.

Of course the Democratic Party is also broken. What so many on the right are incapable of grasping is that we on the left are not hypertribalists. We don’t have a reflexive need to defend our in-group. I have no problem rationally analyzing the problems with both parties.

You shouldn’t relate to your political affiliation like it’s a fucking frat.

By: danps

danps — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:22:00 +0000

I hereby christen him Dumb MC.