GOP’s Top Bloggers Abandon Ship, While Remaining in Denial
It’s 24 days to the election and Glenn Reynolds is following John Hinderaker to the showers today in anticipation of a GOP defeat. While cautiously beginning with “It’s still too early to say” he quickly follows with “that’s certainly the way to bet.” Which is a pundit’s way of saying “we surrender, reserving the right to pick up our guns if the Rove/Cheney calvary gets here in time with a red terror alert, a new war, or a collection of reprogrammed Diebold machines.”
How odd that he speaks of the GOP in the third person as if to maintain a claim to virginity to the oncoming troops, as if any don’t know he’s a ‘camp follower’ with his modest skirt capable of being dropped faster than a Bush pledge to rebuild New Orleans. And he doesn’t even blush about his ‘partial list’ of reasons in his ‘pre-mortem’ autopsy of his not-quite-dead-yet patient.
The GOP is not even on life-support yet and he’s already pulled the plug. While I recognize his patient is a vicious old bastard, I don’t support euthanasia for those without a terminal condition and who still maintain a will to live.
No, I won’t call his surrender a ‘cut-and-run’ because the phrase itself makes a mockery of the very serious issue that support for our military requires the humble capacity to withdraw their lives from the battlefield after the war planners have already admitted no strategy for victory exists. But I will call his list a betrayal of honesty as it’s a pale reflection of the truth.
His reasons for the perceived loss of a GOP Congressional majority? Terry Schiavo. Harriet Miers. Our port security outsourced to a Dubai company. Intransigence against illegal immigration. Hastert’s support for ‘insider privilege’ in his backing of William Jefferson. And Foleygate, as the final straw.
As I said, there’s nary a blush on his face for his recognition of the sting of several angry honeybees, without acknowledging the grizzlies in the room that flattened the hive and are continuing their feast on live human flesh.
Insty, it’s the war, stupid.
The nation’s recognition of the GOP’s disregard for American lives came to the fore in the response to the disaster that befell New Orleans and Gulfport and Biloxi. With that wake-up call, it was a simple transition to recognize that the Iraq War policy was just as hapless and just as dismissive of the value of human lives.
A complete and honest list could mention the Social Security sellout, the doughnut hole in Medicare coverage, the budget-busting boondoggle handed to pharmaceutical companies like the one Donald Rumsfeld headed. It could also say something about the crassness of war profiteers like Halliburton, which Dick Cheney headed. It could include selling out the security of every intelligence agent in our nation’s employ with the professional ruin of Valerie Plame, and Bush’s reneging on dumping the architects of that - Cheney, Rove and Armitage - while offering up the lackey, Libby, as an appeasement.
It certainly would have to include Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, numerous others under indictment or under well-deserved suspicion for ties to their rigged games: Weldon in Pennsylvania, Sweeney in New York, Pombo in California, Hayworth in Arizona, Burns in Montana, Doolittle in California, Renzi in Arizona, and numerous others.
The Abramoff corruption, after all, leads right to the top of the GOP, despite White House claims that the matter is now closed. It is not closed. It is an open, festering wound that no citizen should want closed, until all the dirt is cleaned out. Both the Plame and Abramoff betrayals of the nation’s trust clearly lead to Karl Rove, if not higher.
Insty, review that broad spread and high degree of corruption, and the long, ongoing efforts to cover up in Plamegate, Abramoff’s wheelings and dealings, and the Peda-Foley-a scandal. Then contrast that with the way Democrats responded to the corruption case being built against one of their own: they knocked him from his powerful committee position and they now have refused to endorse his re-election, even if the seat gets lost to a Republican.
Or contrast that with the Republican FBI agent-turned candidate who voted for Bush in 2000, and who tried to get the FBI to do further investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui, which could have thwarted the 9-11 attacks. She’s not a polished politician, she does not evade the issues nor project a false image to sell herself, she’s just a citizen convinced the war on Iraq is wrong and that Congress can do better. Compare that to her opponent, who remains terribly wrong on Iraq, wrong on Terry Schiavo, and wrong on stem cell research, at least.
In the record-setting climate of corruption our nation has endured, and in the terrible price paid for a wrong war with a wrong strategy, can’t you concede that a strong wind of fresh ethics and competent decisionmaking deserves a say in the nation’s course ahead, when polish and the refusal to change course has led us far from an actual solution?
Hurricane Katrina’s wake-up call belongs on the list. But the three great grizzlies that are chewing up the GOP are the war, the corruption, and the ongoing failure to take out the leaders of Al Qaida, which now threatens to lose the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
There’s no Osama on your list, Glenn. There’s no mention of the unAmerican practice of torture, which the Republican Congress overwhelmingly rubberstamped.
I certainly hope Americans are ready to reject the ongoing destruction of our troops and Iraqi civilians, to deny further oxygen to the Corruption Club, to refuse torture as an American value, and to demand real progress against the terrorist masterminds who have killed more than 3,000 of our fellow citizens.
But while you’re betting and sweating the outcome of an election, why don’t you join the millions of Americans actively working for solutions that will define the outcome of OUR COUNTRY well beyond this election?
A partial list of GOP errors accomplishes nothing. Not one soldier will be spared by that. Not one civilian will be safer. Not one constitutional right will be preserved. Not one principle or value will be defended. Nobody’s health will be improved nor Social Security pension saved.
Listing a few of the holes in a leaky boat isn’t a solution. Like it or not, we float or drown together, so plug a freaking hole or get out of the way and let somebody with better sense do it.
October 15th, 2006 at 3:38 am
bravo, sir!
October 15th, 2006 at 5:24 am
What kills me is how they think all of this is a stupid game. It’s not.
October 15th, 2006 at 9:14 am
It’s funny. I’ve been noticing that the light wing blogs aren’t really talking about the election much at all in comparison to the left side.
And almost no discussion of individual races, trends, polling, etc.
Says alot.
Mike
October 15th, 2006 at 11:53 am
Not only is this a brilliant piece of analysis, Kevin, it’s a wonderfully written as well.
Bravo, indeed.
October 15th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
Sunday, October 15, 2006
My Fellow Americans,
I feel like I should have written this a couple days ago. I try and stay up on everything that is going on in the news. One thing I have a hard time with is how many house and senate races that seem dead even. For me, I say to myself “what in the hell is wrong with these people?” I just don’t understand why the races are even close.
Two things that I have said all along that would leave a voter with a bad taste in their mouth is, the Illegal Alien question, and leaders that are incapable of defending themselves much less the party. No matter what the Democratic Party has my vote, and my families vote. I work on my friends everyday, they seem to either not want to talk about it, or ask me why the Democrats are not coming out of the woodwork to defend their own views.
It would seem to the undecided voter that our Party IS Weak, and if we can not even defend ourselves, or our beliefs how could we defend the country? I just do not know what to say to them when our own leaders will not come out, Especially on TV and defend the Party, our stand on the issues, or themselves as a person.
I was a republican most of my life, so I know more than a few republicans. Most of them are like I was, they are so upset with their party they do not want to vote for them. However it is almost impossible to get them to vote for a Democrat when they SEEM so weak, and puny. I can not make the Party leaders come out of the woodwork as they should, but I do know if they would try, it would swing a lot of undecided votes their way, I mean OUR way!
I do my very best to try and get voters to see, and understand why this election could be the most important election in our life time. If the people do not understand that a vote for a republican, ANY republican is a “yes” confidence vote for bush and cheney. Even if that is not the kind of message they want to send. It will do nothing but embolden bush and cheney, and from that I predict the world would become a much MUCH more dangerous place.
There is no telling what the two of them will do. Anything from air strikes in Iran, or North Korea or maybe worse. To continuing the contractor waste, fraud, and abuse in Iraq, and Afghanistan. War profiteers under any party is bad for our troops, and hurts our country, not helping it as halliburton, and KBR would see it.
It just turns my stomach when I hear how unfair news coverage is to republicans, that we have a liberal press. I do not know what news these people are watching, listening, or reading, but the news at least on TV is geared mostly towards republicans.
Look at MSNBC, you have Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Tucker Carlson, Norah O’Donnell, even meet the press’s Tim Russert all of them are obvious partisan republicans. Take CNN, Wolf Blitzer, and Anderson Cooper both having two hour long shows, all these people are partisan republicans. In fact thee only obvious Democrat is Keith Oberman, that is it!
As for Tim Russert he is the boss for every news person on MSNBC so I suppose I should not be surprised, but that does not stop me from being mad. I highly think the reason is these news casters are all making over a million dollars a year. So I understand why they maybe a little nervous if Democrats win back a majority.
What I always wonder to these millionaires is when the hell is enough enough? Why do you have to insist on making that extra money when people are dying everyday just to give it to you? Please, say with your vote, it is enough! To anyone I left out, I am sorry.
On the very same day this past week Chris Matthews said hastart looked dazed, unsteady, lost, like a deer in the headlights. Just a short time later he said hastart looked confident, sure of himself standing next to the president. I just do not understand why all of you news casters have to inject your personal views, why? Especially Matthews he just has to get in his little shots.
The news casters need to concentrate on what is working and what is not working. I for the life of me can not understand why no one has run a special on halliburton, KBR, Black Water and Others. It seems like the news caster use each candidates own changes as ammo for debate. Why not just ask about the problem or the fixes and let the candidates answer in their own words?
One thing is for sure, no one need wonder where Fox news stands, they are nothing more than a propaganda machine for the republican party.
To me there is no doubt, none whatsoever that the congress is broken, totally 100% broken. This has been a do nothing, ask nothing, criminal congress that for the most part, the republican party need to be tossed out on their ass’s. I say this as a one time life long republican.
In my 40 years of voting I have never seen a party that drifted so far away from who they were suppose to be. I do not mind saying I hate bush and cheney, I strongly feel they should be investigated, impeached, and criminally charged. However, it should have been the republicans that did this and kept the moral high road. I was/am so let down by my republican congress that I have switched parties for the rest of my life, I assure you. It is the republicans that have made everything so partisan, they cut off Democrats, give them only minutes to look over a 500 page bill, and the list goes on and on and on.
No matter what the only thing that has mattered to them is keeping total power, from the president on down. They even decided to keep an apparently KNOWN pedophile in office because it would help insure republican control of the house was maintained. It did not matter to them that jack abermoff was bribing congressman, it was hastart that canned the chairman, and another republican member of the house ethics committee because they censured tom delay.
If anyone saw the PBS special called, “Capital Crimes” on a show with Bill Moyers, called “Now” I think would only say three words about it all, Oh My God! That was my first words after watching the show. I wish they would show it every night until election day.
It explains what the abermoff scandal was all about. It did it in a way you do not have to be an attorney to understand it. One thing I do not think most people know is how close to the white house this criminal was. This congress has failed to investigate this criminal conspiracy enterprise going on in the middle of their own party. Now if the republicans would have kept the moral high ground and investigated this, and many other things they may have kept my vote. However, as I said, all they care about is keeping total control over every branch of Government.
I know for a fact that congress has had a chance, two election cycles to do what the founding fathers said is congresses number one mandated duty, to check the power of the executive or president. They have done nothing but give up their own power and OUR rights. When a party has to hold up torture as their big progress in congress you know the country is going in the wrong direction.
I try and get people to understand this election will be thee last chance for the voters to say, you have done a great job. Or if you think they have NOT done a great job it is your duty to toss out the guys who are in charge. That would be the republicans.
People may think their congressman is ok, but if the republicans hold on to the control of congress, nothing will change and as I said before, bush and cheney will take that as a pass to do what ever they like. That is what I have seen over the past two election cycles that congress has not changed the course we are on, all they do is cheer on bush and cheney and give them what ever they want. In this congress it has been much Much more important to be a good little republican than a good Representative or Senator.
It will take the Democrats to change course, and they must have control of both houses of congress. If they can not get a bill out of congress because the senate will not agree to the Democratic lead house, what good would it do?
One thing I have seen bush say on TV so many times about other countries is, whom ever has defied the will of the United Nations, or the International community. I always say back, so what, you have defied the will of your own nation, and you keep doing it, and vow to keep doing it. We can no longer afford a president that will not listen to the will of the Nation, and a rubber stamp congress that goes along with everything he says and does.
There are things I do not like about the Democratic Party, but one thing I love is they listen to their Voters, even if they are republicans. The one thing I wish the party would do is come out and fight these jerks who say if you are against this war you are a traitor or a chicken who will not fight. None of the friends I still have who are republicans may say that when I am not around, but they know better than to say it to my face.
It is a huge insult to the Party, and to many many Americans to say we are the Party of cut & run. They, like me would like to see someone come out and stand toe to toe with one of these asshole republicans and tell them how many times they have cut & run.
No Democrat has ever said we should leave Iraq before the job is done, we have said get the job done in this amount of time, or else. If they do not have dead lines they have nothing to work towards and will get lazy and not do the work at all. Why should they if we are standing there saying we will be here as long as you want us. You can have our kids blood & limbs, you can have our kids lives, lives, you can have our money, you can have as much of our time as you want, and you can keep our contractors and bases.
The more you give them the more they will take. That is just a fact of human beings, and it is as much our fault as it is theirs. We do not have to leave before the job is done, lets just get the job done and get out of there.
Sincerely,
DW McKinney
Phoenix, Arizona
Dwolfaz@netzero.com
PS: We need your help to make this work, Please PLEASE go out and send the message to bush and cheney. Send nothing but Democrats back to Washington and give them a chance, if they screw up we can toss them out in two years, but I know they deserve a chance.
Do not send the message to bush and cheney that they are doing a good job and they can do what they want, Please PLEASE do not send that message, do not let them buy this election.
I know one thing, here in Arizona I have never seen so many lies spread by the republicans. Constant attack adds against Democrats, and 99.0% of what they say is a Bold LIE. For heavens sake do NOT send kyl or hayworth back to congress, it is time for a change!!!
To anyone who wants to use this letter, or part of it, feel Free, we need the Help. So, I am begging you, please do not sit back and do nothing, just hoping, republicans will get the message with your one vote. I am doing all I can to make sure bush and cheney gets the message and changes course for our country.
Remember you are not just voting Democratic because you do not like your congressman, it is because you want your voice heard again. We Democrats will give that to you, and tell bush & cheney that things need to change.
If you vote for a republican, it WILL send the message to bush that they can do what they want, that is assured!!! I have already voted and sent my message, will you please join me?
October 19th, 2006 at 2:59 pm
You want irony: the deliberate stratergery of the GOP to lock the Dems out of ANY position of power is now the iron-clad defense against the “Dems are corrupt, too!” claim. You can’t sell influence unless you have some! If the GOP actually *believed* in bipartisanship, there’d probably be some Dems linked to Abramoff, human nature being what it is. What self-respecting lobbyist is going to waste money on powerless members of a toothless minority party?
October 19th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
DW McKinney’s message is heartfelt and sincere.
The republicans squandered the trust Americans gave them. They took power and used it for their own personal gain without refrain.
If we do not hold our politicians accountable, who will? Unfortunately republicans acted irresponsibly demonstrating they are incapable of solving much of anything. Their attempts were feeble, inept and incompetent. Other problems got ignored.
The following list, by no means complete, covers a wide range of topics to illustrate the aforementioned assertions:
1. checks on the executive power
2) Katrina
3) Dubai ports
4) Social Security sell-out
5) Medicare’s doughnut hole
6) rise in poverty
7) job losses
8) low wages
9) corporate corruption in Iraq and New Orleans
10) ethics committee shut down
11) Abramoff
12) Plame outing
13) no investigations
14) cover-ups
15) trillions of dollar deficit
16) debt held by foreign banks: Asian banks even Iran
17) $800 billion dollar trade deficit
18) energy crisis
19) dishonest with the public
20) make allegations that have no basis in reality.
so on and so forth.
Actually dems do have a platform, but republicans’ accusations unfairly and dishonestly say otherwise. What are the republicans running on: tax cuts and fear. What have they accomplished during the past years in Washington except for cutting taxes.
I asked numerous people to name just ONE, one policy Bush, Cheney and the republican party enacted that benefited the public? So far not a single person has been able to.
If the nation truly wants change then vote the incumbents out, vote for someone new. Inasmuch as you may want a republican in office, think about the fact they vote along party lines accordingly to the bush doctrine. I agree with McKinney, give the democrats a chance. They cannot do any worse than the current party in power and they certainly will not destroy the nation in two years.
If you want politicians to work “for” our country, to be held accountable, to clean out the corruption and uphold America’s moral compass then use your power to fire those that betrayed the nation. Otherwise we will get more of the same.
And, before you decide consider what’s transpired over the past 6 years, where the nation stands and where she is headed. Do you approve of unchecked executive power? do
you agree favouring corporations over public should be first priority? Do you approve the lack of government transparency? How about disregard for the law: cover-ups? warrantless wiretaps? breaking into your home without a warrant? starting pre-emptive wars based on dishonest statements to justify and seek support from the public ? etc.
Our Constitution and The Bill of Rights are the foundation and the cohesion for our system of government. They protect our liberty, freedom and ensure justice for all, but this administration weakened the tenets contained in those documents enough to dismantle.
We need grown ups making decisions. Our legislators oath to protect the Constitution no longer has merit. Please take into consideration our dwindling freedom, justice, protections, and rights before you vote. And then make your choice. If you feel the republican party is in accordance with your views, vote for them. If not, vote for the democratic candidate.
Whatever you do, please don’t let fear colour your decision.
December 12th, 2006 at 8:18 am
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