What he said...

[REWahoo]

Once in a while you read something that concisely sums up your view of things. That's the case with David Gergen, who writes the following in an editorial in the 10/16/2006 edition of US News & World Report:

“If Democrats gain power over one or more chambers next month, they must show they can do more than launch investigations and block GOP initiatives. They mush show they will share in making the tough calls that are coming in Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Otherwise, they won’t deserve the White House in 2008. The Bush administration and its congressional allies must abandon their highhanded ways, bringing Democrats into their decision-making circles and seeking more bipartisan solutions, or they will deserve to see their revolution come to an end. If neither party is prepared to do anything more than fight for position over the next two years, to hell with both of them. Let’s bring on a new drama: the creation of a third, middle party that can finally unite our country again.”

Please set your phasers to 'stun'...

 

[sgeeeee]

Once in a while you read something that concisely sums up your view . . .
Please set your phasers to 'stun'...

I'm stunned. So he concludes that if Democrats control Congress and can't do in two years what the Republicans have clearly failed to do with absolute power (Senate, Congress, Presidency, Supreme Court) for over 6 years, then they don't deserve a shot at the Presidency.

I guess that may be true, but it also indicates that the Republicans don't deserve it now.

And . . . come to think of it . . . there is probably no shortage of folks who believe that neither party deserves it.

Still . . . I don't see a credible 3rd Party forming in the next 2 years.

 

[laurence]

Or ever.

Ross Perot's party wasn't really a threat, but just in case Pat Robertson gutted it by carpet-bagging over a bunch of repubs to get him the nomination, and use the federal funds to pay off his old campaign debt. Party lost it's funding because it didn't get the % of votes needed because they didn't run any ads (couldn't buy any!).

Districts are so gerrymanderd at this point, despite running behind democrats by 20% nationwide, Repubs only have ~20 seats really "in play" at this point, and it would take 15 to give the Dems the house. No, I think Repubs will be declaring victory come November, hang on to slim majorities, and the Dems won't nominate anyone who has a chance come '08.

 

[Gumby]

As the saying goes, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18). The same goes for political parties.

I have been a Democrat since I started voting. I will probably vote Democrat in the next election. But it appears to me that my party has devolved to the point where its only apparent statement of principle is "vote for us because we're not George Bush and the Republicans". That, I submit, is no way to proceed. It is insufficient to define ourselves as simply the "un-Bush" people. If Democrats hope ever to enjoy the support of the majority of the people in this country, we need to say what we stand "for", not merely what we stand against. We need to state, quite simply, our vision for the future of this country. If that vision strikes a chord with the electorate, we need not even mention the Shrub.

And, I submit, there is much to be "for" :

A country where all are respected and valued, not just the rich and powerful. Where the contributions of the humble are honored.

A country that does not intimidate its citizens with the politics of fear and would not sell its soul for the illusion of security.

A country whose opinions are valued because it has earned moral authority, not because it possesses military might.

A country that values true learning, not merely training to be a cog in the wheel of commerce.

A country that "walks lightly upon the earth", supporting and developing alternative energy and non-polluting ways of life and business.

A country that encourages businesses to think beyond the next quarter, to build sustainable and rational business operations.

A country where public planning is rational and driven neither by politics nor crony capitalism.

A country that does not define its citizens by race or ethnicity and that does not foster a culture of victimhood and blame.

A country that we can be proud to call our own.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Hey Gumby..........you forgot the smiley face (you were kidding, right?)

BTW, what was the name of your horse?

JG

 

[Gumby]

My horse is Pokey and, no, I wasn't kidding.

 

[bpp]

What Gumby said.

 

[haha]

And, I submit, there is much to be "for" :

A country where all are respected and valued, not just the rich and powerful. Where the contributions of the humble are honored.

A country that does not intimidate its citizens with the politics of fear and would not sell its soul for the illusion of security.

A country whose opinions are valued because it has earned moral authority, not because it possesses military might.

A country that values true learning, not merely training to be a cog in the wheel of commerce.

A country that "walks lightly upon the earth", supporting and developing alternative energy and non-polluting ways of life and business.

A country that encourages businesses to think beyond the next quarter, to build sustainable and rational business operations.

A country where public planning is rational and driven neither by politics nor crony capitalism.

A country that does not define its citizens by race or ethnicity and that does not foster a culture of victimhood and blame.

A country that we can be proud to call our own.

It's sad, but we seem to be failing on all of these very admirable points.

Ha

 

[dex]

What Gumby said and I don't care which party says it!

What is that quote about the Democratic and Republican parties and who said it?
Something about two parties without a difference between them?

 

[youbet]

The idea of a party whose platform is "radical middle" came up a few years ago. Wish it would have caught on.

 

[Texas Proud]

I am a Republican with a good lean toward libertarian, but agree with Gumby... unfortunately neither party has ever tried to do any of these....

One of the things that I think is very important is a BALANCED BUDGET.. in fact, now it should have a surplus to pay off our debt (or at least down)..

I know some have said that the Reps do not want to spend on social issues.. well, I don't care.. just only spend what you get in... but also do not tax me to death to give stuff to everybody...

The DEMS screwed up when they were in power.. which got the REPS in power.. they have screwed it up also.. worse?? I do not know.. that is debatable... but I do know that the direction we are going now is very very bad... and I do not want to give up my liberties for a fake sense of security that some think we have...

 

[brewer12345]

Maybe I am just in a sh!tty mood after a really awful night's "sleep", or maybe I am just a nasty partisan bastard, but I think the first order of business afer the Democrats regain one or both sides of Congress is to "drain the swamp," as Rep. Pelosi put it. That means investigations, impeachments (please, please, please), and then righting the mess in Iraq, cleaning up our sorry excuse for foreign policy (and Iraqmire), and sorting out the fiscal mess. This will likely take more than two years.

But cutting out the cancer is the necessary first step. Cheney and Bush had better be prepared to have their balls handed to them in a paper bag.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Maybe I am just in a sh!tty mood after a really awful night's "sleep", or maybe I am just a nasty partisan bastard, but I think the first order of business afer the Democrats regain one or both sides of Congress is to "drain the swamp," as Rep. Pelosi put it. That means investigations, impeachments (please, please, please), and then righting the mess in Iraq, cleaning up our sorry excuse for foreign policy (and Iraqmire), and sorting out the fiscal mess. This will likely take more than two years.

But cutting out the cancer is the necessary first step. Cheney and Bush had better be prepared to have their balls handed to them in a paper bag.

Ooh! Did we get up on the wrong side of our bed? Even as a member of the far right wing lunatic fringe, I might agree with you. Here is the problem. If you "throw the bastards out", you'll just get a new set of bastards. Now, I don't vote, but if I did I'd still hold my nose and vote Republican. Why? Because I agree with them on more issues than the Dems. And, (in case someone was going to ask), yes I am aware that
they frequently don't uphold their announced platform once they get in office.


JG

 

[azanon]

Maybe I am just in a sh!tty mood after a really awful night's "sleep", or maybe I am just a nasty partisan bastard, but I think the first order of business afer the Democrats regain one or both sides of Congress is to "drain the swamp," as Rep. Pelosi put it. That means investigations, impeachments (please, please, please), and then righting the mess in Iraq, cleaning up our sorry excuse for foreign policy (and Iraqmire), and sorting out the fiscal mess. This will likely take more than two years.

But cutting out the cancer is the necessary first step. Cheney and Bush had better be prepared to have their balls handed to them in a paper bag.

I agree with Brewer.

 

[FinanceDude]

Maybe I am just in a sh!tty mood after a really awful night's "sleep", or maybe I am just a nasty partisan bastard, but I think the first order of business afer the Democrats regain one or both sides of Congress is to "drain the swamp," as Rep. Pelosi put it. That means investigations, impeachments (please, please, please), and then righting the mess in Iraq, cleaning up our sorry excuse for foreign policy (and Iraqmire), and sorting out the fiscal mess. This will likely take more than two years.

But cutting out the cancer is the necessary first step. Cheney and Bush had better be prepared to have their balls handed to them in a paper bag.

I wish you would QUIT holding back on how you feel..............

 

[kcowan]

My concern as a non-voter is that the world seems to be more dangerous since the Axis of Evil was declared the enemy. The War on Terror seems to be stalled. There seems to be no way out of the dual deficits problem. The loss of the US dollar as a substitute for the gold standard is troubling.

Not sure the Dems can fix any of this. But it was Einstein who said that a sure sign of insanity was doing the same thing over again and expecting a different outcome...

 

[brewer12345]

As I said elsewhere, an escaped mental patient could have done better of foreign policy, so while there is no magic wand to wave, we could hardly do worse than we have been subjected to recently. There are obvious solutions for each of the dual deficiits that make sense to me but which the current junta wouldn't even contemplate. I think the USD is still the largest reserve currency, but there is no way it would continue in its status of the only reserve currency, given other nations' economic growth, so I am not quite wiling to blame that on the politicians.

 

[donheff]

Not sure the Dems can fix any of this. But it was Einstein who said that a sure sign of insanity was doing the same thing over again and expecting a different outcome...

I'm reading Fiasco (about half way through) and with each page I get angrier and angrier. From the day we started planning the move from Afganistan and the war on terrorism to Iraq and the Wolfowicz/Cheney/Rumsfeld fantasy we have spiralled pall mall to hell. We re-elected these idiots in 2004 and got the "same thing." Time to try a different horse.

 

[Brat]

I am with Brewer (just a tinge of what comes around, goes around). The best predicter of future behavior is past behavior, management is not likely to improve without a through house cleaning.

I feel sorry for the moderate R, but frankly I have seen party loyality beyond loyality to country. Be gone!!! (and I am a R)

 

[brewer12345]

I feel sorry for the moderate R

Who are they? Anyone who had the slightest shade of centrality quickly ended up on Karl Rove's **** list and most of them were either hounded out of office or forced to recant and go over to the Dark Side. They should walk the plank with the buggers they carried water for in return for earmarks.

 

[donheff]

Who are they? Anyone who had the slightest shade of centrality quickly ended up on Karl Rove's **** list and most of them were either hounded out of office or forced to recant and go over to the Dark Side. They should walk the plank with the buggers they carried water for in return for earmarks.

Go Brewer. Here are some words from "1776" that might come in handy on one of these threads:
Dear Sir, you are without any doubt, a rogue, a rascal, a villain, a thief, a scoundrel and a mean, dirty, stinking, sniveling, sneaking, pimping, pocket-picking, thrice double-damned no-good son-of-a-bitch.

 

[Elderdude]

Oh, would I love to see Bush, Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld chastised, belittled, and shamed in public. It just wouldn't solve anything. While I would dearly love to see criminal charges levied, tried and prison terms for them, I don't think that is the best way to proceed. Hopefully, these folks will never be heard from again. No one will ask their advice, buy their books, or care what they are doing for the rest of their lives.

However, something must be done to stop Bush from blunder-bussing the last two years.

I believe we must immediately begin to find answers in honest debate and compromise. It must begin as soon as balance is restored. We don't have time for recrimination.

I just don't see a viable politician out there who could provide the leadership that would get us to that point.

 

[brewer12345]

I believe we must immediately begin to find answers in honest debate and compromise. It must begin as soon as balance is restored. We don't have time for recrimination.

I don't buy it. We've had 5 years to fiddle while the world burns, handing out taxcuts and earmarks to the friends of the powerful, all the while the other party was marginalized, demonized, and compromise was a distant memory. You really think the power mad nutballs currently "in charge" will be open to compromise after the election? I doubt it. So its time for a purge. Let it be long, painful, and involve people that make Ken Starr look like a fluffer.

 

[Sheryl]

Gumby for Pres in '08.

Gumby/REWahoo ticket, with Brewer as Secretary of Defense?

 

[brewer12345]

with Brewer as Secretary of Defense?

Nah. I want to be the Torquemada in the modern day version of the partisan Inquisition. Repent!!!