Are They Going To Learn

6:06 pm EST June 23rd, 2005 | Democrats | 4 Comments

The Democratic party is surely the worst case of a battered spouse in the history of this country’s great national dialogue. No matter the indignities suffered at the hands of the media or the Republicans, the Democrats keep coming back and asking to be forgiven for their perceived sins. Stop it. Stop it now. For christ’s sake, stand up for yourselves and the people who voted for you. It’s got to stop now.

Last Throes Watch

6:06 pm EST June 23rd, 2005 | News | 7 Comments

Another Dick Cheney lie

The top American commander in the Persian Gulf told Congress on Thursday that the Iraqi insurgency has not grown weaker over the past six months, despite a claim by Vice President Dick Cheney that it was in its “last throes.”

Topic: Iraq

The Republican Party Is Guilty

5:06 pm EST June 23rd, 2005 | Republicans | 9 Comments

Families of September 11th:

As families whose relatives were victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, we believe it is an outrage that any Democrat, any Republican, any conservative or any liberal, stakes a “high ground” position based upon the September 11th death and destruction. Doing so assumes that all those who died and their loved ones would agree. In truth, some would and some would not. By definition the conduct is divisive and, because it is intended to be self-serving and politicizes 9/11, it is offensive.

What do you do if you’re the political group in charge of a nation during its worst terror attack ever, and still haven’t brought the main perpetrators to justice 4 years past? What do you do if you’re the party that has deceived a nation into war, causing the deaths of over 1700 men and women soldiers, and now have the opinion polls turning against you? What do you do?

If you’re the Republican party in America, you attack your political opponents for being insufficiently patriotic. You appeal to the worst McCarthyite instincts that form the bedrock of your support in order to demonize the opposition and distract from your utter failure to provide even the most basic defense and protection of the people you represent.

Even worse, if you’re George W. Bush, you hide behind underlings and media surrogates to the dirty work on your behalf, never man enough to say what it is you really think, hiding your cowardice behind layers and layers of defense.

It helps when you have an opposition that has been so cowed by you and the media that their responses usually range only from tepid to middling, allowing you to suck up all the oxygen in the room and present your propaganda as the dominant themes to be echoed.

The Republican party is guilty of moral bankruptcy. Guilty of the sin of being on the wrong side of freedom, decency, and American values. Anyone who continues to stand by their side deserves the appropriate eternal damnation.

The DNC:

However, Osama bin Laden is still at large more than three years after the September 11th attacks and the war in Iraq has turned the country into the world’s most effective terrorist training camp. Democrats pulled together after the attacks, providing aid, calling for action, and supporting the President in a time of national tragedy. It is increasingly clear that if anyone failed to understand the true implications of that tragic day, it was the Bush Administration.

The White House Fully Defends Karl Rove’s Smear

2:06 pm EST June 23rd, 2005 | Republicans | 30 Comments

Of course they did. This is what they do. This is how they operate. Attack, defile, divide, and defend… their own.

Q He said the Democrats wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers. That’s not injecting politics into the tragedy of September 11th?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think it’s talking about the different philosophies for winning the war on terrorism. The President recognizes that the way to win the war on terrorism is to take the fight to the enemy, to stay on the offensive, and to work to spread freedom and democracy to defend the ideology of hatred that they espouse, and the ideology of tyranny and oppression.

Q So will the President ask Karl Rove to apologize?

MR. McCLELLAN: Of course not, Jessica.

You’ll remember that this is the same White House that expressed full throated support of Trent Lott after his racist remarks, backing off only when they realized they could have a puppet in the position of majority leader (Bill Frist).

Even more idiocy:

MR. McCLELLAN: I think that Karl was simply pointing out the different philosophies when it comes to winning the war on terrorism. That’s what he was doing. The President of the United States — you bring up something that’s very important — has worked to elevate the discourse in this town and reach out to get things done, and that’s what he’s done. Now, Karl was simply pointing out the differences that exist in how we approach the war on terrorism and how different people view it in a different way

Yes, he elevates discourse by having his and his henchmen declare the opposition party to be weak kneed assistants of terror even as he fiddles as America becomes less safe. Yes, elevating the discourse indeed.

Rep. Pelosi:

“Karl Rove has moved to center stage in the theater of the absurd. Our entire country came together after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. His shameful comments trying to revise history insult the victims of 9/11 and all of us who support them. President Bush must repudiate these remarks.

“For Karl Rove and his Republican allies to try to exploit 9/11 for political purposes — once again — just shows you how desperate Republicans are to change the subject to distract Americans from their failures.”

Sen. Clinton calls out Governor Pataki and the other conservative attendees:

“I would also call on Gov. Pataki to repudiate these comments. He was at that dinner last night,” said Clinton.

“I would call on anyone who was at that dinner who is a New Yorker who cares about the unity of not only New York City but of our country to say we may have disagreements about what the best way is to win the war against terror, but we have no disagreements about our unity and our resolve and the goals we seek.”

John Kerry:

That spirit of our country should never be reduced to a cheap and divisive political applause line from anyone who speaks for the President of the United States. I am proud that after September 11th all our people rallied to President Bush’s call for unity to meet the danger. There were no Democrats. There were no Republicans. There were only Americans. That’s why is hard to believe that last night the most senior advisor to the President of the United States is twisting those days of unity to divide us, that rather than focusing attention on finding Osama Bin Laden and smashing Al Queda, he is instead challenging the patriotism of Americans every bit as committed to fighting terror as he is.

Lieberman:

Senator Joe Lieberman today joined Senator Chris Dodd and their colleagues from New York and New Jersey in calling on chief White House Advisor Karl Rove to retract his divisive partisan comments that exploited the memories of the 9/11 victims at a conservative fundraiser. In a letter to Rove today the senators asked Rove to retract his comment that liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.

I wonder if the media will ignore this.

Dr. Laniac is skeptical of any apologies.
Light Up The Darkness talks about how the left’s support for the war on terror has been betrayed.
Kevin Drum has visual evidence of the treachery of us liberals.

Ken Mehlman, head of the RNC and supposedly the moderate opposite to “crazy” Howard Dean, fully backs up Karl Rove’s assault on the Democratic party:

“It’s outrageous that the same Democrats who stood by Dick Durbin’s libeling of our military are now expressing faux outrage over Karl Rove’s statement of historical fact. George Soros, Michael Moore, MoveOn and the hard left were wrong after 9/11, just as it was wrong for Democrat leaders to stand by and remain silent after Dick Durbin made his deplorable comments.”

I wonder if this will finally teach the Democrats something? Karl Rove, by instruction of the White House, has libeled the entire progressive wing of America as a bunch of traitors, and the entire Republican apparatus has backed him up. They’re not giving an inch. I hope folks remember this kind of thing the next time they’re called on to “denounce” Governor Dean, or to “rebuke” something a Senator said.

Karl Rove: King Of Asshattery

1:06 pm EST June 23rd, 2005 | Politics | 23 Comments

(see video of Hillary’s comments here)

He should apologize or resign. Preferably both.

White House adviser Karl Rove should either apologize or resign for remarks that liberals responded to the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes by wanting to “prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers,” Democrats said Thursday.

Adding to the rancor, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested that Republican charges that Democrats were undermining the war on terror with their criticism of administration policies amounted to an act of desperation.

“The president wanted to go to Iraq in the worst possible way and he did,” Pelosi said. “The president is on the ropes.”

Rove, Bush’s chief political adviser, said in a speech Wednesday that “liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.” Conservatives, he told the New York state Conservative Party just a few miles north of Ground Zero, “saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war.”

Rove said the Democratic Party made the mistake of calling for “moderation and restraint” after the terrorist attacks.

Democrats were quick to respond – and in growing numbers.

“Karl Rove should immediately and fully apologize for his remarks or he should resign,” Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement. “I hope the president will join me in repudiating these remarks.”

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean called on Bush to “show some leadership and unequivocally repudiate Rove’s divisive and damaging political rhetoric.”

On Rove’s side? The intellectually dishonest interment apologist Michelle Malkin and her other right-wing cohorts.

First Draft says you should ask if your representative stands with Karl Rove.

Americablog further explores Rove’s bile.

Kos:

We want to understand why Osama Bin Laden hasn’t been captured? Why did the administration take its eyes off Al Qaida to invade Iraq? I mean, Al Qaida is the enemy Rove himself said we had to defeat. But we haven’t.

Conservative John Cole notes bills that passed with overwhelming Democratic support in the House and Senate (420-1, 98-0) to fight the war on terror and says Rove has some apologizing to do.

Dept of Great Ideas

2:06 am EST June 23rd, 2005 | Democrats | 4 Comments

Chris Andersen presents We’ve Got Your Back! A Democratic Support Campaign

I think we need to establish a permanent “We’ve Got Your Back!” campaign that will stand behind Democrats, any Democrats, who step into the Right Wing Noise Machine’s fire. This campaign that will track signs of Democratic courage in the face of Republican attacks. If the attacks become particularly egregious (as they did against Durbin) then a fundraising bat will be created that links to those Democrat’s campaign donation page and petition drives will be started to demonstrate our support for their courage.

Scientific Football

2:06 am EST June 23rd, 2005 | Politics | Comments Off

The NFL gets the “Moneyball” treatment with some interesting observations.

Eli Manning: “One of the things I can’t stand as an analyst is hype. Some of the PR in this league simply bugs me no end, and the Eli Manning PR probably bugs me more than just about any other. Eli played so poorly last year that at one point I pulled out the thesaurus, as I simply couldn’t find the words to describe how poorly Eli Manning was playing … Abominable, appalling, deplorable, ghastly and unsightly all seemed to hit the spot. Eli’s list of mistakes was nearly as long as Mike Vick’s.”

Democrats: Pay Attention

2:06 am EST June 23rd, 2005 | Democrats | 10 Comments

Watch Howard Dean and understand how to stop buying into the GOP/media framing of things and how to simply say what you want to say. Dean recognizes that we on the left don’t have Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter, etc. to do the rhetorical work for us… and if it has to be him explaining to the Dems exactly how to do it… so be it.

Horserace ’08

8:06 pm EST June 22nd, 2005 | Democrats | 25 Comments

Based on what I think the standings are right at this minute.

Dems
1. Hillary
2. John Edwards
3. Joe Biden
4. Wes Clark
5. John Kerry

Hillary is ahead, but she’s going to have to prove that her high negatives can be contained. Edwards needs foreign policy chops, while Biden needs domestic/charisma points (as does Clark). I don’t think Kerry really has a chance – one and you’re done in my mind.

Reps
1. McCain
2. Giuliani
3. Frist
4. The remaining loons (Brownback, Allen, etc)

What McCain lacks in support from the wingnut contingent, he makes up for in Dems and independents. Giuliani’s problem is that he’s a pro-choice philanderer, and italian. No, Condi Rice has no chance.