laugh of the day
Many in his new party don’t appreciate Specter’s past support for doctrines set by former President George W. Bush. They forget that it’s Specter’s willingness to vote for what’s right, not partisan, that long ago put him at odds with the Republican hierarchy.
Specter knew he was putting his political life on the line when he supported President Obama’s economic stimulus package last year, but he did it anyway. Democrats shouldn’t act as though that was nothing, or punish Specter because they wanted Obama’s recovery program to be even bolder.
Joe Sestak has taken the rash step of giving up his 7th District congressional seat after only two terms to take advantage of Specter’s vulnerability. Sestak accuses Specter of putting personal interests first. But Sestak’s decision to give up his seat makes it likely that a Republican, former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan, will win it.
That certainly won’t be good for President Obama’s agenda.
That’s just hilarious. “Many in his new party don’t appreciate Specter’s past support for doctrines set by former President George W. Bush”: now, why would freedom-loving people be opposed to the repeal of habeas corpus, indefinite detention without charges, warrantless wiretapping, the death of thousands of American troops in a needless war, and the appointment of corporatist civil liberties hating “justices” like Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the Supreme Court? Goodness me, we democrats need to stop being such purists. You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, right?
Or this gem: “Democrats shouldn’t act as though that was nothing, or punish Specter because they wanted Obama’s recovery program to be even bolder.”
Now why would Democrats blame Specter if Obama’s recovery program wasn’t “even bolder”? Oh yes that’s right: it’s embarrassing to have to point this out AGAIN, but the Inquirer has never faced the fact that Specter CUT the recovery program to begin with. They simply refuse to admit it, preferring to play a game of Chutzpah. That’s the game where the guy who murdered his parents throws himself at the mercy of the court because he’s an orphan, except in this case it’s “Please don’t blame Specter for cutting the stimulus to the detriment of his constituents, because he’s very unpopular with Republicans.” IT. IS. TO. LAUGH.
Then there’s the concern about Pat Meehan. “That certainly won’t be good for President Obama’s agenda.” Oh worry worry worry, whatever shall we do?
First of all, there’s no guarantee that Meehan’s going to win anything. Second, if elected Meehan will be a freshman in a House likely to still be dominated by Democrats, one of 435 other people. Democrats in the House have been far more effective at passing Obama’s agenda: it’s the Senate where good bills go to die, so consider me less than worried about mean old’ Pat Meehan.
Last week I wrote about how our political and media elites have been totally clueless as the landscape shifted below their feet:
The thing that most of these people and media sources have forgotten about themselves is that THEY are elites, and the voters largely ARE NOT… salaries for mainstream media union journalists are quite good: one editor told me the salary drawn by a twice-a-week columnist at the Daily News “would make your head spin”. In addition, a number of political journalists are, well, close friends with the people they cover (that’s putting it nicely) and the same is true here in Pennsylvania. So you end up with a feedback loop that’s out-of-sync with reality…
[I]n a nutshell, the wealthy elites that “represent” us in Washington don’t realize the recession isn’t over, and why would they? THEY’RE RICH AND DON’T FEEL THE EFFECTS. On the other side of the coin, journalists are too busy spinning “he-said-she-said-narratives” about the people they’re supposed to be REPORTING OBJECTIVELY on to notice that the actual zeitgeist of despair and fear…
What we’re dealing with is a complete and utter breakdown of the institutions that are supposed to represent our interests. Everyone, from the President to the press, has tried to play a game of Bullshit on the people they represent, and appears to have lost. Badly.
And this morning, a lot of people have egg on their faces and look pretty fuckin’ stupid.
