Posted by Len on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 8:25 pm CT in Democrats, Politics
I confess to being missing in action this week. There’s been some stuff going on that has kind of drained my desire to blog – stuff that really has nothing to do with the stuff I usually blog about. Besides, I must admit to being somewhat disillusioned with my party this week. I mean… really, now. We gave them the White House and majorities in both houses of Congress and still they’ve been unable to get anything of importance accomplished. They still cower in fear of the Republicans. Why do you suppose that is?
Here’s hoping my Democrats get a spine transplant soon.
Posted by Len on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 11:22 am CT in Democrats, Politics
Howard Dean gave the Democrats a spine way back in 2003/04 when he taught them how to stand up to the extremists who were then in charge of the federal government. Unfortunately, they have allowed it to evaporate since then. He appeared as a guest on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show last night to encourage them to get it back…
Watch. Listen. Learn.
Here is Rachel’s complete segment on why the filibuster in the Senate needs to be eliminated…
Posted by Len on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 7:18 pm CT in Democrats, Politics
President Obama braved the blizzard in Washington, D.C. this morning in order to address the Winter Meeting of the Democratic National Committee…
Now is not the time for sitting on the sidelines, or blocking progress, or pointing fingers, or assigning blame. Now is not the time to do just what’s right for your party or your poll numbers. Now is the time to do what’s right for the country. Now is the time to do what’s necessary to see us through these difficult times. Now is the time to do everything in our power to keep the American Dream alive for the next generation.
The full transcript of the speech as released by the White House follows the break.
Posted by Len on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 4:42 pm CT in Democrats, Politics
Last week, President Obama met with House Republicans. This morning, he met with Senate Democrats. He spoke to them and then with them, just as he did with the Republicans. The meeting lasted about 75 minutes.
A Republican won the special election to fulfill the remainder of the late Ted Kennedy’s term in the United States Senate. (Though I personally refuse to recognize their victory since it was by less than 60% and, as everybody knows, you need at least a 60% majority to get anything done in the United States Senate.) To hear and watch their celebrations today, one would almost think they had reclaimed the majority in both houses of Congress and the White House to boot. Judging from the reactions of a lot of the Democrats, it would seem that they are in agreement. I think the Democrats would do well to heed the advice of their former chairman (the one who led them to victory in 2008)…
The following video is from MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast January 19, 2009.
The opening paragraph of the NYT story linked in the opening paragraph is startling, to say the least…
With Democrats reeling from the Republican victory in the Massachusetts special Senate election, President Obama on Wednesday signaled that he might be willing to set aside his goal of achieving near-universal health coverage for all Americans in favor of a stripped-down measure with bipartisan support.
It amazes me that nobody at the White House has yet figured out that no Republican is ever going to vote in favor of any health care reform bill favored by the Democrats. It does not matter to them in the least that people are out here suffering. Their one and only goal is to defeat the Democrats and see President Obama fail. This pipe dream of bipartisanship that the Democrats seem to want to hang on to simply must go away. It isn’t going to happen.
It was fun watching the screaming heads on TV predict the demise of the Democratic party all day today after two Democratic Senators announced their retirements. Steve Benen provides a bit of perspective…
In the House, 14 GOP incumbents have decided not to seek re-election, while 10 Democratic incumbents have made the same announcement…
In the Senate, six Republican incumbents have decided not to seek re-election, while two Democratic incumbents have made the same announcement…
So, to review, Republican retirements outnumber Democratic retirements in the House, in the Senate, and among governors. The preferred Republican/media meme of the day doesn’t match up well against reality.
Posted by Len on Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 3:30 pm CT in Democrats, Politics
Dr. Howard Dean (medical doctor, former governor of Vermont, former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee) was interviewed by David Gregory on this mornings Meet the Press. The talked about the health care bill that is about to be passed in the United States Senate…
Me, personally? I think we should be listening to Dr. Dean. The health care bill as currently constituted in the Senate is, in the long run, going to do much more harm than good. I’m holding out hope (though that hope is fading more by the day) that it can be repaired in conference with the House of Representatives. As things stand now, though, bare-knuckled partisanship and lobbyist dollars have won out over the welfare of the American citizenry.
(Full transcript of today’s Meet the Press available here. David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Obama, appeared to speak in favor of the Senate bill.)
Al Franken is the Junior Senator from the state of Minnesota. He has been on the job for going on six months. Joe Lieberman and Johnny McCain have been in the Senate since dirt was invented. Watch as Franken makes complete asses of the two senior senators on the floor of the Senate yesterday…
As you watch Johnny McCain throw his little temper tantrum, keep in mind that he is the man that, had the Republicans had their way, would now be the President of the United States of America (with Sarah Palin at his side). It may also be worth remembering that Johnny and Joey are BFFs.
P.S. I would be remiss if I did not share with you Fox Snooze’s reaction to the above incident. It’s quite hilarious…
UPDATE: See “Flashback: McCain Refused To Grant 30 Seconds Of Time During Iraq War Debate.” Yesterday Senator McCain stated “I’ve been around here 20-some years. First time I’ve ever seen a member denied an extra minute or two to finish his remarks… I just haven’t seen it before myself.” Is dementia setting in? Will these clowns at Fox Snooze now be fired, since they seem either incapable of or disinterested in doing a few minutes’ research?
UPDATE #2: Senator Franken was simply following orders from the Senate leadership to keep all speeches to their ten minute limit. Will an apology be forthcoming from Senator McCain for his offensive and partisan attack on a fellow Senator?
UPDATE #3: The following video is from MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast Dec. 21, 2009.
Posted by Len on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 3:34 pm CT in Democrats, Politics
I will be the first to admit that it has been a lot of fun watching Rick Goodhair Perry and Kay Bailey Liar Hutchison tear each other apart, but the truth is there is not a nickel’s worth of difference between them.
Today we got the announcement for which we have been waiting.
I wanted to share with you the visit that Congressman Alan Grayson made to the lions’ den (CNN’s Situation Room) today. He looked those old lions right in their faces and handed them the truth. They objected mightily. It still amazes me the way that Republicans get their hackles up when somebody has the guts to tell the truth about them. He actually called them “nattering nabobs of negativism” and “knuckle dragging neanderthals.” They did not like it one little bit…
I hope a lot of Democrats were watching closely and taking careful and copious notes. It is past time for Americans to learn the truth about our Republicans.
UPDATE: The following video is from MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast September 30, 2009…
While I do not agree with her that Rep. Grayson’s comments on the floor of the House were “over the top” (I thought they were spot on), the rest of her remarks and her interview with Mr. Grayson (aside from her insistence on and explanation for his use of the word holocaust, which again I thought was spot on) are worth the time to watch. She brings up some excellent points about the Republicans’ demand for an apology.
By the way, my dictionary defines holocaust as a great destruction of life. That, I think, just about covers the Republican refusal to reform and improve health care in the United States of America. Congressman Grayson used the word correctly. There is, I believe, a distinction to be made between holocaust and “The Holocaust.”
I like you a lot, Rachel, but there were a couple of points in last night’s show during which you went “over the top.”
UPDATE #2:
Video from The Ed Show, broadcast October 1, 2009:
