Elizabeth Kucinich :"We cannot put ourselves in a default position that the people of America lose. Again and again and again and again.
We have a rigged and a fake political system here which is very, very undemocratic.
And the reason why it's undemocratic is 'cause the people who should be voting feel so disempowered that they don't vote."
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5196
Posted by Kevin at October 24, 2007 09:31 AMThe title of this thread says it all. If we can't see that the fascist are metastasizing in the U.S., we are not paying attention. These appointments are clearly another major step toward U.S. fascism.
If you think this is an over reaction, take inventory of the changes in your rights over the last seven years.
As an aside - there is the good news this morning that Bob Kerrey isn't running for Senator from NE. If elected, he's be at the top of the list of bush enablers.
Ours is clearly a generational struggle to implement a progressive agenda. I'm reading A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey, who combined with Paul Krugman's theory on income inequality, puts current events into perspective.
Our greatest era of prosperity occured as a direct result of FDR's New Deal. Today's events are the culmination of 50+ years of attempted deconstruction of the ND policies. The wealthy elite have been trying to regain and consolidate their wealth and power ever since. And they're succeeding.
I'm optimistic in the long-run because the progressive movement has the sheer numbers - if we can make it past cheney's nuclear agenda. Then again, maybe it's going to take a disaster on the scale of the Great Depression to wake people up.
Posted by Jim Faith at October 24, 2007 11:31 AMThanks for the update Steve. Folks, do you still believe that just reaching 60 senators will get you over the line? This list surely contains many fine Democrats that can and will sometimes side with the oposition. You better get to work, you're going to need 70 to get the 60 votes you want. Where is Landrieu?
Posted by peter at October 24, 2007 12:17 PMPeter, unfortunately you are correct that 60 will not be enough, given the nature of our red-state Democrats. But that assumes that the GOP will use the filibuster repeatedly with a Democratic president in the White House, which would have grave political consequences for the GOP in 2010.
Posted by Steve Soto at October 24, 2007 02:20 PMYou're presuming there's a Democratic president. 2010 looks like the year another Majority Leader loses ala Daschle his senate seat. 2010, and 2012 reapportionment 'blue' states lose 15 seats, going to be real busy trying to overcome that one. 2010, you'll be defending many more seats than the GOP nothing 'grave' about it.
Posted by peter at October 24, 2007 03:43 PMPeter, you seem to ignore what the Democrats will be picking up next year in both houses; the shaky Republicans from that 2004 Senate class; and what the Hispanic vote will do to decimate the GOP in coming years. The next census is not going to cost the Democrats 15 seats in the House, and neither will there be enough new GOP governors or legislatures to generate that number with a Democratic AG at the top of Justice to offset what the Dems are picking up in places like Virginia and out west. But keep whistling past the grave yard.
Posted by Steve Soto at October 24, 2007 04:17 PM"Enabling The Fascism"
Please define, specifically, the Fascism the is creeping across the landscape -- as far as I have been able to determine the trains still are not running on time.
Posted by Bagley at October 24, 2007 04:31 PMCounting your chickens already, ok. Didn't a bunch of Dean supporters do the very same thing in 2003 and 2004?
Posted by peter at October 24, 2007 08:50 PMFeinstein's website is down as of 7:10 this morning (10.25). Do you think she's hiding?
Posted by Cordier at October 25, 2007 07:13 AM