How Bush Won?
Jesus. How about having 55 bootlicking synchophants in the Senate. That's how he "wins" everything these days.
Posted by God Of War at January 31, 2006 09:14 AMLook at it this way. The alito vote will also damage the Senators in the blue and purple states. Looks like Snowe just lost her moderate credentials with this vote. Is she running for reelection?
Posted by Ga6thDem at January 31, 2006 09:24 AMand it will be thus with every vote. GOP has majority. It won't change until they don't.
Posted by T2 at January 31, 2006 09:51 AMYes, Snowe is up for re-election.
Posted by bbtb at January 31, 2006 09:54 AMFowl!!!!!!!!!!
I'm all for political realities. I know it was an uphill fight. And I know he's a goddam blithering old fart, but how the hell does Robert Byrd walk away from this without someone pointing out that he sold out the very principles he's been harping on for decades?
It's not a stretch to imagine that putting a pro-executive justice on the Supreme Court will vastly increase the authority of any president, while it likewise decreases the authority of Congress. Yet Byrd went for Alito without pause?
Why?
I mean, beyond the fact that he's up for re-election - which means he's just another Dem pussy who caved when the going got personal! Anybody who rallied around this guy in the past needs to take a hard look today. Is this man really concerned about the separation of powers?
I don't think so.
Posted by The Bird at January 31, 2006 10:10 AMI'm gathering a list of Senators who voted No on Alito but yesterday voted to end the filibuster. Yesterday's vote is what counted - 42 votes was enough to sustain a filibuster. Today's "No" vote from them is nothing more than a gimmick - if they didn't ant Alito on the court the could have stopped it.
Posted by Dave Johnson at January 31, 2006 10:10 AMI think that we really need to thank those who, yesterday, voted against cloture. 25 stood up. We need to thank them.
Let's let them know that we appreciate their effort.
It's about time that we have some people with some balls who use them.
Posted by Anjha at January 31, 2006 10:44 AMIt was lost years ago. Good lord. BlogLand is in dreamland. What a pity...
Posted by Marisacat at January 31, 2006 10:50 AMMarisa, normally I have a lot of respect for you, but today you're full of shit. And you know it.
I'd buy you a bottle of wine or a choice of beers if it'd help you out of your depression today.
- - -
Blogwhoring time: check out the Low and Left today re: Are the Party(s)Over?
Granted, we're usually pretty gross, silly, short-topic'd, poorly researched, and just plain bad, but I only have posting priviledges there.
Posted by idiosynchronic at January 31, 2006 10:59 AMI don't know about a tip of the hat, I was thinking more along the lines of a good swift kick in the ass -- something every Democratic Senator needs for being such a bunch of craven losers and failing to mount an effective opposition to Alito. Even those who voted the right way deserve criticism for not making this a far bigger issue. Kerry phoning it in from Switzerland just doesn't cut it. And where was Reid on the filibuster?
I'm disgusted with the Democratic party.
Posted by The Fool at January 31, 2006 11:00 AM…BlogLand is in dreamland….Posted by MarisacatI disagree. This is an excellent forum to unite and encourage activists. Blogs are a great source of information to use against our corporate media and RNC disinformation. After Goldwater lost so badly, the Republican Party was in complete disarray. They have spent years organizing their right wing ideology. They still have the advantage from their huge sources of funding, the Coor's, Schaife, Moon, Murdock, and others. Republicans have hundreds of people earning a couple of hundred bucks an hour devising plans, schemes and dirty tricks for their agenda. We have thousands of good, intelligent, well-informed blogheads.
I'm betting on the good guys.
There have been more defeats than victories, but speaking for myself, they are going to have to bury me one-foot deep so my outstretched hand will continue waving the finger of glory at them.
"Kerry phoning it in from Switzerland just doesn't cut it."
You know what REALLY doesn't cut it? Bitching from the left after the left did everything they could to destroy Kerry in 2004. How many people on the left did you hear talking about supreme court appointments when Kerry was running for president? Pretty much nobody. It was all about payback for Kerry's IWR vote, which is s.o.p. for the left: kill your own and then complain that they weren't good enough or tough enough anyway.
Fuck everyone who tore Kerry down and made Alito a reality.
Posted by Plasma at January 31, 2006 11:22 AMA yes vote to stop the fillibuster = a vote for Alito -pure and simple .
Only 25 made a stand for our country -only 25 .
Posted by G at January 31, 2006 11:37 AMA tip of the hat to Harry Reid for getting this many Democrats to hold together.
Today was a mere photo-op. The real action was yesterday and the showing was pathetic. The Dem presence in the Senate is rotting from the core and while I admire Reid and a handful of really good voices, the place stinks to holy heaven.
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Fuck everyone who tore Kerry down and made Alito a reality.
Posted by Plasma at January 31, 2006 11:22 AM
That's a bunch of crap. The left marshalled every resource to get his back: ran interference on the GOP smear squad, watchdogged and fact checked the press, got out the vote, turned up as election overseers and then some.
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Kerry and the DINO Dems couldn't even be bothered to stand up and demand that the votes that DID turn out be counted transparently and fairly.
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If Dems can't fight without blaming the people who do their heavy lifting, let them tote their own fucking shit and see how well they do.
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The cure:
Give NO money to the DSCC. Give to individual candidates who have EARNED your contributions.
Money talks, bullshit walks.
Posted by God Of War at January 31, 2006 12:10 PMCome on -- if the situation were reversed (although it's difficult to imagine how a Democratic POTUS could come up with a nominee as radically leftwing as Alito is rightwing), the GOP would have been successful with their filibuster.
Posted by Marie at January 31, 2006 12:16 PMGod of War 12:10, I'm a pacifist but what you say is powerfully good advice. That's exactly my strategery for '06.
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"The left marshalled every resource to get his back"
Bullshit. Total fucking bullshit. Revisionist history bullshit of the first order.
The first thing the left did was hand the right the "Kerry is a flip-flopper" meme. The second thing the left did was beat the shit out of Kerry for his IWR vote, and the left NEVER LET UP ON THAT POINT right up until election day. Why? Because they thought that was their leverage to get Kerry to put gay marriage at the top of his fucking agenda, when he was running against an incumbent bible-thumping war president.
Yeah, it's all Kerry's fault. The left had nothing to do with his loss, or Alito being nominatied. Move along, nothing to see here.
Marie: The GOP WAS sucessful in the 1968 filibuster of Abe Fortas (LBJ nominee for chief justice), even though Abe was already on the supreme court since 1965.
Posted by TIKI AL at January 31, 2006 12:54 PMI have to agree with G, anyone that voted Yes on Cloture and No on Confirmation needs to be held to account. (The same is true of the Dems that let that horrendous Bankruptcy bill on to the floor last year.)
It should be very clear by now that as long as the Republicans remain in the majority the real work has to be done as guerilla fighting in the backrooms and using procedural minutia, because once on the floor, the battle is lost. And the People are the victims.
New members, stronger leadership and clearer messages are desperately needed. Considering how the common person has been so screwed under this administration and the Republican Congress, it should be an easier battle than this.
Posted by Dale at January 31, 2006 12:55 PMHow many votes did the Democrats need to sustain a filibuster? 41
How many votes did the Democrats have AGAINST Alito? 42 (Chafee is a Rino)
Now, I'm not that bright, but I thought 42 was greater than 41?
Only in the Liberal world of blogging would you call this anything but a horrible defeat.
Posted by Carpediem at January 31, 2006 12:56 PMPosted by Carpediem at January 31, 2006 12:56 PM
Now, I'm not that bright, but I thought 42 was greater than 41?
The vote on cloture was what was crucial to the filibuster and they needed 40. They got 25 and 19 defections to the GOP side.
You were accurate about not being that bright, though.
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From Wiki:
On January 1, 2005, newspapers reported that Evangelical leader James C. Dobson was telling Democratic senators that he would prevent their reelections in 2006 if they blocked conservative appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court. "He singled out six Democrats up for re-election [in 2006]: Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Dayton of Minnesota, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Bill Nelson of Florida."
Gives everyone a clue of who we are fighting. This is the same piece of shit who had conversations with Rove about Miers. He also cut a deal with Salazar to vote no cloture.
Posted by bbtb at January 31, 2006 02:38 PMbbtb: And Dobson is still tax exempt. Only in the United Theocracy of America.
P.S. 104 days-no rain? Welcome to Phoenix, leave your umbrella at home.
Posted by TIKI AL at January 31, 2006 02:54 PMNelson and Conrad are in no danger of being beaten. Their vote was for other reasons. Johnson doesn't have any contender nipping at his heals either. Only Byrd seems to be endangered this election cycle. These three other senators definately had other reasons for their vote. We'll take them or their seats into the Republican Party if you're giving them up. Yes, we'll take them.
And any of you Californians out there be sure to support Cindy Sheehan for Senator. You remember her don't you? She's running for that DINO's Diane Feinstein's seat. There's a website all set up for contributions. She's getting lots of endorsements too.
Posted by peter at January 31, 2006 04:01 PMByrd was telling the senate that he had problems with Alito, then mentioned Bush called him over the weekend to discuss 'a personal matter', then said he would support Alito. Gee, wonder what that 'personal matter' was.
Posted by at January 31, 2006 05:37 PManon, I hadn't heard that, is there a link?
Posted by iamcoyote at January 31, 2006 06:07 PMmaybe that "personal matter" was a horse's head.
Bush is skeert of horses and blew frogs up as a child.
Posted by Sharon at January 31, 2006 07:57 PMWhere the hell is the Bull Moose party when you need it?
Posted by phidipides at January 31, 2006 08:29 PM