Job number one, as far as I am concerned, is restoring the Bill of Rights. All else fades in comparision.
Posted by Dianne at November 8, 2006 04:49 PMYeah, yeah, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. And Holy Joe needs to know: He's On Notice.
Posted by iamcoyote at November 8, 2006 04:50 PMSo what's the plan?
How do you secure Iraq?
Secure the border?
How do you secure Iraq?
How did Bush secure Iraq?
Posted by phidipides at November 8, 2006 04:54 PMI agree. Give Lieberman his committee chairmanship. There are much bigger fish to fry.
Posted by Paul at November 8, 2006 04:58 PMHas anybody seen or heard from Cheney? Was he at the de-corronation of Rummy?
Posted by ann at November 8, 2006 05:08 PMSo what's the plan?
You tell us. We've been waiting for almost four years to hear Bush's plan for Iraq. I'm assuming you have some idea since you're demanding to know the Dem's plans.
Posted by ann at November 8, 2006 05:09 PMI have been in a dream all day, insisting internally to wait until all is final final.
It has been one of the greatest days of the century. It is true.
I have to go cook, I've been cleaning all day with laundry, I have special plans tonight for such a special day.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Mmmmmmmmmmm. So fine.
Damn! Great day coming tomorrow too, this is just too fucking cool, hombres! Lol bye!
Posted by paradox at November 8, 2006 05:11 PMWith luck, Joe will see that his best interests lie in kiss-and-make-up. He can look at the overall election results and see the direction of the wind. Then, when evidence of Rethug evildoing surfaces, he can giddily exclaim, "Why, I had no idea!"
Posted by notjonathon at November 8, 2006 05:23 PMUnrelated, does anyone know what's happening with the Burner/Reichert race in WA? I can't find any updates on this.
Posted by assyrian64 at November 8, 2006 05:25 PMI've been cleaning all day with laundry,
Need a date? Do you do toilets?
Lol bye!
Backatcha.
Posted by phidipides at November 8, 2006 05:27 PMassyrian64, they're still counting in Reichert/Burner. Reichert was ahead a little last I heard. :-( Still plenty of votes to count, though.
With the rain and flooding yesterday, I'm guessing it may be a while.
Posted by biggerbox at November 8, 2006 05:44 PMthe GOP hierarchy will be pressuring George Allen to concede and not push for a recount, after they allow him the time to evaluate his situation over the coming days.
Stolen from kos:
And Allen on the Today show 11/8/2000:
The morning after Election Day 2000, when Florida was counting absentee ballots, George Allen said, "we'll need to move America forward as soon as those votes are cast."
Maybe the repukes want to stop the hypocrisy in it's tracks before we have more ammo in '08'!
Thanks biggerbox..
Posted by assyrian64 at November 8, 2006 06:00 PMHow do you secure Iraq?
American forces will never secure Iraq. The Iraqis need to do that.
Secure the border?
Start by disabusing anyone who believes that building a 700 mile long fence is going to do anything at all to secure the border that that is even remotely the case.
Hey, Joe is all about sucking up to power. He may turn out to be a pleasant surprise.
Posted by Marky at November 8, 2006 06:11 PMWhat a great goddamned day! Rumm, Hasbut, Allen! Webb will one day, be our President! Rumm, Hasbut and Allen will reign in HELL!
Posted by Mal Feasance at November 8, 2006 06:16 PMGuess what?
Karl Rove isn't a genius after all. But his boss, the Mofo from Midland, is a dimestore dictator, who lied the country into war, and then refused to admit his mistakes.
His legacy, what's left of it, is now written in stone.
Posted by Christopher at November 8, 2006 06:21 PMI'm just happy that the rest of the country came out for 'San Francisco values!'
Posted by cheSF at November 8, 2006 06:44 PMHey! I was perfect in my Senate prediction number and off by 7 (seven too much) for the House.
Not bad, eh?
[polishes fingernails]
Posted by paradox at November 8, 2006 06:51 PMLieberman will caucus with the Republicans. The bargain has been made. No one would be telling George Allen to stand down if this were not true.
Posted by Frank Wilhoit at November 8, 2006 06:56 PMIn general, I agree Holy Joe must get his chairmanship. We’ve no choice. Liberman’s chairmanship is basically the price of fire. But make no mistake: Lieberman won’t be working with Henry Waxman to find out what the hell is going on with Halliburton, Iraqi contracting, and what really happened with the Cheney Energy Tax Force. You can be sure that he will actually be working with Bush and Rove to prevent Waxman or anybody else from finding out anything about anything. Still, we need the bastard. But I also say this : If ever the time comes when we no longer need him, we should toss Holy Joe over the side without a moments hesitation. The Democrats owe him nothing.
Posted by Mitch Guthman at November 8, 2006 07:00 PMLieberman will caucus with the Republicans. The bargain has been made. No one would be telling George Allen to stand down if this were not true.
You're probably right - but I also think the rovians know that a protracted recount will expose a whole lot of voter suppression stuff tied directly to allen. The Webb campaign has already requested a DOJ investigation into the calls, flyers, etc.
Posted by Jim Faith at November 8, 2006 07:27 PM
Lieberman will caucus with the Republicans. The bargain has been made. No one would be telling George Allen to stand down if this were not true.
Doubt Joe's about to give up his seniority to be on the losing side....lest we forget, these guys are politicians.....all spots are removable!!
Posted by Goyo at November 8, 2006 07:37 PMJim, I think you're right, Allen doesn't want a big investigation in the campaign he ran, nor does the leadership that is supposedly going to urge him to concede.
But I don't think Joe will caucus with the 'pukes; the deal is, he gets his chair if he sticks with the dems. Pelosi made this clear today when she talked about the Intelligence Committee leadership. I agree with Goya, his seniority's only good on this side of the aisle.
Posted by iamcoyote at November 8, 2006 07:40 PMI agree coyote.
Joe Lieberman is a Democrat. He would lose whatever shread of dignity he has left within himself if he officially signed on with the pukes. And he would be completely rendering himself irrelevant if he did that.
Posted by non-contrarian snark at November 8, 2006 07:52 PMWhy, thank you, non-contrarian snark. Hugs all around!
Posted by iamcoyote at November 8, 2006 08:02 PMJoe Lieberman is a Democrat.
Shhhhhh! You'll piss-off all of the republi-cons who voted for him. They still think the chimporer is protecting us from...well, whatever they think they're being protected from. And they think Joe is gonna help the republi-con controlled Sena...well, they are fucked there too. Good god! The republi-cons are completely fucked!
Lieberliar won't do the Republican switch unless he's a lot stupider than we imagine.
If he becomes an R he's valuable to them for the short term -- but loses all value the moment the Senate ceases to be 50-50. At that point he's no longer the Republican's favorite Democrat, but instead just another northeast RINO -- unloved and barely tolerated by mainstream Republicans and certain to be challenged in the next primary. At the same time, he'll find he can't go back to the Democrats. He'd be in a no man's land where he couldn't win a county election, let alone a state-wide one. And his time as a Republican chairman would last exactly 2 years, as everything favors Dem gains in the Senate elections in 2008.
But, if he stays with the Dems he can hone his reputation as a "fierce independent" (yeah right -- I know it's bogus, but that is his rep), keep a chairmanship for probably 6 years, and position himself for another VP nomination with someone like McCain in 2008.
It is an easy choice for the man who cares only about himself.
Posted by Galloping Goose at November 8, 2006 08:28 PMWell, back to Webb - they make a nice looking couple. I am very happy for them.
Posted by jra at November 8, 2006 08:43 PMCindy Sheehan arrested at the White House for attempting to petition the government for a redress of grievances...another shitting on of the 1st Amendment.
Think we can get the Bill of Rights back pretty soon? I hope FOX doesn't call those the "liberal" Rights.
Posted by phidipides at November 8, 2006 08:51 PMSheriff Dave takes the seat in WA-8 by 2K votes. And what the hell is all this "what's your plan for Iraq" business? Since when, in the era of the "unitary executive", are Congressional Democrats suddenly charged with "coming up with a plan for victory in Iraq", for God's sake? Foreign policy is a responsibility of the Executive Branch, Congress has the power to declare war (rarely asked for these days, just horseshit "resolutions"), and to appropriate (or not) monies to fund a war, not to chat with the battlefront generals, thence hammer out strategies. Oh, it is so convenient to suddenly thrust the mantle of decision-making from the WH and Pentagon onto Reid and Pelosi's back, but that pig ain't going to fly, bucko. No, what the Congress will demand is oversight of Executive Branch decisions, as it concerns their constitutionally mandated prerogatives - anyone still remember "checks and balances"? - and to receive the straight story on intelligence, current status of the Iraq invasion,military manpower requirements, etc..
any and all information that falls into the oversight realm. This business about Bush blathering away about "Democrats have a responsibility to help win the war" is pure crap, absent any frank discussions on what "win" parameters actually are, how achievable, the costs, etc. Junior is yet again looking elsewhere for relief and succour, since his own decision-making has sunk the US into this wretched quagmire full stop.
On Lieberman's moving to R: how hard is it it to mount a recall campaign in CT?
It ain't perfect, but the system freakin' worked. The people spoke and the numbers were large enough that it couldn't be stolen. Remember the Pew poll showing a non-existant GOP comeback? Whether it was an honest outlier or not, note the importance of winning by enough that, assuming the worst,it can't be stolen.
Yes, give Joe his chairmanship. It a microscopic price to pay to protect the Supreme Court and lower courts for the next two years. And then there's all of the other advanteges that others have listed. : )
Posted by herbal tee at November 8, 2006 09:31 PMSo, how soon will it be before Joe Lieberman sides with his Republican pals, causes the Senate to split 50-50 along party lines over some Democratic Party-oversight law being considered, thus giving Dick Cheney and Karl Rove veto power, especially over any Democratic Party initiatives to hold the corrupt Bush administration accountable?
We all know this will happen.
So, when will the Democrats first be stabbed in the back by Lieberman and how many times until Bush finally takes his sorry self out of the White House will Liberman pull this stunt?
The only thing that might stop Lieberman is if any of the moderate Republicans that remain in the Senate decide to side with the Democrats, thus negating Lieberman's backstabbing.
Posted by The Oracle at November 8, 2006 09:34 PMWow!! Has anyone checked to see if Hell is freezing over? House, Senate & Rummy...too good to be true and more than I hoped for. My state (South Carolina) is still very red and red necked. But, it's home.
Posted by Kathy C Miller at November 8, 2006 09:51 PMWith all the noise Democrats made over Irak, I'm sure some would think y'all had an answer. Granted barrisj is very correct, the President makes those decisions. Shame y'all wouldn't pipe down and let the leader lead, but hey that's your perogative. Politics in war should not leave the shores. Republicans practiced this in WW II. Sure they ran against him for domestic policy. But the war effort was not questioned every day, any day. "Roll up your sleaves let get to work" was the motto of the day. Everybody just hated what those Japanese and Nazi's were doing to us. Yet still their were a few, very few peacenicks around. Their voice was never amplified. The out of power party never picked up their cause and spoke in opposition to victory. Times were very bleak there in 1942...
Yeah, I'm ranting a little. Sorry
Steve, this doesn't sound at all like the earlier tone you were setting. For what it matters, this tone doesn't provide the leadership neccessary to retain the victory of last night.
You won, the people I voted for won. We're both happy to some degree. I enjoyed my local victories. You're enjoying the national ones. This joy can be maintained by playing for the long term. Or lost by being just too cocky for the voting masses. You must set the tone. Do you want to be like W? You must set the tone.
If I had a choice and only this choice, I would rather be like Rahm than Howard. The victory last night had much to do with Rahm Emmanuel. He lead, others followed.
Posted by peter at November 8, 2006 09:59 PMPeter,
Get your head out of your ass if you really want, like you say, to get constructive. Rahm was an idiot.. just look where all his support went. Dean's 50 state strategy helped *a lot*.
You like Rahm because he just more of the DLC and that is the best that *you* can hope for out of the new congressional make up. So of course you are going to come in here and pimp him.
oh and btw, Pete, go check out my response in the previous thread.
Posted by Simp at November 8, 2006 10:17 PM"We're both happy to some degree."
Oh, really Peter? "To some degree?" What happened to all your bravado? Democrats couldn't be more happy, in fact, we are elated almost beyond words. We have taken back the House and the Senate, and I for one feel like the chains that have bound this Country and it's people have been broken. It's a new day, and a new dawn, and to the day I die, I will never forget how close our Democracy came to total destruction by the likes of people like you. You can go away now Peter. You lost.
Posted by Judith at November 8, 2006 11:00 PMJosh Marshall and his readers pointed out earlier that if Allen drags out the recount, a few things will start popping up on investigations that may escape scrutiny otherwise. Specifically, the GOP vote suppression efforts in VA will come under the microscope. So it is in GOP's (although not necessarily in Allen's) interest to thwart the recount, lest more criminal charges get filed a la NH 2002.
Monkey Burns is going to have the same problem in MT.
Posted by buck turgidson at November 8, 2006 11:25 PMsteve soto
thank you for all of your time and effort..you do a great job and you are a true patriot..it was a great and historic day..thanks again
Posted by dennis at November 9, 2006 02:46 AMIf I had a choice and only this choice, I would rather be like Rahm than Howard. The victory last night had much to do with Rahm Emmanuel. He lead, others followed. - Peter
Wrong again.
We won and your side lost for a myriad of reasons but, an overarching reason for Democratic victory was due to Howard Dean's "50 State Strategy."
What was Dean's "50 State Strategy?
An active, effective group of Democrats organized in every single precinct in the country. Here's what we're doing to get there:
1. The Democratic Party is hiring organizers chosen by the state parties in every state -- experienced local activists who know their communities.
2. We bring those organizers together for summits where they can learn from each other the best practices for getting organized to win elections.
3. Armed with the knowledge they've shared with each other, Democratic organizers return to the states and recruit and train leaders at the local level.
4. Those local leaders recruit more leaders and volunteers until every single precinct in their area has a trained, effective organization of Democrats dedicated to winning votes for Democrats.
Howard Dean, the leader of our party, took a lot of flake for this approach -- especially from people willing to concede the south and midwest to Bush loyalists.
But, Howard Dean 'got it' and like any good military General during times of war, he knew more than the rest of us and he certainly knows more than you.
Posted by Christopher at November 9, 2006 04:31 AMLIEberman is a power lover. That's why he couldn't accept his primary defeat like a man. He covets power and the glitz that brings, the Talk Show appearances, all of it. He'll flow to the power and if he gets it by buddying with the Dems, he'll do that. One thing for sure, being seen as a lacky for Bush/Cheney won't have much of a shine on it from now on. LIEberman is untrustworthy, a fact that the GOP is going to find out. But nothing he does will ever make him a Dem again. A traitor serves no good for anyone.
Posted by T2 at November 9, 2006 06:22 AMIf placating Lieberman is the price for getting unquestioned Senate control, so be it. I have a feeling he'll be a relatively minor nuscience. (Incidentally, I've never worried Joe would switch to the GOP, namely because he's so much more useful to the GOP as bipartisan cover...after all, what would Faux News do without him as their go to Dem?)
The most key committee chairman switch to me is on the Intelligence Committee. With Jay Rockefeller now in charge and the shamless partisan hack Pat Roberts shoved aside, we can finally get some accountability into the manipulation into the Iraq war.
Posted by gf120581 at November 9, 2006 11:57 AM