Comments on: SCOTUS And OLC: It’s All About The Right-Wing Moolah

By: MadDog

MadDog — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:35:44 +0000

Thanks for re-emphasizing this “money talks” point Christy!

And for once in my life, I have to compliment the Repugs.

No one, not anybody in history, has ever so successfully identified the bestest chumps to con out of their money.

If one were to guess the average IQ of their donors (as well as incidence of mental instability), the Repugs have cornered the market on crazies and fools.

And they ain’t gonna give ‘em up. No way, no how!

Taking candy from babies is hard work compared to this.

By: jayt

jayt — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:14:58 +0000

Any chance Dawn will get through?

Dawn Johnsen is supported, if not sponsored (sorry - not sure) by Dick Lugar (R- Irrelevant - IN).

If they wanna shoot Lugar in the foot, so be it - he’s been a shoe-in vote on every single R-backed thing for several years now. Guy used to be a respectable Senator too.

Keep on shooting, R’s. Ever heard of collateral damage?

In the famous words of Casey Stengel (or Yogi Berra - seem to be having one of those nights) - “Doesn’t anyone here know how to play this game?”

I’d love to see Lugar come back to life.

By: ThingsComeUndone

ThingsComeUndone — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:12:47 +0000

The GOP needs bodies not cash if you got the bodies/votes then you can make laws and thats where you get the cash.

By: ThingsComeUndone

ThingsComeUndone — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:11:49 +0000

Think of it this way we elected Obama to stop the war, give us National Healthcare then then the economy failed and rather than trust the probusiness party with the economy we preferred to elect an African American.
The GOP has nothing else but Abortion an issue they have not delivered on for their base despite having control of the Presidency through the Reagan, Bush, Bush 2 years.
They got Racism after a majority of the country elects an African American President. And as the country gets more Hispanic they attack immigrants.
They got Gay Marriage as more and more states legalize it.
Yes the GOP can expect their shrinking base to give more because everything they feared is happening.
Who cares though when the world does not end tomorrow or the next day:)
The old will die and take their fear with them. The new hate the Tea Baggers do not look like they will be enough to replace the natural die off of the GOP base.
I bet McCain wishes he had voted for National Healthcare ten years ago enough of his older white male base might have been alive today to make him President.

By: ThingsComeUndone

ThingsComeUndone — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:57:41 +0000

The right’s disingenuous claim that Sotomayor’s nomination must be obstructed are far from novel. Indeed, Sotomayor is only the most recent of Obama’s well-qualified nominees to receive the same shoddy treatment. Consider Dawn Johnsen…who may be the single most qualified attorney in the world to lead [OLC]. A former acting head of the OLC during the Clinton Administration, Johnsen was among the most outspoken opponents of Bush’s pro-torture policies. Nevertheless, Senate conservatives have successfully prevented her nomination from receiving a floor vote, often citing her pro-choice views for justification even though OLC’s role has little or nothing to do with abortion….

Any chance Dawn will get through?

By: ThingsComeUndone

ThingsComeUndone — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:55:40 +0000

Sorry was not last thread a few threads back.

By: ThingsComeUndone

ThingsComeUndone — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:48:29 +0000

And when NARAL and others pulled their penny ante sideshow wimpery? We called them on it, day in and day out, for months on end. And took heaps of shit from Beltway insiders for being publicly honest about what everyone knew was privately going on: milk the base and cynically rebuild the coffers for the next election cycle PR, while doing nothing substantive about judicial nominees whose philosophies honestly threaten choice.

Great Point the system GOP/Blue Dog its all about maintaining the status quo and keeping both the Left and the Rights bases angry so they give money and vote.
But with the Net our side at least is kind of trying to educate on the issues.
We need to do more of this last thread a few folks were getting rightly mad that we were getting down on Obama to much.
I think educating more about issues we know are coming up before the government debates them might help.
More happy topics the news about Jose Padillia sueing Yoo was very happy:) The hope for Justice for a torture victim.

By: oldgold

oldgold — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:16:02 +0000

I agree with your analysis and Obama’s political calculus. On the latter, I know that most here do not agree. I understand their position, appreciate their passion and acknowledge they have the high moral ground, but

By: Petrocelli

Petrocelli — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:13:10 +0000

I agree with you RevBev, I think Obama’s main priority is health care. Fixing the economy has delayed health care reform and it has to get done this year.

By: RevBev

RevBev — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:06:50 +0000

I also think these 2 topics–judges & health—may be a part of why Obama is/appears out of gear on the torture stuff. Not really sure…but I do believe that he has decided this is the health care moment and he does not want to lose it or complicate it more. If the public and the courts are the agents and voices in the torture arena, he may otherwise have more leverage. Yes….who knows?