General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYou know, Obama has disappointed a lot of people.....
Myself included.
Matt Damon.
Many other DU'ers are still pissed at Obama for not bringing in their ponies and freeing Don Siegelman or throwing Karl Rove in prison or sending * to the Hague as mandated by law.
Many are pissed at Obama for capitulating to the Republicans, even currying favors to them.
Well, some of us true liberals knew who he was. We knew he was a rising star, for the wrong team. The Third Way.
The Third Way has to be removed from Democratic participation and thrown back to the Republicans.
They will need it to differentiate themselves from the Tea Party morons.
And they are not welcome back. We are the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, and we demand that the next president must govern from the left-center, not far right.
Also, we will also bring in the House in 2014 with many scandals that will be upcoming that does not favor the Republicans.
The Senate for 2014 remains secured in Democratic hands, with the Republican loss of the Minority Leader, they will have to fight it out who becomes the next moron leader. I certainly hope it's Rand so we can permanently file a nuclear option on the Republicans to remove their capabilities to filibuster to obstruct people's work.
CaliforniaPeggy
(150,344 posts)Egnever
(21,506 posts)Good luck with that.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)I wont support HC.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)The alternative at the time was to horrible to contemplete.
Now, I am beginning to think let the Repukes take it. Americans may need to see what a decade or two of Ayn Rand doctirine would really do. Thirty years of being fed pabulm from RW media has dumbed the population down.
Maybe a few years of starvation in the streets from neglect might wake the American populace up to what the Repukes policies really are. As it is currently, it's a slow death by a thousand paper cuts. Seeing our rights, our economy slowly sliced to bits. All the while hearing things hearing like how great this glorious resurgance of jobs are. Which are in reality low-paying wage-slave jobs. Nothing close to what we once had pre-NAFTA.
The Democratic Party is subverted by 3rd way. It has gone from the party of progressive ideas, to a party just trying to mitigate the GOP's spewing of policies that would kill people.
Not to mention it's embrace of 3rd way policies that are equally bad. Now we hear cries that Hillary will save us, echo up and down the halls.
When it was Clinton I, who brought NAFTA into being.
Since then we have lost 94,000 factories, seen Detroit become the petrie dish of Ayn Rand in action, and a precousor to what will happen to the rest of the nation.
And all through this I am supposed to cheer Hillary on and vote faithfully for her, because of the fear of what a crazed right winger will do.
I am at the point I'd be happy if Nero took power. Maybe the flames would rouse Americans out of their lazyboys and do something besides drool.
markpkessinger
(8,420 posts)struggle4progress
(118,566 posts)This isn't a spectator sport
Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)The big push is coming for 2014 and we all need to be on board or else we will have years of doom with Republicnas. Let's get off the coach and on the doosteps.
Skittles
(154,013 posts)struggle4progress
(118,566 posts)an opinion counts as supporting something, and only a handful in comparison seem to feel that they themselves have some responsibility to further some of their political ideals by action. The bottom line, of course, is that merely expressing opinions, as a substitute for action, leads folk into a cul-de-sac -- and, from any objective PoV, effectively supports the status quo, no matter what opinion was expressed
Skittles
(154,013 posts)struggle4progress
(118,566 posts)1-Old-Man
(2,667 posts)Skittles
(154,013 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)Congress is the cooks.
When they don't like their meal they're served, they yell at the waiter and blame him, even though he didn't cook the food.
What they don't realize is that they OWN the damn diner, and they hired that waiter, sure...but they also HIRED THE COOKS.
If you don't like what you are being served, fire the G.D. cooks!!!!!
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Not to mention I might hire and fire but the pay and retirement comes from another department who usually carry a lot more weight as to actual policy, a term or two as a Congressman and you've made a lot of contacts.
MADem
(135,425 posts)They like their congresspeople, it's everyone else's that suck.
It's why we might have to consider reaching out beyond the borders of our districts and providing carpetbagger money to get the deadwood out, or contributing to progressive PACs that sponsor/grow/fund the candidacies of forward thinking candidates.
rainy
(6,111 posts)From The Daily Kos about presidents saying " make me do it." The last part is about Johnson telling King "make me do it" concerning voting rights:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/05/15/731660/-Make-Me-Do-It
All of us have issues and points of view that we want the President to stand by and stand on.
The question is not do we want these things. The question is: How do we get the President to do what (in many cases) he promised he would do and that we want him to do?
Let's take a look at a lesson from History:
ROGER WILKINS, April 28, 2008:
Now, let me just make two observations about presidents and getting things done. There is an old story that maybe some of you have heard.
Sidney Hillman was a big labor leader. He had helped Roosevelt when Roosevelt was the governor and he helped him in the '32 campaign. So he went to the White House and he was welcomed as he should have been. He said, here is what you have to do Mr. President, da, da, da, da, da, da. And the story goes that President Roosevelt said,
"Sidney I agree with everything in your proposal, it is all exactly right, Now You Just Go Back Home and Make Me Do It."
(caps in last sentence added by me for emphasis)
... the same thing happened with Lyndon Johnson and the voting rights act.
He wanted to do the Voting Rights Act, he had used up a lot of chits on the Civil Rights Act and he just engaged in a very long romancing of Martin Luther King, Jr., to make sure that King put his people on the streets and kept the people's feet to the fire and move along and he essentially said to King - - "Make Me Do It." (quotation marks ... mine)
And King put the people on the street, and then there was pressure from inside the government on the president - - with which I was associated - - and it happened.
- - Roger Wilkins
struggle4progress
(118,566 posts)to make your dream a reality. For this to work, the pressure can't simply be applied to the President alone: it needs to be applied to Congress and/or regulatory agencies as well
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)From the Occupy to the sit in in protest of Scott Walker, Obama never put on his walking shoes and stood up for Labour.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)I have issue with this. Most people have busy lives. You can not get a mass movement of people on the street for every cause that needs addressed. There are things that are very wrong, but still "livable" so people just live with it. Having this mode be the only way to pressure gov't to change ensures that the situation will get as bad as possible before it gets better. I do not want that. No one wants that.
I sent letters to my rep on many issues. They are (R) so I normally get a nicely worded FU letter in return. I still send them.
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)Fucking duh.
EarlG took care of the creepy stalker.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)in 2008. We TOLD them why we worked so hard to get them elected.
As soon as they won, they forgot who they were working for.
We don't have big bags of money to offer them, only votes.
They bailed out Wall St Criminals, told us were going to 'look forward' from War Crimes, just in case we had any hopes of restoring the rule of law in this country.
What we wanted, what we pushed them to do, went right over their heads.
Now what do you suggest we do next?
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Matt Damon has been spewing drivel about the President for the past few years.
Anyone who thinks his opinion is relevant to Obama's support or how he is viewed by most Democrats/progressives is kidding themselves.
Mr. David
(535 posts)Must worship the feet he is on, Nonsense? I have researched you. I know who you are. You are a paid shill.
People who use DU should be advised to take her worde with grain of salt.
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)you are getting quite predictable.
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)Cha
(299,389 posts)arely staircase
(12,482 posts)I'll ask you since the person who posted the statement has been escorted out by the bouncers.
Response to Mr. David (Reply #7)
ProSense This message was self-deleted by its author.
Number23
(24,544 posts)I would have kept that little tidbit quiet, myself.
And the fact that a jury let your post stand 3-3 is all the proof of how classy, polished and sophisticated this place is now. Truly.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)Number23
(24,544 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)I don't think the poster meant that, but I thought I'd point that out!
I don't think I am alone, either.
JustAnotherGen
(32,345 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)Always improves my mood!
Eartha Kitt does a great version of this tune, too...Sarita Montiel has a Spanish version ...she did it in a film in Spain.
I like 'em all, including this "classical" version!
harrylimelives999
(8 posts)Because they're everywhere. Paulites are the worst, most obstinate evangelicals for their brand of silly libertarianism, and chemtrails, and the gold in Fort Knox, and John Galt's hair piece. Once I hear those four little words pop up in a conversation, "Audit the Federal reserve", I instantly start doing my shopping list in my head.
MADem
(135,425 posts)EarlG very kindly showed him the door.
And it seems like they just keep on coming. I have never seen so much obvious trolling, and yet instead of being banned, they get accepted into the "anti Obama" crowd, and continue their Paulbot talking points day after day, and their constant attacks on the president, and any posters who actually support the president. It's really pathetic when anti Obama and anti democrat threads get huge recs, and push everything else off of the front page.
Number23
(24,544 posts)I'm right there with you and my girl JAG, of course!!
Hekate
(91,727 posts)We have entered Bizarro World.
Summer Hathaway
(2,770 posts)The invasion of RW/Paulbot trolls has been very tiring indeed.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)Violet_Crumble
(36,018 posts)It's two things that are on display in this thread. The first is lashing out and accusing people who disagree with them of being paid shills. The second is when people come along and agree with the paid shill attacks and accuse the so-called 'paid shill' of being part of an invasion, even though they've been at DU for ages and ages. It'd be nice if people could discuss issues without having to resort to nonsense about 'paid shills' and invasions that don't exist...
pampango
(24,692 posts)the poster is in the first grade and/or has no reasoned response.
The good thing about predictable posters ("paid shills", "haters", etc.) is that you know pretty much how they will respond to your post, so you can already be preparing your response to theirs. If you disagree with them that gives you many opportunities to back up your opinion and seek to discredit theirs. Much more persuasive than calling them names.
The "paid shill" or "hater" accusations (among many others) become unnecessary.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)And people who have been at DU for ages and ages have been found to be trolls before...post count and date of joining doesn't always mean they are credible.
Violet_Crumble
(36,018 posts)I've done a few terms on MIRT, so I see long-time trolls bite the dust for being RW, anti-Semitic, misogynist, Islamophobic, racist, etc. But I've never yet seen the admin nuke a long-term DUer for being a troll because they support the Democrats and Obama. The day they start doing that, I'd be wondering to myself why they'd still be calling this place Democratic Underground. There are DUers who really, really support the Obama administration, and sometimes try to defend actions that I don't see as defensible, but that doesn't make them trolls. It makes them Democrats who are really passionate about defending the Obama administration and see attacks on it as attempts to damage the Presidency. I don't agree with how they see it, but it's clear to me that it's how they see it. So it gets really irritating to see the 'paid shill!' line trotted out as an attack, especially when it's by now-nuked (multiple times) trolls who are clearly only returning to DU time and time again to stir up trouble...
Hekate
(91,727 posts)Violet_Crumble
(36,018 posts)laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)It's important to remember that when those ones get their pizza, it's not BECAUSE they support the administration, but often they use it as a cover to push a more rightward position - craftily too or they wouldn't be here for years.
I get what you are saying but I do think DU is in a bit of denial to think that a large website like DU isn't on the Democrat's radar and that they don't have paid posters. It's just good PR (It's in marketing 101 I may add). I think because of their position on the administration and because they are good at staying within the rules perhaps you haven't seen anyone bite the dust for it. And it's not like there's a lot - it just takes one or two vocal ones (sometimes with more than one account). There will always be followers. I could probably come up with some ridiculous right wing position and find a few loyal followers here on DU. It's a large site.
Bottom line is there will always be trolls who disrupt (RW and LW trolls here) but it's gotten to the point where some DUers are acting like trolls in order to avoid discussion. That's where the frustration originates, IMO.
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)DevonRex
(22,541 posts)You know, the guy you're agreeing with.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)Lots of trolls on both sides. Unfortunately, unlike admin I have no way of knowing if the latest new user is a troll or not, but I'm free to agree with posts I like and if the poster turns out to be a troll or a sock puppet, I can still agree with the post if not the method.
I guess I'll keep that in mind when a troll is banned that you've agreed with in a thread and I'll be sure to point out you once agreed with a troll (with how many trolls pass through here, I'd venture a guess you already have).
ConcernedCanuk
(13,509 posts).
.
.
"I'm free to agree with posts I like and if the poster turns out to be a troll or a sock puppet, I can still agree with the post if not the method. "
CC
burnodo
(2,017 posts)Number23
(24,544 posts)scrunch your brow a bit to come up with that.
burnodo
(2,017 posts)but you were the one complaining about DU...I just thought that meant you might be leaving
Number23
(24,544 posts)And a bit more Charmin.
burnodo
(2,017 posts)Number23
(24,544 posts)Darling, I never give more than I get.
burnodo
(2,017 posts)Number23
(24,544 posts)Do yourself a favor and just say "nighty night."
burnodo
(2,017 posts)Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)The OP/troll is gone. I'm sure your support was much appreciated.
Keep digging, indeed.
Number23
(24,544 posts)But in that person's defense, it took them six hours (LITERALLY) to come up with "keep digging." Taking that one on is like Holyfield boxing a day old kitten.
The OP/troll is gone.
Marvelous! If only the three dimwitts that thought his blatant personal attack on Prosense was just honky dory could accompany him.
Mr. David
(535 posts)And we're just starting to rumble....
Summer Hathaway
(2,770 posts)This is downright West Side Story.
Will there be fabulous songs? Brilliant choreography?
Who do you see in the leads? I'm leaning towards Matt Damon as Tony ... but it's not like I'm married to the idea.
Have your girl call my girl in the morning - we'll do lunch!
JustAnotherGen
(32,345 posts)They have three of the best routines in the show. The only one they dont have is America. But I'm also doing the choreography with a heavy Fosse influence. I nominate Number23 for Anita. DrunkenIrishman for Officer Krupke. Cha has to play Maria because Cha is sweet.
Number23
(24,544 posts)All I need is a quick chop of this hair and I'm there!!
MADem
(135,425 posts)He's probably shitting bricks that EarlG was awake on a Sunday morning, and "on the case:"
The latest incarnation of a long-time troll who has been previously banned dozens of times.
For more information see Terms of Service
EarlG
(Administrator)
Summer Hathaway
(2,770 posts)I'm sure he'll be back in time for the first round of auditions.
MADem
(135,425 posts)He's probably already fired up a sock after his TS, or PPR, or whatever.
It's like fleas up in here... !
MADem
(135,425 posts)Please be very specific.
Cha
(299,389 posts)sufrommich
(22,871 posts)were allowed to stand because the jurists agreed with the personal insult!This is my big problem with the jury system, it's basically a popularity contest.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)I was on that jury and voted to keep it. I didn't read the whole thread - just the alerted post - and I thought the guy was being sarcastic and making fun of people who are always making the paid shill claim.. I had no idea he was sincere and sincerely unhinged. my apologies to everyone.
Number23
(24,544 posts)arely staircase
(12,482 posts)It was just SO over the top, I thought it was satire. Oh well, live and learn. The disruptor has been tombstoned, so I guess it all worked out.
Cha
(299,389 posts)he should have had his "paid shill" post hidden but this was better!
sheshe2
(84,557 posts)Hope he is reading all this!
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)millennialmax
(331 posts)Cha
(299,389 posts)Skinner (57,880 posts)
1. This whole who-is-the-paid-shill witch hunt is disruptive nonsense.
It betrays an utter lack of creativity on the part of the people making the accusation. They are so convinced that they are right that they cannot imagine someone else might hold a different point of view in good faith. Either that or they are incapable of advocating for their own point of view on the merits.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12592697#post1
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)sheshe2
(84,557 posts)Summer Hathaway
(2,770 posts)why don't you post it?
Or are you planning to do the 'right' thing instead, i.e. fly to Hong Kong, share ProSense's secrets with the Chinese, dash off to Moscow, live in an airport terminal for a month, request asylum from various and sundry nations, and let some self-serving "journalist" make money off your story about Prosense?
Cha
(299,389 posts)type who are "disappointed" in PBO. Yeah, I'd have to consider the source.
matt damon was whining in 2010.. "that everyone was a little let down" but no.. not "everyone" expects magic like in the movies.
spanone
(136,266 posts)Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)You arrive a a couple of months ago and trash a long time DU'er?
fuck this shit.
. . . and promptly banned by admins.
"People who use DU should be advised to take her worde with grain of salt."
Hoo!
Cha
(299,389 posts)you're a troll. So, we were suppose to take what you said as the troll's honest truth? Is that how that works?
Hekate
(91,727 posts)Must worship the feet he is on, Nonsense? I have researched you. I know who you are. You are a paid shill.
People who use DU should be advised to take her worde with grain of salt.
You "research" DU members? Then fling poo? Give it up.
Cha
(299,389 posts)Skinner (57,880 posts)
1. This whole who-is-the-paid-shill witch hunt is disruptive nonsense.
It betrays an utter lack of creativity on the part of the people making the accusation. They are so convinced that they are right that they cannot imagine someone else might hold a different point of view in good faith. Either that or they are incapable of advocating for their own point of view on the merits.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12592697#post1
"They are incapable of advocating for their own point of view on the merits." IOW they have shit.
Californeeway
(97 posts)but I also know that Liberals make up about 15-20% of the voting populace. You can't win national elections with 20%. Definitely can hold some seats in the Senate and House but that's about it and this would make it impossible to pass any Liberal legislation.
It may be emotionally satisfying to assume that all centrists or moderates are sell-outs with no spine and treat them like enemies, but the truth is, without the centrists of the party, it would be impossible to achieve any of the progress we have made in the last few years or hope to make in the future. achieving political goals means building coalitions. Allowing people to disagree with you on some issues so you can get their support on the issues you do agree on is key to coalition building..
For example, if we want to pass ENDA, we need centrists. If we tell the centrists to fuck themselves, ENDA is toast. Getting ENDA passed is more important to me than getting a kick out of telling the centrists to fuck themselves.
Liberals are right on the issues, but tend to be very nonstrategic in their thinking as this always gets in the way of progress.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)First, few Americans identify as liberals because of the demonization of the word "liberal" by the right. If you poll them on the issues far more people are most assuredly liberal. I know of people in the 2008 primaries who identified as hard religious right that took online political quizzes and agreed more with Kucinich than Paul or McCain. Asking people to label themselves is not indicative of their principles and priorities.
Secondly, I think American liberals tend to think too much about strategy and because of this put up with far too much from the centrists. Look at how the right keeps moving to the right...it doesn't disparage those on the fringe - it embraces them. The right doesn't say, "oh, well, only 20% of our party is Tea Party so we're not going to adopt THOSE policies, since they are in the minority, no, we are going to be pragmatic and move toward the center where we have the votes!" LMFAO, that has NEVER happened, and it's why they get their agenda through. It has nothing to do with rationalizing emotions and everything to do with the power of observation and the madness of repeating the same mistakes over and over again and expecting different outcomes. It's time for liberals to stop apologizing for their principles. I've seen how left leaning (practically socialist) politicians here in Canada make their case and American liberals could learn a lot from them.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)most americans support things like universal public education, unemployment insurance, aid to the indigent, etc.
most americans want the government to be more active in job creation, protecting people from e.g. mortgage fraud, etc.
few americans support bankster bailouts, privatization of essential public services, universal spying, etc.
the country is economically liberal, not conservative.
Skittles
(154,013 posts)define liberal for what it REALLY is, and NOT what rightwing whackos define it as, and the majority of Americans are LIBERAL
pnwmom
(109,068 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)ordinary people, as "enemies" because they aren't sufficiently liberal to suit them.
Out go the babies with the bathwater...not very strategic at all, as you note.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)DU appears to be a 50-50 split between liberals and 3rd wayers. But, it could be that 3rd wayers are just "lowder." I see a large number of socialists pop up from time to time. They stay pretty quiet though.
I was hoping the Paulites would split from Republicans before we split up. But the infighting here is tough. I do not know what will happen. I hope for the best.
Summer Hathaway
(2,770 posts)it's nowhere near 50-50.
DU appears to be a split between supporters of the Democratic president and the party as a whole, along with RW trolls, Paulbots, shit-disturbers who disturb for the sole purpose thereof, do-nothing whiners who sit on the sidelines and tell everyone else how they're doing it wrong, and a substantial amount of people expressing their hopes that "the Paulites would split from Republicans before we split up," and then add, "But the infighting here is tough. I do not know what will happen. I hope for the best."
Hope for the best? I'm sure you do.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)You do not know my history. I am fairly sure I worked harder to get BO elected in '12 than you did. The fact that they continue * policies into infinium does not bother you? If so, this is a problem imo. I will fight for the things I believe in, regardless of which party is doing those things. It may be more than 50-50. 50-50 is what I see. But I know there are many many people who have tired of fighting against the third way bots on this board and just do not post much. Maybe more like 70-30, with the anti-drone anti-police state, anti 1%ers being the 70%.
Have a good day.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)no wonder you were disappointed.
We are not expected to re-take the House.
Even if we did, many of "our" candidates are conservadems or 3rd wayers.
Same with the Senate.
Further, we cannpt win by kicking people out.
You wanna kick the 3rd wayer candidates out? Maybe start by defeating them in the primaries.
Maybe start with Cory Booker. All of us anti-DLCers here have not done much of anything to try to defeat Cory Booker. These people are not gonna be defeated by wishful thinking, they are not gonna go quietly into the night.
Summer Hathaway
(2,770 posts)Myself included. And, according to the polls/surveys that have been done since his first inauguration, the Democrats he hasn't disappointed are legion.
Matt Damon? Yeah, well, you know what they say - as goes Matt Damon, so goes the nation.
"Well, some of us true liberals knew who he was. We knew he was a rising star, for the wrong team. The Third Way."
And who declared you a "true liberal"? What did the process of said declaration entail? Was it a true-false exam, or were there essay questions? Did spelling count? Were you graded on a curve? Did you get extra points for mentioning Matt Damon on your test paper?
"We are the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, and we demand that the next president must govern from the left-center, not far right."
Who is "we" in this context? People who actually vote, or people who spend their lives on a political message board pretending they are somehow representative of all liberals/progressives?
One last question: Does everyone who posts here get a Label-Maker (TM) which they can utilize to label people who don't agree with them - ya know, the 'usual' labels: Third Wayer, DLCer, ConservaDem, etc.?
I only ask because I didn't get one when I signed up. I would have opted for the model that prints labels saying Paulbot, RW troll, Perpetually Pissed-Off, Do-Nothing Keyboard Warrior, Know-Nothing Political Analyst Poseur, etc. - although that particular model seems to be unavailable on DU these days. Maybe that's why I never got one.
Well, I'm off - I've got to find out what Matt Damon has said since the last time I checked. Personally, I never form a political opinion before checking-in with Matt first. Doesn't everyone?
RFKHumphreyObama
(15,164 posts)millennialmax
(331 posts)Number23
(24,544 posts)I don't decide what to eat for breakfast without checking with the man first. And I'm serious.
Matt Damon? Yeah, well, you know what they say - as goes Matt Damon, so goes the nation.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)Well said and heartfelt. You speak for me.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)sheshe2
(84,557 posts)pnwmom
(109,068 posts)Working in Republicans' favor during the 2014 election cycle? The math.
There are 20 Democratic and 15 Republican seats in play, and, at this point, the seats in danger of flipping are almost all Democratic.
A growing consensus is that the four most winnable-for-Republicans races include, for the moment, South Dakota, Montana, and West Virginia, where Democratic senators are retiring; and Arkansas, where Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor is the party's most vulnerable.
No Republican-held seat appears to be flippable yet, with the exception of New Jersey, which will likely revert to Democratic control in an October 2013 special election. A Republican appointee has briefly held the New Jersey seat left vacant by the death in June of Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)many who come here to slam a man who will not be running for office at all again while ignoring the very real prospect of having a further right tracking legislature installed in 2014 leaves me cold. I will not jump on all of the bandwagons filled with outrage mongers. The smoke from the flaming hair gets in your eyes and obscures the real goal--to once again firmly entrench that RW majority that Rove sought in 2000. A working legislature should be our first and only goal. Clean out the Birthers, Baggers, and Paul acolytes and get people in there who understand that doing nothing is not part of the job description.
Oakenshield
(614 posts)I'm in complete agreement with the sentiment.
Cha
(299,389 posts)http://theobamadiary.com/
h/t she http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1102&pid=13501
Whiny Matt Damon has been whinging since 2010 when he lied and said "everyone is a little let down.. Well, no.
snip//
Matt Damon recently announced his disappointment in President Barack Obama. "Everyone feels a little let down," he revealed in an interview. But not everyone in Hollywood feels the same way.
The Dish Rag hung out in the star-studded Spirit Awards Elle Green Room with Jeff Bridges, Carey Mulligan, Vera Farmiga Gabourey Sidibe, Jeremy Renner, Twilight's Rachelle Lefevre and "Sex and the City" stud Jason Lewis.
We asked "Southland" star Regina King what she thought about Obama's accomplishments as she perused the sponsors Smashbox cosmetics, White House Black Market scarves and Keds sneakers.
"In all honesty, Obama really walked into a sh*t storm," King told us exclusively. "It takes a whole lot more to clean up this drama. He walked into a trillion dollar debt and two wars going on that weren't his wars and now they're his wars."
"I don't think a year is enough time to judge the man," she adds. "I'm still totally supportive of him. I'm not one of those who jump ship."
snip//
Spirit presenter and V-Day activist Rosario Dawson expressed her views in the Independent Spirits Official Presenters lounge.
I think it's great to have someone saying, 'Hey where's all this change that we were expecting to see,' but we also need to understand that this is going to take some time. We have to be calm and understanding about that. It's just not going to be Obama. We have to inspire more leaders to step up."
http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2010/03/regina-king-rosario-dawson-respond-to-matt-damons-obama-diss.html
he's got his..he doesn't freaking need health care.. like the republiCons in Congress who want to do away with Obamacare.
h/t bab'sis' http://www.democraticunderground.com/110213484
AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)They are Republicans that adopt Democratic Party elements but are Moderate Republicans in Democrats clothing. They share the love for order and authority (even if its oppressive), the disdain for the constitution, the love for big corporations and the rich, the disdain of organized labor, and the love of free trade.
Cha
(299,389 posts)http://theobamadiary.com/2013/08/09/news-of-the-day-16/
snip//
President Barack Obama Friday signed into law a bipartisan student loan bill which the House overwhelmingly approved late week. The Senate OKd the measure by a vote of 81 to 18 two weeks ago.
Without congressional action, interest rates on loans to college students were increasing from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. But under the law signed by Obama the interest rate for undergraduate loans will fall back to 3.86 percent. The interest rate on graduate student loans will be 5.41 percent.
Obamas signature on the bill ends months of arguments over how much the federal government should subsidize student loans and whether students in the next several years will face crushing repayment burdens if interest rates go up, as most observers expect they will.
snip//
At the signing ceremony at the White House, attended by King and other members of Congress, Obama said it "feels good signing bills. I haven't done this in a while."
http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/09/19951265-obama-signs-bipartisan-student-loan-bill-into-law?lite
http://www.democraticunderground.com/110213433
ejpoeta
(8,933 posts)but now they are tied to the market, so when it goes up the interest rates are going to go up too. So short term help = long term problems. No longer fixed at a lower rate. Meanwhile, bands still pay almost nothing to borrow money from the government and loand it back to the government at a profit.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)lobbyist money in the history of the United States for a reason. I knew that the political class and the media would not have been talking him up as a future President of the United States when he was still only an obscure state senator from Illinois if he was the sort that would actually challenge the power structure.
I also know that somewhere around 40% of the American population are convinced he is a socialist and a radical leftist. We live in very distorted times where it is very difficult for a principled liberal, left or progressive person to be very optimistic about the future. It is the simple reality that the current Democratic Party is simply the old moderate to moderately conservative Republican Party and the Republican Party is the old John Birch Society type lunatic right-wing fringe. There are not enough New Deal Democrats in Congress or any other elected office for that matter to swing a cat at and the left exist only in Vermont, on the Internet and a few college and university campuses.
Violet_Crumble
(36,018 posts)Well said....
nolabels
(13,133 posts)And for all those that need short hand and homogenized b.s., or being brain washed by a corporate media or mostly too lazy to do the homework will probably never understand. Really we are getting what we paid for with all of it. I don't really fault them but more, just feel sorry for them because if they were given the opportunity to really understand what critical thinking could do for them then things could be different. I just hope they might hang around somewhere long enough where they might gain some insight to what really is going on and what is being done to them and in their name.
Oh ya! , Agent Mike, get a life
MADem
(135,425 posts)Instead of blaming him, you need to blame your fellow voters. And yourself, if you didn't show up for any Congressional elections in the off-years.
IncessantPerfidy
(18 posts)And DLC Democrats. The Liberals and Progressives have to ALWAYS compromise for a small minority of conservative, DLC and moderate Dems and to get them on board they have to be given so many goodies it makes the party look like childish. They are the ones who are the reason why good legislations become water downed garbage time and time again of course it does not help that the current party leader is one of them too.
MADem
(135,425 posts)You can't get laws passed without the votes. Only someone who doesn't understand how the system works would blame the executive branch for the failures of the legislative one.
IncessantPerfidy
(18 posts)for them, the non liberal and non progressive Dems.
It is just the way he rolls.
Yes I understand the way it works and I will only support those who share my values.
MADem
(135,425 posts)I think you're a bit confused, still.
If you want "change," give the POTUS a Congress that will pass a few laws.
IncessantPerfidy got tombstoned by Skinner~
They are dropping like flies on this thread, MADem!
MADem
(135,425 posts)sad he has to do that kind of stuff! It's like the poor dawg that is DU has a bad case of fleas!
Cha
(299,389 posts)think they can get away with it. And, really glad they don't!
Cha
(299,389 posts)and we'll talk. Until then you're just blowin' firebagger smoke outta your whatever.
You don't really "understand" anything at all about President Obama.
Cha
(299,389 posts)You sound completely devoid of reality.
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)houses from 2009 until 2011?
MADem
(135,425 posts)The problem is we didn't have a supermajority, and that's what you need in order to keep the bowels of Congress moving.
Here, I'll let Andrew Sullivan explain it:
http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2012/06/07/the-big-lies-of-mitt-romney-v-obama-had-a-super-majority-in-congress-for-two-years/
I'm not sure how Romney defines a super majority, but my recollection was that the Dems only had a filibuster-proof majority (including two independents) from the time that Al Franken was finally seated (July 7, 2009) until the point that Teddy Kennedy passed away (August 25, 2009). That's only seven weeks, not two years.
And there was never a supermajority in the House as Romney claims. The balance at the start of the Congress was 257 178, which is a Democratic share of only 59 percent, not 67. So again, Romney simply lied. Obama never had a super majority in both Houses, let alone for two years. In the Senate, his super-majority lasted seven weeks.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)But then there'd have been no convenient excuses for further enriching the 1% and screwing the 99%.
MADem
(135,425 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)'advise and consent' appointments and we come off as hypocrites. We basically told the GOP if they changed the rules when we were the minority that we'd make their lives a living hell. They've still got the House--without both chambers, we're not moving forward, because the GOP won't deal on anything other than the minimum necessary to keep the lights on the bills paid.
Republicans also say the potential rules change smacks of hypocrisy, given that Democrats opposed GOP efforts in 2005 to make a similar change when George W. Bush was president.
Democrats were then in the minority and had used filibusters to stop a series of Mr. Bush's judicial nominations. They protested when GOP leaders moved to eliminate the 60-vote hurdle for nominations of federal judges, who hold lifetime appointments.
Then, as now, the minority party suggested that the move would sour relations and prompt a slowdown in other Senate business. "The only crisis here is the crisis that Democrats are creating with their threats to fundamentally change the Senatesomething the majority leader said just a few years ago he would 'never, ever consider,' " Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said on the Senate floor last week.
Mr. Reid on Monday rejected comparisons to the Bush years, saying that Republicans, by blocking agency leaders and other executive-branch nominees, were preventing Mr. Obama from building the team he wants.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)1. When the Republicans threatened to change the filibuster, the Democrats weren't pulling nearly the same stuff, and the Dems massively caved as soon as they were threatened.
2. Why would think that returning to the pre-1976 filibuster rules would be bad? They had worked just fine for a century or so.
3. The Republicans will stop cooperating? As opposed to what they're doing now?
MADem
(135,425 posts)The GOP will play the "hypocrite" card, and the inattentive will buy off on the narrative.
I think the GOP is goading and baiting the Democratic leadership for pure sport at this stage.
I also think Reid is ready to pull the plug; he might be waiting for some asshole to really mouth off in a shitty, nasty, "that was too damn much" Gingrichian way that captures the news cycle, so he has something to hang the decision upon.
Hippo_Tron
(25,453 posts)Probably starting with voting down Bork's confirmation in the 80's. Remember, Scalia was confirmed 96-0. Bork was the first time (at least in recent history) where a Supreme Court nominee was rejected on ideological grounds.
I think it was felt at the time that "advice and consent" was meant to be a check on the President only to prevent him from appointing people truly unfit for office, and was not something to be used for ideological reasons. So when the Democrats rejected Bork for ideological reasons, the Republicans started using the judiciary committee to block Clinton's nominees when they were in power. This was also unprecedented because they were denying nominees a floor vote. Then the Democrats did it using the filibuster, also unprecedented, because the filibuster hadn't really been used that way before. Now the Republicans are using the filibuster and they're doing it to block an unprecedented number of Obama nominees. The cycle goes on...
But I do think that the only way to fix the problem is to return to the pre-1976 filibuster rules where you have to actually stand up and talk if you want to block something. The country can't function forever with a de facto 3/5ths majority required to pass anything. Bicameralism and the Presidential veto make things hard enough as it is.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Very thoughtful, thank you.
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)the case for single payer and was forced by circumstances beyond his control to only accept a public option - as long as he moved aggressively to rein in the surveillance industrial complex - I guess we can't fault him to much. Does anyone actually think winning a super majority in 2014 is possible?
MADem
(135,425 posts)much as we should.
However, shit can turn on a dime.
Everyone thought G H W Bush would do a 2nd term, and that Clinton had "mojo" and was "amusing" but he wasn't going to win. A lot of pundits were left slack jawed at that result. I watched it from afar (I was not living in USA at the time) and was fascinated by the wet-hennitude of some of them!
Anything's possible. If the voting public decides that they've had enough, even the wholesale slaughter of obstructionist incumbents, with or without a clear-cut majority, might be enough to get the sausage makers back to the business of making sausage. We can't continue to pay them for sitting on their thumbs!
nolabels
(13,133 posts)The thing has been rigged like the old game mouse trap for years. You also insult most, if not all when you say people don't vote while posting at place like this.
To those who need a little history lesson, the things and apparatchik have continually (couple hundred years)have been or are being set up for the un-hingement of Your unalienable rights. Your unalienable rights is not that right as a voter, but more for you just being a human being. Step back and start looking what they would want you to do, believe and behave like. Give the establishment a chance is lullaby that has been chanted for the last fifty years to people hoping for reform and really you shouldn't hold your breath while you are waiting for such a thing.
MADem
(135,425 posts)I didn't say people HERE don't vote. You really need to stop thinking up a dramatic answer before you properly read the post--it will prevent you from making comments that have nothing to do with what the person you're responding to actually said.
Your last paragraph was an awful lot of word salad. It kind of sounded like "fuck it, give up" but of course, someone who is so into voting and gets hot - breathed when someone dares say that most voters stay home during the off years surely couldn't be saying such a thing, now, could they?
Pick a side. "Fuck it, the 'apparatchik' have it all" or "Your vote counts."
You can't have it both ways.
nolabels
(13,133 posts)having distaste for cliches. Mostly the people who come here are well aware of how things have been dumbed down and how they dissuade the average voter to apathy and a subsequent non-vote. Most of us here are not guilty of wanting to do that but do take offense when someone would want to imply that we were. Perhaps the explanation of why there is such a tilt to keep things like they are seems a little conflated but really it does seem that way to me. I also do get upset when people think just a couple of votes will take care of everything
This is a beside the point for me because i rarely listen to the party line and now I already have it both ways, i vote, contribute to candidates, get out when i can etc. I can now also say after FIFTY years of having a republican representing our congressional district we now instead have Rep. Mark Takano (thank goodness and hope you can imagine the wait) At the same time i get to hear others say you get an either or (in other words i have no choice, it's their way or the highway).
What the main point of my post is that there are no quick fixes. Just because you and all the friends you can find can and do all these things does not really mean you will win in the end. You have to be several steps ahead of their counter measures if you want to mitigate the right leaning establishments plans for things. Some of the things or the way they do them have been going that way for centuries. They have an inherent path for going that way
Also I am sorry for what ever posts or parts of posts seem confused to you
http://www.marktakano.com/
MADem
(135,425 posts)begins with a single step.
And you may not win the first time you try, or even the second...but you'll never win if you never try.
nolabels
(13,133 posts)Hope you have a nice day
Cha
(299,389 posts)blame Obama.. with robotic, tired ol stale talking points outta some used firebagger playbook that exposes them as not knowing what the hell they're talking about.. .
BeyondGeography
(39,438 posts)FFS
bigtree
(86,328 posts)Obama is going to be as progressive as our Democratic legislature as a whole.
The 'third way' bullshit is just an excuse used by people who want to find an explanation why there hasn't been much success in bringing about a progressive majority or a progressive president.
Folks who talk like you can't get a grip on the fact that individual states elect these Democrats from many disparate areas of the country with a myriad of interests and motivations; some progressive, and some not so progressive. You take the end result and try and pretend like these folks are appointed in blocks, instead of in hard-fought battles - region by region; district by district, county by county, state by state . . .
Quit trying to invent something that doesn't exist. Get out there and push for more progressive candidates for our national legislature. Get out there and push for a progressive candidate for the presidential primary when that contest comes around again. Try and and get a grip on the fact that the results of these elections isn't some conspiracy; it's a reflection and a measure of what folks out there are willing to vote for.
Quite simply, if you don't like the make-up of the legislature and the WH, you need to convince more folks out there to see things your way. Pretending that there's some make-believe movement that practically NONE of our Democrats even acknowledge exists is just sophistry at best; cheap politics at the worst.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
bigtree
(86,328 posts). . if it makes you feel superior, then, have at it.
If it makes you feel important pointing to a defunct organization and pretending like there's some shadow movement out there eclipsing your own politics, then have at it.
But, understand, you're tilting at windmills. Have at it.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
bigtree
(86,328 posts). . . and you're a novice at it.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
bigtree
(86,328 posts). . .you'd rather argue that there's some vast overriding conspiracy against your interests among Democrats than actually take the time to debate the details of issues. It's much easier to just label the entire bunch as something less than your own stellar politics (I'm sure), than to acknowledge that our legislative system of government is a hard slog through myriads of disparate interests and motivations from many diverse regions of the nation.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
bigtree
(86,328 posts)cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
MADem
(135,425 posts)taped up, and stored in a back room at the Clinton Presidential Library.
There's no "there" there, but some just can't keep up, I guess.
DrDan
(20,411 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023443707
n2doc
(47,953 posts)The next President will have to raise a billion or more dollars to overcome the combined Repub/Koch/Adelson/ect nutcase billionaires. Are there 10 million liberals who are able/willing to donate 100$ to, say, Elizabeth Warren? And do it in fall of 2015 to early spring 2016? Because the model right now is for the rich democratic leaning donors to pick -"anoint" - a candidate with their million+ dollar bundles.
Let's face it, there are more than enough uninterested voters in this country who make their decisions only based on what they see on TV and hear on the radio. They decide elections. Plus it takes serious money to work a ground campaign in 50 states. That has to be there early. Just having the best message/plan and heart doesn't do it.
cascadiance
(19,537 posts)If the Republicans have put more Democratic constituency in to consolidated area districts to lower the number of seats they have in the house, then Democrats should NOT accept a corporatist Democrat "moderate" DLC/Third Way sellout representing these MORE progressive/Democratic districts. Even if one can't win back the House that's heavily gerrymandered in 2014, take advantage of what's given you and build a more solid progressive caucus there that stays united and doesn't get peeled off by Republicans and other corporatist influences! Hopefully, the districts that Republicans try to give themselves a more slight advantage will also be lost to them by scandals, etc. later too.
MineralMan
(146,415 posts)Thanks, EarlG.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)delicious irony: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023442971#post7
I hope you stop by to lurk you friggin troll.
MineralMan
(146,415 posts)A 3-3 jury left his or her personal attack, but EarlG was not confused by that, and did the right thing.
Turborama
(22,109 posts)arely staircase
(12,482 posts)because he hasn't sent Karl Rove to the Hague! And something about Matt Damon!
brooklynite
(95,643 posts)Won't you be dumping a dozen or so Senators who don't meet your exacting standards for liberal purity?
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Revoked on Aug 11, 2013
Reason The latest incarnation of a long-time troll who has been previously banned dozens of times.
For more information see Terms of Service
Revoked by EarlG(Administrator)
Constantly attacking Democrats "from the left" is trolling of the highest order.
Sid
MADem
(135,425 posts)Everybody sing!
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)thanks for posting
Sid
Donald Ian Rankin
(13,598 posts)Rather than pushing centrist Democrats into the arms of the Republicans, we should be trying to win the votes of centrist Republicans - there's seldom been a better time for it, as the Tea Party's lurch rightward has alienated a lot of their own party.
Your recipe for permanent Republican dominance sounds like Karl Rove's wet dream.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)But, I agree with you. We can not split the party up. The right wing of the party needs to come home. No more playing nice with Republicans, it does us no good.
I can even survive as a centrist democrat, but not a right wing, Regan democrat.
MADem
(135,425 posts)EarlG got him.
He disrupted poorly.
It seems that 36 people agreed with the OP. I don't understand how so many people can be so blind and not recognize a troll when they see one! I also can't understand why posting "anti-Obama" threads seem to get so many recs. Are there that many gullible people here on DU?
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)they know what they are doing.
MineralMan
(146,415 posts)Something else, most likely. Which reminds me to go look at the recommendation transparency for my edification.
ETA: Done. I am edified.
MADem
(135,425 posts)are known by the company they keep!
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)Donald Ian Rankin
(13,598 posts)DevonRex
(22,541 posts)Transparency Status
Information on this Transparency page is currently displayed to logged-in members because the member's posting privileges were revoked on Aug 11, 2013.
Posting Privileges Revoked
Revoked on Reason Revoked by
Aug 11, 2013 The latest incarnation of a long-time troll who has been previously banned dozens of times.
For more information see Terms of Service
EarlG
(Administrator)
Member Feedback
Number of Star members ignoring Mr. David: 4
Number of Star members blocking mail from Mr. David (including members ignoring): 4
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=303665&sub=trans
roamer65
(36,753 posts)...and the Democratic Party now occupies most of centrist politics. Everything has shifted distinctively rightward, leaving most center-left and just about all leftist people unrepresented. Pretty sad and not a good recipe for representative democracy.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)He projected too much!
Cha
(299,389 posts)have had his post hidden calling you "a paid shill".. but, this is better.
JI7
(89,412 posts)i wonder if it has already returned under a different name or names .
stupid fuck comes on here under different names and is banned multiple times and is personally attacking a long time poster who has used the same name for years as being suspect ?
and people are actually supporting it ? i shouldn't be surprised considering the support that the swift boater recieved on here.
Cha
(299,389 posts)the anti-Obama faction on DU.
Like I said to ProSense.. he should have had his post hidden for accusing her of being a "paid shill" but this is better.
ConcernedCanuk
(13,509 posts).
.
.
Idiot-son was a willing puppet, so he was safe.
Any President that bucks the subsystem of the MIC and so on is going to have a rough life.
or a short one.
CC
Fearless
(18,421 posts)If someone tries, things may change.
I'd take the latter any day.
ConcernedCanuk
(13,509 posts).
.
.
When I was much younger, was very active in both Union and Safety and Health activities on the employee side,
but I did not know the limits, and lost many jobs that way, therefore ending my effectiveness.
I believe Barack Obama knows the limits - can only do so much.
Obama is dealing with some very powerful forces.
He's doing his best methinks.
CC