Pardon my cynicism, but good old fashioned blackmail may be at work..

[steve2470]

in the "cowardice" of the Democrats to stand up to the Chimp. I would just love to be a fly on the wall to those private discussions and phone calls.

I'm absolutely certain that the Chimp and his family are calling in all their chips right now. And you know what ? It's working really well.

on edit: I'm not certain. Just my cynical hunch, my apology.

Please, I hope I'm wrong. I really do.

[jgraz]

1. My thoughts exactly -- 6 years of illegal wiretaps gets you a lot of pull

Seriously, you think Bush was listening to YOU?

[steve2470]

3. boring listening

It would have been some very boring listening if they were lol

[cynatnite]

2. Fact is the dems heard the old line 'they don't support the troops'...

and they wimpered like two year olds rather than stand up to these criminals.

[rodeodance]

4. early on Levin et al. said they would fund the troops--

[Richard Steele]

5. It always amazes me that so few DUers take that possibility into account.

Given that we KNOW B*sh started the illegal wiretapping
well before 9/11, and that his bunch has ZERO respect
for the law....

What reason is there to suppose they HAVEN'T been wiretapping
everyone who's anyone in DC? We all know damn well it's EXACTLY
the type of thing they'd do.

[Matariki]

7. The problem with this is that is assumes they are all doing something illegal to be blackmailed over

I'd be more afraid that Bush threatened another 9/11, maybe targeted toward specific Senator's states. Now where's that tinfoil - I got a head sculpture to make...

[steve2470]

8. I would add 2 other criteria to blackmail

"evidence" of immoral and/or embarassing behavior. One of the three (illegal, immoral, embarassing) might be enough to change enough votes. I could easily see this scenario going down. How many Senators would have the guts to go to the media and say that Bushco was blackmailing him or her ? Maybe one or two, right ?

[JDPriestly]

15. A joke that could be easily misrepresented would suffice

assuming that blackmail is the problem. Personally, I doubt that it is a matter of blackmail. I think that a pretty large umber of Democrats are afraid that Bush's surge just might quell the disruption in Iraq and if so they will look like fools to the American public if they refuse to support that surge. I think that theory is stupid. The surge may quell the violence, but it the "peace" that results will not be sustainable in the long run. And the Iraqi people will not accept our permanent presence there. The likely result of passing the budget Bush requested is an additional war in Iran.

[glitch]

11. Or some member of their family is. But I agree, it seems more like a protection racket

Tin is In or you're nowhere baby. :tinfoilhat:

[Richard Steele]

14. No, it really doesn't assume any illegal behavior.

EVERYONE has secrets, and different LEVELS of secrets.
And as national-level politicians, these things are MUCH
more significant than they are to a common citizen.

A personal example- I have a small secret that my SO and
many of my friends know, but my mom doesn't. Nothing illegal,
just kinda personal. Hardly even worth calling it a secret.

Now, if that secret were made public, the worst that would happen
to me would be an awkward, uncomfortable conversation with my mom.

BUT- if I were a SENATOR from mom's state, that same publicity
would end my career. No way would I win re-election there. Not a
chance in hell in THAT state!

I'm sure you can think of many such examples, if you think about
it. Taking medication? Had a big fight with your spouse?
Your kid pull some stupid teenage stunt 20 years ago?

Would you want B*sh to know about ANY of those things?

[azurnoir]

6. I have had another Tinfiolly thought

Are the Dems afraid of what the WH will do to get it's way? Surely they know that according to polls 3/4's of US wants this war over, now. So whats up? Please correct me if I am wrong but are there not provisions in the Patriot Act that make it treason to oppose the President or interfere in "national security"? Are they afraid of a Neo-coup?

[Old and In the Way]

9. Did we ever catch the anthrax killer(s)?

Between blackmail and physical threats, there could be many compromised people in the political and media elites.

[steve2470]

10. I don't think so

I don't remember seeing anything beyond that professor who was a "person of interest" who then sued the FBI.

[Old and In the Way]

12. It was sort of a rhetorical question.

Not only didn't we find them...but the case has sort of disappeared. Why is that? If I were Leahy, I'd want to know who attacked me and killed a number of postal employees in the process...why not a House investigation into this investigation?

[file83]

13. If I remember correctly, the anthrax spores were traced back to our military stocks.

Then it suddenly dropped off the media radar. Funny how that works.