Sunday Roundup

In the wake of Obama's overwhelming victory, and Democratic gains in the House and Senate, conservatives are desperately trying to convince the world that these results are meaningless. "Democrats should not make the mistake of viewing Tuesday's results as a repudiation of conservatism," insisted John Boehner. "Barack Obama understands this is a center-right country," claimed Karl Rove. "This country remains every bit as center-right as it has for a generation," parroted Brent Bozell. And David Brooks dreamed of an Obama administration that understands "this was an election where the middle asserted itself." Drunk on self-delusion, a staggering GOP whistles past the electoral graveyard, missing the whole point of this election: the center has shifted, and positions that used to be considered "left-wing" -- on healthcare, on global warming, on corporate responsibility, on Iraq -- are now solidly mainstream.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[luciencubano]

i believe that the election is over , Obama won by a vast majority . Good , done .. next topic . Will the new administration make a " change " .. stop the war in Iraq .. bomb the hell out of the hills bordering pakistan .. anything living dies. Reign in the troop alotments in Iraq . Save the country billions of funds . redirect these monies to restart our mortgage and Social Services ... Health Care , teachers .. the money markets already have there restart money .. stop Iraq . spend that money on every other problem in the US of A .. am I wrong ? is this to complicated a solution to arrive at looking at our present situation ? As for bombing the hills of Pakistan .. convert Afganistan to an air war ,.. slot down the ground war .. use intelligence and drones for airstrikes .. can anyone say " forward air controllers " . we could save many more lives and dollars , what this "War on Terror " has ultimately come to be about. Am i the only person who sees the futility in borrowing when u have bleeding holes in your economy ? it all come down to making the tough calls , unpopular ones . Stopping the war is not unpatriotic . we are saving lives and stabilizing the country . versus losing more lives and draining our economy... as the Russians had before us. We created the

[clamperken]

The republican right-wingers are so busy blaming each other and the MSM for the political beatdown they took on Nov. 4th, that they can't even see it was the failed policies of thier party's administration the last 8 years that brought them down. Until they realize and accept this, we can expect more of the same fear tactics in 2012. "Those who cannot learn from history are destined to repeat it."

[StephenJK]

"This country remains every bit as center-right as it has for a generation,"

I just have this to retort: It's a new dawn. It's a new day. It's a new life for us. Yeah.

[Diplomacy]

The Republican/Grand OLD Party veered completely to the far right over these last few years and the 'new reality' is that the party has become the "Lunatic Fringe Party". They deserve many, many terms in the wilderness for the behaviour we have witnessed in these last 8 years and the intolerance displayed during this Election cycle.

[PT6]

Left or Right?

This is the United States of America!

[selikson]

I would argue with this one part of Ms. Huffington's statement "the center has shifted(back)". Why? Because, the center never really moved to the right.

During the time of Reagan the pollsters were constantly commenting on how little the public supported his policies when compared to his personal popularity. And George Bush had no pro war majority in an advance of the attack on Iraq. He never had a majority with him on abortion rights, stem cell research or the elimination of social security.

But these past presidents were not elected on their merits but rather through fear and/or ridicule of their opponents. In 2008, the Rove, Atwater, Wirthlin fear machine did not work. Why? I believe, the public's fear for their own future, their children's, and their country's was t too strong, even for these masters of diversion.

My concern is that under different circumstances (i.e. 8 years of Obama economic prosperity) these techniques can and will come back. The Democrats may feel good (and they should) about 2008 without every understanding what has been in the past, and very well may be in the future, their undoing.

Perhaps in a post 2008 era, the public has become inoculated/immune to these diversions. Wouldn’t that be great! But I would feel better if the Democratic political strategists would finally enter the world of 21st century politics and garner the skills needed to respond on all levels.

[MuseScavenger]

While the right has been shoved radically to the far right Nationalists, the center has indeed shifted far to the left of where the center was just a decade ago. Even many on the far right now favor some form of nationalization for troubled corporations. Before too long, we'll be as civilized as Dubai, where the oil companies are public property and health care is free for all residents.

[MuseScavenger]

Oh, and there's NO income tax for individuals...

[Urner]

Great write up on the coming fight on the future of the right and the likely direction of the Obama administration on Joe Bageant site.

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2008/11/sarah-palin-is-the-future-of-conservatism.html

[R.W. Sanders - Huffpost Blogger]

I think that just as much as the center may have shifted to the left, I think the republican party shifted to the right.

[MCarey0608]

I hope the Republican party keeps shifting until it shifts itself out of existence.

[MuseScavenger]

They'll keep going to the right until, like pac-man, they re-emerge on the left side of the screen.

[Mildmannered]

I don't know what the republican party stands for these days

[TheIndependenceParty]

As a teenager, president of student council, I denied a request of our few black students in our lily white district to have at large representation on the council, ... simply to have a voice. 40 years have passed. I have regretted that decision for thirty wiser years. I voted this week to change that in an even better way. Barack Obama gave me a man, a reason, and a purpose to follow.

In the very neighborhoods that fill my high school, I carried literature, reminders, ... to vote. And so Barack Obama was elected even by the county in which I was raised. It is nice to shed shame by doing a good thing, that will be right by us all.

[MMJones]

As a strong Obama supporter from the beginning, race never played a role in any consideration I had of his excellence of him as my candidate. I am an ex-Republican, white, professional, almost-60 woman.
I had something interesting happen as I was looking at behind-the-scene family photos as our new first family watched the returns. I thought to myself, "They're all black!" It was interesting to note that brief reaction... because I am sure many of us will have it at different times in the coming months, and then it will assimilate and just become an "it is what it is" moment... and in a bit more time, there will be absence of any notice. It is truly transformative and uplifting and bodes well for us as a society.

Obama gives us a gift by being such a superb and qualified next president. The other gift is an even more precious, intangible gift guaranteed to make us a better, stronger United States.

[luciencubano]

i am an afican-american and I appreciate that .. we dont know each other but i experienced a similar situaion and i know your honesty is greatly appreciated . The world is constantly changing , huh ? we always see it , just not so clearly sometimes.

[ChicagoSuz]

That was brave of you to say. Thank you for your honesty. It's nice to know that people can change... :-)

[Shriketzu]

If the fiscal conservatives cant seperate them selves from the social conservatives then i think this will be a bad few decades for the GOP.

[omahkohkiaayo]

It is not only Mr. Bush who has embraced some of the forms of imperial triumphalism, exclusivism, umilateralism, belicosity and hubris that have caused peoples all over the world to have some very negative feelings about the U.S. Government policies as well as about some aspects of U.S. culture in general. For example, how does the U.S. credibly demand any nation not being allowed to acquire the types of weapons, nuclar and otherwise, that the U.S. or its allies hold and even seek to upgrade?

Law, international or otherwise, only works when it is voluntarily respected by most and when violators are few. And law is only voluntarily respected when it is applied equally, without fear or favor, to all and is perceived as such. No person, and no nation, has any legitimate right or power to demand obedience to, and protections from, the very same laws it cynically and situationally violates in its own myopically perceived interests. Otherwise, we are left with the Social Darwinism of "might makes right"
globally and nationally, and all the barbarism and chaos that that inexorably brings.

[blastit]

The U.S is center left and really has been for the most part and if the rethugs had not gotten away with all the cheating and corruption that would be more then evident they lost, and I don't want to hear anything they have to say about anything. its time to turn the volume on these fools all the way down

[rpahk]

Agree. I wonder who started the notion that the US is center-right politically. The neocons probably....the US has always been a center left country since FDR IMO.

[TurkerB]

Why in earth do we still listen to buffoons like John Boehner, Karl Rove, Brent Bozell, David Brooks, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and others of their ilk? The Republican Party LOST the Presidential campaign and a large number of House/Senate seats and these fools act as though their insights have some validity. After all their blunders, erroneous prouncements, blundering incompetence, and unmitigated arrogance, why are they still deemed credable? It makes absolutely no sense.

If they worked a straight wage job like many of us do, they would have been dropped kicked out the door for their actions and behavior.

[beartrack]

It was more of a repudiation of their brand of conservatism. I remember Ike and as far as I'm concerned he was the last good Republican. Reagan was the start of the "me first" generation, and the Bushs brought us this last eight years of disasters. Unfortunately it sounds like they are moving even farther away from the real conservative folks with their latest talk.