The Democrats Could Learn A Lot From Larry Craig's Balls

As we all know, Senator Larry Craig is an anti-gay, right-wing zealot and fantastically gifted hypocrite who was arrested while allegedly attempting to solicit gay sex in an airport men's room; he was booked on charges and nationally disgraced.

Despite all of that, Senator Craig has brazenly defied his party and has returned to the senate to help filibuster and obstruct every important piece of legislation the Democrats introduce.

Meanwhile, the Democrats, who we specifically elected to end the occupation of Iraq and, to a lesser extent, check the power of the president, allowed the Republicans to filibuster, 1) an amendment that would've restored habeas corpus, one of our most cherished constitutional rights; and 2) an amendment that would've supported the troops by giving them more family time between tours.

Prior to this embarrassing week of events on the Hill, the Democratic majority has acquiesced on war funding and have fallen over themselves backpedaling as fast as their trembling legs could carry them in the face of everything President Loser and the Republicans have farted in their general direction.

It's clear that the Democrats could learn a lot from Senator Craig's comparatively mighty balls.

(And I hasten to note that there is a dozen or so senate Democrats -- Senators Webb, Dodd, Leahy, Feingold, etc... -- who are most definitely not indicative of their party's recent castrata status.)

Unlike the era prior to the 2006 midterms, suddenly 51 votes -- or 56 votes -- aren't good enough. Somehow, the Democrats have allowed the White House and GOP to obstruct so vigorously that attaining 60 senate votes is the only way to bring a piece of legislation to a vote in the first place. 60 votes, plus or minus a Lieberman. But other than in the blogosphere, we're not hearing protests of obstructionism. We're not hearing vocal demands all across the media spectrum for an up-or-down-vote. Instead we get the idling hum of Senator Reid's voice and a distraction from MoveOn, bless them.

And the president, in his special needs press conference* this week, continued to bully the Democrats as if he's still performing his Vincent Chase from Entourage strut in that flight suit (one of the early indications of the president's move towards, as Keith Olbermann called it Thursday night, a military junta) waving his giant stuffed cod piece with more vigor than Britney's saddlebags at the VMAs.

There is no reason whatsoever why the Democrats need to even acknowledge the existence of the president and his childish disciples in Congress. "Who's that talking? Cornyn? 'The hell's a Cornyn?" After all, the American people want everything the Democrats say they stand for: a rapid end to the war, a restoration of the Constitution, universal health care, clean energy, less outsourcing, and all the rest.

So why, given the choice, do the Democrats, at the expense of their voters, continue to flinch when confronted by the unpopular and widely disgraced Republican Party?

It's because they're locked into bad habits established prior to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. I call it the Dreaded Lieberman-Gephardt-Stockholm Syndrome.

They somehow continue to believe that if they fall too far to the left -- if they take too bold of a fuck you posture -- Karl Rove and Roger Ailes will cold cock them with a rubber bullet -- a massive legal (and illegal) propaganda campaign labeling them as "with the terrorists" or "too French" or whatever lowest common denominator bullshit they yank from their white asses in order to jazz up their ignoramus base.

Restore habeas rights? With the terrorists! Give the troops more time off? The Democrats hate the troops!

This week, for instance, the Democrats should've carpet bombed the media with quotes including the phrase "obstructionist Republicans". The big ticket amendments this week should've been unofficially nicknamed "The Military Families Amendment" or the "Save The Constitution Amendment".

This way, they could saturate the media with quotes like, "Why is Senator McCain against saving the Constitution?" or, "Why is Republican Senator Lieberman against military families?" For fuck's sake, I at least hope the DNC is saving some of the floor debate video for next year. An entire campaign's worth of TV buys could be produced from yesterday's White House and senate floor performances.

But instead of a bold and aggressive Democratic Party empowered by the support of legions of Americans as well as a disgraced and unpopular GOP, we get this bungled and botched week of wet-bread politics. I know we're not supposed to eat our own, but screw that. The Democrats embarrassed, disappointed and pissed me off this week. Have I made myself clear on that yet?

And if that wasn't bad enough, on the campaign front, we have a Democratic presidential frontrunner who released a health care plan this week that's nothing more than a veiled GOP health care plan -- with an extra step or two between your tax dollars and gigantically profitable insurance companies. I'm sure if you asked a policy staffer (in private) why the plan is so fucking awful, they might admit to something like, This is a plan that will actually pass (because of lobbyist support and more bipartisan votes).

It's a plan that smacks of lobbyists and preemptively bipartisan cooperation, when, in fact, Americans are starved for something a thousand times more courageous.

Bill Maher told Wolf Blitzer this week that Senator Craig might bring the whole party down with him. I wish that were true. The truth is that Senator Craig only reinforces the reasons why the Republicans won the week and why the Democrats and, in turn, the American people lost.

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* President Bush in Thursday's press conference: "I heard somebody say, 'Where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas." First, huh what? Second, Mandela is still alive.
_________________
Help save John From Cincinnati here. Bill Jacks would do the same for you, ya' mope.

Comments

[MichaelBernard1]

http://fray.slate.com/discuss/forums/thread/350265.aspx?ArticleID=2174313

http://www.slate.com/id/2174313/fr/flyout

I managed to post my evident contempt for both the White House and the U.S. Senate and Congress on Slate - linked above - while maintaining a very different political view from your own, especially as regards, say, John McCain.

I could not agree with you more, about the spineless Democrats caving in to this ramrod straight but wrong-headed White House. See, this is why people without the light on upstairs should not get involved in politics, just as brainiacs from the academies should not get involved in politics. Only smart people with middle class, Midwestern values, like Me, Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan, should really attempt to run America, because everyone else does such an incredibly poor job of it. That is why I have picked both Ronald Reagan and Mitt Romney to run this Country for me.

[PerryLogan]

How strange. This article--and most of the comments about it--are based entirely on false information.

First of all--the Democrats are not doing as poorly as the "President" in the polls. If you separate the Democrats in Congress from the Republicans, the Dems still lead by ten points.

The "timid Democrats" meme is also false. The facts show that the current Democratic Congress is opposing the President with a history-making intensity:

"President Bush's success rating in the Democratic­-controlle­d House has fallen this year to a half-century low, and he prevailed on only 14 percent of the 76 roll call votes on which he took a clear position.

"So far this year, Democrats have backed the majority position of their caucus 91 percent of the time on average on such votes. That marks the highest Democratic unity score in 51 years."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1728952&mesg_id=1728952
http://public.cq.com/documents/cqt/news110-000002576765.html

Since the Democrats are setting records for the vehemence and consistency of their opposition to the president, it seems unfair to talk about them in locker-room terms. People should spend less time having tantrums and more time finding out what's really going on.

[Pythia]

Great one, Bob. However, in your 6th paragraph in parenthesis copied below:

(And I hasten to note that there is a dozen or so senate Democrats -- Senators Webb, Dodd, Leahy, Feingold, etc... -- who are most definitely not indicative of their party's recent castrata status.)

I can't bear if YOU begin speaking like Bush. Don't you mean "that there ARE a dozen or so..." Forgive me this one correction to a stellar post.

_______
BOB RESPONDS: But "dozen" is singlular which means "is" is correct, no?

[zjr909]

Though too little too late, I've come up with what I think would have been the perfect Democratic response to the Republicans' Moveon mania. They should have said "We wholeheardtedly agree with our esteemed colleagues across the isle. The implication of this ad should be thoroughly investigated to see if it has any merit. And if it has no merit, the Senate should condemn it in the strongest possible language consistent with our responsibility to uphold the rights enumerated in the 1st amendment." I believe a rational response like that would have pretty much ended the brouhaha on the spot.

[speakingtruth2power]

The Democrats do not, not have the courage of their convictions, The Dems don't have a consensus of opinion, yet. There are too many blue dogs, war whores and triangulators in the Democratic Congress. It will take two more election cycles before the growing populist movement will have the representation we need to get our government back.

The only question I have is if our votes will be honestly tallied. The MIC owns the press, the Bush crime family owns the Court, K Street owns the Congress, the neocons own the White House for now and the only thing WE own is the debt that keeps rising.

[patriot76]

Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to Larry Craig for leading his Republican colleagues out of the Darkness. Here's their new website: http://wwwthepartyofthewidestance.blogspot.com/

[GMC360]

The Democrats are the personification of the pussification of the American male. This is hyper-drive manifestation of the old maxim: Nice guys finish last.

Right = left = losers... and we have to collectively look in mirror to see that we get what we deserve....fat American women, pussified husbands obsessed with sports.
RE
TAR
DED

[noamjunior]

The problem is not that the Dems don't have a spine
It's that they don't have the media outlets that are controlled by the corporate CONS
Lots of Dems stoop up to petreuas in an intelligent manner, but what did the media give us- GOP SPIN

GOP SPIN drove the media debate on petraeus
by the way when will the CONS criticize
Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command
for calling petreaus a 'chicken shit ass kisser"

http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=39235

[Wilburrr]

email your Democratic representatives with a simple message: "Get some balls!"

Then phone them. Leave the same message. Let's flood the f-in place with that message.

They will get the message.

[noamjunior]

WHen will the senate condemn

Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command
for calling petreaus a 'chicken shit ass kisser"

http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=39235

[dantheman]

The anger here is well placed. Why don't you all do something about it??? Contact your Senators and Reresentatives and demand that both Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi be replaced by strong and effective leaders, leaders who aren't afraid of taking Republicans to task, leaders who are willing and able to take the obstructionists head on. It's great that everyone here is venting and communicating with one another. But without taking any substantive action, it's the equivalent of sitting at home complaining about how bad things are and then just going on about your business. Call and ask for a change in the Democratic leadership!

[Bobzmcishl]

I did just that by writing a critical letter to Feinstein. Reid is totally out to lunch. He should be replaced by Webb or Boxer.

[ThePoliticalBrain]

Great blog, Bob. The Republicans can do this with impunity because they know the Democrats won't remember any of this by the time they're running against Republicans who voted against humane treatment of our troops. Just like they forgot Cheney's famous remarks from 1991 on both radio and television that we couldn't go into Baghdad and topple Saddam because of the centuries-old civil Sunni-Shiite conflicts that would create "the classic definition of a quagmire."

[IntegrityIntact]

Get that, you green, cowardly Dems? Huh, you obstructionist, troop-hating, Constituti­on-snuffin­g, Iraqi-baby-killing GOP hawks?

Everyone please consider joingin/donating MoveOn.Org. It is the last great entity against the battle government lies. Let's take back our nation from these goons.

[redstateirate]

Bob, friends --

Here's a little thought while we're on the subject of Republican obstructionism in the Senate.

Remember all the talk in 2005 of the "nuclear option" with respect to the filibuster? The "gang of 14" and all that crap?

Well, maybe it's time for the Dems to arm the missiles and launch a massive first strike on the Republican members of the Senate. If the Party of God (or is that Party of Guilt?) could browbeat the Dems with the threat of procedural changes to the old filibuster over a puling issue of judicial nominees, why can't the Dems smash in the skulls of the GOP by amending the rules in order to end Republican obstructionism over every issue of substance that Americans are demanding action on -- in overwhelming numbers? If Reid, et al. were really serious (and I doubt it) when they say there's no possibility of compromise, bipartisanship, etc. with the GOP, then THIS IS WHAT THEY NEED TO DO TO GIVE THEIR RHETORIC TEETH.

Oh, and if I recall correctly, the filibuster cannot be employed to forestall changes to the Senate's internal rules of procedure. Have at it!

PS: If you haven't already, get on over to MoveOn and support that organization's efforts to slam the Senate Republicans' resolution condemning MoveOn's exercise of its 1st Amendment rights.

[Raster]

The Congressional Dems are a sorry lot. Progressives need a new party. Myself, I switched to the Greens a while back.