The Impenetrable Density of DC Elites
We have an unconfirmed citizen report from inside the fatuous bubble that is Sten Hoyer (Bush Dog Pack Leader - MD):
I attended a fundraising luncheon on Sept. 13, hosted by Representative Keith Ellison featuring Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Hoyer talked about the importance of fundraising to build a larger Democratic majority in 2008. I managed to squeeze my way in between the dozen or so lobbyists and ask "(D)o the Democrats plan to continue introducing appropriations bills to fund the war and if so, how do you expect to build a larger majority given the clear sentiment the public expressed against the war in the 2006 election?"
He replied that the Dems DO intend to continue introducing appropriations bills because "we aren't going to strand the troops in the field," then complained about not having the votes in the Senate, and other such blather. (It's always someone else's problem, isn't it?) He went on to note - in an extremely condescending tone - that "we did pass a Defense budget that didn't contain war funding and the President vetoed that - I don't know if you were aware of that." [snip]
Hoyer never really did answer how he planned to expand Democratic numbers while funding the war, but did comment that "I know the base is mad at us - and I'm mad at the base." When he tossed that off, I inquired "Because.....?" He basically said the base has unrealistic expectations in terms of ending the war, and the Dems can't de-fund it because doing so would anger the moderates they need to win more seats in '08. (I must be delusional in thinking that the 70% of the public opposed to the war includes some independents - that's obviously not the thinking in Hoyer-land).
As he was on his way out the door he stopped again & rattled off something about how poor Nancy Pelosi has "Cindy Sheehan and Code Pink camped out in her driveway," and Cindy Sheehan is actually challenging 'Nancy' in a primary. (This apparently offends his beltway sensibilities). The obvious implication was that I must be some sort of leftwing loon to be pestering him about the war.
Don't you love those right wing talking points, and that bit at the end, almost as an afterthought, where he tried to come off as if he's supportive of Pelosi, when instead he and his fellow Bush lawn jockey Rahm Emanuel have been riddling her back with stiletto marks for months? Psst, Steny: Sheehan is not running a primary: she's running as an independent. Nice of you to care!
And oooh, those precious Bush Dog "moderates" of his, whose moderation expresses itself in the extreme fringe belief that Bush must be feared and the occupation in Iraq left unmolested. This is the same mindset that told us all week that MoveOn's ad was Very Bad for Democrats, tut tut, clutch pearls, swoon to the sofa, grab smelling salts, etc.
So much lovely DC convention wisdom, always so correct. Except, well, oops: the data is now rolling in on that epic MoveOn fiasco:
A new CBS poll, comparing the views of Americans Before Petraeus (B.P.) and After Petraeus (A.P.), demonstrates that all of that was completely wrong:
Most Americans continue to want troops to start coming home from Iraq, and most say the plan President Bush announced last week for troop reductions doesn't go far enough, according to a CBS News poll released Monday. . . .
Sixty-eight percent of Americans say that U.S. troop levels in Iraq should either be reduced or that all troops should be removed - similar numbers to those before Mr. Bush's speech.
In fact, it is even worse than that, since the percentage of Americans who believe we should either maintain or increase our current troops levels in Iraq was higher B.P. (30%) than it is A.P. (27%). Conversely, the percentage of Americans who want a troop reduction or complete withdrawal increased after the Petraeus Week (from 65% to 68%).
More revealingly still, only a small minority of Americans -- the depressingly familiar Bush dead-enders -- actually believe Gen. Petraeus' claims that "the surge has made things in Iraq better." A substantial majority of Americans disbelieves the assertions of The General Who Must Not be Challenged. . .
[snip]
Rudy Giuliani, Sean Hannity and much of the chattering class insisted all week that it was "despicable" for Senators such as Hillary Clinton to suggest that The General's claims of Progress were not believable. Yet most Americans are similarly "despicable," as they appear to share that sentiment. A despicable 62% do not believe Gen. Petraeus' sunny claims about Progress.
The brilliance of the MoveOn ad is that it said what everyone outside of DC was thinking but not always saying out loud, busting through another taboo people like Hoyer dare not think (i. e., the truth), while all the DC Elites fretted and froofed like finicky old harridans in a Georgetown knitting club. The country gets it, but our governing elites and their lackey consultants emphatically do not.
And as a bonus, the whole GOP rallied around Bush to bash MoveOn and. . . endorse endless war in Iraq, voluntarily wrapping Bush around their own necks. Oops! How's that gonna play in the hinterlands next November, Steny?
As Jane and Chris Bowers say, we in the base do all the work, and the elites try to take all the credit. As Casey Stengel said of the 1962 Mets, "Can't anyone here play this game?"
If you've had enough of this crap, and if you haven't already done it, please sign our petition at StoptheDCEstablishment.com.
Pachacutec blogs at Firedoglake.
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Tom, I don't think the, "Throw-the
It is obvious that the 110th Congress could care less about what the people want. It is business as usual. It is time for radical changes in the 2008 election; every voter should not vote for the incumbent. The American voter has to say to the 110th Congress “You’re fired”. I propose that all concerned American Voters join the New American Revolution at www.newame
Joe Lieberman for President !
Of Israel.
They don't call it Foggy Bottom for nothing.
The Fog is green, marked
"In God We Trust"
Do we ?
By now everyone knows the Democrats lost the vote to give troops the same amount of time home that they have in active duty. Two Senators that admitted to being swayed by the Pentagon and the White House are:
John Warner
Bob Corker
If you live in their area, send an email and let them know what you think.
I propose a three step process to end the war: (It may take only one of these steps)
1. Raise taxes ten billion a month to cover the cover the cost of the war rather than the cowardly method of putting it on the backs of future generations.
2. Pass a law that makes war profiteering an act of treason.
3. Reinstate the draft. No exceptions. Putting the fighting and dying on the backs of the poor and middle class is un American. Freedom and Justice for all.
Big Oil should pay for the never ending EXXON War on Terror.
That's what God told me. Honest.
Hey that is a novel idea!!!! Anyone connected to oil has to put in a hunk of change in order to keep it going! Best suggestion yet!!!!
Hillary's mandatory health insurance plan requires a willing suspension of disbelief that the insurance companies will have even more people to screw.
Go back to Arkinsaw, Hillary.
Hoyer is to the House what Lieberman is to the Senate. Unfortunately, Hoyer has a leadership position sanctioned by the majority of House Dems, including Pelosi.
Hoyer and other DINOs like him are a major reason former Democrats are now current Independents or even (shudder) Republicans. Hoyer and his merry band's brand of neoconservative elitism is fully as corrosive as the brand offered from across the aisle. Put in it's simplest terms, both groups will continue to flout the public will on major national issues because they can.
In practical terms, given the way national issues are currently decided, this isn't going to change. It wouldn't make the slightest difference if there were 100 Dems in the Senate and 435 Dems in the House.
The only cure is to transfer responsibility for deciding national issues from the Congress to the voters through a national referendum process conducted with national elections. We give them the mandate, they decide how to carry it out.
Beware those suggesting the support of third parties and deserting the Democrats. Trolls may work in strange ways!
-MS
We seem to be obsessed with the idea that a majority is required in order to establish a meaningful government.
Are there any other two party democracies in the world today? I haven't 'Googled' it but I doubt there are many.
This seems to be the root of our dilemma. Our OWN SIDE is empowered to say (in private), "What are you going to do about it, vote for the other side? Ha!".
But I think the future is not so bleak. I can easily see Blacks and Hispanics forming a strong third party and finally getting a powerful minority voice.
Have I missed something, or are the Democrats just DENSE? Turns out, all that talk about taking Congress and stopping Bush's War was
just bluster. What a SPINELESS Party!! If I
knew that this would be the result of the 2006
elections, I would have voted for EVERY Independent candidate.
Neither Party has a "plan", nor has either done anything SIGNIFICANT for the Average Joe
on the streets. Put up, OR Shut up!! It's high time for Congressional candidates to be
from the People, not the FatCats club. It
sure would be nice if ALL Candidates has read
the Constitution and all pertinent documents.
Is that asking Too Much?
So.. what are we going to do to punish the Dems for their weaknesses. Vote Republican?
Please not to make me laugh so hard, ya?
I was watching Chris Matthews last night (who is either bi-polar, or has suddenly grown a spine), and heard a lady--a war protester--state that ALL of the democratic candidates restrict the use of homemade signs & the wearing of anti-war T-shirts. To try to do so will get you ejected from their rallies.
WHAT???
Given the whole tasering incident, the executive orders, the utter insanity of blatant MISrepresentation we are faced with now...
...as ill-advised as this may sound, I think the time to take to the streets has arrived.
The sad fact is this: some of us--maybe quite a few--will have to be willing to face certain extreme violence before ANYONE in DC will take notice.
And if that doesn't make a dent in the DC elitist mindset, well then...it'
"He who serves the state best, opposes the state most." --H. D. T.
I have a solution. If the Bush&co. want this war and American people don't, send our troops home and let Bush&co. pay out of their own filthy lucre for the likes of Blackwater, etc to fight the war they want fought. So what if the Iraq government doesn't like Blackwater? Did you really believe them to be sovereign anyway and not totally beholden to Bush&co?
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