Comments on: Carve-outs

By: Steve LaBonne

Steve LaBonne — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 12:42:35 +0000

Even the supposedly liberal Cleveland Plain Dealer editorialized against the McCain amendment on the lame-ass grounds that “this is a job for the military and the executive branch, not for Congress.” That’s the POINT, you wankers- the military and executive branch are derelict in their duty, therefore Congress MUST step in. If only we really had that “liberal media establishment” that haunts the fever dreams of the right…

By: Uncle Kvetch

Uncle Kvetch — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 13:54:52 +0000

2: What, exactly, is the Democratic party for? They don’t seem to have any serious objections to any major aspect of Republican policy.

Brendan, as I was reading this sentence (with which I heartily concur), I was half-listening to Daniel Schorr—onetime liberal firebrand, charter member of Nixon’s enemies list, etc.—heartily endorsing the conventional wisdom that “the Democrats need to move to the center to win.” Apparently it’s not enough that they cheerfully marched off to invade Iraq with GWB—they need to come up with some invasions of their own, or they’re not “serious” about national defense. They need to stop “polarizing” our political discourse by harping on things that the public clearly doesn’t give a shit about—like legally sanctioned torture by our government—because it shows that they’re out of touch with “American values.”

This is what we’ve come to.

I used to think that it was the Bush administration that had elevated up-is-downism to an art form. But Scottie McClellan and the rest of them ain’t got nothin’ on the Schorrs and Broders and Cohens and Gergens of the DC opinion-making elite. They have succeeded in turning political discourse in this country into a sick joke, and I don’t know what, if anything, can be done about it. The only thing that’s clear is that expecting deliverance to come from within the Democratic Party is about as “reality-based” as believing in the Tooth Fairy.

Is my country dying, or already dead?

By: Jim Jones

Jim Jones — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 03:55:02 +0000

The obvious thing to do is vote against it if it comes out of committee with Stevens’ changes. Then one of the Senators, say John Kerry, can say he actually voted for the anti-torture measure before he voted against it.

By: Firebug

Firebug — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 20:50:33 +0000

The real question here is why a tiny conference committee, which the nation’s voters have no hand in selecting, has the ability to alter a bill that was passed by an overwhelming 90-9 vote in the Senate.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 18:05:15 +0000

Two of the major unanswered questions that have resulted from the Iraq war and the whole Bush era.

1: What, exactly, is the American media for? It neither informs nor entertains. It is in fact, stultifyingly tedious, self-righteous and usually inaccurate. When a big story comes along (like this one) they don’t cover it.

2: What, exactly, is the Democratic party for? They don’t seem to have any serious objections to any major aspect of Republican policy. Increasingly they seem to resemble the ‘political parties’ they have in China (the Chinese Association for Promoting democracy, the Chinese Peasants’ and Workers’ Democratic Party and the like) whose sole purpose is to distract attention from the fact that the Communist Party of China wields all the real power.