RUMSFELD GONE!

[miftah]

No matter where you sit politically, you have to appreciate the fact that a man so in denial is no longer in charge of the lives of our kids.

Its like Christmas in November.

[bio]

That and the Democrats did well in the elections last night. Finally... checks and balances are back!

[moe flam]

Wow, I don't which one to be more excited about. Actually Rummy being gone is probably first. This is even better than when Ashcroft went away.

[miftah]

The best part of all of this is the victory that it has meant for the middle.

It may surprise some to learn that I regard myself as a moderate. I'm a big believer of balance. I lean left socially, but I lean right fiscally. I think each party is valuable, but only when tempered with the other. The Dems that won last night are predominantly moderates, and in some cases, seem remarkably like Republicans. This is good. The numbers that the Dems control the two estates by now are appropriate. The Dems are talking about bipartisan sessions (heard that before, but my fingers are crossed). Bush seems the most agreeable he's been since he took office six years ago, and that is the desired effect. Discourse is now possible. It is unfortunate that the many of the Republicans that were edged out last night were moderate ones, but apparently it was necessary.

But far and away, the best aspect of this development is that Rumsfeld is out. Leadership needs reason, and it was clear that there was no reasoning with Rumsfeld, who was stubbornly determined to the right. So once again, the middle gets additional strength. Maybe we can move forward now.

[ironpants]

Please don't misconstrue my curmudgeonly ratings as approval of the recent “Republican” administration, I’ve got issues with them too, but I’m afraid I’m not as optimistic as you. While I truly believe Rumsfeld is one of the most despicable individuals ever to hold political office in my lifetime, the ascension of the Democratic party barely calms me.

The current Republican party has forgotten the republic. The constitution lays out the responsibilities of the federal government quite clearly: interstate commerce, settling civil disobedience and providing for the common defense. I would assert that the federal government has few if any further responsibilities. There’s nothing in Iraq that fulfills any of these responsibilities so we shouldn’t be there. The “Republicans” have, I’m afraid, taken us down a terrible (and expensive) path over the past few years. Al Qaeda hit us right where it hurts, so let’s try and bomb Iraq into democracy…
…yeah, that makes a bunch of sense.

If that wasn’t enough, that stammering bas%&( suspended habius corpus, I’ll be damned!

But hey, happy day, we’ve replaced the majority, in what appears to be both houses, with the Democratic party. Oh joy! The Democrats have controlled both houses for the majority of the last 50 years. And what fun we’ve had with them, the amazing explosion of welfare, continuously increasing taxes, and more and more controlling laws. The liberal political agenda has all but removed tag and dodge ball from grade schools as they may be “exclusionary”. Let me give you a hint, professional life is a lot like dodge ball, the lessons learned on the wrong end of a rubber ball are important. I’ve already got a mommy, I don’t need the government to keep me from getting a boo-boo.

I hate to break this to you, but my problems including my retirement are my problems. Iraq’s problems are Iraq’s problem, at least until they threaten our national security, and most importantly, your problems are indeed your problems. Neither political party at this point are pushing this agenda. While it’s a better day than yesterday, it’s still not a good day.

I'd like to say "long live the republic", but I'm afraid all I've got left is "please revive the republic"


ROb

[damaged_one]

The sad part is that the huge swing in power is just a reaction to the war in Iraq (and dislike for the Republican president) and has little to do with local issues. I'm not saying the Democrats that were elected are worse than the Republicans they replaced but just that they might not be any better. This places a huge burden on the Democrats to "fix" all the perceived problems with our country and if they don't then you'll probably see the voters jump back to a Republican majority. This is not fair for the Democrats and is not a good way to vote. Voters should vote for whoever they think will best represent their areas interests regardless of what party they belong to. Can you tell I'm sick and tired of partisan politics?

[bugfreezer]

Hear Hear to IP and D1!

A friend of mine just got elected to county office and he was told that out of 27,000+ registered voters, they'd be suprised if they got much over 12,000 ballots in before the election is certified.

D1 is right in that this election was less about who'll do the best job governing the country, than to give the current administration the metaphorical whack on the bum. Reactionary politics is not good, but the majority are swayed by events and sound bites, and so here we are.

[miftah]

Really, Bugs? And yeah, I'm going to make this a personal address to you because I think you took this somewhere IP and D1 didn't intend it.

You are aware that the nation is disintegrating into a murky stew of six-year old dogshit thanks to the guy in the executive office right? He isn't exaclty sitting around all day wondering how to make each and every member of the nation he governs feel as though they've been wrapped each one in a freshly laundered and still-warm blanket. No, he instead spends his time concentrating more on providing oral services to the corporate masters who provided him his office. Sometimes, the guy has to be corrected at the leash. And in order to get his attention, sometimes you have to give it a bit of a jerk.

As an aside, if you think I'm putting it too crudely, my original metaphor was "He looks to get the largest return of ass-raping on the least investment of lube." Actually, that sounds more accurate. Let's go with that.

This isn't about a Republican or Democrat. That's sports fan mentality. In fact, look up the common depiction of Republican, and he's almost the opposite. He thinks himself a Reagan Republican but he's been condemned by the Reagan family. This is about squashing a man who thinks he above rebuff. He's a despot. He's offered no transparency and has been tempered by no oversight. He's never to my ears ever accepted responsibility for any of his own mistakes. Not until Katrina and he didn't really act too contrite about that.

We all know unchecked power runs amok. And after the past six months of corruption scandals, page flirting, not to mention the massive screwed pooch that is New Orleans, I think too much right wing proved to be a little much to ask of people in the here and now. In the end, the Republicans aren't governing because they proven that they can't handle it. No one assumes the Democrats are going to better, but if I'm sitting under a leaky roof, I damn sure don't sit there hoping it stops raining.

So we spent six years trying to reason with the guy. And to the tune of several thousand dead kids over in Iraq (not to mention the HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dead Iraqis). And he won't listen. At all. He won't bring em home. He won't even give them the proper tools to not get killed. He just keeps throwing them on the fire hoping to smother fire with coal. And still everyone pleas with him but he won't listen because dammit he knows better than everyone else. And we ask his pals in congress to do something, but they're too busy getting a happy ending from the lobbyists. So what are we to do when a representative government isn't representing our interests anymore?

We gave the dog a little jerk.

We reminded him they're not the government. We are. The people. And when we ask them to find another solution to an endless war with no possible positive outcome, THEY WILL FUCKING WELL LISTEN TO US. Or they'll lose their jobs.

The speeches I've heard the past couple of days have been promising an era of lesser partisan politics. I like to believe it, but you know, its hard to imagine it going any differently. And if it needs to swing back the other way, then it will and it should. Because its about balance. And if we can get the greatest good for the greatest number, then we'll swing back and forth into infinity if we have to.

But the end result is a positive one. Because that mean old dog we couldn't get to stop biting? He's sweet as pie now. He's playing all nice with the neighbor dogs, obedient as could be. An end to the kids being killed over in the Middle East might be visible. An end to the poorest of our people being ignored in times of need might be at hand. An end to the most capable of our people being asked the least might come to pass. It may not happen, but at least its possible now.

Reactionary politics may not be preferred, but you go reason with a rabid dog and see what that gets you. But whatever you do, don't go telling me that what happened on Tuesday happened because we're all lemmings. Don't you dare insult me like that. That's the sort of insult you hurl at Evangelicals for voting for people who align themselves with a faith for no other reason than political advantage.

[bugfreezer]

Apparently I misspoke myself slightly, since there is no-one yet on this board whom I would accuse of being reactionary. However I stand with D1 when he mentions that the last election was more a statement against President Bush and the war rather than being for something. The swing voters swung the other way. I also agree with IP that putting the Dem's solidly in charge has not always been to the collective benefit. The fact remains that there was not much (at least in my state) to vote for as opposed to vote against. And yes, this will give the current administration pause, while still holding the power of veto, but that is all I expect, as I am certain (I could be wrong) that the next two years will see little accomplished except to set the stage for the next presidential elections. That is less positive and more inertia while everyone squabbles.

This Administration has left me rather disillusioned, no doubt. As well as the valid points you brought up, however crassly, we went wrong war-wise when we left Osama to go after Saddam, and there is no point rehashing the obvious about "if only we'd done thus and such" such as taking sides with Iraq against Iran and providing the "tools" necessary to kick the ayatollah into the dirt during the Reagan administration, and now the Reagans condemn our President who cleaned up their mistake in the wrong manner (the Iraqis needed to free themselves to make it stick). The President was perhaps further motivated by the reported conspiracy by Hussein to assassinate Bush the Elder (Vengeance is supposed to belong to God, a fact that slipped the minds of some), and perhaps by other agencies. After all, it could take months to hash out all the errors, and there are plenty of sites doing just that.

If you look at the stats, even the evangelical vote in favor of the Republicans was diminished significantly this time (10-12%), according to one paper. Of course the scandals within the republican party and within the evangelical bloc did not help matters. So we the evangelicals need to clean up our collective act and assess where we are at - good. We (including myself) obviously need to be more cautious about what party we entrust with the things we value...oh wait....

I only commented from my take on the the situation. I know good and well I do not know it all, nor am I presumptuous enough to think that I have the perfect take on all this.

I was accusing you of nothing, nor was I trying to insult you. I am sorry that you took it that way. You must realize, however that many swing voters do not always vote from logic.