# So, Clearly, the Democrats Are Dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 3, 2010, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320 "2010-11-03T12:45:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/141 "2010-11-04T20:12:32Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Gaah. At least two more years of “Boner” jokes to look forward to. Isn’t there enough to mock the man for without resorting to this? He will be the “weeper of the house”. Can you imagine if Obama came out yesterday and blubbered like that? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/142 "2010-11-05T03:06:34Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Wow. > [indent] > BRICKER: Now, remember, craft your resume to each job. Don’t worry about the rejections; the goal is to get the face-to-face interview. That’s the prize. > > JOB-SEEKING KID THAT LOOKS LIKE RTFIREFLY: What a ridiculous idea! The prize is the job, not the interview. That’s just a necessary step! What a blind spot! Except you’ve already been _working the job for two years_, and have a respectable list of accomplishments to your name. The only problem is, a jealous co-worker has blocked you from some of the accomplishments your ultimate bosses really wanted, so you got a bad performance review this year, and your jealous co-worker was granted a measure of direct authority over you. But the REAL prize is your NEXT big performance review, two years off, despite the fact that between now and then, your jealous co-worker is in a position to keep you from managing any accomplishments at all, and is fully motivated to do so. And it’s unclear whether a successful performance review then (which would be the result of a much weaker track record that got you this shitty review) would put you in a position of being able to get back to achieving genuine accomplishments: that potential favorable review might quite likely still leave your jealous co-worker with the authority to block anything you tried. * * * Enough of the counter-analogy. The ‘prize,’ such as it is, is what we’ve already accomplished for the American people. Should have been able to do more, but no use crying about it now. And it’s hard to see any reason to expect that we’ll be able to do much more in a second Obama term than we’ll be able to do the next two years. Nah, unless getting elected is the prize in and of itself, your original remarks make no sense in this political context. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/143 "2010-11-05T06:10:06Z")
OK, so we know now its perfectly legal for a President to order somebody tortured, the laws don’t apply. So, are we really sure this doesn’t mean he can have Mitch taken out and shot? Just spitballin’, here. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/144 "2010-11-05T14:26:49Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > [On that note, what do you think of [Robert Bork’s America](http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Robert_Bork's_America)?] That the speech was accurate? Kennedy was talking about two different things: how America would look if Bork was in charge, and what might happen if Bork was appointed to SCOTUS, and he made that fairly clear. > [@Bricker](#): > > NO. > > Or in the alternative, yes, and you’re scaremongering right now. Damn you! ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/145 "2010-11-05T20:07:02Z")
I think this is a good thing for American politics. Some of the better works of any president over the past few decades were done with divided parties. When people HAVE to talk to each other, things get done. Humans (americans in particular) HATE being told what to do even if it is good for you. So when you have a majority party trying to “push” anything through over a minority they are going to fight tooth and nail almost soley on the fact they hate being told “you have no choice”. I expect to see good things from the govt over the next couple years. Of course I also believed in Santa Clause at one time and that didn’t exactly pan out either… ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/146 "2010-11-05T22:34:12Z")
> [@Dob](#): > > When people HAVE to talk to each other, things get done. Why do you believe that anyone HAS to talk to each another? Or, put another way, why do you think that cooperation/compromise NEED be anything more than just another political calculation? Sure, that may be overly cynical, but at times it certainly seems justified. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/147 "2010-11-06T03:21:27Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > \*\*The counter-argument is that there are competing private plans these days, and a person can chose a plan with a different approach to end-of-life care, if that’s important to him. \*\*There would be less flexibility under a government-run (or heavily regulated) scenario. Especially as government bureaucrats tend to be more inured from public opinion than private companies who need to sell their product. In an ideal world this would be the case. In reality however most people are tied to whatever insurance is offered by their work. Sure, I could cancel the policy offered by my company, but doing so would mean having to pay hundreds of dollars more each month for coverage, something I could ill afford. So, no, most people really aren’t able to shop around. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/148 "2010-11-06T05:12:32Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > OK, so we know now its perfectly legal for a President to order somebody tortured, the laws don’t apply. It’s legal but the laws don’t apply? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/149 "2010-11-06T16:56:18Z")
"Well, when the President does it that means that it is not illegal. " - Richard M. Asshole ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/150 "2010-11-06T17:11:42Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > "Well, when the President does it that means that it is not illegal. " > > - Richard M. Asshole Yeah, like when the President pardons people, that has legal effect, but when I pardon people, it doesn’t. I hate that shit; why is the President above the law, and shit? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/151 "2010-11-06T18:51:52Z")
Now you’re torturing analogies too. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/152 "2010-11-06T19:27:32Z")
I love the stupid use of “rammed through”. The healthcare bill was in committee for a long time with plenty of right wing and Republican input. It was thrashed over. Most lefties were criticizing the Dems for weakening it so much. The Dems had control of the Exec. ,the Senate and the House. What has to be rammed? They vote it in procedurally. Of course when the Repubs issue a blanket filibuster and vote lockstep against any Dems programs, then it becomes a bit tougher. But what the hell does 'rammed through" mean? Quit listening to Fox. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320/153 "2010-11-06T23:00:12Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I love the stupid use of “rammed through”. The healthcare bill was in committee for a long time with plenty of right wing and Republican input. It was thrashed over. Most lefties were criticizing the Dems for weakening it so much. > The Dems had control of the Exec. ,the Senate and the House. What has to be rammed? They vote it in procedurally. Of course when the Repubs issue a blanket filibuster and vote lockstep against any Dems programs, then it becomes a bit tougher. But what the hell does 'rammed through" mean? > Quit listening to Fox. I can give them a 12-inch something to ram through…down their throats even. unzips pants [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-clearly-the-democrats-are-dead/559320.md?page=7)