William Henry Harrison, straight up gangsta - Lean Back!
http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/dan/campaigns/buren4.jpg
They also proceeded to loose 7 out of the next 10 presidential elections.
I really like this article.
And Congress should diverge. Congress is supposed to be an equal branch, not a rubber stamp.
You will probably be shocked to hear this, but I actually agree. I’m shedding no tears for the Republicans…they screwed the pooch, big time. My concern though is that it seems all the anti-capitalists are coming out of the wood work atm, and that this seems the be the fervor that is driving the Dems to a naked agenda driven grab to swing us hugely in the other direction. I know you blasted Sam in another thread because of his concern and use of the term ‘socialism’ but take a step back and try and see it from the other sides perspective. While it’s true the Republicans have screwed the pooch, I’m not seeing how the Dems have exactly covered themselves in glory on this issue either…and yet they are seemingly seeing this as a golden moment to push through their anti-business/anti-market agenda.
Just take a look at the threads being generated here on the board lately…and realize that 'dopers are by and large fairly rational. What I’m seeing on the REAL leftwing boards and blogs (granted, only snippets) are REALLY out there…and it SEEMS that this is the faction that is driving the Dems atm.
It’s why folks like Sam (and myself) are a bit worried about things atm. I don’t see any way the Pubs aren’t going to take a big beating, both in the Presidential election AND in the next cycle of elections in the house and senate. That, to me, is a given. And like I said, I think the Pubs DESERVE said beating…I’m just not convinced that the Dems DESERVE to capitalize on all this, since I think they are as responsible for the problems as the Pubs were. Pox on both your houses and all that. And I’m concerned on what the Dems will DO once they have the presidency AND a clear majority in the house and senate…especially considering the rhetoric I’m hearing these days.
-XT
I’m not shocked at all; it just seems to me to be an accurate and honest assessment of the situation. One on which we agree, as I’m also very concerned about a disproportionate split of power. The fact that it’ll be in Democrat hands rather than Republican is only a minor salve for me. Although the fact that it’ll no longer be led by Bush or his acolytes is a major relief and point of satisfaction.
I’m honestly thankful that you and others (Sam Stone being just one) stick around and endure the crap that often gets thrown your way. And you may be shocked to hear it, but I think you guys make much more of an impact than is evident in the responses you get. You certainly have such an impact on me, even though I may not put it in writing very often.
So, yeah…I just blasted Sam in that other thread, but for exactly the reason I gave. To wit: a nice, lengthy, rational post…with a parting shot that poisoned it. It struck me that it was compulsive (needlessly, at that), and that’s worthy of a good trashing when it crops up, no matter who it’s coming from.
The idea that the Democrats are anti-business and anti-market is as insane as the assertion that Obama is a Muslim, and it is thrown around for exactly the same reason - to put irrational fear into ignorant people.
Sam has spent the last eight years telling us that about how great Bush economics are and will be. If you were ignorant of the fact that this “expansion” has been the slowest and shallowest post WWII expansion, you should at least recognize that the glowing predictions of the future of Bush’s economy have met with the cold light of reality. That is, at some point, you have to stop believing in things that are empirically wrong.
Likewise, I grow frustrated repeating this without it ever sinking in, but Democratic administrations are better for the economy. The markets in particular perform better under Democrats than Republicans. Democrats are not socialists, nor are they anti-capitalists. It’s extremely foolish to suggest that they are.
(By the way, I noticed, while I was out of the country, that you called his suspension of his campaign brilliant. Nice call! I suspect your other predictions about the outcome of the election will be as accurate.)
I think that there is a FACTION of the Dems who are anti-business and anti-market…and it seem to me as if this faction is gaining strength. You can believe whatever you like (probably being a member of said faction), but that’s how I see it.
Interesting…so you DON’T think Obama will win then? Well, different stroke for different folks and all that…
I still think it was a good political move on his part. Whether it WORKED is of course a different matter. Seems it didn’t. Not ever gambit that Obama has tried has worked either. You win some, you lose some I guess. Personally I think McCain has deeper issues, and that even a politically brilliant move on his part would be too little too late.
-XT
If it didn’t work, can it be called a good political move? To me, and this may be idiosyncratic on my part, for something to be a good “political” move, it has to work. That doesn’t mean it can’t still be a good ethical move, or a moral move, or a move that shows political courage or whathaveyou. But “political” means something different to me.
Based on what, exactly?
Uh huh.
A shrill warning klaxon, to be sure. All of us, from me and my ilk on the conservative wing of the extreme left all the way to the most placidly milktoast Clintonista centrist, we must be vigilant!
And so, friend XT, we are pressed to ask: who are these “anti-capitalists”? Have you names? And how might we recognize their poisonous agenda, what dastardly schemes should we expect to be offered?
We are on the brink of the most ghastly financial meltdown in generations, we might be about to live a sequel, Grapes of Wrath II:The Empire Strikes Out
What anti-capitalist schemes have brought us to this sorry state? Seems to me that the authors of this clusterfuck were devout capitalists, acolytes of the Free Market, worshipers of the Dollar Almighty. But we should be wary of the criticism of those who had nothing whatever to do with this, we should be skeptical, because the orthodox capitalists have done such a bang-up job. We should put our trust in those guys whose dicks still stink of pooch.
I beg to differ. Hooo boy, do I ever differ!
There is some truth to this, but the current Republican party is really composed of three parts: (1) The fiscal conservatives mentioned above, (2) Foreign-policy hawks, and (3) The religious right/social conservatives, a division that matches up quite nicely with the three Republican primary contenders (Romney, McCain, Huckabee).
The Rove stroke of genius was to recognize and control this coalition, and even here this was a constant battle for Bush (remember the politics of stem-cell research?) until 9/11 “changed everything”. With Bush on the wane there is no one to hold this uneasy alliance together: No one wants to hear from the fiscal conservatives with the economy tanking, the Iraq war has pretty much crushed the credibility of right-wing foreign policy groups like the Project for the New American Century, and although Sarah Palin can wield power among the social conservatives it’s hard to see how the other groups could take her seriously as a party leader.
For now, I think the right is going to have to go along to get along, waiting for an opportunity in case Obama and the Dems fumble the ball in a big way. But Obama’s presidency has the potential to be a game-changer with respect to party ideaology (e.g. supporters of trickle-down economics look as anachronistic on the right as Dixiecrats tday on the left), and much of that is under Obama’s control.
[irrelevant aside] Luci–you crack me up[/IA]
Is this more of the Republican famed black and white thinking? If you’re a Dem, somehow you don’t believe in profit or something? I’ve never understood this POV. Where does it come from? I’m going out on a crazy limb here and state that THIS Dem is against unfettered capitalism. Regs are not evil. Regulation and laws gave (and gives) us safe medicine and food and abolished child labor (in this country, anyway). Can there be too much? Absolutely. But we’ve just seen what too little can do…
Aaaaand they just fired him.
www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-14/sorry-dad-i-was-fired
I hope he starts up a new magazine for non-freaky conservatives.
How bad is it for the GOP? This bad.
The RNC is (I think futilely) throwing all the funds it’s got into McCain’s last stand. Seeing the rising tide of Democrats in the Senate they are also borrowing against their future. Odds are they will start the next cycle out of the White House, and vastly outgunned in both Houses of Congress (perhaps filibuster-proofed even). Hard to raise money under those circumstances and harder yet to dig out of debt. And hard to win back ground without funds.
Agreed. I recall Hunter S. Thompson in the 1980s likening the Democrats to the old Whig Party and saying they’d just about had it.