The Democratic party is center-right.

The Republican party is far right.

Which makes this a firmly right-leaning country. Whether you want to call it center-right because the center-right party is in control, or firmly right because of the relative balance between the parties is up to you.

We won't see true progress until we banish right-wing ideas from our government entirely. Unfortunately that's difficult when the parties presenting progress (Green and Socialist) are completely marginalized.

Only if you're from Lake Wobegon.

You, like Road Warrior, have used the word "illuminati" in literally every letter you've written to Salon. Would you mind explaining what that means, and why you feel the need to use it in every letter?

Thanks.

I wish I could stop working today, keep collecting a paycheck, and then finally resign 2 years from now.

Nothing against Obama specifically, but it bugs the crap out of me that we pay these people to go interview for another job for a year or two.

One of my Senators did, in fact, take lots of time off to run for the presidency, and I'm no more happy with her than anyone else. I'd have rather she showed up for work and actually served on my behalf. So I'm not sure your point holds.

Why do they hate democracy so much?

The 110th Congress (the current one) has so far filed 137 cloture motions. The previous high was 58, in the 106th and 107th Congresses. So we've seen a 2 and a half fold increase in this latest Congress.

I'd expect the 11th to double the new record.

They probably spent the whole meeting crafting that statement. Then they had lunch and called it a day.

The 110th Congress had 2.5 times the previous highest number of filibusters in history. I expect the 111th to double that. McCain isn't going to do a thing to stop it.

If only the same fate could befall the Mormons.

Democrats won this election because voters were enthusiastic about bringing change to Washington. These enthusiastic voters, many of them young, turned out in crazy numbers to support the Democratic party.

Well that enthusiasm begins to die today. There are going to be a lot of disenchanted voters after this vote, and I imagine the Dems will continue to disappoint these voters for the next 2 years.

And guess what? They will NEVER show up to vote for a Democrat again.

Enjoy your 2 years in the sun, Democrats. Because it's clear you're going to do everything you can to ensure voters don't repeat these results for another 20 years.

If one side gives the other side everything they demand, I guess it's a form of bipartisanship. To me, when I hear bipartisanship I think about the two sides working together to reach some kind of middle ground. That's not what's happening here. The opposition party is failing to oppose, and I don't consider that bipartisanship, even if in practice the two parties are agreeing on everything.

"He will deal w/ Lieberman or any other misbehaving dem if/when the time comes."

If that time isn't now, when is it? Has Lieberman misbehaved in a way that would merit "dealing with," and if not, what could he possibly do that would make that so?

Thanks in advance.

Bush railroads us with far right-wing judges. But Obama, who like all Democrats is terrified of things that go bump in the night, is going to stick to centrism.

Hooray for more of the same.

See, we don't have to attack people just because they don't insult us.

Why are right-wingers such pussies? "Waaaaah they insulted us. Let's nuke 'em!"

WHAT??

Haven't we just finished 8 years of "If my guy does it, it must be right by definition"? Haven't we been through a phase where decisions aren't to be weighed on their merits, but on who makes them? Of unquestioning loyalty?

Joan, what the fuck? I thought we were supposed to stand against the sort of party hackery that literally defined the past 8 years.

But at least it sets you up for excuses down the line. "He didn't close Guantanamo? I'm sure he has a reason. He has continued the spying program? Well, he's got our best interests at heart. He didn't even begin to pull out of Iraq? Hey, he knows better than I do."

It's been 2 weeks and we're already seeing a Bush redux. Holy shit.

We shouldn't post things that make Palin look bad.

Which means we should never talk about her again.

Pretty please?

He's taking care of people who committed crimes against the environment and cocaine crimes. No surprises there.

I'm betting he WILL pardon people in the administration. Sure, it'll look bad. But it means they won't end up in prison.

(Note: I'm getting really tired of the AP's bullshit "harsh interrogation techniques" whitewash. It's torture. Call it torture. The AP is misleading people by not calling it what it is, of course for political reasons.)

From the guy who predicted Sarah Palin would make a good VP candidate, another prediction: Lisa Murkowski will apparently switch to a Democrat sometime between now 2010, thus allowing Palin to win a seat "back" for the Republicans.

Either that or the guy who thought Sarah Palin would make a good VP candidate is an idiot.

Which seems more plausible?

As the poster above stated, the Republicans are going to filibuster early and often. The 110th Congress set a record that was 2.5 to 3 times the previous record number of filibusters. I'd expect that new record to nearly double again in the 111th.

And then next time they get a 51-49 majority many of these same Senators will proceed to bitch, moan and whine about the American people deserving an "up-or-down vote."

You mean the Obama birth certificate that was personally verified by the Health Department Director and registrar of vital statistics of the State of Hawaii?

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthcertificate.asp

(Insert OCD joke related to this fool posting the same post twice.)