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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
thorin01
Published Letters: 445 Editor's Choice: 37
That’s the question I ask Republicans whenever they start trying to tell me that Bush needs this kind of authority to ‘fight the terrorists.’ The look of revelation on their faces is priceless. It suddenly occurs to them that just as they know St. Bush in his righteous cause would NEVER abuse such a power they also know antichrist Clinton would have destroyed America with such authority.
They seem to suddenly remember why ‘Checks and Balances’ exist.
As much as I detest King George and his Merry Band of Malcontents the true tragedy of the last six years has been the complete absence of any true opposition to his policies. The Democratic Party spent 2001-2005 basically giving Bush everything he wanted with little more than token noise. From the cowardly vote authorizing the use of force against in Iraq, the passage of the Patriot Act to the suspension of the Habeas Corpus the Democrats never articulated the kind of the clear concise opposition to Bush’s policies that people like Blumenthal have been doing for years. Instead they stuck their heads in the sand.
Even after retaking Congress in 2006 on what had to be one of the clearest messages ever sent by the voting public Harry Reid gave away the farm one day into debate over Iraq funding by announcing the ‘compromise’ they’d all agree to three weeks BEFORE it actually happened.
The ‘top tier’ Democratic candidates’ position on Iraq remains little more than murky opposition with no real strategy or plan for how to get out of this mess. Only Biden (routinely dismissed by the MSM) has presented a coherent strategy. And while his ‘soft-partition’ plan has flaws it at least represents movement.
Bush may be an egotistical blowhard whose rantings have crippled America but even more deafening has been the silence from the other side.
shooter242 wrote:
It suddenly occurs to them that just as they know St. Bush in his righteous cause would NEVER abuse such a power they also know antichrist Clinton would have destroyed America with such authority. They seem to suddenly remember why ‘Checks and Balances’ exist. -- thorin01
What makes you think Clinton hasn't disappeared anyone? He also abused both the FBI and IRS, while inventing extraordinary rendition.”
If its true that Clinton did such things it PROVES my point that such power should be kept out the hands of any one man rather than being codified into law. I mean if Clinton did that kind of stuff without legal authority image what he would have done with powers Bush has vested himself with.
While it may be much more pronounced now, this type of silliness has marked American politics for a long time. Anybody remember Bush-Dukakis in 88. Bush Sr. got stuck with the ‘wimp’ label (which even as a Democrat I found odd given his status as a decorated war hero) and Dukakis in an idiotic attempt to capitalize got himself filmed in a tank. That image was used to define Dukakis as ‘overcompensating’ for the rest of the election. Or when Dukakis was asked how he would deal with a man who raped and murdered his wife he didn’t respond with a visceral ‘he must die a slow painful death’ remark. Because he was able to stand outside the silly hypothetical and give a reasoned nuanced answer he was immediately labeled as ‘soft-on-crime’ and ‘an unemotional robot.’
The simple truth is most American’s vote on emotion, not on logic. Regan was the grandfather, Bill Clinton, not a Rhodes Scholar, but a good old boy who felt our pain. Bush Jr. a compassionate man who led with his heart and didn’t need all that high-minded book learning.
The sad part is how much the MSM buys into this imagery. Discussing posture, clothes, kisses, photo-ops rather than substantive issues that truly define how someone would lead.
CBS did not hire Couric to rescue their nightly news broadcast (that was merely a potential bonus). They did it cripple the Today Show and give CBS This Morning a chance to grab some significant audience share for the more profitable show.
CBS might actually end up way ahead on this deal if they can somehow move Couric off the CBS Nightly News and still keep trapped in her contract so she can’t go back to NBC. Then they can bring in someone who will actually boost ratings (man or woman).
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
