Archive for April 28, 2009

No more cover for the Democrats

Posted: April 28, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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The biggest result of the Specter party switch is the loss of cover for Democrats.

They can no longer blame the Republicans for anything over the next two years at least.

They have their 60 vote majority in the senate

They have their majority in the white house

they have the presidency.

They OWN the next two years and every problem that takes place during it, from economics, to job loss to terror they own the lot.

Now they won’t even be able to give phony excuses to their base as to why they aren’t doing x y or z. There is no chance of Specter switching back, the nutroots will now have to be appeased with more than words.

In the short run it will mean a lot more pain for the country, in the long run it will mean the country will see what liberal democratic rule does to a free society.

Be careful what you wish for of Democrats.

UPDATE: The campaign spot mimics my line of reasoning in a way:

Arlen Specter has made the right decision to win reelection right now; the problem is, he doesn’t face the voters right now. He faces Democratic voters in May 2010, and he faces Pennsylvanians as a whole in November 2010. Right now, being a Democrat and being affiliated with President Obama is a winning hand in Keystone State politics. Today, Arlen Specter bet his next term that the political environment won’t change significantly in the next 18 months.

We will see. But it is very, very rare for a political environment to remain in stasis for an 18-month period.

I bet it will be a rather exciting time.

Update 2 : Red State and Flopping Aces get it.

Though Democrats will fail and will blame the previous administration for it, the American people won’t buy it. They elected these guys in 2006 and 2008, and now they expect to see something for it. They have been very patient with President Obama and have been quick to forgive his many rookie mistakes. But, as the Rasmussen survey reveals, they are not so willing to forgive Congressional Democrats. But now, at long last, both the White House and the Congress have to show the voters that they can solve problems, not just make them worse.

Democrats spent trillions and have absolute power. What will they be able to show for it? America and the rest of the world are watching. Republicans, that’s your cue. Hit your marks, and don’t forget your lines.

Can’t win a primary? Switch Parties bye bye Arlen…

Posted: April 28, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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…don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Specter knew he couldn’t win his primary so he jumped ship, politically he didn’t have good choices so he is trying his best to save his political skin, that is his primary principle.

In fairness it is the same thing Lieberman did.

If what I think is going to happen over the next year happens it will be very funny. If the administration continues to overreach as it appears to be doing then watch Mr. Arlen on the wrong side of the fence. He will spend his entire campaign defending the Obama administration, its budget and it’s positions and his votes to support it.

Good luck with that.

Update: Mark Hemingway puts it perfectly:

I read that he was switching parties, but I was disappointed to learn he’s still a Democrat.

Amen!

Update 2: Allahpundit comments:

That’s a weaselly lie, and therefore a perfect note for him to depart on. He’d have happily run for re-election as a Republican if not for Toomey getting into the race and quickly jumping out to a 21-point lead. Specter tried to make it an open primary so that the left might rescue him but couldn’t, and Pennsylvania’s election laws prevented him from doing what Lieberman did to Lamont three years ago: In PA, if you compete in a primary and lose, you’re done. No independent candidacy. So his choice, essentially, was either to switch to an independent now and skip the primary or go the whole nine yards by becoming a Democrat, giving the left a presumptive filibuster-proof majority (once Franken is seated), and extracting whatever concessions he could from them in return, e.g. committee chairmanships, DNC fundraising, etc. The Hill actually kinda sorta predicted this last month. It’s pure self-preservation on Specter’s part, expecting that he’ll be able to handle Toomey easily in the general when Democrats and indies can push him through.

He is in his mid 70’s he will never be relevant outside of the senate.

A lesson for the president

Posted: April 28, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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This story out of Pakistan has a good lesson for the Obama administration:

Emboldened by the government’s concessions (emphasis mine) , Taliban fighters began moving into Buner and nearby Shangla district. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said around 450 Taliban were reported to have sneaked into Buner on Monday.

The fighting that has followed is really the result of those concessions:

The Taliban’s creeping advances across Malakand have raised alarm in the United States that the militants were zeroing in on Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and stoked fears that the Washington’s nuclear-armed ally was on the verge of sliding into chaos.

The administration should take this to heart.

How do we know Iraq is now free?

Posted: April 28, 2009 by datechguy in internet/free speech, opinion/news
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Because we can see stories like this:

Relatives and supporters of the late Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein are marking his birthday with tributes in his native village, laying wreaths by his grave and chanting slogans against former President George W. Bush.

Saddam would have turned 72 on Tuesday. He is buried in the Tigris River hamlet of Ouja, where he was born, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

A photo exhibition near the grave chronicles his more than two decades in power.

This should please anyone who supports free expression, then again to our friends on the left dissent isn’t as high a form of patriotism as it once was.

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