Posts Tagged ‘politics’

…on Morning Joe at 8:06 a.m.

“Our long national nightmare as commentator’s is nearly over”

The argument is being made that this has to be passed to save the Obama administration. It can’t be allowed to fail etc etc etc… Robert Stacy McCain gave a hint to what I’m thinking in the Spectator:

“They’re obviously not doing this for policy reasons,” one GOP operative who worked on the Brown campaign said last night. “This is political, but nobody can figure out the politics of it.”

Administration arm-twisters are reportedly telling House Democrats that the bill, once passed, will magically overcome the unpopularity that has hitherto plagued it, and that by November voters will forget the extraordinary machinations by which Pelosi accelerated her legislative Deathmobile up to “ramming speed.”

Allow me to explain the politics of it:

It has become totally impossible for even the Mainstream Media to portray this administration as anything resembling a success. The president has failed on GITMO, failed on Don’t ask don’t tell, failed on Cap and Trade it has played the political game like a bunch of; dare I say it, Bush league players. The smartest guy in the room can’t nail two boards together to build legislation. He is so desperate that he consented to a FOX interview which was an unmitigated disaster.

The White House is channeling Count Rostov from Tolstoy’s War and Peace: “Why they’re shooting at me, Me, whom everyone loves!“.

This is the thing that the White House finds intolerable. Nothing else matters. We have a narcissist in the White House who has for his entire career been told how special he is. He is the poster child of our esteem culture.

If this bill passes the story on every MSM outlet will be about the Obama victory, about how the White House succeeded, about how the president still has it. About the president’s place in history. It will be as if it was January of 2009 all over again. The media desperately wants to write this story, the media who went all in on “Fluffy Hussein” as my brother calls him wants to believe that all that glittered was in fact Gold. The last few months have challenged their assumption not only of the administration but of themselves. It HAS to be expunged by victory.

This vote isn’t about healthcare, it isn’t about polls, it isn’t about the midterms, it is about an insecure man who wants the media to say nice things about him again and an insecure media that wants to be able to say them with a straight face.

As you might have noticed I like to quote Tip O’Neill book Man of the House to explain how politics works. There is a particular passage on page 134 that brings to mind what is going on behind the scenes right now.

The background: In the book was a Congressman Leo O’Brien who had promised a vote to Sam Rayburn on an issue and was getting killed at home over it. Since his word had been given (Yes that makes a difference, I still believe that one’s word is sacrosanct) Tip told him he had no choice but to go to Rayburn and ask to be released. (How hard must that have been) I’ll let Rayburn and O’Neill finish the story:

“…you gave me your word and I expect you to keep it. However I can certainly appreciate your situation, so here’s what I’ll do for you. On the day of the vote I want to see you in the front row. Keep your eye on the doorkeeper. If I don’t need your vote, Fishbait Miller will give you the sign and you’ll be free to vote your district.”…

…when Leo took his seat in the front row, he looked around and saw thirteen other guys that Sam had in his pocket in case he needed them. It wasn’t just Leo. The entire front row was sitting there and waiting for the nod from Fishbait Miller.

This is the real question that we don’t know the answer to. Does Nancy Pelosi have the votes and is just deciding who sits in the front row or is she scrambling for votes? And if the media knows what the truth is will they tell us?

When Adrienne did such a good job doing it yesterday:

If we neglect our duties to God, which is a sin by the way, eventually the curtain will begin to be drawn around our souls. Our “system” will be overwhelmed, our intellect dulled, and we will be unprepared for the battles we will surely face in the upcoming years. The powers of darkness are fierce, unrelenting, and working overtime.

Yup that’s about right.

I’ve never seen a party so weak

Posted: February 16, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags: , ,

…that they can’t lead or govern with a a 60% or a 59% majority and complain that they were unable to get things done.

I’m watching Bayh on Morning Joe and I just have to laugh. The unwillingness to govern or to take responsibility for actually leading. You are complaining about partisan obstruction with a 18 seat senate majority that was 20 not 2 months ago? You expect us to believe it? How stupid do you think the people are?

Is it the money? Is it the prestige? Is it the power and/or patronage? Is it the best job they will ever have? Why are these people so afraid of governing? Every single person there asked for the job they have, they begged for it.

Are these people weak? Consider, there are thousands of people in their districts and states that would love their jobs. They were strong enough to get them. It would seem unlikely that they are so weak if they are able to beat back the people who want those seats.

If you KNOW that a law or a series of proposals are bad for the country or bad for your district and you are just going along because a white house tell you to, because a leadership tells you to, then why bother being there?

The same people who went along with the president because he seemed unstoppable 12 months ago are the same people running for the hills today. This suggests that people either don’t have the courage of their beliefs or simply have no beliefs other than getting re-elected and/or “retiring” to a high paying job from government.

That being the case their departure is the best thing they can do to actually serve their country.