I would be remiss in my political commentary if I did not address the election last night in Massachusetts. First of all, the Dems have only themselves to blame for two reasons. One, they ran a lack luster campaign there thinking it would be an easy win. And two, they dicked around with election law so much that it came back to bite them in the ass.
I find it tremendously sad that Ted Kennedy, a champion of health care reform, lost his seat to someone who vows to torpedo it. It's crushing, no doubt.
The GOP have confirmed exactly what they are all about...destruction. They want Obama to fail and they really don't give a shit what harm it does to our country. Without significant reform, we are going to be in big financial trouble. It amazes me that even if conservatives are adversely affected by this, they will never admit how wrong they are.
Compare how the Dems conceded to Bush on so many issues (Iraq War, education) to what the GOP is doing with Obama. They'll never give an inch. They are, after all, The Wrecking Crew...bent on the destruction of the other side. They don't care...even it means our country going down the fucking tubes. The Dems don't get this and are still running campaigns in a very warm milk and damp toast sort of way.
People ask me all the time...how does the minority party have any say in anything? Well, three quarters of the people in this country voted for change. Two thirds wanted universal health care. Cue the hate, anger and fear machine and now we are down to 50 percent on both.
Mission Accomplished.
27 comments:
Hmmm. When people vote for Obama, they are finally starting to care. When they vote for Brown, they are angry and scared.
Yes, significant reform is needed, just not the reform that is in the bills the people you support have on the table. The bribes Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu got? You see those? Union members being exempt from taxes in the healthcare bill until 2018? What the hell ever happened to equality? I guess some people are more equal than others when democrats are in charge.
Looks more like people see the country going down the tubes with democrats in charge of everything. If Bitter Clinger central is now Massachusetts suburbs, get ready for what is to come in places like Colorado and Indiana. I expect more democrat politicians to decide to spend more time with their families in the upcoming election cycles.
Only 1500 people showed up in the hall that Obama spoke in on Sunday in Massachusetts and he did not help Coakley. He didn't help Deeds or Corzine either. He has no coattails.
You still think that two thirds of the people in the US want universal healthcare? A majority in the bluest of the blue states just told you last night they didn't want it.
Was it dems conceding on issues or the bills being somewhat bipartisan back then.
Coakley had too many gaffes - her henchman roughing up a reporter with her standing there and her statement afterward saying that she needs to get all the facts (Ummm, you were standing right htere Martha), one of the Kennedys giving a speech for her and referring to her as Marcia 6 times, her statement "What should I be doing? Standing out in front of Fenway park shaking hands? In this cold weather?", going to a giant fundraiser in DC 2 weeks ago with every major pharmaceutical and healthcare company in attendance giving her campaign cash(I don't have a problem with it...just checking to see if any of you do...nut up), saying Curt Schilling is a yankee fan, Coakleys campaign putting out a memo about voter fraud dated January 18 (the day before the election), etc.
Brown beat her bad enough that even the margin of Acorn didn't make a difference (hat tip sw).
The people know what is in the bills you are all proposing and they don't like what is in there. None of you want to talk about what is in the stimulus bill or the healthcare bill, which says a lot more than your silence.
(now folks like torch and downtown can come out of the woodwork to insult me rather than talk about why you all lost last night)
I'm busy as hell, but I HAD to come see how you were going to spin this.
"The Dems ran a lackluster campaign. . . ." Indeed. Coakely thought it was a given. When challenged, she folded. Then again, she couldn't exactly run against Brown - she really did support all the things he opposed.
The Dems "dicked around with election law so much that it came back to bite them in the ass." That too is accurate. And Brown won by a margin where cheating would have been just too blatant to ignore or downplay.
The GOP have confirmed exactly what they are all about... destruction. Oh cry me a river. Massachussets is a bastion of the Left. Turnout in Deep Blue Boston was what, 25%? But for the whole state it was well in excess of 50%. Surely you're not suggesting that it was all Evil Republicans that voted Brown into office? According to this table (PDF) in 2006 12.7 percent of registered voters in MA were Republican, 36.95% were Democrat, and 49.51% were "unenrolled" or independent. A total of 3,934,672 people were registered at that time. Some 2.2 million voted in this election. Brown won by a significant margin.
THE VOTERS DECIDED AGAINST HEALTH CARE REFORM, Markadelphia. They've been making that decision apparent for some time now, and they've been IGNORED by the powers-that-be in Washington. The PEOPLE OF MASSACHUSSETS just implemented this policy a bit early.
"When they vote for Brown, they are angry and scared."
Actually, confused is more appropriate. Why did 18 percent of Obama voters in MA vote for Brown? Why did three quarters of them support a public option in health care? That's enough to change an election.
"You still think that two thirds of the people in the US want universal healthcare?"
No, it's around 50 percent now or less.
Kevin, check out this poll
http://act.boldprogressives.org/cms/sign/mapollresults/?source=frontpage
What do you think about these numbers? They use Research 2000 polling. I don't think it jibes with your assessment. I think it was more about jobs, the economy, and the fact that MA already has universal health care so wtf do they care about anyone else?
"Surely you're not suggesting that it was all Evil Republicans that voted Brown into office"
Forgot about this one. Yes, I am. Follow the money and PR dude.
I guess the era of M finding a way to "vent AND to be more thoughtful at the same time" was short-lived. Oh well. It cracks me up to read comments such as the following from our leaders:
"No more business as usual in Washington. Stop this unsavory sausage-making process."
Sen. John McCain, R-AZ
"The question is what will it take to move forward, and there are various scenarios,"
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill
It brings to mind a quote from Homer Simpson:
"Why do things that only happen to stupid people keep happening to me?"
Sounds to me like we're stuck with a whole lot more of the same.
It only took 1 year for folks who were Intelligent and who Started to Care to now be labeled as Confused, Angry, and Dumb again...and these voters are not southern.
Indeed the VOTERS decided against your healthcare reform bill. When you lose elections, you probably shouldn't spend time trying to get the winning side to admit they are wrong.
I wonder if the Cambridge cop situation that happened up there had a minor role in this. Maybe just a little.
About election law - Ted Kennedy passed a law a while back when Romney was governor that a special election was needed in cases of a departing senator. Then before his death, he wrote an editorial arguing against his own law, saying that health care reform is just too important and that an appointment would now be the best thing (because now there is a democrat in the governors office).
Shinebox!
Massachusetts, one of the top 5 consistently bluest states in the union, voted Brown in because they listened to Republicans and Rush Limbaugh too much?
And it has nothing to do with the quality of a bill that you yourself referred to as "a giant BJ to the insurance industry"?
Mark, has Keith Olbermann hacked your blog?
Look around, Einstein. This country IS ALREADY going down the tubes. Ball's been in your court since 2006 and boy have you dropped it. Everything in Obama's agenda just piles on the pain. His first year in office was one of the worst ever for America. Voters are rejecting the left's vision because they have first hand experience now of what happens when the "right people" get handed the keys. Far be it for me to try and educate you though - keep up with the same old mantra, and encourage your friends to do likewise, don't change a thing, because your strategy is working. For us.
PL, always a pleasure sir. I'll be getting back to Manzi's article soon enough. Like I have state before, I'm only human. To see people cheering the defeat of something that is clearly needed will always get to me.
"Indeed the VOTERS decided against your healthcare reform bill."
But did they? Look at the poll...I think there was more to it then that.
No, GOF, Keith has not hacked my blog. Compare and contrast the propaganda from the right and the propaganda from the left. They aren't even in the same ball park, dude.
Kevin, most of what you say is true. And I have no problem laying the responsibility at Obama's feet. As I have stated many times on this blog, he will (and has) made mistakes. His biggest one yet may be in continually underestimating exactly what the GOP is capable of doing. I hope he learned his lesson because they are going to be worse.
PL, I'm not certain exactly what Mark has said that is erroneous. The GOP have stated unequivocally that they want Obama to fail. The Dems did, in fact, think they could coast and got bitten by their constant changing of election law. Brown vowed to torpedo health care. We are going to be in financial trouble if we don't have health care reform. His polls are also accurate.
I guess I'm not exactly sure how he wasn't thoughtful.
It just cracks me up how liberals wail and howl when they lose an election. It can't POSSIBLY have anything to do with people rejecting the liberal agenda. It is ALWAYS some other reason.
Denial ain't a river in Egypt people.
Truth Girl, there is a clear difference between thoughtful and erroneous. Between a reflective response and a reflexive response. This is where others would choose to tear into a person for failing to recognize that. I won't do that simply because I expect you know better and are simply reacting to what you perceive to be an attack on M or his ideas. M knows that's not what I did, and it's OK if you don't understand that. My elected officials from both parties don't understand that, which they clearly illustrate by pandering to throngs of people who soak up messages - well, similar to yours.
M can do better than this posting, and I think he knows that. I am happy to elaborate on what I would consider to be a reflective response if you'd like, but I recognize that my humble opinions have no place in today's political climate.
I don't think you attacked Mark, PL. I just think that any time he is remotely critical of the right (even with obvious statements by them to back him up) that he is framed in a certain way.
I agree that he was being reflexive and not responsive but I contend he was thoughtful and not erroneous.
Never mind, Mark. I won't waste my time arguing this with you anymore, there's no point.
http://www.slublog.com/
Bye.
Posting about yourself in the third person M? OK.
PL thinks it's sad that rhetoric such as casting an entire group of people as destructive and unwilling to admit how wrong they are passes as "thoughtful".
Like he said in his first response, to PL it looks like a whole lot more of the same.
"Compare and contrast the propaganda from the right and the propaganda from the left. They aren't even in the same ball park, dude."
Last in line shall compare them -
The rights propaganda still works and the lefts propaganda apparantly doesn't work anymore.
Last in line thinks that may be the root cause of lefty frustration...Olbermann calling Brown a homophobic, racist, sexist bigot just doesn't work. Maybe start defending the content of the bills.
Oops! Sorry, PL. That was an email sent to me by a poster. Occasionally, I will get a few of these and then make up a name for someone who, for whatever reason, has an issue with posting. I forget to click the "name" box and it just came up as me.
Speaking of which, is anyone else having problems with blogger? This person couldn't post today.
Last, the right propaganda has always worked. They have a larger base of people that will always believe anything they say.
And what's the deal with Olbermann? Every rightie I know has been yelling at me about this one the last few days. I don't watch so I don't know.
GOF, I'm not sure what that link to the blog meant in relation to my point about GOP propaganda but I think you if truly examine them critically, they aren't even in the same ball park.
If MA proves anything it's that the Dems suck at delivering their message and the GOP is very skilled at delivering their message. The Dems get bogged down in analysis-paralysis and micromanagement to the point of insanity. This produces things like "the public option" which sounds like a gross urinal in a subway station. The GOP says things like "Obama is going to put grandma in front of a government death panel and then pull the plug on her."
I think you will agree...much more effective. Isn't it great? They can make up whatever they want and people believe them. I wish I could do that.
Well, you try to do it but it just doesn't work for you either. I never said Olberman was a big deal, just saying that what he does doesn't work. Do the dems really get bogged down due to the brilliance and complexity of their bills or are they trying really hard to hide the content of the bills. Hell I tried to get someone, anyone on here to put up some analysis of the stimulus bill but there were no takers. I guess the bill was just too brilliant. Never mind the fact that it didn't work at all, let's just it something else like micromanaging.
Truth Girl said..
"We are going to be in financial trouble if we don't have health care reform."
Are you serious? Did you actually post this as insightful or sarcasm? Obama has run up the budget deficit to almost an unbelievable 2 trillion in a year, is insolvent in Medicare and Social Security, and passes out stimulus money without any accountability and you think that putting health care under this colossal bureaucracy is going to be financially sound?!!
"The GOP have stated unequivocally that they want Obama to fail."
You and lot of lefties misconstrue what this means and parrot it like fools. EVERY American should want policies that make America prosperous and safe. Obama is implementing policies and making decisions that have long histories of failure to do this very thing. Historical evidence that he is either ignorant of or blatantly disregards on purpose. Either way, his policies make America weaker, poorer, and certainly not safer. Are you blindly supporting this disaster of an administration with its blatant lies, cronyism, and corruption because they are Democrat? I would hope that partisan politics only go so far but core values on both sides would transcend party lines call it what it is.....bad for America.
bahahahahaha mark = truth girl. too funny. 9:47 am entry says it all
No, Mark is most assuredly not me. I don't stoop to using degrading language to get my point across.
You might want to take a look at the rest of the thread, anon. Someone was having trouble posting and emailed a response to Mark.
At the risk of starting round 89 of the language debate, I don't see how my language is "degrading." They're just words, truth. I don't view the word "fuck" as being any different from the word "chair." If both serve to describe a certain thought or feeling, so what?
Now that you are "me", however, perhaps you will start using that language....hee hee.
Well if you used the word "fuck" instead of 'chair" in your classroom, that might lead to some repercussions for you, M :)
"If MA proves anything it's that the Dems suck at delivering their message and the GOP is very skilled at delivering their message."
If that's the case, how is it that the dems have a majority in both houses as well as the White House?
Democrats are typically very good at saying what people want to hear.
I think the MA election proved that the electorate finally got the truth of the Democratic message loud and clear. And they rejected it.
I think you can get a lot farther in life if you apply common decency to discourse. PL has said this many times, Mark. You immediately put fellow commenters here in an awkward position by using that kind of language. I'm sure many feel, as I do, offended by this and then the central points in what we are discussing are lost.
Yep, Mark = truthgirl. 9:47 entry indeed.
I don't see how my language puts people in an awkward position. Some people like that kind of language.
I'm also tired of people being offended by everything. Why do I have to be the one to adjust to what they deem to be acceptable? Why can't they (and you) adjust to what I find acceptable?
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