Senate Leadership, Harry Reid Style
By Nicole Belle Sunday May 10, 2009 9:00amBut everyone should understand: the difference between 58, 59, 60 senators is just fairly illusionary, because we still have to work on a bipartisan basis with whatever we get done.
Sigh. Remind me again, wasn't it Harry Reid and the Senate leadership that told us little people to be patient, because they could do all sorts of stuff once they got the majority--investigations, special prosecutors, accountability?
Now he wants us to believe it's all illusionary...
Is it okay to start questioning whether we really have someone who understands what it means to be the Majority Leader?
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How much double speak do people have to listen to before they realize both parties and our entire system are really fucked up?
heh heh! more evidence the repig partys morphed into the democtats party, you cant tell the players apart now! ried, specter , palosi, obama , part and parcel of the same old ,same old, change is only an illusion!
morning tyree! we laid the seeds now here comes the Calvary to high lite the differences, rationalize their actions and call us Bush lovers.
shit even Reid says its an illusion!
never fear curt , the unbelievers will allways denigh the obvious and never admit they were took, thier will be alibis! excuses! obama is laying traps for ensnareing the repigs and intends to destroy the bad guys, i saw all that when the repigs were running the show!oh and good morning to you to!
Just like the media doesn't report on the media, the two parties look out for each other's back while maintaining the appearance of competition. The power is GUARANTEED to belong to one or the other. That is why corporations contribute equal amounts to either.
That is also why true change can only come for OUTSIDE the two parties, whether it be a third party or grass roots movement/resistance.
celebrity journalists roast posts. It's incredible. All hail the great, great Obama. Oh and his wife is so super duper, what with that fashion! Oh isn't she so beautiful. Good Gawd. What the hell is wrong with people? It's like the entire supposed liberal IQ dropped 1000 points when Obama was sworn in.
not in the least concerned the high iqs were never there to begin with! were looking forward to the new camalot, the new kennedys, the obamas!
I guess I'm one of those liberals who's IQ dropped because I too think Michelle is beautiful.
please. illuminate us all and spew the knowledge you're so eager to share. point us all in the correct direction.
All you have to know is Republi-cons are clueless and move on from there. Nothing to see here.
No doubt there are many problems with our current political system, but the Senate is the main problem right now. Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are bought and paid for by special interests. The Senate continues to sit on legislation that has already made it through the House. It is time to put the Senate on notice regardless of party.
I agree with you completely about the senate being bought and paid for.
Obama is a former senator.
So, how do we start getting rid of Harry? Lets get the ball rolling now, its alredy been too long.
Start with Harry? Start with Spector? Start with Feinstien? Start with Harmon? If you have a problem with rats, you can't just take one out of the mix and expect the rest to practice "abstinence".
A viable and meaningful 3rd party is born. Disillusion is spreading on both sides of the political aisle as rational people learn how corrupted our government truly is.
Karl Rove was but a symptom.
harry,, hated on the right and the left. jackass.
.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/42439
This is a link Muke Finnigan posted yesterday. It is an audio interview with Reid where he is essentially saying that anyone who wants to prosecute the war crimes is making a rush to judgment. The reporter here is excellent as she points out again and again that Cheney admitted to war crimes. Reid maintains that there isn't enough information to move forward.
just in their own words to put many of them away for life and a few are even eligible for the death penalty. And once the trials take place more then enough evidence would come out to put must of the rest behind bars.
couldn't find his ass with both hands AND a map!
What evidence, precisely, does he have on which to base this rather spectacular claim of his? None as far as I can see -- any more than there was for his statement last week claiming that Specter was loyal to the Democrats. I don't know about Reid -- but personally, I haven't seen one thing over the last ten days which might refute my original suspicions that Specter intends to be a DINO. Reid, it would appear, either never learned or has conveniently forgotten the fact that talk is cheap and that actions speak louder than words. (Then again, failing to remember and/or comprehend this seems to be not just an occupational hazard for politicians but in fact their modus operandi). Specter made it very clear when he first announced his intention to switch parties that his principles had not changed substantially, so why anyone thinks that he has any intention of aiding the Democrats utterly escapes me. This is why I'm almost inclined to believe that Reid has gone from being disingenuous to being outright delusional -- or at least in the grip of some very serious denial. Wonder how long it will take him to realize that the gilt is off the gingerbread...
NO disrespect i enjoy all opinions but i think people forget that ALL lawmakers/politicians are human beings. there are very few of the mentioned that don't take/receive monies from wallStreet and special
interests. these groups from wallStreet and others usually give money to both sides. essentially buying both sides. this of course plays into being capitalists. but capitalism needs some rules. we need more limitations on campaign financing. we also need less lobbyists in washington. the elites have pushed
"we the people" out of the process. people here can use a broad brush to criticize politicians but until
we all realize money talks, all that criticism will be all for none. the past BUSH administration acted
much like the what we are told the dems act like big government and big spending. that's because
BIG wallStreet runs the show. until that's reduced nothing/little is going get acheived for the people.
"Harry Reid: Clark Kent without a phone booth." (credit: Daily Show??)
"Harry Reid: Clark Kent without a phone booth." (credit: Daily Show??)
Pretty accurate!
I love it!!
Now he wants us to believe it's all illusionary...
It IS illusory.
The Pukes were able to jam through their agenda because they could ALWAYS count on 60 votes, even if there were a couple of Puke defectors, because they could count on the support of the DINO/Dims.
The Dims, on the other hand, even with a putative majority, can NEVER count on cloture votes from their caucus, because the same DINO/Dims will desert.
The owners NEVER have to worry about their agenda. When the Pukes are in charge, they get their shit done; when the Dims are in charge--nominally, at least--the owners can ALWAYS count on being able to BLOCK legislation which they find disagreeable...
There is nothing anybody can do about it...
Reid's job is to maneuver the supposed Democratic agenda into a position from which it can lose. He's had to resort to fairly odd procedural moves to accomplish this goal as Democrats gain more seats.
Reid is every bit as craven and deceitful as Specter.
Why do we tolerate this sorry sod? Silence the child or send him away.
He is a failure as senate majority leader. He's too much of a pussy to actually fight against the republicans and caves each and every time. He took more action against Feingold and Dodd for their opposition to the warrantless wiretapping bill than he has ever done to the republicans for opposing legislation. He needs to step down, and WE need to make him.
http://www.politicalslugfest.com
He's absolutely, tecnically right. But Reid has no passion for politics.
How long do you think it would take a major asshole like Tom delay to seat a 60th senator, whose election was being dragged out by the opposition? There's procedural truths, and then there's weilding your power to get shit done. Harry is f**king bankrupt in the 2nd category.
Reid would want bipartisanship if he had 99 Democrats and 1 Republican. He would kill a piece of legislation if that one GOPer said no.
you will be declared a traitor and working for the enemy?
Everyone should read this http://mantiqaltayr.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/...
He must've been hit in the head one too many times. Reid is weak. They might as well give Gingrich the senate leadership. Seat Feingold as leader NOW.
HUH! Looks like Mr. Backup (Reid) is at it again, I wonder what he is going to sell us out on and then claim he didn't see ot coming. What abunch of limp wrist panty waiste scum.
"Is it okay to start questioning whether we really have someone who understands what it means to be the Majority Leader?"
It is long, long past the time when Democrats should not only have questioned Reid's leadership -- they should have dumped him (actually, they never should have chosen this spineless POS in the first place).
Throughout the fall presidential campaign I called for Reid to be replaced. If Obama wants to succeed, he needs an effective Majority Leader in the Senate (though he may be too __?__ to realize that) and Reid has shown conclusively that he is the worst ML ever. I sent emails to some Lefty bloggers asking them to start calling for Reid to be replaced for the new session of Congress and to kick off a campaign to oust Reid, but apart from the occasional complaint about Reid, those bloggers were silent. While bloggers and commenters howled about Joe Lieberman, the real threat to Democratic success -- Reid -- was left alone.
I am mystified by any Democrat wanting to be "led" by Harry Reid. Even if they share similar political views, Reid is still obviously a terrible leader. I keep hoping that some scandal (being a buffoon is clearly not illegal in DC) will envelop Reid and get him fired, but the real problem is unprincipled, weak, and gutless senators who won't elect someone capable of providing effective leadership for the majority party.
Whenever someone wants to talk about a filibuster-proof Senate, I always caution that to figure out the effective number of Dems one first counts each individual Democratic senator, then subtracts one for Ben Nelson and a quarter each for Bayh, Lincoln, Landrieu, Pryor, Kohl, Johnson, Carper, Tester, Byrd, Feinstein, McCaskill, and Webb, and finally subtracts ten for Harry Reid. That doesn't look much like a filibuster-proof Senate.
If Reid were on the verge of losing an election for majority leader, smart Republicans would immediately switch parties and vote for Reid. If they can't be in the majority, the next best thing for Republicans is having Reid be ML for the Democrats.
If they can't be in the majority, the next best thing for Republicans is having Reid be ML for the Democrats.
It's an easy number that the media grabbed onto in their usual facile way. If Reid did the same thing early on and touted the number 60, he was wrong to do so. As John Amato's piece several posts down here makes clear, some Democratic senators, especially Ben Nelson but also, for example, Mary Landrieu and Blanche Lincoln, sometimes (often?) do not vote with their fellow Democrats. Some of the newest Democratic senators might end up in this category too. And don't forget Holy Joe Lieberman, who is an Independent, not a Democrat, as well as new "Democrat" Arlen Specter, who said that he did not promise to be "a loyal Democrat." So regardless of whether the Democrats reach the magic number 60, they will likely fall short on key legislation without Republican votes.
Like during the Clinton yrs there were a lot of dems came out of the closet and change to republican's
If Reid was a more effective leader, he could keep the blue dogs in line.
useless, ineffectual, useless, spineless, useless, unintelligent, useless, gullible, and useless. no really, how do we get him OUT?
...Republicans don't find him useless. He's their BFF.
Easy. Get 50 to 100 thousand Democrats in every state with a Democratic senator to send email to their Democratic senators demanding Reid go. He'd be gone as soon as the rules of the Senate allowed it.
As it is, I doubt if they get more than an invisible handful of such messages. Let's see there's one a week from me to each of my two senators. No response yet though. Unfortunately, my sending 100,000 emails to each of my senators won't be quite as effective as having 99,999 of my fellow state residents joining me (but it might get me institutionalized for observation).
is nothing more than a hand job!If you looked up "milquetoast" in the dictionary there would be Harry's photo right next to the definition of the word!I so hope this piece of shit gets his clock cleaned, the next time ""Milky is up for re-election!
...look pretty silly.
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