Oh My! Nancy Pelosi's off to a great start. Could it be that governing is harder than bitching?
posted by alwaysright at
4:44 PM
Thursday, November 16, 2006
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12 Comments:
Excuse me! Nancy Pelosi is not governing yet... She is merely creating her leadership team and as with all elections they can get messy. Newt did not want Tom Delay as his number two in '94. Did that stop the Republican Revolution... No! Don't get caught up in all the media inspired hyperbole, they are for the most part irrelevant, they have been propping up this dispicable regime for five years and finally got caught on it by whom? Bloggers like you and me. Nancy will begin governing in '07 until then, I will defer to a cool head and give her the benefit of the doubt. The Repug's voted in Trent Lott by 25 to 24 votes, a party divided? Close divisive election? No, they are united in their capacity to turn the clock back to a more bigotted, segregationist past and call it progress.
You're leaving out the misogynist angle which will be hitting Pelosi from liberal and conservative sides.
A few conservatives have already dubbed Pelosi the "Wicked Witch of the West." A man might be overbearing or supercillious but you never hear people call him a witch - and we all know what witch rhymes with.
Even if Hillary Clinton had *everything* going for her -- did things that both sides loved -- she still couldn't win a presidential election. No way would this country stand for it. They just aren't ready for a woman Commander in Chief.
Not only is Pelosi taking this position during a hostile bipartisan time, she is a woman in a leadership postion and that's something this country has a hard time accepting. All criticism will be harsh and swift. I wish her strength.
We need to change the paradigm... perhaps Nancy, given time, will set a precedent.
When I see a comment that suggests that the media has been "propping up this despicable regime for five years", I have to wonder whether righterscramp and I are occupying the same universe.
I'd be very interested if you could show me one single instance anywhere of any mainstream media article, broadcast or any other thing that even remotely supported this regime.
Did the publication of the Abu Ghraib photos prop up the regime? Despite the fact that the military had already caught the problem and was in the process of prosecuting the wrongdoers? The story had already been reported! Those disgusting, inflammatory images were published for the sole purpose of embarassing the administration and inciting anti-American hatred in the Arab world. Is that what you call "propping up"?
Or how about the mainstream treatment of "Plamegate"? That story was completely misreported and misrepresented as some sort of Rovian conspiracy to out and punish a "covert" CIA agent. Turns out that Rove and Libby had nothing to do with "outing" anybody, and she wasn't even covert in the first place. Libby is facing serious jail time over this fraud. Another prop?
Can we talk about Katrina? The entire world now links Katrina with Bush administration incompetence. That's a media product that you all have been sold. In the face of declining market share, the mainstream media is desperate to demonstrate that they can still shape the agenda. Katrina coverage was a great example of media myth creation as they crafted a message of FEMA incompetence ("Brownie...), while glossing over the catastrophic blunders at the first responder, state and local level. The New Orleans police deserted en masse! Nagin waited far too long to evacuate, and then when he gave the order, he simply failed to implement the plan that was on the city's website! Blanco refused to admit out-of-state National Guard for three days. The media projected tens of thousands of deaths. There were less than a thousand. The fact is that the federal government, in the form of the Coast Guard, rescued something like 25000 people.
How about the Foley scandal. Why did the Post sit on the story for months, only to release it days before the election? More help for Republicans? How about the NY Times repeatedly publishing classified government programs?
I could literally spend the rest of the weekend on this exercise, but I think you get the point.
I agree that Lott's victory reflects a curious arrogance and a tin ear on the part of the guys who just lost. Believe me, conservatives like me are exasperated by the way these congressional Republicans do business sometimes, too.
Madeleine, I think you should take heart. Nobody cares about gender! My opposition to Nancy Pelosi has nothing to do with her sex, and everything to do with her politics. If Jeanne Kirkpatrick were to run for President, I'd write her a big check and put her sign on my lawn.
Judith Miller... read anything she wrote prior to the invasion... Brooks was/is pro war, William Saffire - ditto - and all the other WH Stenographers in the so-called-liberal NY Times. Broder and Harris at WaPo were for the war before they were against it. Even the cable news giants were in shock and awe at our shock and awe. Faux News, of course, built it's entire reputation on gunning for the towel heads. So don't say we live in different universes, it's just plain stupid. The so called liberal media is a myth promulgated by the right wing to satisfy and fuel their fixation for righteous indignation of which they appear to have cornered the market in and continually capitalize on. Katrina was a disaster of immense proportions on every level, local, state and federal, I think everybody 'gets' that, the problem with this administration was the inherent appearance that all they succeeded in doing was in adding fuel to the fire... they were an incompetent bunch at the best of times but this was the first time that incompetence was manifest in a truly public way. The press and media could no longer just make shit up, it was right there in their faces and couldn't be ignored or spun, they had to do their jobs and finally report the truth. I really wish you would get off of Plamegate... it's starting to make you look silly.
sheesh look what happens when I don't check this blog for a few days!
I didn't say that you are the misogynist, Mr. Alwaysright. Just that Nancy Pelosi is going to be hit a lot harder than any man would be. All in the name of being "fair", I guess.
I think it was Nancy P who said "Let the healing begin" and I think it's a great idea.
Instead of dragging up Katrina and all the rest why not start fresh and see what Dubya's gonna do with this new Congress? and what's this new congress gonna do with Dubya?
impeachment? possibly but not right away.
I'm looking forward to the increase in miniumum wage and a few of the other things the Dems have promised. Now let's see if they deliver.
Judith Miller. Do you think a little jail time will get her back on the reservation?
As far as getting hit hard, I think George Bush would trade his media coverage for Nancy Pelosi's any time.
Plamegate, Katrina and Abu Ghraib are three stories that have fundamentally shaped the public's (and apparently your) perception of the administration over the last couple of years. Katrina and FEMA have become synonymous with Bush administration incompetence--and yet the facts simply do not support that conclusion. The media did in fact make things up, or reported as fact unsubstantiated rumors, and they created a narrative that much of the public swallowed uncritically. The pictures on the screen were of an unimaginably huge disaster. The voiceover told you it was Bush's fault, and so you believed it. So despite the fact that FEMA handled four hurricanes in Florida effectively the year before, suddenly they became incompetent a year later. Or maybe it was because they didn't care about black people.
Anyway, blaming the media is like blaming the referees. But, being from Buffalo, I know the referees frequently get it wrong, and when they do , it never favors my team!
Whoever said, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." must have been talking about raising the minimum wage. That is a classic case of a liberal idea that will in all likelihood hurt those most in need of help.
Biff and Muffy working at Abercrombie will get a few extra bucks to blow on latte's while the rib joint in the hood will close its doors.
Marginal businesses in poor neighborhoods generally are just getting by. If the government swoops in overnight and drives their labor costs up by twenty or thirty percent, they can either try to raise prices (inflation), or lay off workers (raise unemployment), or go out of business. I imagine you'll see a bit of all three.
I don't think you can legislate prosperity. If you could, why not make the minimum wage $100000? On the other hand, a low initial wage can allow an employer to take a chance on a marginal hire; someone who may get into the workforce and begin to better themselves.
So, the minimum wage becomes a political trap. The public thinks, "Yes! We should do something for the less fortunate." Anyone who opposes it will be tarred as some greedy ogre. Then, when the inevitable negative consequences occur, we can blame it on the Bush tax cuts.
None of this would matter too much were it not for the fact that WE'RE AT WAR. The republic can survive a misguided raise in the minimum wage, but we are living in a world where the consequences of screwing up on national security will be swift and devastating.
Hezbollah are massing in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza. Look for a full-scale assault on Israel soon. Iran is moving ahead full-speed on nuclear weapons. The world community cannot even muster the resolve to impose sanctions.
The Assad regime is apparently behind the assassination of a prominent, anti-Syrian Christian Lebanese, and all signs point to Putin in the murder of his critic Litvinenko, close on the heels of the murder of a prominent female journalist Putin critic. And you guys thought the Patriot Act was bad!
I know, let's impeach our Commander-in Chief!
We should impeach Bush merely for the fact that he looked into Putin's eyes and saw a soul he could work with, just another in a long line of critically awful 'gut' decisions this incompetent is now infamous for. As for Hizbollah massing at the borders and Hamas on the warpath, you have got to be kidding me, Hizbollah are actually capable of overthrowing the Israeli state? Something the combined armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria were, on numerous occassions, incapable of. What are you thinking? Hizbollah may have been capable of defending a few hilltop towns and giving the IDF a bloody nose for a month but, invade Israel? Where do you get your information from... Millard Fillmore? As for Iran, we have emboldened Iran with our disastrous, incompetent policies in Iraq... and much like Iraq, Iran is years away from 'the bomb' and with some pragmatic diplomatic enforcement will ultimately shy away from ever building one. My feeling is that we are at a nexus here... if we can engage Syria and Iran in constructive talks, with a realistic and attainable peace process plan for Israel and Palestine as the carrot, we can avoid the type of regional/global conflict that the neocons have brought to a head. Islam can be finessed if we bring some realpolitik to the table and discard a policy frought with transparent imperialism.
Plamegate, Katrina and Abu Ghraib are three stories that have fundamentally shaped the public's (and apparently your) perception of the administration over the last couple of years.
I suppose the Iraq Study Group is another bunch of liberals out to make Bush look bad? I can't wait to hear how you whitewash that one.
As far as minimum wage -- Just as you pointed out: WE'RE AT WAR to the tune of billions of dollars a month. Meanwhile the upper 1% gives themselves generous tax cuts while you fret over the "impact" of paying people a living wage.
If someone working for hamburger-flipping wages can't afford rent, food, clothing and heat in the wealthiest country in the world something is horribly wrong. Biff and Muffy working at Abercrombie's can be just as hard up as Vern down at Bob's Big Boy so watch out for stereotyping. It doesn't become you.
Re: The minimum wage, my point is that raising it will not help those most in need of help. Nor will raising taxes on the top 1%. It might seem like justice to take from the rich and give to the poor, but it doesn't work that way. When you raise tax rates on the rich, they change their behavior. They work less, they invest less, or differently, and typically that results in less economic output, less revenue for the government, and fewer jobs. It's really just basic decency. If you want more from the most productive people, why not treat them fairly?
I never said "take from the rich and give to the poor."
I said that it's crazy to give tax breaks to people who don't need them (we're talking people -- not corporations here) just when the economy needs revenue to support a war costing billions every month.
According to The American Reckoning this year America's debt may exceed $800 billion, or 6.5 percent of GDP. Moreover, the federal government continues to suffer huge budget deficits which enlarge the national debt and add weight to the international concern.
But you say if the rich are taxed
They work less, they invest less, or differently, and typically that results in less economic output, less revenue for the government, and fewer jobs.
oh yes. Paris Hilton has soooo much to offer.
The aristocrats of wealth have really got you snowed. You believe that they are the inventors, the innovators, the movers of society and economy??
Bill and Melinda Gates are the only super wealthy that I know who use their money to improve the world. Warren Buffett, who gave millions to the Gates foundation said himself that these tax breaks were a mistake.
So burger-flippers (Biff and Muffy) worry about buying gas or paying rent or finding affordable daycare while the Johnson heirs (of J&J) worry about . . what?
Give the blue collar people a living wage. It certainly won't stop Paris from buying another yacht or whatever the hell she wants to blow her inheritance on.
Must conform... must be a good soldier... must repeat the party line... must read only what I am told... must believe only what I am told... it's over, it's all crap, the ultimate strawman. None of it works, Sociologically, economically, politically, it's all crap, this is the worst administration this country has ever partially, democratically elected, they are a complete and utter failure... deal with that and maybe we can talk.
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