AMERICAblog: Steny Hoyer: Don't expect us to be real Democrats
eagleye
· 1 year ago
The vote today to allow Lieberman to keep his Chairmanship of the Homeland Security committee is bothering me on so many levels. But the worst of it is this--
Senate Democrats chose to make nice with Lieberman because they feared that if they marginalized him, then he would not support them with his vote on critical issues in the future. They effectively came to the conclusion that Lieberman is a selfish, petulant schmuck who would put his personal resentments above the best interests of the nation. And then they chose to reward him for being that kind of person.
missyme
· 1 year ago
Lieberman's time is coming. Nobody goes through this life being a hypocrite like Lieberman and doesn't get what's due to them. Lieberman's going to do it again and he will get what's coming to him. He's a traitor. He' s an opportunist. He wants to be a Democrat when it works for him and a Repub when he can take advantage of it. He's nobody's friend but his own. He doesn't care about anyone else.
KarenMrsLloydRichards
· 1 year ago
See? It IS a center-right nation and Steny's gonna make sure the Democrats tack to the right.
eclecticbrotha
· 1 year ago
We have to work to elect more progressives so these impotent leaders can't keep tacking to the right.
Older_Wiser
· 1 year ago
Steny Hoyer is another putz who can't embrace the Rethugs enough. Whoever said, "Right wing, left wing, it's still the same bird" was SO correct.
Corporate rule as usual? Throw some more money at them...it will boomerang back.
1970cs
· 1 year ago
What Steny doesn't appear to grasp is that the people who voted the Democrats into office, didn't do so with the idea that the career longevity of Hoyer, Pelosi, et al.. was the primary objective.
It was about government working for the people, not the corportocracy.
Rab
· 1 year ago
I don't like the fact that the traitor got off but.....let's see if President Obama has something up his sleeve on this piece of shit. I'm not saying I know what it is but there might be a payback coming down the road for old Joe. I'll reserve judgement until then. If it becomes clear it's business as usual then this country is down the tubes because corporate America is in the shitter already and if the Dems give us more of that then it is over...for everybody.
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
2 words....Hoyer-FISA.....
RitornaVincitor
· 1 year ago
NEWS!!
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has fallen further behind Democrat Mark Begich in his re-election bid.
The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trails the Anchorage mayor by 2,374 votes during Tuesday count of 24,000 absentee and other ballots.
It's all about holding on to power. That's job #1. F the people. F doing something decent while you're in there. F making the most of your time. F anything decent, or proper. F anything that gets in the way of job #1. Truth is, if they stand up and show courage, and 'do the right thing' they will keep the job as a side benefit to helping other people. That's who FDR was, that's who the dem party used to be.
Bipartisanship is not about compromise, it's about the R's & the D's teaming up to cover their own ass even if it means screwing the people and the constitution. I don't know how many simpering essays from Democratic concubines I've read as to why keeping Lieberman was shrewd politics. On what planet is making yourself the man's bitch shrewd? Lieberman is a lying back-stabbing Neocon, they think he'll toe their line when they've illustrated there are no consequences for his behaviour?
The Dems gave up any negotiating leverage they had by not even stripping him of one committee seat when he holds two. Now, he knows they'll never have the guts to do a damn thing to him, 60 seat majority or not. What's the difference who the hell holds a majority in Congress? The Democrats will always cower to the Republicans. Or should I say conspire with?
I haven't given a dime to the DNC since 2004 and this whole charade guarantees I never will again.
Jimbo62
· 1 year ago
Obama hasn't even taken office and you and John are already throwing rocks at him and his agenda. Take a freakin Xanax or Valium and calm down. Obama will set the agenda and he may not do everything you like, get used to it. But damn, you folks need to take a deep breath and appreciate what we have and deal with the things you don't get exactly the way you want. Don't be a spoiled rotten kid and take your ball and go home.
EdNSted
· 1 year ago
Sorry, Jimbo but as often as I have disagreed with John, I think he is spot on here. Last week By Tom Engelhardt posted this article that explains, far more eloquently than I ever could, why now is not the time to take the pressure off:
Errata: That should have read "as often as I have disagreed with Joe" not "John".
EdNSted
· 1 year ago
Though, come to think of it, I've also disagreed with John on occasion....
EdNSted
· 1 year ago
Here is the money quote from the Engelhardt post:
"Political Washington is a conspiracy -- in the original sense of the word: "to breathe the same air." In that sense, there is no air in Washington that isn't stale enough to choke a president. Send Obama there alone, give him that "breathing space," don't start demanding the quick ending of wars or anything else, and you're not doing him, or the American people, any favors. Quite the opposite, you're consigning him to suffocation.
Leave Obama to them and he'll break your heart. If you do, then blame yourself, not him; but better than blaming anyone, pitch your own tent on the public commons and make some noise. Let him know that Washington's isn't the only consensus around, that Americans really do want our troops to come home, that we actually are looking for "change we can believe in," which would include a less weaponized, less imperial American world, based on a reinvigorated idea of defense, not aggression, and on the Constitution, not leftover Rumsfeld rules or a bogus Global War on Terror. "
Indigo
· 1 year ago
I agree with you, John. The Democrats are going to have to slug it out in the backroom over this issue. Dialectical materialism does not leap from an extreme right wing accommodation to social responsiblity in one giant step. Centrism is fine, even predictable, but rerunning Reaganism under any guise is absolutely unacceptable. It's understandable that the Stockholm Syndrome will click into place for some of the congress who have been so badly traumatized by the Republicans and their lessez-faire economics that they won't be able to shake off the chains. They'll have to be removed at a later point in the administration's time-line. For now, there they are. In 2010, that issue can be revisted.
RitornaVincitor
· 1 year ago
More NEWS: Blogger Changes Subway Food Chain's Discrimination Policy, Forces Franchisee to Retract Yes on 8 Donation
I end up looking like a dumbass every time I try and secondguess Obama, but certain things have become evident to me. 1) Rachel was right when she wondered out loud why anyone would think Obama is a liberal. He's a centrist. 2) change has been defined by most to mean whatever THEY were hoping change would be. Obama's been saying all along that he's against divisiveness and how Congress hasn't been able to legislate for the people due to partisan bickering. His whole gig has been to eliminate divisiveness and reach across the aisle to obtain a bipartisan solution. His idea of change may be to marry the Democrats and Republicans into one bipartisan body. I wouldn't expect him to approve chastisement of anyone if this is the case.
The thought of this doesn't offend me much. I just became a Democrat this cycle in order to vote for Obama in the Primary. Seasoned Democrats, however, looking for a spine or even payback could be very disappointed in Obama's vision of change.
lafingas
· 1 year ago
Again the old adage holds true, If the opposite of pro is con Then the opposite of progress Is congress!
bwtsang
· 1 year ago
Obama promised to bring change to Washington. Keeping Lieberman as committee chair on DHS is a big IOU to Obama, and also a big gesture to quell divisiveness and partisanship. Let Obama work, even if you do not understand his motives. If Lieberman doesn't "tow the line", there will be consequences...
EdNSted
· 1 year ago
"If Lieberman doesn't "tow the line", there will be consequences..."
Bwahahahaha! Please. Play Three-card Monte much? What you've just seen is the political eqivalent of the Mexican turnover. If you missed it, don't worry. You'll get many more chances in the near future.
porchcow
· 1 year ago
You people crack me up. I'm reminded of a movie called "Force 10 from Navarone," a redheaded stepchild to the classic "Guns of Navarone." Harrison Ford and Robert Shaw had placed several bombs inside a dam, placed there to blow up the dam, which would ultimately allow the emerging water to collapse the bridge that would let thousands of German soldiers enter Allied territory. The bombs blew up, and...nothing. Edward Fox was relaxed, enjoying his pipe, while Carl Weathers was completely apoplectic, wondering why the dam hadn't broken, and the water hadn't knocked the bridge down. Edward Fox told him to wait, and let nature take its course. Slowly, the water began seeping through, the raging water soon knocked the dam down and THOUSAND OF POUNDS of raging river water soon forced the bridge support to collapse. And voila, the bridge fell. What's the point of all this? Obama hasn't even been sworn in yet. Emanuel hasn't even dialed out from his desk yet. Relax, people. Fix yourself a drink, eat a sandwich, do some f*cking thing but let the man take office. Lieberman isn't going anywhere or doing anything Obama doesn't tell him he can.
JASinclair
· 1 year ago
When are these idiots going to realize that there is no fucking "center"? Each move they take toward an imaginary middle pulls the country to the right, when the people (when asked) overwhelmingly want things like true universal health care, regulated markets, higher fuel efficiency standards and environmental policy, a progressive tax policy, antitrust enforcement, labor and civil rights, and so on.
All of their calculating and triangulating does nothing but serve those on the far right... it actually has a lot to do with how the GOP gained and maintained power for so long... let's not forget that the GOP was able to push forward more of its agenda following eight years of Clinton and the DLC's influence than it EVER has, historically.
Each calculated move toward some pretend middle, each attempt to be everything to everyone, drags us down further into the muck.
jasonut29
· 1 year ago
I would hope that Hoyer pulls his head out of where it buried and realize people WANT a change...that's what we voted for and that's what we expect. This is the first time in my life I voted a straight ticket and refused to vote if a Democrat wasn't there. The democrats have been cowards in that past few years but they still offered us more than the Repubicans ever have.
cosanostradamus
· 1 year ago
. This election only did half the job, in removing many Repukelickin's. Anybody who thought they could sit back for four years is clueless. The second half means removing entrenched DINOs, and dragging Washington out of the f*ckin' Bahble Belt. They tip the apparent political scale so far to the Right, the fulcrum seems to fall just short of outright Fascism. That's a false perception created by them and our corporatist media. The real center is right where it is in every other "civilized" country: Democratic Socialism. To be as far left of that as most Repukes are right of it, you'd have to be left of Mao, somewhere out in space.
Take over your local Democratic Party organization, and work your way up. Otherwise, the schmucks who did do that will continue to rule in our one-Party-at-a-time system. If you don't control a Party, you have no voice, once the election noise is over. Just do it. Bring ten friends: You'll outnumber the tired old bastards.
Otherwise, get ready for eight more years of Clintonism, possibly followed by Clinton herself, if Chelsea comes out as a 'Puke, when it's "their turn" again. .
Richard Stanczak
· 1 year ago
As a Canadian I have watched our national Liberal [not really liberal] party become a joke because they did not stand for anything but getting elected and keeping in power. The Dems seem intent on heading down the same path. This 'big tent'/bipartisanship nonsense is code for rejecting whatever your principles might be to try and hold on to power. That whole permanent majority kind of thing. Ask the Rethugs how that worked out. How about providing some competent, responsible government for a change? You might be surprised how that works out.
zzpat
· 1 year ago
I think you have it all wrong.
The vote was secret right? Why? Because they're scared of what the Net can do to them.
From now on, all the major votes coming out of this congress won't be secret and that's how we'll know who to take out.
All Comments
Senate Democrats chose to make nice with Lieberman because they feared that if they marginalized him, then he would not support them with his vote on critical issues in the future. They effectively came to the conclusion that Lieberman is a selfish, petulant schmuck who would put his personal resentments above the best interests of the nation. And then they chose to reward him for being that kind of person.
Corporate rule as usual? Throw some more money at them...it will boomerang back.
It was about government working for the people, not the corportocracy.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has fallen further behind Democrat Mark Begich in his re-election bid.
The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trails the Anchorage mayor by 2,374 votes during Tuesday count of 24,000 absentee and other ballots.
All in good time(2010) Senator Dodd.
The Dems gave up any negotiating leverage they had by not even stripping him of one committee seat when he holds two. Now, he knows they'll never have the guts to do a damn thing to him, 60 seat majority or not. What's the difference who the hell holds a majority in Congress? The Democrats will always cower to the Republicans. Or should I say conspire with?
I haven't given a dime to the DNC since 2004 and this whole charade guarantees I never will again.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175001/no_breat...
"Political Washington is a conspiracy -- in the original sense of the word: "to breathe the same air." In that sense, there is no air in Washington that isn't stale enough to choke a president. Send Obama there alone, give him that "breathing space," don't start demanding the quick ending of wars or anything else, and you're not doing him, or the American people, any favors. Quite the opposite, you're consigning him to suffocation.
Leave Obama to them and he'll break your heart. If you do, then blame yourself, not him; but better than blaming anyone, pitch your own tent on the public commons and make some noise. Let him know that Washington's isn't the only consensus around, that Americans really do want our troops to come home, that we actually are looking for "change we can believe in," which would include a less weaponized, less imperial American world, based on a reinvigorated idea of defense, not aggression, and on the Constitution, not leftover Rumsfeld rules or a bogus Global War on Terror. "
http://www.queerty.com/blogger-changes-food-cha...
The thought of this doesn't offend me much. I just became a Democrat this cycle in order to vote for Obama in the Primary. Seasoned Democrats, however, looking for a spine or even payback could be very disappointed in Obama's vision of change.
If the opposite of pro is con
Then the opposite of progress
Is congress!
Bwahahahaha! Please. Play Three-card Monte much? What you've just seen is the political eqivalent of the Mexican turnover. If you missed it, don't worry. You'll get many more chances in the near future.
All of their calculating and triangulating does nothing but serve those on the far right... it actually has a lot to do with how the GOP gained and maintained power for so long... let's not forget that the GOP was able to push forward more of its agenda following eight years of Clinton and the DLC's influence than it EVER has, historically.
Each calculated move toward some pretend middle, each attempt to be everything to everyone, drags us down further into the muck.
This election only did half the job, in removing many Repukelickin's. Anybody who thought they could sit back for four years is clueless. The second half means removing entrenched DINOs, and dragging Washington out of the f*ckin' Bahble Belt. They tip the apparent political scale so far to the Right, the fulcrum seems to fall just short of outright Fascism. That's a false perception created by them and our corporatist media. The real center is right where it is in every other "civilized" country: Democratic Socialism. To be as far left of that as most Repukes are right of it, you'd have to be left of Mao, somewhere out in space.
Take over your local Democratic Party organization, and work your way up. Otherwise, the schmucks who did do that will continue to rule in our one-Party-at-a-time system. If you don't control a Party, you have no voice, once the election noise is over. Just do it. Bring ten friends: You'll outnumber the tired old bastards.
Otherwise, get ready for eight more years of Clintonism, possibly followed by Clinton herself, if Chelsea comes out as a 'Puke, when it's "their turn" again.
.
Ask the Rethugs how that worked out.
How about providing some competent, responsible government for a change? You might be surprised how that works out.
The vote was secret right? Why? Because they're scared of what the Net can do to them.
From now on, all the major votes coming out of this congress won't be secret and that's how we'll know who to take out.