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Archive for the ‘Democrats’ Category

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was quick this past week to accuse the Democrats of ‘fanning the flames’ of voter discontent by blaming the GOP for recent threats against 10 House Democrats. The Democrats, on the other hand, have been complaining for a very long time (since the 2008 Presidential campaign) about GOP collusion with extremists that resulted in multiple threats to President (then candidate) Obama’s life.

Indeed, threats of violence to 10 house democrats and vandalism to multiple Democratic headquarters across the country seem related to dangerous rhetoric by the GOP.  Such rhetoric included Sarah Palin’s cross-hair map symbols targeting Democratic districts and telling her supporters to ‘reload’. House Minority Leader Boehner was quoted as calling someone a dead man and referred to the health care vote as ‘armageddon‘.  Not only that, but extremist threats made were not limited to law makers. In fact, threats directed at the 10 Democrats extended to their spouses, and even, their children.

Cantor’s outrage at the Democrat’s alleged politicization of the threats is disingenuous at best. House Republicans received one call and an alleged incident at Congressman Cantor’s campaign office – none of which was serious enough to warrant police protection.

Democrats, on the other hand, before and after the vote were spit on, called racial epitaphs, and harshly criticized for their sexual orientation. These incidents, coupled with the vandalism and threatening phone calls,  were serious enough to prompt the FBI to investigate and for Democrats to receive police protection.

Adding insult to injury, Democrats were beginning to see a more pronounced problem with their GOP colleagues both in the house itself and on the capitol lawn during the health care debate.  GOP law makers, live on C-SPAN, cheered on a disruptive tea party protester who was ejected from the gallery of the house during the health care debate, unfurled a ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flag (now usurped by the Tea Party as their flag) to a jubilant crowd of Tea Party protesters outside, and participated in a plethora of Tea Party protests leading up to the health care vote, even sponsoring some of them with Fox News close behind.

But the crowning achievement of the GOP during the health care debate was when Abilene Congressman Randy Neugebauer interrupted Rep. Bart Stupak during debate on the house floor to call him a ‘baby killer’ for supporting the health care bill publicly (shown in this footage):

For all those tempted to say ‘both’ sides are at fault, both sides own some of the responsibility for outrageous and unprofessional behavior on the House floor or by Tea Party extremists, ask yourself this question: Have the Democrats spit on anyone? Have Democrats told their followers to ‘reload’ in reference to a renewed campaign against a bill? Have Democrats called the President a liar in national TV during a speech to a joint session of congress? Have the Democrats called anyone a ‘baby killer’?

All extremists that call for violent opposition to a democratic form of government or threaten the lives of people because they disagree with them are shameful and dangerous – plain and simple. There is no place for them in our society.

Any law maker, that fans the flames of discontent by cheering on extremist protesters that disturb a house vote, call for the physical replacement of a Democratic member of congress at a Tea Party rally, or side with Governors that threaten to secede from the Union, is an embarrassment and should be censured (at a minimum) or perhaps even prosecuted under federal law (at a maximum).

It is time for the GOP to calm the dangerous rhetoric of the past year. I’m sure they will continue to disagree with Democrats and that is fine. That disagreement in an open and public forum for all to see is what Democracy is all about. Dangerous rhetoric that prompts violence is not.

Representative Alan Grayson has done something really very interesting. He has side stepped Health Care Reform as they fight about a public option and introduce his own proposed bill called the Public Option Act. This 4-page bill is simple: allow all Americans to opt-in to Medicare if they want to! Simple, straight forward, and doable. I like it.

Read more about it here and sign up to tell congress to pass it!

This is a great compilation of JFK press conferences that are funny.

Here’s a disgusting recap of Joe Lieberman’s Democratic attacks over the past year.

The Obama team, famously Tight-lipped during the transition period to the Presidency, has let slip a potential Secretary of State Candidate: Senator Hillary Clinton – or have they? One could probably go insane trying to decipher the politics of this situation. A shrewd person might postulate that the Clintons may have met with President-Elect Obama and then let the rumor slip from their camp – to either seal or blow the deal.

In contrast, Obama’s team may have let this slip to seal or blow the deal. There is probably no way for any of us to know for sure. One thing is certain: the Obama transition has become a lot more interesting overnight.

In all likelihood, the correct answer is none of the above. Obama has rightly earned the nickname “no drama Obama” for a reason. After all, Obama had no forced commitment to Clinton.  Clinton, on the other hand, has no reason to play politics with this. 

Instead, it could be a planned leak by the Obama camp to test the waters – both in the Clinton camp and in the public forum. Reportedly, however, there is also some discussion that Senator John Kerry is being considered for the post.

Obama’s first transition appointment, Rep. Rom Emanuel, seems to be somewhat tame in comparison to all this. His appointment, however, is far from tame. Rep. Emanual’s appointment to the position as President-Elect Obama’s Chief of Staff, is widely considered a politically savvy decision by Obama. Emanuel is a respected member of congress by both sides of the aisle. 

As chief of staff, one of his principal duties will be to help push Obama’s legislative agenda through Congress. Since Rep. Emanuel was the primary reason that NAFTA – an unpopular piece of legislation – was pushed through a Democratic-controlled Congress early in the Clinton Administration, it seems Obama’s choice was a wise one.

Grab your favorite snack and drink and prepare for a long election night! Lots of House and Senate seats are in contention. Lots of ballot measures to watch. Of course, the election of our next President gets top billing! It is still not too late if you are an Obama supporter to help make calls to swing states and others! Go to http://my.barackobama.com and register. Once done, you can call for Obama from the comfort of your own home! It’s really easy – I know – I just did it myself! I even convinced a self-proclaimed racist to vote for Obama! How about that?

Seemingly above politics, Senator McCain vowed to suspend his campaign, travel back to Washington, and help lead the fight to straighten out the mess with the $700 Billion bailout. There was one small problem – he needlessly complicated matters instead of resolving issues.

Candidate McCain injected politics where they didn’t belong – in a national crisis. Obama, on the other hand, was reluctant to endorse the involvement of he and McCain directly in the meeting at the White House fearing that the temptation was too great to politicize the issue. He was right.

Yesterday, a bipartisan effort by Democrats and Republicans in the Senate produced a bill that both parties agreed to but contained important wording that the Democrats had demanded – to protect the American people – and not to simply “rescue” Wall Street. This bipartisan effort all parties agreed was needed – including candidate McCain – was thwarted at the last minute when McCain and House Republicans arrived at the White House.

McCain, who led a delegation of House Republicans to the White House meeting, proposed a completely different idea that the Senate Dems and Republicans had not seen or considered. McCain’s shameless actions helped throw a virtual agreement into shambles and helped interject just enough time to let yet another major financial institution fail: Washington Mutual.

McCain’s actions have further endangered the well-being of the economy, aided in the collapse of another major financial institution, and helped to further divide the House and Senate. Furthermore, in doing so, McCain was not even honest about his claims of suspending his campaign. According to the MSNBC, a check of all McCain campaign headquarters revealed that it was business as usual for the McCain campaign. None of the offices were closed and none of the advertising McCain claimed to have pulled from the airwaves was actually stopped.

This was pure political drama – plain and simple. John McCain should be ashamed of himself.

This is an enormously important issue demanding urgent action. All John McCain could do was attempt to politicize the issue for his own benefit.

NOTE: Refer to the interview with Rep. Rahm Emmanuel (D-Ill) explaining just what happened at the White House.

Tonight on Countdown, Rachel Madow put it best: They lie. Who “they” you ask? Republicans present at the Republican Convention, of course!

Barack Obama, according to Palin, never wrote a law, wants to raise your taxes, and has less experience than her. Obama, of course, has written laws, has promised to cut taxes on the middle class and raise them on the top 1% of the wealthiest people in the country, and has more practical experience than Palin.

Lies.

Palin, according to pundits and even herself, fought corporate lobbyists, sold an airplane on Ebay, and said “no thanks” to the infamous bridge to nowhere.

Lies.

Romney, in his speech, told Al Gore he needed to start saving the environment by grounding his private jet. One problem, Gore doesn’t own and has never owned a private jet. Ooops.

Lies.

McCain, who decided that arguing against change is a bad idea has attempted to co-opt Senator Obama’s message of change. McCain, with little fervor, proclaimed he was the candidate of change and that he and Governor Palin represent the true chance at change in Washington since they are both Mavericks.

Lies, lies, lies.

It never ceases to amaze me that the attendees at the Republican convention can lie so easily. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised – they’ve had a lot of practice over the years.

Democrats do not say this often or loudly enough: we are the party of Kennedy and Roosevelt. Two Presidents that came into office inexperienced and changed the world. Each with their own incredible foreign policy struggles: JFK had the Cuban Missile Crisis, Berlin, Vietnam, etc. And Roosevelt had WWII (not to mention the great depression). Neither would fit the description of experienced leader according to today’s Republican Party.

Yet, each of them applied their great talents to forever change our world in a very substantive and positive way. I am reminded of them every time I see the Republican party pull Ronald Reagan out of their collective hats. Why don’t Democrats do the same?

Jefferson, Kennedy, Roosevelt, Jackson, Madison, Wilson, Truman, Johnson, and Clinton are just a few of the great Democratic Presidents that served our country.

Collectively, they gave us the:

• National Convention process
• party platform
• League of Nations
• Federal Reserve Board
• direct election of senators
• Civilian Conservation Corps
• WPA
• Social Security
• Marshall Plan
• NATO
• integration of the military
• Peace Corps
• Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
• Moscow Hotline
• Civil Rights Act
• Voting Rights Act
• medicare
• peace treaty between Egypt and Israel
• Deficit Reduction Act of 1993 (took us from $290 Billion deficit to a $200 Billion surplus)

Democrats have always supported low- and middle-income Americans, women’s rights, civil rights, and a whole littany of social issues that help everyday Americans.

So when Republicans pull Ronald Reagan out of the closet, don’t forget to remind them there were a few great Democrats out there too.

SIDEBAR: This web site has an excellent and humorous comparison of Democrats and Republicans throughout history. Take it for what it is folks.

Despite the conservative media’s attempts to paint the relationship between the Obama camp and the Clinton camp as contentious, the Clintons have delivered both since the primary season ended and at the Democratic Convention. Interestingly, the media would have us believe that Senator Clinton’s speech was a snub to the Obama camp and that she didn’t really grovel quite enough for the Obama faithful.

This is, of course, hogwash.

Senator Clinton and President Clinton both delivered highly complimentary speeches that aimed at the very heart of Democratic concerns: unity.

Neither dissed Obama nor did Obama snub Clinton as several media personalities on MSNBC, CBS, FOX, and other networks tried to assert.

Even more importantly, the Clintons have worked very hard to support the Obama camp and promise to deliver more of the same throughout the election cycle.

Given the strength of the Obama campaign and Clinton campaign machines, this has to scare the bejesus out of the Republicans.

Naturally, their response is to divide the Democrats by any means necessary.

Sorry guys, that won’t work this time. Voters are way too angry to let the Republican scare tactics and divisive policies fool them this time.

It’s going to be an interesting election season.

SIDEBAR: Eric Boehlert wrote an excellent article on the press and their potential reaction to Clinton’s speech. It’s worth a read.