Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Aftermath, Or Rather, The AfterSocialStudies

About two hours after the networks called it for Brown, Stella, previously closeted back in the office, walked into the den, where I was scouring the web for clues and finding nothing satisfying.

"We're screwed, aren't we?" she moaned. Unlike me, Stella still considers herself a Democrat, and I allow her among all people to refer to me as if I were one. Hence, "we're screwed."

There are a lot of aspects to that question, and as many answers as there are (former) Democrats. Are "we" screwed? Probably so, if "we" are talking about implementing the rest of Obama's presented agenda within the rest of his (almost certainly only) term. On the other hand, I think it is likely that some sort of healthcare reform may be easier to implement now that there is no 60-vote threshold to worry about: Dems will be forced to use reconciliation, or abandon the effort altogether. Maybe a better bill will result. Maybe. What is certain, and what entered my mind immediately after the results were announced, is this: Joe LIEberman woke up with a lot less power this morning than he had yesterday morning. That's no bad thing.

Jane Hamsher and Jon Walker of FDL had several interesting things to say about the future of the Democratic Party and of progressives within it. I recommend both entire posts, but here are a couple of quotes that struck me:

Joe Lieberman was personally responsible for killing the public option/Medicare expansion in the Senate bill.
The good news? Nobody needs Lieberman’s vote to pass either one any more. The non-budgetary “fixes” like banning the exclusion of those with pre-existing conditions have already passed the Senate. A public option — or an expansion of Medicare — can be added through reconciliation, which takes 51 votes. The Republicans certainly had no fear of using reconciliation when George Bush was in office. ...

- JH

The party out of power can always run on stopping what the party in power is trying to do. That is often part of their job as the opposition party. Letting the Republicans obstruct, or claiming that Republicans have obstructed the Democrats’ ability to govern only makes the GOP look better organized and more powerful.
,,,

The party in power must run on their accomplishments and point to those accomplishments as a down payment on other promises they will fullfill if they are allowed to stay in power. You must deliver something to the voters and hope they like it. If Democrats can’t run on their record of passing legislation that makes positive change in people’s lives, they will suffer terribly in 2010.

 - JW
Well, golly gee whiz... old-fashioned political due diligence. Who'd a thunk it.

OK, Democrats, quit yer bellyachin'. OK, Somethings, it's time to shoulder the load Democrats seem to have found too heavy. Forget bipartisanship. Indeed, fuck bipartisanship. It's time to get some work done. If people wanted a free comedy show, they'd watch broadcast TV, not your sorry, chaotic farce in Congress. It's time to stop pretending you have an audience and start doing your jobs.

2 comments:

  1. Yes, Traitor Joe's loss of clout is the one good thing to come out of this entire debacle.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mad, it must be; I can't think of any other good outcome.

    ReplyDelete

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