Hooray!

[omnirook]

:banana: The Republicans have lost control of the House; they might lose control of the Senate. They have lost many statehouses. I am thrilled! I'll cum if the Republicans lose the Senate!

To show that I am not entirely an ideologue, I was glad that the Republican in Tennesee retained his seat. Anyone who campaigns by quoting the Bible and praising Jesus - as the Democrat, Ford, did endlessly - is not somebody that I want in office anywhere, even in the "Bible Belt." If, as is likely, he's just playing to his audience and is a closet atheist/agnostic, he's an obvious full-of-shit cheat - and politicians should not be obvious, full-of-shit cheats; that is insulting to the minority of the public who have (minimally) working brains. If, as is possible, he actually does believe that the Bible has something to do w/God and that Jesus was God incarnate, well, he is an idiot, a mental defective whose granite skull has managed to protect his ineffectual brain from absorbing - just about everything that his eyes have ever shown him, just about everything that his ears have ever told him. Idiots and politics do not mix - or should not.

The best part: Dubya cannot effectively maintain that the public are w/him. The best part of the best part: Dubya might have no choice but to eat crow and jetison Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld might have to "retire for personal reasons." Good. Bush we are stuck with - better him than Cheney (who really runs the country, but he cannot take credit for doing so, which, on some level, at least has to pinch if not hurt, fuck him!).

[Jasz]

i am curious what will happen in virginia with such a close call, i am sure it will take many weeks ..

[Stoned_Rider]

Such are the benefits of living in a free democratic country eh? All the best ;)

[omnirook]

Do I expect sweeping, fundamental change? No. Of course not. However, there will be a marked change in tone. That is what counts, really. The public do not really have much of a say in how things are done - never have, never will - but at least w/the Democrats, Augustus' maxim about humoring the public, treating common people well, is understood as the best way to govern effectively.

[MacGuffin]

RECOUNT!!!!!!

[omnirook]

i am curious what will happen in virginia with such a close call, i am sure it will take many weeks ..

The fight is likely to be protracted and viscious. Let's [see] how quickly the (Republican) Supreme Court takes to rule that the counting must be stopped and a winner declared ... Sad, sad, sad - the Congress will not get to reject any more Bush SC nominees. It would be good to see Bush spend the next 2 years being frustrated at every turn - "NO!" He's a baby who does not like the word "no" - it's time that he grew up and understood that the President of the United States is not a king, that he must play nice w/his EQUALS in the Congress. This gets a deep groan of pleasure from me: the House "holds the purse strings" - let the Democratic House do what the Republican House did to Clinton: shut down the government until it gets its way.

[MacGuffin]

let the Democratic House do what the Republican House did to Clinton: shut down the government until it gets its way.
That didn't go so well in the court of public opinion for the Repubs.

[Jasz]

i am still amazed how things changed under bush where republicans were/ are the ones spending/ cutting taxes/ increasing the deficit - they totally dissed the fiscal conservatives because there was a perception that the social conservatives alone could bring them victory

[omnirook]

That didn't go so well in the court of public opinion for the Repubs.

No - but they kept control of the Congress nonetheless. Dubya has 2 years to guarantee that the Democrats take even more seats in the next General Election. Given his stubborn, stupid, obstreperous past, I think it highly unlikely that he will learn to play nice w/a Democratic Congress. He is convinced that he is right - and, as his long-ago college room-mate pointed out 7 years ago - there is nothing on earth that can change his mind once it has been made up. Somebody like that needs - impeachment, trial, conviction, and disgrace. If I could have what I truly want: Dubya would be the 3rd US President to be impeached, the first to be convicted, the first to be removed from office, and the first to serve a very long stretch for "high crimes and misdemeanors." That would go a long way in reparing the havoc that this imbecile has wreaked upon this country and the wider world.

[C.J.Woolf]

The best part: Dubya cannot effectively maintain that the public are w/him. The best part of the best part: Dubya might have no choice but to eat crow and jetison Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld might have to "retire for personal reasons."
I like the sound of "retiring to spend more time with his minions." (See The Onion, "Rumsfeld Hosts No-Holds-Barred Martial Arts Tournament At Remote Island Fortress" (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30496))


The fight is likely to be protracted and viscious. Let's how quickly the (Republican) Supreme Court takes to rule that the counting must be stopped and a winner declared ...
One positive thing: Webb is ahead right now. Unlike Bush vs. Gore, merely freezing the vote won't do it for the GOP.

But even if Webb wins, look for Lieberman to go over to the Republicans.

[bclark619g]

Omnirook, you're being too hard on Bush. Come on, he created the Homeland Security Department. This is going to be the greatest government spending vehicle since the New Deal. You've gotta love that. Think of all the programs that can be covered by that umbrella. Plus, now Bush will get his amnesty program passed for the immigrants that are falsely labeled illegal.

Personally, I hate the term Homeland, it sounds un-American to me. But I'm biased because I fought the Evil Empire in the early eighties from the safety of a ballistic missile submarine.

[C.J.Woolf]

Personally, I hate the term Homeland, it sounds un-American to me.
I agree. If my German is correct, it translates into Heimatsicherheitdienst, which sounds ominous. Given the German habit of contraction, it would probably be called the Heisich (pronounced "High-sick").

[omnirook]

i am still amazed how things changed under bush where republicans were/ are the ones spending/ cutting taxes/ increasing the deficit - they totally dissed the fiscal conservatives because there was a perception that the social conservatives alone could bring them victory

Politicians, no matter their stripe, criticize spending only when they are the ones who are not saying how the spending is done. Reagan is a classic example: he criticized Carter no end for being a "tax and spend Democrat." When he got into office, he took the spending to then un-heard of, un-dreamed of (in the sense of a nightmare) levels, making Carter look like Scrooge. Always, I ignore the opposition party when it comes to their attacks on spending. As for conservatives - the sincere minority have my sympathy: they do believe what they say; trouble is, what they say will never amount to more than rhetoric and campaign slogans in practice; the full-of-shit majority of "conservatives" - fuck them, they are far worse when it comes to spending than any Democrat ever was: rather than "waste" money on programs for the poor, they hand it to the rich by the barrell full and blow it at geometrically progressive rates on taking care of their corporate cronies.

[omnirook]

Omnirook, you're being too hard on Bush. Come on, he created the Homeland Security Department. This is going to be the greatest government spending vehicle since the New Deal. You've gotta love that. Think of all the programs that can be covered by that umbrella. Plus, now Bush will get his amnesty program passed for the immigrants that are falsely labeled illegal.

Personally, I hate the term Homeland, it sounds un-American to me. But I'm biased because I fought the Evil Empire in the early eighties from the safety of a ballistic missile submarine.

If he had created a program that was going to help the poor, no matter how ineffective and wasteful it was in practice, I would feel better toward him. Instead, he has created a corrupt police state where the worst corporate cronyism is - business as usual. One bomb after another has been foisted on the public: the voting machines (2 of the 3 providers openly Republican partisans, the other probably a quieter Republican partisan), and the "privatization" of what should never have been privatized. For instance, "feeding" the troops. Now it costs billions every year to do what it used to cost NOTHING to do - nothing except for the actual cost of the food. I do NOT approve of the privatization of government services - not even if it saved infinity to the infinity power of money. The government cannot openly belong to corporations - no, the mother-fuckers will have to settle for silent ownership - as they have since Hamiliton rammed the anti-public, pro-elite slate through at the end of the 18th Century.

[jijin]

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) released this statement on the two uncalled races:

Both Jon Tester and Jim Webb have won their races in Montana and Virginia but want to make sure that every vote is counted. We expect to have official results soon but can happily declare today that Democrats have taken the majority in the U.S. Senate.

Montana Vote Situation: Jon Tester leads Conrad Burns by approximately 1,700 votes (as of 11am EDT) and counting. In Silver Bow County (Butte), a Democratic stronghold, votes are still being counted but Tester is winning there with 66% of the vote. We expect to gain the majority of these uncounted votes and to add to Tester's margin.

Montana Process: When the counting phase is completed, a canvass will verify the vote tallies. That process could take as long as 48 hours, and must begin within three days and end within seven. Unless the canvass shows the margin to be within ? of 1%, there is no recount. As the loser, Burns would have to request the recount. When the votes are all counted, we expect to be outside that recount margin.

Virginia Vote Situation: Jim Webb is up by approximately 8,000 votes and once the provisional ballots are counted, we expect Webb's margin to increase. (Please note that VA absentees were included in the tallies from last night.)

Virginia Process: A canvass is underway to verify the results and we expect that process to finish within a day or so. To be in recount, the margin needs to be less than 1% and Allen (as the loser) would have to request it. Because of Virginia voting laws, the margin would have to be much tighter than it currently is to see any change in the outcome. Given the current margins, that is highly, highly unlikely.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/11/8/11169/6462

[bclark619g]

If he had created a program that was going to help the poor, no matter how ineffective and wasteful it was in practice, I would feel better toward him. Instead, he has created a corrupt police state where the worst corporate cronyism is - business as usual. One bomb after another has been foisted on the public: the voting machines (2 of the 3 providers openly Republican partisans, the other probably a quieter Republican partisan), and the "privatization" of what should never have been privatized. For instance, "feeding" the troops. Now it costs billions every year to do what it used to cost NOTHING to do - nothing except for the actual cost of the food. I do NOT approve of the privatization of government services - not even if it saved infinity to the infinity power of money. The government cannot openly belong to corporations - no, the mother-fuckers will have to settle for silent ownership - as they have since Hamiliton rammed the anti-public, pro-elite slate through at the end of the 18th Century.

But the voting machines are to protect the poor, arthritic Democratic Party members, primarily in Florida, from incorrectly voting for the wrong candidate. Are you going to stand in the way of progress and allow the Republicans the opportunity to steal the election from Hillary Clinton?

I mean the Constitution has been around for 200 or so years and we all know it should allow for rule changes immediately when a party determines that it won the popular vote. ;)

[Lurker]

Virginia and Montana will most likely go to the Democrats - the recount is almost a formality; considering that both Democrats have significant enough leads, I'm not worried a bit about it.

And Omnirook, :cheers:

[omnirook]

I like the sound of "retiring to spend more time with his minions." (See The Onion, "Rumsfeld Hosts No-Holds-Barred Martial Arts Tournament At Remote Island Fortress" (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30496))


One positive thing: Webb is ahead right now. Unlike Bush vs. Gore, merely freezing the vote won't do it for the GOP.

But even if Webb wins, look for Lieberman to go over to the Republicans.

Lieberman is a piece of shit. Too bad this country is not as corrupt as it seems: Lieberman could have had a nice, quiet end, say a "massive heart attack" - or a "slip in the shower" - even a "lone madman" w/a knife or a gun would have done. He would have been dead, and the world would have profited from it. Yes - Caesar was right: better to pay to have one man knifed in an alley than to allow 100,000 to suffer because the one man is a piece of shit - a 2-faced, lying piece of shit. I knew that Lieberman was garbage when he did not resign his Senate seat to run as Gore's VP candidate. No, he's a bet-hedger, which means that he believes in - himself and only himself and nothing else. If the country took a dramatic turn to the left - as it will eventually - the pendulum always swings back - he would pose as as a modern day Timothy Leary. Fuck him. And I hope that Connecticut suffers to the point of revolution under their beloved sack of shit, Joe, "I'm a Democrat in name only" Lieberman.

[Lurker]

But the voting machines are to protect the poor, arthritic Democratic Party members, primarily in Florida, from incorrectly voting for the wrong candidate. Are you going to stand in the way of progress and allow the Republicans the opportunity to steal the election from Hillary Clinton?

Bitter, eh? Nice way to take it out on people you consider to be unworthy.

Did you ever think about the fact that maybe some near-blind, arthritic senior citizens deserve to vote as much as you or anyone else? And oh, by the way, poor arthritic citizens come in the Republican variety, too.

The point is to record the intent of the voter any way possible - since that's what voting is all about.

[C.J.Woolf]

No, [Lieberman's] a bet-hedger, which means that he believes in - himself and only himself and nothing else. If the country took a dramatic turn to the left - as it will eventually - the pendulum always swings back - he would pose as as a modern day Timothy Leary.
True. I'm hoping he'll recognize which way the wind is blowing and stay with the Dems. But I believe he is a sincere Republican sympathizer. Hell, he's smitten with Bush. His position on the Iraq war and his lips' position attached to Bush's ass should have been political suicide. That wasn't bet-hedging. Ignore all the rest; I think that is the real Lieberman.

Pretty soon we will see just how much Bush Kool-Aid Joe drank.

[nottaprettygal]

But even if Webb wins, look for Lieberman to go over to the Republicans.

Wait. Why? He said that he was going to be a part of the Democratic Senate caucus. Are the Republicans going to lure him over to their side with the promise of candy and young pages?

[Rhu]

So, I was reading this post,

[justifiable disgust at the panderings of politicians]

I thought, "Blowing off steam is good," but then it was followed by:


And I hope that Connecticut suffers to the point of revolution under their beloved sack of shit, Joe, "I'm a Democrat in name only" Lieberman.

And I decided that I want to dissolve political parties altogether. This sounds like you are setting the selfish motivation aside and claiming that individualism is a good reason to hate someone. Even if a person is in all other ways unspeakably vile, I'd be at worst indifferent about the idea of setting aside group identification in order to accomplish a goal.

[bclark619g]

Bitter, eh? Nice way to take it out on people you consider to be unworthy.

Did you ever think about the fact that maybe some near-blind, arthritic senior citizens deserve to vote as much as you or anyone else? And oh, by the way, poor arthritic citizens come in the Republican variety, too.

The point is to record the intent of the voter any way possible - since that's what voting is all about.

Back to Sarcastic Writing 101 for me. I was really just pulling Omnirook's chain. Everyone who has the legal right to vote is worthy in my view.

My other beef was that the rules are in place before the election and to then cry foul because the rules aren't in your favor, in this instance, is silly. The electoral college has been how the president is elected. The popular vote is just another statistic--like using median price of a home rather than the average price of a home. The median explains nothing unless the average price of a home is known. The popular vote doesn't mean anything except to elect the membors of the electoral college. And each state has its own rules on how that works.

[Pescaphile]

I'm very pleased to see the fascists rebuked. But the same must happen again and again (to the party in power) IMO.

If these rascals keep getting thrown out, I think we'll see some independent thought come about rather than just "towing the party line".

Edit: I just heard that Rumsfeld has resigned and that the Senate is now evenly split. Things keep getting better.

[Melody]

in my usual promotion of google

http://news.google.com

[AllAboutSoul]

Rummy is gone:smooch: and NBC just called it for Webb :banana:

[Fierys]

Yeah i'm in virginia, I cant vote yet, but it would have went to webb. This election has been pretty crazy, and surprisingly alot smoother than the last one(i was expecting some major rigging:think:). Major change to the senate and house, should be interesting seeing the conflict between the two and dubya. Rumsfeld wasn't who I was expecting to leave, but I had a feeling if democrats took it someone would quit.

[omnirook]

The Democrats have the Senate. Lovely!

Commentators on the news have been saying that they believe that the public at large is sick and tired of political squabbling. Bullshit. Political squabbling is even more entertaining than celebrities cheating on their spouses, breaking up w/their mates, misbehaving in general. Our system was designed to create and maintain squabbles!

It is my sincere hope that the newly elected Democratic majority in the Congress will be able to shove the Bush Administration onto its knees and turn our swaggering, John Wayne-like (not!) leader into a simpering eunuch who oozes accomodation like the high-priced whores that he and his father are. Will that mean gridlock? Good if it does! No more swings to the right; no more swings to the left. The few remaining human beings in our society will be able to catch their breaths and begin to live normally again.

[omnirook]

I did a little dance when I heard that Rumsfeld was gone.

I'm 6'3" tall and weigh 280 pounds - I must have been a sight!

Rumsfeld thought that he was Napoleon. He was more like Hitler (in this sense only) - a military nincompoop who would not listen to his generals - except the nincompoops, like Franks.

[Stoned_Rider]

I quite liked what some Republican said during a televised BBC debate recently: Fine, we're willing to work with the Democrats. We are willing to put certain truths aside and work with them. Just to show everyone that they live in a fantasy world! :D