Where is your party now?
If you ever needed any shred of evidence as to why I refuse to officially affiliate myself with either of the two major parties in the States, the past few days seem to serve as the perfect frame of reference.
Let's start off with the Democrats who proved to be utterly pathetic in handling the recent torture bill. For those that haven't followed the news, this is the same piece of legislation that will allow the suspension of habeas corpus for suspected terrorists.
They failed to mount a filibuster, which is somewhat understandable --- they simply didn't have the votes to do so.
The issue, rather, lies in how the votes fell on S.3930; twelve Democrats opted to vote in favor of the bill. Anyone that believes that this shows that the party is "strong on terrorism" is kidding themselves. This only serves to send mixed signals as to what the party stance is on the issue of torture.
They remained silent for a majority of the time while the bill was being amended and discussed. They had no unified stance on the bill. In short, they're not going win any votes for their stance on terrorism; they're going to lose votes due to their stance on basic human rights.
[On a somewhat related note: This lovely companion piece to the aforementioned bill essentially boils down to the administration seeking retroactive immunity for their actions. Whether or not it has already passed is in question, but this link states that the HOR "passed companion legislation (HR 6054) 253 to 168 on September 27." I don't particularly care what side you're on --- the concept of a sitting president gaining retroactive immunity is quite disturbing. Keep a close eye on this one.]
As we've witnessed time and time again, the Democrats have been given plenty of opportunities to take back the country. We've also witnessed that they consistently fail at every chance they've been provided.
Luckily for them, their gross incompetence in campaigning may not be as large a handicap this election year --- at least, not when the Republicans have taken care of all the work for them.
When you think of the base of the Republican Party, you typically garner a picture of conservatives that care about family values and may hold religious viewpoints.
That's why the Mark Foley scandal may very well be the last straw for GOP supporters. The scandal consists of the former Florida representative sending sexually explicit e-mails and instant messages to an underaged male (transcripts here).
Bonus facts: Foley happens to be the co-chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children Caucus. Six high-ranking Republicans have so far been implicated in the scandal, having known of these exchanges nearly a year ago but failing to act upon them.
To recap, this is a scandal that involves pedophilia, homosexuality, and brazen abuse of power... all of which are major cornerstones of the party. You want to know how bad this is? Just check FreeRepublic for yourself [via FARK]:
Maybe, just maybe, the Republicans will be able to do onto themselves what the Democrats have been unable to accomplish.
Let's start off with the Democrats who proved to be utterly pathetic in handling the recent torture bill. For those that haven't followed the news, this is the same piece of legislation that will allow the suspension of habeas corpus for suspected terrorists.
They failed to mount a filibuster, which is somewhat understandable --- they simply didn't have the votes to do so.
The issue, rather, lies in how the votes fell on S.3930; twelve Democrats opted to vote in favor of the bill. Anyone that believes that this shows that the party is "strong on terrorism" is kidding themselves. This only serves to send mixed signals as to what the party stance is on the issue of torture.
They remained silent for a majority of the time while the bill was being amended and discussed. They had no unified stance on the bill. In short, they're not going win any votes for their stance on terrorism; they're going to lose votes due to their stance on basic human rights.
[On a somewhat related note: This lovely companion piece to the aforementioned bill essentially boils down to the administration seeking retroactive immunity for their actions. Whether or not it has already passed is in question, but this link states that the HOR "passed companion legislation (HR 6054) 253 to 168 on September 27." I don't particularly care what side you're on --- the concept of a sitting president gaining retroactive immunity is quite disturbing. Keep a close eye on this one.]
As we've witnessed time and time again, the Democrats have been given plenty of opportunities to take back the country. We've also witnessed that they consistently fail at every chance they've been provided.
Luckily for them, their gross incompetence in campaigning may not be as large a handicap this election year --- at least, not when the Republicans have taken care of all the work for them.
When you think of the base of the Republican Party, you typically garner a picture of conservatives that care about family values and may hold religious viewpoints.
That's why the Mark Foley scandal may very well be the last straw for GOP supporters. The scandal consists of the former Florida representative sending sexually explicit e-mails and instant messages to an underaged male (transcripts here).
Bonus facts: Foley happens to be the co-chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children Caucus. Six high-ranking Republicans have so far been implicated in the scandal, having known of these exchanges nearly a year ago but failing to act upon them.
To recap, this is a scandal that involves pedophilia, homosexuality, and brazen abuse of power... all of which are major cornerstones of the party. You want to know how bad this is? Just check FreeRepublic for yourself [via FARK]:
The Republicans are finished. They just handed control over to the RATS, because they failed to act when a crime against a child took place and yet they did nothing. I would bet you any amount of money that next week ads depicting the Republicans and their "culture of corruption" are going to show them allowing a known pedophile to continue in his position.To make matters worse that man who took DeLay's position first told the Washington Post that he told Hastert about it this past spring, and then called the WP back to say he couldn't remember if he did tell Hastert after all. THAT made it look like he was covering for Hastert, and was soooo obvious he was lying.
The RATS have obviously known about this for a long time too, but chose to bring it out now to throw the election their way, and it's probably going to work. I wouldn't be surprised to see more victims brought forth by the RAT Party whether it's true or not. The public will believe it.
Hastert should have demanded Foley's resignation and turned the matter over to the police. What Foley did is a crime, and he should go to prison. Hastert and the others who knew a crime had taken place but failed to report it are guilty after the fact, and because it was a child, it's just that much worse. How can we support these guys when their morals are as bad, if not worse than the RATS? We do have a party filled with corruption. They are a disgrace! I'm TOTALLY disgusted!!
Maybe, just maybe, the Republicans will be able to do onto themselves what the Democrats have been unable to accomplish.
posted by Jason at 8:25 PM
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