Smells Like 1991 from Roxanne - @ Rox Populi 04 Jan 2007 9:53 pm
Wow. Just check out the comment thread here.
2006 Mid-Term Elections archives
What Kind of Money-Grubbing Asshole Would Sell His Autograph to Fans for 30 Bucks a Pop? from Roxanne - @ Rox Populi 16 Nov 2006 8:03 pm
Dear Left/Liberal/Progressive Consultant Class: from Roxanne - @ Rox Populi 15 Nov 2006 4:53 pm
[Iraq War] [ MESS '0' POTAMIA (with apologies to Jon Stewart)] [ Leftopia] [ 2006 Mid-Term Elections] [ 2008 Elections]
Unlike so many others in Blogtopia, I'm not one to automatically cream my jeans each time Howard Dean sputters a handful of nouns and verbs. Yet it seems to me the combination of his 50-state strategy, along with the dozens of other initiatives to get more Democrats elected this year, worked.
Could we have done better? Sure. Fine. Gather the players, rent out a fucking room at the Watergate for a month, hire a Who-Moved-My-Cheese facilitator and figure out how we can improve, based on facts and evidence. And leave the rest of us out of it. This fucking bullshit of prospecting for new clients on the airwaves is boring the fuck out of me and, I suspect, the majority of Americans who put the Dems on top in '06.
There is serious work ahead. Countless lives are at stake. And your unfounded grandstanding is a distraction from ending our long national nightmare.
Write Your Own Caption - #581 from Roxanne - @ Rox Populi 13 Nov 2006 12:16 pm
District Voting Rights from Roxanne - @ Rox Populi 12 Nov 2006 11:21 pm
I'm delighted to read that Nancy Pelosi will be co-sponsoring legislation that could endow DC's Delegate (currently Eleanor Holmes Norton) with a full vote in the House. And I hope those of you in the blogosphere with more power/audience/influence than me will help bring pressure on all members of the 109th to pass this bill.
The District of Columbia is the only jurisdiction in the United States where Americans fulfill all the responsibilities of citizenship but are denied equal rights as Americans living in other jurisdictions. The Americans living in Washington, DC, have no voting representation in Congress: no vote in the U.S. Senate and no vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Military Service: DC’s daughters and sons fight and die for America defending freedom and democracy but have no vote when Congress votes to send them to war.
- Federal Taxes: People living in DC pay the second highest per capita federal income taxes in the country but have no vote on how the federal government spends their money.
- Voting Rights: Concerned American citizens living in our nation’s capital have no vote on important issues affecting nearly every aspect of their daily lives including: health care, Social Security, environmental protection, crime control, public safety and foreign policy.
- Education: Parents, teachers and community leaders have no vote when it comes to shaping national educational policies and academic standards.
- Economy and Business: DC’s business owners and workers are denied a vote in determining how Congress regulates business policy and the economy.
- Law: Local laws passed by locally elected officials are routinely overruled by members of Congress pursuing their own personal agendas without regard for the welfare of DC residents.
Let's end taxation without representation.
Heading-Off the ‘Troops Upset With the Election Results/ New Direction for Iraq’ Narrative from Roxanne - @ Rox Populi 09 Nov 2006 10:29 am
The troops have opinions that span the political spectrum, as this article illustrates:
“I feel like it’s going to be good for our government to re-evaluate our purpose,” Welch said, adding that she was not surprised by Rumsfeld’s resignation. “I never felt our purpose was clearly stated.”
“We’re actually embedded [in Iraq] for awhile,” Gagnon said. “Even with a new government, we’re not going to be able to pull out. And if we do, it’ll just make matters worse. I think it’s going to be a point on just trying to make it better than it is now.”
“The American people have spoken, and a lot of it is to do with what is going on with the war on terrorism and in Iraq. I think it sends a clear message,” said Chief Master Sgt. Mark Gagnon from the 100th Mission Support Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, England.
“The Democrats are more passionate; you figure they’re going to try to do something to expedite the situation in Iraq,” he said. “They’re going to challenge what (President) Bush is doing.”
“[Democrats] don’t support our commander in chief and they don’t support the mission,” said Summerfield, who lives in Rawlings, Md. “Don’t tell me you support the troops if you don’t support the mission.”
“They’re going to want to stay in office,” he said. “So they’ll have to listen to the people. And a lot of people aren’t happy.”
“Unfortunately, Democrats tend to not be as pro-military and supportive of war efforts,” Saunders said.
“And this may provide a better consensus of what we want to do in the region,” he said, referring to the Middle East. He added that efforts to stabilize the region might also gain ground. “I’m happy to see that now there will be more of a balance. I’m always for opposing viewpoints getting their say,” said the sponsor program coordinator for Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station in Naples.
“The Republicans aren’t doing anything right now; let’s give the Democrats a chance,” she said.
“I think they might try and ease up on the deployments, bring some of them back,” said Army Capt. Leon Melton, 38, who is stationed at the 1st Theater Movement Control Agency in Kaiserslautern, Germany. “But it’s easy when you’re not the one in charge to say, ‘Hey, if I was in charge, I would’ve brought them back.’ But now that they’re in charge, will that happen?”
Write Your Own Caption - #579 from Roxanne - @ Rox Populi 09 Nov 2006 12:36 am
Et Tu, You ‘Self-Discredited Drug-Addled Gasbag’? from Roxanne - @ Rox Populi 08 Nov 2006 8:47 pm
Apparently, that ratfucker Rush Limbaugh took a big, fat belly-flop off the Titanic today (third hour):
...There have been a bunch of things going on in Congress, some of this legislation coming out of there that I have just cringed at, and it has been difficult coming in here, trying to make the case for it when the people who are supposedly in favor of it can't even make the case themselves -- and to have to come in here and try to do their jobs. I'm a radio guy! I understand what this program has become in America and I understand the leadership position it has. I was doing what I thought best, but at this point, people who don't deserve to have their water carried, or have themselves explained as they would like to say things but somehow aren't able to, I'm not under that kind of pressure...
[...]
It has been a challenge to come in here and look at some of the weaknesses and some of the missed opportunities and try to cover for them and make up for them and make sure that the opportunities are not totally lost. But at some point you have to say, "I'm not them, and I can't assume the responsibility for their success. It isn't my job to make them succeed. It isn't my job to make elected Republicans look good if they can't do it themselves. It's not my job to make them understandable and understood if they can't do it themselves -- not in perpetuity, not ad infinitum." So all I can tell you is I feel a little liberated, and I think this is all going to result in a lot of cleansing in a number of areas.
[...]
In terms of the conservative movement, without elected conservatism at the top, without elected conservative leadership somewhere, we do run a risk of being diluted. What counters that is that is that the people of this country are basically conservative. I just cited an exit poll in which the voters who voted yesterday think by an 11% margin that the Republican Party is the party of big government. Now, you ask, "How can that happen?" Because, guess who's been running the show for six years with a brand-new entitlement, and all this brand-new spending? The Republican Party, and it has not been a conservative ideology that has run the Republican Party. It's been something absent conservative ideology. Now, where are these future conservative leaders?
Morning in America from Roxanne - @ Rox Populi 08 Nov 2006 7:00 am
And I've got a new banner up to celebrate!
My Predictions - Morning After Edition from Roxanne - @ Rox Populi 07 Nov 2006 5:45 pm
Based on early exits and the awesome turnout in CT and VIRGINIA, I'm going to go with ...
[Thanks Bill!]