Because it’s an “Open Letter,” presumably I can blockquote freely and shamelessly. Bill in Portland Maine on Daily Kos does not have high hopes for the new Congress:
Dear Congress,
Let’s get this out of the way right now: I think you’re gonna suck balls.
I base my opinion on your performance during the previous administration, and I see no reason to change my mind just because y’all have a bunch of new members and America has a new president.
It’s all so predictable. With virtually no exceptions, Republican members will continue insisting that the policies of shitting on the little guy are the only ones that they’ll support, and Democratic members will continue to give these idiots serious thought and consideration in the futile hope that we can all just get along. In essence, you’ll continue governing as if we are a “center-right” nation, which we most assuredly are not.
You’ll continue to act quickly on things that should be acted on slowly, and you’ll act slowly on things that should be acted on quickly. You’ll insult our intelligence, waste our money (or, rather, waste our grandchildren’s money since you spent ours and our kids’ long ago), give plenty of face time to the rich and powerful, and collapse at the mere hint of a filibuster threat.
I know you want me to believe you’ll do things differently, but that’s like Lucy promising Charlie Brown that she won’t pull the football away—for real this time. Uh huh. George Bush may be the worst president ever, but at least he was right when he stammered, “Fool me once shame on you. Fool me…can’t get fooled again.”
I know I’m being a tad negative, but can you blame me? You authorized the Iraq war, legalized warrantless wiretapping to make Bush’s illegal wiretapping retroactively legal (that was a neat backflip), agreed that habeas corpus was disposable, wasted floor time condemning MoveOn.org for exercising its freedom of speech, took impeachment off the table, failed to notice the collapsing economy, and wouldn’t even allow the government to use its power to negotiate lower drug prices. You failed us and failed us and failed us. Collectively you’re a bunch of irresponsible opportunistic whiny ether-sniffing assface sissypants bedwetters until such time that you prove through your deeds that you’re not.
I’ll close on a happy note in the interest of bipartisanship: nice shoes.
Hugs,
Billy
No, he’s not wrong. It’s a realistic view of the Democratic Congress, if not enormously bitter and cynical. But then, this is the feeling of dread a free marketeer such as myself felt when Bush came into a Republican Congress. We got nothing, because Bush assumed the country was center-left on all things economic.
I think it misses the point of what kind of President Obama might be. Is there no expectation (or, er, hope) that Obama might be a tad like Reagan in his method of communication, ready to cash in on personal popularity so as to steer the Congress in the direction he prefers? I think it entirely within Obama’s grasp.
I do hope that Obama will reverse course on our interventionist foreign policy, the Patroit Act, our mindless and racist war on drugs, the contracting freedom of speech via the FCC and DMCA, etc. He can, but will he? He’s already backing the same Bush policy of tax-cut-and-increase-spending, after all.
Here’s a better question: If the Republicans are abhorrent, and the Democrats won’t deliver, what are you going to do? Keep voting Democrat?
Wow, the nice shoes are really on the other feet now.
First, I’ll wait and see what actually happens. Much as I enjoyed that cynical post, I’m a long, long, long way from the “Obama has betrayed us!” crowd.
As far as voting, here is the problem. The Congressional Republicans coupled with the Bush administration were an utter fucking disaster for the country. If the Democrats just hold the country steady and don’t even improve it, that means they are “better” even if they are not “good.” (We’ll see if that’s in fact the case; I’m still hopeful even if skeptical.)
So, what’s the rational voter to do? At this point, probably encourage and hope for a good candidate (of libertarian philosophy, perhaps) to run for and win in the primary of one of the two major parties. Vote your heart in the primary, vote the lesser of evils in the general, is my approach to voting. The problem, as always, is that you have screwed yourself if the Bad candidate beats the Less Bad candidate because you have voted for the Good candidate.
Nah- Bush refutes the “lesser of two evils” theory, especially for me as a fiscal conservative. Al Gore and then John Kerry were supposed to be the Bad fiscal candidates, with Bush the Less Bad.
Oops.
Well that’s just poor math! I seem to recall Bush claiming he’d govern like Reagan. That means gargantuan budget deficits. I can understand thinking that Democrats are not fiscally conservative enough. But I think you’re just getting hoodwinked if you think that disciples of Reagan are going to be more fiscally conservative than the Democrats and lay off the spending after they get their tax cuts.
Thanks for the shoutout!
Just a quick note to clarify: My post didn;t mention Obama at all. This isn’t about him. It’s about Congress, both Dems and Republicans, and how they both ignore fundamental realities and end up looking like idiots.
I hope I’m wrong, I really do. At the same time, I refuse to get my hopes up like I did after we won the majority back a couple years ago.
Cheers! Bill
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Wow, a big Kos type celebrity in these parts. I love the Internet! And to be clear, I didn’t read you to be in the Obama-has-betrayed-us crowd. I just kind of drifted.