[quote]State Sen. John Giannetti was waiting for his take-out order of Italian food at a Maryland restaurant on Monday when he saw a man choking. He rushed over, performed the Heimlich maneuver and dislodged a chunk of seafood – saving the life of his political rival.
The choking man, Jim Rosapepe, is challenging Giannetti in the Democratic primary for the suburban Washington district.[/quote]
I somehow imagine that had they been Republican primary candidates, at least one of them would have been shot in the face. I’ve heard that’s how things are handled in GOPland.
[quote]State Sen. John Giannetti was waiting for his take-out order of Italian food at a Maryland restaurant on Monday when he saw a man choking. He rushed over, performed the Heimlich maneuver and dislodged a chunk of seafood – saving the life of his political rival.
The choking man, Jim Rosapepe, is challenging Giannetti in the Democratic primary for the suburban Washington district.[/quote]
I somehow imagine that had they been Republican primary candidates, at least one of them would have been shot in the face. I’ve heard that’s how things are handled in GOPland.[/quote]
MFGR, this is why no one buys your line in IP. Your committed brother.
Do you disagree that Democrats are undone by their inability to seize political advantage in a crisis? If 9-11 had happened during a Democrat administration, the poor suckers would have actually been encouraging the United States to pull together in a united response to al Qaeda and Islamic extremists.
It was hilarious to see the sad NRCC attempt to make a short Star Wars-themed video in which the GOP portrayed itself as the embattled rebels fighting against the awesome might of the Democratic party. It was as if the GOP had utterly forgotton that they’ve got three branches of the government sewn up.
As Stewart aptly pointed out: “If we’re gonna do the Star Wars analogy, the Democrats are Ewoks. At best.”
Speaking for myself, I quit supporting them when I realized they were more concerned about “seizing political advantage” than with doing the right thing.
Speaking for myself, I quit supporting them when I realized they were more concerned about “seizing political advantage” than with doing the right thing.[/quote]
“I quit supporting the Sandinistas when they took my families business, stole our farm, shot my Father and told me I was going to be next.” – quote to me personally by a Nicarauguan in Miami, 1983.
Sometimes ya just have to be hit by the hammer to pay attention to whats hapening.
Speaking for myself, I quit supporting them when I realized they were more concerned about “seizing political advantage” than with doing the right thing.[/quote]
You’re quite right about the Republicans, and I think that it’s precisely what’s costing them so much now. You’re not alone in giving up on the Republicans for spending their time grandstanding instead of fighting the war.
The GOP were glad to use 9-11 as their favorite poltiical prop. The 2004 Republican convention was held in New York, delayed as much as possible to ensure that it would be closer to the 9-11 anniversary. Bush used 9-11 in his campaign ads, used 9-11 in pretty much every speech, etc. The “Mission Accomplished” flight-suit stunt in which Bush strutted about in a costume in front of actual servicemen and women was the nadir of this effort but, by no means, its end. When given a chance between scoring cheap points against an administration critic and (as you put it) “doing the right thing”, Bush’s White House was glad to take the low road and “out” a key weapons-proliferation expert in the CIA.
While the Democrats thought the U.S. was in a struggle against Islamic extremists, the Republicans were consistently engaged in a war against the Democrats.
The Democrats tried hard, a bit too hard, to get along with the Republicans – or else how else could they have tried to vote in such stanky laws as the Patriot Act? How else could they have given Bush so much of a free pass at various points throughout his miserable conduct of the war. Sure, it would have ultimately been “popular” (check out Bush’s latest poll figures to see how roundly disliked he and Cheney are) to oppose Bush, but the poor Democrats – to the detriment of their political scrapping skills – tried to be cooperative during wartime.
There were likewise oodles of Contra attrocities if you’d paid attention. I heard quite a few from El Salvador through Nicaragua and Guatemala. Then again my mate Sylvia, who was a leftist assassin in Argentina, said the soldiers there were such old-fashioned nice boys they never dared check a lady’s bag, which was fortunate, cos that’s where she kept her gun when she was out popping Peronists.
Of course she only started doing that after being raped and narrowly avoided murder, unlike six of her classmates, by graduates of the CIA school of silly bullshit.
No faction has a monopoly on evil. Drop your flags and open up to humanity fer fecksake.
Hey HG, it was good catching up with you the other weekend. Gave me an excuse to get out of the house. New lady seems nice. Good luck with the next step.
The Dems are facing the same problem all social democratic parties are up against at the moment - clarity of message in a world that has forgotten the lessons of the 1930s. It’s a hard sell.
Speaking for myself, I quit supporting them when I realized they were more concerned about “seizing political advantage” than with doing the right thing.[/quote]
You’re quite right about the Republicans, and I think that it’s precisely what’s costing them so much now. You’re not alone in giving up on the Republicans for spending their time grandstanding instead of fighting the war.
[/quote]
I have never been a supporter of the Republican Party, I used to be a Democrat. It’s quite obvious that Bush is costing the Republicans support, but if the alternative is the Democrats, I could care less if the Republican Party sinks or swims. An old punk zine put it best…
[quote]The GOP were glad to use 9-11 as their favorite poltiical prop. The 2004 Republican convention was held in New York, delayed as much as possible to ensure that it would be closer to the 9-11 anniversary. Bush used 9-11 in his campaign ads, used 9-11 in pretty much every speech, etc. The “Mission Accomplished” flight-suit stunt in which Bush strutted about in a costume in front of actual servicemen and women was the nadir of this effort but, by no means, its end. When given a chance between scoring cheap points against an administration critic and (as you put it) “doing the right thing”, Bush’s White House was glad to take the low road and “out” a key weapons-proliferation expert in the CIA.
[/quote]
No argument here… Since the thread was what’s wrong with the Democrats, don’t forget Kerry’s plan to send MORE troops to Iraq. He was using his war-hero image to head us down the same wrong road, but further and faster. So Bush (perhaps thanks only to shady mudslinging) beat Kerry out in the Macho Idiot catergory. Big deal.
I will grant you that the Democratic Party may be the stupider of the two. I never argued that they weren’t inept or inneffective as politicians (like you originally suggested), only that I stopped supporting them because they are wrong, nearly every bit as wrong as the Republicans, which perhaps is really only a condemnation of two-party politics.
(There are a few politicians from both parties who are all right. Some libertarians, like Paul (TX), seem like they might have their heads on half-straight, Chaffee and McCain could be a lot worse. Democrats like Conyers, Feingold, and McKinney seem like real patriots. But exceptions do not rules make.)
Well when you put it that way, I guess they do sound a lot like the Vichy Gov’t… :beatnik:
[quote=“guangtou”]
The Dems are facing the same problem all social democratic parties are up against at the moment - clarity of message in a world that has forgotten the lessons of the 1930s. It’s a hard sell.[/quote]
Clarity of message or clarity of purpose? I can’t speak for any non-US parties, but with the Democrats I really suspect it’s the latter.
:bravo: