The Democrats will be just fine in 2008 because the Republicans reelected all the leaders who brought them to disaster in 2006.

They learned nothing from their kick in the ass. Not a damn thing.

The only thing that can save the GOP in 2008 now is a Presidential candidate with very long coattails.

The choice really boils down to the lesser of two evils (as I noted previously).

Both Murtha and Hoyer represent the Democratic party that lost control of Congress back in 1994. Having Hoyer as Majority Leader puts the Democratic House right back to 1993.

Hoyer has never met a lobbyist he doesn't like. Same old, same old.

Yes, I couldn't agree more. Though the Democrats are reverting back to 1994 and getting into bed with the lobbyists, so at least the playing field is level on this score!

If they learned anything, they learned that their forray into liberal spending cost them their conservative base. McCain, even though I'm not a fan of his, hit the nail on the head when he said that the Republican Party lost its way and as a result, lost control.

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843rd Bomb Wing - Strategic Air Command
"Peace is our Profession"

"Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine. . . . Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants.
" - James Wilson, U. S. Supreme Court Justice and Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution

I am not surprided - this is typical Democrat behavior - and I am not saying that as a bad thing...at least they are not simply following cue.

It does however certainly say volumes about the next few years - Pelosi will have every bit as much resistance with the Dems as she will with the Pubs.

BTW - you do know who has the power in the Senate?...Lieberman...you gotta love it!

Hoyer has never met a lobbyist he doesn't like. Same old, same old.

Not exactly. Hoyer plays well within the rules. He's never even come close to being investigated for corruption. Murtha has been skating the line for 30 years, avoiding the perp walk only through consummate skill and dealmaking.

Hoyer is a lobbyists' best friend(although Murtha is far, far worse, getting more lobbyist money than even Tom Delay), but he doesn't come close to doing anything illegal and he's not a thug. Murtha threatens other lawmakers and stabs his own party in the back frequently.

If they learned anything, they learned that their forray into liberal spending cost them their conservative base. McCain, even though I'm not a fan of his, hit the nail on the head when he said that the Republican Party lost its way and as a result, lost control.


Blunt is a big spender. Boehner is less so, but he's hardly Ronald Reagan. Pence and Shadegg were outstanding candidates who could have turned the party around.

BTW - you do know who has the power in the Senate?...Lieberman...you gotta love it!


Yeah, but look how well Reid is finessing Lieberman. Lieberman is getting all the ass-kissing he wants from his colleagues. In exchange, he'll most likely go along with everything they want except on the war.

Reid's a solid Majority Leader. He'll have no problems with the 51 votes he commands, at least on domestic issues.

I think you are likely very accurate in your scenerio-- although I think Pelosi knew ahead of time that she couldn't help Murtha win. but she owed him the effort.

If I remember right, in the past I said somerthing like "Wait and see" "REPEAT"heh heh

(And I've been even more accurate than I expected to be.)

Looks and sounds like the "Good Old Boys Club" is still alive and well..

Is Pelosi in control or just made to think that she has power while the power is still in the hands of the "Good Old Boys Club"???

Even the liberal darling of the press, and Socialist Reformatory Newspaper, the NY Times.... called Pelosi out about her picks to "end the culture of corruption."

All she did was prove to the voters who helped get her where she is (and who believe that there was corruption) that this is another:

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" situation.

End corruption?

She placed an impeached and disgraced justice as chairman of INTEL (No less, where all agree that improvements need to be made) and wanted the sleaziest sitting Senator for the top leadership spot.

An end to the culture of corruption?

Looks like Pelosi is out to set new records by establishing the most corrupt in the highest positions of power.

I wonder how far the Clintons will go to distance themselves from her now?

Amusing stuff.

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You seem to be (1) jumping the gun on committee assignments, and
(2) giving Pelosi more influence than warranted.

The Intel chair is yet to be determined - Even if Pelosi caves in to the CBC and backs Hastings,
the majority of the rank and file will vote for Harman.

I will give you the benefit of the doubt in your meaning to type
" Representative ", not " Senator ".
And I would hardly consider Murtha the sleaziest, not by a longshot.
That ABSCAM imbloglio was dug up by Hoyer to assure his victory.
Even among Democrats, politics can be a cut-throat affair.

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Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

Both. The Congress has latitude in determining the definition of what exactly constitutes " high crimes and misdemeanors ".
Obviously, false statements in a civil proceeding don't reach that level.
I think that Congress will be more amenable to actions, or the lack of same, which caused military casualties.

I have the feeling that those willing to fall on their swords for this administration are shrinking by the hour. Notwithstanding the fact that Bush will just pardon those who do. Bush must be the target of every investigation.
My apologies to the OP for taking this thread way off topic.
Fini-[/quote]

Well, alrighty then!

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Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

I think the Dems missed an opportunity by not choosing Murtha. He's like that old coot in the Quaker Oatmeal commercials whose face you trust. He served in the military in 5 different decades and when he came out swinging last year about the scandal in Iraq, the Democratic party actually looked to that and decided that they should actually start doing their job and obstructing this incompetent president.

Steny Hoyer.....who the hell is that? What if we don't like him? Murtha, like McCain or Biden, is popular with moderate people who watch tv. Murtha has people's trust already, and he sure would hold this president's feet to the fire, as any leader of the opposition must, so it just seems weird that the Dems went with protocol and tradition instead of giving Murtha, a name we know and sort of recognize already, a chance.

Yeah ... the scandal in Iraq .. the one that Murtha indicated was a massive conspiracy and that Marines had tried to coverup their actions .... Murtha jumped the shark on that issue and was wrong --- and all just to win the majority house leadership ..

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"I miss the days when they made toys that could kill a kid."
- Jerry Seinfeld

I have not always agreed with Harman, but from what I have read she is for the most part even handed...and untainted...despite the aipac criticism..


The obvious candidate for the position is California Rep. Jane Harman, currently the committee’s ranking Democrat and one of the party’s leading figures on intelligence matters. But reports emerged shortly after the elections last week that Pelosi could select to bypass Harman and appoint someone else. For example, this report in the Post: “Pelosi has nursed a well-publicized grudge against her fellow California Democrat because she believes Harman has not been a tough enough critic of President Bush on security matters, while using her ties to the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee to lobby for the chairmanship.” Then, just a few days ago, the Post reported that “Pelosi has also all but decided she will not name [Harman] to chair that panel next year, a decision pregnant with personal animus”.

Harman has been backed by the conservative Blue Dog Coalition (of which she is a member), according to The Hill. The Blue Dogs put it this way: “Both our Caucus and Party have counted on Congresswoman Harman to answer forcefully and credibly to partisan critics who have questioned Democrats’ commitment to protecting our nation.” And the L.A. Times agrees, defending Harman’s record and arguing that she is “an expert on intelligence matters who has won the respect of both parties while criticizing some of the Bush administration’s excesses in the war on terror”. She “has earned this chairmanship”.

So what’s going on here? Why won’t Pelosi appoint her to the position?

She may be too moderate (or not anti-Bush) enough for some, including Pelosi, but her record is clear. One excuse is that “her rotating membership on [the committee] is about to expire”. But such term limits “don’t apply to the chairman and ranking member” and “can be waived” regardless, and “the independent 9/11 commission called in its recommendations for longer tenures on congressional intelligence panels as a way of fostering continuity and institutional memory”. Harman has the “institutional memory”. She has the respect of her colleagues. She has the experience for the job. But no. For it seems that the forces of personal and identity politics have combined to bring her down.

The L.A. Times refers to “the Harman-Pelosi rift” and suggests that Harman “may be insufficiently partisan in Pelosi’s eyes”. Bob Novak noted yesterday that some of Pelosi’s critics “worry that her decision making may be distorted by personal considerations,” and he refers to Harman as Pelosi’s “rival diva from California,” which may be sexist but also true.

All of which is bad enough. This is no time for personal politics, even if Pelosi is determined to establish her authority in the House (and over her own party). It’s one thing to want your allies (like Murtha) in key positions, quite another to reject the most competent candidate for the committee chairmanship as important as this one. Given how grossly incompetent Bush and the Republicans have been with respect to intelligence, the Democrats’ priority with respect to how they conduct themselves in power should be, well, competence. Pelosi may not like Harman, but personal differences ought to be put aside in favour of the national interest, not to mention Democrats’ self-interest as the new majority party.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com...int.php?p=9094

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Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.

Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

H. L. Mencken


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