• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Never forget that he train is barreling down on Trump, even as he dances on the tracks.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Come on, man.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

I was promised a recession.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / War on Terror / War on Terror aka GSAVE® / The Fix Is In

The Fix Is In

by John Cole|  February 14, 20082:11 pm| 21 Comments

This post is in: War on Terror aka GSAVE®, Democratic Stupidity, Outrage

FacebookTweetEmail

Speaking of cynicism, it is worth remembering that John McCain is not the only member of Congress to repeatedly stab the American people in the back (how do you Republicans like that accusation thrown back in your faces?). Numerous Democrats, including the despicable Majority Leader Harry Reid, have been in on the game:

TURLEY: Well it‘s not just Republicans. In case you noticed, there‘s more than 31 Democrats in the Senate. But only 31 people voted against the immunity provision. The fix has been in for some time on the unlawful surveillance program and the torture program.

Many Democrats and Republicans were aware of the program and they are actively helping the White House to try to shut down any confrontation on the issue. And this is also helped by the fact that the telecoms are one of the five most powerful lobbying forces in Washington. And many of these members have close ties to those lobbyists.

Turley also singles out Clinton for her cowardly refusal to participate in the vote:

TURLEY: Well it‘s going to be harder to get this cat to walk backwards once you grant immunity. The question about the next president is a good one. But you‘ll note that in the vote on immunity, Hillary Clinton didn‘t even show up to vote. She was in the area campaigning. Her opponents, McCain and Obama showed up.

But it really, I think, is symbolic of this disconnect between—here you‘ve got someone who is campaigning for the president of the United States, making pitches of civil libertarians, but even doesn‘t show up when she‘s in the neighborhood to vote against telecom immunity. And I‘m not just dumping on her. The fact is that there‘s been a lot of—really duplicitous work being done, by both parties, to shield what has been a very fixed deal from the beginning on telecoms.

The rest is just a rehash of what you already know. Reid needs to go, and that should be the first order of business after the elections.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Wow.
Next Post: Laws Are For Little People »

Reader Interactions

21Comments

  1. 1.

    borehole

    February 14, 2008 at 2:20 pm

    Since our democracy’s being warped beyond repair by “superdelegates,” can we make Chris Dodd a “supersenator” or something?

    Reid makes me fucking sick. Nice to see Jon Stewart kick his ass last night.

  2. 2.

    Evinfuilt

    February 14, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    Next year, Dodd will be Senate Majority Leader. Leiberman will no longer hold any power, and cats/dogs will live together in perfect harmony.

    Well, at least I hope so. Dodd has definetly earned the support of this nation. He did more than Reid ever could

  3. 3.

    D-Chance.

    February 14, 2008 at 2:51 pm

    borehole Says:

    Since our democracy’s being warped beyond repair by “superdelegates,” can we make Chris Dodd a “supersenator” or something?

    Veep.

  4. 4.

    gypsy howell

    February 14, 2008 at 2:54 pm

    This is part of why I can’t puke up more than lukewarm support for Obama (hey! at least he voted! but beyond that… pffft) and I’ll have to hold my nose to vote for Hillary in November, but only because McCain will DEFINITELY be worse.

    I don’t have too many illusions that either one of them has any intention of walking this mess back. I can only hope (oh there’s that word again) that we don’t go further into the abyss.

    Everyone keeps talking about what TWO GREAT candidates we have. I don’t really see it, myself. And shit like this is why.

  5. 5.

    Elvis Elvisberg

    February 14, 2008 at 3:06 pm

    Reid needs to go

    Agreed. He must raise incredible amounts of money, or be a really swell guy to have a sandwich with, or something, because there’s no apparent reason from a legislative perspective why this guy should be running anything.

    Also, John, dunno if it’s intentional, but there’s no link link to the thing you’re quoting in this post.

  6. 6.

    Svensker

    February 14, 2008 at 3:08 pm

    Not usually one to defend Hillary, but I’m pretty sure she was in Texas during the voting. It would have been nice if she made a big deal about coming back to vote on the issue, i.e., led on it, but flying all the way to vote on something that was definitely going to go down… Obama gets a half a star, since he was in town anyway.

  7. 7.

    borehole

    February 14, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    Correction: I was drifting off when TDS was on, and I really wanted to see Stewart kick Reid’s ass again, so I went to the Comedy Central site–turns out it was actually Specter’s ass being kicked.

    Y’know that gauzy place between wakefulness and sleep? I’m got fucking Reid hanging out in mine. I’ve gotta tamp down the political awareness a little.

    D-Chance: Really? If it’s a split Senate, maybe, otherwise we’d just be putting one of our only real fighters in a position of total impotence. Unless you’re thinking of going with the Cheney precedent of veep-as-puppetmaster, in which case I am so totally down wit dat.

  8. 8.

    Tsulagi

    February 14, 2008 at 3:14 pm

    If this also passes the House with the telecom immunity and gets to The Tard in current form, another reason for me not to register as a Democrat. And while it certainly wasn’t my biggest issue, it’s the last straw that will keep my checkbook closed to politics for the remainder of the year. An email address I had linked to past contributions that now collects hundreds of solicitations, newsletters, invitations, and other crap will be going on sternly worded auto-reply.

    I’ve had it with these people. The only difference between the previous Republican Bush rubber-stamping Congress and the current one is the Democrats have limper wrists when applying the stamp. But I do appreciate irony. These assholes got me to contribute and vote for Bush and his party by going through the Democratic back door. Fool me once….

    Vote Democratic! Because when you think capitulation, shouldn’t it really be painless and spine free? They see the big picture.

  9. 9.

    binzinerator

    February 14, 2008 at 3:14 pm

    No Obama gets a full star. He voted against telecom immunity.

    That’s what matters.

  10. 10.

    Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill

    February 14, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    I’m pretty sure she was in Texas during the voting

    Nope, she was in town at the moment the voting came down.

    I don’t count her out at all. I’ve seen how tough the Clinton’s can be (although I suspect a lot of it their National success is Carville & Begala’s work). But I will say she’s starting to look damned desperate.

  11. 11.

    Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill

    February 14, 2008 at 3:19 pm

    Obama gets a full star. He voted against telecom immunity.

    3/4ths? He wasn’t there for the final vote, because by that point, it was definitely useless.
    As I told one person, better he get back to getting elected, than to stay for what was, by that point, a foregone conclusion.

  12. 12.

    LiberalTarian

    February 14, 2008 at 3:37 pm

    Reid needs to go, and that should be the first order of business after the elections.

    And by skipping the vote, HRC lost my support for her being majority leader.

    Times they are a changin’. They’re getting fucking worse.

  13. 13.

    mike in dc

    February 14, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    Hey, my Torts professor’s on Countdown again. Yay.

  14. 14.

    Don

    February 14, 2008 at 4:52 pm

    Woodrow – Turley can state she was in town but all indications are to the contrary. She’d been expected to lose all two and a half states and as of Monday evening she didn’t have any local appearances scheduled. BILL Clinton was in town campaigning on her behalf but I saw no announcements of HRC appearances leading up to or on the day of.

    That said, that’s no fucking excuse in my book. It’s her damned job to be there for votes and if she can’t handle that then she should step down so she can devote herself to campaigning.

  15. 15.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    February 14, 2008 at 4:54 pm

    Dodd or Feingold would be fine with me! Reid might be the worst Dem Majority Leader in my lifetime.

  16. 16.

    jcricket

    February 14, 2008 at 5:05 pm

    Dodd or Feingold would be fine with me! Reid might be the worst Dem Majority Leader in my lifetime.

    We need a good parliamentarian. Dodd might be. Feingold is a good Senator, but I don’t know anything about his tactical abilities.

    We’re gonna be dealing with a 53-55 seat Senate majority, so we’re gonna need an arm-twister and filibuster-breaker. Someone who delights in making Republicans squirm and wishy-washy Dems commit.

  17. 17.

    Hypatia

    February 14, 2008 at 5:59 pm

    Dodd or Feingold would be fine with me! Reid might be the worst Dem Majority Leader in my lifetime.

    Won’t be Feingold. Dodd would be great, though. As for the worst (Democratic division) in my lifetime, Reid will have to duke it out for the title with Tom Daschle.

  18. 18.

    Birdzilla

    February 14, 2008 at 9:26 pm

    The demacrook party and the imerial CONgress

  19. 19.

    conumbdrum

    February 14, 2008 at 10:22 pm

    Reid needs to go, and that should be the first order of business after the elections.

    Reid should be stripped of his Majority Leader status, voted the hell out of office, run out of Washington on a rail then bitch-slapped until he cries.

    Some people think it takes balls to cut them off… and way too many of those people are currently wasting space as Congressional Democrats. Harry Reid went the extra mile and had his spine surgically removed as well. Fucking tool.

  20. 20.

    Conservatively Liberal

    February 15, 2008 at 2:08 am

    Reid should be stripped of his Majority Leader status, voted the hell out of office, tarred and feathered, run out of Washington on a well sanded rail then bitch-slapped until he cries.

    Fixed better.

    Reid has a spine like a Slinky and folds like he works at a dry cleaner. He is the weakest link. I would prefer Dodd in the position as I think he would be far better suited for the job than ol’ Dirty Dealing Harry.

    I agree, an Obama/Dodd ticket would be great!

  21. 21.

    goatchowder

    February 17, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    No, Lieberman needs to go, along with enough Republican Senators to provide at least a real majority and maybe a supermajority in the Senate, and that should be the first order of business BEFORE the election.

    Reid is hamstrung. He doesn’t even have 50 votes! Remember, Lieberman is running the Senate right now, not Reid. This is because all Lieberman needs to do is put an “R” in front of his name and Reid loses his job. He has Reid by the balls.

    His seat isn’t up for a while, though, so we need to replace a bunch of R Senators, enough so that Reid actually gains power. If he fucks that up, then yeah, dump him. But we haven’t yet seen what his “leadership” would actually entail, because he hasn’t been given it yet by the voters.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • Ken on Henry Would Like His Lunch Right Now, Please (Open Thread) (Apr 15, 2024 @ 2:57pm)
  • Joelle on Sunday Night Open Thread (Apr 15, 2024 @ 2:56pm)
  • Mr. Bemused Senior on Henry Would Like His Lunch Right Now, Please (Open Thread) (Apr 15, 2024 @ 2:55pm)
  • Geminid on War for Ukraine Day 781: A Brief(ish) Sunday Night Update (Apr 15, 2024 @ 2:54pm)
  • Sister Golden Bear on Henry Would Like His Lunch Right Now, Please (Open Thread) (Apr 15, 2024 @ 2:53pm)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!