Maybe my discharge petition idea was nuts, but with Boehner paralyzed it really might be our one way out of this mess. Plus the Democrats have warmed up to it in a hurry. The key targets of this strategy have not changed so check this post to see if you live in an especially key district. However, regardless of where you live, every district matters. Tell your Rep to think of the country and help end this mess.
(Sorry for the formatting. On the road ATM and blogging with wordpress on an iPhone 4 is agony)
ETA: back home, fixd.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
I called my Republican congressman and told him to stand firm against the Kenyan usurper because the fate of America depended on it. They sounded kinda down at his HQ so I ended the call with a pep talk:
I am gonna fight. It’s easier for me, because I’ve done it before. The rest of you are gonna have a tougher choice. I’m not gonna sell it, it’s too ugly for that. These people don’t want Obamacare. For them this is some place, for us it’s our home. When you fight in your backyard it makes just a little more sense, and hurts a little less. Wolverines!
May God bless America.
gogol's wife
Sorry — what was your discharge position? I keep waiting for a comment to come up so I’m oriented.
gogol's wife
Okay, I read the TPM story. It looks good, if only because having the Democrats show they’re trying something helps the “narrative.” But I doubt there are enough Republicans willing to sign on. Do it anyway.
I have all sane representatives, so no point in my calling anyone.
Omnes Omnibus
@gogol’s wife:
Pep talks and attaboys are nice.
BGinCHI
I predict this discharge will land where the others have: on the cold hard ground.
catclub
Those 20+ GOP votes (plus signatures) are mythical.
srv
We can’t give up now when we’re this close to winning.
Omnes Omnibus
@catclub: Then they will be on the record as being down with the Tea Party. It is a put up or shut up moment.
BGinCHI
Does anyone else think that at this point ending the shutdown by this method would be doing the GOP a favor?
Villago Delenda Est
@catclub:
This, I fear, is reality.
Any sane Rethugs are in mortal fear of a teatard primary threat. Not one of these assholes has the moral courage to do the right thing, because they’re so in love with their jobs, and the perks associated with them.
Boner is setting the example for them. It may be a stupid example, but it’s being set, and they’re following like the pathetic authoritarian lickspittles they are.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: Smothering the GOP in its sleep would be doing it a favor at this point.
Tone in DC
@catclub:
It’ll be good for everyone to see the vote or votes (and not just on C-SPAN). This debacle is getting more valid attention than I thought it would. People are seeing who the cause is. Rafael, Stockman and friends need to own this.
It has a 10-1 shot, I think. The g00pers won’t want to vote for it, and neither will a handful of alleged Democrats.
Roger Moore
@Omnes Omnibus:
Fixt for more irony.
Omnes Omnibus
@Tone in DC: I would love to see Pelosi crack the whip on this one.
@Roger Moore: Amendment cheerfully accepted.
The Dangerman
Self immolation attempt (he apparently failed) on the National Mall:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2013/10/04/police-responding-to-report-of-man-on-fire-on-national-mall/
beltane
@Roger Moore: Drowning the GOP in a vat of tea would be most appropriate under the circumstances.
NotMax
Using this backdoor approach will immediately (if not sooner) be spun into “The Democrats are bypassing and subverting the legislative, representative process and undermining the will of the people” and “They’re cowards who are trying to ram through their unAmerican agenda.”
As desperate and woeful as those examples are, expect them. Hope the Ds have responses at the ready.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: Literally.
Comrade Dread
The discharge petition won’t work because there aren’t 20 moderate Republicans. They all want this and push comes to shove, they’re not going to break with their Party.
Villago Delenda Est
@srv:
Thank you for your input, Senator Paul.
Elizabelle
@BGinCHI:
Yeah, I don’t want to see the GOP “saved” to pull something even worse within weeks.
They need to learn a lesson.
Tim F.
@NotMax: You must not get many tea party mailers. Republicans say that whenever Obama says, does or doesn’t do anything at all.
Villago Delenda Est
@NotMax:
There’s only one problem with that scenario.
It’s too complicated to be put on a bumper sticker.
Therefore, it’s fail as a way to communicate with the teatard base.
“Stop the ni*CLANG*” is about as complex as it can get with these people.
Ash Can
@BGinCHI: How so? It’s not only a way to end-run Boehner and his TP masters, it’s yet another way to portray the TP as the dangerous radicals that they are and Boehner as the failure as a Speaker that he is. Especially since it’s a Dem initiative, it portrays them as the adults in the room that they are. And — most important of all — if they pull it off, the bottom line is that the hostages will have been freed, thanks to the House Dems and whatever sanity they will have been able to squeeze out of the GOP. I’m not seeing the downside.
Villago Delenda Est
@Elizabelle:
Overly optimistic, I believe.
WereBear
@The Dangerman: Dear god. I hope we find out what is wrong with these people who have apparently decided on suicide in DC.
catclub
@Tone in DC: “It has a 10-1 shot, I think. The g00pers won’t want to vote for it, and neither will a handful of alleged Democrats. ”
If there are Democrats who will not vote for it, it is likely 1,000,000 to 1 against. If there are such, they have not made a peep so far.
Tim F.
@Ash Can: Reps who side with the Dems might as well switch parties. Cough.
? Martin
Discharge petition isn’t nuts. It adds another variable which Boehner now needs to manage. He’s already juggling chainsaws and the Dems are about to toss another live one in. More chainsaws would be welcome.
Villago Delenda Est
@? Martin:
Just make sure they’re rusty and have no lube.
It’s not enough for Boner to be beaten. He needs to suffer.
Matt McIrvin
It’s probably not gonna work, in and of itself, but it’s another way to turn up the heat on Boehner and counter the claim that the shutdown is somehow Democrats being obstinate.
Tone in DC
@Elizabelle:
These wingers don’t learn. That’s the problem.
They live in a fact free zone, and ignore any and every inconvenient truth they come across (the “unskewed” polls from 2012, the effect of the last debt ceiling drama on the American full-faith-and-credit rating, the NRA reaction to Newtown). They really do scream “LALALALALA I can’t hear you” with their fingers in their ears.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est:
He will. There is no way he comes out of this well.
? Martin
@catclub:
Maybe. But there won’t be 20 signing on. It’ll be 150 or none. This is the Dems offering the non-tea partiers a way to clearly identify themselves. They’ll either jump on board as a group, hoping that all of the blame for this goes on the tea party, or they’ll decide that they’ve got a better shot staying the course. They won’t themselves fracture. If only 20 go, they’ll get destroyed by the party – it’s a suicide move and they know it. If a lot of them go, they’ll be safe, and they’ll have the numbers to blame the tea party. Again, the majority of the caucus will stick together – it’s own little Hastert rule variation.
Villago Delenda Est
@? Martin:
That, right there, is the central problem.
Do they dare defy the teabaggers? Do they dare invite a challenge from a loon in a primary system that favors lunacy?
This is the dilemma of the relatively sane Rethugs, noting that they are “relatively sane” in the same sense that Albert Speer was.
BGinCHI
@Ash Can: I would agree if I thought the media will play it this way. I’m afraid they’ll portray the whole thing as “not such a big deal.”
We need to get everyone on the same page, and that page reads: The Tea Party is Fucking Nuts and Dangerous.
Roger Moore
@beltane:
Dumping the teabaggers into Boston Harbor? I still insist in the name of poetic justice that Grover Norquist be drowned in his bathtub.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
IMHO, the people who need to learn a lesson here are those people who think the role of the Democratic Party is to make it safe for people to vote Republican.
Omnes Omnibus
@Roger Moore:
Dumping toxins in the ocean is bad.
BGinCHI
Almost 40 comments and no “oily discharge” comments?
I barely recognize you people.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: Win.
Roger Moore
@Elizabelle:
Sadly, they probably aren’t capable of doing so.
Tone in DC
@Omnes Omnibus:
Good one.
dmsilev
@Roger Moore:
After all that work cleaning up the pollution? Are you mad?
PopeRatzo
Get this: right-wing radio is now reporting this very story as a victory for Republicans. Apparently, they believe this is a capitulation by Democrats to negotiate tax reform and budget reduction. I don’t get it, either.
But I’m not joking. I heard the same story, repeated by none other than Grover Norquist (who is running around trying to become relevant again, because no budget crisis can happen if the Grove-meister isn’t conducting). Two different shows, do different stations – both wingnut – and the same story that “cooler heads are prevailing and the Dems have been “forced to the table”.
Fuckers.
Chat Noir
@Omnes Omnibus:
/polite golf clap + LOL
BGinCHI
@PopeRatzo: Color me unsurprised.
beltane
@Roger Moore: I was thinking something along the lines of #7 on this list: http://listverse.com/2012/06/25/top-10-bizarre-deaths-of-the-middle-ages/
Baud
@PopeRatzo:
That may be a good sign. Maybe the GOP media has gotten the word to make it safe for Republicans to sign on to this thing.
? Martin
@Villago Delenda Est:
Well, not all of them are at risk from such a challenge. Hell, roughly 20 of them are planning on retiring anyway – my GOP Rep is one of them. But yeah, the guys in tight districts are walking a tightrope – which is the bigger risk – the tea party primary, or having this around their neck for the general? Every day the risk moves a little bit more from the former to the latter.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
I think as long as we’re in a shutdown, we may as well try to make it last as long as possible. There’s no guarantee we’ll get another giftwrapped fuckup from Republicans to exploit. I think the Senate oughta add background checks to the existing CR they passed. That’ll only make it more popular.
Suffern ACE
@PopeRatzo: o.k. But they were going to do that in FY14 as part of the normal process of passing spending bills and yeah, tax reform was on the to do list.
I don’t know whether to let them have this victory or not. It’s like proclaiming victory because the House is going to have Republicans chair its various committees until such time that Democrats are in the majority.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
No. The people who need to learn a lesson are the ones who think letting the Republicans destroy the country will somehow lead to a big Democratic victory. That only worked under Bush because the Republicans had complete control over the government and no plausible way of shifting the blame onto the Democrats. With a Democratic President and Democrats nominally in control over the Senate, anything really destructive will be blamed on both sides no matter how much it really is the Republicans’ fault. Meanwhile, we’ll all be suffering the damage from Republican policies, even the people who have been fighting their asses off to stop them.
Baud
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:
I personally guarantee will have at least three more before the next election.
Baud
@Roger Moore:
Who are you talking about here?
Ash Can
@BGinCHI:
I see what you’re saying, but I have a hard time seeing how they’d be able to portray the story of the government reopening as not a big deal. Now, if you mean that the media are likely to downplay the role of the House Dems in ending the hostage situation, that I can see. But I doubt that even at their MBF best they’d be able to ignore the role the Dems played. As for portraying the TP as dangerous wackos, I still think the very nature of the story would do that, although I’d certainly acknowledge the likelihood of the fact that this “sane” GOP faction did little more than enable the wackos up to this point will be conveniently swept under the rug by the media.
BGinCHI
@Ash Can: Underestimating the media’s cravenness and stupidity is easy to do. They are the worst enablers I have ever seen. Was going to go for an analogy but I can’t even think of one.
Roger Moore
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:
So as long as we’re fucking people who depend on government services or government paychecks, we should fuck them long and hard instead of getting it over with? This isn’t a damn game. The shutdown is hurting real people every day. I’m a progressive because I believe the government should be helping people, and I’m not going to screw over the people who need help the most in the pursuit of some kind of political advantage. Not wanting to do that is what distinguishes us from the teabaggers.
Villago Delenda Est
@Roger Moore:
The blame will be shifted, plausible or not, in the mind of the teatards. They are impervious to facts, science, or reality. Well, there is one form of reality that would have a decisive impact, but we really don’t want to go there. Especially with the FEMA camps not up and functional yet.
Ash Can
@PopeRatzo:
@Baud:
This was exactly my first thought as well. To be sure, we here chafe at the bullshit nature of this, but let’s face it — GOP messaging nowadays is nothing but bullshit, so we need to look at the message within that context. If in fact this is an out, I hope for the sake of this poor beleaguered nation that it works, asinine as it may look on the surface.
Ash Can
@BGinCHI: I hear you.
Villago Delenda Est
@Baud:
I think he’s talking about the “nach Hitler, uns” crowd of the Naderites, who are routinely driven away from this site by a phalanx of people with brains.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: The tea party doesn’t matter in this. They, as you say, will automatically blame Obama. It is the rest of the who need to be shown that the GOP in general and the tea party in particular are responsible.
@BGinCHI:
Pravda?
Baud
@Villago Delenda Est:
I’m not fan of that crowd, but I haven’t heard that particular argument from anyone. But then I rarely leave the boat.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: Yes. If the devil wore Pravda.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@srv: Evacuate? In our moment of triumph?
Roger Moore
@Villago Delenda Est:
The teabaggers are a lost cause, but there are some low information voters and even old-school Republicans who pay attention to that stuff. They notice when the party in power screws the pooch and decide it’s time to vote the bastards out. But when the parties each have some power, they say “a pox on both their houses”, get discouraged, and either vote the way they always do or stay home. Those fed up voters are the ones who gave the Democrats big victories in 2006 and 2008. But right now they’ll see a Democrat in the White House and at the very best they’ll blame both sides, and at worst they’ll blame the Democrats.
HinTN
My Rep is Scott “I’m pro-life but I pressured my mistress who was my patient -I’m a doctor fer Christsakes – to abort our unborn child” DesJarlais. He has no shame and he loves his $174K paycheck. We rule ignorance here!
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: I see the devil as more of a Savile Row guy.
ETA: Maybe Douglas Hayward suits and John Lobb shoes.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
You’re the one who’s saying that the Democrats shouldn’t save voters from the mistake of voting for Republicans. What is that except a suggestion that we should let the Republicans fuck things up so they’ll take the blame and we can pick up the pieces?
Baud
@Roger Moore:
No, I said the people shouldn’t expect Democrats to make it safe to vote Republican. The current perception in some circles is that it is the Dems’ responsibility to cave into GOP demands, no matter how unreasonable. I’m glad that the Dems are not buying into it this time.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
Sorry. I read that as the Democrats shouldn’t stop the Republicans from implementing disastrous policies, not that the Democrats shouldn’t cave to Republican demands. That said, I think that the Democrats are faced with the same problems that police negotiators facing real-world hostage takers face. The Republicans really are threatening to hurt, and actually hurting, real people every day with their craziness, and the Democrats have a real responsibility to help those people. I’m pissed off at people (@e.g.) who want to extend the shutdown, not in the hopes of getting what we want but because they see it as politically advantageous to the Democrats and want it extended. That view is just as nihilistic as the teabaggers’.