The Sand Castle
Celia Cohen. Her latest is a classic Celiasque piece of pure flowery bullshit.
Hamlet had no equal until Mike Castle came along with his political soliloquy, to-run-or-not-to-run.
Alright stop. Now, I am not one to regularly criticize exaggeration, overstatements and hyperbole, because I often engage in it myself as a literary device. But with Celia, her articles are, to steal from Vice President Biden, a noun, a verb, and a ridiculous overstatement. And Hamlet had no equal until Mike Castle and his bout with indecision came along? Really? Celia, I hate to break it to you, but Mike Castle is a boring, predictable, mindless politician whose only unique characteristic is that he is freaklishly tall. Hamlet had plenty of equals in the drama department over the years, and none of them is named Mike Castle. And what is next? When Coons criticizes Mike Castle’s horrid sheep like record of following the Republican Party line for the last 9 years, will Celia depict Castle as Christ-like, being crucified for what he believes in?
The next few paragraphs deals with Celia’s preoccupation with elitism. But she saves her most stunning whopper for last.
If Castle goes to the Senate, he could find himself in the company of other Northeast Republicans, namely Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine.
In the fractured Senate, it could be a voting bloc with power — wielded moderately, of course.
Now, I can’t fault Celia Cohen too much here, because many of her Delawarean and national media brethren still, despite all evidence to the contrary, buy into this notion that Mike Castle and his Northeastern Republican compatriots are all somehow moderate and/or independent. Mike Castle voted against his party just once over the past year, on cap and trade. But he has already walked back that vote at town halls over the summer of 2009. He has voted party line on the Stimulus, on the Jobs bill, on Healthcare reform. That is not the voting record of a moderate. That is not the voting record of an independent. And between Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, only Snowe has bucked her party once over the past year, and that was to vote for the Senate bill in committee, but she quickly returned to the fold of the Party of No. And if you think Scott Brown will deviate from his party on any issue, I have a tunnel in Boston to sell you.
Republicans everywhere have embraced nihilism. And until they pay electoral consequences for it, there will be no deviation from that strategy, no matter if your name is Mike Castle or if you are from the Northeast. Celia Cohen has always depicted Mike Castle in the more common definition of his last name: “a large fortified structure that dominates its surroundings.” In reality, he is nothing more than a sand castle, easily washed away in the advancing tide.
I wish that you were right. I guess cap and tax energy, drilling, and a gun agenda too radical for the Democrats slip your memory.
Castle has already flip flopped on Cap and Trade. And if there is a vote on drilling or gun control (there has not been so far), he will find some way to vote with his Party.
And note that Whackjob David sees Castle’s supposed moderation as a negative. David wants and wishes for a mindless sheep as his Senator.
Great post DelDem.
And if Castle gets to be a Senator he will be a mindless sheep. Because he will go to vote with his party, not to do the business of the people of this state. I predict that Scott Brown is going to be really instructive to how Castle will behave. He will do exactly what Mitch McConnell tells him to do — the people of Delaware be damned. Castle will claim all kinds of independence and the deal for the next several months is going to be getting him on record about his stand on key votes.
Of course Castle votes with Republicans. He is a Republican. What’s on the cover is what’s inside.
If Delaware wants its Senator to vote like a Democrat, let them elect a Democrat.
Of course, my theory breaks down in the case of Tom Carper. Carper works on the inside to gut Democratic bills so he can vote Yes. The way Carper gets power to do this is by implicitly threatening to vote No if the bill isn’t gutted. Fuck him. Or better yet, call his bluff and refuse to gut the bills in committee.
The trick is to make Castle own his Republican record. No Democrat should vote for Castle because they believe he will vote for some important Democratic issues.
Coons needs to make every voter understand that when they pull the lever for Castle, they are voting for the whole bagful of Republican idiocy exposed by Obama in Baltimore and by the dKos poll.
This will be difficult because meanwhile, the teabaggers are working overtime to convince people Castle is a RINO who supports Democratic issues (HAH!!).
Coons needs to not be another Carper and run as a real Democrat. But that’s been said here before.
Of course Castle votes with Republicans. He is a Republican. What’s on the cover is what’s inside.
This is not especially obvious to many — which is how he gets away with that “moderate” bullshit.
How Cohen can get away with her statements about Castle’s “moderation” without ever mentioning his voting record is a mystery to me. At some point I’d expect a sense of shame
or at least journalistic curiosity to set it.
Jason, you should know by now that all you need to do to be labelled a moderate in the Republican party these days is to offer some mild criticism of George W. Bush at some point. Being a Republican moderate has nothing to do with a voting record. It’s voting party line, but pretending you’re not happy about it.
Good old Mike complaining about High speed rail funds when he voted against them had he supported the bill just maybe Delaware would have gotten their fair share. He didn’t stand up for us when it counted and only now complains
Today’s GOP plan to cut the deficit by slashing Social Security and Medicaid benefits needs to be hung around Castle’s neck. Does anyone think Coons has the guts to do it?
Today’s GOP plan to cut the deficit by slashing Social Security and Medicaid benefits needs to be hung around Castle’s neck. Does anyone think Coons has the guts to do it?
Castle will have to vote on Obama’s budget before the election. If he votes for it, the teabaggers will come after him in force. If he votes against it, it is up to Coons to hang the Medicare/Social Security cuts around Castle’s neck. Either way, it is a gift to Coons. But to take advantage of the gift you can’t be coming from the same bullshit presumed-centrist place as Castle.
Leave it to Castle to vote against the budget and then claim he doesn’t support the GOP budget proposal either. Then it will be time for some ads savagely mocking him for lacking ideas and principles.
Celia Cohen is the political equivalent of a masseuse. She won’t actually sleep with you, but you’ll get a happy ending.
what’s more predictable than Castle is Jason330 commenting on a Castle post.
Everybody needs a hobby.