Friday Open Thread [12.12.14]
Scream it, Michael Tomasky!!!!
“The Democrats are the party of government. It’s the basic reason a person is a Democrat in the first place—Democrats disagree about loads of things, but the one principle they all subscribe to is a belief that the federal government can and must intervene in the economic and social spheres to even things out. And the rejection of that belief is the basic reason a person is a Republican.”
“So government is the fundamental dividing line. And yet, for the past 30 years, what kind of debate about this have we had? We’ve had one side relentlessly attacking government as incompetent to evil, and the other side saying nothing, being too cowed to stand up and say that government is, and does, good. Elected officials don’t do it, and even the progressive political professionals don’t do it.”
It’s because Democrats were cowards for 30 years, ever since they got beat by Reagan in 1980.
Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) “brain trust has spent months developing an exhaustive political and legal battle plan to ensure he can run for both Senate reelection and the White House in 2016—despite a Kentucky law that suggests otherwise,” National Journal reports.
“They have developed backup plans for their backup plans in an all-out effort to safeguard Paul’s Senate seat should he falter in the presidential sweepstakes. The contingencies range from changing Kentucky into a presidential caucus state to filing a lawsuit challenging the law, from daring Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes to keep him off the ballot to taking her out next November if she does.”
So, Rand Paul will intimidate and bully to get his way, and if the Secretary of State and other state election officials refuse to break the law, he will. And he wants to be President. Yep, he is no libertarian. He is a tried and true conservative Republican.
Democrats don’t have a consistent message and are completely lacking in any and all discipline when it comes to working as a team and staying on point?
I, for one, am shocked there is gambling going on in this casino.
John Carney voted for the bill last night.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/12/spending-bill-992-derivatives-citigroup-lobbyists
Paul’s no Libertarian, he assumes the mantle when convenient but that’s about it. It’s not hard to do as none of the “Libertarians” I know have any real idea what the party stands for, they remain “useful idiots” and not much more. The Dems need a galvanizing national figure, some of us thought that was Howard Dean but it did not work. There are signs conservatism has run it’s course, but until the Dems have a solid core of ideas and goals they will not be in real control of anything. Until then all eyes are on 2016 and to Hilary of not to Hilary, as that remains the question.