Originally Posted By: PJP
Nancy Pelosi gave permission for 16 democrats who are up for reelection to vote no.....a good leader would have forced them to vote yes and then have been conciliatory to all people about to vote yes and not fault their party for this mess. She is a fucking train wreck. The dems should oust her and Reid when this is over and put new leaders in charge.


even you whomod should realize what she did yesterday was really stupid and really bad leadership.


I'm no big fan of Pelosi and Reid. So I'll agree with you there about their weak leadership. Listening to them these past 2 years, they genuinely think they regained Congress due to their tepid weak overcautious scheming and maneuvering against Bush (which really amounts to a lot of lip service and not much action) and not the groundswell for change and opposition to Bush/GOP polices and rule. I think this also plays into why we're running with Barack Obama as opposed to Hillary Clinton right now. I think people want real change and not just in the Republican Party either. for too long I think the Dems have had weak milquetoast DLC style (Republican Lite) Democrats and I think that era started to fade the minute Howard Dean took control of the party. As you may or may not know, he's not exactly Reid or Pelosi's (or the Dem old guard's) favourite guy. Which to me, is praise indeed. The gains Democrats have made in the past 2 years can be laid at his doorstep and unfortunately for Reid an Pelosi's ego's, not on theirs.

As for G-man's earlier post about "dochebags" that included Kucinich, yeah, sure why not?

Both the extreme left and the extreme right voted their partisanship rather than accept the fact that no one really likes doing this bailout, but it's necessary. And as far as that partisanship. It's sort of telling to me when 60% of Democrats support taking action WITH A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT, even though they admit it's an unpopular vote with their constituents and on the other side 67% of Republicans vote their ideology (or their re-election). So 2/3rds of Democrats were willing to put partisanship aside on this important historic matter but on the other hand 2/3rds of Republicans were unable to do that.

And PJP, your earlier post about the market being up so there is no crisis. That's is looking at the small picture and not looking at the fact that the market has been swinging wildly up and down since this crisis began. One good day doesn't mean there is no crisis. The wild swings though does mean that the market is highly unstable right now.You also have to look at the credit situation which is the main problem right now not just at the Dow Jones averages.

Now for the Twilight Zone moment. The National Review agrees with me and blasts House Republicans:




The National Review Online, a publication which is probably the father of the modern conservative moment:

 Quote:
[T]he assertion by Republican leaders in the House that as many as a dozen of their members who were leaning toward voting for the legislation ended up voting against it because of Pelosi’s speech is extraordinary.

Let’s see if we have this straight: whichever side of the issue you were on, yesterday’s vote was considered one of the most important ones members of Congress will ever face. Many respected voices argued that an economic catastrophe might follow in the wake of its defeat. Opponents of the legislation considered it a terrible violation of free-market principles. The stakes could not be higher.

After the legislation was defeated and only one-third of House Republicans backed the plan, John Boehner and Roy Blunt took to the microphones and indicated that Pelosi’s speech had been so alienating and offensive that a significant number of House Republicans changed their mind and voted against the bill.

Can they be serious? Do they realize how foolish and irresponsible they sound? On one of the most important votes they will ever cast, insisting “the speech made me do it” is lame and adolescent. The vote, after all, was on the legislation, not the speech. And to say that a dozen members of your caucus voted not out of principle but out of pique is a terrible indictment of them. I hope we learn the names of these delicate figures whose feelings were so bruised and abused.

I have been defending House Republicans for a week against friends who thought they were acting in an irresponsible fashion. I argued they were people with admirable free-market principles who were simply trying to improve legislation and have their voices heard, something to which they were certainly entitled. And I thought they made the bill better than it was. But yesterday’s vote, and the excuses that followed the vote, have made me reassess my judgment. Watching Boehner, Blunt, and Cantor blame the outcome on the Pelosi speech was an embarrassment.

We are in one of the most dispiriting moments I have ever witnessed in Washington, when political authority seems to be collapsing all around us. House Republicans have contributed to this, and it’s a shame.


:y

hat: :tt: