Wednesday, April 27, 2005
We Win! (If We Play It Right)
With a rare showing of common sense, the Republicans have admitted they were wrong.
Hastert and the others are going to be quick to frame this as the Republicans taking the high road. But the truth of the matter is they grudgingly decided to stop heading down the low road. Of course that's not going to stop any of them from saying shit like "leaving the unfairness inherent in the old system in place," or "The Democrats remain absolutely unwilling to compromise." So we need to counter their rhetoric with some framing of our own. I want to see Pelosi saying things like this: "When it comes to the ethics of our elected officials, we are not going to compromise." or "We will not allow greed and power to hijack the integrity of the people's house." or better yet, "DeLay and Hastert can go fuck themselves if they think we're gonna' turn around and take it in the ass from either one of those limp-dick bastards!" Okay, maybe that last one is a little aggressive, but you get the idea.
We won this battle. We can add it to the list that already includes Social Security, John Bolton (so far), and the "nuclear option" (public opinion is on our side). The list is growing, but we can't stop here. Nor can we let up. We have to keep fighting and we have to keep the pressure on. The Republicans are stupid drunk with power right now and when you're drunk you do stupid things. They're trying to over-reach on a lot of issues and it's our job to make sure the public sees it for the greed that it is.
Way to go Democrats! Enjoy this one, but don't let up. Tomorrow's a new day and a new fight. Now get some sleep and come back ready to go in the morning!
- The House, with grudging Republican support, voted Wednesday to reverse GOP ethics rules that Democrats charged were designed to protect Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
The Republicans heeded Speaker Dennis Hastert's call for a retreat to end a deadlock that has kept the evenly divided ethics panel from functioning. The vote was 406-20, with all votes against the resolution cast by Republicans.
Hastert and the others are going to be quick to frame this as the Republicans taking the high road. But the truth of the matter is they grudgingly decided to stop heading down the low road. Of course that's not going to stop any of them from saying shit like "leaving the unfairness inherent in the old system in place," or "The Democrats remain absolutely unwilling to compromise." So we need to counter their rhetoric with some framing of our own. I want to see Pelosi saying things like this: "When it comes to the ethics of our elected officials, we are not going to compromise." or "We will not allow greed and power to hijack the integrity of the people's house." or better yet, "DeLay and Hastert can go fuck themselves if they think we're gonna' turn around and take it in the ass from either one of those limp-dick bastards!" Okay, maybe that last one is a little aggressive, but you get the idea.
We won this battle. We can add it to the list that already includes Social Security, John Bolton (so far), and the "nuclear option" (public opinion is on our side). The list is growing, but we can't stop here. Nor can we let up. We have to keep fighting and we have to keep the pressure on. The Republicans are stupid drunk with power right now and when you're drunk you do stupid things. They're trying to over-reach on a lot of issues and it's our job to make sure the public sees it for the greed that it is.
Way to go Democrats! Enjoy this one, but don't let up. Tomorrow's a new day and a new fight. Now get some sleep and come back ready to go in the morning!
