Far East Cynic

Christmas comes early…..

For the Teabag nation.

When you get banged up as much as the Democrats did on Tuesday-there is only one thing to do with the woman at the top of the heap. Strap two pieces of wood together, stretch out her arms and start hammering nails through her hands and feet.

Then hang her upside down.

Now in the common sense world that would make considerable sense. The Captain does, after all-and especially in this case- go down with the ship.

Evidently not:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to stay in power as minority leader after losing 60 seats and control of the House — a stunning announcement that sets up combat between her two top lieutenants.

Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, the majority leader, and South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, the majority whip, are positioning themselves to battle over the post of minority whip. An aide to Rep. John Larson, the caucus chairman, said he will seek another term in that post.

There are not words enough to describe how indescribably stupid this is. So called “Progressives” are living in a fucking dream world, especially when they make the same stupid claim as their teabag brethern, that the party needs to be more extreme-not less.  Tell me again, how well that worked for Christine O’Donnell?

Pelosi’s decision is a bad dream come true.  Or a wet dream come true if you are John Boehner.

There is a popular meme making the rounds on Democratic leaning blogs that the election proves that the Blue Dog Democrats got killed while real progressives survived. I always shake my head in total disbelief when I read this. It is a totally nonsensical statement. Here is why-the blue dogs had to be conservative or they never would have been elected at all. Take a look at the Blue Dogs who got defeated Tuesday:

John Adler, D-N.J.
Brian Baird, D-Wash.
Melissa Bean, D-Ill.
Marion Berry, Blue Dog-Ark.
Bobby Bright, Blue Dog-Ala.
Travis Childers, Blue Dog-Miss.
Jim Cooper, Blue Dog-Tenn.
Joe Donnelly, Blue Dog-Ind.
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Blue Dog-S.D.
Baron Hill, Blue Dog-Ind.
Frank Kratovil, Blue Dog-Md.
Betsy Markey, Blue Dog-Colo.
Jim Marshall, Blue Dog-Ga.
Walt Minnick, Blue Dog-Idaho
Glenn Nye, Blue Dog-Va.
Heath Shuler, Blue Dog-N.C.


The names listed in Red are in states that are essentially conservative. You don’t run and win as a liberal-all you do is hand the seat to a Republican and go home with 35% of the vote.  (as happens here in Alabama).

If I could shout at the remaining Democrats, I would say this: “You folks do realize that campaigning against Pelosi worked this election cycle don’t you? She’s poison-especially in a world where facts do not matter and the Fox noise machine has hijacked the message. Add to that the  fact that the President can’t seem to find a good clear, concise way, to get his ideas across.”

But hey, knock yourselves out.

See you in the Hobbesian hell. Better get used to our new teabagger overlords-they will likely be here a long time at this rate.

  1. http://www.politicsandcurrentaffairs.co.uk/Forum/us-politics-forum/98438-2010-voter-breakdown.html

    I was kinda curious as to who actually voted and, perhaps more importantly who didn’t.
    Why did they not vote?
    They are NOT tea baggers?
    Did they not believe in the party they voted for in 2008.
    Didn’t Jon Stewart(youth vote) use his masterful skills to belittle the right/tea party?
    Blame Fox as is your wont, but i blame the consumer of news. ANYONE can be informed what the truth/facts are if they deign.
    Obviously they didn’t deign…..Too much sex, drugs and rock and roll..or hip hop….
    Now back to my Japanese manga.

  2. Marion Berry, Blue Dog-Ark.

    Yes AR is a conservative state, but the majority of it’s political leaders who have reached greater fame have been Dems Fulbright, Clinton, Wilbur D. Mills, Wesely Clark). That is something that the Far Left arm of the Dems just dosen’t get.

    In my 40 plus years, there have been two GOP governors (FrankWhite and Huckabee). The Dems in AR don’t have the same aganeda as those in CA or NY. They actually want better controls on immigration (they are not too happy that Mexico has a consulate in Little Rock (fully endorsed by Huckabee when he was Gov.)) and all of those other social issues (gay marriage, pot legalization, etc) that seem to be the mantra of the Far Left.

    They have lost jobs (big businesses like Tyson’s seem to hire those people for jobs that American’s don’t want, when they got rich by having American workers in the first place), and don’t have the same agenda as Nancy and her ilk.

    You keep blaming the TP and the GOP, but let’s just look at the numbers. Obama won the popular vote in 08. So, if everyone who voted against him voted again this past election, the Dems would have won out. But it didn’t happen. Those voters who did vote for Obama in 08, switched because they didn’t like what they were seeing from him and the Dems. Not so much that the GOP had an increase in their base, but people actually made a decision as to what direction they think the country should be run.

    So I guess you are going to tell me that those who voted for Obama and the Dems in08 were smarter then, but over 2 years they just became “sheeple” and will listen to whomever yelled the loudest.

  3. I think you are ignoring a whole bunch of factors:

    1) The war is not the issue it was in 2008. I think the war-particularly Iraq played a role in how people voted in 2008.

    2) Palin was an issue-in both elections. A lot of people gave Obama the benefit of the doubt then. In 2010 it was kind of the same thing. She did not give her endorsement to some of the more rational actors who won-in fact only 32% of picks won.

    3)Voter turnout did not happen. It hurt the Dems more than the Republicans. It is still a crime that 50% of America does not vote. I attibute some of that to the stupidity of having an election on a work day.

    4) People were misinformed-you can see that in the exit polling versus the facts. What they believed about the economy vs what is really happening in the economy are two different things.

    Obama was on the ballot in 2008. Some better candidates were not. And McCain had Palin. That created a unique set of dynamics. I still maintain Obama would not be President but for Palin.

    Now its 2010-and the GOP still doesn’t offer anything but tax cuts. I blame the TP for shilling for the big business and trying to call it a revolution. In reality they are voting for those who have an agenda to screw them over. We’ve been down that road before:

    “If you look at the numbers, you quickly come to realize that America can’t afford to extend any of them[Bush Tax Cuts]. No one has even bothered to look for the trillions of dollars needed to pay for them over the next decade. No one.

    The President’s Deficit Commission reports next month, and I fully expect the Republicans to completely ignore its recommendations, which will be funny to watch. That’s where we get to see what the Republicans are really all about. I expect that the Commission will call for brutal cuts in things like Medicare and defense and very probably call for a national Value Added Tax. If I know how the average Tea Partier thinks – and I do – they’ll respond by demanding even more tax cuts. And no Republican is going to cross the Tea Party anymore.

    So yea there may have been anger-but it still does not get the voter what he or she wants. If he average voter were smarter they would realize that until they show themselves willing to sacrifice ( which they are not) we are going to go through these swings.

  4. Ha Ha and Neener!!!!

    The populace rejected the socialist agenda and then some. Rather nice to see. Wish my state did too but we did not overall.

    Notice how all the girls failed? Governor and Senate it was an apocalypse. Have to work on that in the future.

    Mandatory fox viewing as part of the new net neutrality!

  5. The great unwashed voted, the elites stayed home.
    What does THAT say about Obamas agenda?

  6. You know its funny, I thought this would be a column where you guys would agree with me.

    I’d say it differently-the elites voted on both sides. The young and the ignorant stayed home. The majority always gets its way-but that doesn’t mean it votes in its self interest-or is smart. Tea Partiers in particular are not smart.

    One of the funniest things is that Tea Partiers are always talking about how “normal” they are. And they are-just the same as their liberal counterparts. Most people are very normal-they vote based on what they know and what they believe. They are many times misinformed though and their beliefs bear no basis in fact. The facts still are the facts though. And the facts are-that the old solutions are not going to work.

  7. Skippy,
    All of your points only point to one thing, those that were in the majority who voted for Obama in 08, were mostly the ones that backed the TP and GOP candidates. As I said, if you just go with the die hard GOP’ers, they would have voted for any GOP candidate. In this case they probably did. But, that majority that Obama won with, did not vote for the Dems this time. You can try to say it was becuase they didn’t vote, or not understand the issues under the rhetoric, but the bottom line was that they didn’t like the way Obama and the Dems were heading.

    Just look at the election in 2008 again. You pointed out that Obama wasn’t on the ballot this time, true. But all those who won in 08 from the House were, and they lost seats. So that should tell you that the people were not behind the Dems this time.

  8. Maurice,

    But they backed them for different reasons-and for the non TP’s er they were making, in many cases a choice between two equally bad candidates. Lets not forget that only 32% of Tea Party backed candidates actually won. A lot were already out there and just quietly allowed themselves to be used by it.

    The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. H. L. Mencken

  9. Maurice,

    my toes just touched the water here in California. Voted the straight party line and failed all along the line here in San Diego.

    The loss of a great state. It’s like watching the fall of Rome or Athens or Byzantium.