Senate set to forgive telcos for spying on Americans with the NSA

[Aphos]

So many people these days are single issue voters...abortion, gay marriage, whatever...and the Republicans have exploited this to the max.  They have gotten so many lower and middle class voters to vote for their one issue and totally ignore all the economic (and other issues) that SHOULD be bothering them.

On the other hand, the Dems seem afraid to confront the Repubs about all the egregious things they have done in the last few years.  It has all come to be about political power and staying in office and not about taking any sort of moral stand.

[Aphos]

Well, since this thread has seemed to turn into a general political snarkfest...

This editorial came to my attention this morning.  It is quite humorous and pretty much on the money.  Great political satire.

http://thephoenix.com/Article.aspx?id=53198&page=1

A sample...

The Dems took their seats with specific instructions from voters to get us the hell out of Iraq. They responded with a non-binding resolution -- a concoction consisting of equal parts Kaopectate and Milk of Magnesia. It was meant to sort of, um, suggest, if it wasn't too much trouble or anything, that the president perhaps think about reducing troop levels in a war that two-thirds of the American people opposed. After several weeks of decisive Democratic language readjustments, the measure failed.

Throughout the year, the party of the donkey stubbornly nuanced its stances, leaving the Bush-Cheney White House no choice but to do exactly whatever the heck it wanted.

[Sibling Chatty]

Dem leadership has fallen prey to the nasty Republican habit of playing the badly abused, poor-pitiful-Pearl, victim. About everything.

The Repubs have become political fall-down artists, ready to dive to the pavement screaming in fake pain if a Dem so much as looks at them sideways, screaming about the Librul Meedja, the YOU Hate Democracy, You Hate Uhmurrikuh, You hate Jeebus bullshit that they've so carefully implanted into the national psyche.

if Nancy Pelosi, the "national leadership" and most of the candidates weren't in the pockets of the same Big Money Guys as the Repubs, MAYBE something would have happened.

I think maybe Ron Paul is gaining traction just because he's about the only Repub not willing to screech this same "We're the victims here" crap that Rove taught so well. But, the Dems? Take the abuse and apologize for it.

The Rovian legacy is to have turned the opposition into a battered spouse, exhibiting all the willingness to do anything to prevent another outburst, including self-destruction.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Well, the Dems are dumb (enough to choose a donkey as a symbol  ) and have their corporate friends too, but in the case of the senate I don't blame them as much. The truth is that the system is geared up to avoid the dictatorship of one party, by preventing a simple majority (as the Dems have) to dictate policy; if you want to overcome the limitations you need to have enough votes to prevent a filibuster and/or a presidential veto. The sad part is that the Repugs has been able to get away with murder by a slowly seeding the courts, allowing the current White House to do almost everything they want, despite the written controls.

As long as half of the American voters are aligned with the Repugs it will be very hard to change the current situation, because I seriously doubt any Repug leader will do anything to change a system that benefits them most.

For now, the only choice is to have a Dem in the White House to bring a bit of balance to the most egregious abuses. The day voters understand what's going on and care, there will be real change (and I'm not holding my breath ).

[Aphos]

Bush's War on Terror

Coming soon to a country near you

Rated X for Sects and Violence

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

[Sibling Chatty]

Looks like the secret info to the govt. will be stopping.

No, not attacks of conscience or Constitution.

Da Gubmin' ain' paid da bills...

http://tinyurl.com/yp2a4p

Telecommunications companies have repeatedly cut off FBI access to wiretaps of alleged terrorists and criminal suspects because the bureau did not pay its phone bills, according to the results of an audit released yesterday.