A couple of nights ago, I watched Jane Hamsher, the founder and publisher of the progressive website Firedoglake.com make a startling statement. She was a guest on The Rachel Maddow Show and was speaking about the fact that members of the congressional progressive caucus had drawn a line in the sand regarding the need for a public option, “after it became clear that Rahm Emanuel and Max Baucus were trying to deal a public plan away to the AMA, the hospitals, Pharma in exchange for keeping the money out of Republican coffers in 2010.”  I stopped my DVR and replayed this portion of the interview a couple more times to make sure that I had heard her correctly. It all started to make sense. It made me think about the healthcare debate in a different way. I realized that this debate is not about us – the American people. It is about politics pure and simple.

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

There's at least one thing that Republicans do much better than Democrats, and that's marketing their initiatives. It doesn't matter how regressive the idea, Republicans manage to frame it in a way that if you oppose it you look like you're either degenerate, or at the very least, un-American. For example, instead of accurately calling themselves "The Order of Religious Bigots Dedicated to Shoving Our Version of God Down America's Throat," they market their insanity as "The Moral Majority," and instead of being honest and calling themselves "The Public Vagina Brigade," they call themselves "The Right to Life" proponents (even though they're willing to let that very same life starve to death after it's born). Conservatives get a lot of milage out of their creativity in this area, and progressives would do well to follow suit.

The initiative to legalize same-sex marriage would have been much more marketable, for example, if it had been dubbed "The Right to Love."  And the same is true of healthcare reform. Proponents of a public option for healthcare could make life a lot more difficult for opponents in congress if instead of calling it "The Public Option" they simply dubbed it "The Congressional Option" - that way the issue would be self-explanatory. It would force every member of congress who placed the interest of the insurance industry over the welfare of his or her constituents to explain why they want to deny the American people the opportunity to opt into the exact same plan that congress and their families enjoy.

But I only bring this issue up as an introduction to a much more serious problem - demagoguery. All of the public manipulation above is symptomatic of a system that's out of control. It's a clear example of how politicians who are suppose to represent the people, are using marketing and public manipulation to feather their own nests.

(Wash., DC)  The results of eight years of Bush-Cheney at the helm make the demise of the Republican Party an easy call.  Our financial system is on life support.  The major banks are insolvent, according to banking and legal authority William K. Black.  If they're not, they're in intensive care.

No matter how many trillions of dollars worth of infusions they receive, they're not making loans.  The economy is in a free fall with growth down 6% a quarter and job losses running at nearly  600,000 a month.  We're stuck in two catastrophic wars.  Despite President Obama's election, we're viewed with suspicion and disregard throughout the world.

The public knows which party bears the primary blame for all of this and they're not about to forget any time soon.  The Republican Party is headed for the political graveyard.

They're not going to rely on past achievements though.  Through their self-proclaimed national leader, the odious Rush Limbaugh, they've chosen to attack the first Latino nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, for being a "racist."  Former Oxycontin addict Limbaugh said, "She brings a form of bigotry and racism to the court."  He went on to say that nominating her was like nominating Klansman and Aryan Nation advocate David Duke for the highest court.

These charges are quite literally bizarre, particularly with Limbaugh calling anyone else a racist.  Newt Gingrich has joined Limbaugh in a duet of stupidity.  This is appropriate since Gingrich is the architect of the power and policies used by Republicans to drive the nation into its current crisis.

Last night Chris and I braved the incredible rush hour traffice in D.C. to attend a book-signing event for William Greider -- the book, Come Home America. The event was co-hosted by Campaign for America's Future Co-director,  Robert Borosage and the AFL, Executive Vice PresidentArlene Holt Baker at AFL National Headquarters.

Seating Franken and Burris

Al Franken (D-MN) left and Roland Burris (D-IL) right
Image cc Image cc

Memo to the U.S. Senate:
Try Following the Rules

Michael Collins

We've seen what happens when people don't follow the letter and intent of important laws, particularly those where there is a general consensus and an absence of moral ambiguity.  Consider our history from the implosion of Enron through stock market collapse.  This extreme damage was enabled by the deliberate defiance, evasion, and perversion of rules and laws, all in the service of personal gain for a very few.  Citizens lost $6 trillion in that episode of lawlessness.

President Bush and his administration consistently broke the laws of the United States by illegally tapping phones and emails, "selling" the Iraq invasion based on outright lies, and, in the case of six cabinet officials, participating in the "choreography" of torture sessions.  All of them found the Constitution a nuisance and rendered it meaningless by their actions.  The cost of these violations is incalculable.

A government gains legitimacy through the ascent to shared rules and laws by the vast majority of citizens.  No government can retain legitimacy, however, when the legislature fails to enforce and live by the very laws that they are sworn to protect.

Democrats and Republicans are now unified along party lines in their defiance of the laws.  Is this the new national unity we've been hearing about?

Senate Rules Kill Bailout, Foil Democracy

Rigged Game Stops Vote on Bill

Michael Collins

(Wash. DC)  The Unites States Senate voted down a "cloture" resolution last night killing the automaker bailout before it was even considered.  Failure to gain approval for cloture opened the bill up to an anticipated filibuster.  General Motors, the largest U.S. manufacturer, is in terrible shape financially and may not survive the month.   

The company has 270,000 employees.

Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Majority Leader, offered these stirring words:  "If there is no agreement that can be reached ... we have danced this tune long enough."  Dec. 12, 2008 Reid joined the majority of Republicans in opposing cloture.

Cloture resolutions require a 60% yes vote to pass.  A simple majority won't do.   The final Senate vote on cloture was 52 in favor, 35 opposed, with 12 not present.  The motion failed to meet the 60% standard by eight votes.  Even with those not present, the resolution would have likely failed.

It is SO Important to pay attention to Down Ticket races, if we really want to put America on a New Track.

Even though Democrats won a slim majority in the House and Senate in 2006, the GOP has been able to block most of the New legislation that the Democrats have been authoring on behalf of the American People.

The Republican Strategy for the last 2 years, "Run against the Do-Nothing Congress in 2008".

How? By blocking nearly every Bill from Passing in the Senate, under the pretext of Debate, otherwise known as the Filibuster.

Bumping this back to the top -- see updates in red. Originally posted 2008-08-24 16:51:13 -0500. This is a call for action and more researchers.

UPDATE 2: "DENVER – Police have arrested three people they believe are linked to a white supremacy group in connection with a threat to possibly assassinate Sen. Barack Obama during the Democratic National Convention."

UPDATE 1: Via the Denver Post, two men have been arrested on weapons charges after a fortuitous traffic stop may have been involved in an assassination plot against Barack Obama. Hat-tip GregMitch of DailyKos.

Call for Researchers: The story below loosely indicates the possibility of a disturbing -- and perhaps encouraged -- trend toward violence. Volunteer information, links or participation in the effort to dig out and analyze whether or not this is a real trend or simply a set of disparate, depressing and deadly incidents.

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Is this what we've come to? If a party that lives by fear-mongering can't win and gets desperate, it relies on the unhinged to become their assassins?

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Man arrested with weapons at Pelosi hotel
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 08/24/2008 12:47:18 PM PDT

DENVER—A man who tried to carry two hunting rifles and two pistols into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's downtown hotel remained in police custody Sunday.

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More below the fold.

Reuters carries a story about Wal-Mart Warning Managers of Labor Bill by Nicole Maestri and Ted Kerr. Seems that as part of Wal-Mart's opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act--legislation that would once again allow workers to have a secret ballot for or against a union shop--the company has been holding meetings with U.S. store managers warning them about the danger of a Democratic victory in the coming election. Why?

cross-posted @ This Week With Barack Obama

the presumptive nominee with wife, michelle at the xcel energy center in st. paul, mn

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“This isn’t the party I planned but I sure like the company,” Hillary said as she opened her concession speech at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC.

Speaking to the “18 million...from all walks of life,” who voted for her, Hillary congratulated and endorsed Barack Obama, stating:

"The way, the way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passions, our strengths and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States."