If we hang on to the House, I say we do what some Republicans have advocated

[DFW]

I think we have a better chance than it looks right now. If we lose the House then it's not applicable, but
IF we hang on to the House, I suggest we do to the Republicans what Republicans have been saying THEY'LL do
to us if they take the House: investigate, indict, hinder, harass with every legal means at our disposal.

We tried bi-partisanship. I wouldn't have done it, but I wasn't consulted, Fair enough. But we stand before
two choices: take the good road, or drive off a cliff. We have driven to the edge of the cliff. We have seen
that if we continue, we fall off, crash and die. So, common sense (not a given, I know) dictates that we go
the other direction. In this case, it means give as good as we have been given, and give as good as we would
have been given.

It's time.

[L0oniX]

1. Been sayin it for a long time. Attack them and keep them on the defense.

[MerryBlooms]

2. Oh yes!

We should have taken that bull by the horns from the get-go.

[KaryninMiami]

3. Would like them to start NOW - Immediately. Enough is enough.

They need to be loud, clear and not back down. The Republican's made it clear that they will not stop at anything to put and to the Obama agenda. we need to do the same. And it needs to be retroactive.

[AndyA]

4. ABSOLUTELY!!! +1,000!!!

Investigate Bushco. That ought to keep the Repukes out of office for a decade or so, once all that nasty business comes out.

Show the torture pictures.

Notify Americans that their calls have been listened in on illegally.

Reveal how much Bushco profited from their no-bid contracts in the Middle East.

All the dirty details.

Absolutely, great idea! Now we just have to convince Pelosi to change the menu and put it on the table...

[metapunditedgy]

5. What's the argument for waiting until *after* the election? Point is, I don't think the people in

charge of the House actually *want* to push too hard on the Republicans. They haven't so far. Why would they change?

[RKP5637]

6. Agree! I'm tired of wimpy democrats and their appeasing manner toward

republicans.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enough of this bipartisanship crap.

[progressoid]

18. Excellent cartoon!

:thumbsup:

[Vincardog]

8. Rummy, Godawful Gonzales, Thieving cheating Cheney, Dumbo Dull bush wait for your subpoena

[glitch]

9. +infinity. nt

[northernlights]

10. it was time long ago....

but they won't. The fact that it was time long ago and they didn't tells me they won't now or ever.

[Swamp Rat]

11. We have already driven off the cliff.

Just pray there is a functional parachute.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

30. -->

[Stinky The Clown]

12. I heartily agree.

K&R

[HughMoran]

27. After criticizing the Democrats for being "just like Republicans", the best recourse it to advocate

being just like Republicans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some logic just kills me :rofl:

[Ken Burch]

42. Fight like them...not BE like them...

You can't deny that the last two years proves that bipartisanship is an eternal failure.

And you'd have to agree that moving to the right after the election, which is the only alternative to the approach in the OP, guarantees a Republican House for the next twelve years just like it did last time.

And it's you anti-liberal Dems that have been saying we should be more like the GOP. That's what "centrism" means. IT can't mean anything else.

[breadandwine]

54. •••Democrats are compulsive at unilateral disarmament. Many years ago on DU I advocated Dem hearings

to probe the GOP. To probe them on EVERYTHING. Some liked it but many were too busy hiding under the desk. I called Capitol Hill and spoke to many people there including staffers. For most of those I spoke to it was like talking to deer in headlights. I argued that it could be done even when we didn't have a majority in Congress (back then) because even minority Congressmen can take a room on Capitol Hill and use it, they just don't have subpoena powers. So they can call to testify people on our side even if those who are not would refuse to testify.

Had this been done now BEFORE the upcoming election it would really be a game changer. We control the Hill NOW and before we lose it we would be able to roast these SOBs and nail them before the eyes of the public going into this election. Without even getting into Bush and Cheney we could easily investigate them for all the SH*T they are doing RIGHT NOW UNDER OBAMA. Like the fact that they are encouraging people to ASSASSINATE public figures.

But the problem is that the whole party thinks this sort of thing is some F*CKING ALIEN EXPERIENCE FROM ANOTHER PLANET.

There are people in our party, a LOT of people in our party, LEADERS of our party, who if the GOP beat them up and beat them up and beat them up, they would still be clueless and just never get it that MAYBE they ought to fight back.

In the State of New York there is Senator Chuck Schmumer. Do you know how he beat the unbeatable evil fascist bully Al D'Amato who was investigating Clinton and using fascist totalitarian tactics on everyone? Schumer did to D'Amato EVERYTHING (practically) that D'Amato did, albeit adhering to the truth. He attacked him, he ran constant negative ads, every ad screamed, "Al D'Amato is lying again!" He Mauled D'Amato and beat him LIKE A BAD PIECE OF MEAT. Bam! Bam! Bam! Pow! Pow! Pow! THAT'S how he beat him.

After the election Republicans were in shock. Sean Hannity was so upset and dejected that his hero D'Amato had lost that he turned the show over to Democrats and let them call in and say whatever they wanted because he felt the GOP deserved it for losing. And one of the callers sang a song to the tune of "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" from the Wizard of Oz, only he rewrote it as "Ding, Dong D'Amato's dead, flap your eyes, get out of bed" etc. Because for every Democrat in the state it was like a miracle, nobody could believe that the fascist got beat. Everyone had come out of the election blinking like they had just been liberated from a witch's evil little gingerbread house. It was a miracle. And it happened because Schumer gave the SOB a taste of his own F*CKING medicine.


In a previous election someone called D'Amato a fascist. Immediately D'Amato began crying his little eyeballs out in public and saying the guy had insulted him and his family with anti-Italian slurs. Which was shrewd because a lot of Italians in the state were registered Democrats. The Democratic candidated got all embarrassed and like a fool got all tied up trying to apologize. And D'Amato turned the election on its head and won.

So when Schumer ran against D'Amato, HE DID THE SAME THING TO D'AMATO. D'Amato at one point called Schumer a "putzhead." BAMMO! Schumer waded in for the KILL. I mean the KILL. And he wouldn't SHUT UP and he KEPT killing, he kept at it and kept HARPING on the incident. Although the epithet is pretty mild in usage, technically, a putz is Yiddish for penis. It's like calling somebody a prick. No big deal. But Schumer accused D'Amato of using a VULGAR ETHNIC SLUR (ooh! naughty naughty!) and said that D'Amato had become an embarrassment to the state. (D'Amato was known for his colorful and sometimes embarrassing language.) Bam! Bam Bam! VULGAR ETHNIC SLUR! VULGAR ETHNIC SLUR! VULGAR ETHNIC SLUR! Kill, kill, kill. Privately, D'Amato began sulking that he knew he had blown it and he had. He lost, especially because of that incident. It didn't matter that the whole incident was rather frivolous and certainly not a major incident. Schumer was up against one of the meanest people in the GOP, a man who used to cut off other people's mics at the GOP convention. Schumer waded in for the KILL, and went after D'Amato JUST THE WAY THEY GO AFTER US. He HAD him and HE WOULDN'T LET GO. Bam! Bam! Bam! You beat us up, now we're beating YOU up, you son of a bitch. Bam! Bam! Bam! Finally somebody in the party knew how to GET A PIECE OF THE OTHER SIDE.

He would not unilaterally disarm.

But today? No Democrat would do that. It would be all, we can't stoop to their level, we're not like them, two wrongs don't make a right, I thought politics was a Girl Scout Picnic!!!!!!!! I'll give the GOP Girl Scout cookies! I don't CARE if the GOP deserves it! I'm going to PROVE to them once and for all that I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE them!!!!!!!!!!!

Nobody in this party knows how to fight. This is the biggest party of wimps EVER. They don't know what fighting IS.

They're all:

WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS WIMPS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[breadandwine]

55. Here's something you don't see anymore - LBJ's famous "Daisy" ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtYpnGZr6TA&feature=fvst


In 1964 Barry Goldwater said we should nuke Vietnam.

So Lyndon Johnson hit him with the now famous "Daisy" ad.

Today Democrats wouldn't do that.

Too alarmist! Too doomsday!

The planet is going off a cliff but we can't tell anybody that the GOP should let go of the steering wheel because THAT'S ALARMIST.

WE ARE A PARTY OF SHAMELESS COWARDS.

[breadandwine]

57. Speaking of "putzhead," guess who just attacked the media's penises? Yup, Sarah Palin --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x502369

Okay, who wants to take bets that the Democratic party will do EXACTLY NOTHING ABOUT THIS and not use Palin as the punching bag she would be had Michelle Obama used the same language?

Democrats are like deer in headlights and don't know how to attack the other side even when they have a glass jaw.

They only know how to stand immobile while the GOP punches their lights out.

[Stinky The Clown]

56. That poster isn't interested in an actual discussion. That poster is only interested in ....

.... "oh yeah? So's yer mudder" sorts of posts.

[fadedrose]

13. k

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. I could not agree more, my dear DFW...

[w4rma]

15. Good luck getting Obama and his DLC cabinet to agree. (nt)

[DFW]

22. Like I said, I'm not exactly the one the White House consults for advice

And considering some of the people I call friends, I'd say it's rather likely to remain that way:

[gophates]

16. Day one

Schedule investigations of every Republican member of Congress.

Over the top? Yeah. But I can dream.

[Bozita]

17. The meek shall inherit the earth, ...

...six feet of it.
- Advice given by a mentor a long, long time ago.

[Ladyhawk]

19. Who is this "we" of whom you speak?

It's become evident the Democrats don't represent me. The "we" of whom you speak don't have the guts to do what you're saying. If they did, they would be making more of a difference than they currently are.

[tomp]

24. agreed. the op even states she wasn't consulted on the current direction.

none of are consulted. our government is not representative.

[Catshrink]

20. But that's not bipartisan.

[tex-wyo-dem]

21. I couldnt agree more!

But, unfortunately, investigations into bushco aren't going to happen...one of the main reasons is that their are plenty of Democrats (still in office) that are culpible in bushco crimes...accessories, if you will.

In other words, CYA from the top down!

[Prophet 451]

23. Yes, BUT...

...Unlike Republicans, we need to go after real issues (there's plenty of 'em), not piffling bullshit like xmas card lists.

[gophates]

25. It would also really suck if their offices suddenly started having HVAC problems.

Washington in the winter really sucks if the heat doesn't work. Considering how many people don't have heat as a direct consequence of Republican policy, I think that would rock.

[HughMoran]

26. Yes, yes - emulate and mimic your enemies so you are indeed no better than they are

That'll teach 'em. :eyes:

[DFW]

28. Ah, your positive attidue is always so refreshing. Actually, no, I didn't mean mimic them

Republicans go after and harass Democrats for trivial, almost perceived offenses (see "Waters, Maxine").

The Congressional Democrats should pursue those of their Republican counterparts that guilty of truly serious
offenses, such as fraud, bribery, right down to Arizona sheriffs murdering detainees by dehydration. Manipulators
of Wall Street, "Defense" contractors who got billions for defrauding US of our money, all deserve more attention
than the free ride they have been inexplicably given so far. Put ALL serious Republican offenses back on the table.

I hardly put that in the same category of Republicans going after Maxine Waters (or even Bill Clinton). You obviously
feel differently, as you have so eloquently stated.

[HughMoran]

29. Frankly, I hardly see the difference.

"Going after..." being the bottom line. You don't improve the lives of people by obsessing over your political enemies. Your examples didn't even include any Congressmen either - so I don't see what our Reps in Washington could do about that anyway.

[JDPriestly]

33. After you have sold your philosophy to the Republicans, come back

and sell it to DU. You do improve the lives of people by defeating your political enemies, and if you have to obsess over them to defeat them, then you obsess over them.

If Congress can investigate cheating and drug use in sports, they can investigate just about anything. Investigations are justified on a number of grounds including preparation for passing new legislation and overseeing other branches of government.

[Ken Burch]

45. You just want us to surrender.

The last two years proves that politeness=defeat.

Why can't you see that you only win when you fight for your principles, and that that CAN'T be done politely?

[HughMoran]

48. Stick 'em up!!

:rofl:

Dude, there's a MASSIVE difference between fighting more aggressively for you own principals (which I agree - Dems should fight harder) and wasting all your time pursuing your adversaries in witch hunts. I didn't like it when the Republicans did it and I certainly don't want to see Democrats frittering away precious time obsessing over Republican misdeeds (unless, of course, the crimes are prosecutable.)

[Ken Burch]

50. The problem is, if either majority is significantly reduced

Investigating the Republicans(and their corporate enablers)through hearings will be the only thing we CAN do in Congress.

It won't be worth trying to pass any legislation if it has to be MORE right-wing to satisfy the "bite me!" Blue Dog wing of our caucus, the wing that is full of people that should never have been recruited to run as Democrats in the first place. And any "moves to the center" will just make it impossible for us to motivate anyone to work for the ticket in 2012. We should never again have a repeat of the Carter/Reagan or Clinton/Dole campaigns. Conservative-vs."Centrist" races are always meaningless.

Obviously, outside Congress other things can be done, but it's going to be pointless to try to do anything that requires ANY cooperation with the R's or the Blue Dogs, because neither will settle for anything short of bringing back full-blooded Reaganism(the kind of Reaganism even Reagan himself would never have dared to push for).

[HughMoran]

52. Such pragmatic thinking.

My head is spinning. What's it gonna be?

[rhett o rick]

34. So if the Republicans punch me and I punch back, I am emulating them?

I say fight back.

[walldude]

35. So charging criminals and putting them behind bars for their crimes

makes a Democrat no better than a Republican? Are you really sitting there saying that Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitcz and Rumsfeld should be allowed to walk away from war crimes, and crimes against humanity? That Republicans should be given a pass so we look like the better "party". HA! What that does is embolden Republicans to commit more crimes! Hey look, the Bush Administration started an illegal war, they tortured, murdered, they violated the constitution, and they walked away with a fat pension, health care for life and in some cases Medals. And no one did a goddamn thing about it. Ooh we better not do that again :eyes:

[chill_wind]

41. So leaving all the crimes unattended, to become normalized tools

of power and governing for the next fascist thug is a good idea?
Do you really REALLY think another Republican won't return to the WH in your lifetime?

[Ken Burch]

44. The only alternative is to surrender, like Bill Clinton did.

Why can't you admit that bipartisanship is an eternal failure and that centrism means defeat?

[Ken Burch]

46. You have no better ideas.

You just want to reduce Obama to being post-1994 Clinton-the Clinton that was worth NOTHING. That's all centrism and politeness can EVER mean. It can't ever mean anything progressive.

[HughMoran]

49. Very funny - attack the person who points out the obvious flaw in the thinking here

Very funny! :hi:

[chill_wind]

31. Common Sense. K & R.

[DFW]

38. Apparently not so common

Judging from some of the responses, anyway. Different strokes, I guess. :hi:

[chill_wind]

40. At least we'll have lots of dry powder when we drive off the cliff.

And above all, we'll be found looking spiffy in our team jerseys at the bottom of that ravine.

That trumps common sense any day.

:hi:

[joanbarnes]

32. IF we hang onto the house..........

Yea, yea, and not a moment too soon....

[McCamy Taylor]

36. Corporate media loves when GOP attacks, hates when Dems attack.

If Democrats act like Republicans they will be crucified in the press.

[DFW]

37. These days, Democrats seem to get crucified in the press no matter what they do

Might as well do what they think is right for once, instead of what is expedient. How much worse can press coverage get?

[Cleita]

39. If we lose the House, that puts John Boehner as

Speaker of the House in line for the Presidency. We don't want that ever.

[rosesaylavee]

43. Yes. It's time.

Good post. I'm with you and I am sure many others here... but how do we get our representatives to play along?

[GreenTea]

47. It should have been "about time" the moment the Democrats took back the house in Jan 2007

After 12 years of the republicans treating democrats like total dog shit, constantly mocking the Democrats and then laughing about it all over the media

One would think the Democratic party would taken it personal as it was meant (I know I did) One would think the Democrats would have been smart enough to stick together from the git-go and shove the American peoples social needs and agenda right down the republicans fucking throats!!

But....NO....even with a large majority most Democrats (with very few exceptions) still won't fight back and kick republican ass....

It's as if the Democrats subscribe to or hire their consulting & polling firms that are owned and run by republicans!

Do democrats actually watch Fox "news" and believe the republicans bullshit? Do they really listen to republicans say it's not good politics to attack another candidate, That voters don't like it....hehehe (Do Democrats really believe this same old republican bullshit tactic)? - All the while the republicans are incessantly attacking them night & day 24/7 and whipping Democratic ass all over the TV, radio, newspapers & Internet!

It's absolutely pitiful to watch Dems say nothing and do nothing and never attack the republicans. never screaming loudly at the republicans daily lies, smears & distortions - They are absolutely disgusting even if they meekly fight back, if even that.

[DFW]

53. If only Alan Grayson's DNA could be administered with a pill...

And a spine inserted with a simple injection..........

[gophates]

51. Attack them everywhere, starting with interpersonal relationships

I have no friends that are Pukes. I refuse to be friends with monsters masquerading has human beings. I have only the most limited contact with family members who are Pukes, and that's only to humor a couple aunts. If it were up to me, I'd cut them off completely.

And it goes from there, all the way up to the candidates I support.

Every single one of these people is your enemy. Never, ever forget it. Turn your back on them and they'd stick a shiv through it.