Now What? (American Politics)

[Fahlep Yai]

Contrary to the opinion of all you ideologues out there, both right and left, yesterdays' selection was not a repudiation of Obama or any political theories. The average man on the street in America couldn't care less about liberalism, socialism, libertarianism, or any other "ism". All they know is that they see themselves, their neighbors, friends and relatives out of work or underemployed; health care cost rising astronomically; hordes of illegal immigrants streaming across the borders choking schools, hospitals and social welfare systems. Obama captured their imagination and promised to fix all that. He didn't. Things just got worse. They see unemployment still rising. The new "health-care plan" did nothing but increase the cost of health insurance. Attempts by States to control immigration are met with lawsuits by the government telling them to cease and desist.

are not those all things that obama has promoted or failed to fix? i think those are all part of his political theory. those theories stop dead when the minority becomes the majority. that is what happened on tuesday.

[Texpat]

Government in action. America has realized the massive mistake they made in 2008. Buyer's remorse has hit home.
Meanwhile Bobo continues to blame Bush while doing many of the same things Bush did (two years on).

He's so convinced of his superior intellect, he doesn't realize his shameless hypocrisy is apparent to even the most base and uneducated voters of any political persuasion. He's a horrible president -- now rendered impotent by a Republican Congress.

Let's hope this chapter of Moonbat government is behind us. Bobo will be gone in two years -- along with the remaining Democrat fossils in the House and Senate.

[BobHelm]

Let's hope this chapter of Moonbat government is behind us. Bobo will be gone in two years -- along with the remaining Democrat fossils in the House and Senate.

Probably true...to be replaced by an equal number of 'no idea' Republicans.
I think jimboLV has probably summed up what most people without a political axe to grind think. Most people do not really care what their Government calls itself. It just wants it to do what it claimed it would do when they were elected and stay out of its life as much as possible.
Sadly for America both the major parties are clueless & policyless when it comes to solving the issues that the country faces.

[UdonExpat]

I've seen politicians come and go, political parties come into and out of power, and the only consistent factor has been that the rich get richer. It doesn't seem to matter which politicians are holding whatever office or position, or which party is dominant. It's all a puppet shadow show. The real action is going on out of sight.

[KHONDAHM]

The reason why those who voted Republican are indeed dopey is because many actually expected that what took 8 years to become a clusterfck could be tidied up in two years without any bi-partisanship effort. To think that is simply dopey. To then put the same party that created the mess and campaigned to do THE SAME THING AGAIN is dopey in every sense of the word. For Republicans to buy the snake oil campaign rhetoric and totally ignore the record and the facts that reducing government income or taming the deficit without health care reform or cutting social programs without any affects is - I say it again - dopey.

For the Dems to continue seeking bi-partisanship was and is also both dopey and naive.

[Texpat]

Let's see if I have this right.
GOP -- dopey.
DEM -- dopey and naive.

GOP wins again. This is too easy.
Keep blaming Bush. It's all you've got.

[KHONDAHM]

Interesting. It appears Michael Moore came to almost exactly the same conclusions as I:

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/3/e ... on_midterm

What this tells me is that thinking people are thinking along the same lines. A split between the Tea Party and Republicans is highly likely. Moore and I disagree a bit about the Tea Party. Time will tell which of us is correct. My view is that Ron Paul allowed the Tea Party to be hijacked by kooks and extremists because that was the price that had to be paid to get the support required to get Rand Paul elected. My view is that it was a calculated move by the very adroit Ron Paul. My view is that now that he is elected, Rand Paul will (I hope) return the Tea Party to the sanity it enjoyed when it started under Ron Paul and dump the other kooks like Palin and their whacked out extremist supporters. [There is an entire article I could write about how the Tea Party was hijacked, by whom, when, and why - the web of details would blow your mind] Moore's view is (it seems to me) he also drank the media kool-aid about the party and about Rand Paul.

I could be wrong, and I continue to research the record and sift through so much media noise and hype about the Tea Party and Rand Paul's agenda. It's going to take a while, so don't expect a report anytime soon. The real proof will be evident within the first few months after Rand Paul takes office. What will his priorities be and what legislation will he introduce? What Republican legislation will he refuse to support? What Democrat legislation will he break rank and support? It is simply too early to tell.

Another thing Moore and I (and by extension all thinking people) agree on is just about everything else regarding Obama, the Democrats, and the incredulity of where we are now as a People, as a Government, and as a brand. It seems the thinking people of the Founders calibre are few and far between on the Republican side and the kooks are running the government. One would expect rational and thinking people like a Michael Bloomberg to be sitting across the table from Obama representing Republicans. Instead, we've got stubborn grown children soley concerned about what they can get for their special interests and personal agendas. Take "our" country back [from Obama]. Yeah, most Americans born before or not long after 1964 know the coded inference...

[Texpat]

What a load of self-righteous twaddle.
Thinking people. lol. Did you just compare yourself with Michael Moore and the founders in the same thread?
LMAO. Too much dhammy.

I'm thinking the democrats took the worst spanking of any majority party in 60 years.
I'm thinking their policies and programs were complete rubbish.
Millions upon millions of Americans thought the Democrats were idiots and had to go.

Golly, it must be so wonderful to be a thinker.

Pretentious nonsense. But funny as heck.

[cookie]

now what?
Change? real change?
it is clear that again the American people clearly voted for a change of direction.
The question is change to what?
change back to the same that ruined the US economy??
I wonder???
One thing is also clear, as long as these lobbyists stay in control of the American Politic system, no change will come???
Who will have the real balls to change this?
no more lobbying, no more earmarks, no more bribing,... [-o< [-o< [-o< [-o<

[rufus]

KHONDAHM , I like the logic and the arguments you have put forward in your posts in your posts. I agree with you whole heartedly.

[FrazeeDK]

prognostication: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has conveniently been out of the States traveling throughout Asia since a week before the elections. Upon her return to the States next week I'm betting she'll call Bill home and convene a "War Room" to assess her chances of challenging Obama in the 2012 Democratic primary. Note how she has totally distanced herself from domestic politics since becoming Secretary of State. She has not been associated with any legisltation or political act which has blown back on Obama and the Democrats in Congress... Many of the Independents who voted Republican this time around are former Hillary supporters...

As for the Dems fanny wacking losses, it's all about the "Economy Stupid"; jobs, national debt, deficit and your average American being held accountable for poor personal budgeting while the Federal Government, the President and Congress were running up historic levels of debt that may take over a decade to pay back IF the Republicans cut spending to the bone...

[pienmash]

prognostication: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has conveniently been out of the States traveling throughout Asia since a week before the elections. Upon her return to the States next week I'm betting she'll call Bill home and convene a "War Room" to assess her chances of challenging Obama in the 2012 Democratic primary. Note how she has totally distanced herself from domestic politics since becoming Secretary of State. She has not been associated with any legisltation or political act which has blown back on Obama and the Democrats in Congress... Many of the Independents who voted Republican this time around are former Hillary supporters...

As for the Dems fanny wacking losses, it's all about the "Economy Stupid"; jobs, national debt, deficit and your average American being held accountable for poor personal budgeting while the Federal Government, the President and Congress were running up historic levels of debt that may take over a decade to pay back IF the Republicans cut spending to the bone...

An excellent spot ref Hillary Clinton Frazee .... bloody sneaky sod i reckon she learnt it all from Billy boy , for sure she will be hovering around ready to slip into Obamas hush puppies .

[kopkei]

now what, everybody knows all ready america is bankrupt , no obama or whomever is going to fill up the whole the bush administration dug for many years , it is a little bit same thailand , the rich getting richer , the poor getting poorer , middle class disappearing, next year this will happen here also, let us hope i am wrong.....

[Texpat]

When will America bring home its 100,000 troops from Europe? I can see some real savings there.
Not to mention the GIs having to endure such hardship tours in such socially bereft locales. Imagine a red-blooded GI having to endure a year or more of his early years in...

Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey, Iceland, Germany, Belgium ...

Considering the poms and frogs are suddenly joining arms (and saliva), it won't be long before they they surrender to somebody (Argentina?) Makes perfect sense for fellow yellow-bellies to close ranks.

Yes, US spending far too much money to protect ingrates.

[BobHelm]

Oh my Tex..where do you get your wacky ideas from??
There are currently less than 65,00 USA troops in Europe & plans have already been agreed to remove 35,000 of them back to the USA.
http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2010/pdf/wm3006.pdf
Something that austerity 100% Europe will be grateful for as THEY (& not the USA) actually pay for the vast majority of.
Same in Japan & Korea....
Expect to see more troops needed to be funded by USA taxpayers soon, instead of European & Asian ones.
http://www.strategypage.com/dls/article ... 418176.asp

USA troops in Europe have not served a European purpose since the decline of the USSR, just had to be funded by them...Basically European & Asian funded R&R for American troops...I know which are the most likely party to be disappointed at this turn of events.

[Texpat]

Europe needs US troops. Lots of them.
You can't even fund helicopters or basic needs of your own troops downrange.
You've exhibited your military incompetence to the extent that you're ready to "share" a carrier with the frogs.
I really don't have to say anything else.
EUCOM (European Command) bases provide facility support -- same as PACOM (Pacific Command) bases. As they should. The bases belong to them, but they require real men (Americans) to fill the ranks. Stick to polishing boots and ironing uniforms.

[arjay]

Yes, bring/take them home. Let them get their boots and uniforms sorted out. Perhaps someone will be able to find them more productive work on the home front.

Good spot re Hilary. I don't believe she even made a comment about BP either, - keeping her nose clean, waiting for her time/opportunity to come.

[Texpat]

So the European orgiastic love-fest of Bobo is over?

Golly, that didn't last long.

[KHONDAHM]

@FrazeeDK
You make a good point about Hillary and her supporters. I think one could speculate the deal in 2008 was probably something like Obama would give it a go and she would bide her time as 3rd in line and perhaps run in 2012 if things didn't work out with Obama's term. Well, here's the gotcha: If one turns down the noise from all the anti-Obama propaganda and look at the factual record of his accomplishments in just two years, it is truly astounding. The legislation passed and signed into law WITHOUT SUPPORT FROM REPUBLICANS has been more successful and significant in quantity, scope, and impact than any President since FDR.

So, speculating there was a deal made in 2008, what is the measure of success? The record or the noise?

Another thing the Clintons would need to consider during their huddle is: Would Hillary be any more successful if she became POTUS given that Republicans would undoubtedly continue their behavior and that they probably would hate her just as much, if not more, as Obama because her husband soiled an intern's dress over a decade ago (while their own hypocritical self-righteous ranks were preaching family values and banging their own mistresses).

I think Hillary running against Obama with all the noise included might get her the primary, but she would get killed in the general election. Given the Citizen United decision, I could see shadowy pro-Republican interests running attack ads against Obama during the primary so that Hillary wins then turn against her during the general election. They would paint her as Obama and crush her. If Obama runs unchallenged in the primary, during the general he at least has his record to run on. If he could (please) morph into Ving Rhames between now and then, the Republicans will be left crying and sniveling huddled up in a corner in the fetal position.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Barring a miracle, Obama is finished, a lame-duck President. The miracle might be that transformation you suggest but....

He has been going downhill since he got that ill-deserved Nobel Prize, and since he gave the Queen a bundle of his favourite cds.

By the way, who have the Republicans got as potential presidential candidates? Are there any?