Fineman on "big, bold, controversial characters" (Condi, McCain, Rudy...)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Straight from Rove's ass to Fineman's keyboard.

Demoralized Dems
Why the party has so little faith in its political prospects.

By Howard Fineman
Newsweek
Updated: 5:53 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2005

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9516671/site/newsweek/

With George W. Bush’s presidency mired in the muck of hurricanes and doubts about the war, you’d think Democrats would be bursting with energy, eagerly expecting to regain power. But, in a roomful of well-connected Democrats the other night, I was struck by how gloomy they were. They can’t stand Bush, but didn’t have much faith in their own party’s prospects.

Why? Well, some of the reasons they articulated are short-term and tactical; some are purely personal; others more philosophical; and I have a few myself:

The GOP has Rudy, Colin, Arnold, McCain and Condi—just to name a few: big, bold, controversial characters. Good copy if nothing else. The more or less official roster of titular Democratic leaders includes Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean and 2004 nominee John Kerry. ‘Nuff said.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. failure of leadership.

you go out, just like any sports team, and DEVELOPE future leaders.
GOP does that. in fact, most euro countries do that. It is not nepotism, it is self-interest and survival.

[Benhurst]

2. Howie is such a little jock-strap sniffer. He probably agreed

with Tweedy about Dubya's cutting a fine figure when he strode upon the aircraft carrier with his diaper bunched up at the crotch.

[Hailtothechimp]

3. He is the one stop shop for the "Dems are in disarry" pieces

anybody who listens to this guy deserves what they get. I know he's on Al Franken's Show and Countdown w/ KO a lot, but he's a loyalist to Karl Rove and the others.

[napi21]

4. I know you all want to hang this on Fineman, but what have you really

heard from the Dems recently? Sure, we hear Nancy calling down Bennett, all of them slaming FEMA for the poor response to Katrina, and several saying they don't trust Roberts because he wouldn't really commit to anything, but what else have you heard? ShrubCo is drowning in scandal, and low apporval ratings, and it sure seems to me like the Dems are planning to just sit back and watch instead of taking advantage of the situation.

Is Fineman really wrong here????

[emulatorloo]

5. well the media didn't really cover Kerry's blistering Katrina speech

at Brown University, for example, but that doesn't mean he didn't make one. And of course he wasn't the only one.. .

read it if you haven't

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2005_09_19.html

,snip.

And the rush now to camouflage their misjudgments and inaction with money doesn’t mean they are suddenly listening. It's still politics as usual. The plan they’re designing for the Gulf Coast turns the region into a vast laboratory for right wing ideological experiments. They’re already talking about private school vouchers, abandonment of environmental regulations, abolition of wage standards, subsidies for big industries - and believe it or not yet another big round of tax cuts for the wealthiest among us!

The administration is recycling all their failed policies and shipping them to Louisiana. After four years of ideological excess, these Washington Republicans have a bad hangover -- and they can't think of anything to offer the Gulf Coast but the hair of the dog that bit them.

And amazingly -- or perhaps not given who we’re dealing with -- this massive reconstruction project will be overseen not by a team of experienced city planners or developers, but according to the New York Times, by the Chief of Politics in the White House and Republican Party, none other than Karl Rove -- barring of course that he is indicted for "outing" an undercover CIA intelligence officer.

Katrina is a symbol of all this administration does and doesn't do. Michael Brown -- or Brownie as the President so famously thanked him for doing a heck of a job - Brownie is to Katrina what Paul Bremer is to peace in Iraq; what George Tenet is to slam dunk intelligence; what Paul Wolfowitz is to parades paved with flowers in Baghdad; what Dick Cheney is to visionary energy policy; what Donald Rumsfeld is to basic war planning; what Tom Delay is to ethics; and what George Bush is to “Mission Accomplished” and "Wanted Dead or Alive." The bottom line is simple: The "we'll do whatever it takes" administration doesn't have what it takes to get the job done.

This is the Katrina administration.

,smip>

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

6. I think his "Good copy if nothing else" comment is a real pantsload...

...AND a cop-out.

It's easy to make headlines. Especially if you're Condi Rice, talking about what a "wonderful opportunity" the U.S. was given as the result of the tsunami...and that's only ONE example from Fineman's illustrious group.

From Michael Moore's front page, right after she made that statement:



He has a valid point buried deep, deep beneath the Bush Worship in this article.