Senator Reid, Americans wonder: How dumb do Democrats think we are?

[omega minimo]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/congress/jan-june06/reid_1-18.html
Jim Lehrer NewsHour - January 18, 2006
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid from Nevada discussed the Democratic plan to reform lobbying practices in Congress, the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, NSA surveillance and the war in Iraq.



*Senator Reid, Americans wonder: How dumb do Democrats think we are?

*As we listened tonight to your interview on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, it seemed you were speaking to the great muddled middle (middle-of-the-road, middle-of-the-country, middle-class) Americans that may actually exist only in the minds of political handlers, advertisers and snake oil salesmen.

*We respectfully submit to you that the sideways crabdance of words skittering across the screen did not do justice to the actual level of awareness of the American people; and did not acknowledge the Constitutional Crisis that has been outed by Al Gore this week in his speech to a receptive, bi-partisan audience. It is time to draw a line in the sand and move forward.

JIM LEHRER: Are you going to vote to confirm Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court?

SEN. HARRY REID: Jim, this appointment to the Supreme Court is so important. First of all, I agree with the president's wife, Laura Bush. She said the president should have chosen a woman to replace this wonderful human being, this moderate woman, Sandra Day O'Connor, and I agree with her. I haven't been impressed with Samuel Alito. We're going to continue this process. I think it would be a stretch to have me vote for him, but I'm willing to listen. There are still a couple of hundred questions that are outstanding that he hasn't answered. The Democrats are going to have a dignified process when this gets to the Senate floor, which will be a week from today. And we'll see what happens. Democrats are very concerned about this. We feel that there should have been somebody like Sandra Day O'Connor replaced -- the Judicial Committee established one thing: Samuel Alito is no Sandra Day O'Connor.

*Perhaps the American people are muddled because of wishy-washy statements like that. And on the possibility of a filibuster, Senator Reid, you said: “Oh, I think it's way too early. You know, one of my jobs, Jim, is to make sure I know where the votes are. I don't know where they are yet.”

*WAY TOO EARLY? Senator Reid, it is way too late for this equivocation and avoidance. We need Speakers who will SPEAK, Representatives who will REPRESENT and Leaders who will LEAD.

JIM LEHRER: You know, speaking of the hearings, the senators themselves caught a lot of heat, many of them, for the suggestion was they talked a lot more than Samuel Alito did. What do you think about that? And the senators -- well, what do you think about that? I'll leave it at that.

SEN. HARRY REID: Well, those eight members of the Judiciary Committee that are Democrat -- they know those issues so well. They talked about unitary government and all these things. I was a practicing attorney for many years, went to court a long time. I told all my Senate Democratic colleagues that are on the Judiciary Committee, I said, "I don't know what the hell you were talking about." So anyway, I think they did a good job.

*Senator, during the week of the Alito hearings, it was suggested that maybe "unitary executive" was too unfamiliar a term to resonate with many Americans-- "President For Life" was one suggested alternative. However, watching you claim ignorance of "UNITARY GOVERNMENT AND ALL THESE THINGS" was appalling. Do Democrats honestly think you have to play dumb for the audience? Which audience are you playing to?

From Al Gore's speech:

An executive who arrogates to himself the power to ignore the legitimate legislative directives of the Congress or to act free of the check of the judiciary becomes the central threat that the Founders sought to nullify in the Constitution - an all-powerful executive too reminiscent of the King from whom they had broken free. In the words of James Madison, "the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."



JIM LEHRER: You think they did a good job? You don't think they have anything to apologize for?

SEN. HARRY REID: No, we have an obligation, Jim, to ferret out this the best we can. And I hope during the next few days rather than talking about some of these legal principles, people understand how important Samuel Alito or anyone on that Supreme Court is to American people. The decisions that are made on that Supreme Court affect the price people pay for gasoline, the health care they can get, what retirement benefits they're going to be able to receive. It's pocket book issues are decided in the Supreme Court, and we want to do the right thing.
 
*A "good job"? "The right thing"? "Rather than talk about these legal principles"? "It's pocket book issues"?


No matter what she says, Senator Feinstein’s expression said it all.

JIM LEHRER: Some people are suggesting that President Bush -- that impeachment proceedings should be considered. Do you think there should be?

SEN. HARRY REID: I think it's way, way too early for that. One of the things we're missing in this Republican-dominated Congress is oversight hearings, oversight of what goes on in government. Traditionally they've........

********(West Coast PBS viewers reported disruptions in the NewsHour broadcast. In at least one region, the following segment was cut out of the program):

........been held -- not the last five years -- so that the legislative branch of government does their job and looks into what the executive branch of government has done. And I think if we ever needed detailed, in-depth hearings, it's what the president's tried to do about intercepting - you know, Jim, I'm in favor of getting rid of these bad people and making sure that we're safe, but we want to do it keeping with this little Constitution that I carry around all the time. That's the important thing.

JIM LEHRER: Sen. Specter has called for hearings, and the attorney general has said he will participate. Is that going to get it?

SEN. HARRY REID: Jim, as we all know -- you know -- Arlen Specter is on a very short leash. When he got this job, he thought he was going to get it, they jerked him back real quick because he didn't like what was being done regarding women's reproductive rights.

*********AND THE PROGRAM RESUMED:

He was reigned in very quickly. I'm not sure how much leeway he has, but I admire him for being a man who says he is willing to try something. That's more than we've gotten from the Republican-dominated Congress for the past five years.

From Al Gore's speech:

It is the pitiful state of our legislative branch which primarily explains the failure of our vaunted checks and balances to prevent the dangerous overreach by our Executive Branch which now threatens a radical transformation of the American system.

I call upon Democratic and Republican members of Congress today to uphold your oath of office and defend the Constitution. Stop going along to get along. Start acting like the independent and co-equal branch of government you're supposed to be.

But there is yet another Constitutional player whose pulse must be taken and whose role must be examined in order to understand the dangerous imbalance that has emerged with the efforts by the Executive Branch to dominate our constitutional system.

We the people are-collectively-still the key to the survival of America's democracy. We-as Lincoln put it, "even we here"-must examine our own role as citizens in allowing and not preventing the shocking decay and degradation of our democracy.

Thomas Jefferson said: "An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will."



Note to Handlers: Middle Americans hate it when politicians shake a finger at them. That REALLY gets their attention.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[omega minimo]

2. So "appalling" was an understatement

[newswolf56]

3. I'd say even that old Vietnam Era military acronym FUBAR --

"Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition"-- is an understatement. But at least a few people -- Gore, Edwards, Pelosi, Boxer, Dean -- seem to get it. Though maybe what we have here are the makings of a government-in-exile, not a ticket for 2008.

[NoFederales]

28. Let's hope not, but it seems that "taking back the country" as

an effort may be being shoved that way. Maybe a triple-dog dare?

NoFederales

[NVMojo]

4. In many ways, I admire Reid, but ...you have pointed out the very things

that scare the hell out of me about him ...

[missouri dem 2]

6. I agree that the bankruptcy bill was the low point in class

warfare by Dem's. I am not a Hillary fan by any stretch of the imagination but Bill Clinton had heart surgery the day the the the bill was voted on.

[Mass]

10. Let Hillary off the hoop for this one, The vote was the same day Bill was

in surgery for his multiple bypass.

I expect Reid to announce that he will vote against Alito, but will not filibuster.

[newswolf56]

49. No I won't. Clinton voted for the original version of the bill in 2001:

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0316-03.htm

and was bitterly denounced for it by organized labor and progressives in general -- and New York is a strong labor state. But the banking interests and Wall Street -- as before the New Deal (and thanks to the Republicans) now once again pretty much one and the same -- are even stronger, probably more powerful in New York than anywhere else.

Clinton's bypass surgery was Sep. 6, 2004; the final bankruptcy vote in the Senate was Mar. 10, 2005. Clinton was indeed hospitalized that day for corrective surgery:

http://www.turnto10.com/news/4270989/detail.html

The senator added that...this was not considered a life-threatening procedure...

(No doubt she hoped we would forget how she voted in 2001.)

[geiger]

17. Well said...

It should be told him and them.

[Freddie Stubbs]

25. You are dead wrong about Alito

Yes Reid is a Morman and pro-life, but he voted against Roberts. Was he not a Morman that day?

[radio4progressives]

59. Excellent post.. Bravo - Speaking the Truth is essential for Dems to get

these issues accurately, when cheerleading for their favorite candidate in the next rigged elections.

[omega minimo]

105. So essential it was deleted, down the memory hole

"Speaking the Truth is essential for Dems to get these issues accurately, when cheerleading for their favorite candidate in the next rigged elections."

Your post likewise excellent: "...cheerleading for their favorite candidate in the next rigged elections."

[Idioteque]

72. Reid voted against cloture on the bankruptcy bill...

...unlike Lieberman who voted for cloture, then against the bill. I prefer the Reid position.

[newswolf56]

80. Lest readers be confused, a cloture vote is merely a vote to end debate:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloture

The position you prefer is the position of a senator who (regardless of how he voted on ending debate) cast an unprecedentedly savage vote against every American who is not independently wealthy -- and did so blatantly on behalf of the obscenely gloating money-men of American capitalism.

[gulfcoastliberal]

78. A good outline of why Reid is even worse than Daschle.

At least Daschle was pro-choice. I don't know about Daschle felt about the Bankruptcy act. But Reid is the worst Senate leader - this will be his hallmark should he fail to lead a democratic filibuster of Alito.

[Andromeda]

5. I'm disappointed in Reid.

What in the hell is he thinking!

[omega minimo]

35. If I point out his style of speech & response made him seem slightly

senile, would that be "Dem-bashing"?

[IndyOp]

7. I expect a lot MORE than treachery from Reid - who CAN be decent...

His statement that the "GOP trying to clean up culture of corruption is like John Gotti cleaning up the mob" is traveling far and wide and it is blunt. His move to close the Senate last winter was important.

And I wish he were a WHOLE lot more blunt and sophisticated in his messages - my God the contrast between Gore and Reid is *huge*.

C'mon Dems - President Gore showed you what we want - he was guarded, he did not race around the stage yelling about impeachment or the stolen presidential election. YOU Senate Dems can rise to at least his level in strength of message.

[TankLV]

98. Yeah, and then today he went and apologised for saying that.

Guess which one the whore media will remember and repeat.

Pick up gun. Shoot oneself in foot. Put down gun.

[Mass]

8. My husband saw it and he noted the same thing you did.

[hollowdweller]

9. What he should have said:

On Gore's speech:

"I'm not a lawyer Jim, but surely on the face of it, it looks like the President broke the law. The American people WANT to defeat the terrorists, but not at the expense of their own liberty and personal privacy"

On Alito:

" Regardless of whether he is technically qualified, I am voting against Alito. He has a history of siding with the rich and powerful over the individual, and of supporting unlimited executive power, both issues that likely will be coming up before the court.

Also, we were speaking of Gore, who won the popular vote quite possibly won Florida, but who was not elected due to a "party line " vote of the Supreme Court who actually voted to STOP a recount and appoint Bush to the presidency . With elections being so close anymore I want to support a justice who would put fairness over politics in such an instance, and based on his history I don't feel like Alito will be able to put aside his partisan leanings in such an instance"

[geiger]

15. exactly

[radio4progressives]

61. Actually Gore did win Florida, and that fact was published in the NYT

in December of 2001.

by then, we were bombing the shit out of Afghanistan, post 9/11 events.

The report was given very little if any mention in the rest of the Fascists Corporate MSM (from now on it will be spelled as FCMSM)

[hollowdweller]

73. I know that. But it wasn't the formal recount.

[radio4progressives]

75. As we are all Painfully Aware, Including Gore himself. ;(

[radio4progressives]

74. hear! hear! - Excellent Response - This "correction" needs to be sent to

Senator Reid's handlers - and to Reid himself. I'd like to coax you into do doing that, if you will please.. It has my vote..fwiw!

[thefloyd]

11. I don't think "Mid America"

cares if he points a finger. I saw a story on another blog wondering if Reid was focused.
Is there some "coup" going on here? You are crazy if you believe Reid has not done a good job. My god the man has kept everyone together and stopped Republican initiatives while not controlling the senate.
Please. Save the criticism for the Conservatives. What a joke

[acmejack]

12. If you think the wolf was "joking" you are sadly deluded.

Like it or not, he speaks God's truth. These people are busily selling the People down the river and you think they are doing a good job? OMFG!

[thefloyd]

13. No I never said "Joking"

I said the idea Reid is shitty is so absurd the idea is a joke. You know like square wheels? He does not speak "Gods truth to me".

[sandnsea]

14. "some coup going on"

Glad somebody else said it. Every single time we get the ball rolling, the "fans" run on the field and grab the ball and run the other way with it. It's getting damned annoying.

[thefloyd]

16. I agree

Fuckin stupid the day after Democrats roll out their message for 2006 some here start pissing on Reid
boomantribune.com is doing the same thing. I swear to fucking god.

[renie408]

18. Good analogy...n/t

[madfloridian]

46. Yes, to repeat it....."coup" Timed perfectly.

Note the posts that get the most recommends. It is perfectly timed everytime.

And I swear hell will freeze over.

[sandnsea]

48. We'll be on Skating With Dean & Kerry

any day now!

[pberq]

22. We'll see whether he supports a fillibuster of Alito

Make no doubt about it - Alito is our worst nightmare.

http://media.pfaw.org/pdf/stc/CivilLiberties.pdf

The nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court threatens civil liberties and
unchecked abuse of government power.

The Supreme Court plays a critical role in ensuring that Americans’ rights
are not trampled by government. It is a crucial check on the use of federal
surveillance powers by the executive branch. It also can require government
to respect Americans’ privacy and follow proper procedures when conducting
an investigation.

It is not surprising that President Bush—under fire for having authorized
wiretaps of American citizens without warrants—has nominated a jurist who
has repeatedly come down on the side of government power against individual
rights. Judge Alito not only defers to executive power and gives excessive
latitude to law enforcement, he also has condoned abuses of power by the
executive branch.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
The future of the Supreme Court depends on whether Judge Alito is confirmed.
People For the American Way is leading the fight to prevent him from being
confirmed, so that our most fundamental rights and liberties, including civil
rights, are protected. Act now. Call your senators today to ask them to vote
“no” on Alito.

[Mass]

30. He wont if he does not have the votes. It seems it is that simple.

[madfloridian]

34. Why, yes, there is some sort of what you said going on here.

Most definitely, all over the place. It is getting worse by the minute, and no one is seeming to care.

Yes, you are right.

It is becoming a place to really hurt the party.

[pberq]

51. So do you think putting Alito on the SC will "help the party"?

[madfloridian]

54. Where did you get that from what I said?

Gee, I was even called an "apologist" for the Democratic Party today, as strange thing to be called at a Democratic forum.

:shrug:

People just make stuff up from what I am saying, put a subject line that in no way reflects what I said....a lot of that here.

[Adelante]

19. Oh, fuck this

Gore gave a great speech and I commend him. He didn't cure cancer, for Christ's sake. Get a grip.

"We the people" might want to start fighting Republicans instead of Democrats. Just a thought. :eyes:

[thefloyd]

20. Cure Cancer?

WTF. Dems started fighting Cons yesterday for Christ sake.
Was not like Harry was on Oprah and fucked up.

[Adelante]

23. Huh?

Sorry, I'm not getting it.

[thefloyd]

24. Huh

is right

[Adelante]

27. Are we agreeing? lol

I thought we were at first.

[thefloyd]

33. I think we are..

I did not know for sure....HEHEH

[thefloyd]

38. Sorry there WESDEM

I did not see what message your response was attached to correctly the first time.

[Adelante]

43. No prob

:pals:

[renie408]

21. Hey! I just wrote a post asking about this same thing. n/t

[MrBenchley]

26. Why some of them are dumb enough to pretend Reid is a problem

and to post great wads of Democrat bashing on a Democratic forum.....that's pretty damn dumb.

[txaslftist]

29. Heh.

Nice post. It's awful easy to criticize Democrats for not being "pure" or for "betraying our principles" or whatever, and it's something I've seen for a long time. What people don't recognize is that DU is a sharp, forward moving forum where we don't really talk about today's issues so much as tomorrow's.

We get frustrated that our Democratic officials "don't get it", but really it's just a matter of them not keeping up. And if you've ever watched "Jaywalking" on Leno, you know that a great many people out there are way, way behind Harry Reid, who is way behind us on DU.

Give the guy a break. He's a Democrat, and he's not willing to commit himself to a filibuster or to a vote yet, because he hasn't yet seen where the beans are frying. Can you blame him? For fifteen years every time an elected Democrat has stuck his neck out he's found himself in electoral trouble at home, under attack from a well-organized and well financed Republican hate machine. And where were the Democratic grassroots then? Off bashing some other Democrat?

You want our leaders to show some strength on our behalf? Show some strength on theirs.

[MrBenchley]

31. It always amuses me to see the people

who stomp their feet and pout on DU that they are "not sending a dime to Democrats" and who never seem to do anything but bash this or that Democrat, then turn around and whine that they don't think the Democrats are doing what they want them to do.

And I doubt it's a coincidence that the Democrats who come under attack here on a regular basis are
--up for reelection in 2006; and
--beating their prospective Republican opponents like a drum.

[Adelante]

44. Nice one

"You want our leaders to show some strength on our behalf? Show some strength on theirs." :thumbsup:

[omega minimo]

42. Time to unclench and smell the coffee

You're doin a heck of a job Benchley and I would reply to your personal attack if it were not typical of the only contribution you seem able to make to DU

[MrBenchley]

45. What I smell from your thread isn't coffee....

[newswolf56]

50. The problem is (apparent) Democrats dumb enough to vote like fascists:

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0316-03.htm

and other (apparent) Democrats dumb enough to want impose censorship to protect such class-traitors from the consequences.

Which protection, by the way, is antithetical to the stated purpose of this website:

Democratic Underground (DU) was founded on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2001, to protest the illegitimate presidency of George W. Bush and to provide a resource for the exchange and dissemination of liberal and progressive ideas. Since then, DU has become one of the premier left-wing websites on the Internet, publishing original content six days a week, and hosting one of the Web's most active left-wing discussion boards.

We welcome Democrats of all stripes, along with other progressives who will work with us to achieve our shared goals. While the vast majority of our visitors are Democrats, this web site is not affiliated with the Democratic Party, nor do we claim to speak for the party as a whole.

Apparently the 36 senators on the Mar. 15, 2001 version of the Indentured Servitude Roster of Shame didn't think anybody was watching: DU was new, they probably hadn't heard of it yet, and in any case the corporate media had guaranteed the fat-cat money-men this particular purchase of politicians and legislation wouldn't be covered (as indeed it wasn't). By Mar. 10, 2005 the Roster of Shame had been cut in half -- a forcible reduction of class betrayal for which DU (and threads like this one launched by Omega Minimo) deserve the lion's share of the credit: no thanks to would-be censors like you.

There is also the pivotal question of how anyone claiming to be a Democrat could possibly support a law that literally re-imposes indentured servitude: enabling the banks to double your credit card payments and thus force you into default while simultaneously denying you the relief of bankruptcy -- the most deliberately savage blow ever dealt any and every American who is not independently wealthy.

As it says in the old labor-movement song: "which side are you on?"

[pberq]

53. Exactly. If we don't hold elected Democrats to account

when they are wrong, we are falling down on the job.

Supporting your party whether right or wrong is the way Republicans work. This is exactly the attitude that has given us the mess this country is in today.

I applaud Senator Reid on the good things he has done, and will not hesitate to point out his mistakes. This is the whole point of a democracy.

[omega minimo]

94. "Supporting your party whether right or wrong is the way Republicans work"

"Supporting your party whether right or wrong is the way Republicans work. This is exactly the attitude that has given us the mess this country is in today."

Shout it from the rooftops-- this is brilliant and had to be said.

Your whole post is great and SO SIMPLE. An example of the concise and solid statements posted on this thread from folks speaking clearly-- examples of what Reid DID NOT do on the NewsHour and what really is needed from more Dem leaders. NOW is the time.

I also commend you for acknowledging whatever "good things he has done" and reminding the apologists that democracy allows/demands that we "will not hesitate to point out his mistakes." Those here who automatically assume that honest critique = a smear campaign don't seem to have much to say.

[radio4progressives]

96. We are Working Hard "To Frame the Message" - that The Dems

Need to Understand and start Speaking.

That was the problem with Kerry's campaign, and god knows he hasn't learned a thing. There he is in Iraq on a teleconference interview with wolfy - for the life of me i can't exactly remember what question wolfy asked, but leave to Kerry to respond with a total non-sequitor, 'where is the president's Health Care Plan? He has none' (paraphrasing) for a minute i thought i was going to be treated with the full repeat of the 2004 election campaign health care plan which was just plain inadequate as hell on it's face (but don't we love how our dems just tosses out a few crumbs and call it a plan?) but it was just dumb..

here is an educated man with at least a modicum of "gravitas" and listen to him responding to wolfy yesterday just made me want to curl up and cry. Cuz he still doesn't get it. So what are we going to do with a house and senate full of thieves thugs religious wackos on their side, and a bunch of tongue tied nitwits on our side?

I think it's time to storm the castles, as it were.

[MrBenchley]

56. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out....

One wonders why somebody who thinks Democrats are corrupt wouldf clog up a Democratic forum....

[radio4progressives]

63. Great Song That...

Come all of you good workers
Good news to you I'll tell
Of how that good old union
Has come in here to dwell

(Chorus)
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?

Which Side Are You On?

by Florence Reese

My daddy was a miner
And I'm a miner's son
And I'll stick with the union
Till every battle's won

They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there
You'll either be a union man
Or a thug for J.H. Blair

Oh, workers can you stand it?
Oh, tell me how you can
Will you be a lousy scab
Or will you be a man?

Don't scab for the bosses
Don't listen to their lies
Us poor folks haven't got a chance
Unless we organize

[newswolf56]

69. The larger part of my boyhood was spent in Southern Appalachia...

as were some of the earliest years of my journalism career. Let me then testify this is a true song:

They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there...

Not just in Kentucky's Harlan, but in West Virginia's Mingo and Logan counties (where they fought the Mingo County War), in East Tennessee's Anderson County (where they fought the Coal Creek War and suffered the unspeakable atrocity of the Fraterville Mine Disaster) -- in fact throughout all the Appalachian coal fields.

And I am proud to say I have witnessed this song sung for real, the words woven with the notes of dulcimer and banjo, a blood-bright banner defiantly unfurled on a rickety bare-board porch in the honeysuckle-scented firefly dusk, the fast-fading twilight suddenly alive as if with the solidarity of ancestral ghosts standing together beside their living descendants: a memory that even now four decades later moistens my eyes with pride and raises goose-flesh with its resurrections of what was -- and its promise of what yet might be.

[radio4progressives]

79. Very Beautifully written....

these images go to the core of my bones...

don't forget the haunting sound of the fiddles with the sweet mandolin tremelos mixed with the high lonesome harmonies of the mountain gospels or the tragic ballads that tell the stories of these lives that live and die there.

[newswolf56]

85. Nor the flavor of the contents of the fruit-jar, lovingly sipped and...

passed from hand to hand. Sounds as if you've spent time there too -- and not just as a tourist.

You would know then that in the Appalachian back country it is truly a place where the old ballads still live, and the whole land -- whether deep in the laurel hells or high on the mountain balds -- feels haunted even at noon, a realm of quiet Otherness in which you can easily believe something like this unknowably ancient tale might really happen:

Last night she come to me, my dead love come in
So softly she move'd her feet made no din
And these words to me did say 'ere she went on her way
It will not be long long love until our wedding day.

But the single passage of song I think captures the feel of Appalachia better than any other is this 40-year-old line by Patrick Sky:

And the voice of my Mother
rides in on the downwind
sayin' "son -- don't stay too long"



Edit: typo

[radio4progressives]

87. Kindred Spirits ...

I am familiar with some of those old ballads, but i haven't personally experienced the *place* from where these great old songs are from, but somehow, i think because of my ancestry that it's as if i had personally known these places. but mine is mostly a sort of kinship i feel i have through friends and musical acquaintances who are from various parts of the regions like, Eastern Kentucky, Asheville area, Shenandoah Valley and up near Augusta West Virginia and even up in PA and east NY..

it's sort of a community of musicians deeply immersed into the tradition. And when i wasn't politically active i was involved in weeks long music camps during the summer months, which is a sort of a communal immersions of the sort where playing music, story telling, (and Appalachian step dancing sometimes)would go on 'til the cows came home' or until suddenly finding ourselves staring into the early morning sun, then we might catch a few winks, and then start all over again.. or just keep going.

those were the days, but not so long ago..

those words of that song are haunting, and you're so right, it really does project that feeling, i think.

[radio4progressives]

81. I grew up down on the Carolina coast ...

but learned to love the music and the culture only after I left and came to northern california..then i picked up the fiddle and the mandolin and their songs... and learned more about the life which i wholly rejected as youngster and a teen.

[omega minimo]

90. Lovely lyrical lines

And I am proud to say I have witnessed
this song sung for real,
the words woven with the notes
of dulcimer and banjo,
a blood-bright banner defiantly
unfurled
on a rickety bare-board porch in the
honeysuckle-scented firefly dusk,
the fast-fading twilight
suddenly alive
as if
with the solidarity of ancestral ghosts
standing together
beside their living descendants:
a memory that even now
four decades later moistens my eyes
with pride and raises goose-flesh
with its resurrections
of what was --
and its promise
of what yet might be.

[radio4progressives]

95. oh yea, that's nice..

gets right to the core... did you write that?

[newswolf56]

97. Every word of it -- just today (and specifically for DU).

I thought of it as prose -- not poetry -- but I see OM made it into a poem, for which thanks. (I also write intentional poetry with much the same flavor: more overtly mythological, with the Muse always present at least by implication.)

(I've a similar, even stronger attachment to Northern Michigan, specifically the Au Sable country {more definitively spiritual though, and to the land not the culture}. The South Branch region was still wilderness in the years of my boyhood {no electricity etc.} and -- due to the epic dysfunction of my alleged "family" -- I spent most of my summers there.)



Edit: too-hasty errors (am trying to get out the door for a meeting to which I am already late.)

[radio4progressives]

64. excellent response..

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[depakid]

83. Because he's a loser

he has the worst record of any minority leader ever. Under his "leadership" the Dems given the far right everything they've wanted- they haven't blocked a single nomination- no matter how extreme- nor have they blocked any major legislation, no matter how egregious or irrational it is.

Harry Reid makes Daschle look good.

The sooner the dems find a graceful exit for him, the better.

[jsamuel]

106. while I am one to criticize Dems when I think they deserve it, all the

attacks on Reid, Pelosi, and Dean the past 2 weeks have been dead wrong.

MrBenchley and me agreeing... wow.

[omega minimo]

32. Dembashing? Anyone actually read the transcript or see Reid's performance?

All the naysaying comments here are attacking me for accurately describing what was exhibited by the Minority Leader on national public television last night. He's not just another Dem. It is a big deal.

All the snooty comments here are pre-packaged spitwads balled up for anyone who says anything you think you already have your made mind up about.

Please do us the honor of actually reading and responding to the Leader's 1-18 performance, decide for yourself in this case if he is doing a "heck of a job" and reply to this particular OP, rather than lob generic accusations.

Thank you :patriot:

[thefloyd]

36. Reid was on PBS

Not Oprah.

[omega minimo]

37. And what were you watching?

[zann725]

39. I don't like Reid's "...way too early" comment. If not NOW, WHEN are Dems

going to stand up and say NO MORE!

[omega minimo]

40. You got it. And if we could have an informed discussion here the question

would be WHY do Democratic leaders want us to believe in a soothing, pablumized version of reality.

[thefloyd]

41. You certainly were watching Oprah

or SpaceBalls

[radio4progressives]

76. excuse me, do you need the News Hour transcript and the video link?

i think you need to read the transcript and see it the actual program in question.

[welshTerrier2]

47. Reid 'em and weep

one could say many good things about Harry Reid ... he's a tough cookie ... he's put some fight back in the Party ... making an issue of the "culture of corruption" will help Democrats ... it's important to educate Americans to the reality that cronyism is pervasive in this administration and not just a few random cases ...

but this section from the OP was devastating ... it highlights Reid's apparent blindness to the Constitutional crisis we're currently facing:

SEN. HARRY REID: No, we have an obligation, Jim, to ferret out this the best we can. And I hope during the next few days rather than talking about some of these legal principles, people understand how important Samuel Alito or anyone on that Supreme Court is to American people. The decisions that are made on that Supreme Court affect the price people pay for gasoline, the health care they can get, what retirement benefits they're going to be able to receive. It's pocket book issues are decided in the Supreme Court, and we want to do the right thing.

*A "good job"? "The right thing"? "Rather than talk about these legal principles"? "It's pocket book issues"?

I actually do believe Democrats on the Judiciary Committee did a good job highlighting Alito's "unitary executive" attitudes ... but Reid is totally out to lunch when he states this nomination is all about pocket book issues ... our Constitution is under attack by the bush administration ... we hear phrases like "failing to provide 'oversight'" but we don't hear why the oversight is so critically needed ... bush has way overstepped his Constitutional authority ... he has broken the law and deprived Americans of their civil liberties ... he refuses to even acknowledge that the Congress has the power to restrict his actions in any way ... he believes, as Alito believes, that it is the inherent power of the Executive Branch to implement spying programs on Americans because we are at war ... bush's grab for power is a severe threat to our country ... it is a war that must be joined by the Legislative and Judicial branches and it is a war that does not need a justice like Smiling Sammy Alito ...

and to all this, Harry Reid, our visionary leader is worried about the price we pay for gasoline at the pump ...

the Democratic Party apologists on this board should be ashamed of themselves ... instead of complaining and whining, how about actually addressing the issue of whether you believe Constitutional liberties are under attack by the bush administration ... do you want to condone what Reid said? do you believe the focus of the Alito hearings should be on pocket book issues? if the Democratic Party refuses to confront bush on his Constitutional abuses, i'm afraid we're going to be losing a whole lot more than just an election ...

this is a great thread ... kudos to the author for comparing Gore's important speech to what Reid had to say during his PBS interview ... you really did your homework documenting the case ... HIGHLY RECOMMENDED !!

added on edit:

btw, Leahy just came out against Alito's nomination ... here's the reason he said he would vote against Alito ... notice how different his argument is from the one Reid presented:

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said Thursday he will oppose Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's confirmation, saying he did not believe the conservative judge would be independent of President Bush and the executive branch in his future rulings.

"At a time when the president is seizing unprecedented power, the Supreme Court needs to act as a check and to provide balance," Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a speech at Georgetown University's law school. "Based on the hearing and his record, I have no confidence that Judge Alito would provide that check and balance."

[pberq]

52. Good post, welshTerrier2.

Everyone needs to see Leahy's speech:

rtsp://video.c-span.org/archive/sc/sc011906_leahy.rm

[welshTerrier2]

55. the Leahy video was fantastic

Leahy's speech was just great !! thanks for the link ...

the abuse of power by the bush administration should sit at the core of the Democratic Party's 2006 campaign ... either Reid doesn't understand this or doesn't believe it will be politically effective ... either way, he's wrong ...

although the issue should transcend politics, i believe it would finally promote some unity in the Party and show the toughness and the leadership the American people have been waiting for ... Gore got it right; Leahy got it right; and Reid?? ... maybe there's still hope ... time will tell ...

[thefloyd]

57. Crisis Crisis WhaaaaWhaaaa

I still have not changed my mind.

[welshTerrier2]

60. you have not changed your mind about what?

is it your position that bush has not overstepped his Constitutional authority by suspending habeas corpus, using torture and spying on Americans ???

perhaps you would explain why you disagree with Senators Leahy and Kennedy (and others) on these critical Constitutional issues ...

and perhaps instead of vacuous comments you would like to actually discuss the issues raised ... for example, do you actually agree with Reid's comments that the Supreme Court is not about legal principles but rather pocket book issues???

the problem with you party apologists is that you think it's wrong to criticize any Democrat no matter what ... some of us actually believe the party will be stronger if we find our way to the right policies ... but you just don't get that, do you?

[thefloyd]

62. Yawn

zzzzzzzz

[welshTerrier2]

65. vacuous

look it up ... really brilliant post ...

you come to a forum and refuse to discuss your views ...

actually, you've told us all we need to know with your "zzzzzzz's" ... go back to sleep ... we'll call you when it's time to robotically pull the voting levers ...

[thefloyd]

68. Z

Z

[radio4progressives]

77. Excellent post...

I think it's pretty sad that the analysis has to be spelled out point by point in order for the benefit of others, stating what should be obvious, but you are to be commended for this excellent effort...

:applause:

[omega minimo]

99. "highlights Reid's apparent blindness to the Constitutional crisis"

"...it highlights Reid's apparent blindness to the Constitutional crisis we're currently facing..."

What audience is a Democratic legislator or leader playing to when he pretends ignorance or downplays the severity of the multiple crises the nation is (unavoidably) facing?

Playacting that the American public could not POSSIBLY comprehend Constitutional issues and only "cares when it affects them personally" (as if national issues do not) may be common attitudes-- but Reid's performance in this venue on this night was bizarre and misguided. It is the Handlers who are telling the Senate Minority Leader to emphasize "pocketbook issues" and TOTALLY IGNORE the fact that Al Gore put the issues squarely on the table. Reid turned it into the new 900 lb. elephant in the room. Is this a signal for other Democrats (he's a LEADER fer gawds sake) to pretend that Al Gore did not MAKE HISTORY THIS WEEK?

That is why this appearance was so shocking. This was The Moment, and Reid did not meet it.

The quote from Senator Leahy is exactly the sort of thing that the Leader coulda/shoulda/woulda said: it is simple, clear and effective. Reid was doing his best to not say much of anything at all and was completely ineffective. The one liner about gangsters is not enough.

The shuffling bumpkin act was either completely genuine (and I apologize in that case-- but in that case HE SHOULD NOT BE THE LEADER) or an insulting condescencion to the perceived idiocy of the mass America.

For a Democratic Leader to sit there and tell Lehrer that he told colleagues on the Judiciary Panel (who were "talking about these legal principles") that "I don't know what the hell you're talking about" is totally irresponsible. If he doesn't know, it is his fu****g job to GOOGLE IT FOR GAWDS SAKE.

He played the sap and it was a slap in the face to Americans who understand what is at stake.

RE: "the Democratic Party apologists on this board should be ashamed of themselves ... instead of complaining and whining, how about actually addressing the issue of whether you believe Constitutional liberties are under attack by the bush administration ... if the Democratic Party refuses to confront bush on his Constitutional abuses, i'm afraid we're going to be losing a whole lot more than just an election ..."

The sneerers here don't offer anything of substance and assume that any comment fits their ready-made cliches about Dem-bashing. It's hard to believe they aren't plants of one side or other.

As we know, the Constitutional abuses of this administration began in 2000. One leader (coincidentally the rightful President of that year) put REALITY out there for everybody. Apparently, the Democratic leaders in Congress want to keep their heads in the sand.

Why?



Thanks WT2, love your posts :kick:

[welshTerrier2]

103. and i yours ...

you write with passion and power ...

and a question i asked 3 days ago still lingers: has even a single prominent Democrat specifically supported Gore's call for a special counsel?

i know the issue was addressed during today's Conyers' hearings (in the basement again!) but i can't be sure any of the Congressional reps specifically called for a special counsel ... and the Senate? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh !!!!!

[omega minimo]

104. Randi played the Conyers hearings today-- Wexler said some forceful things

but I don't know if anyone has called for a Special Counsel.

As close as Sen. Reid came was in that bit of the NewsHour that got deleted (speaking of "intercepting"):


JIM LEHRER: Some people are suggesting that President Bush -- that impeachment proceedings should be considered. Do you think there should be?

SEN. HARRY REID: ...One of the things we're missing in this Republican-dominated Congress is oversight hearings, oversight of what goes on in government. Traditionally they've........

********
........been held -- not the last five years -- so that the legislative branch of government does their job and looks into what the executive branch of government has done. And I think if we ever needed detailed, in-depth hearings, it's what the president's tried to do about intercepting - you know, Jim, I'm in favor of getting rid of these bad people and making sure that we're safe, but we want to do it keeping with this little Constitution that I carry around all the time. That's the important thing.

JIM LEHRER: Sen. Specter has called for hearings, and the attorney general has said he will participate. Is that going to get it?

SEN. HARRY REID: Jim, as we all know -- you know -- Arlen Specter is on a very short leash. When he got this job, he thought he was going to get it, they jerked him back real quick because he didn't like what was being done regarding women's reproductive rights.

*********
He was reigned in very quickly. I'm not sure how much leeway he has, but I admire him for being a man who says he is willing to try something. That's more than we've gotten from the Republican-dominated Congress for the past five years."


* So Reid invokes the importance of "doing it in keeping with this little Constitution that I carry around all the time."

"That's the important thing" he says. Is that supposed to encouraging, some meager crumb or coded language that he really does know what's going on?

As much as Dems get slammed for being weak and wishy washy, is that really what it takes to survive D.C. these days?

[radio4progressives]

58. Fabulous Post! K&R

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[snowbear]

66. Senator Reid is on Big Eddie right now and he ROCKS !!!

Absolutely ROCKS !!! :headbang:

[greiner3]

67. I think it's way, way too early for that. re impeachment;

But we need to keep the word out there in the public's face. Impeach the scumbag!

[xchrom]

70. kick

[newswolf56]

71. Apropos Reid's treachery (courtesy of the Associated Press):

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/19/D8F81ICG6.html

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday apologized to 33 Republican senators singled out for ethics criticism in a report from his office titled "Republican Abuse of Power."

Quoth Reid: "I am writing to apologize for the tone of this document and the decision to single out individual senators for criticism in it."

Once again, Reid is doing everything in his power to undercut progressive Democratic leadership: Dean ("Republican leaders in Washington have deliberately and shamelessly built a money-for-influence machine unlike anything our democracy has ever endured"); Pelosi ("...it is time to end the Republican culture of corruption prevailing through all levels of government"); and -- once again -- President Gore: "The Abramoff scandal is but the tip of a giant iceberg threatening the integrity of the entire legislative branch of government."

To which Reid -- in as classic an act of political back-stabbing as I have ever witnessed -- responds by invalidating (even before it is published) the first report that genuinely maps the scandal:

"The document released by my office yesterday went too far and I want to convey to you my personal regrets," Reid said in a letter.

Sadly and with profound disgust, I rest my case.

[Hidden Stillness]

82. They Mean This in Only the Nicest Possible Way...

Hi, omega minimo. I read your original post this afternoon, but I think it is way too early to give an opinion on it, although I do or do not criticize anyone who already has given an opinion. Perhaps I should "frame" my answer, so that those Midwesterners among us might "understand" it. Let me just say that, first of all--FIRST of all, mind you--I agree with Laura Bush (?!)...That reminds me--I read a headline caption on the bottom of the screen on Court TV that began, I kid you not, "Librarian-turned-first-lady Laura Bush..." Don't tell me there is not a conspiracy of propaganda; I call her Laura "Plow 'Em Under and Keep On Driving" Bush, as opposed to George "Fall Over Hit Nose" Bush. What a wonderful family.

Well anyway--got a little sidetracked there. I don't know what Harry Reid was addressing with these comments, if this is an authentic expression of things, or just keeping Jim Lehrer, a known Republican, at arm's length, with safe comments that could not be attacked, etc. I have variously been really impressed with Reid, and outraged. Do Drmocrats not even know yet that they can attack Bush and Republicans and it will be cheered in the country? I am also baffled at the remark contrasting "pocket book issues" with "legal principles"--what? Are we not adults thinking on at least two levels of social reality? All I know is, America can do better...Either that or, WE can do better...Now, I am confused. Also, why do all official Democrats immediately start using this completely meaningless expression "unitary executive" as soon as their Republican masters do? What the Hell is a "unitary executive?"

Tinkle tinkle little star
Who the hell do you think you are?
Like a Ray-Gun in the sky,
Pissing right into our eye.
I would shoot you in the head,
If you weren't already dead. (The Supply-Side Shuffle.)

They keep telling us to stand up and demand change of the Congress, etc., then give us this back-stabbing, "our Republican friends" grin, and sabotage every burgeoning social movement of the past several years, leaving us stranded. It reminds me of nothing so much as a very mild version of old Bush getting Kurds to rise up against Saddam Hussein, 1991 I guess it was, then when they did, backed out, went home, and left them there, by themselves, to be massacred. What evil their selfishness is. The official Democratic Party here tells us to fight Republican corruption, then when we try to, they themselves undercut us with this "oh, that is so overstated" bit. Just as disturbing as the weird Reid comments, though, is the fact that PBS apparently censored a section of the comments--just like all the rest of them. I thought PBS had gotten rid of that Republican operative.

All I know for sure is, if I have to look at that picture of Feinstein one more time, I don't know what I'm going to do. Please, Democrats, get rid of the corporate consultants, and talk to us like adults; like Rep. Louise Slaughter.

[radio4progressives]

84. Boy Howdy, Hidden Stillness!

That Slaughter is something else ! We sure could use a whole lot more of them Slaughters in the House and Senate, Please!

boy howdy .. I really liked your analogy liken us with situation with the Kurds, back in the Gulf War, exactly so!

I don't get the Laura Bush thingy, but i LUV your Supply Side Shuffle!

great stuff..

[newswolf56]

86. For readers unfamiliar with Rep. Slaughter (as I was):

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY-28), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, today questioned the commitment of the Republican Party to real ethics reform within the House and Senate. Her comments were based on a long history of Republican obstructionism regarding the issue of Congressional ethics...

Her website is here:

http://www.votelouise.com/

[omega minimo]

88. ow

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

First paragraph mimics the almost-made-sense stream of consciousness Sen. Reid was responding to questions with.

So many excellent commenst on this thread and this is one of em:

"I am also baffled at the remark contrasting "pocket book issues" with "legal principles"--what? Are we not adults thinking on at least two levels of social reality?"

I choose not to misunderestimate the audience and believe that folks can not only chew gum and walk, but absorb the concept and even the term "unitary executive" if explained clearly... I could be wrong-- perhaps we would need some "framing" :evilgrin: to help things along (today Randy Rhodes suggested "Dictator")

Nice to see you HS

[LittleClarkie]

89. You speak for Americans?

How do you know what they wonder, otherwise?

[omega minimo]

91. Aye

As do we all.


That's called

DEMOCRACY :bounce:

[Punkingal]

92. Thank you for this post...

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I live in Nevada part of the time, and I am not a big fan of Harry. As the saying goes in Nevada among us Dem activists who have been consistently disappointed by him, Harry is a Mormon first, a Democrat second.

[radio4progressives]

93. oh gosh... and where does the American part come in?

i'm no nationalist mind you, but this matter goes to the core of what all those redneck yellin' yahoos are screaming UHMURIKAN VOWUS...

know what i mean? I just hate the very idea that we have to lobby Sen Reid. sheesh.

actually, i hate the idea that we have to lobby any freaking one of them.

[patrioticliberal]

100. Um."Middle America" doesn't watch Jim Lehrer, dude.

[leesa]

101. Let's see...dumb enough to apologize AGAIN for nothing???

Dumb enough to allow the appointment of yet another facist to the Supreme Court for Life without a fight? THAT dumb?

[Gloria]

102. Sandra a "wonderful human being, ...a "moderate"???? She sat there

election night pissed that Gore was winning and did her bosses bidding when the time came to vote on shutting down the recount.

What a lot of CRAP, Harry!!!

You know, if you're always nice to these creeps, people don't understand when you occasionally do something against them....You have to be consistently in their faces, Harry--maybe then, people will understand something is going wrong with them....