Cat Calls

Filed in National by on March 11, 2009

Thomas Friedman:

Meanwhile, the Republican Party behaves as if it would rather see the country fail than Barack Obama succeed. Rush Limbaugh, the de facto G.O.P. boss, said so explicitly, prompting John McCain to declare about President Obama to Politico: “I don’t want him to fail in his mission of restoring our economy.” The G.O.P. is actually debating whether it wants our president to fail. Rather than help the president make the hard calls, the G.O.P. has opted for cat calls. It would be as if on the morning after 9/11, Democrats said they wanted no part of any war against Al Qaeda — “George Bush, you’re on your own.”

That is because the Republican Party really cares about the party first, themselves first, rather than anyone, or anything, else. They could care less if people are homeless or starving. Indeed, their policies provide no assistance to the homeless and starving, and you can argue that their policies make people homeless and starving.

It was predictable that the GOP would end up in this situation.

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  1. Morning Line - March 11, 2009 : Delmarva Dealings | March 11, 2009
  1. David Anderson says:

    Exactly wrong, equating President Obama’s political success with the country is dishonest at best. It is because Republicans want the country to succeed that they hope President Obama fails to implement the worst parts of his agenda.

  2. Unstable Isotope says:

    The president’s policies affect everyone, David. I think the Republican’s best bet is to try to influence the policies for the better, but they can’t since they don’t have any good ideas. They’re just left rooting for failure and hope that Democrats get the blame. The problem is they retain enough power (Collins, Snowe and Specter) to water down the good policies enough to make them less effective.

  3. cassandra_m says:

    It was the same dishonesty that you guys used to push back against those of us who objected to BushCo’s Iraq War.

    The exact same dishonesty.

    It is OK to disagree, but Congressional Rs are not just disagreeing, they have actively dropped out of the business of governing. Why? Because their political prospects are always going to be more important.

  4. a. price says:

    oh my god. this again? David, what would an Obama failure look like? would the country get worse? would it get better and you just claim he failed? what exactly are you talking about when you say the country succeeds but Obama fails….
    because HE IS THE PRESIDENT his and the country’s success or failure is the same thing for at least the next 4 years

  5. nemski says:

    a. price, this is the Right’s tactic: when American turns the corner and begins to succeed, they will say (with a straight face) that Obama failed.

  6. a. price says:

    oh i know . but i want to hear it from david, or Protack (where has be been btw did we scare him off for good?) or just one of them to tell the truth.

  7. cassandra_m says:

    That you won’t get. Neither are ever going to be honest enough to see the world (or the political playing field) without the need to see their party as the font of all good.

  8. Von Cracker says:

    David Anderson // Mar 11, 2009 at 10:08 am

    Exactly wrong, equating President Obama’s political success with the country is dishonest at best. It is because Republicans want the country to succeed that they hope President Obama fails to implement the worst parts of his agenda.

    Why again should your, and your party’s, assessment on almost anything be considered valid?

    The long track record says otherwise, and there’s plenty of data to back that up!

    I’m starting to think that Dave’s a spy from Oceana!

  9. Dorian Gray says:

    DA with ridiculous rationalization! Sweet. So the nation improves but “the worst parts of his agenda” fail? As AP asked, what does that look like exactly?

  10. David says:

    It happend with Clinton. The GOP blocked the worse parts of his agenda and the country benefited. They blocked the pork stimulus bill under Clinton. They blocked his socialized medicine. They forced him to remove the carbon tax. They stopped the gays in the military. That was all in first year.

    Guess what, the people liked what they saw and gave the GOP its first Congressional majority in 40 years. A lot of good happened as Clinton played off the GOP.

  11. a. price says:

    david, define “pork” do you think caslte should resist any money ever coming to delaware to build…. schools? bridges? wind farms?
    what exactly is this pork you hate so much? It is a good talking point and buzz word, but i dont really think you know what it means.

  12. a. price says:

    And i hope you are keeping up on your homophobic newsletters. people who fought to kick fine men and women out of the military now admit it was a mistake. 6 arab translators were fired because they were gay, as a result it took a long time to decode terrorist chatter. homophobia trumps national security i guess.

  13. cassandra_m says:

    See what I mean about the lack of honesty? He can only get to his point by rewriting history….

  14. David says:

    I was referring to the Clinton Stimulus after the recession was over. It was nothing but a bunch of political payoffs.

    Let’s be honest for the people to win, the Democrats must lose.

  15. Unstable Isotope says:

    Yeah, David, people did really well under Bush and the Republican Congress. *rolling eyes*

  16. Delaware Dem says:

    I claimed the GOP is evil if it doesn’t vote the “socialist” line? I did? Where? Looks like a Republican is lying yet again. What a shock.

  17. Sharon says:

    This is really too funny to watch. I want Obama to fail just the way you guys wanted President Bush to fail.

  18. pandora says:

    Right, Sharon, because people were saying/writing “I want Bush to fail,” 50 days into his Presidency.

  19. Delaware Dem says:

    Indeed, Pandora, I support Bush after 9/11. Even shouted “Right on” after his speech on the pile.

  20. Sharon says:

    People were screaming “selected, not elected” less than 50 days into his presidency, Pandora. Just apply the same standards. I’m just holding Obama to the same standard I’ve seen the Left apply for 8 years.

  21. Sharon says:

    And I know, I KNOW! You were always supportive of President Bush. I *know* you weren’t the ones bashing and trashing from Day One. I *know* those mean ol’ Republicans never gave Barack Obama–er, Bill Clinton a chance. I *know*. /sarcasm off

  22. Delaware Dem says:

    Actually, you didn’t give Bill Clinton a chance either.

    And I will give you the “Selected” part. People were calling him his Resident Bush. But that goes to the nature of his election. He actually lost the election and required the intervention of the Supreme Court. Naturally there were to be hard feelings from that.

    Republicans this time around got your clocks cleaned. You lost by a landslide, and fair and square.

  23. pandora says:

    The 2000 election was a very sore spot, Sharon, but hardly comparable. But allow me to point out that liberals didn’t form cells or promote secession.

    I’ll also point out that everyone came together over 9/11.

  24. cassandra_m says:

    And here is Sharon with her revisionist history — revised entirely to try to pretend that rooting for failure is OK. Because Democrats did it to Bush. Which, of course, is not true.

  25. pandora says:

    Not true, because while people were upset over the election no one said “I hope he fails.”

  26. Delaware Dem says:

    Yeah, I dare Sharon to come up with a quote from the Democratic equivalent to Rush Limbaugh, or some other preeminent Liberal, saying that he or she hopes President Bush fails. I seem to recall all the powers that be stating that it was time we all come together and heal after the difficult election and support the President, because that was how things were done in this country.

    Indeed, Bush’s tax cuts and budget sailed through with no obstruction from Democrats and with a great number of Democratic votes.

    Sharon, you are just making shit up again.

  27. Sharon says:

    You people are ridiculous. Talk about revisionist history! You make excuses for the liberals screaming about President Bush’s election–and re-election. The demonstrations, the bumperstickers, and so on and so forth. You want to argue *now* that because you supported President Bush for 5 minutes *after* 9/11 that, somehow, there weren’t jeers and complaints about him from Election Day until 9/10. Are you guys really this delusional that you don’t remember the behavior of Democrats in general and liberals in particular when it came to George Bush?

    You guys are on the 8:45 a.m. call, right? Because that’s about the only explanation for the daily bombardment of bullshit on this site.

    Is rooting for failure ok? Well, why don’t you ask the majority of Democrats who said they wanted George Bush to “fail” in 2006?

    http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/FOX_230_release_web.pdf

    I know you’ll try to find some reason that 51% of Democrats saying “yes” is all right. Because, you know, that’s what you guys do.

  28. pandora says:

    When Obama is in his 6th year we’ll talk.

  29. cassandra_m says:

    Have mercy Sharon, now we know that you can’t even read.

    Asking people if they approve or disapprove of Bush’s job performance DOES NOT EQUAL telling people you want the President to fail.

    Go peddle that stupidity on your own site where they’ll never know the difference.

  30. Does Sharon mean the bumperstickers that read “Sore Loserman”?

  31. cassandra_m says:

    Well that must be it!

  32. xstryker says:

    there weren’t jeers and complaints about him from Election Day

    There are ALWAYS jeers and complaints about EVERY president, there always will be, and there always SHOULD be. No one is f***ing telling conservatives to *like* Obama or to lay off him.

    Do you know what rooting for a nation to fail means, or are you just flat out stupid? I assume you are just pretending to misunderstand.

  33. Unstable Isotope says:

    X,

    I think conservatives are being both dishonest and stupid.

  34. Sharon says:

    Asking people if they approve or disapprove of Bush’s job performance DOES NOT EQUAL telling people you want the President to fail.

    Does saying you don’t want him to succeed count? I’d say Carville is about as high profile as Democrats get. But I’m sure you’ve got a good excuse for that one, as well.

    There are ALWAYS jeers and complaints about EVERY president, there always will be, and there always SHOULD be. No one is f***ing telling conservatives to *like* Obama or to lay off him.

    Liar. And before you complain that it’s just a blog post, go to any liberal site–including your own–and you’ll find plenty of liberals complaining that we can’t pick on Obama cuz we need to give him a chance.

    But I must admit, I am fascinated by the group amnesia at work here. You argue how rotten conservatives were to both Bill Clinton and now Barack Obama, yet you don’t remember the untold numbers of attacks from the Left on President Bush on a daily basis. Is it that you actually don’t remember or that you have such convenient memories that it helps you support your original bullshit, childish positions on this subject?

  35. jason330 says:

    Sharon,

    Meghan McCain and 54 million other Republicans want you to stop making shit up.

  36. liz says:

    Sharon: your president Bush actually was running a dictatorship on America! We who believe in the Consitution are bound to condemn any president who believes they are above the law, above the consitution and commit treasonous acts. Bush did that again and again, I remind you.

    If Obama does anything close to Bush, I for one will be calling him on it. I am not a party loyal, we should all be “watchdogs” that is our job as citizens…

  37. a. price says:

    bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Ayn Rand

  38. xstryker says:

    Minutes later, as news of the terrorist attacks reached the hotel conference room where the Democrats were having breakfast with the reporters, Carville announced: “Disregard everything we just said! This changes everything!”

    Carville wanted the president to fail (in his political agenda), until he learned America was in crisis. Then, he wanted the president, and America, to succeed.

    Then you link to a Seattle newspaper opinion column (not a blog, moron) written on November 11th, 2008, before Obama had even announced a single cabinet appointment. That column ended with the words “There will be plenty of opportunity to second-guess him later.” As in, after he’s actually taken office and done anything. As in, yes, Sharon, now is a fine time for people to second-guess the president if they don’t agree with what he has done. So your mastery of out-of-context statements is amazing, and distorting the truth in order to call me a liar is a new level of moral bankruptcy.

    go to any liberal site–including your own–and you’ll find plenty of liberals complaining that we can’t pick on Obama cuz we need to give him a chance.

    No, you do it, and give me a link. The fact remains that you pretend not to know the difference between calling out the dishonest bullshit in conservative criticisms and suggesting that you can’t make them in the first place.

    Also, that Fox News Poll you’re so fond of, the one with vague wording designed to produce a specific result? How come it was never released until this year? Go ahead, find me any reference to that particular question from 2006, 2007, or 2008. Now how do I know that Fox didn’t make the whole thing up, much the way they make up spurious news stories?

  39. Unstable Isotope says:

    a. price is doing the hard work so that we don’t have to. Yep, the Fox poll was pretty conveniently timed in his discovery.

    For the record, I didn’t want Bush to fail, I wanted him to stop failing. I think it’s fine to criticize Obama (I think his bank rescue plan is not good so far), but some criticism seems silly, like blaming the lousy economy on him when he’s only been in 50 days and the recession started in Dec. 2007.