GOP already starts the 'blame game' over its big losses

[racaulk]

When a political party suffers a major defeat, soul-searching and ideological bickering follow.

Republicans continued that tradition Wednesday, launching a period of self-reflection by trading barbs and pointing fingers.

Commentator Rush Limbaugh accused the Republican Party of straying from its conservative ideology, saying, "This non-partisan Republican identity, that's what went down in flames." Former House majority leader Tom DeLay referred to his party's losses as a "Texas whooping" on MSNBC. He said Republicans had failed to fight for their core beliefs on such issues as tax reform and immigration.

Dick Armey, former House majority leader and an architect of the Republicans' 1994 takeover of Congress, told National Public Radio's Diane Rehm that the GOP had become the big government party. "They actually grew the government," he said.

<---snip--->

Link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2006/2006-11-08-gopblame_x.htm


:rofl:

[NoPasaran]

1. Interesting how the circular firing squad looks from the outside, isn't it? n/t

[AllexxisF1]

4. To be brutally honest.

I believe this loss is not only in the best interest of the Country and world as a whole, but the Republican party as well. Let's cut all the bullshit and face facts, their party was completely taken over by the NeoCons. Once the NeoCons began winning it solidified their position to the *cough* very few *cough* Barry Goldwater conservatives that either tote the line or take a hike. However, it does not mean it an excuse either, they let them take over.

The current flavor of the Republican party simply is not Conservative, but instead "Organized Crime Syndicate". They are gangsters plain and simple and believe me it will take years for the Republican party to reach the level of power they have enjoyed these past years.

[shadowknows69]

12. Yep they'll be, what's the term from the Godfather, "Going to the mattresses"

It will be a long bloody one.

[martinautours]

63. Not brutal enough

I agree that this loss is in the interest of both parties, the country and the world. I also agree the "toe the line" pressure that has been applied to all republicans or anyone wanting to do "business as usual" has been on the level of mafia enforcement. However, you can't simply blame the neo cons for the complete moral collapse of this party.

The proper blame lands squarely on the shoulders of all those who participated, neo con and normal conservatives alike. Absolute power absolutely corrupted them all. That is not to say they weren't already corrupt, but with no fear of reprisal, they felt free to push up the stakes to something that rivaled Caligula, Torquemada and Joseph Stalin.

The question now is, will you hold them accountable for their crimes against the people, and against humanity? If you don't, then you better get ready for round 2.

[newyawker99]

72. Hi martinautours!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[niceypoo]

23. Actually it started about a month ago

RE Foley, etc.

[sarge43]

2. This should be fun - watching them feed on one another.

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.

Anyone want to bet who'll be the first to say, "It's the Clenis' fault."?

:popcorn:

[Lasher]

10. I've been listening to talk radio every chance I get.

Rush says no way Junior's a lame duck from now on. He figures some event like a Martian invasion or something will make things just like they were in the good ol' days. Think I'll tune in to Osama bin Reilly this evening.

This is so much fun! :rofl:

[nxylas]

21. Free at last, free at last

Thank the Lord almighty, Rush is free at last:

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_110806/content/rush_on_a_roll.guest.html

[LillyPad]

70. Thanks for the link (N/T)

[newyawker99]

73. Hi LillyPad!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NewJeffCT]

77. I thought I was listening to a Dem on radio the other night...

It was a reasonable sounding guy talking about how important it was to raise the minimum wage and how out-of-touch people like Bush & Cheney were because they probably never had to work for minimum wage. Said he thought it was important to pay everybody a living wage and it was a very personal issue to him because he grew up working minimum wage jobs.

Turns out it was Michael (Weiner) Savage.

I had never heard him before, and had thought I was listening to a Democrat, or picking up a long-range signal of Air America out of somewhere in the Midwest.

[cosmic _mind]

14. yes

I've been having great fun reading Free Republic and others. The twisted stuff they come up with over there is hilarious! :rofl:

[nxylas]

78. Actually, they took it better than I expected

Yes they came out with a lot of "the terrorists have won" bollocks, but they seem to have accepted that they lost fair and square. I was a little disappointed, I was rather looking forward to the irony of them trying to claim that the Democrats stole the election or that the victory was somehow illegitimate.

[badgerpup]

48. Aw, you stole my line.

I was so surprised that they HAVEN'T blamed Clinton...
:wow:

and the funny part is that the Big Dawg :patriot: really DID help energize the Democratic party in a big way.
:rofl:

[sarge43]

58. Yeah, that is the best part. Who says irony is dead? n/t

[bowens43]

3. These people are delusional.

They lost not because "Republicans had failed to fight for their core beliefs" but because Americans rejected their core beliefs.

[Tight_rope]

20. DING! DING! DING! YOU HAVE A BINGO!

You wrapped it up in a nutshell.

[erknm]

59. Not at all the case

Think about it. In most ways W is the epitome of the big government democrat that republicans claim to oppose. He spends money hand over fist, he has never seen a program that he didn't like. Never a veto in his career. All the BS about him holding to his core beliefs? Complete hogwash, he bent over for every interest group willing to grease his a$$.

This is a clear referendum on W. Consider for example the cases in states like Montana, Arizona, etc. Here voters approved propositions outlawing gay marriage, yet still kicked out their republican congressmen who supported bans on gay marriage. The people support the conservative policies enough to vote them in, but they do not support W. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

I heard a quote attributed to W this morning. Apparently he predicted that there would be no way the senate would change sides. After this happened, according to this quote, W responded "shows what I know".

Truer words have never been spoken.

I reluctantly agree with an earlier post. I believe that this election is better for the nation for the same reason that it will, in the long run, be good for the republicans. Anytime the voters FINALLY demonstrate their ability and willingness to discipline elected officials, it is good for America.

FH

[Xenotime]

5. All they know how to do is bitch and moan..

Those assholes just need to suck it up! YOU FUCKIN LOST! YOU ARE LUCKY WE JUST DIDN'T VOTE EVERYONE OUT, ASS! Your precious * boy couldn't hold it together. Now WE have the power!

[Zodiak]

43. I sincerely believe

That if the pukes played fairly, they would have been voted out in more districts.

As usual, I have no proof beyond exit polls and turned away voters, but it does look like once again the pukes shaved a few % points from us.

It wasn't enough, but it could have been worse for them if they didn't cheat. Then again, if they hadn't been cheating at everything for 12 years and pissing everyone off, they might still have the power.

[Lasher]

6. Armey's right, the GOP became the big government party - in 1959.

The GOP has always been the party of big government, at least as far back as 1959:

Federal spending (aka "big government"): It has gone up an average of about $50 billion a year under presidents of both parties. But that breaks down as $35 billion a year under Democratic presidents and $60 billion under Republicans. If you assume that it takes a year for a president's policies to take effect, Democrats have raised spending by $40 billion a year and Republicans by $55 billion.

Leaning over backward even farther, let's start our measurement in 1981, the date when many Republicans believe that life as we know it began. The result: Democrats still have a better record at smaller government. Republican presidents added more government spending for each year they served, whether you credit them with the actual years they served or with the year that followed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20059-2005Apr1.html

[nolabels]

17. To say nothing about their lying deceitful verbiage while doing it

Anybody for a few more emergency supplemental appropriation bills to fight some more illegal wars :shrug:

[freefall]

37. The information in this article is stunning and very valuable as it

pretty well explains why the economy as it effects the average American is so poor during Republican administrations. This should be its own thread. Hopefully, every Democrat will read this article and every Republican should be forced to.

Peace,

freefall

[Lasher]

38. Thanks, I did post it as an OP awhile back

I keep it handy and refer to it often. This article, as well as other sources of information, has convinced me that Republicans don't do anything good. All they do is make rich people richer, start wars, and run up debt.

Maybe I'll do post it again sometime. But right now I don't want to impede the election celebration, focus on still-undecideds, recounts, and challenges. For every thing there is a season.

Peace, freefall. It's still a good idea. :hippie:

Lasher

[freefall]

61. Thank you for posting, Lasher. I too will be keeping it handy and

referring to it often. :thumbsup:

Peace,

freefall

[klook]

45. They've got nothin'

So the Republicans can't claim fiscal superiority.

Their boasts of being the best ones to protect national security ring hollow.

And, in the wake of all the corruption scandals and incidents of personal turpitude, they can't claim the moral high ground either.

Without those things, what have they got?

[Lasher]

69. They've got their lies and zombie followers

That's about it, and the masses have finally figured that out.

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. At least Blame Game is something they've had lots of practice with -

they can get out the Katrina version, the Iraq version, etc - grab the popcorn!!!

[Hugin]

8. Bill Clinton stole my shoe!

:rofl:

[savemefromdumbya]

9. I thought Delay was on his way to jail

will he be speaking from prison in the future?

[Hugin]

15. I find it amusing the bulk media still seeks him out...

... I guess they feel ripped off for all of that access pandering they did.

Talk about "Out-of-touch-with-the-main-stream"!

PLEASE! PLEASE! SOMEBODY SEND THESE MORANS A CLUE!

[nxylas]

16. No, he'll suffer a conveniently "fatal" heart attack

And have to be rushed to the Cayman Islands for treatment.

[malaise]

11. I live for moments like these

I'm loving it. :popcorn: :popcorn: :rofl:

[racaulk]

26. Me too!

Pass the popcorn! :popcorn: :pals:

[malaise]

27. With or without butter?n/t

[racaulk]

29. Without!

I don't want the popcorn to be too filling. We're going to be munching on it for a long time! :)

[Danascot]

13. They threw Dummy off the train - who's next

These pukes are bad losers. They had it all, they blew it, and someone has to pay. It won't be long before they turn from 'we strayed from our core beliefs' to attacking each other like sharks in a feeding frenzy. This is going to be more fun than the WWF. I'm reserving a front row seat.

[Tight_rope]

24. LMBAO....Too funny! "They threw Dummy off the train"!

[Tight_rope]

18. THE NERVE...That's right you "fucked up" so now blame the people!

I'll have to send this article to every Republican I know.

[Hawaii Hiker]

19. I agree with Jennifer Stockman

"The Republican Majority for Choice, a lobbying group for Republicans who support abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research, blamed the losses Tuesday on Iraq and "social extremism," Co-chairwoman Jennifer Stockman said. "Moderates have been alienated for years. This was the last straw."

She's right....The social extremism (Robertson, Falwell, Dobson, etc.) is turning many away from Republicans....I hope Democrats don't give the religious right the time of day when the Dems. become the MAJORITY in January...

I heard that A-hole Bill Bennett say there will be a move to get Santorum to run for president in 2008...I think Bill "compulsive gambler" Bennett needs a wake-up call: Santorum just got destroyed by 19%!!!!.....Furthermore, he's such a dispised figure nationwide that he'd never win...Back in 2000, far-right clowns Alan Keyes & Gary Bauer tried for the presidental nomination & both were quickly eliminated...Americans don't want preachers for presidents..

[tblue37]

54. Please run Santorum for pres in 2008.

Please, please, please!

[Hamlette]

22. Rush is delusional

the nonpartisan Republican identity is what went down in flames? What nonpartisan Republican identity? Santorum?

The thing that is so odd (wonderful for us) about this election and it is obviously driving them nuts is that Santorum and DeWine both lost. Santorum is a religious nut cake and DeWine is a mostly reasonable guy like Chaffee. Santorum voted with Bush 98% of the time. I don't know what Linc and DeWine's numbers were but I do know they were way lower than that.

America got the "if it has an R by the name, vote against it so we can get leadership of the house and senate back into Dem hands and reign in Bush" message.

Now we have to prove that a D by the name means something other than it is not an R. And we've only got a year or so to do it. And we need to start by standing up to the media and not letting them brand us as "the enemy". For a short window of time, maybe only a couple of months, the press is not going to trash us too badly because we are the choice of their viewers. But no doubt they will start soon to make us look bad and we have to be ready to respond like Clinton and Clark do. Turn it on them, don't let them twist our words or brand us.

[Marr]

25. They didn't cheat hard enough, that's all.

Unfortunately, it's too late now- and if Democrats have any sense at all, they'll make dismantling the GOP's criminal system a top priority.

[chelsea0011]

28. Funny they never complained about any of these issues prior to

the election. When have you ever heard OxyRush chastise the right for not being conservative enough.

[emdee]

30. Limbaugh: "This non-partisan Republican identity...."

How crazy is that guy?
I think the first order of action should be to make him take a drug test!
emdee

[colorado_ufo]

32. Not crazy at all.

He just wants to keep the big bucks rolling his way. Do you think he says this sh_t because he actually believes it? Pay the man enough and he will say anything, including mockery of the disabled. Ask Michael J. Fox.

[Hissyspit]

31. Um, Americans got tired of being LIED to? Maybe?

Tired of being manipulated? Attacked as un-American?

Y'think?

[drone]

68. Finally a few figured it out

After 12 years a few folks checked the results and saw they were suckers. There are some real dummies left out there that vote for the republicans. They do not know how to evaluate and analyze the results of the past 12 years.

[Hissyspit]

71. And Welcome To DU!

:patriot:

:toast:

[Brandon82]

33. Blame Clinton

Since they are so good at placing blame on Clinton, why don't they blame him for their loss. It might be the first time they are somewhat accurate. ;)

Who can not admire the good times under Clinton just to look at the mess of the past 6 years and STILL vote Repugnant?

[newyawker99]

74. Hi Brandon82!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[DollyM]

34. I thought I would share this . . .

I am in a Home School group, which really is great for educational support but most of the people in it are right wing. I get this in my mail box every week and feel that it's time I write a letter to ADF and tell them that some of us are really happy that the Democrats did well in this election. I was pretty sure our Gov. (Illinois) would get re-elected but was happy that he did because he supports universal health care and has made that a priority in Illinois. My whole family is now covered by Medical cards and I have been able to go to the Dr. for some knee problems I have been having, which I would not have been able to afford otherwise. I took my son to the Dr. yesterday because he fell off his skateboard and sprained his elbow. It's okay, it will heal but otherwise I would have had to decide which bill I was not paying this month in order for him to go to the Dr. There are things I don't like about the Democrat agenda but it is a trade off. I just know that I know longer have to worry about going bankrupt because of medical bills or being harrassed by the hospital each month because I can't pay off an emergency room bill immediately.



FROM: Alan Sears, President

ADF’s Role is Clear: Despite Yesterday’s Electoral Results, ADF Will Stay the Course... James 4:15

A NOTE TO OUR FRIENDS:

This morning, a number of our ministry friends told me that they were very discouraged with the events of the last 24 hours. Let’s all remember that God is firmly in control, and that He does not change.

Let’s also remember that last night, voters of seven states firmly rejected same-sex “marriage,” and even here in Arizona, where voters were confused by a backwards ballot (Vote “Yes” for “No”) and a campaign that denied the issue was even about marriage. Same-sex “marriage” remains unlawful in Arizona as it is in 2/3rds of the nation. It was ADF’s legal efforts that made much of this possible. See http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/issues/traditionalfamily/Default.aspx

And I reminded our friends that ADF is not a public policy or political organization. It is a legal alliance. And we’ve seen things much more bleak than they may appear to many this morning. In 1994, when ADF was launched, many Christians and pro-family conservatives thought the battle for America’s future was already lost.

Bill Clinton was in his second year as President of the United States and his party controlled both houses of Congress. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders was promoting condom usage across America while telling pro-lifers to “get over their love affair with the fetus.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the former chief litigator of the ACLU’s “women’s rights project” had just been given a lifetime appointment to the United States Supreme Court.

In 1994, ADF had no staff, no funding, no trained lawyers, no Blackstone Legal Fellowship for law students. We had no precedent setting cases, and had no track record of success. All we had was a dream and a remarkable group of dedicated founders. Despite the tremendous obstacles, despite the seemingly impossible odds we faced, God blessed us. He has granted us much growth and thirteen years of success in courts from coast to coast. ADF was built on a legacy of winning, even when everything, in our human understanding, seemed to be against us. But with God’s grace, we have persevered and He has granted us victory after victory.

Our most important work at ADF now lies before us. We have barely begun to fight and we know what we are called to accomplish. Our greatest need right now is to remain humble, dependent, and focused. We must increase our capacity to respond to the incredible legal battles that lie ahead to determine what “tomorrow will look like in America.”SM Please pray for God’s grace, His wisdom, and for an increase in our resources so that we might stand firmly in the place He has called us to serve.

[sarge43]

35. Mmm DollyM, the adjective is Democratic, not Democrat.

That's a hot button at DU. Just saying.

That said, thanks for the bulletin from the dark side.

[DollyM]

39. Thanks for the correct.

I was in a hurry, my son needed the computer to complete his work.

[sarge43]

40. No problem

and welcome to DU.

[RobertSeattle]

44. "ADF now lies before us"

This has been a moment of OUT-OF-CONTEXT Theatre.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

36. why DeLay? Who cares what the criminal has to say?

Texas Whooping?

[greeneyedboy]

41. they're just catching on *now* that Bush and co. are not actually "conservative"?

a little slow on the uptake. or self-serving panderers, take your pick.

[sarge43]

42. Not necessarily an either/or. n/t

[schead]

46. GOP claiming fraud!

Hello all,

First of all, as a foreigner, congratulations on the landslide. Lets hope that it continues to 2008, and whoever is the dem candidate, (probably Hillary), sweeps into the white house.

Now, back to the subject in hand. I noticed from the GOP website that they are claiming voter fraud by the democrats. Hillarious, given the fact that the freeps spent so long accusing the dems of being cry babies by not accepting Bush's extreme voter fraud. Basically, their narrow little minds can't get around the fact that they were defeated because they represent everything that is bad about America. Excuse after excuse will follow.

Here is their (bad loser) rant, for those that can stomach it!

http://www.gop.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=6720

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

47. I listened to Pumpkinhead Limbaugh this morning for about 15 minutes

He was on with a caller who accused him of having been a "mouthpiece" for the Bush Administration. Limbaugh aggressively denied it, saying that Bush had even sent "special envoys" to his radio station in the past to try to get him to tow the line and that he was not 100% supportive of Bush. He pointed to Katrina, which he called a failure of bureaucracy "from the top down". And as to Iraq, he said that Bush had failed to handle it correctly and that he should not been concerned about political correctness but should have used "full force". I really wonder what Limbaugh meant by "full force" against an insurgency that is blending in with entire segments of the civilian population. It sounded like the oxycontin was particularly good today.

[Skidmore]

55. Boy, he needs a steady stream of those callers...

daily. Might drive him off of the air.

[Cha]

49. And they lost with the

corporatemedia's complicity over the last 6 years, including, "THE MARCH TO WAR!"! What does that tell us?

First we have to DO something about that propoganda machine and second..the repukes were really really BAD and could not hide their Slovenly Badness even though they're in bed with the cm.

[erpowers]

50. Wrong Assesment In My Opinion

I contend that there are two things that everyone, both Republicans and democrats, should maybe consider about this vote. One, Hillary Clinton might be right in what she said when she was reelected in New York. This may have been the "not so fast" election. Second, people may have finally rejected the politics of fear.

During the election season, both Bush and cheney (maybe moreso Cheney) disregarded the will of the people. In the last few days of the election Cheney said that no matter the outcome of the election things, in terms of policy, would not change. It seems that you can only disregard the voice of the people for so long. I am not saying the people did not want the Democrats in charge, but it is possible that many Americans may have felt that the only wasy to get their message across to Bush and Cheney was to give the Democrats a major win.

Second it cannot be said that the Republicans did not go after their key issues. Bush flew around the country telling people that if they voted the Democrats in things would get worse. In addition, many of the Republican's key issues were put on the ballot in an attempt to bring out their voter. It seems to me that the politics of fear just failed this year. People decided to not fear the non-white people. As a result they decided to vote based on what would make their lives better instead of how to stop the non-white people from harming them.

[LowPhreak]

51. Well, it won't really matter

If the Repigs bash themselves and find blame. It won't matter either if they plan to swing towards the center for '08. They'll talk a good game to get the votes, just as the Smirking Chimp did in '00, then once in office they'll go back to the hard right way of doing things. They'll say, "Screw you. We won, get over it."

These bastards can never be trusted, ever. Not for one minute. They're like Lucy with the football, and the public is Charlie Brown.

[Richard Steele]

66. QUOTE: "They're like Lucy with the football, and the public is Charlie Brown."

:rofl: :party: :party: :toast: :party: :party: :rofl:

[nxylas]

79. This is a sequel to an earlier cartoon

[Richard Steele]

80. Thanks- I hadn't seen that one. nm

[newyawker99]

75. Hi LowPhreak!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Ganja Ninja]

52. Blame them all from Bush on down to the rank & file ditto heads.

They elected an unqualified moron to lead them and they followed him like lemmings.

[BrewAz]

53. GOP Doesn't get it....lets hope they don't catch on.

The Republicans just don't get it. They are blinded by their own arrogance....where what is going on politically is all about them. For the mid-terms in 2006, it is about lack of party loyalty...crossover votes...fractured GOP...

Well...for Tuesday...just not the case. This clear message to the politicos on both parties was all about a massive move of moderate Independents saying, "We are tired of the same old sh*t....we want Washington changed. Pay attention...to what we the people are about."

I believe that this message is clear to the Dems...(I hope so anyway)...as evidenced by the kind of candidates that ran and won. Lets hope the Repubs do not EVER catch on...

BrewAz

[Rocknrule]

56. Watching the GOP now is like

watching the city-sized ships in Independence Day go down all over the world

[racaulk]

57. Cool comparison!

I didn't even think about that, but you're sooooo right! :)

[NegSpin]

60. Rush, Armey, other wingnuts

These guys should've been working behind the scenes to make the Republicans at least TRY to govern with some decency. Instead of cheerleading them incessantly, demonizing Democrats, etc. Let 'em crash and burn, good riddance to bad rubbish, don't let the door hit you on the way out...

[kerry-is-my-prez]

62. Limbaugh: "This non-partisan Republican identity went down in flames."

wtf!

YOU were a leader in that movement asshole.

[Megahurtz]

64. Shaddup' DeLay!

I don't know why you even have the nerve to open your mouth

you fucking THIEF!

I hope your time will come to really go down with all of them.:grr:

[Maestro]

65. Dick Armey they actually grew the government.

Hey Dumbass Dick tell me something I don't already know. How about admitting that that the war on terrorism was forgotten and we are in an illegal war in Iraq. How about admitting how badly your repukes screwed the American worker and health care. How about admitting how badly you ruined the economy.

[muntrv]

67. Rush accused GOP of straying from its conservative ideology.

Hey Limpballs,explain why:

South Dakota voted against banning abortion.

Arizona voted against a gay-marriage ban.

Missouri approved stem cell research.

6 states approved of laws raising the state minimum wage above the federal level.

[NewJeffCT]

76. Ha - they're forming their own "moderate" group like the DLC!

I hope it leads to 15 years of intra-party civil war for them, too, just like what the DLC has meant for us.