Pelosi and Reid have failed America-They could have become living American patriots.

[kpete]

Pelosi and Reid have failed America
By Michael Payne
Online Journal Contributing Writer

They needed patriotic courage, conviction, strong, unrelenting leadership, ideas and, above all, leaders who would show America that a new day had dawned. It just did not happen.


Jan 29, 2008, 01:53

The people of America have watched the charade that has been taking place in this Congress since the decisive elections of 2006 when the Democratic Party took control of both the House and the Senate. At that point, the majority of Americans had had enough of the insane Iraq War, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, the neocons' madness, tax cuts for the wealthy, scandal after scandal in this administration and the Republican Party. Americans wanted change, a new direction, a new vision, an end to the blatant attempts to negate the Constitution of the United States.

..........

Pelosi and Reid soon showed their true nature as they assumed the roles of passive "special assistants to the White House." Pelosi immediately took impeachment off the table and continues to indicate that she will never do what clearly needs to be done. Reid, as well as our ever-smiling speaker, warned time after time that they were through giving Bush a blank check without a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, but every single time that Bush waved his veto pen, they completely caved in and retreated into the shadows.

How could these two individuals, considering the current chaotic state of American foreign policy and the sinister threats to our democracy, not rise to the occasion? They both stood at the threshold of potential greatness. They might have been revered by historians as patriots who stood up to Bush & Co., took charge and began the long, very difficult process of reversing the damage that has been done to our nation. They could have become living American patriots.

But they completely failed to rise to the occasion; they refused the mandate they were given by America. Instead, they capitulated, they caved, and they give every appearance of having become willing enablers of the Bush administration. Remember the phrase "lead, follow or just get out of the way"? Well, I want to change that to "Pelosi and Reid, you have convinced America that you cannot lead, you excel at following, so just get out of the way." It is bad enough to be stonewalled by Bush and his crafty, clever administration, but it is entirely unacceptable for Americans to be stonewalled by the supposed Democratic Party leadership in Congress.

..............

more at:
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2892.shtml

[ananda]

1. Instead they are rich corporofascist sellouts.

People?? Fuck the people!

[polichick]

2. "passive special assistants to the White House."

That's exactly right ~ and sad beyond words.

[bdamomma]

3. there is a total disconnect between us and them.

but there are more of us than them.

[paulk]

4. this is nonsense

Michael Payne should get a job with the RNC.

For once why doesn't one of these idiots blame the Republicans for what has gone on in Congress?

Not to mention Bush can veto anything the Democrats manage to pass.

[lonestarnot]

7. This is crap and you know it.

Reid and Pelosi didn't try to bend any power. They sat on their hands and let it drivel.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

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

[CherylK]

17. True Nonsense Is Blindly Supporting Any Political Party

Sorry, count me out on that.

[paulk]

19. what's your point?

was there something in my post that could be construed as blind support?

personally, I found it to be more along the lines of castigating Mr. Paine for his blind trashing of the Democrats when it's the Republicans that are at fault.

I realize that blaming the Democrats for everything is kind of like DU's favorite pastime, and if you want to be one of the kool kids it doesn't hurt to pile on...

But, you could try not to be so generic, though, when building up that lefty cred.

[CherylK]

21. Be careful what you wish for

You're the one who didn't explain how Mr. Paine was "blindly trashing" the Democrats unless I'm mistaken. And you think I'm the one being generic?

Yes, the Democrats have a bare majority, if that. But it's not about what they haven't passed, it's how they've allowed Bush to get pretty much everything he wants. Like when Harry Reid tries to push through telecom immunity and only Chris Dodd has the guts to stand up against it while most of his fellow (D) Senators sit quietly and pretend not to notice. That has absolutely nothing to do with 60 votes or minorities or majorities, it has to do with standing up for America.

I'm not yet sure what the favorite past time is here at DU, but my understanding is that this is a website for people left of center. If that's the case, we already know how much we can't stand Bush and the republicans. It's not like we're arguging with republicans and libertarians and agreeing with them that the Democrats are no good!

The real issue becomes what we think about OUR leadership for OUR party. Pretending that they've done nothing wrong is not supporting them, in fact it's enabling them to continue being mediocre at best overall. I believe it ultimately undermines the party far more than criticizing it does. If anything, criticizing the party is part of the improvement process. These reps need to understand how we want them to represent us.

[ihavenobias]

28. Welcome To DU And I Agree With You

It's disheartening to see so many people refusing to accept that our party has largely failed us. That doesn't mean that I'm jumping ship but it *does* mean I refuse to kiss the ass of the Dems. The best point you make is that it's not just about what they didn't pass, it's about what they *allowed* to pass, over and over again.

PS---I wouldn't take it personally if some people get pissed at you for doing your duty as a good American and openly criticizing *everyone* in power (as opposed to just the opposition party).

[rsmith6621]

5. Each Of Us At The DU......

Should print a copy of that article for each of our elected Democratic reps in DC and send it to them.....then we each should make 4 more copy's and send two each in separate envelopes to Reid and Pelosi....

At the bottom we should hand write our frustration that they have not lived up to the mandate and expectations we had elected them for.

[Toots]

6. I remember just days after the election when Peloisi made such a big deal about

getting the biggest and fanciest office available. I sensed then a harbinger of what was to come. Everyone here belittled me at the time. But it was obvious to me that what she cared most about was what she was going to get out of the deal and not what the American people were going to get. All I can say now is I told you so..and that doesn't make me feel good at all. I would have given much to have been wrong but I was not wrong and the guilty will walk scott free..

[INdemo]

10. Do you think, with the slim Majority in Congress that the impeacment

process would have made it to Senate for trial...Can you imagine how the MSM would have slammed the Democrats for revenge,revenge,revenge....
What we need is a much larger majority with a Democratic President,then we can start to "undo" the damage caused by * and his cronies.But be patient because it will take at least a generation.

[The Stranger]

12. Maybe you haven't been keeping up with current events, but the GOP and the Bush Maladministration

are the most reviled beings there are.


No one -- but no one -- on the street is happy with the Administration, and if all of that anger had a place to go -- like impeachment hearings and impeachment proceedings -- you would see an avalanche.

Perhaps the greatest opportunity in the last two decades was presented to the Nancy Disaster and "Givin' Us Hell" Harry, and they failed completely, utterly, catastrophically.

[INdemo]

15. I could list a lot of reasons

why impeachment just would not go anywhere.....The main reason is that with all the Republican political maneuvering it would not get out of committee..Meanwhile the corporate media would unload every weapon they had against the Democrats..If the Democrats had a large enough Majority than Pelosi would have brought this issue to the floor months ago.
There's more but in the meantime the Democrats are bogged down with this issue and other legislation is put on hold..What we need to do instead of "bashing" our leadership in Congress is get off our duff and turn that anger into action supporting our local congressional Democratic challenger.With all the hoop-la of the Presidential Primaries people have forgotten that we do have a congressional election this year too..
With a larger Majority in both houses with a Democratic President we would have the ability to start repairing all the damage done by this President.

[Winterblues]

18. How can you repair the failure to hold Republicans accountable for law breaking?

That is an issue that is beyond repair. You either uphold the nation's laws or you don't. Democrats have chosen not to..It is as basic as that. It doesn't matter one whit whether Republicans manage to block their efforts or not. What matters is that they try and do what's right....They have not done so and Congress has an approval rating much lower than Bush*'s..

[INdemo]

22. The reason for the low approval is

the corporate media has called this congress a do nothing congress before the first piece of legislation was passed.Voters hear this often enough and sooner or later that believe it...the usual strategy of Republicans
propaganda..Look.I'm not gonna win this argument but 2006 is gone,,Its 2008 and what we have to do is make sure we increase our majority in Congress.

[CherylK]

23. It's true that the Do Nothing label isn't entirely fair

It's true that the do nothing label isn't entirely fair, except that it is true they've done next to nothing to stand up to Bush. Not being able to pass their own legislation I get to some extent. But not standing up to, for example, Telecom immunity? That I don't get and it's inexcusable.

[The Stranger]

24. I really think that the violations of the Constitution are beyond politics.

And we simply cannot function as a party (or as human beings) if we are constantly concerned about what the corporate media is going to do.

The corporate media isn't saving Bush from being impeached -- he is as hated as anyone in recent memory, and I doubt the corporate media even thinks that it can reverse this.

No, the one saving Bush from impeachment right now is Nancy Pelosi.

[onenote]

20. the main reason Pelosi and co. would've been slammed for pursuing impeachment

is the number of members of Congress who were elected in 2006 having made impeachment an issue can probably be counted on one hand (and is probably smaller than the number of candidates who talked about impeachment and were defeated, although to be honest, they probably would've been defeated no matter what they campaigned on).

But the fact is that treating the Nov 2006 elections as a mandate for impeachment would've been a foolish thing to do and the Democratic leadership (and the vast majority of the Democrats in congress) realize that.

[bpeale]

27. just a few things...

<<why impeachment just would not go anywhere.....The main reason is that with all the Republican political maneuvering it would not get out of committee..Meanwhile the corporate media would unload every weapon they had against the Democrats..If the Democrats had a large enough Majority than Pelosi would have brought this issue to the floor months ago.>>

don't you get it? it doesn't matter whether it goes anywhere! the american people perceive them as do-nothings (which they are) and not doing their job. perception is everything and it's what people remember at reelection time.

<<There's more but in the meantime the Democrats are bogged down with this issue and other legislation is put on hold..What we need to do instead of "bashing" our leadership in Congress is get off our duff and turn that anger into action supporting our local congressional Democratic challenger.With all the hoop-la of the Presidential Primaries people have forgotten that we do have a congressional election this year too..
With a larger Majority in both houses with a Democratic President we would have the ability to start repairing all the damage done by this President.>>

my perception as a democrat is that they are refusing to do their job ... the job that the american people hired them to do. to me, that is a slap in the face of EVERY democrat ... an insult of the worst kind. if they won't do their job and impeach, then they should step down & let kucinich & dodd take over leadership of the congress & senate & institute impeachment hearings immediately.

[Blue_Roses]

8. I'm so sick of this bullshit...

:eyes:

[INdemo]

9. This is BS

Who needs Republicans when Democrats spread their propaganda for them...

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

11. Hey... Michael Payne... You're An Idiot.

Get your head out of your ass pal, you're embarrassing yourself.

[slowry]

25. Someone's in top form... n/t

[reprehensor]

13. Indeed.

This is a perception that many have.

[Iwasthere]

16. They need to watch the endorsement and take notes imo

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/01/teddys_endorsement.html

[The Stranger]

26. Meanwhile, while DU is in denial about its being abandoned by its party "leadership," another

signing statement has been issued.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2786456

[Senator]

29. K&R&ImpeachToWinAndReuniteUs