It's all smoke & mirrors, people.. Roberts, Miers, etc..

[SoCalDem]

There are some issues that the powerful republican elite NEVER want to "solve"..

Guns
God
Gyn (wimmin-folk issues)

These issues are their "bloody-shirt" issues to get the rabid, under-educated masses all riled up..

The republicans have had the POWER to change these things and "settle" them once and for all..SINCE 1994..

The house has been under republican control long enough to draft and pass ANY legislation the want, and even when Clinton was president and the senate was still in democratic majority, there were enough "conservative dems" and opportunists to get anything passed that the republican conservatives wanted..

THEY DO NOT WANT THESE ISSUES SOLVED.. THEY NEED THEM EVERY 2 YEARS TO RUN ON..

No matter who ends up on the supreme court, the conservative judges in all the lower courts (where supreme court cases come from) will be doing the bidding of the "party" ....


These issues are their bread and butter, and will NEVER be "solved" no matter HOW the court rules.. They have always been in the forefront at election time, because it's the only way republicans win ..

They have to have these contentious issues front and center so they can justify the MASSIVE numbers of people who turn out to vote.. Without those large numbers, it would be hard to convince the rest of the country that their guys actually won..

Most of us doubt the veracity of the election system now, but with a smaller turnout of republicans it would be all but impossible for them to con the rest of the populace..

Realistically, most of them don't give a rat's ass about any of those issues..

It's all about turnout and CYA for crooked elections..

and it provides a convenient "cover" for all their real issues.. The fleecing of America and the theft of the treasury..

[Horse with no Name]

1. I agree but now the scary part

It's been fleeced. We are tapped out.
Now they need a judiciary in place to keep them out of jail and in control until every last penny out of the private sector is gone.

[SoCalDem]

3. Yes.. This is "Part B"

They are in full CYA mode now.. Their time is winding down, and they must somehow prevent the high-ups from going to jail..

The next president (if democratic) will have a plate full of slop, and must somehow manage to choke it down without puking..

The repubes will be in hyper-spin mode trying to re-write their own history and save their own skins, so that after 4 or 8 years of democratic recovery and a replenishment of the treasury, they will again be able to swoop in and steal it back..

This has been their modus operandi for ages..

They "infect" everyone, sneak off and wait for the dems to force the medicine on the public, and then the repubes rush in again , laden with candy & ice cream for the "patient"..

Afgter a few years of "medicine", that candy & ice cream looks good, and we start down that dangerous path again :(

[FormerDittoHead]

2. You broke the 'code'...

>and it provides a convenient "cover" for all their real issues.. The fleecing of America and the theft of the treasury..

I have no comfort that Miers used to work for Microsoft and Disney.

[napi21]

4. That's probably right, but Shrub might have screwed the once too

often this time! All I've been hearing from the strong fundies since Mon. is how hard they worked to get Shrub elected, get a Pub House & Senate and how much $$ they've given...and now when he has the chance of a lifetime to do what he promised, he whimped out and ignored them!

That sure sounds to me like the basis that makes these fundies stay home on election day! They will NEVER vote for a Dem, but they sure can stay home in protest! I don't know if this aggrivation will last until 06/08, but if it does, the Pubs are gone!

[SoCalDem]

5. Gone? maybe...forever??..not a chance

They have been busily ruining this nation for many years, and there's too much money at stake.. they want it ALL..and are patient.. they WILL be back..

The dems never quite have the stomach to "take the next step"..

We did it with Watergate..we did it with Iran Contra..and we will stop short again..

Repubs always manage to escape and fight again.. It kind of reminds me of the old time serials in the movies.. The villain always escapes..and he hero has to fight him again.. It's a formula..

[napi21]

6. OK, let me re-phrase that last comment.

the fundie Pubs will be retired to the back of the bus for many years.

I just this there are too many regular Pubs who are fed up with this small group hijacking their party. I'm thinking they had their chance with Shrub. They won't get another chance for quite a while.

[SoCalDem]

7. It will take them a while, but they are like vampires

and no one has the stomach to get out the stake.:(

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. I dogive me a chance

Hell I am not a proponent of the death penalty save one case, High Treason... too bad I am not a lawyer, or woudl gladly prosecute

[FreedomAngel82]

15. Unless someone else comes along

Until that happens I agree. They won't ever vote for McCain or any northern republican since they'll be painted by the fundies as being too liberal.

[Junkdrawer]

9. Yep. Remember the "Kerry lost to the Values Voters" meme...

November 3rd 2004, flip any channel, and that was the talking point.

Why Gallop told us 48% of the Voters listed that as their key criteria and Gallup would never lie, right?

[bloom]

10. Some Republicans are still holding out

for "States Rights".

But it seems to me the States might have more burdens - they don't seem to have more "rights". And it seems like it's just an excuse to give corporations less regulation.

Maybe - they think "states rights" is more arguable than abortion. But it's not like the Republicans are reducing "power" at the Federal level. Like this from a year ago:



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22665-2004Oct10.html

"In Cheney's Shadow, Counsel Pushes the Conservative
Cause"

Monday, October 11, 2004

"Since he took office, Vice President Cheney has led
the Bush administration's effort to increase the power
of the presidency. "I have repeatedly seen an erosion
of the powers and the ability of the president of the
United States to do his job," he said after a year in
office, calling it "wrong" for past presidents to
yield to congressional demands. "We are weaker today
as an institution because of the unwise compromises
that have been made over the last 30 to 35 years."

Cheney has tried to increase executive power with a
series of bold actions -- some so audacious that even
conservatives on the Supreme Court sympathetic to
Cheney's view have rejected them as overreaching. The
vice president's point man in this is longtime aide
David Addington, who serves as Cheney's top lawyer.

Where there has been controversy over the past four
years, there has often been Addington. He was a
principal author of the White House memo justifying
torture of terrorism suspects. He was a prime advocate
of arguments supporting the holding of terrorism
suspects without access to courts.

...Fein said Cheney and Addington, while arguing that
they are reclaiming executive authority, are actually
seeking to push it to new levels. Many of the
restraints on executive authority -- the War Powers
act, anti-impoundment legislation, the legislative
veto and the independent counsel statute -- have
already disappeared or become insignificant."

[Rex_Goodheart]

11. Sorry, but...

I've never bought that line of thinking. Rush Limbaugh, for example, is still popular even though Republicans control all 3 branches of government.

Even if those things were changed in a rightwing direction, Democrats would still be sold as demons wanting to return to an evil situation. Not much would change.

[SoCalDem]

12. Rush's popularity is not an issue.. Ignorant people always need a

spokesperson.. he's it :)

[bain_sidhe]

13. Right, they aren't packing the courts

to "solve" social conservatives' issues, they're packing them as the last step in preventing individuals - consumers, workers, citizens - from fighting back against the feudalist-fascist-theocratic alliance.

Only when the serfs have nowhere to turn will they feel truly secure. Keeping the social conservatives on board until they reach that point is crucial. After that, the "base" will be thrown to the wolves like everybody else.

[FreedomAngel82]

14. I highly agree

Bush just put Roberts and Miers up to save his own ass. Roberts is probably up for the corporations and Miers is up to save his butt on the Wilson/Plame case and impeachment. I was thinking about this earlier and think it's all smoke and mirrors. The only reason why the republicans are so angry about Miers is cause she's on the White House counsel and can reveal some papers about what is going on and she doesn't have the attorney/client privlage.