Evan Bayh steps up, Good for Him

[cleveramerican]

I am so pleased to hear he has rallied a few centrist democratic members of the senate behind nothing more than sensible public policy.
They will allegedly vote as a block to maximize their influence.

Thank you thank you thank you

I for one do not want to see Obama's presidency hi-jacked by the fringes of our party,
much like W's was by the kooky-right wingers in his party.

when all is said and done WE ARE A NATION OF CENTRISTS.

I am glad to see the brakes applied to either parties more kooky fringe.


I wish Senator Bayh much sucess, stand by for his being savaged by the more blind follower types in our party.

[Submariner]

1. We are hopefully becoming a Center-Left country

We need to marginalize the right fringe jesus freaks and get the world of make believe (religion) out of our lives and the political process (reality). They mix like oil and water. Being centrists leaves the door open for the kookie right to tug us back into a center right nation, which sux as we have seen since the Raygun era.

We were lefties when we protested the Vietnam war, and observed the first Earth Day. As you may have noticed, there was very very little open protest about war criminals Bush and Cheney and their illegal war. I was very disappointed when I saw that. It showed me anyway, that the young republicans on campus that we heard were out there, were not inclined to fight on the streets to get their country back. They let the Bush junta hijack America, and become a near-dictatorship.

I'm a life long Lefty, proud of it, and would not have it any other way. If we do not become more left, their will not be an impetus to stop the damage we are doing to our environment, and clean up the mess. So let's not say we are a nation of centrists. We left that, and the righties, behind when we elected Obama.

Cheers.

[cleveramerican]

13. you will end up disappointed in Obama is this is your view.

I surely hope he sees this view as the hog wash that it is.

[Submariner]

32. If you want to be the middle of the road type

and leave things as they are, and see no improvement in the environment and living conditions, then living like a docile pig is your business.....that's hogwash.

I'd like to see better for us, and Obama is a good start, certainly better than ANY of the other Democratic party candidates we've ever had.

[cleveramerican]

44. sensible small steps in the right direction is all we're ever likely to get

and that's okay with me.

Proceed with caution is always good advice, even for presidents and nations.

[annabanana]

2. I do not think that the "center" is where you think it is...

[progressoid]

62. Inconceivable!!

:thumbsup:

[bleever]

66. LOL.

Good one, you two.

[cali]

3. Oh, please. Who in the Senate or House can be considered the fringe of the left?

Bayh is someone who's made it clear that, for instance, he wants to cut the public opion out of any healthcare reform legislation.

Yes, there's a fringe in the party, but they have no power and no ability to hijack anything.

Pushing from the left is vital.

[LiberalFighter]

24. Probably wants public opinion out of healthcare because of Eli Lilly

[JTFrog]

30. Bingo! n/t

[Raineyb]

61. Surprise surprise!

Not!

Well, first the bankruptcy mortgage rewrite thing now this. The "good" senator is certainly speaking up for his corporate masters isn't he?

Regards

[LiberalFighter]

88. Our current Governor (R) and past Governor not current Senator

probably friends because of Eli Lilly.

[Raineyb]

89. I noticed that Eli Lily was on the list of Blah's top 5 contributors.

Once again I'm not surprised.

Would you happen to know how much trouble Pfizer causes out there? I know a few people who went out Terre Haute to avoid getting laid off. It didn't work but they tried.

Regards

[progressoid]

64. According to my RW relatives, it's Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton

:eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes:

[Reterr]

91. Thank you cali.eom

:thumbsup:

[JTFrog]

4. Fuck Bayh. Where were his balls when Bush was pResident?

Oh yeah... shriveled up and stuck between his ass cheeks.

He might as well switch parties because he has as much chance of garnering support from the democratic base as Lieberman does after kissing Bush's ass and turning on his own.

He can kiss his bid for 2012/2016 goodbye. And I will hit the ground running to keep him from getting re-elected to the Senate next year.

[butterfly77]

67. I'll second that..

[Raineyb]

5. Blah is a despicable piece of human excrement

Where the fuck was he when it came to standing up to the Bush Administration? Why the hell is he towing the mortgage company line about bankruptcy judges changing terms of mortgages? Why would someone who claims to be a Democrat claim that Democrats are becoming too powerful. Where the fuck was he when the Republicans were in charge? Right I remember, he was busy capitulating to the Republicans and now apparently that the Republicans have lost the House and Senate due to their ass backwards policies, he apparently sees it as his job to help the Republicans get back into power.

Evan Blah is a DLC, corporatist, DINO who needs to be primaried out of his fucking job. Either that or he needs to join the Republican party as he seems more concerned with what they think than he is about the rest of us. Pathetic excuses for Democrats like Blah and their pathetic sycophantic followers (yeah I mean you!) make me want to puke.

:puke:

on edit: ran spellcheck.

[cali]

8. and your language reflects a binary mindset

dog, I'm tired of this infantile good/evil shit. Yeah, I don't like his politics, but he's not some looming figure of evil.

[Raineyb]

55. Looming? Hardly, he's a feckless worm.

Good for absolutely nothing. He's aided and abetted Bush and now is deliberately obstructing Obama. I did not use the word evil. If you don't like my language feel free to use the ignore button. But I will use any fucking language I please, fuck you very much.

Regards

[mkultra]

83. not that i like him much

but he's in elected office. WTF are you doing you mouthy do nothing nit wit?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

6. Evan Bye should step down, not up.

[jbnow]

7. We are a nation who wants universal health care,

green energy and better schools.
You might call that kooky fringe...which pretty much makes you the kooky fringe and the blind follower.

[Adelante]

9. What a bunch of nonsense nt

[Overseas]

109. Agree. I thought CleverA was praising Bayh for gathering the group

so that we would know which Democrats we need to replace with progressives.

We have enough "conservatives"-- they're called Republicans and have radically bankrupted our country already with their tax cuts for the top 4% and endorsement of Cheney's privatized military and war profiteering to pretend they are "strong on national security."

[WinkyDink]

10. "Kooky RW'ers" want no laws, pervasive guns, and Jesus in schools; "Kooky LW'ers" want peace,

equality, universal health-care, a clean environment, no savaging of the land anywhere by corporations that have hired thugs to kill the indigenous peoples, progressive taxation,----yeah, the "threats" are the same.

EXCEPT NOT.

[mkultra]

84. i would not classify those items as kooky LW

these are left issues but not fringe.

[Enthusiast]

100. We agree, WinkyDink

We sure are some kooky left wingers to want such things. As a left winger I don't feel the country's military should exist solely to protect corporate interests. If that makes me a kook so be it.

[BeyondGeography]

11. It's too early for this kind of humor on a Sunday

[cleveramerican]

12. as you can see the savagery has begun.

don't stop and consider anything.
We must hurry and rubber stamp everything before the public gets wise.

the public will eventually catch up, and those who pushed it too far will suffer for it.

[JTFrog]

14. And apparently you can't see that Bayh's savagery began long ago.

He helped rubber stamp Bush's agenda.

Like I said, I will fight to make sure he's not elected again next year.

It's time to get rid of the wolves in sheep's clothing.

[cleveramerican]

15. revenge is for fools

[JTFrog]

16. It's not about revenge.

It's about putting a fraud out of office.

We're talking about a guy who teamed up with Lieberman on a crusade to save my kids from video games while they were huddled in the back rooms making plans to send my kids out to face real bullets.

Evan Bayh is a disgrace to the Democratic party and needs to switch his affiliation to reflect his true politics or get the fuck out of office.

[cleveramerican]

19. funny it sounds EXACTLY like revenge to me.

This is the EXACT attitude which will sink the President if it goes unchallenged by THIS party.

[JTFrog]

20. Nothing funny about Evan Bayh's politics.

You are entitled to your opinion of course.

:eyes:

[rockymountaindem]

46. Working against someone's reelection because you disagree with them is "revenge"?

I thought that was just called politics.

[cleveramerican]

21. so didn't most Dems in the house and the senate at the time

[JTFrog]

25. And how many of them are standing by him against Obama?

Can you afford a clue?

[cleveramerican]

28. against is too strong a term

I'd say the backlash is growing and smart elected leaders should do a better job of explaining it all.
tempering is a better term.

[kohodog]

37. That's what happens when you pour gasoline and light a match.

I'm surprised the discussion is this civil given the nature (flame bait) of your original post. The effect of equating the "far left" with the far right is the exact kind of b&w statement you decry. Far left would be chairman Mao, not Dennis Kuchinich.

It will take a massive effort to right the income inequality in this country. The moderate dems who oppose tax increases on the wealthy and Corporations should be opposed and replaced by politicians who don't believe that trickle down economics have any value.

[cleveramerican]

47. supporting a sensible popular democrat is flame bait?

boy things have changed around here

[kohodog]

48. Yes, things have changed, and I've been around to see it.

I may not agree much with Bayh and think he may impede progress, but that is not what I object to in your OP. The "kooky fringe" of the left is in no way controlling the party like the reactionaries and religious right hold power in the Republican Party, and to essentially call out progressives who want to see a true liberal policies enacted is flame bait imho. Obama's agenda is more centrist than left and Bayh is pretty far right of that. I would call him a Rockefeller Republican, liberal on social issues but a corporatist at heart. I think it's fair to say that many here think that the coalition of conservative democratic senators will be a hinderance to making meaningful progress on cap and trade and true healthcare reform.

[Reterr]

93. Bullshit

You post an opinion on a board for Democrats and find yours in the minority on this isssue in about 10 minutes and that is "savagery".

What drama :eyes:.

[Laelth]

17. You are welcome to your opinion and enthusiasm, of course.

As if the left could ever "hijack" anything. We barely even get heard. The Republic Party, on the other hand, has been captured by its right wing. That's why true Republicans like Bayh have had to invade and attempt to capture the Democratic Party. There's no room left for him in the insane Party to the right. But Bayh is still acting and talking like a true, fiscally-conservative Republican. To me, that makes him an unwelcome guest in the supposedly left-of-center party for which I vote. I look forward to him breaking off and forming his own political party once the Republics are truly dead and gone. For now, he's merely a traitor to the Democratic Party and the people the party represents.

:dem:

-Laelth

[HelenWheels]

18. Are you nuts?

We need Dems who work with Obama, not against him. That is what the Repubs do. If Bayh is so wonderful he would have led the charge against Bush's policies. Didn't see him do that.

[cleveramerican]

22. Somebody of his OWN party......

ought to to point out the very real danger TO his own party of going too far too fast without adequately bringing the public along.

Is it opposing him to ask for more specific projections?

[PassingFair]

65. The public is MILES ahead.

We are bankrupting and losing health care.

We are SO FAR AHEAD of your curve, that we
elected a less-than-one term Senator on the
CHANCE that he might be able to effect
IMMEDIATE CHANGE.

[rucky]

23. Just trying to catch us up with the rest of the developed world.

fringe-y idea, eh?

[Enthusiast]

101. You said, Rucky. +1 nt

[RDANGELO]

26. Here is the reality.

We have to stop the economy from falling into a depression and there is going to be a cost.

We have to bring down the cost of health care and there is going to be a cost.

We have to become energy independent and there is going to be a cost.

We have to stop burning fossil fuels or life on this planet may come to an end in the next couple of decades and there is going to be a cost.

All of these problems have to be solved NOW!!!!

The centrist Democrats in congress are saying that there is too much spending. They are not talking about solving these problems. If they agree that we need to solve these problems, then they need to come out with a plan. If not, then they are in the same universe as the Republicans.

[cleveramerican]

29. alll good points but.....

the NOW part is pure fantasy and everybody knows it.

[RDANGELO]

33. You are out of touch with realtity. n/t

[Political Heretic]

36. Try this:

http://practical-vision.blogspot.com/2009/03/some-quick-thoughts-about-national-debt.html

And this:

http://practical-vision.blogspot.com/2009/03/we-are-losing-america-right-before-our.html

[kohodog]

51. The only time that ever exists is now.

If it doesn't happen now it will never happen. Seize the moment while the ashes of reaganomics are smoldering. To wait is to deny and this is a golden moment to push forward. If we are not confident that our ideas will succeed why do we fight for them? Given the current players in DC is it even conceivable to over-reach? Bayh represents the party of going backwards less quickly, not moving forward.

[Doremus]

58. Those who don't know it are typically repugs.

Out of the closet and in.

That would include your Mr. Bayh.

[LiberalFighter]

27. Bayh never steps up unless there is something in it for him.

In this case, he is just trying to make sure he gets elected in Indiana. He must be a bit worried this time around because it is also the first time in 20 years that I have received a mailing asking for money from him.

[olegramps]

31. What do you specifically object to that Obama has proposed?

I would think that if some Democrats have some concerns that President Obama would be more than willing to listen to them. His presidency has been a model of transparency that was totally lacking in the Bush administration that was shrouded in secrecy.

Thankfully, we will return to a system of checks and balances in government that the PNAC neo-cons attempted to destroy by transforming the presidency into a virtual dictatorship under some hair brained concept of the unitary powers of the president.

I can assure you that I voted for President Obama because of the absolute need for dramatic changes in how the professional politicians have mismanaged the business of governing our nation. They have allowed it to be controlled solely by special interest groups. I didn't vote for a status quo and that is what it seems to me what Bayh represents.

[cleveramerican]

34. I think he is in danger of getting too far ahead of the public ......

and not taking enough care to avoid the all too predictable backlash.

[Doremus]

59. Your concern is duly noted.

:eyes:

[Hippo_Tron]

90. Could you be more specific?

[Hansel]

35. We are a nation of centrists and Bayh is not one of them.

Bayh has proven himself to be more comfortable working in favor of the wants of the "fringe right" who the Republican Party currently represents. This is proven by the fact that he is standing up against arguably the most popular president in history and against policies that most people want desperately.

Why would you not want someone who voted against the Iraq war and the asinine tax cuts for the rich and deregulation, and advocated for more sensible policies to pull the party back to the center, rather than those who went along to get along? Who went along to get re-elected.

Bayh believes the pathetically obvious propaganda spouted by the right and wants to look like he's fighting against America becoming a "leftist" country. So screw the people and on with corporatism. He comes from a state with a high "fringe right" population and he leans right. He's wants to keep his seat.

There are very few people who hold public office right now that are "fringe left" because even being left leaning has been so demonized over the last 30+ years that they cannot get elected. You've been sufficiently BS'd into believing that somehow the "fringe left" has any power or would be that devastating to this country if they did and that Evan "Milquetoast" Bayh is our savior.

The irony is that having a universal health care program that he is so concerned about would help U.S. corporations to better compete in the world against every other country that has it. And helping people pay their mortgages would help financial institutions collect mortgage dollars and increase the value of toxic assets thus making them less of a burden on taxpayers.

Bayh is only going to ultimately end up hurting U.S. companies who choose to employ U.S. workers and do their business in the U.S. Excessively greedy global corps masquerading as U.S. companies and the health insurance industry who both love outsourcing could care less. The latter is only worried they will no longer get their unnecessary billions in middleman cuts while they shout "NO" to people who are sick and dying and need their medical treatment covered. This is who Bayh is worried about. Some centrist.

[babylonsister]

38. How has he stepped up? You lost me.

He forms a group of moderates, then claims they will vote as a block? What was the point of forming a separate group to begin with?

[Jennicut]

39. Bayh is NOT the center. He is a conservadem which is more like a moderate

Rethug. Heck, I think I like Snowe and Collins more then him. Yuck. I cannot stand him, thankfully he was not the VP!

[butterfly77]

68. In other words...

a REPUBLICON..

[AllentownJake]

40. So you agree with

not cutting taxes on the middle class and cutting back on health care and clean energy initiatives...what part of democratic party don't you fucking understand.

[cleveramerican]

43. you think wishing makes it so?

what you or I think doesn't mean shit. We both get one vote.All that matters is what can be agreed upon. And I don't think enough effort has been put forth in building the kind of consensus that solutions to problems this huge require.
And I am not alone.

[MarjorieG]

41. Bayh's biggest stated rationale is politically safe, not a repeat of '94.

Why then choose to take out what got Obama elected, and the core of his appeal.

I appreciate how much the supply-side, no tax mantra has worked, but we do need to provide for this country differently. Work to cut old weaponry, other measures.

Educate your constituents, instead.

[spanone]

42. i wish senator bayh very little success in his derailing of the President's policies.

[TeamJordan23]

45. Did 70 Million people vote for Evan Bayh? nm

[geek tragedy]

49. Is Obama a kook? If not, why is Bayh obstructing his agenda? n/t

[Frisbee]

50. Evan Bay is a Democrat?

Who'd a thunk it?

[Bunny]

52. I hope Evan Bayh gets kicked out on his ass.

It's amazing to me that anyone can be happy with him and his little cabal. Where was his bravery during the last eight years?

[kohodog]

54. Geez, I wonder why his presidential bid failed.

"I pledge allegiance to the corporate states of America" is what our kids and their kids would say in school if he and his cronies had their way.

[onenote]

87. would you rather have a republican there?

I don't like a lot of Bayh's votes and if a more progressive Democrat challenged him the primary, I'd be inclined to offer my support. But as between Bayh and his repub opponent, I'd rather have a Democrat who supports the Democratic party position 75% of the time, and who specifically supported bills such as the Lily Ledbetter fair pay act and the stimulus bill than a repub who would vote against the positions and legislation I support 100 percent of the time. Do I wish Bayh had not voted to tie gun rights to the DC Voting rights bill? Of course. But I also wish Feingold hadn't done the same thing.

[Raineyb]

107. Don't you get it? You might as well have one there for all the good Blah is.

I'm tired of Democrats who will vote D on the easy stuff but then turn into quivering masses of scared jelly when it comes down to the hard stuff. WTF good is he?

Regards

[ecstatic]

53. This is a center left nation, I think. Bayh is too moderate

but I do think the far left is becoming more difficult to work with. People need to understand that whenever we have an idea, we have to find PRACTICAL ways to implement them. We have to make sure the numbers add up.

[cleveramerican]

79. The VOICE OF REASON

I just knew you were here somewhere.

[Frisbee]

56. You sir...

Appear to be a conservadem/moderate republican at best. Yeah, blocking the agenda that got President Obama elected and leaving us stuck with the world dubya left us with sounds like a brilliant idea. Eight years of moving the country AWAY from science, towards a theocracy, where the financial institutions get to run roughshod over the working and middle class, and where we were to be locked away in a permanent state of war, and you want some nitwit republican who just happens to have a "D" after his name to set the agenda for the Democratic party? Obama's overwhelming majority in the election should tell you what direction the American people want to move in, and if anything, Obama is himself proving to be more of a centrist than a progressive. But he is still the best thing to happen to this country in decades, though we may never get to live in the America he envisions and that we'd like to live in if a few dicks who call themselves Democrats but act like republicans manage to successfully block him at every step of the way. Finally, when you say "our party", I really don't know what party you are referring to, you don't claim to be a republican, yet you don't talk like a Democrat or support the Democratically elected Democratic president in the infancy of his first term. Grow a pair and decide what you stand for, because right now you sound like you stand for the status quo, and is standing for nothing.

[cleveramerican]

69. you like to jump to conclusions...eh?

who said anything about blocking?
I'd say some thoughtful consideration of assuming a generation of debt is just plain sensible.
you think this makes me a republican? how high are you?

Its the false urgency that bothers me, We as nation are making decisions that will affect every Americans lives for a generation.
I know first hand that the decision your going to have to live with are the one you should never make in haste or fear or anger.

I would stack my democratic party credentials against anyone.
Being open to a different viewpoint is democratic party cornerstone of which you seem lacking.
If an idea is too fragile for scrutiny its probably not thought out enough for public acceptance.

[ljm2002]

57. The trouble is...

...Evan Bayh and his little gang are not centrists, they are rightists dressed up in Democrats' clothing.

Here's the thing: anyone with even mildly leftist views is labeled "fringe" and "radical". Whereas, the rightwing lunatics who took over the Republican party really are fringe: case in point, the religious right, who want to roll back all gains in women's rights and also want to teach the Bible in science class. Now that is a real example of what it means to be on the fringe here in the 21st century.

Evan Bayh and his like are trying to stop the government from spending even as the country slides into a depression. They want to stop unions -- and unions and support of working people is hardly fringe, it was once a core Democratic ideal and is essential to restoring our industrial base, which has been decimated by the rabid right and their "centrist" Democratic fellow travelers.

So, to make a long post short: "centrist" Democrats like Evan Bayh can bite my ass!

[Enthusiast]

102. If someone claims to be a fiscal conservative,

but has no position in reining in the military industrial complex, they are simply lying. They are not a fiscal conservative.

[mvd]

60. Oh, come on

The fringes who want affordable health care for all (and single payer is the best way to get this,) peace in the Middle East, and the spending needed to get us out of this recession?

If the American people wanted someone like Bayh, he would have gained traction as a candidate.

[craigmatic]

63. caution is the enemy of true progress

Bayh is wrong for doing this because he's trying to cripple health care reform along with other progressive issues. People need to choose between left and right enough with this center verses the right nonsense that got us nowhere under Clinton. Bayh is just trying to make a naked grab at power in the senate and is just like the DLC- lacking a strong set of core beliefs. If Reid was a stronger leader this wouldn't be happening.

[saltpoint]

70. In the opinion of this observer and former Indiana resident, Evan Bayh

is a mealy-mouthed Ken Doll of a public servant.

He has no vision. He has no courage. He lives to impede progressive policy. He is selective in the campaign appearances he makes for fellow Dems in Indiana, to the point of snobbery. He is the blood-line son of his father but bears none of his father's integrity or zeal for public service.

Did I mention that he is mealy-mouthed and cowardly?

[burning rain]

71. You have a gift for droll humor.

^

[kohodog]

76. did you mean troll humor?

I don't know the op, but her/his responses are pretty lame, and while he/she may be a respected member of long standing in this community, I beg to differ and think these centrist ideas are full of shit.

[Political Heretic]

72. You're not saying "we are a nation of centrists." You're saying "I have swallowed the propaganda"

Time after time, polls show the public overwhelmingly in favor of things like universal health care, public education, market regulation, progressive tax policy, green legislation, worker protections and so on. The public tend to be more "centrist" in their attitudes toward foreign policy, being a bit more hawkish than your typical leftist. But apart from that, we're a nation that buys into the false "left/right/center" frame but then when directly asked supports left policy by overwhelming margins.

Why do we have such a center-right government structure if the people support far more left policy? Because of the airtight control over the political system held by the ruling elite, and the complete capitulation of the mainstream media, and the decades long propaganda blitz of corporate interests. Read the book "What's the Matter with Kansas?" People regurgitate the talking points that have been beat into their heads by the media - you're actually doing it right now. But then when asked about issues, without associating those issues with "left/right" or "Democrat/Republican" people overwhelmingly support left policy for the American middle and working class.

By saying "WE ARE A NATION OF CENTRISTS" what you are really saying is "I HAVE SWALLOWED THE PROPAGANDA OF THE RULING CLASS." We are a nation of oligarchy in which a privileged few tell the rest of us what we are supposed to think, and get people like you to perpetuate the talking points...

[CreekDog]

73. But Bayh isn't standing for anything

he supported the stimulus even though it will increase the deficit, but the stimulus is supposed to increase demand overall and thus be stimulative.

Bayh is not supporting Obama's budget increases, those increases are designed to be stimulative just as the stimulus was.

Bayh is not supporting tax cuts for working class and middle class people, which are designed to increase fairness within the tax system and also have a stimulative effect in that they will allow workers to keep more of their earnings (and at those income levels, that money will be spent in the larger economy)

Bayh is not supporting the tax deduction reduction whereby certain deductions are reduced slightly, which is one way Obama was going to help offset some of the stimulus but only slightly. Bayh proposes to reduce spending on other Obama priorities to avoid this very slight tax increase --but Bayh reduces stimulus to the economy in the process.

Basically, Bayh is a political hack. he has no consistency in terms of what he will and will not support but is staking out a "middle" ground that is not based on being in the middle policywise but in the middle politically.

[dflprincess]

74. You forgot the sarcasm icon (eom)

:sarcasm:

[Every Man A King]

75. The OP, while certainly not clever

is much easier to bear than the poutrage of the hang Geithner crowd.

[Hawaii Hiker]

77. I wish Bayh was further left, BUT I give him credit for

voting NO on both the Roberts & Ailito confirmations....

A good number of Democrats voted for Roberts, & even a few (4 I think) voted for the ultra-fringe righty Ailito....

[MasonJar]

78. Bayh is motivated by his contributors, not by the good of his state

and our country. He is beholden to big banks for big contributions.

[eridani]

80. That shitstain will push this country over the brink

He's wrong, and the kooks are right--100% of the time. Name an instance where the "kooks" were wrong. We said that the 2005 bankruptcy bill was big trouble, that deregulation of the finance industry was going to blow up, and that invading Iraq was a really shitty idea. Bayh is wrong about everything, 100% of the time.

[dionysus]

81. where, praytell, are our kooky members of congress? we don't have any far leftists in office.

[Arugula Latte]

82. Evan Bayh can go fuck himself.

Where was he when Bush pushed this country to the extreme fascist fringe? Where was the concern with "centrism" then?

[ClarkUSA]

85. Bayh is the man who told Rumsfield that he agreed that "the war in Iraq is a noble endeavor"

This, during his DLC pro-Iraq war tenure on the 9/11 Commission. He's a sellout to corporate interests that fund his campaign coffers.
His objections to President Obama's policy agenda reveals his corporate whoring interests. I am sure Team O understands what drives
Bayh... besides his overweening ambition to be on a DLC ticket in 2016.

[anonymous171]

86. Centrists = Corporate Whores. nt

[Reterr]

92. Speak for yourself

Dem voter, Dem volunteer, contibutor to campaigns at the local and national levels and I disagree with everything Evan Bayh and his collection of Dem Freepmorons stand for. I want to pull the party to the left.

[Sebastian Doyle]

94. Fuck Evan W. Bayh in the ass with a dull rusty "centrist" chainsaw

And every last false "centrist" Repuke trying to kill the Democratic party right along with him.

[Hutzpa]

95. This has got to be a set up........

unbelievable

[Douglas Carpenter]

96. Evan Bayh is NO moderate - He is a foreign policy extremist - neoconservative CRANK!!

It is Patently dishonest to describe Evan Bayh as a centrist or a moderate -- It is more than dishonest - It is a bald face lie!

"The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) is pleased to welcome Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) as an Honorary Co-Chairman. Bayh becomes the third U.S. Senator to join the committee after Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced their participation on January 28.

The Committee is a neo-con group that was formed to propagandize the country into war. It boasted such illustrious neocon members as Bill Kristol, former CIA director James Woolsey, and even McCain senior foreign policy adviser and Chalabi-bamboozler Randy Scheunemann, whom Josh has been blogging about."

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/bayh_as_veep_he_cochaired_wing.php

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Bayh is such a wacko foreign policy extremist that his biggest problem with the war in Iraq seemed to be that he was afraid it might prevent a war with Iran:

http://washingtonindependent.com/159/stop-obamabayh-08


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"

This is a hallmark of Evan Bayh. A former chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council and a past recipient Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson Award for Distinguished Service from the neoconservative security think tank JINSA,

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/03/evan_bayh_tough_but_smart.php

[Umbral]

97. Utter bullshit. nt

[depakid]

98. Wow- even more irony and projection (and/or shallow drivel)- take your pick

If we've learned anything at all it's that the kooks and fringe types are those who've enabled and legitimized Republican policies all these years.

They've caused nothing but disaster with everything they touched. And yet- even at this late date, they would drag the nation down further into recession- deny you all any reasonable health care reform and subject the party to perpetual filibusters.

So when someone prattles on with ridiculous and dishonest claims such as these, one almost has to laugh.

I guess some folks never learn.

[Douglas Carpenter]

99. only the Limbaugh's, Hannity's, Fox New crowd and certified right-wing nuts believe that there is

any danger of the Obama Presidency being hijacked by some left-wing fringe.

There are barely any traditional liberals in his administrations, much less "far left".

Just how many actual left-wing member of Congress are there anyway?

Hardly enough to count on ones' fingers.

It is hard to think of an Administration that has been more "centrist" than the Obama Administration.

This is a truly ludicrous post that might win the praise of the Fox News crowd while leaving mainstream Democrats and mainstream Americans completely bewildered.

Is this OP meant as some kind of joke?

[ima_sinnic]

103. yes, heaven forbid anything will ever change: status quo, staus quo, rah rah rah

Evan Bayh and the rest of the dinosaurs can take a short walk off a steep cliff for all I care. They contribute NOTHING. Their "ideas" are brain farts that stink to high heaven and then dissipate in the next passing breeze.

[LittleGirl]

104. former resident's take

I don't wish Bayh any success. As a former resident of Indiana, I take offense (somewhat) to your cheering of Bayh. He won his elections because of his Indiana name recognition. His father made a statement in Indiana, not son Bayh. He is only a shell of his father's legacy.

Bayh is looking out for his corporate contributors in Indy but cares NOTHING about the rest of the state. Otherwise the RV factories in Elkhart County wouldn't have shut down creating a 15% (Feb) unemployment rate if he had only been there to help them long before gas went to $4 a gallon. He didn't go to bat for those poor souls that lost their livelihood and are struggling. Those people have to either move to Indy or leave the state to get employment. And who is hiring now? They are trapped in their soon to be defaulted boarded up homes. Elkhart will be a ghetto ghost town just like their neighbor South Bend when manufacturing went south and to Mexico.

Not to mention my friends that work at the Elkhart unemployment office that are working with killer demand for some of the lowest state pay in the country. Indiana may have turned blue in 08, but he's still pandering to the red wing nuts who rule that state.

Bayh is a DINO. Period.

[zulchzulu]

111. Welcome to DU!

Like you said, Evan is a legacy candidate running on Daddy's name. And since he's up for re-election, he's running scared and trying to play Moderate Man so he doesn't get his ass kicked.

I'm not familiar with Indiana politics, but perhaps someone can run against him in the primary and pick him off.

[Zodiak]

105. This OP is a centrist ideologue's mastubatory fantasy

No mention of a policy position at all....even when pressed, just a knee-jerk need to triangulate.

Centrism is an ideology, but it is an ideology devoid of any policy ideas at all....just a need to split the difference between two positions, no matter how skewed to the right those positions are.

Notice also how Centrists never attack the fringe right, even though the fringe right has been running this country in the ground for years. No, it is all about hatred of the left, who really has no power, no voice, and no influence....so it's politically safe to rail against them. In fact, liberals in this country have such a little voice that centrist ideologues have to create a left-wing fringe surrogate out of a centrist like Obama and attack his policies as if they were "radical".

It is a morally bankrupt, cowardly position to take, and it is clear that the OP doesn't think any deeper than that.

The history of centrism in this country is simple enablement of the radical right and the squelching of anything progressive. The end result is not sensible policy, but destructive policy and a distortion of the debate in the body politic by usurping the power of the wing of the Democratic party that has ideas.

[redqueen]

112. Wish I could rec this post!

:applause:

[Marrah_G]

106. Fail !

[county worker]

108. Man who walks in the middle of the road gets hit by trucks going both ways.

For me it isn't left right or middle. It's the issue and the outcome that matters. What is the center position on universal health care? If it isn't affordable good care for all, to hell with it!

I think it makes no sense to be ideological left right or middle. I guess existentialism is best for me.

"What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain knowledge must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. ... I certainly do not deny that I still recognize an imperative of knowledge and that through it one can work upon men, but it must be taken up into my life, and that is what I now recognize as the most important thing."

—Søren Kierkegaard, Letter to Peter Wilhelm Lund dated August 31, 1835, emphasis added[

[zulchzulu]

110. I want Bayh to go bye-bye in his 2010 re-election bid

Now is not a time for whiney Blue Democrats who are appeasers for the Repigs.

Someone needs to step up and run against him in the primaries. He's not a centrist. He's scared.

[polichick]

113. Oh yippee, Bayh and his fellow throwbacks to the rescue...

:puke: