Why can't the Democrats start speaking up?

[Occam Bandage]

Now, I think we first need to realize that they have passed some very good legislation so far: ethics reforms, student loans, minimum wage, veteran's benefits, and increased fuel standards. That's more than many sessions do, and it's to their credit. And I don't blame them at all for the fact that they haven't yet passed everything on their agenda. Why? Because the Republicans just set an all-time record for filibusters, and the session isn't halfway over. That's right: they are on pace to more than the number of filibusters in the previous record year.

Now, what happened when the Democrats filibustered a few crazy-ass Republican nominees? The Republicans hit the airwaves. They took to every show they could find, gave speeches in front of every camera they could find, and wrote op-eds for every paper they could find. They complained constantly about obstructionism and "Democrat violations of the Constitutional progress." They threatened to change the cloture rules to remove the filibuster. There was a fucking fight.

Now, what are we doing? Nothing. We're making excuses for our failures. And while it's a damn good excuse--Republicans really are preventing us from doing anything meaningful--people don't exactly appreciate excuse-making. It's not believable. People say, "Oh, you're the majority, do something about it." Hell, even the people here--the people who are generally most willing to blame the Republicans for absolutely anything--think the problem is that the Democrats aren't trying hard enough.

We have to deal with what is, by far, most obstructionist minority in history, and that doesn't even count the veto pen. Democrats need to start talking about that. They need to start booking Sunday-show appearances, giving interviews, showing up on morning shows, writing opinion pieces, etc. They need to take this shit public. The legislation the Republicans are blocking--health-care reform, Iraq timetables, Habeas Corpus restoration, fair taxes for Big Oil--is all stuff that Americans want to see. We're wondering why it hasn't been seen yet.

Start telling us.

[Crazy Dave]

1. Too afraid Limbaugh and O'Rielly will say bad things about them

n/t

[BobRossi]

2. Simple..

MSM = Republicans.

It's hard to be heard when your voice is silenced by lack of coverage by the MSM.

[T Wolf]

3. Dead-intern Scarborough even had it right this morning when he said that

the Dems in Congress are just too scared to confront the boy dictator. He contrasted the current Congress's (non)actions with the way the Newt-Congress acted toward Clinton. He said something like "we sent bills on welfare reform and balancing the budget up, he vetoed them. We said "screw you" and sent them up again. He vetoed them again. We sent them a third time and he signed them.

Scar said it was because Clinton was being advised by Dick Morris who told him (Clinton) that he needed to work something out for political cover in the 1996 election.

Not that Joe is such a great source, but he does occasionally speak the truth. ANd the truth is that (most of) the current Dems in Congress do not have the courage to do the right thing. they are too worried about their own political career.

It's enough to make you "consider" withholding support.

[Occam Bandage]

5. As it stands, sending Bush the same bill three times wouldn't work. Why?

Because he goes to the media, and he talks, and he says plain and simple, "The Democrats are wasting your time and money doing this," and the Democrats don't want to feed that perception.

It's high time we start going to the media too. There's no reason we can't be throwing our voice out there. I kind of wish Obama wasn't running for President; he'd be a perfect face for this campaign.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. Congenital yellow-belliedness.