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The White House agenda over the past 12 months has let down the Kennedy legacy.

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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 10:56 PM
Original message
The White House agenda over the past 12 months has let down the Kennedy legacy.
And that is why we're sitting here deflated, shocked, and disgusted.

This was supposed to be different. We were supposed to be celebrating a Health Care Bill for this country that celebrated the efforts of Senator Kennedy's valiant fights he waged for the past 4 decades attempting to gain, ultimately, full coverage for all.

To even think a week after Teddy passed that there was a chance that a Democratic candidate in Massachusetts would lose the seat he had would have been laughable.

After all, the vain centerfold candidate was shown in the past to have pushed for an amendment that allowed medical workers, if it was against their religion, to deny rape victims treatment to prevent a pregnancy, let alone be against any kind of health care reform - he wants to take it back to the Ol' Boy days when men tell women to shuddup and have the baby, it's a gift from God, you'll get over the rape. Also, he had stated recently he was against "taxing" bailout firms in any way shape or how despite the evidence that their actions caused this economic downturn. But, this idiotic man cannot see why health care is a right, and not a privilege for someone with his money and healthy body who thinks he has nothing to worry about because he can pay for care - and unfortunately has benefits now that help him even more so.


As the year went by, and the Administration's actions were met with shock from a Democratic electorate that had put him in power to change what B*sh had done, it is no suprise then that the closed door deals, or as they call it - 'transparency', the increases in the Afghan war, the continuation of B*sh policies like DADT & Patriot Act, and allowing Wall St to get away with literally destroying this country without true punishment to those who have hurt this country so much, was going to result in anything other than a disgusting bigoted former nude model winning the seat held by Edward Kennedy, our Liberal Lion. :cry:

The White House is to blame much more than the candidate. She won her primary, and should have had no problem, but with the poor numbers for the President's agenda (62% say we're on the wrong track as a country, and his ratings are not good) she really would have had to be a stellar candidate to pull this off - which she clearly is not.

The people were voting on the actions of the Obama Administration & primarily the potential mandate that the president was against in the campaign, and Liberals are so disgusted with that, many stayed home because what's the point of worrying about securing the President's agenda, when the agenda, albeit not in totality, still has so much that feels familiar to the previous Administration? :shrug:

I wish our fellow Democrats had got out and voted, and I would like to see if there will be any numbers that show what percentage of people who only voted for the first time in 2008 actually came out to vote today. It was imperative that an absolute bigot was kept from taking the seat from one of the most loving, progressive, intelligent, and respectful people to ever hold a senate seat for this great country.

Ultimately, I hope President Obama will see that this defeat has greatly to do with how the Administration has directed their energy towards the policies that have us here today. Will they learn from this mistake and stop catering to big business and the war machine, as they have appeared to imply they will in the past few days (possible levies on financial firms), or will they act like it was the candidate's fault? I have said it for 6 months - not one person I know who supported the president in November '08 is even remotely happy with the Obama Administration - that is really bad, and really was not expected on election day, but when Rahm was selected, I questioned what that would mean for the direction of the White House agenda. Sadly, it's lived up to my worry.

Don't think it's anything less than a total humiliating defeat for Democrats tonight. This was the seat held by Ted Kennedy and we lost it to Right-Wing bigoted tool. I hate to think what the Kennedy's are thinking seeing such a polar opposite take the seat he held.

I believe we can still see our way out of this and avoid a further weakened president in November, but it's going to take REAL

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SemiCharmedQuark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 10:57 PM
Response to Original message
1. What proof do you have that liberals stayed home? Turnout was very high for this election,
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:04 PM
Response to Reply #1
8. You read fast.
Turnout for the burbs was great - against the Obama Agenda. I haven't seen the same for the city. Please let me know if what I saw was incorrect, so I know of the actual facts. I do know that when people who you got to vote for Obama for president don't even want to hear his name - you're in for some embarrassing defeats. And sorry, for me, losing the seat that Teddy sat in fighting for the people of Mass. and this country, especially when he fought for health care so passionately - cannot be any more emotionally frustrating - many of us are either crying tonight or want to scream about how much this presidency is off track...

Nearly 2/3 of Americans think were on the wrong track - we're screwed with numbers like that.
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SemiCharmedQuark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:06 PM
Response to Reply #8
10. I do read fast. I wouldn't have survived BIO 501 if I didn't.
Edited on Tue Jan-19-10 11:07 PM by SemiCharmedQuark
You wrote a page, not a novel.

Where did you get your turnout data?

Also, if it isn't about Coakley, how did she go from a 20 pt lead to losing in a matter of weeks? Obama has not changed much in that time frame.
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:10 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. From the web news outlets, did you see it on TV? They said that turnout was good outside of Boston.
There are also a lot of Independents in Mass, and they clearly are not keen on the Obama HCB.
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SemiCharmedQuark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:13 PM
Original message
All news outlets that I read stated turnout was high across the state, including Boston.
""Light snow has not discouraged heavy traffic at polling places as more than 55,000 people cast ballots by noon in Boston, an early turnout more than double that of the primary last month. Other cities and towns experienced similar waves of voters.""

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/01/turnout-is-high-in-massachuset.html?wprss=44
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:16 PM
Response to Original message
18. gonna have to see the final #'s. I read that something around 20% of Democrats voted for Brown...
that's sickening.
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SemiCharmedQuark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:18 PM
Response to Reply #18
19. They weren't progressives, I am assuming.
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:22 PM
Response to Reply #19
21. yes. I have some relatives who say they're Democratic, but they're not really progressive. So your
opinion is probably spot on for most of them that voted for Brown. I bet most were men, also. Someone on another post said that many who vote, just vote for appearances. I dread to accept it, but I know it's true. The centerfold man's man in a truck beats the liberal, who cares what his politics are and that it will hurt our bottom dollar as he votes for big business at every turn ---- disgusting.
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BrklynLiberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 10:58 PM
Response to Original message
2. Thanks. Good post.
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:11 PM
Response to Reply #2
13. Thanks BL. We can hope for this to wake the leaders of the party up, what a sad defeat.
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SemiCharmedQuark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 10:59 PM
Response to Original message
3. Also, most people in Mass approve of Obama. Many more approve than disapprove.
So how is Obama more at fault than the candidate?
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:01 PM
Response to Reply #3
5. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
SemiCharmedQuark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:02 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. So, they hate Obama so much but approve of him?
That doesn't make any sense.
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:05 PM
Response to Reply #5
9. Exactly - I think President Obama is likable and has done some realllllly good things, but,
the bad things that have upset voters to voting for the Centerfold Candidate in Massachusetts to take over Kennedy's seat, I don't like - nor do a lot of other people.
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girl_interrupted Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-20-10 04:34 AM
Response to Reply #9
34. I think this poll shows what you mean:Americans skeptical of Obama's promises
Edited on Wed Jan-20-10 04:37 AM by girl_interrupted
Poll: Americans skeptical of Obama's promises
Only 35 percent say they’re confident he's got the right set of goals, policies

WASHINGTON - When Barack Obama entered office, the expectations that he and others set for his presidency couldn’t have been higher.
But as Obama wraps up his first full year in office, the American public has grown increasingly skeptical over his promises to change Washington and his "yes-we-can" agenda, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

A plurality of Americans believe his health care overhaul is a bad idea; fewer than one in five are satisfied with the economy; just 30 percent give him good marks on changing business as usual in Washington; and a majority think he has accomplished “very little” or “only some” of his goals over the past 12 months.

Personal Obama vs. professional Obama
In the poll — which was conducted between Jan. 10 and Jan. 14 of 1,002 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points — Americans appear to have two different views of the president: They like him personally, but are more doubtful about his positions on the issues.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34941329/ns/politics-white_house
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FrenchieCat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:00 PM
Response to Original message
4. In otherwords,
you came to DU to shit on some.

This faction shit is what is killing us.

While we are busy arguing with each other,
the otherside is getting it done.

We should try for less pontification,
and a bit more action and constructive ways
of figting back the media and the conservative
instead of seeing how far up Obama's butt our foot can go.
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Kdillard Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:03 PM
Response to Reply #4
7. Amen Frenchie.
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:08 PM
Response to Reply #4
11. and as much - your post is far from shocking. If you comprehend the text you'd know I am a liberal
without question but your unadulterated blind-devotion nauseates - and on a sad night like tonight just makes it sink in how BLIND people like you truly are - WAKE UP - we're in trouble - it ain't 'faction', it's FACT!
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Better Today Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-20-10 03:18 AM
Response to Reply #11
30. +1
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last1standing Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:13 PM
Response to Reply #4
15. Perhaps you should have thought of not attacking others who had legitimate concerns.
Maybe too many good Democrats heard one too many empty racism charges of the sort you like to throw out at anyone who disagrees with you.

It could just be that there are many more out there just like yourself who would rather insult and delegitimize the concerns of lifelong Democrats rather than hear what they have to say.

What's that cute little animation you like to post? Something about "haters gonna hate"...?

Perhaps you should learn from that.

Just saying...
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waiting for hope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:23 PM
Response to Reply #15
22. +1
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:25 PM
Response to Reply #15
23. thank you! good reference there at the end. someone unrec'd 5 seconds after the post went up.
That's just hate. I'd at least read something before unreccing it.

I, too, am tired of having those who support the Admin. at every turn just mock us off as 'want a pony' types and ignoring the basis for why so many Liberals are avoiding, and going to avoid the ballot box when we see so little change, or, arguably, and more fairly, that even though there's good changes being made - the BIG changes are not good.
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ChiciB1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:36 PM
Response to Reply #23
25. Divine... We MUST Stand Our Ground... The Message We Want Heard Is
not BEING HEARD, and when we were told that we could be "ignored" some of us "kind of" got offended!

As a LIBERAL, I would have voted for Coakley just to keep Brown down, but that DOES NOT MEAN I concede my thoughts that we have been let down by THIS WH and our so called Congress Critters!

Let's find a way to FIGHT BACK and let the POWERS THAT BE, know that we aren't just a group of knee jerk hippies wanting a PONY! If others here keep thinking this way, so be it, but I'm really, really sick of the name calling. And I won't sit down and shut up when I see so many promises broken, and when I see that there really hasn't been all that much TRANSPARENCY!!

I could say more... but I'm tired and really pissed!
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:39 PM
Response to Reply #25
26. I hear your anger, I share it... this was NOT a good night for progressives - a STAIN just took the
Senate seat that was held by one of the most respected Liberals we've ever had (if not the most), and we must continue to truly fight for the people as a party.

Again, I share your frustrating anger....
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ChiciB1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:54 PM
Response to Reply #26
29. Touche' & Thanks For Your Reply... n/t
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Better Today Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-20-10 03:19 AM
Response to Reply #15
31. +2
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kayla9170 Donating Member (370 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-20-10 04:54 AM
Response to Reply #4
35. K & R Your Reply.......ONLY!
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Demeter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:12 PM
Response to Original message
14. So Many Chickens Coming Home to Roost, and So Quickly, Too
Edited on Tue Jan-19-10 11:15 PM by Demeter
The first little chicken was the inbred arrogance of Edward Kennedy. the man was dying, he knew he was dying, but instead of preparing the way for a successor, he insisted on dying in office, because no one could replace him! Well, as they say in management classes, NOBODY is irreplaceable. But had Kennedy retired, he could have been an outside voice for real reform, given Howard Dean some back up and kept Obama's feet to the fire, provided stepping stones for Cloakly or someone else more to his liking. If there had been another young Kennedy in the wings, perhaps he would have been more accommodating. But there wasn't, he didn't, and an important seat went empty at the worst possible time.

The second chicken was Rahm Emmanuel's arrogance. Rahm thinks he's hot shit. Well, he's half right. This entire fiasco in health care deformation is his baby, and I hope he never makes another dime off the public purse after he gets bounced out on his patented rubber ass. After this, not even Big Pharma will want to employ him.

The third chicken is Obama's inherent lack of leadership. The man has everything except balls, and in a crisis, that is the most essential part--the willingness to gut it out, to do what needs to be done, to acknowledge the costs and know that it's worth it and get the job done properly. Obama just played with healthcare like a cat with a ball of yarn. It's no wonder the damn thing is a tangled mess.

Hillary will bless her lucky stars that she was not involved, this time. If she's really smart, she won't get involved next time, either.

There's a Hungarian folk song that runs something like this:

"If you knew the hen was dying, why then did you feed it (wasting food)?
--when I saw the hen was poorly, I thought she'd surely need it"


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SemiCharmedQuark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:14 PM
Response to Reply #14
16. "the inbred arrogance of Edward Kennedy"
Wow.
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Demeter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:16 PM
Response to Reply #16
17. If you've never lived in Massachusetts, You wouldn't have Seen it
but it was there in spades and bushels
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:18 PM
Response to Reply #14
20. what a post! you don't mence words, thanks for your take.
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ChiciB1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:40 PM
Response to Reply #14
28. "They" Are Going To Try To Pin It ALL On Coakley, But I For One Will
say this... Obama and this administration had better start kicking some ass and quit pussy-footing around!

Dementer, you said it and it was a mouthful, but many here agree with you! Let that not be your last post!
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girl_interrupted Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-20-10 04:25 AM
Response to Reply #14
33. Demeter....Well said
I often wonder if Obama had just thrown the middle class a bone...maybe an increase in Social Security instead of a freeze, maybe real credit card and bank reform, so many things he could have done to really help the working class. Instead banks got billions, interest free, and the middle class got 30% interest rates on their credit cards, and 13 dollars a week "extra" in their paychecks, which now may be subject to income tax. It was like adding insult to injury. People struggling to make ends meet, state, property, and school taxes going through the roof, cost of living going up faster than people can earn the money to meet their obligations, now being told they are mandated to buy health insurance..how? And people "wonder" why voters are so angry?

Your post really says it all and quite eloquently. Thank you for it.
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inna Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:33 PM
Response to Original message
24. KR

Good post.
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-19-10 11:39 PM
Response to Reply #24
27. hi inna, ty
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kayla9170 Donating Member (370 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-20-10 03:32 AM
Response to Original message
32. Here we go..............
Edited on Wed Jan-20-10 03:39 AM by kayla9170
:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: and peanuts and grapes and oranges and apples and berries and the Garden of Eden and the Magic Wand...and the point is?
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