End Senate Minority Rule!!

If it is true.... and it was at the least a major deciding factor.... that it was the proposed health care legislation that bloodied the tide in blue Massachusetts in last Tuesday's election.

That put an ex-nude-model conservative who vowed to defeat that legislation into the Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy, whose lifelong crusade was affordable health care for all... then there is only one place to point the finger for that defeat.

Harry Reid. The let's-make-a-deal Democratic Senate Leader and the 60th vote rule.

Oh, there were many other factors in play. The all-out court press of the insurance company lobbyists who spread the green around to sway legislators and confuse the issue for voters, for one. And, the health care legislation was complicated and confusing.... until Reid and the Senate extortionists gave it a focus.

A deciding factor.

Thanks to the blackmailing, underhanded and downright unethical behavior of two Senators, and the complicity of desperation by Reid, the voters saw a mugging of the taxpayers, and they revolted.

Who could miss Independent Senator Joe Lieberman's holdup of this legislation. He had loudly proclaimed just months earlier that parts of the health care bill should be an extension of the already functioning Medicare program. But, when this was introduced into the bill, he withheld his needed 60th vote until it was stricken. With Joe, what you hear is not what he means. Don't forget, he's a Senator from Connecticut, the insurance-capitol-of-the-world Connecticut.

That was bad enough. And voters surely took notice, but then perhaps dismissed it as Joe being Joe.... which isn't a compliment.

The brazen holdup that finally soured the Massachusetts voters came from the heartland, from Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson. His 60th vote holdout started as a right-to-life roadblock that quickly morphed into Nebraska being granted certain Medicare benefits free, forever.

Nelson actually stopped the health care legislation train and told the conductor if he didn't give everyone on the train from Nebraska a free Medicare ride FOREVER he would derail it. And, conductor Reid punched Nelson's ticket. There was a national gasp.

The country, even Nebraska, was up in arms over this, disgusted is perhaps a better word. And this desperation on the part of the Democratic leadership in Congress to make any concession to pass the legislation, and President Obama's reluctance to wade into the issue and actually take charge, showed the voters of Massachusetts all too clearly that no one knew where this train was going. They wanted off.

Tuesday, Massachusetts Democrats and Independents sent the message loud and clear.... they didn't like the direction the Obama-Reid train was taking them. Free rides for some while keeping others hostage was a no-go. They cancelled the Democrats 60th vote.

So now the Democrats no longer have the filibuster-breaking 60th vote they need to pass almost anything. Not that they ever did, having to depend on the likes of Lieberman and Nelson, but the appearance at least was there. But that wasn't even the worst thing that happened to the Democrats, and more importantly the nation, this week.

While the nation's attention was diverted by the Massachusetts train wreck, the Supreme Court struck down the concept of one-man-one-vote democracy.

The Supremes reached into the bedrock of our republic and tore apart its foundation as violently, and uncaringly, as the mind-numbing Haiti earthquake disaster. The shock waves will crumble our voting booths into a rubble of irrelevance.

The Supreme Court decided Thursday that soul-less, vote-less, non-citizen, steel and paper corporations are people, protected by the Constitution's freedom-of-speech guarantee. So, Wall Street, banks, insurance companies, oil companies... all those wonderful folks who brought you our budget-busting recession and more, now have the right to spend all they want on elections.

As David D. Kirkpatrick said today in The New York Times, "Lobbyists Get Potent Weapon in Campaign Finance Ruling" ....... "The Supreme Court has handed lobbyists a new weapon. A lobbyist can now tell any elected official that if you vote wrong, my company, labor union or interest group will spend unlimited sums explicitly advertising against your re-election."

All legislators will be the lackeys of special interests. The monied carriage-class will rule, and the rest of us.... the poor, sick and plain ignored.... will just pay for their ride.

Obama did show some outrage, stating after the decision that it's “a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics,” while Democrats vowed to push legislation to install new spending limits in time for the fall campaign. Predictably, Republicans disputed the partisan impact of the Supreme's decision.

So.... will it take 60 Senate votes to put the brakes on the political spending of the newest class of citizen.... corporations? If so, forget it. Nothing will get done for flesh-and-blood citizens until the Senate reinstates the "majority rule" conduct of business, and derails the current "minority can stop anything" obstructionism.

Ambition-Serving Slogans....

George Bush ran as a "compassionate conservative" before arrogantly relabeling himself as The Decider, the dupe of neocons whose bumper sticker should be "Love Democracy or We'll Kill You."

But, during his 2000 campaign, Bush wanted to grab the GOP conservative base while still appealing to more moderate independents. It was only after he was elected to his second term that he dropped the pretense and proclaimed his true power-grabbing Decider ideology.... neither compassionate nor conservative as he continued to recklessly trash American lives, treasure, culture and good name in the pursuit of his petulant "I'm better than Daddy" crusades.

Grabbing pages from The Decider's sly two-prong playbook, last March McCain labeled himself a "realistic idealist".... just as a White House-aspiring then-governor of Texas Bush called for "realism in the service of ideals," playing to both neocon idealists and pragmatists.

James Mann explains today in "What Will the Pillars of His Foreign Policy Be?" the two factions vying for the upper hand in a McCain cabinet.

On one side is the inspiration for McCain's "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" warbling.... neocon favorite Joe Lieberman. On the other side is longtime McCain friend Richard Armitage who as deputy to secretary of state Colin Powell was an Iraq war skeptic who distrusted the hawks nesting with vice president Dick Cheney and then-defense secretary Don Rumsfeld.

Unfortunately, voters won't know what foreign policy pillar McCain's "realistic idealist" campaign sloganeering favors until he is ensconced in the Oval Office as The Decider II. Pray we'll never have to find out.

Biden Rues "Beneath Us" Politics

It's clear from the tone of his remarks the last few days about Sen. Barack Obama.... John McCain is shifting into low and driving his Straight Talk Express down the muddy back-alleys of gratuitous political attack.

In "Roads, High and Low" (WaPo) Bob Herbert explores McCain's latest foray into the political lowlands.

When Obama criticized McCain over his unwillingness to support an increase in college tuition for returning vets, Herbert noted how "McCain responded angrily and gratuitously mentioned that Mr. Obama had not served in the military. (This is especially weird when you consider that Senator McCain is a fierce supporter of the war in Iraq, which was fanatically promoted by an entire barnyard of chicken hawks.)"

Defending Obama against the searing attacks by the Bush administration, McSame and Joe Lieberman.... Sen. Joe Biden said Friday on MSNBC, "I refuse to sit back like we did in 2000 and 2004. This administration is the worst administration in American foreign policy in modern history - maybe ever. The idea that they are competent to continue to conduct our foreign policy, to make us more secure and make Israel secure, is preposterous... Every single thing they've touched has been a near-disaster."

Becoming emotional, Senator Biden said it was tough for him because "John's been my friend for 35 years, and I'm disappointed. Because, as you all know, there is a difference between an ad hominem argument and a logical response....." and McCain's kind of behavior should be "beneath us."

Later that same day, Hillary Clinton made her reference to Robert Kennedy's assassination, as a rationale for staying in the race, swerving not only onto the political back roads, but down onerous byways that could involve harm to Obama.

"Comments that bring that fear to the forefront are incredibly cold-blooded and hurtful, more brutal even than Senator Clinton's comment about 'hard working, Americans, white Americans," Herbert lamented.

But, it seems nothing is beneath either McSame or Hillary. They have determined to take the low road.... decent Americans should refuse to follow.

Hagel and Lieberman Turnabout

What a difference a day makes.... even more so, eight years.

In the 2000 presidential campaign Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) endorsed Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in his long-shot presidential bid.

In 2000, Sen. Joe Lieberman (was D, now I-CT) was the vice presidential running mate on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore.

Fast forward to the 2008 campaign.

Tuesday night Hagel said of McCain's criticism of Barack Obama's pledge to engage with Iran... "I'm very upset with John with some of the things he's been saying. And I can't get into the psychoanalysis of it. But I believe that John is smarter than some of the things he is saying."

Hagel said that unlike McCain, he believes engaging in high-level talks with Iran, unconditionally, is not appeasement and praised Obama's policy of engagement... "I am confident that if Obama is elected president that is the approach we will take.... It is essential."

When asked about a rumor that the Bush administration was ginning up the possibility of war with Iran, Hagel threw the "I" bomb.... "You've got the power of impeachment...." an attack on Iran without the consent of Congress "would bring with it.... outstanding political consequences, including for the Republican party." (Huffington Post)

The subject of Iran and foreign policy brings us to Lieberman's opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal today.... "Democrats and Our Enemies."

Decrying Obama's position of talking with our enemies, Lieberman takes aim at the Democratic party and especially it's presumptive nominee... "Sen. Obama stands in stark contrast to John McCain, who has shown the political courage throughout his career to do what he thinks is right.... John also understands something else that too many Democrats seem to have become confused about lately - the difference between America's friends and America's enemies."

Embracing The Decider's Iraq war and Middle East policies, Lieberman asserts.... "I felt strongly that Democrats should embrace the basic framework the president had advanced for the war on terror as our own..."

Not only has Lieberman embraced the administration's failed foreign policies, but he acts as tender to McCain on his travels, jumping in to clean up McCain's misstatements and filling in as poster boy for McCain's self-proclaimed bipartisan support.

Hagel praises Obama, and Lieberman endorses McSame.... and so the political world turns in the political do-si-do.

McCain: Repeat After Joe Slowly....

Where is Joe Lieberman?.... calling Joe Lieberman.... bring your McCain flash cards!

Today in the hearing with General David Petraeus on the Iraq war, John McCain.... trying to sound very solemn and probing.... asked the General: "Do you still view al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat?"

The General replied: "It is still a major threat, though it is certainly not as major a threat as it was say 15 months ago."

And McCain responded: "CERTAINLY NOT AN OBSCURE SECT OF THE SHIITES OVERALL?"

Of course, every second-grader knows that the al Qaeda are rabidly Sunni.

A moment later Lieberman's whispered lessons seemed to kick in and McCain mumbled: "Or Sunnis or anybody else."

But the mindset was there. In cement. Those rascally al Qaeda "sect of Shiites."

McCain's Shadow....

Munich Security Conference of 2006. John McCain was conferring with the foreign minister of Germany when....

"McCain 'started shaking and rising out of his chair," said one participant, a former senior diplomatic official who related the anecdote on condition of anonymity. "He said something like: 'I haven't come to Munich to hear this kind of crap.' " McCain's old pal Joe Lieberman jumped in. "Lieberman, who reads him very well, put his hand on McCain's arm and said gently, 'John, I think there's been a problem in the translation.' Of course Lieberman doesn't speak German and there hadn't been any problem in the translation.... It was just John's explosive temper." (Newsweek)

Fast forward to McCain's visit two weeks ago to the Middle East when he mistakenly said Iran was training al Qaeda in Iraq. Always-there-Joe quickly whispered in McCain's ear that Iran was accused of training fellow Shiite extremists, not their archenemies the Sunni al Qaeda.

At many McCain campaign stops, Lieberman is onstage with a microphone also fielding questions, sometimes holding forth longer than McCain. The Joe-and-John show arrived at Jerusalem's Wailing Wall in matching yarmulkes, and were decked out like teeny-bopper twins in matching suit-and-red-sweater combos at a snowy New Hampshire town hall meeting.

It's obvious, Lieberman, Democratic VP candidate to Al Gore in 2000, now an Independent after being shown the door by Democrats in Connecticut.... is McCain's ever-present minder.

Like a slick mob consigliere, Lieberman is there to smooth things over and rescue McCain when he strays off the farm.... which happens quite often. Maybe a choleric 70 plus is....

McCain's Free Ride

It's clear.... John McCain is getting a free ride from the media, maybe lulled by their chummy hops on his Straight Talk Express.

McCain has dodged his lobbyist ties to his bimbo eruption.... he's disarmed his misleading "safe" stroll around a Baghdad market while being guarded by the might of the U.S. military... he's silenced the fallout from his "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" warbling.... he's stepped away from his 100 years in Iraq commitment.... he's tamped down his Mad Max persona....

He's downplayed his pandering to far-right hate purveyor Jerry Falwell and seeking the endorsement of Catholic-and-gay-bashing televangelist John Hagee.... he's expounded unchallenged on his recommendation for less "regulatory, accounting and tax impediments to raising capital" in the face of the Bear Stearns billions bailout even though he admittedly doesn't understand the economy....

And, he's excused for his who-is-who stumbles in Jordan, that a hovering Joe Lieberman whisperingly corrected, on Iran training their enemy al Qaeda.

Just imagine.... imagine if Barack Obama had made these fumbles. He would be history. Imagine if Hillary Clinton didn't know that Iran and al Qaeda are enemies..... she'd be out of the race. But McCain.... the news organizations like the cut of his jib. Never mind that he's not up to the job, he's a nice guy.

Haven't we heard this before? Remember during his presidential campaign when The Decider couldn't name world leaders. Ha, ha, ha, the press said. Isn't that cute. Just like they are treating a not-ready-for-prime-time McSame.

As Harold Meyerson points out today in "McCain on the Red Phone" if McCain becomes president we had better hope that Lieberman bunks with him so if that call comes in the middle of the night he can whisper in McCain's ear.

Meyerson makes the case that McCain made the Iran-al Qaeda mistake more than once, it "wasn't just a passing thought. It was a thought that had taken up residence in McCain's brain.... Whether it was a simple mistake, a neoconservative delusion or a habit of mind that lumps together all of America's enemies we cannot say. What we can say is that the idea of any or all of these options is profoundly disquieting.

"The very thought of a president who deliberately conflates or erroneously confuses our adversaries with each other is appalling, though not without precedent. We're mired in a war that has its roots in George W. Bush's both imagining and fabricating an alliance between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Do we really want to perpetuate these habits of mind in the next administration?"

Meyerson points out that "McCain's meshugas didn't really get the attention it deserved.... he was fortunate that his descent into fantasy occurred in the same week as Barack Obama's reverend crisis and Wall Street's near-meltdown.

He got a pass from the media, Meyerson says, because his statement "ran so completely counter to his image as an expert on national security."

But just what is that expertise? Has anyone seriously assessed his beliefs? His neoconservative, war-first stance.... The Decider on steroids.

Meyerson bemoans.... "Hard to say what's more dangerous - McCain's approach to the economy or McCain's approach to the world. The thought of him answering the red phone at 3 a.m. fills me with foreboding. Hell, I don't want him answering the phone at 3 p.m."

Obama and McCain Speak

The two leading candidates for the presidency made public comments today. Sen. Barack Obama spoke in Philadelphia about race and his vision for a "perfected" America, and Sen. John McCain spoke to the press in Amman, Jordan about terrorism and al Qaeda.

The words of Obama: "... This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned." (NYTimes)

The words of McCain: "It was common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." (MediaMatters)

At which time Sen. Joe Liberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al Qaeda."

And, this isn't the first time he made this mistake.... On right-wing Hugh Hewitt's radio show Monday night he made the same assertion. It wasn't a "misspeak" in Amman, just his Bush-bobble-head chant.

Wouldn't you think that someone who professes to have the most foreign policy experience of any presidential candidate would know that Iran and al Qaeda represent opposing sides in the Iraq civil war. Al Qaeda being Sunni Muslim while Iran is ruled by Shiites who comprise 90% of their population.

Tomorrow Obama is giving an address on Iraq and national security, and the day after tomorrow on the economy. If you want to hear intelligent discourse on these thorniest of the many Bush-bestowed quagmires, tune in.

Then decide.... which man is best equipped to be our next president.