Decision ‘08

Weekly Jackass Number Forty-Eight: Markos Moulitsas Zúniga

Yep, we have our first two-time winner. What has Kos done to earn this distinction? In less than 100 words, he has proven that his political acumen is fast approaching zero. Consider this, referring to yesterday’s precedent-shattering and extremely foolish declaration of partisan war by Harry Reid:

I think it bears restating that Reid just proved to Senate Republicans that Democrats don’t need the filibuster to stop Alito (or any other judge, for that matter).

The Senate has plenty of parliamentary maneouvers available to the minority, any of which would accomplish the same thing in the end — preventing the majority from running roughshod over the minority.

Today should, for all intent purposes [sic], make any talk of a “nuclear option” obsolete.

Many, many responses to this tripe come to mind:

1. You actually think you can stop Alito?

2. There will be no filibuster, and anyone with a lick of sense knows it.

3. Even if there IS a filibuster, the Republicans can and will go nuclear.

4. Reid proved nothing but his own disdain for the notions of bipartisanship and fair play.

5. Sorry Fitzmas was such a dud, Harry, but do you have to take it out on me?

6. What you call “the majority running roughshod over the minority” is, in fact, what many refer to as ‘democracy’. Look it up…you want judges you can agree with, win an election…

7. This is a perfect example of ‘damn the future’ advice; Kos completely ignores any thought as to what the consequences of Reid’s recklessness are for future Democratic administrations (hey, surely they’ll win again SOMETIME!)…

8. Do you think the public will appreciate parliamentary maneouvers to avoid democratic outcomes?

That’s a lot of foolishness packed into a small space; but then again, we should expect no less from our first two-time Jackass…

UPDATE 8:17 p.m.: Thanks to Leon H. at Red State for the link…

18 Responses to “Weekly Jackass Number Forty-Eight: Markos Moulitsas Zúniga”

1 mtl Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 2:04 pm
Just give Markos a robe, and let him work the bench.

Kos is one of the greatest things about dems on the net. I just point the politically naive to his sight and have them compare the tone between him and NRO.

His take on Alito is ludicrous.
Like a snivelling child saying “We weren’t going to filibuster him anyway.” or as he says-”Today should, for all intent purposes, make any talk of a “nuclear option” obsolete.”

would have left the dems ‘radioactive’.

There will be no filibuster. Red state dems have already gone to Reid and said, not this year…Reid’s move yesterday was like the farmer shooting the forest after the fox has already dined on all the chickens and left hours ago.

For those who had previously expressed the belief that Rove was in jeopardy, Reid just convinced me it is over. If there was a chance he could have pulled this move, with Rove’s name attatched, he would have waited.

His allusion to parlimentary procedures is bogus. Before yesterday, he didn’t even know what rule 21 was…if he was really the credible source on Senate procedure, he’d have made a list of stalling tactics long ago.

“— preventing the majority from running roughshod over the minority.”

or “If we can’t govern, no one can.”
2 willow Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 2:31 pm
I’m afraid Markos is not the jackass here. Some people actually believe that the Senate should work for the American people, and the American people demand to know what happened with the pre-war intelligence. Some Americans — REAL Amercians that care about their country before their party — believe that lying about a war, misusing pre-war intelligence is very important for the safety of the country.

Also, your poll doesn’t have the one answer that SHOULD be there: YES. A President with any integrity would have fired Rove for being “involved.” And if you don’t believe he was “involved,” then you and the President need to get out more.
3 Mark Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 2:48 pm
willow, what are you smoking? There’s no poll here…
4 mtl Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 2:56 pm
“REAL Amercians”-nice propaganda. Sounds as deluded coming from a dem as it would from a conservative. I like the ‘one man-one vote’, but if the electoral college could weight their sample to give REAL americans an extra vote…

You want to talk about involvement?
If this whole WMD thing was made up, at what point did the rants of the dems in power and their justification of bombing Iraq(during the Lewinsky scandal) become resolved?

Read:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/24/AR2005102401405.html

It is an article which provides a cursory glance at what was said about Iraq, pre 9/11, and the reporting from the NYT editorial staff, a small excerpt:

“From 1998 through 2000, the Times editorial page warned that “without further outside intervention, Iraq should be able to rebuild weapons and missile plants within a year” and that “future military attacks may be required to diminish the arsenal again.” Otherwise, Iraq could “restore its ability to deliver biological and chemical weapons against potential targets in the Middle East.” “The world,” it said, “cannot leave Mr. Hussein free to manufacture horrific germs and nerve gases and use them to terrorize neighboring countries.”

If your world and US history begins with 9/11, you have no business even using the words ‘lying and misusing’. Your short-sightedness most assuredly means that you are not a ‘REAL’ american.

or how bout Joe Wilson in June 2003 expressing the belief that we would probaly find Chem and Bio, along with an effort to restart a nuke program?

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2005/10/before-novak-joe-wilson-speech-that.html

You need to get out more…
5 Dennis Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 3:05 pm
“willow, what are you smoking? There’s no poll here…”

I guess the kneejerk response was intended for someone else. Or else we’re just a bunch of fake Americans, so to question why she added that is to question her patriotism. And we all know that’s a terrible thing to do.

Regarding Kos’ notion of the “majority running roughshod over the minority,” anybody here remember what the meme was in 1992, when Bill Clinton won the presidency and the Democrats had control of Congress? The talk was that the American people didn’t want anymore gridlock. Well, now the Republicans have control of those two branches, and suddenly gridlock is a sacred duty.

I think Kos may be subtly acknowledging a filibuster ain’t gonna happen. After all, Reid’s tactic just “proved” you don’t need a filibuster to stop Alito. Well, if a filibuster is available, why resort to other tactics? If the Senate Democrats have to keep coming up with obscure rules to slow down the confirmation process, will that really play well with the general public?

I don’t think Kos is an idiot (although I’d say the “Screw ‘em” comment makes him an inaugural member of the Jackass Hall of Fame), but I think he does let his hopes get the better of him sometimes. He desperately wants to be a political player, but he’s so locked into his mindset that he has a hard time recognizing why, despite all the Republicans’ problems, the Democrats keep losing elections.
6 Fargus Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 4:06 pm
Precedent-shattering? Like Bill Frist campaigning actively against Tom Daschle? That shattered a precedent that had NEVER been broken, not just one that had stood for 25 years. Partisan war? Like Bill Frist attending Justice Sunday, where it was asserted that Democrats are “against people of faith”?

Seems there’s a bit of a double standard here, Mark, no?
7 Mark Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 4:12 pm
Fargus, I don’t think so…there would be a double standard if you had seen me praising Bill Frist for his actions…search high and low, and I don’t think you’ll find it.

Look, let’s talk turkey, you’re a smart guy and so am I. What Reid did was transparently (and it’s not even a secret!) a ploy to get traction after the Fitzmas bomb turned out to be a dud…

There is no principle at stake that was not at stake last week or last month…

Did Bush intentionally announce Alito’s nomination to distract from PlameGate? Of course…and let’s not pretend Reid’s little dog-and-pony show is not cut from the same cloth…
8 Fargus Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 4:15 pm
Everything in politics is transparently a ploy. I don’t know why this is any different. The Schiavo mess was transparently a ploy by Tom DeLay to get traction during his ethics mess. I mean, it’s politics. You and I both know that.

But all the talk from the right of “respecting precedent” seems a bit disingenuous in view of their own disrespect for whatever precedents they don’t like.
9 Mark Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 4:19 pm
Well, sure, if you want to get all cynical…thanks for shattering my faith in the process…

I stick by my statement (though to me, the key phrase was extremely foolish, not precent-shattering). Of course, you’re free to disagree, and you know I respect your opinion.
10 mtl Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 4:27 pm
Bill Clinton speaking at Riverside? That’s a church…
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/kengor200409070843.asp

‘against people of faith’? I’m an atheist, and yes, a section of the democratic party, larger than the religious right of the gop, actively campaigns against the religious.
“That shattered a precedent that had NEVER been broken, not just one that had stood for 25 years.”

As far as Frist in South Dakota, tsk tsk.
Are you going to tell me that it is ok for a sitting President to endorse a candidate, but the Majority leader of the Senate has no business in SD?

McCain is New Jersey right now helping Forrester. Obama was in Virginia this week lending support to Kaine. This practice is ancient. Are you telling me Ted Kennedy never went to a Hillary Clinton fundraiser in NY?

This notion that a Senator never goes to another state to support a candidate is simply vomit. It happens all the time. I can’t remember the reporter who said that, but it is so far from the truth…but I guess it sounded good enough to be a dem talking point.

Supporting your candidates is classic politics. Making it seem unethical is simply the stupidest dem talking point ever. Please tell Barrack that he is embarrassing your party by going to VA….
11 mtl Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 5:00 pm
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, headlines a fund-raiser for Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-Rhode Island.

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/14/week.ahead/
12 mtl Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 5:02 pm
or same article

“Sen. Blanche Lambert Lincoln, D-Arkansas, will headline two fund-raisers in Memphis for Rep. Bob Clement, a Democratic Senate nominee in Tennessee.”
13 utron Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 6:33 pm
Fargus, could you explain the “precedent” that Frist shattered by campaigning for a fellow senator? I was ten years old when Ted Kennedy came to Utah to stump for a Democratic candidate I was stuffing envelopes for. When he came by campaign HQ we chatted and shook hands, something I’ve often regretted since. My impression is that this sort of mutual logrolling has been utterly routine for many, many years.
14 mtl Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 7:02 pm
Here is the dem answer to all these discrepancies:

“your examples are cases of where a people were campaigning FOR somebody. Frist went to campaign (successfully) AGAINST Daschle!!!”

Actually, I think he is probably using a ‘Tweety’ attack-I heard him shouting about something on Hardabll last night against Mehlman that carried this meme’.

Note to self-Do NOT cite Chris Mattthews in any argument, I’ll look stupid.
15 peter Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 7:09 pm
There are lots of instances where one Senator would campaign for another Senator. However, there has always been an unspoken rule that the leader of one party would not campaign against the leader of the other party. When Frist actively campaigned for John Thune, and against Tom Daschle, he broke this tradition for the first time in modern Senate history.
16 Knemon Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 7:23 pm
Does Frist have any base, any support, outside his home state?

The man apparently plans to run for President. Why? On whose dime? To what end?

I look at Frist and say to myself “Now there’s a guy who could REALLY lose an election.”
17 peter Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 7:29 pm
My college roommate went to high school with Frist in Nashville – even though my friend is a rock-ribbed Republican, he turned away from Frist after the Terri Schiavo episode – my friend is also a doctor, and thought Frist should know better than to have the government involved in end-of-life issues –
18 mtl Says:
November 2nd, 2005 at 7:48 pm
Money buys a lot of things. Not the Presidency, teresea.

Frist has no support in his State, relative to other senators.
49% sucks, it makes him 83 out of a hundred.

http://surveyusa.com/50State2005/100USSenators1005SortbyState.htm

He has no base, he was courting the religious right with Schiavo, but then came out for Stem Cells? poof…

(In defense of his actions, but not his words on Schiavo:
Exhaust all physical examinations before making a definitive dx-on this point I agree with the good doctor.)

Over/under for number of states he runs in before withdrawing? 3.

The funny thing is the dems think that he is the darling of the gop. (He is proof that rove is fallable, as rove had a hand in his selection to replace Lott-who would have served better than Frist, despite the baggage.)

Peter-There are too many rules that are written and are broken to obsess about the unwritten. (Both parties)

Check out Bill Nelson in FL, I now declare that the race is Katherine (bush) harris’ to lose. Take that Halperin and the Note.