Getting Rid of Bush the Wrong Way

[arendt]

Has anyone considered that the Bush Cabal's demise may
be a "queen sacrifice" that ends up checkmating democracy
in America?

The current media attack has clearly been blessed from above,
and contains GOPers like Hegel. Fox News is out of its normal
mode of kissing Bush's ass.

The Democrats look like wimps - except for Dean and Kucinich,
they all played it safe; and now the Repubs can claim they are
"shocked, shocked" to discover Bush was lying.

So, the non-neocon GOP and the DLC Dems get together and
string up Bush and his Cabal. Then what?

How about "a whole lot of nothing"? Nothing, as in:

....no repeal of the tax breaks for the rich
....no repeal of the USA Patriot Act
....no reduction in military spending
....no let up in the reactionary culture war and judiciary packing.

Basically, everyone gets to agree that Bush has to go for lying
about Iraq. BUT HIS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROGRAMS
ARE LEFT STANDING.

Its beautiful. I wouldn't put it past Poppy Bush to use his own
bad seed as a sacrificial victim and get a laugh out of it. I mean,
Poppy had Brent Scrowcroft tell Georgie Boy to knock it off
several times. Poppy knew exactly what he was setting up when
he stage-managed the Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rice team for Jr.- they all
worked for Poppy in his administration.

So, the public is so relieved to have the neocons off their neck that
they accept the voodoo economics and fundamentalist social programs
that were rammed through.

I mean, even if Georgie and the Cabal go down, the GOP in Congress
can say: "we were lied to. Don't blame us. We helped to get rid of our
own President." And, presto, they come out of it looking forceful and
principled, cleaning up their own mess.

I never believed that Poppy would knowingly give the neocons
carte blanche. It could be that he gave them just enough rope to
hang themselves, after giving Carlyle Group and the super-rich a
lot of tax-breaks. And the whole lot of these macho assholes were
too stupid to see what Poppy had set up.

Now, the next question is: which group of the GOP has Poppy decided
is going to benefit from Georgie's demise? He never liked the fundamentalist
whackos, so it won't be Tom DeLay. Maybe Poppy and Bill Clinton
have done an inside-the-DLC deal, and Joe Lieberman gets to be President.

Since I don't follow the internal politics of the GOP, I'm out of ideas.
Anyone else want to pick up where I left off?

arendt

[neuvocat]

1. Assuming that would be enough

because from what I understand, a number of reforms went into place after Nixon was booted.

[kainah]

2. I'm sorry, I can't believe there is any "wrong" way to get rid of *

I agree he's only part of the problem but there is still no "wrong" way to get rid of him. He's one of the strongest links in the chain right now & I'd love to snip it out. I know some are worried about Cheney taking over but Cheney would not/could not inspire the same kind of "100%" loyalty that * does. He's not a face that wears well. He can't be the public face with nearly as much success.

[arendt]

6. The wrong way to get rid of him is to let the GOP take the credit

If the GOP plays a big role, then they get to keep control.
Hell, they still control the media.

Can you see the headlines in 2004? Vote for Chuck Hegel,
who made the tough decision to attack a sitting President
of his own party.

Don't you see that if you don't tie in the bad economic policy
and the horrendous social policy, that getting rid of Bush does
not stop the decline of progressive politics in the U.S.?

Do you see any of the DLC wing candidates (Lieberman,
Gephardt, maybe even Kerry) really demanding a repeal
of the tax cuts, a repeal of the USA Patriot Act?

I'm saying that this whole things smells manufactured. It
feels like someone used Georgie the Idiot as a battering
ram. Now they've got their tax cuts, their FCC ruling, etc,
and he is history; BUT THE GOP IS NOT.

arendt

[arendt]

14. A Dune analogy

Georgie = the beast Rabban, a thug put in charge to "squeeze".

Poppy = the evil Baron Harkonnen - a scheming bastard

??? = Feyd Rautha, the Baron's real heir. The Baron expects people
to be releived to have Feyd after Rabban.

My question is: who is the GOP's Feyd? (No jokes about Sting, please :-).

arendt

[tomp]

16. no, the wrong way is to let ANY collaborators take the credit!

dem or repub, AND!!!!....foreign policy is at least as big an issue as economic and social programs.

the wrong way to get rid of bush is to get rid of him without exposing what is behind it all. this is the perfect opportunity to educate the american people about the horror that is their govt.

which democratic (or republican) candidate do we think is going to expose the root of political/economic corruption in america? which democratic (or republican) candidate do we think is going to reverse our current foreign policy? i'll tell you which one: the one who isn't going to be elected, the one who will be blocked by a recalcitrant, BIPARTISAN congress, or the one who will be assassinated. that one and only that one, if you catch my drift. if we don't know that about america, we know nothing. only a huge mass movement, extended millions in the streets for a very long time is going to change anything fundamentally.

sorry for the rant. in essence, arendt, you raise a very valuable point. i felt the need to carry it through a bit because it absolutely floors me how much simple stuff gets missed by extemely bright people.

[MisterP]

3. that's what I was thinking of;

instead of going backwards at Bush's speed, we go backwards at the Petain/DeLay speed.

[ChompySnack]

4. I don't think so

They desperately don't want to be impeached since that would probably make Jeb unelectable, as it is this is doing much damage to him by association. I do agree in principle with the gist of your assessment that they want to put as many of their policies in place as quickly as possible. They would really like a second term to cement their "new new deal" (or "bad deal") programs but I think that their style of balls to the wall radical rightitude is an acknowledgement that they will eventually crash and burn but they want to do as much damage as they can while they are able.

Just like their philosophical mentors from Enron.

[arendt]

8. I called it "The Raw Deal"...

...in an essay a few weeks ago.

> They would really like a second term to cement their "new new deal" (or
> "bad deal") programs

Yes. What I'm saying is that, if they do this cleverly, with a lot of media
spin, they can get a second term with a completely different GOP crew.
And that crew could be in place for eight more years.

Imagine - these are the guys who saved us from George Bush. They
are true conservatives; true conservatives who hate taxes and social
programs.

arendt

[lcordero]

5. Remember this

Will Marshall, who is from the DLC and PPI, is a signatory to PNAC. I'm will cut the DLC as much slack as I do to the PNAC...which is none.

[arendt]

7. More details on Will Marshall, please

Why is he important?

I'm not challenging your statement; I'm just saying I never
heard of the guy.

arendt

[lcordero]

11. Will Marshall is the former policy director for the DLC

http://www.bionomics.org/text/events/washconf/marshall.html
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=85&contentid=1238

He is the president of the (un)progressive policy institute, it's a (non)thinktank that is affiliated with the DLC. He is a signatory to (pro-war)PNAC as indicated by this web page:
http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqstatement-032803.htm

A lot of people(including me) think that the Democratic Party is being hijacked by big money interests by the (pro-war) DLC.

[arendt]

13. bionomics.org - say no more - libertarian whackos

yeah, the DLC is bad news.

If it weren't for Ross Perot hating Poppy, Clinton would never
have gotten in.

Look at the DLC record since then:
....lost House in 1994
....lost Presidency in 2000
....lost Senate in 2000
....lost Senate in 2002 (after Jeffords gave it back )

So much for the DLC being electable, when genuine Dems aren't.

The DLC is Republican-lite; it is deliberately weakening
the Democratic message.

I will remember Will Marshall's name.

thanks
arendt

[Jackpine Radical]

9. This is paranoid. MY kind of paranoid.

"Poppy had Brent Scrowcroft tell Georgie Boy to knock it off
several times." And the retired CIA guys want Scowcroft to investigate Shrubby and Yellowcakegate.

[arendt]

10. Glad to find you on the same delusional frequency

The reason I'm paranoid is because this is too fucking easy!

Why is the whore media all over his case? War casualties?
I don't think so. $4B a month expenses? They said nothing
when he dished out $1.8 T in tax cuts.

The whole thing smells. And the Democrats have lost their
talking point of bashing Bush, because the GOP are now
doing the same thing.

arendt

[Jackpine Radical]

15. Like the Coolidge/Hoover transition

after Teapot Dome & leading in to the Great Depression.

[arendt]

17. Confusing analogy for me

I thought it was Harding who was involved in Teapot Dome.
Didin't he have the good fortune to die of a heart attack
before the shit hit the fan?

I thought Coolidge came in and did nothing for the rest of
the term, leaving rapacious thieves like Mellon in the
Cabinet.

Wasn't Hoover a "mister clean" candidate?

----

In your analogy, are you saying that Cheney is Silent Cal?
That, if Bush goes, Cheney hangs around until they put up
a new GOP clean candidate?

Sorry for the confusion. Interesting historical parallels.

arendt

[sandnsea]

12. You may be right

I've been thinking along these lines myself. It's unfolding too nicely. I would sure like to see some prime time reports on Cheney, Perle, et al, and PNAC. I would like to see that whole gang exposed for exactly what they are. I kind of think they were a little too radical for whoever is in control. Still, getting them exposed would be a huge step in the right direction.

What we'd end up with is a debate about economics, security and the social structure. People would have to decide if they like the way things are now better than they did in 2000. I don't think it's much of a debate.

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Yes, I have considered that

There are various ways it could work out, and you have alluded to some of them.

The first thing that must be realized is that Bush is a threat to American democratic insitutions. Without realizing this, we may well leap out of the frying pan into the fire.

[arendt]

19. Nobody has any GOP "mister clean" candidates? n/t

n/t

[arendt]

24. Bev Harris says Hagel is the man

From another thread:

> Hagel's being groomed.

> You do know that, don't you?

> Hagel is a Bush-man from way back, started working for Poppy back in the
> 80s, buddied up with W and then took over the voting machine company.
> He delivered, too.

> Bev

[nolabels]

20. I with you arendt

This is Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too suspicious for me. I am not a speed reader or anything, so I kind of like to keep my hand on the pulse of things if possible. There seemed to an abrupt change of focus and speed of everything in the last few days. I seemed like when that Scoop website in New Zealand bit on that bogus Catherine Harris Headline and it got plastered all over, something started clicking. I don't know how or who got that story for Scoop. It is just the way it was blown out of proportions; you could tell a lot more influential eyes were watching then was let on to.
Just some observations, thanks for the post arendt

[arendt]

21. Where is the paranoia?

there is a thread this morning worrying about whether the
hurricane will push the Bush news off the front page.

So, people still believe that the media controls the agenda,
and can kill this flap any time they please.

Why, then, did this story get the green light for a massive
attack on Bush in the first place? Why are GOP heavyweights
and Fox News joining in the bashing?

Isn't anyone here a little suspicious of how *choreographed*
this all seems?

Where is the paranoia? :think:

arendt

[nolabels]

22. The military will help us

http://www.disinfo.com/site/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=115&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59612,00.html
(snip)

Troops, Expats 2004 Vote Online

Associated Press Page 1 of 1

07:42 AM Jul. 13, 2003 PT
WASHINGTON -- Imagine casting a vote for president from a cybercafe in Thailand, an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf or a laptop computer at home.
Thousands of people serving in the military and Americans living abroad will have that option next year in the nation's most extensive Internet voting experiment, viewed by some as a step toward elections in cyberspace.
The Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment, or SERVE, which began as a tiny demonstration project in the 2000 general election and involved just 84 voters, could give 100,000 voters the chance to cast absentee ballots online in next year's presidential primaries and general election.
(snip)
It was interesting about the selective areas that could use it

[arendt]

23. Oh, great - Chuck Hegel's voting machines hooked up to the internet

I agree that the military is mightily pissed about Bush,
and the ripple effect of that will certainly help "anybody
but Bush again".

But, I am terrified of any kind of electronic voting as long
as the technology is proprietary and controlled by the private
sector.

arendt