One interesting thing (to me anyway) about Senate cliques

[LittleClarkie]

Here's something that one person posted over at the site that shall not be named. It was his comment that in watching CSPAN that Reid would collaborate with a certain group of people, among them Durbin and, interestingly, Reed. But he would never collaborate, and seems to avoid, Kennedy and Kerry and Boxer.

What do y'all think about that observation. Do any of you see the same? Might there be a bit of a personality clash? Or maybe an ideological clash?

And I just have one thing else to say about the idea of Kerry and bogartting. One explanation if it were true that he sorta included himself, aside from glory-seeking (he's not Biden, for pete's sake) would be that he just cares about this issue. He might be accused of micromanaging as much as anything. He wanted the message to be right. So he stepped in.

Maybe he just cares. And maybe it's killing him that as a Senator there is little he can do to stop the mayhem. He said that once after the funeral of a soldier (remember that pic?) If he were president, none of this would be happening. That must suck out loud.

So if he's a touch aggressive, I think I can forgive him.

[TayTay]

1. I thought it was because he was in town

this week and could be there to make comments after *'s speech yesterday, attend the Rosa Park signing and then leave town and do other things. It was convenient for him to do this.

It's not like other Sens aren't going to be able to speak after future * speeches on Iraq. (* has a few scheduled between now and 12/15.)

I see Kerry speak with Reid on the Senate floor all the time. And with Durbin, who is the assistant minority leader, after all. I think it's a tempest in a teapot.

[Mass]

2. I have been wondering too whether there is not a part of truth

that Reid is trying to avoid to involve (in the open at least) the most progressive people in the caucus, in order to keep a message that can be acceptable to the more conservative Dems in the Senate.

I am not sure they are not cooperating more in the background though.

With some of them as Durbin, he does not have exactly a choice, because they are part of the leadership. Reid cannot avoid his Whip.

I am not sure it is as clear cut as the poster makes it, though.

Anyway, I was happy that Kerry was there because it was good to have somebody pushing for a strategy for having the troops out of Iraq (and not just saying that Bush was messing up as Reed was saying -- very well). So, whether it is true or not that Kerry imposed himself, I dont care. This is the sign of a leader.

[beachmom]

4. I hope it is true, actually. Why should JK have to shut up all the time?

Maybe he read The Economist this week, too, and saw how Biden was getting all the credit for HIS ideas. I mean, if you are in the pol business, you kind of need to be agressive, not only for your own ego but for your causes. He was in the forefront on this issue. Feingold was the only Senator to introduce something earlier and it was less of a strategy and more of a signal to get out of Iraq. And it wasn't just "John Kerry" speaking. He was speaking for all of us who continue to support him. And he needs to continue to be agressive because it's the right thing to do. Like that whole BCCI thing when he was coined "Live shot", even though it was FOR US to end government corruption. JK plays a win win game. He wins, yes, with the publicity, but we win, too, because he speaks truth to power and calls * on his bull**** with eloquence.

[Noisy Democrat]

21. It's fine with me if President Kerry is a tad aggressive

Seriously, that's part of why we still believe in Kerry as a leader, and most or all of us hope he'll run again, right? I mean, he's not a bullying jerk like certain presidents I could name, but he does have a certain take-charge quality, and if he didn't have that spark in him at all, I don't know how many of us would be talking about supporting him in 2008.

[_dynamicdems]

3. It is difficult to know what is going on when you watch these folks on

C-Span. Sometimes there is a lot of touching and whispering among the most unlikely suspects.

From what I've read, JK is more of a free agent than a clique person. Not that he's an outsider, he obviously wields too much power to be considered that. He seems to chart his own course; however, and he's capable from moving among and between the cliques quite comfortably. It might be how he functions best and keeps his perspective and impartiality. While he seems like someone who will work with anyone who will comes to the table in the spirit of cooperation, the Senator is not someone to get bogged down by conferring only with a small circle of associates.

As far as I'm concerned, JK can be as aggressive as he needs to be. If there was any stepping on toes (and there probably wasn't) it was likely because his plans coincided with theirs; he certainly wasn't looking to upstage anyone. In the past, Kerry's deferred to others in the Senate, but he's paid his dues now and he's not standing down. Good for him.

[whometense]

5. I think you're right.

And what Tay said - tempest in a teapot, stirred up by Kos in order for him to point to the storm and say, look how important I am to have caused this.

I don't think anyone would argue that Kerry lacks aggressiveness. If he was being aggressive - WHO CARES? Good for him. Why should he act like a shrinking violet, anyway? As has been noted a zillion times by different people, Kos will slam Kerry no matter what he does.

[Mass]

6. Those are the same people who were saying he was not agressive enough

during the campaign. They cant make up their mind.

If he does not speak, they will slam him for keeping silent and supporting Bush. Now that he speaks, he is stealing somebody else's thunder.

[jenndar]

9. My reaction, too.

He's damned if he does and he's damned if he doesn't, right?

Except that the fact that he "does" has the potential to help a lot of people. And what he "does" he does because it's the right thing to do.

[MonteLukast]

18. They are the ones...

... I blame most for the predicament our country's in.

They say they need people to have backbones, then slam them when they actually show backbones. They never LET people win.
They're nothing but those damned crabs in a bucket.

[ProSense]

7. Let me get this straight. Are they saying

he was aggressive before he was non aggressive or is it that he was non aggressive before he was aggressive?

What a bunch of clowns.

[whometense]

8. heehee

:rofl:

[_dynamicdems]

10. LMAO! LOL! n/t

[_dynamicdems]

20. K0S (spelled with a zero in the middle) is a lost cause. He's got a

thing for the Senator and it is kinda like the sour grapes of a rejected lover. A sick, pathetic, little man.

[jenndar]

11. Are people so invested in hearing from Senator Reed

that Senator Kerry's presence at the press conference is going to hurt the country? I really doubt that's the case. When we're faced with a media that is so enamored of claiming that Democrats have no plan, isn't the advantage of a Reed/Kerry rebuttal evident when you put it in terms of simple math: Two Dems are better than one?

I'm hoping criticism of JK will pay off here. Remember how his Iraq policy ideas were completely ignored until the administration decided to get petty?

And as far as Senators Kerry and Reid are concerned, I seriously think I've seen them hugging on the Senate floor. That doesn't mean they're crazy about each other, but I don't really see evidence of rancor. People freak out a little bit when they hear or read about tensions between Senators, but how many people outside of government are BFF with all their coworkers? That's why reading a lot into those Senate relationships never made a lot of sense to me - for one thing, we'll never completely know how they feel about one another, and for another, they're going to have good and bad days at work whether they like each other or hate each other.

[sandnsea]

12. "We're all going in the same direction"

It would be easy enough for Murtha and Kerry to coordinate the basics of a plan, both require troops to be removed. So they get together and choose the locations that should be turned over to the Iraqis first and bring those US troops home. Murtha wants his quick response force in Kuwait, fine, go ahead and support it so that progress in Iraq can be made. If the drawdown goes better than expected, we proceed with the Murtha plan. If we hit some bumps, we go more cautiously.

What pisses me off is the inability of supposedly intelligent people to get together and create a joint strategy that will work. If it's political ideologies getting in the way, then a pox on those people too. Meaning, if Murtha or Reid won't work with Kerry because he's too liberal, or vice versa, then shame shame on them.

[TayTay]

13. World according to the paranoid at dkos

baring no relation to anything like reality, of course.

Yesterday, Harry Reid's office, the Senate.

Harry is sitting and talking with Jack Reed about what they are going to do to respond to Bush's speech.
Reed: Well, I'll just continue with what I set up yesterday. We can point out how Bush doesn't really have a plan and he is just saying the same old stuff.
Reid: Yeah, that's good. That's good stuff. Now I want you to go alone and find the press room and give the secret password and not let anyone know you are going to do this, cuz we don't want, ahm, him to hear about it.
Reed: You mean...?
Reid: Yeah. He's been trying to push into other people's press conferences again.

Just then there is a crash in the outer office and this strange blinking red light goes off over Harry Reid's desk. His receptionist, looking all frantic and harried, rushes into the room and screams, He's here. OMG! I'm so sorry I couldn't stop him.

There is another loud crash and Reid and Reed look up to see the door to Sen. Reid's office hanging off it's hook and John Kerry, big as life and twice as angry standing before them. He points at Harry Reid.

JK: You! You changed the password again. I couldn't get into the press conference room. What the hell are you trying to pull? I have the right to use that room, just like any other Dem in the Senate.

Reid whispers to his receptionist to get the tranq gun in the closet and have it ready.

Reid: John, calm down. It's Jack's turn to have a press conference. He asked me first. It's his turn. You had a press conference just two weeks ago. You can't go hogging the Press room. (aside to Receptionist: give me the gun, now.) I changed the passwords cuz the other members were complaining. David Pryor wants to hold a press conference, but he's afraid. (Reid thinks to himself: I think he's afraid. I'm not sure. He may just be using that for an excuse so he doesn't have to give press conferences. Hmmmm.)

JK: But Bush is out there spilling more meaningless garbage about Iraq again. He's lying again and it's so obvious. I just want to rebut him. I just want to tell people the truth. He's not telling the truth again. I have to get out there.

Reid: But it's Jack's turn. I promised him. He's from a tiny state, how many chances does he get?

JK: I'm not leaving until I get a press conference too! I can stay here all day, you know. We can talk all day about frequency distribution and the sell-off of those new licenses for digital TV. (JK smiles evilly at Reid.)

Reid, who has turned several shades paler: Jack, how about a joint press conference. You might even get more notice and a 1 minute segment on PBS if you go to the press conference with John. Please? (there is a hint of desperation in his voice. He can't stand Commerce committee stuff, never could.)

Reed: Sure. John and I get along great. Let's go. This will be fun!

Reid takes the tranq gun and returns it to the closet. Just another day on Capitol Hill, dealing with the fractious, divided and press mad Dems!

[Mass]

14. Hillarious.

[LittleClarkie]

15. Did he look like this when he came through the door?

[JanusAscending]

24. That's IT!!

Now I'm ROFLMAO!!!:rofl: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!:bounce:

[JI7]

16. HAHAHHAH

too funny.

[beachmom]

17. Okay, Tay Tay, that was fantastic and on the money!

Question: so in these short stories you create, does JK only go for the Scotch when he has to meet with the liberals from liberal land?

[TayTay]

19. Yeah. I've met them and even I go for the Scotch then

even though it gives me migraine. (Strictly single malt too. The good stuff, top shelf.) You know, I really hope to Gawd that no one reads these and takes them seriously. I sometimes don't post stuff, cuz I am sort of afraid someone might think they are real. Hey, worse things have happened at DU.

And yeah, he did look like LC's pic. I love that one.

Ahm, I used to work in Cambridge and have been to strange uber-liberal events in Massachusetts. Very, very strange events. I really don't think some of these people are occupying the same dimensions that the rest of us are. I really don't.

[Noisy Democrat]

22. ROFL!!!

I almost wish you posted it at DKos except that it's too good for them. :) That is *hysterical*. Especially the part about changing the passwords to the press room *again*. :)

[ProSense]

23. I can stay here all day, you know...

:rofl:

[_dynamicdems]

25. LOL! OMIGOD! Too funny! n/t