Former Republican Sen. Warns GOP May ‘Have Gone So Far Overboard That We Are Beyond Redemption’

[kpete]

Source: Think Progresss

Former Republican Sen. Warns GOP May ‘Have Gone So Far Overboard That We Are Beyond Redemption’

In an age when far-right tea party activists have taken over the Republican Party and demanded lockstep allegiance, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) has been one of the few GOP lawmakers to step out of line. In particular, Lugar, the ranking GOP member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has blasted his own party for relentlessly blocking ratification of the New START nuclear arms treaty with Russia, calling on his fellow GOP senators to “do your duty for your country” and complete the pact.

Not surprisingly, this insubordination has earned Lugar significant scorn within the Republican base, which now seems to value blind obedience over principled independent decision-making. In a New York Times profile of Lugar published today, former GOP Sen. John Danforth feared that the backlash against Lugar from his own party signals that the GOP has gone “far overboard” with no hope of turning back:

****“If Dick Lugar,” said John C. Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri, “having served five terms in the U.S. Senate and being the most respected person in the Senate and the leading authority on foreign policy, is seriously challenged by anybody in the Republican Party, we have gone so far overboard that we are beyond redemption.”

****Mr. Danforth, who was first elected the same year as Mr. Lugar, added, “I’m glad Lugar’s there and I’m not.”

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/11/27/danforth-lugar-overboard/

[xchrom]

1. Mr danforth you haven't been paying attention then

Since Ronald Reagan. Americas First Idiot in Chief.

The ball has simply rolled far enough to get your attention.

Now -- would you please GET OUT of the Episcopal church?
You embarrass the rest of us.

[RoccoR5955]

8. +1 for the Idiot in Chief! n/t

[liberalmike27]

63. The Fact that Republi-cons have been defecting for decades now

Is why we have such a bunch of democrats with such an incredibly wide ideological divide. Too much infection.

Never see these guys on FAKE News unless they are being demonized as traitors.

[roguevalley]

65. he's just peeved because he's an r too. serves him right.

[chervilant]

86. hmm...

Those of us who knew what Reagan represented tried in myriad ways to inform our friends. I know that I begged my friends to do ample research before jumping on the Saint Ronnie Express. After his 'landslide victory' the second time, I kept telling anyone who would listen that Reagan was a trainwreck. Most countered that the economy was 'still full steam ahead.' I said, 'just give it time--all wrecks have a wee bit of residual energy that carries the train past the point where the wreck occurs.' Now that the wrecked train is grinding to a halt (globally, actually), my friends are FINALLY seeing what we naysayers tried to tell them two decades ago.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. Well, that's nice and all

However, if the Republicans maintain this craziness and get *rewarded* for it, what incentive is there for them to feel shame and seek to change? :banghead:

I hope that Lugar prevails upon his fellow Republican Senators to get this treaty passed but I'm not sure they'll listen to even him on this. I'm glad that Lugar is (one) of my Senators even though he is Republican.

[defendandprotect]

26. Point to remember is that the T-baggers, like the Christian Coalition, are a wholly owned GOP/rw

subsidiary ...

[patrice]

42. And, to shore up recent investments in Wars 'r' U.S., the GOP wants to do its own deals on where

those modernized baby-nukes get doled out.

[No Elephants]

84. Koch brothers

[BlueMTexpat]

69. Lugar has been seriously beleaguered by his party's RW.

He is a conservative, yes, but he is one who thinks, and not a bad Senator, on the whole. But he has not always been able to withstand the pressure that the party leaders place on him.
I sincerely hope that he will change his party affiliation to "Independent" and begin voting his conscience because I believe that you're right. He will not be able to prevail with many, if any, fellow Republicans. Perhaps Collins and Snowe will heed him, and perhaps even Scott Brown - only because MA voters likely will not hold it against him.. But these Rep Senators are likely to be the only ones - unless Lisa Murkowski realizes that she has nothing to lose - she won WO Repub Party help, after all - and joins them.

[emulatorloo]

76. Lugar worked with both Kerry and Senator Obama on arms reduction

I hope he can knock some sense into the wackos who are holding this up.

[Juche]

3. This is based on the assumption that enough of the public pays attention

And/or cares about issues like that. That is a tough sell.

[bluestateguy]

4. I would not be surprised to see him retire or be teabagged in a primary

nt

[Chipper Chat]

41. Indiana Teabaggers are already pushing Todd Young to run

against Lugar. Young beat Baron Hill for Congress so the Baggers are salivating at the thought of this "Northern Marco Rubio" unseating Lugar.

[pinto]

5. I think they have, in many cases. Eisenhower would be vilified by the current Republican extremists

Not sure how pertinent that is, overall, but their lack of a coherent take on their own party's history, as well as our national history, is notable.

[mr_smith007]

17. Eisenhower? hell, look at their

"Dear Leader" Ronald Reagan. He raised taxes 8 times, cut and run when terrorists hit us in Lebanon, granted amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants, agreed to dismantle thousands of our nuclear weapons, put Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Times March 29, 1991 arguing in FAVOR of the Brady Bill.

The revisionist history of conservatives is astounding; never ceases to amaze me. If just one of the policies of Ronald Reagan listed above were to reincarnate in another candidate today, the Tea Party would demonize the hell out of him, carry signs of him with a Hitler moustache and burn him in effigy.

[TwentyFive]

60. Best synopsis of Reagan I've ever seen. Shows how far right the GOP has gone.

Thank you. Makes me think how dangerous the GOP has become. Calling them The American Taliban is no longer hyperbole.

[Enthusiast]

67. No longer hyperbole.

[No Elephants]

89. It may be the best synopsis of his good moves, but it omits an awful lot--and I mean "awful"

both literally and figuratively. You can thank Ronnie for a lot of the mess we were in by 2008.

[pinto]

85. Excellent points.

:thumbsup:

:thumbsup:

[SleeplessinSoCal]

34. I think the thinking by so many right wingers is a direct result of right wing talk radio.

[Enthusiast]

68. It is. You are right on this.

Talk radio and Fox News.

[MNLeftie]

72. RW Radio

There is absolutely no doubt about it. The rhetoric, the talking points, the vitriol and the hatred is all ginned up by the likes of Savage, Hannity, Beck and The Drugster. All on the air, without any limits on their moronic spewing.

[Crunchy Frog]

49. Nixon would be considered an out and out communist.

Barry Goldwater would be a moderate Democrat in today's climate.

[No Elephants]

93. Please see Replies 62, 100, 105 as to Goldwater. As for Nixon, he was as repressive as anyone, but

that does not make him a Communist.


I've noticed Republicans have desperately been calling him a liberal and some Democrats have been buying into that. They also furiously claimed Dummya was a liberal in disguise once his approval ratings hit the cellar 2005-2008.

Apparently, when any Republican POS President like Nixon or Dummya messes up so badly they dib't think they can defend him or her--like being the only President who got caught in a burglary and cover up thereof had to resign--they claim he's really a liberal. Much like Fox puts a (D) after the name of a Republican who really screws up. But, it's just not so.

[Crunchy Frog]

100. Nixon was a crook and an authoritarian and a POS. There is no doubt about that.

I am talking about his actual policies. His health care plan alone would be labeled communist in our present political environment. Check out this speech and tell me how you think it would be recieved by today's teabaggers.

The point that I'm making is not that Nixon or Goldwater were liberals. It's that this country has moved so far to the right that a politician who today espoused the same views or policies would be called liberal (or in Nixon's case, communist). Obama's health plan gets called communist and it doesn't go nearly as far as Nixon's proposal did. It's the policies, not the personality or the screwups or the criminality that I am talking about.

[No Elephants]

88. Meh. A career military man who opposed Brown v. Bd of Ed and thought

appointing Earl Warren was the biggest mistake he'd made in 8 years of Presidency. (Must have shocked Ike that the guy who had interned Japanese in California before Ike appointed him would go on to decide Brown v. Bd of Ed after Ike made him a Supreme!)

Avoided enforcing Brown until he could no longer do so. (Among other things, Eleanor Roosevelt visited him in the WH to implore him to enforce it.) And, no, he was not a helpless victim of his racist times, as some claim when I point to his racism: Adlai Stevenson was an advocate of equal rights. For that matter, so were many good folks in 1725. Ike, however, chided Warren that the people of the Jim Crow states were lovely. They simply didn't want their little girls to have to sit next to some big black animal.

Ike also expanded Executive Privilege enormously to protect his own peeps from McCarthy, but silently stood by while Joe ruined other lives. So, we have his political cowardice to thank for paving the way for Nixon and Dummya.

I'd love to know what he did about the MIC in his 8 years in office, besides his warning as he was leaving.

Also wonder if his support of a national highway system had as much to do with auto and gasoline interests as it did with "national defense."


Attempted to discredit college professors (and, by extension, those they educated), too.

Yeah, a real prince in a uniform, he was.


People like Eisenhower and Goldwater apparently look much better in the rear view mirror than they ever did in person.

[pacalo]

6. Overboard indeed. The "our way or the highway" mentality is dangerous.

The baggers have no tolerance for reasoning, the give & take required to govern a diverse country. They are targeting Lugar for that reason. Lord help this country.

[David__77]

9. No. Progressives must say the same thing.

We are right and they are wrong. Compromise with evil is evil.

[pacalo]

15. You've got a point, David. I was being too idealistic, perhaps.

Basing one's concept of which direction to go toward on hatred, greed, & selfishness does make their way of thinking intolerable for the majority of this country. The question is, how will congress be able to legislate without common ground? Dick Lugar is one of the last reasonable Republicans left.

[AlbertCat]

90. The baggers have no tolerance for reasoning,

It's the triumph of anti-intellectualism. I thought Bush was the ultimate manifestation of it, but Palin and Teabaggers have trumped even Dubya!

Of course very smart people, who know Science is really successful (it found their oil and figured out how to extract it, and refine it, and use it) will play dumb (Climate change is a myth!) to manipulate the anti-intellectuals for all they're worth, laughing all the way to the bank.

[David__77]

7. I'm glad to see the likes of Luger destroyed politically.

You see, Luger is part of a foul bipartisan center-right consensus that has dominated the senate. If the establishment Republicans are replaced with relentless partisans, it will pave the way for us to clean out our own house. We need no "politeness" in the senate. I would prefer fistfights.

[pnorman]

19. Had President Obama only ABANDONED that craven and FAILED "bipartisanship" policy,

This is what the electoral map would have looked like!

[24601]

22. So you spit in President Obama's face - or are you calling him a

liar on bipartisanship?

[David__77]

25. I honestly don't get your point.

I don't especially think Obama was part of the problem I was referring to when he was in the US senate, actually. I am referring to a problem in our ranks typified by people like Sen. Bayh, for instance.

[pinto]

10. Good to see a Republican stand up to support START. Kyle's intransigence

is not only petty, it's dangerous.

[FailureToCommunicate]

46. Well, Lugar took freshman Obama on a fact finding trip to Soviet nuke sites

early in Obama's time in the Senate. He's been strong on securing 'loose nukes' for a long time.

I doubt he worries too much about what other Repubs think...

[Me.]

11. Yeah Thanks Mr. Danforth For Clarence Thomas

That was the beginning of the craziness

[Citizen Worker]

14. Thank you, Me. If you hadn't mentioned Thomas I was going to. The beginning of the craziness,

indeed.

[defendandprotect]

29. Clarence Thomas was to be saved by Danforth no matter what he had done ....

and Danforth told him that!!

Clarence Thomas did quite a favor for Danforth re Ralston Purina law suit --

and also keep in mind Thomas is another who worked for Monsanto.

[TxVietVet]

37. Danforth claims to be a theologian.

he's just another conservanazi that does the dirty work, then washes his hands in holy water to clear whatever conscience he has left. he showed his true colors with the pervert thomas. Thanks to danforth, we're stuck with the dildo thomas until he dies.

[defendandprotect]

43. Exactly ....

:)

[Joe Bacon]

57. Danforth worships Ayn Rand.

He always worshipped Ayn Rand and practiced her Looking out for #1 shit.

[Me.]

35. Any Time

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Forkboy]

13. I wish i could limit that sentiment to the GOP, but that's my outlook on the entire human race.

[CrispyQ]

97. Mine too.

I have an idea for a sci fi story where other species are watching us. "Clusterfuck on Earth" is the hottest soap opera airing in the universe today. They have bets on how & when we will destroy ourselves, with nuclear war in 2027 coming in first & environmental annihilation in 2052 coming in second.

Stop the planet, I want to get off!

[Xipe Totec]

16. Calling on his felon GOP senators to "do your duty for your country"

Good Luck.

[humanityisfree]

18. one word here says it all

Former.... These people could care less what "former" GOP anythings say - It just doesn't matter. That why it was pointless for Obama to trot out James Baker and Henry Kissinger to support the start treaty - The Tea partiers could care less, and more accurately, probably don't even know who James Baker and Henry Kissinger are...

[CLANG]

20. Talk is cheap.

[24601]

21. Lugar & Hatch are the two most senior GOP senators. If the Dems

lose senate control in 2 years (23 Dem seats up, only 10 Repugs) one of them will be President Pro Tempore of the Senate, 3 heartbeats from the Presidency.

[defendandprotect]

31. Interesting .... that's one the rw hasn't pulled yet ... !!!

[24601]

101. Not sure what you mean, Senate President Pro Tempore is by

practice the most senior senator in the majority party since the mid-20th century. Both major parties follow this tradition. Senate power rests with the Majority Leader who is not in the line of presidential succession.

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/President_Pro_Tempore.htm

[Stevenmarc]

23. They went overboard a long time ago when they let the bible thumpers wag the dog

[defendandprotect]

33. No -- the Bible Thumpers/Christian Coalition were the GOP's creation .....

GOP gave start up funding for the Christian Coalition in the 1980's ....

Richard Scaife also financed Dobson's organization -- and other wealthy right

wingers financed Bauer's organizzation --

GOPs/NRA

GOPs/"pro-life murderers"

GOPs/T-baggers

GOPs/Diebold

Constantly moving the party to the extreme right --

[CrispyQ]

98. Horsey nails it:

[rasputin1952]

24. Years ago, when I lived in AZ, Barry Goldwater was being interviewed...

on live TV. Goldwater and I would never see eye to eye on a lot of things, but he was an unabashed fiscal conservative that most certainly believed that debt and deficit government was the catalyst to bringing down the nation. He appears to be a prophet on that point. He was never one to mince words either.

When the interviewer asked the GOP stalwart what he thought of the "new group of conservative Republicans", his answer was classic Goldwater, "these aren't' conservatives, they are shitheads!" And then, in an instant of live TV, I became a Goldwater fan. I never voted for him, but I did respect him...:D

[Crunchy Frog]

50. What a great story.

I think that in today's political climate he would probably be a moderate Dem, but then I think about how spineless they are. Goldwater would never be spineless. He would at least stand up for what he believed. For that reason he might well have ended up being classified as far left if he were around today.

[rasputin1952]

54. Goldwater was an interesting individual...

he was many faceted, and most people remember his failed run against Johnson for the presidency. He was not as bad as he's been portrayed, but he was certainly a Hawk and would have hopped to war at the drop of a hat. His biggest asset was being a fiscal conservative, he didn't care which party anyone was with, if there was discussion about raising the debt, one could be assured he would be there slamming it into the ground. He despised Nixon, and thought McCain was satan incarnate...he really despised the fact that McCain was elected to his seat after he retired. He could not stand to be in the same room as McCain...and I don't blame him one bit...:D

[Major Hogwash]

56. Goldwater gave a speech against the federal government supporting elementary education

I saw an old film clip of him the other day on the tv that was at the end of one of the Fox News programs. Turns out the story of how Goldwater maneuvered Rockefeller out of the GOP nomination in 1964 is a part of a 6-part series of DVDs that Fox is promoting called "Right, All Along".

I didn't think very highly of Goldwater at the time and the more they refer back to him as the one that "started the revolution", it makes me sick.
The "revolution" he supposedly started is the one where the federal government doesn't spend any money on anything not specifically laid out in the Constitution.

I didn't know that Goldwater voted against the 1964 Civil Rights act, one of only 6 Republican Senators to do so, but the Republicans of today seem to have more in common with Goldwater in that one aspect alone, than they do with his fiscal conservatism, which was considered by many, even on the right, to be extremist.
Goldwater even went after William F. Buckley Jr and Bozelle at the Nation magazine for being "too soft" on the Democrats.

From Goldwater's acceptance speech at the 1964 RNC -
"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

Link -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/may98/goldwaterspeech.htm


There just doesn't seem to be any room in the current Republican party for moderates of any kind.

[No Elephants]

92. Thanks for not succumbing to some form of revisionist nostalgia.

[No Elephants]

91. Goldwater used the "states' rights shibboleth as an excuse for his racist votes.

He was as big a nutty hawk as McInsane. He backesd Joe McCarthy after almost everyone else had abandoned him. His biggest objection to his fellow wing nuts was that he wanted the religious right to refrain from remarking on his personal habits, like drinking. However, a lot of things were wrong with Republicans before the politization of the religious right and still are--and Goldwater embodied all of those things. And please see Reply 100.

[sofa king]

27. Postcard from the dephs of Hell.

"Amazingly, it gets hotter the deeper you go."

[WestSeattle2]

28. The republican party has very few statesmen - those who think

of country before their party or themselves. It's pathetic actually; in a country of over 300 million souls that Congress is so chock full of these gutless wonders.

Small-minded men, totally lacking in true leadership skills. And that's what they have to offer the American people as a second party.

The republican party is an absolute joke.

[niyad]

30. "may have"???? seriously, you all passed that point a LONG time ago.

[veganlush]

32. we should all call Luger's office

tomorrow and without giving party affiliation, thank him for his courageous stand on New Start.

[TxVietVet]

36. Oh, stop, please, you're f*cking breaking my heart.

Let the conservanazi bastards lynch one another. Trash each other. The hard reich in the conservanazis wanted this. They developed the teabaggin' kkkluckers. They wanted hard reich. They got it.

F*ck 'em. Feed 'em each other. :evilgrin:

[defendandprotect]

38. There are much darker forces behind all of this than many of us may realize .....

We have long had NAZI connections to our government thanks to Operation Paper Clib

and Allen Dulles who brought in tens of thousands of former NAZIs and used them to

found the CIA and funneled many of them into our FBI and other government agencies.

Many historical connections to NAZIs via Precott Bush and Allen Dulles and other

wealthy elites who put Hitler in place and supported him -- just as they put Richard Nixon

in place and supported him with a slush fund throughout his political career.


Since the death of Wm. Buckley/CIA we also now know something of a story of the CIA --

which took money from any right wing source, including the KKK and NAZIS -- having supported

the political/Congressional careers of right wing members of Congress. Two named were

Sen. Strom Thurmond and Rep. Gerry Ford.

Pat Buchanan also got CIA money -- so did Sen. Jesse Helms.

[ezmerelda39]

39. When a Senator votes

against the best interests of the country you can bet your boots he is voting for his own best interests.

Senator Kyl, please show us your portfolio so that we can clearly understand why you vote the way you do. If you do have investments in anything whatsoever to do with manufacturing nuclear weapons you have a major conflict of interest and should recuse yourself from voting altogether. If you are voting to protect the military manufacturing in your own state you still have a conflict of interest by putting your state above the welfare of the country as a whole.

Obviously, you have not taken a good look at the Big Picture. If you have voted just to stroke your enormous ego your senseless gesture makes you look like an ass to the rest of the country. You may want to rethink your decision...........

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

47. Phone him and tell him what you think 202-224-4521

Keep that line tied up.

[The Wizard]

55. Kyl will change his position

when the voices tell him his closet door is going to be opened.

[BrklynLiberal]

40. Defintely an endangered species...a coherent repuke.

[No Elephants]

94. Meh. A Pontius Pilate hypocrite repuke who speaks up only after becoming a lame duck, probably

because his higher ups in rhe Party who feel threatened by the Tea Party asked/told him to. No novelty there.

[BrklynLiberal]

96. I wish that some of hte Lame Duck Dems would gt some spine while they are still able to do something

[SHRED]

44. along with the Democratic party...

...I am afraid considering what this President has done to it's base.

---

[madrchsod]

45. tip o`neal and reagan were polar opposites yet they were friends

today`s republicans have nothing but contempt for the democrats and they hate obama. there is no middle ground anymore and that is why our republic is in big trouble.

we may not like lugar or danforth but what they just said is the truth..the republicans are beyond redemption. i hope to god obama understands the evil he is trying to deal with.

[Crunchy Frog]

51. I do like Lugar.

As far as I know, he is the only Republican office holder in the country that I could say that about. The Republican party is beyond redemption. It's a sad end for the party begun by Abraham Lincoln and northern abolitionists.

I don't believe that the Dems get it at all. I don't know what it would take to get through to them.

[WillyT]

48. HUGE K & R !!!

:kick:

[Turborama]

52. Could they be the worst losers in modern history? Even Germany reacted better than this after WW2

They lost a presidential election to a black man and went insane, literally.

[Enthusiast]

70. Good diagnosis.

They completely lost their minds. This was aided and abetted by Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. One would think they would have learned their lesson after Clinton. For all their 'get Clinton' efforts they were rewarded with Clinton's huge popularity at home and abroad.

[Nay]

80. The Pubs were thinking ahead, though. They knew that even if they

weren't successful at bringing down Clinton, if they kept banging away at every Dem, they'd be successful more often than not just because of the constant clamor of their talking points.

[Monk06]

53. I can understand Lugar's concern. If any of the teabagger mouth breathers get control

of the State Dept, The Euro block and Russia will go it
together and factor the US out of their strategic plans.
Putin is already making moves in this direction. So is
China. The weapon they will use is the exploding cigar
called the US dollar.

[MidwestTransplant]

58. Lugar is a goner. He seems to be a principled and honest guy though. Too bad.

[marybourg]

59. I guess we're not going to hear about how publicans love their

"mavericks" any more.

[DallasNE]

61. Sen. Lugar

Has voted in lock-step with the Republican minority on every single vote for the last two years, including a filibuster of the Defense appropriations bill with language to repeal DADT, making Lugar no friend of mine. Let the Tea Party challenge him in the Republican primary. I have no dog in this fight.

[Beartracks]

62. Republicans jumped the shark quite some time ago. n/t

[Democat]

64. Tea party and GOP are the same in reality - they vote in lockstep, not on their own.

No difference.

[No Elephants]

95. Yes, but Biden's seat is now held by a Democrat, probably bc of the Tea Party. So,

there is not always exact congruence of interests.

[DemocraticPilgrim]

66. That's for sure at least some recognition at last why does Powell still say he's one conservative...

maybe but Republican ??? why??? In Maybe old habits die hard. Maybe the suffering needlessly is tweaking the consciousness of some just a little bit.

[No Elephants]

71. Okay, but more powerful if you put your voter registration where your mouth is.

[TNLib]

73. It sounds like the wacka doodles are gunning for him

I wonder what nut bag is going to replace him in the next primary.

[creon]

74. Lugar has a problem.

I am not not concerned about what he is going to do about it.

My concern is the Democratic Party in Congress. And,the inability of the party to conduct a competent off year election campaign.

[Zambero]

75. The U.S. is arguably center-right. But NOT radical right

I forsee a huge backlash against Republicans. The GOP "leadership" will somehow need to accomodate Tea Party upstarts, but will still need to portray iteslf as being in the mainstream of American politics. This is not a realistic goal. Once unleashed with constant media focus, the far right's radical agenda will not set well with most Americans. The Democratic party had it's Blue Dogs. The GOP will find itseld with "Glow Dogs" -- a bunch of highly radioactive ideologues who, as Danforth suggests, will ultimately push his party overboard past a point of no return.

[renate]

99. Gosh, I hope you're right

I worry about the power of right-wing TV and radio to fool people about what's going on, though.

Still, I remember reading, while Bush was still really popular, Al Franken's essay about the tipping point, wondering when we'd get there... and we did, eventually. I just hope the brainwashed reach the tipping point about the Tea Party sooner than they did with Bush.

[Loki]

77. Mr. Danforth

who once was my Senator from Missouri and is an ordained Episcopal priest.........there are no moderates or sane people left in the Republican party you once served in. None, zero, zip. This is the crazy that has been unleashed upon us and you and yours have stood by and remained silent because it kept your party in power. Well now, read your scripture and remember the verse .....they who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind. One more that is particularly relevant for today: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke) Less than 1/4 of the registered voters in Missouri voted this past election and they came to the polls and voted for a miserable piece of work named Roy Blunt. This is what you have given us, and now you complain. Do something about your party or STFU.

[justiceischeap]

78. If it weren't for your pandering party, Mr. Danforth, you wouldn't be talking this way

It's the ReThug parties fault that it, and our Nation, is in the mess it is today. By pandering to the fringe to get that vote, no matter the cost, it's given them the idea that they have some legitimacy. They don't get that your party was just sucking up to the crazy for votes and then giving them no further thought until the next election cycle rolled around. So Mr. Danforth, you and others like you are to blame for this very mess.

[craigmatic]

79. Wow if they say this then we're seriously fucked.

[ooglymoogly]

81. Blind allegiance and blind obedience are the requirements of

the mercurial house of cards called religion....It was and is still being designed for the ruthless to exploit....AND IT IS...be it the Tea Party or the GOP. Gerry Falwell and his ilk understood this well and turned this country into a dangerous insane asylum long ago.

The Tea Party and the GOP have learned that model adjusting religion to their childish needs and are reaping its rewards. The outcome of this treachery is and will forever be, fascism.

Blind obedience and blind allegiance are the basic tenants and the very foundations of fascism.

Perhaps the most important thing about our constitution is its reliance on separation of church and state......now shredded.

[colsohlibgal]

82. The Whole Political Baseline Has Been Drifting Right.

I forget who said it but this is true, the democrats have become the old republicans and the republicans have moved into the nuthouse.

Someone brought up Nixon. Tricky Dick had his demons but he veered from both the banksters and Milton Friedman and was mostly a pretty good president - and at the very least was competent as opposed to Dubya.

The United States is not a center-right nation, it's left center at worst.

Why are we where we are? I blame both the media and the hordes of easily manipulated citizens. How many watch Fox News and buy every lie they spout? How many listen to Rush and buy his insanity. Same with the craziest of all, Glenn Beck. How dumb can people be? They buy this bile and so continually vote totally against thor own self interest and for the wealthy and priveleged.

Nixon and Ike would be shocked at where their party is (Ike's descendants sure are), and also shocked at where the democrats are. JFK and LBJ would be amazed at where the parties are as well.

When Nixon's demons finally caught up to him, when he was firing people right and left and looking to hold on and fight impeachment, it was Barry Goldwater, Hugh Scott, and Howard Baker who went to see him to tell him to get the Hell out. Three republicans. Nobody could imagine anything like that happening now.

[ooglymoogly]

87. Bill Maher said it. nt

"The Democrats have moved to the right and the Republicans have moved into the insane asylum" paraphrasing from memory.

[orbitalman]

83. Boy, have they ever...gone overboard. You can't even talk to them. n/t