On the Line of Presidential succession....

[catnhatnh]

....if it is a scandal that takes down the current regime,let's look back to Watergate for a roadmap for the balance of this 4 year term.My guess is any exposure of * must of definition take down puppeteer Cheney and Rove....after that Hastert,Condi, it don't matter because WHATEVER is left will make a lame duck look like King Kong...The remnants of the republicans will be so busy running to duck and cover,while distancing themselves from this debacle that there is a 0% chance of any further neocon outrages being passed.Think 2-3 year "caretaker" govenance under a bipartisan coalition in congress headed by a figurehead with less REAL political power than Queen Elizebeth.IMHO our goal should be to seek now the best candidate for the 2008 election which I predict will have a paper trail and a Democratic LANDSLIDE....IMHO..
edited for sp

[forgethell]

1. I don't know why so

many of us continue to live in OZ. first off, there will be no scandal that touches *. Karl Rove has already seen to that. There are probably twenty cut-outs between the operators and the campaign big-wigs. If there are not, there is already a designated sacrificial scapegoat to take the blame. It won't touch Bush; it won't touch Chaney. And that's assuming that there is something there to begin with. So far, credible evidence is lacking, although there are a number of suspicious circumstances.

There will also be no "caretaker" government, if a scandal does take * down. Whoever winds up as President will have the full powers of the Presidency. And, until elections are held, Republicans will outnumber Dems in Congress. How 'bipartisan' do you actually expect them to be.

Listen, without some hard, and I mean HARD, evidence,this so-called 'scandal' is going to do us more harm than it will the Repukes. People don't elect clowns to the White House, or at least people they perceive as clowns so spare me any comments about *. That's why Kerry, Edwards, Gore, hell even Michael Moore are keeping quiet. Sure, they'll change their tunes if the evidence emerges, so those that are doing so should keep looking for it. But if they are not convinced that Kerry won, I don't see why the rest of us should be, either. Better to concentrate on 2008, and get a good candidate.

Just my humble opinion. I could well be wrong, but my money goes the other way.


MERRY CHRISTMAS

[catnhatnh]

2. Cuz I love the Emerald City...

...a scandal doesn't have to be about electoral fraud...the current Karl Krew have their fingers in more than enough dikes to get caught up in a flood...My post was more about how Watergate neutered the republican machine in it's wake and my hope that a similar scandal would break the back of social security "reform",increasing tax cuts (for the wealthy) and Patriot Act Squared....just stalemate the neocons till the next election...anyhow Merry Christmas...

[forgethell]

3. Well, it might, but

Karl Rove has proven too crafty for us, so far. Of course the WWW was destroyed by a little girl, so maybe there's hope??

I always liked the Munchkinland, myself. Not the one in the movie, but the darker side, with witches and wicked sorcerers, and monsters. Oh!! And the Wise Donkey (see The Patchwork Girl of OZ). More like the real world we live in.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

[Joe Chi Minh]

4. Since you

express your humble opinion so assertively, perhaps I'll venture to suggest that, in my humble opinion - based on your bizarre justification of this domestic national, and indeed international disgrace on your country, with such gems as "this so-called 'scandal'" - we all might have been better served if your humility had prevailed over your desire to enlighten us.

Merry Christmas (from OZ) AND a *very*, *very* Happy New Year!

[forgethell]

5. Merry Christmas to

you, too. But you need to read more carefully. I never said that the fraud hadn't occurred, I simply said the evidence was slight. didn't try to justify anything at all. I simply think we are spinning our wheels.

And, of course, as you so astutely figured out, I'm not humble at all. Fortunately, I don't have to keep my opinion to myself, and you don't have to listen to it.

But, hey, if something ever comes of the scandal, and Bush is not inaugurated, or is impeached, then I will be glad to issue a public apology for being such a cynic on this board.

[Joe Chi Minh]

6. There you

go again.. : "I simply said the evidence was slight"...

Wow! 57000 (or is it 59? What's a few thousand here or there?) complaints would constitute compelling evidence to anyone with an ounce of sense. You confuse proof in the eyes of a shamelessly partisan judiciary, with overwhelming proof in terms of real-world commonsense (not to speak of the supreme court of the Ukraine, evidently). A wealth, moreover, of circumstantial statistical evidence more than good enough for insurance-company actuaries, for example.

The CEO of Diebold stated that he was going to deliver this election to Bush;

Someone, whose name escapes me, was videoed before this election, smirking at a garden party on the WH lawn, as he crowed, "They may have the numbers, but "we have the machines", or words to that effect.

In 2000 Jebediah said words to the effect that he was going to deliver Florida's votes to his brother.

I can't recall reading any Democratic activist or politician trumpeting his role in any such curious enterprise. What can they have meant? Why does it seem to have been a unique characteristic of the Republicans? On the other hand, after 8 years of peace, prosperity and high esteem in the eyes of the world, why would the American electorate have wanted to vote for the neocons in 2000 - never mind 2004?

I know that, if you reply, your arguments will be just as specious as before, because they will inevitably be built upon the ludicrous premise that the 57-59000 complaints, virtual statistical impossibilities and the various lawsuits being brought are inconsequential to anyone and everyone. Although you will, of course, confuse it with your notion of unprovableness - which, in itself, *possibly* has some basis in reality, in terms of the official arbiters of valid proof, given past, partisan judicial unscrupulousness.

So, the purpose of this post is not to elicit a reply from you. Simply to highlight the ever so humbly-expressed, but arrantly dismissive nonsense, of your last post. Just for a bit fun for the Democratic DUers here. And you didn't wish me a Happy New Year! I wished you a *very*, *very* Happy New Year! I've already had your wish for a happy Christmas!

[gulogulo]

7. this illustrates perfectly the sloppiness of the "evidence"

Your post:

"Someone, whose name escapes me, was videoed before this election, smirking at a garden party on the WH lawn, as he crowed, "They may have the numbers, but "we have the machines", or words to that effect."

Real world:

Pete King, Congressman: "Its all over but the counting, we'll take care of the counting."

Yes, his words are suspicious etc. but your "version" of it, apart from being wildly wrong, is also a lot more "sinister".

Same with "The CEO of Diebold stated that he was going to deliver this election to Bush" - no, he did not. What he did say in a fund-raising letter was that he was ""committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."

Now for reality check:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=691025&mesg_id=691025

BLACKWELL HALTS DEPLOYMENT OF DIEBOLD VOTING MACHINES FOR 2004

there were no Diebold voting machines in Ohio. How exactly are you accusing the Diebold CEO of cheating in 2004 elections?

[grumpy old fart]

9. Plus, King's line was not delivered in reference to the 2004 election.

sloppiness is not a virtue.

[grumpy old fart]

10. oops, my bad...

It was in reference to the most recent election, but it was said in 2003.

[forgethell]

12. Happy New Year n/t

[MrUnderhill]

8. One disagreement

If it got down to Condi Rice... and incumbent black female Republican would be pretty tough to beat.

[ISUGRADIA]

11. Just a note, she's behind the President Pro Tem of the Senate

VP, Speaker of the House, President Pro Tem, then SoS