Bill Kristol just gave away the Republican talking points for 2007-08.

[Zen Democrat]

He is glad the Democrats will take the House because Nancy Pelosi will be Speaker, and Charlie Rangel and John Conyers will be powerful committee chairmen. The gop will use FoxNews and RW talk radio to go after them ... women and blacks running Congress ... to fire up that damned base of bigots and morons so they can take back the WH and the Congress in 2008.

That's the "plan". That's all they've got.

Sounds like last-ditch, defeatist rationalizing. In my opinion, the Republicans won't win the WH again for a very, very long time.

And ... anyone that missed The Colbert Report tonight with Bill Kristol, do yourself a favor and catch the rerun later tonight or tomorrow. You won't be sorry. Colbert was brilliant. And Kristol was .... speechless.

[neuvocat]

1. That's what happens

when your platform is just nothing but self-serving rhetoric suited for the corporations.

[Atman]

2. I think you're far too optimistic

I think Kristol is probably right on target. And even if it wouldn't work in the "real" world, it will skew things just enough to make a 2008 election win very plausible in a Diebold world.

[Zen Democrat]

7. I'm not being overly optimistic, I think.

Because all the while Nancy Pelosi and John Conyers and Charlie Rangel are among those running the House, there are two possible scenarios:

(1) George W. Bush will still be the petulant little president wreaking havoc and strutting like George III.

(2) George W. Bush will morph into the old Texas Governor Bush who worked with a Democratic legislature and played the congenial good old boy who didn't make waves.

I don't think either George W. Bush, or any other George W. Bush he might conjure up, would have a drop of credibility. You lose credibility once and you don't ever get it back.

I thought it was interesting that Bill Kristol suggested Mitt Romney as the 2008 Republican nominee.

[Benhurst]

8. And Diebold will deliver both the Senate and House back to the Repubs.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. Well that's a chance we're willing to take (winning the House back).

[Eric J in MN]

4. I'll believe Democrats have taken control of the House

when I see it.

Right now, gerrymandering, aka "Operation Ratfuck" done after the 1990 census, makes it unlikely.

[Erika]

6. Most GOP say vote for the incumbent

For anyone to believe the Republicans can be elected again is very amusing.

[prolesunited]

5. OMG!!! The women and minorities are in charge

Run for your lives.

How could they possibly screw it up any worse than these white men in charge.

[tsuki]

26. I'll take Conyers over ol' Tex anyday! nt

[Singular73]

9. Idiotic

Bush will still be President in 2007.999999

If he thinks that the American public will blame democrats after 2 years of house rule, he is on frikken LSD.

[Ignacio Upton]

34. Well, the public has a short attention-span

And a President can still blame the opposite party in Congress, even if they have only controlled it for two years. When Harry Truman was running in 1948, he blamed the Republican-controlled Congress for blocking his agenda, even though they only got control of Congress in 1946 (although conservative southern Democrats also helped the GOP, and Truman's agenda would have actually helped the public, rather than Bush's scorched earth policies that Congress is passing.)

[Captain Hilts]

10. I like Rangel, but he's not a good ad for Democrats.

He looks and talks like a corrupt big city politician. That's how he plays to Joe and Mary Shit in flyover USA.

[Erika]

11. I love Charlie Rangel

He's got the guts to call the shots as he sees them. I only wish I could vote for him.

I, for one, are getting sick of pandering to the fly over country. Those states suck off the blue states and still bitch like hell. Their farm subsidies are obscene.

[Captain Hilts]

12. Agreed. I really like Rangel too.

We need SOMEONE to start calling farm 'subsidies', 'welfare'.

Still, I don't think Rangel is a good spokesman for Dems. I'd say the same about Schumer. I kind of like Barney Frank because he can be so damned funny. I think humor is a great way to win over people, red and blue.

[HuskerDU]

20. Your post and the one directly above it are evidence of the

reason that 'fly over staters' tend to vote R. What arrogant, elitist drivel. I wouldn't vote R with a gun to my head, but now I understand why some of my fellow red staters feel the way they do.

I encounter farmers all day every day. From the sweat on their brows, to the stains on their overalls and the shit on their boots, I guarantee you that they work a hell of a lot harder than you and probably for a hell of a lot less.

Let's say that a tidal wave hits your high rise office building and wiped out all of the work you had done that year. You would still get paid right? Well farmers have that possibility every year.
If your work gets wiped out, some big city big wigs lose some dough. Big deal. If farmers lose their entire crop and were wiped out financially, how would they plant next springs crop? If few or no farmers plant in the spring, how could you needy big city types feed your faces when the only thing you produce is smog?

People out here don't need city slickers. At all. We produce vast quantities of food for you so we can buy our fancy trinkets. We like trinkets, but don't need them. What we need, we have. We can grow, hunt, and fish our own food, and build our own houses. You= trinkets, beads, and shiny things to us. Us= food to you.

Try calling farm subsidies 'welfare' and winning ANYTHING in the flyover states. Better yet, try telling a farmer with 4 missing finger tips and shit on his boots that he is on welfare.

[wellstone dem]

28. Absolutely

My father's family is/were proud North Dakota farmers, tenant farmers during the depression. I don't think there is a republican in the bunch. A number have run for the state legislature in ND. One of my favorite things to do after an election was to call my uncle, who had a 3rd grade education and who had helped built the interstate through ND, after each election. And he was so proud of his democratic senators. And when his neices spoke at his funeral, it was his democratic politics that were forefront. I wouldn't trade one of this bunch of hardworking, community-serving, red state democrats for those of us who live the easy life, being liberal in a blue state.

[KoKo]

13. He's a decorated veteran of the Korean War...and a really good guy

if you've ever heard a long interview with him. Grew up poor and his experience in Korea allowed him to use GI Bill to educate himself.

Lot's of folks in the Northeast talk like big city repugs...he's from NewYawk...and he's just great.

[Guaranteed]

16. No, no no. We're not letting them do that. 2008 is about BUSH

my friend.

Don't let them frame shit.

[otohara]

14. Worth A Second Watch

Kristol was dumbfounded - Bravo Steven

[Guaranteed]

15. ROFL! If they've got the House....

Well, we've got the CHIMP.

[Guaranteed]

17. FOLKS. THREE WORDS: IT'S ABOUT BUSH.

Don't let this clown scare you. Bush has spent six years fucking up our country in a thousand different ways.

THAT is what 2008 is about.

[Nomad559]

18. (Video) William Kristo On The Colbert Report

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=109x25590

[Twist_U_Up]

19. They will "steal " enough and place their DINOs stategically.

We now live in the Banana Republic of Amerika.

[Robbie Michaels]

21. I Hope That Is Their Plan

Declaring "open season" against minorities and women in Congress could be the death of the GOP, if not bring it to its knees in 2008.

Go for it, Kristol. Please. I'm begging you.

[emanymton]

22. Don't Want To Rain On Your Parade...

GOP strategy has fixed the elections by fixing the voting machines. Everything you say may be true. But does it matter if the system is broke?

snip ...

In my opinion, the Republicans won't win the WH again for a very, very long time.

snip ...

What makes you think shrub and Co will allow the elections to be held?

[Zen Democrat]

29. Don't feel so hopeless, my friend.

Americans are waking up. Look what happened in Nepal. Look what happened in the Ukraine. Look what happened in the Soviet Union. When people have had enough and are willing to face whatever consequences may befall them, and march to the citadels of power to confront their totalitarian government ... no government can stand up to that, regardless of how many bombs or guns or secret prisons they may have. They can't shoot everyone. They can't jail everyone. They can't survive when the society has had enough.

Remember, Romania? The people just went in and took the dictator out. When it gets bad enough, the police and military become one with The People. People really DO have the power.

[emanymton]

30. It Really Is A Case Of Us Versus Them

Keeping faith is becoming very difficult given how complacent the people of USA have become. There may be hope. 1 May will be a real test of the mood of the people.




Bush Lied. People Died. Media Cheered.

Shut It DOWN!!

[Peter Frank]

23. You forgot to mention - Colbert hit William Kristol with the PNAC bomb...

January 26, 1998



The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
Washington, DC


Dear Mr. President:

We are writing you because we are convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since the end of the Cold War. In your upcoming State of the Union Address, you have an opportunity to chart a clear and determined course for meeting this threat. We urge you to seize that opportunity, and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power. We stand ready to offer our full support in this difficult but necessary endeavor.

The policy of “containment” of Saddam Hussein has been steadily eroding over the past several months. As recent events have demonstrated, we can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War coalition to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections. Our ability to ensure that Saddam Hussein is not producing weapons of mass destruction, therefore, has substantially diminished. Even if full inspections were eventually to resume, which now seems highly unlikely, experience has shown that it is difficult if not impossible to monitor Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons production. The lengthy period during which the inspectors will have been unable to enter many Iraqi facilities has made it even less likely that they will be able to uncover all of Saddam’s secrets. As a result, in the not-too-distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons.


Such uncertainty will, by itself, have a seriously destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East. It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world’s supply of oil will all be put at hazard. As you have rightly declared, Mr. President, the security of the world in the first part of the 21st century will be determined largely by how we handle this threat.<snip>

Sincerely,

Elliott Abrams

Richard L. Armitage

William J. Bennett

Jeffrey Bergner

John Bolton

Paula Dobriansky

Francis Fukuyama

Robert Kagan

Zalmay Khalilzad

William Kristol

Richard Perle

Peter W. Rodman

Donald Rumsfeld

William Schneider, Jr.

Vin Weber

Paul Wolfowitz

R. James Woolsey

Robert B. Zoellick

edit for link -- http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm

[DoYouEverWonder]

24. I just watched the video

that was great.

Rummie's not a PNACer, he just signed a couple of letters. LOL.

[notadmblnd]

25. I saw it last night

it was great. I couldn't believe how tough Steven was on him.

[sendero]

27. Condi Rice..

... hung the moon but Democratic females and African-Americans are scary.

Yeah, that's a (hypocritical, not to mention immoral and stupid) strategy.

[knitter4democracy]

31. He sure trapped Kristol more than once.

Made him look like an idiot. :D

Oh, and I like the wife-beating thing. I hope Kristol's wife kicks his ass.

[EVDebs]

32. We need a Democratic HOUSE and SENATE...

This bunch of goose-stepping idiots running the show have wrecked the 'free marketplace' of ideas. They've poisoned 'comity' and free debate with railroading tactics. We mustn't do to them what they've don to US, however. Let's let them justify their positions...

The silence will be deafening.

[Norquist Nemesis]

33. So will he be a "Democrat Donor" and voter this year?

I look forward to seeing his name next to thousands of dollar amounts on newsmeat and opensecrets, but I won't hold my breath.