Filibuster on Torture?

[DaveT]

If 41 Senators agree to participate in a filibuster, they can keep legislation from passing by participating in a filibuster. Many members of this community are outraged and despondent that Harry Reid does not appear to be calling for this tactic to stall the torture bill.

If he were to do so, it would have two overarching effects:


1. It plays into Rove's plan of making this election about Terror. All the current talk about the difference between the Pugs and the Dems conveniently leaves out a little matter about The Voters. Do you want to bet the future of the country on how well The Voters understand the value of not torturing terrorists?

Do you think it is just a coincidence that the GOP is bringing this crap up just before the election recess? It is their one hope of getting people's minds off of the failure in Iraq and the failure of the economic recovery to deliver tangible benefits to most Americans.

Yeah, you know and I know that Bush has no intention of using this fascist machinery on "terrorists." But when the TV networks, cable news, talk radio and all the religious kook email chains and phone trees get done with it -- do you really believe that the The Voters are going to grasp the logic of reciprocal treatment of POWs? Polls consistently show that a huge majority of Americans would always junk the entire bill of rights on general principle.

Yeah, the "dems" just need to "stand their ground" and just tell the truth and they will win -- bullshit. When our political enemies have control of the national news media, how are "the dems" supposed to get that truth out to The Voters?

Have you noticed what happened with Bill Clinton? He is the most talented TV performer in politics and he did a hell of a job wiping the floor with Chris Wallace's ass. And what has happened since then? The MSN calls it a "temper tantrum" while Condi Rice and every hack in the Right Wing echo chamber have cranked out a barrage of baldfaced lies that get played as straight as if they were the lyrics to "The Star Spangled Banner." These lies are easily debunked by the public record -- are you hearing any talking heads other than John Stewart mocking them for their anger or condemning them for their partisan mendacity?

The democratic politicians don't have the luxury of ignoring the grim and pathetic truth about how Bush and Rove have maintained control of politics since 9/11 through a racist fear of swarthy "terrorists."

Yes, the "dems" are afraid of that political strategy. You should be too.


2. It rolls the dice on holding 41 senators together in the most brutal political fight at least since the days of school busing -- or maybe even the Civil War. The one thing that would be even worse for the country than the Democrats in the Senate rolling over for this outrage would be to try to filibuster and then watch as a handful of Quislings and Liebermans abandon ship, giving Bush a huge Congressional "victory" on this very issue.

There are huge consequences for the future of the Republic before us now. Rove's gambit is working to a T to divide and conquer the opposition.

Instead of the Democratic Party leading a unifying campaign to mobilize the 60% of the country who oppose the manifest failures of the Bush Administration to deliver on its own promises of victory in Iraq and prosperity at home, we see the same old shit -- terror -- ripping us apart.

The Democratic Party has no disciplinary mechanism to force Joe Lieberman and Mary Landrieu to hold on for the duration of a filibuster. As Will Rogers said it better than anybody ever, "I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'am a Democrat."

For grass roots progressives to despair now because the Dem Caucus in the Senate cannot fight with the same internal discipline that our fascist enemies impose upon themselves is an unmitigated catastrophe.

The lefty logic that blames the politicians for the tightly controlled ignorance of the voters is our biggest weakness.

Now more than ever, we must keep our eyes on the absolute necessity for unity in opposition to Bushism. If our so-called "leaders" disappoint us, that is just something we are going to have to cope with -- because there is no substitute for winning this election with majorites too big to steal.

[MrCoffee]

1. IIRC, two republicans voted yes on the Levin amendment, and the final

tally was 43 in favor of Levin's amendment.

Am i the only one who thinks Levin sent up a test balloon to see if support for the filibuster could be had?

[RufusEarl]

2. I wondered what that was about, thanks you're on to something!