What Digby Said (TM) -- It's time to fight back against criminals, not "reach out" to them

[StefanX]

One of her most amazing posts ever.

Bipartisan Zombies
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/bipartisan-zombies-by-digby-it-was.html

Some quotes:

It's depressing that so many Democrats still seem to have this deep conceit that the Republicans are really reasonable people in spite of fifteen long years of being shown otherwise over and over again. And it's infuriating that after everything that's happened, the permanent political establishment is still more freaked out at the prospect of the dirty hippies passing universal health care than radical neocons starting World War III. If only the reasonable people could get together over scotch and waters and talk it all through everything would work as it's supposed to.
...
We can wish for conciliation all we want, but unless the Democrats can do it without any cooperation from the Republicans, it will be just another game of Charlie Brown and the football. David Broder is fine with that. He's more afraid of hippies trashing the white house than of fascists* trashing the country, so he's happy to help Lucy hold the ball. Democratic voters must be clear eyed and willing to fight because if we don't, they will win again, even if they lose. I don't think the country can take it.
---
*Now that Jonah Goldberg has made the word acceptable for use against liberals, it's back in circulation as far as I'm concerned and I'm using it.

===

(And, as many of the insightful comments to that post point out, Hillary and Obama don't "get" this, but Edwards does. It's time to stop bringing a knife to a gunfight, progressives. It's time to lock up these criminals, or at least beat them down -- instead of politely giving them a seat at the negotiating table.)

[whistle]

1. "It's time to fight back against criminals, not "reach out" to them"...that's it!

[Jane Austin]

2. Please tell us where Obama said he would reach out

to criminals?

His words, I mean, not words some opponent puts in his mouth.

[StefanX]

5. Here ya go

http://www.correntewire.com/obama_stump_speech_strategy_of_conciliation_considered_harmful

Obama presents himself as unifying, but accountability is what’s needed. Let’s repeat that “reach out” paragraph:

OBAMA: I’ve learned in my life that you can stand firm in your principles while still reaching out to those who might not always agree with you.

... What principles are we talking about, here? Off the top of my head:

1. The principle that everyone is equal before the law.

2. The principle that this nation does not torture.

3. The principle that there are three co-equal branches of government.

4. The principle that high government officials should not break the law with impunity.

5. The principle that elections are not stolen

6. The principle that war is not made on fake evidence

http://www.correntewire.com/obama_stump_speech_strategy_of_conciliation_considered_harmful

Obama wants to "reach out," but that strategy has already been tried. Obama says he wants to "reach out" to Republicans. But Reid and Pelosi “reached out” to Republicans, and that strategy was a miserable failure.

Reid and Pelosi "reached out" to Republicans by taking impeachment off the table.

Reid and Pelosi "reached out" to Republicans by not using the power of the purse either to end the war or to curb executive power.

Read and Pelosi "reached out" to Republicans through FISA “reform” by trying to give Bush more power than even the Republicans tried to give him, when they were in the majority.

In fact, Reid and Pelosi "reached out" to Republicans by caving and capitulating to them on just about any issue you can name.

And what did we get? We got nothing.

http://www.correntewire.com/obama_stump_speech_strategy_of_conciliation_considered_harmful

Maybe Obama didn't say "reach out to criminals" - he only said "reach out to them".

Are you trying to claim that "them" (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Feith, Wolfowitz, Abrahamoff, and all the other neocon repuke criminals in DC) aren't "criminals"?

[Jane Austin]

8. Sorry. That doesn't say anything about reaching

out to criminals.

[angrycarpenter]

3. they own the cops

the prosecutors, The judges, and the jails. it will be a losing battle all the way with no guarantee of success. tragic how many in law enforcment are more loyal to the GOP than to america and it's people.

A good honest attorney general could work wonders with this mess.

[skepticscott]

4. Agree about Obama, disagree about Hillary

Obama wants to "build bridges", "open dialogues" and anything else concilliatory that he can think of to say, but the fact that he isn't sane and savvy enough to realize the Republicans have no interest in such things is why I cannot support him at this point, even though I think he is running out of a genuine desire to do good for people. Hillary understands power and that people who have gotten used to having it don't just give it up freely. It's also difficult to support her at this point, since she is running purely out of a love of power. If it did come down to one of those two as the Democratic candidate, I'd have to support Hillary, because any Democrat in the White House is far preferable than eight more years of Republicans, and she is the only one of the two capable of running the kind of campaign that will be needed to win in 2008. Obama is, frankly, too nice a guy for what will be required.

[Didereaux]

6. You simply CANNOT reach out to those you MUST prosecute!

[StefanX]

7. Here's how Digby's article starts

As soon as the Republicans lost power, I knew the gasbags would insist that it's time to let bygones be bygones and meet the Republicans halfway in the spirit of a new beginning. GOP politicians have driven the debt sky-high and altered the government so as to be nearly unrecognizable, so logically the Democrats need to extend the hand of conciliation and move to meet them in the middle --- the middle now being so far right, it isn't even fully visible anymore.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/bipartisan-zombies-by-digby-it-was.html

Read the whole thing (if you're into strategy). It's long, but good.

[Blackhatjack]

9. Digby is spot on here! It's going to take more than 4 yrs to repair the Repub Damages...

IMHO Bipartisanship died when the Repubs took office, and until we fix the damage they have wrought on our nation they shouldn't be looking for 'bipartisanship' from the next Democratic Administration.

THey were so drunk with arrogance that they held Congressional Committee meetins without Dems notificed or present. THey changed legislation after it was reported out of the Conference Committee before it was signed by Bush. They turned K Street into a personal cash machine for all their corrupt dealings and personal wealth enhancement. They talked about 'a permanent Republican majority' and they got Bush installed by the SCOTUS when Gore won the election.

Forgive and forget? Not a chance.

Too many people are hurting and depending on us to step in and bring these corrupt people to the bar of justice.

If you are Republican and still have a term to serve on Capitol Hill, prepare to be totally impotent. It won't be fun.. but you might learn a thing or two about how Government should operate. And hopefully observe your Repub cohorts headed off to jail. THere is an object lesson for you.