Do you think Obama and the elevated Democrats regret not looking deeper into the Bush Administration

[The Backlash Cometh]

I'm listening to the news and the Republican's big push to win over voters has to do with the economy and the fact that we're still in a recession. Of course, the voters assume that Obama had enough time to pull us out of the devastation that Bush put us in. What I have to ask is this, why wouldn't the voters fall for the easy explanation when nobody has taken the time to explain the details of the major fuck-up that Bush's policies created?

[ananda]

1. Dems don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

They couldn't even find it with a mirror and a flashlight.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. It's like having kegs of dry powder that they refused to use.

[xchrom]

2. no -- not a bit. there's more agreement there than any of us care to think about. nt

[Incognitus Czar]

4. I think not

I'm sure Obama had a very good reason for not antagonizing Bush.

In the years to come, everything will be crystal clear.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. When will it be crystal clear if the Republicans take over?

All it will be is more cover-up and more distrust in our country.

[RC]

10. It wouldn't have anything to do with

waking up some morning with a bloody horse head on his bed now would it? Or maybe a film clip taken from a grassy knoll?

[quinnox]

6. I don't think so

Obama seems to be the type to not regret anything or doubt himself, so any mistakes he might make are not recognized that way.

[JDPriestly]

7. You are absolutely right, The Backlash Cometh.

Obama gambled on whether the Republicans would man up and take responsibility. He thought they would, because that is what he would have done. Unfortunately, so far he has lost his gamble.

It's a sad day for all of us.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. I think they're all on the same team

So, to answer your question, no. They have no regrets.

[bruceleier]

9. Question

What do you mean by elevated Democrats?

[RC]

11. Our ruling overlords.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Those whose direct input makes a difference.

[kenny blankenship]

13. My advice pre-Inauguration was that investigations were warranted and necessary

You can't reverse course on imperial adventurism and a never-ending war on terror sparked by adventurism without repudiating the lies that were used to launch the adventure. You can't repudiate lies like that safely without proving that they are lies. Bush Admin figures should have been investigated and prosecuted for torture, wholesale violations of the 4th Amendment, and launching an illegal war. Congress and the DOJ would easily discover a wealth of economic irregularities to investigate also (systemic mortgage fraud uncovered by the FBI in 2004 but never acted on, for instance) if they would just look. The second reason for investigations and a Truth Commission approach to de-Nazifying the US Govt after the departure of Bush was that I knew the economy was likely to suck for a long time to come, and it would be very advisable politically to keep the Repukes off balance and on the defensive. It takes time to reform a pig sty like the United States government, and if Repukes are left around to make a comeback there won't be time to implement reform and have it bear fruit. Even if they are not able to make a real comeback they can make untold amounts of mischief: they have to kept on the run and always getting weaker. Unfortunately, President Sucker thought Repukes needed to be given a hand up instead.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

14. Maybe most of them have been too busy trying to fix the Bush Republican Party messes

to spend time railing against them on every major network and radio show in the country (those that invite them on in the first place, anyway)? :shrug:

I would, however, point out that President Obama, as the Democratic Party's almost exclusive spokesperson (or certainly the most influential), HAS indeed frequently tied the problems that he and the Democratic Party have been trying to solve during the past 1-2 to the Bush Republican Party- so much so that some Republicans like, for example, Jeb Bush, have bitterly complained that he is trying to shift the blame for his administration's own failures (which is pure nonsense, of course- the Bush Republican Party DID create all kinds of problems for our country when they were in power and there is plenty of evidence of that).

Of course, whatever President Obama says or does is only as noticeable as the coverage it receives. It doesn't help that we don't have any significant media platform with which to get our message out and it certainly doesn't help that we have a corporate media apparatus in this country that spends more time about the latest Sarah Palin tweet or Facebook posting than what POTUS and/or individual members of his own party are saying. :eyes:

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Are you saying that Obama can't put a team together to push any message he wants?

And I don't mean the way the Bush Administration did it by literally buying the press to push specific programs.

Yeah, everyone forgot that one, didn't they?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

19. What kind of team- other than what he's got?

He has a pretty good communications apparatus himself. The problem is that he is pretty much the ONLY person in the Democratic Party who gets the kind of visibility and coverage that makes any kind of real difference- when the media isn't busy covering Queen Sarah and her idiot tweets and facebook postings.

Obama can push any message he wants. However, if he says something and the media doesn't or refuses to cover it, does he make a sound? Does the Democratic Party make a sound?

[kenny blankenship]

23. Sorry, but this matter of prosecution is an INTEGRAL PART OF THE CLEAN UP JOB

Fail to undertake it and you won't GET to do the rest. Obama and the Dems seem to rely on Repukes staying down and out.

Like most failed plans, the Democrats' plan depended on the enemy cooperating by sitting around on ass while they unfolded their plans, or just obligingly refusing to go on offense. But Republicans basically have only one mode: attack. Through the history of their own rhetoric, Republicans have painted themselves into a corner where they can do nothing else but attack. They've spent the last thirty years telling American voters that Democrats aren't even worthy of US citizenship, much less political office. And they've prospered enormously through demonizing and disqualifying us. Their inability to control their rapaciousness while in office led to their loss of power but their rhetorical excesses have never been rejected by the voting public. It wasn't "Going too far" in political tone that got the GOP voted out - it was just their readiness to accept illegal propositions from K-Street lobbyists, and to make illegal propositions to pages and plainclothes policemen in public toilets. To Pukes, going the "Full Gingrich" on your opponent is still the proven and preferred tactic. And it should go without saying that you don't do deals with your opponent, if you plan to demonize your Democratic opponent and declare him the Enemy of America, the Nuclear Family and God. That would appear inconsistent to your rabid Puke base. Instead, you pledge to destroy him and shatter all his treasonous Democratic plots. You wait for chances to ambush your partisan enemies and make the most of those when they come around. Ignoring the fully committed hostility of the post-Gingrich Republicans, and declining to press your own attack on the Pukes when they were down, was Eleven Dimensionally Stupid.

[alsame]

16. Not one bit. Too many Dems were involved. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. Excuse me?

I remember the era. It was as close to a Republican operation as we'll ever get.

[alsame]

18. Well, you weren't very speciific in your OP. I'm thinking of things

like the Iraq war, wire tapping, the bank bailouts, etc., which got support from Dems.

Are you talking about other things?

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. At some point, someone has to be held accountable.

All this fingerpointing does nobody any good. If anything, this becomes a method to do some dirty business, knowing that you can get away with it. I know, because I see it on the local level. There is one great way to get away with a major conspiracy plot. Make sure you have members of both parties involved.

[alsame]

27. Agree, that's my point. If both parties are tainted, although to

different degrees, it's almost impossible to have real accountability and/or prosecutions.

Just look at Iraq - I can't even count how many times I've heard rightwingers on TV remind everyone that Biden and Hillary voted for the war. It became a 'bipartisan' disaster.

Unlike the GOP, the Dems rarely took a united stand and unanimously opposed Bushco policies. Or nominees.

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. But the Republicans are hitting us on economy issues.

That one they own.

[alsame]

30. Yes. However, the right has been very effective in distorting

the truth...too many Americans believe the bank bailout was Obama's policy. And the stimulus has become toxic, even in those places where it helped the local economies. And they believe HCR will add to the deficit. And they think Obama raised their taxes.

The list of things that the public is confused about goes on and on. The Democrats just haven't been very effective in combating the rightwing noise machine, especially about the economy.

[The Backlash Cometh]

31. And now we're back to the beginning of this thread.

Maybe we should have done a better job of analyzing where the Bush Administration went wrong?

[Octafish]

20. Jailing treasonous warmongering mass murderers who lied America into 2 illegal and unneeded wars...

...would also be interpreted as "political" by Rush Limbaugh, so, "No, we can't do that*, either."

*Tell the truth about who got us into this mess, economic, military, fiscal, etc.

[Chemical Bill]

21. No, I think he loves his kids...

and doesn't want to see them hurt. Or growing up fatherless.

Bill

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

22. The DLC has no regrets about it

They were willing accomplices to the Bush Crime Family from day one.

[Individualist]

26. Correct!

[ecstatic]

25. If there were an investigation and the economy was as it is now

How would that help any democrat? Don't get me wrong, I want them prosecuted. For now, we can only hope karma exists.

[kenny blankenship]

28. By keeping the Republicans *having to make excuses* for being Republicans

You have to keep reminding people that Republicans destroyed the country, and therefore YOU SHOULD NOT LISTEN TO THEM NOW.

Jeeeeeebus people! The Republicans DO NOTHING BUT tell America that Democrats are no good, unAmerican, Godless, Communist trash. They have no coherent arguments. All they do is disqualify us from being eligible for office. With SLANDER. That's their whole schtick. They talk trash about Democrats and force Democrats to apologize for BEING Democrats. And on the strength of that nonsense alone, they are allowed -most of the time- to be in charge of the country!

WAKE UP. This is a contact sport we're playing. It's brutal and never fair.