Replies

I want to shout -- LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE!

I am looking at the big picture. And it's one of wimpy Senators who lack the intestinal fortitude to do what needs to be done to take advantage of their majority.

You can bet dollars to donuts that if the tables were turned, Daschle would not have sat around with his thumb up his butt like Frist and company have for the past nine months. He would have forced the hand of the filibustering minority.

And the Administration is complicant in this. They didn't lift a finger to urge Frist along; they didn't use their influence to push the issue; they didn't send Cheney over to drop the bomb. They cajoled, they suggested, they placated, they sat around wringing their hands. Finally, Estrada got tired and said "F--- it. I'm going home. I can get better treatment than this at a myopic Polish laundry."

I'm pissed, and I can't see why you are trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. Bottom line is that they screwed up and need to be called on it. Otherwise, they get complacent and figure they can throw s#it at us and we'll take it. That we're a captive audience.

Well I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore.

Well, WTF was Frist and Bush supposed to do?

First has maybe 47 votes he can rely on constantly. McCain, Snowe, Chafee, Specter, and Collins might or might not bolt, depending on the issue. We get Zell Miller on the judical nominations, but we ain't got much more than that. By my count, we're four votes short of a majority. That's BEFORE you tack on Mitch McConnell's heart problems (which required surgery), and the fact another Republican Senator had a family emergency.

Ultimately, Frist had little room to maneuver. Why? Because folks who got all upset over "wimpy" Republicans either stayed home or went for some no-chance thrid party option, and cost us at least THREE Senate seats since `98. Harry Reid, Maria Cantwell, and Tim Johnson are relaible allies of PFAW on this issue. So is Mary Landrieu, and we blew our chance to take her out last year as well.

FOUR seats that should have been Republican aren't, and a lot of it because some "conservatives" decided that they weren't going to vote for a "wimpy" Republican, and now, they aren't man enough to admit that all they did was give Ralph Neas FOUR frigging votes to keep filibusters open. Now, we can either waste time and effort venting, or we can solve the goddamn problem, and get Frist and Bush more of a margin to work with down the road.

Oh, and Daschle's gonna get away with crap like this. He's a dem, and the media covers for them. That's life - that's the reality on the political street. We've known that for a long time, so why the f*** are we acting so damn surprised that the media not only gave Daschle a pass, but that the media also smeared Estrada?

We did more that suggest, cajole, and placate. They were out trying to drum up support. But they just couldn't get the f***ing votes.