Oh my God! The circular firing squad of the democratic Party is ready to aim even before the votes are counted.

This is impossible. Everyone knows lobbying and corruption were invented by the Republicans in 1994.

Anybody ask Hoyer if he knows the difference between Sunnis and Shiites?

"Anybody ask Hoyer if he knows the difference between Sunnis and Shiites?"

He certainly couldn't do any worse than our illustrious commander-in-chief...

Well gee, that's bad. But not as bad as the current collection of mendacious fuckups, so I'm still voting Dem. In fact, I got my ballot today. Onward to power!

"A ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives is apologizing for saying an African-American Senate candidate "slavishly" supported the Republican Party.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said he meant no offense when he made the remark about Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele...."

Oh dear, oh dear...

Nevermind.

--
HRlaughed

Craigie, I just finished voting myself! Went absentee, since my county went Diebold.

Zack Roth must be a 'concern troll'. Why else would he be examining Democrats critically?

'Steny' is not a real name, btw. We have rules.

He needs a primary challenge in 2008. People like him simply have to be flushed out of the system. Let's make this a republic once again where our reps are just that and not whores to the most thick-walleted corporate john they can find.

Yeah. No Steny's, and no Mitt's either. And while we are at it, no Phill's or Ryun's either.

Rejected (cont'd.):

1. Rahm
2. Barack
3. Cokie
4. Manucher

Kevin Drum wrote, "If Democrats win control of the House in the midterm elections, it means Nancy Pelosi moves up to Speaker and Hoyer moves up to Majority Leader."

The Washington Monthly article he linked has a sub-headline that begins "If Democrats win control of the House, Steny Hoyer will have Tom DeLay’s old job." But the body of that article says, "As the number-two Democrat in the House, he’ll likely become majority leader if Democrats win control this November."

I'd go with "likely," but I think that it's too soon to tell whom the Democrats would pick for Majority Leader and Majority Whip if they regain the House majority. I think there would be a strong sense among House Democrats that Pelosi deserves the speakership for her role in helping to bring that Nov. 7 success about, and for other reasons. I think the Majority Leader position would be likely, but not assured, for Rep. Hoyer.

Hoyers is a white guy who stood up for his black constituents in an old fashioned country ruled by good ole boys. I give him credit.

This is counting an entire chicken farm before they hatch.

Minority and majority leader are two very different jobs.

Not at all clear that a newly constituted Dem majority would simply promote the current leaders. As whip, Blunt was the next in line to fill DeLay's post when the bugman was indicted.

Murtha screwed up and prematurely talked about running for the job. He's since clammed up, but he's not the only one thinking about it.

Why the Monthly's editors thought this article was a good idea at this time is beyond me. Bad case, really bad case of beltwayitis, compounded by googoo-ism.

Win the freaking election first. Then figure out how to deal with Bush for two years so we can put a Dem in the WH with solid majorities in both houses.

I have been thinking about this a lot. Lobbyists have been trying to game the system forever. There are always crooks in every Congress. Even honest men and women are tempted. Democrats are no better than Republicans when left unobserved.

On balance, I am convinced that the willingness of rank and file Republicans to overlook corruption is the source of the Republican meltdown. The average Republican just hasn't demanded accountability. In the event Democrats win this fall, we, the average Democrats, have to keep the pressure on Democrats to produce good and honest government. If we don't we will get the same government we have had the last years.

We can't depend on the mass media. They are wined, dined and, in some cases, paid by the elites who they are supposed to cover.

We can't depend on fundamentalist Republicans. By their very nature rank and file fundamentalist Republicans are followers. Like good pack members they over look bad things done by their Alphas. As a result they just don't demand honest government from their own party.

We, the average Democratic voters, have to do the job ourselves. We have an advantage. We are Democrats. We don't belong to an organized party. Being a disorganized bunch of characters, we don't have as much tribal loyalty as our Republican brothers. We just need a voice.

Luckily, for the first time at least since television, the Internet, and blogs like this one, give us, the average voters, a voice. At times a wee tiny voice, but a voice, none-the-less. With that voice we might be able to gain a place at the table.

The price of that voice? Eternal vigilance.

The only chance we, the people, have is for all of us to stay involved after the election. Keep shinning a light on the process and the rats won't have a chance to come out of their holes and eat the cheese.

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I'm in Hoyer's district. Haven't read the article yet, but from the quick description, yeah, that's our Steny. Dammitall.

"Hoyers is a white guy who stood up for his black constituents in an old fashioned country ruled by good ole boys. I give him credit."

Some, perhaps, but he didn't stand up on the bankruptcy issue.

RT: "... that's our Steny. Dammitall."

I'll tell you what. I'll trade you your wheeler-dealer for the veiled political Shogunate we have here in Hawaii in the person of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye.

At least Steny's open with the public about what he does and the way he operates. In the mysteriously quiet but highly efficient congressional world of Sen. Inouye, it either happens or it doesn't happen -- and yours is not to reason or question why, regardless.

Don't get me wrong. I think very highly of Sen. Inouye. He's a great American who's given so much to his state and country. But his realm is severely restricted, with limited access reserved for the favored few. And frankly, I'm all in favor of sunlight -- the more, the better.

Good Donald,

Find others who are of a like mind. Start a blog. Lift the vail.

Whatever you do, don't depend on other people doing it for you. Especially don't depend on your local media. They make their money in the tourist trade. Tourists like places where every thing is happy talk.

You are supposed to write about this before the primaries. I'd actually like that. Put it on your 2008 calendar.

news flash: we're not winning the house or senate this year. We might even lose seats.

You and your journalist friends had me believing great things were going to happen on Election Day of 2004, and I went to bed more depressed for America's future than I can ever remember. I won't let that happen to me again.

Nothing good will come from this election. I don't believe any Republican incumbent is going to lose, and I definitely see 4-5 house Dems being ousted.

Sad but true.

The Hoyer comment yesterday, saying the black Republican opponent is a 'slave' to the GOP agenda, is exactly the kind of controversial remark that put George Allen in trouble.

Honest mistake or stupidity?

Steny is the kind of scummy product that the Maryland and Prince Georges county Dem machines have relied on for generations. He needs the boot. His only redeeming feature is that compared to his congressional neighbor, Al "I occupy space" Wynn, Hoyer looks almost sentient.

Ah, the heady days of the beginning of the restoration of our monarchy. Since last Tuesday, our Roi Georg 11 is happily signing those Lettres de Cachet with their wonderful Red State seals. First Shias, then Sunnis, then secular humanists.

The Bourbons have returned.

Steny Hoyer is a member of the old guard, who have spent years with their hands in the till. He's part of the problem, not the solution, and as long as slippery pols like him remain in positions of Dem influence, we have little to complain about regarding GOP corruption.

We can't prevent the citizens of MD from voting him in, but that doesn't mean that dems in congress should vote him into a position of leadership, certainly not speaker (or majority leader).

Sad to say, many or most Dems as well as Reps in Congress are self-interested and/or incompetent. That's why big government inevitably means corrupt government. So, we should do all we can to limit the role of government.

From Zachary Roth:
When House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) was introduced, he was wrapped in a platonic but full-bodied embrace with Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.). “I’ll be right with you,” Hoyer called from the depths of Lincoln’s neck. The senator, who looks like a soccer mom, is neither attractive nor unattractive enough for this to have been awkward

I'd say Sen. Lincoln looks plenty nice enough for the embrace to have been awkward.

Though on second thought, what does her appearance have to do with the supposed awkwardness?

(W)e should do all we can to limit the role of government. ex-liberal

That is the defeatest attitude that brought the Republicans to power and got us into this mess. It might have been a legitimate attitude in the day of 3 networks, but not today.

Modern communications being what they are, there is no reason we can't all watch our own congressmen and women like hawks and hold them to account. I bet they shape up if we just watch them and treat them like the employees they are.

Yes, it's depressing, but: realistically, we must vote for the lesser of two evils now. The other side is no horrible that even compromised Democrats must be given a chance to at least do a better job.

I think we can do a lot better than Nancy Pelosi. She never seems to state the case against the Republicans effectively.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

No, I'm not a concern troll. I hope the Dems take back both houses of Congress by huge margins. But I'm not naive enough to think that things will change radically.

this is a test

You passed.

Craigie, I just finished voting myself! Went absentee, since my county went Diebold.

I've been scouring my neighborhood mailboxes for absentee ballots, so that I can vote them correctly. Saves the occupant of the house a lot of trouble, and helps save democracy.

So everyone wins!

I know you kid - it isn't that simple, what with signing and notarizing the envelope and all...Which is the final step I need to complete, the much vaunted notarizing of the envelope.

Sorry that I do not have the site, but David Sirota, former spokesperson for Congressman Bernie Sanders, wrote an article at HuffPo a while back where he said that Hoyer's major goal is to undermine and defeat Nancy Pelosi and assume her title.

Hoyer has become a very good friend of not only the Yellow and Blue Dog Dems, but of 1600 Avenue and K Street.

It's obvious that congress isn't even interested in listening to the voters anymore, just lobbiest.

But it's like what George Will said about how Dems should just "hang it up" if they fail to win back either the house or the Senate. All Americans in general are compeletely fed up with both parties.

Anyways, I see that Hastert is back in the news again because he clearly knew or SHOULD have know about the Foley's problems, particular since Hastert stated that "The Buck Stops Here."

IF indeed Hastert knew nothing since last week, as he claimed on CNN, which I'm sure is nothing but an outright lie, then how can Hastert say that "The Buck Stops Here," when apparently, Hastert didn’t feel the need for his GOP subordinates to bother him with any trivial matters of sexual harassment pertaining to the pages being bothered by GOP congressman.

What is Hastert saying? That he was out-of-loop on this issue? Hastert said he would deal with it as the Washington Post states, by firing somebody. So when is Hastert going to fire John Boehner?

Somebody here is lying and I’m sure it’s Hastert.

Last spring, Rep. Alexander has said, he mentioned the Foley situation to House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. Boehner referred him to Rep. Tom Reynolds. R-N.Y., the House GOP campaign chairman.
Both Boehner and Reynolds said they spoke with Hastert, who has said repeatedly he doesn't remember speaking with either lawmaker. Hastert says he first learned about Foley's approaches at the time he resigned in late September. The speaker added he believes his staff acted appropriately but anyone who covered up the matter would be fired.

The WP link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/16/AR2006101600476_2.html

He wants to be called Nancy?

He's got to go!

John Murtha is going to challenge Hoyer for Majority Leader. Murtha is close to Pelosi, and she hasn't exactly been rallying the troops to close ranks around Hoyer. The image of a tough Marine Corp Vietnam Vet is exactly what the Democrats want to counterbalance the San Francisco liberal grandmother image of Pelosi. I'm betting Murtha is the next majority leader.

John Murtha is going to challenge Hoyer for Majority Leader. Murtha is close to Pelosi, and she hasn't exactly been rallying the troops to close ranks around Hoyer. The image of a tough Marine Corp Vietnam Vet is exactly what the Democrats want to counterbalance the San Francisco liberal grandmother image of Pelosi. I'm betting Murtha is the next majority leader.

At DKos we have already begun a search for a primary challenger.

I wouldn't want to hang him solely on lobbying. Heck, the most important liberal reforms we've seen this century were because of Lyndon Johnson.

In any case, being whip isn't a guarantee. If the new Dems come in with an agenda to shake things up and make the new Democratic party a party with a plan that isn't simply sitting around half-heartedly protecting gains of the 19760s and 1970s, then we could see someone new come in.

(Snicker) Hoyer used racially insensative words in a campaign against Steele. (bwaaah)

Funny. First Byrd now this guy. You Dems get all the good racists in your party.

Oh yeah, like the Republican Congressman Russell Pearce who wants to bring back "Operation Wetback"; refuses to apologize for using the term "wetback" and has sent his Arizona constituents articles from the hate group National Alliance. Even J.D. Hayworth (R-Az) has disowned him.

Or that solid "Democrat", Vice President Cheney, who voted to support apartheid in South Africa.

Or even Tricky Dicky - However, racism knows no boundaries.

Orwell:

Two words: Trent Lott.

Bob

Bob:

Al Gore Sr.
Robert Byrd
Steny Hoyer

All racist, all Democrat.

Oh and I believe that Strom Thurman was a Democrat when he spouted racist views as well. He became a Republican later when it suited his re-eletion. And he rid himself of racist remarks because.....as Trent Lott learned....
When you say things like the the Republicans throw you over board.

I wander what Jesse Jackson thinks of Jewish people?

Wow, what was that splash? Oh, yeah, George Allen hitting the waves.

Hoyer's "slavish" comment was so intensely stupid - Steele's whole campaign depends on drawing black voters away from the Democrat - that you wonder whether it was intentional.

As opposed to all the people who meet Nancy Pelosi and come away completely overwhelmed by her brilliance?

Please quit bogarting the doobie, Drum. That's some good stuff you got there.

Check this out:

URL: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12055360/cover_story_time_to_go_inside_the_worst_congress_ever

Rollingstone.co
Time to Go! Inside the Worst Congress Ever
How our national legislature has become a stable of thieves and perverts -- in five easy steps

Waving to another 'Cyn'.

"Since last Tuesday, our Roi George II is happily signing those Lettres de Cachet with their wonderful Red State seals. First Shias, then Sunnis, then secular humanists."

No, more like Napoleon III and his "senatus consulte" diktats. A letter from the Emperor of the French letting everyone know that the law has been changed and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

What was it that George Allen said? Macaca? Did that comment actually make it to audio or is this another liberal pipe dream - like the "Bush said Mission Accomplished in Iraq?" Did Allen say...

Hymietown?
Slavishly?
White Nigger?
Uncle Tom?

Oh I almost forgot Joe Biden's 7-11 comment. Wow the longer you think about it the more racial slurs begin to appear on the Democratic plate.

Too many racists Democrats to remember. Not ONE of them has been thrown overboard.

In order to STEAL two US Presidential Elections, the GOP-Owned Mainstream Media spend FOUR FULL YEARS "reporting" virtually NON-STOP on the Lewinski affair 24/7/365 to the exclusion of many other matters of far greater importance to Americans and our American interests. As has now become more than abundantly clear, the GOP in fact had no programme of substance, merit, or positive effect for our nation, quite the opposite, thus the Lewinski matter was chosen by the GOP as "the" issue in order to discredit Clinton via their 4 year nonstop all-media smear campaign simply because they had no other device that might work against Clinton, who was in fact such a popular and effective Commander In Chief while his domestic policys were producing a 400 Billion dollar domestic surplus at home that things were going unacceptably well for the USA as far as the GOP was concerned. How could the GOP ever hope to regain credibility in order to seize control of the American people once more? It was decided
that 4 years of media brainwashing would do the trick. Now, less than ONE MONTH after the Republican Child Sex Predator story first broke in the form of Mark Foley's explicit messages to underage Congressional Pages, the very same Republican Owned Mainstream Media is desperately doing everything it possibly can to once again mislead and disinform as many citizens as possible by taking the GOP Pedophile story OUT of the media, as witness todays crop of carefully crafted mind-control headlines: "Foley Controversy Ebbs", "Louisiana Page Not Central To Inquiry, Lawmaker Says", and this gem; "Original Page Matters Not". But Americans understand the Foley im's do in fact matter quite a bit more than the media would have them believe; Pedophilia is rampant in the GOP. The Foley debacle is merely the beginning of the story of what has actually been supported and practiced by the lawless Republican cabal.

No, more like Napoleon III and his "senatus consulte" diktats.

If Bush is our Napoleon III, does that make the new regime in Iraq the modern equivalent of Maximilian's Empire in Mexico?

USA Today, I believe Mr. Stubbs would agree with you.