Remember what Chavez said. "Obama may have been elected president, but the system hasn't changed"

Ample evidence, this. [Yodaspeak]

Senator Reid needs to recognize that his stunning unfavorability ratings are connected to his horrific performance as majority leader and not to the various policies of the Democratic Party. Of course that personalizes the failure, it's much easier to blame ones party than to blame oneself.

Interestingly enough, this is jsut further evidence of what I posted yesterday: we are slowly and surely being taken away from any semblance of a constitutionaldemocracy by both republicans and Democrats (and I dont'mean just the polikticians, b ut also the vehement and often quite annoyingly self serving members of the public, as even in evidence here in this blog). Obama is a cynical messenger, who describes change, but really just meant regime change. and I suspect a lot of his nonthinking supporters, much like the non thinking Limbaugh and Bush supporters, dont' care! they just care that "their guy" is in power. well, the US will suffer from that shortsightedness. when we have two aprties that blatantly attack each other and then do the same sort of thing anyway, we no longer have a democracy, we have a dictatorship.

it is quite painful to see all the bullshit the majority leaders are willing to throw out as if americans were little babies who dont know their little baby asses and the baby powder on them from the snow job dickwads like Our Mistah Reid spiels.

Him and his god damn horse...

It doesn't make any difference. If it was 65-35, Reid would have more horse shit excuses. Both houses of Congress are owned and operated by corporate America & the Israeli lobby.
Reid has been bought and paid for. We the people are screwed.

"Is Reid isn't ready to step up or not?"

Not.

Neither he nor Pelosi are particularly high quality leaders. They have their positions due to seniority, not skill.

The problem with the Senate, as well as Congress, is that leading is not what they are supposed to do. Legislating is what they are supposed to do. Expecting Reid to stand up and show leadership is a fool's errand.

He, like the rest of them, only stand up and do anything when it helps their re-election bids. It was quite easy for Reid to play like a leader when Bush was in office. He was the voice of the opposition. Now that Obama is in office, it's a little bit different. He can't reflexively oppose everything Obama suggests.

Kounterparty Kounterargument for Kooks...

Hey maybe Reid is worried that if one of these terrorists ever escapes into the wild, the well-armed American citizenry (two guns in every home) will panic and start shooting at anything that looks even remotely Arab...

Have you thought about that?

; )

Sound like Reid has an intellectual problem. Not understanding what's asked or what he is saying.

...the only difference between Reid's ridiculous remarks and those of Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is that Reid starts with an "R".

Fixed.

Irving said: It was quite easy for Reid to play like a leader when Bush was in office. He was the voice of the opposition.

Really? Reid?

On what planet.

Focus polls are no way to lead. Reid never addresses issues until he's put a moist finger in the air to read the political winds. (I've often wondered if it is his left middle finger.)

The disrespect toward Sen. Reid (and his Democratic colleagues) will continue to intensify as long as he treats the shutting down of Gitmo and all its torturous circumstances as a political issue.

Shutting Gitmo is an historic issue - will we continue to taint our heritage and identity and show the world our soft white underbelly, or will we have the will and ingenuity as Americans to incarcerate the hardened souls among the 240 while allowing justice beyond lynch mob rule for say innocents such as the Uighurs? What do the arguments on this matter say about the confidence the American people have in their system of justice? How do we claim leadership of the free world? Is torture necessary to secure freedom and peace among the nations of the world? Will Dick Cheney be our mentor to a new American Century?

These Qs and others need to be asked time and again while we debate the former policy debacles of the Bush/Cheney Era! -Kevo

Of course Reid is always ready to step up, turn around, take it from the Repubs, and do their bidding. I'm not really surprised, except maybe to the extent that he totally parrots wingnut talking points. This is the guy who welcomed Leiberman back with open arms. He loves people who screw him over repeatedly, he's got some type of ongoing Stockholm Syndrome.
The real question is, will Democrats continue to choose him as their leader? Do we blame the spineless flaccid "leader" or the "Democrats" who continue to empower him? We're beyond the breaking point with most Democratic voters. I hope Reid loses his re-election, if I lived in Nevada I'd vote for the Republican even if he was in jail.

Irving is spot-on in his observation about Reid and Congressional leaders, unfortunately. I think we deserve more, but this is the way things are more often than not.

What's just as frustrating to me is the lack of any strong, meaningful advocacy on behalf of his own agenda by the President himself. There's no indication to me that Obama is willing to stick his neck out to forcefully push his programs with his own supposed supporters in Congress.

That's the ironic thing about the GOP's manufactured hysteria over Obama's supposed radicalism. Barack Obama is no more a radical than Walter Mondale or Michael Dukakis were. He was just a better general election candidate who was lucky to be running against a weaker GOP nominee than either of those two faced.

Somewhere between the time my father came back from WWII, having helped stop two massive war machines bent on destroying us, and 9/11, we became a nation of cowards, unwilling to stand up for the Constitution that defines and protects us. I'm ashamed.

Might want to correct the error in the last paragraph -- I believe it should read as follows:

"The American people have asked Obama and his adminsitration to shoulder a heavy burden, and work with the Congress on some pretty monumental tasks. Is Obama isn't ready to step up or not?"

There, that's better, and closer to the truth.

Obama will sign the bill giving wingers the right to carry loaded weapons into national parks because, of course, this was part of his mandate from the electorate, and yet another major Obama priority achieved in his first term. Next up: the Ethanol Preservation Act.

I just called Reid's office and was told that "he just wants the president to present a plan and he is not opposing the president on closing Guantanamo."

His position disturbs me and I wrote a letter; not that it will do much good!!! How the hell do we even know if these people at Gitmo are terrorists? Because Bush and Cheney told us so? Disgusting.

Reid is smart enough to know and acknowledge reality.

are you kidding?

have you NOT been paying attention, steve benen?

sometimes your willingness to give this asshat the benefit of the doubt goes too far.

"Somewhere between the time my father came back from WWII, having helped stop two massive war machines bent on destroying us, and 9/11, we became a nation of cowards, unwilling to stand up for the Constitution that defines and protects us. I'm ashamed."

Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Gulf 1, Somalia, Kosovo,Iraq, Afghanistan...it has become a steady decline- a chained series of one bad policy decision after another.

we don't think anymore, we react. we need to become a nation of pro-active people again. We need to cull the extremes from the discussion and marginalize them back to the Budweiser bar bench bitch-fests.

Transferring prisoners from one prison to another has never been done before. I'm not sure it's even possible. The liberals always have to give them paid vacations to Disneyland instead.

I just called Reid's office and was told that "he just wants the president to present a plan and he is not opposing the president on closing Guantanamo."

Completely meaningless unless he accepts that some of the detainees will be moved to U.S. prisons, and that some convicted terrorists already reside in U.S. prisons.
When you completely recite GOP talking points, you have no business calling yourself a Democrat or a Democratic leader.
Reid doesn't stand for anything at all, which is why I'd vote for the Republican. At least they have the courage of their convictions, even if they're wrong.

"At this point, the only difference between Reid's ridiculous remarks and those of Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is that Reid is smart enough to know and acknowledge reality."

He's jumped the shark on his sense of reality. Time for him to go. Pathetic!

If Reid doesn't shape up, who will step up? Nominate your the next Senate Majority Leader here.

Do you go with senior guys, like Levin, Dodd, or Bingaman? Or more junior senators like Patty Murray or Chuck Schumer? Or does Durbin get the job by default?

Primary Reid. Get him the hell out of the Senate.

Then we'll focus our attention on getting Reid replaced with the only Senate Democrat with any cojones --- Feingold.

(By the time Reid is dumped, if this dream scenario were to unfold, Franken would presumably be seated. And I believe he has cojones as well. But obviously as a freshman senator, he couldn't be considered for majority leader).

At this point, the only difference between Reid's ridiculous remarks and those of Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is that Reid is smart enough to know and acknowledge reality.

I think at this point Reid has jumped the shark on his sense of reality. Pathetic. Time for him to go

I don't mind that Harry Reid is a Democratic Senator, but I cannot comprehend why the Democrats in the Senate elected him their leader. Why didn't they just vote for Orrin Hatch?

A big part of the problem is that the Senate Democrats picked a leader from a swing state. Reid is vulnerable so he has to watch his back (think of the TV ads on this issue if he had gone the other direction).

I don't think we need to demonize Reid to make the compelling argument that right now we need leadership from safe Democratic seats.

Let's respect Reid's understandable situation but push hard for a leadership change.

I'd vote for the Republican. At least they have the courage of their convictions, even if they're wrong.
===============
Well, they keep getting convicted, is why.

Reid has never come close to living up to his hype. He isn't tough. He isn't smart. He isn't well versed on how to get things done in the face of adversity. He is adversity in the battle for common sense and progressive productivity.

He's fantastic at willfully bogging himself and procedures down in the name of maintaining the status quo. A fine form of obstruction in it's own right.

Reid contributes nothing. It would make a fantastic difference to the well being of this country if another, far more effective, Senate Majority Leader could be put in place. The entire country shouldn't be afflicted with his militant campaign to accomplish nothing during the time he will hold the leadership position.

Right now, his legacy is a blank page on behalf of the team he's supposedly "fighting" for. What a laugh.

Is Reid isn't ready to step up or not?

Um, that would be a no.

Him and his god damn horse...

"Fie on thee and thy steed"

Sounds so much more noble if you say it like Shakespeare would have.

Hey Folks,

Why aren't we wise enough to realize that the majority leaders in congress do not need to be the spokesmen for the party. Bush was smart enough to hire Tony Snow to be his public face. Obama was smart enough to seek Sanjay Gupta as his health spokesman. We Democrats have too often put people out there that communicate poorly.

Neither Pelosi nor Reid do a good job on that count. They may deserve to be in the positions of power, although they are not the most senior members so it is not all seniority.

Either let someone who presents well be the public face or select someone who does.

Image and presentation are so much of the message. Obama is the rare combination that fills both roles.

Are Pelosi and Reid so vain that they can't see this? Here in Wisconsin, both Reid and Pelosi couldn't sell a used car. Is it just us cheeseheads that feel that way?

Now is the time to strike at Reid. Any one who challenges him with a legitimate chance to win gets my money.

He's a abject failure, a coward, and apparently as evidenced by the cited exchange nearly too dumb to breathe.

With the Democratic Senate, who needs Republicans? Jeez what a bunch of bed-wetters.

Let's respect Reid's understandable situation but push hard for a leadership change.

Posted by: Dr Lemming at 10:20 AM

If the Senate had the guts to make that change, and if it seemed likely, I might be more patient. But the Senate is gutless and their propensity for protecting the club overrides their ability to make a change that would benefit legislative progress which would benefit the country. Now there's a concept.

Without Reid getting caught up in some major scandal, the best way to dislodge him would be defeat at the polls.

I'm not going to demonize him. He's a wet noodle, not a demon. But he's in too powerful a position, in too critical a time, to be allowed the luxury of being an ineffective figurehead.

I have been traveling through a wide swath of really depressed parts of the country - N. Michigan, N. Mn, etc. and I have an idea.

How about a deal ? What if one gutsy congressman from some cold place with no direct airport service, stood up and said - "we have a prison that is in danger of being closed due to state budget cuts. Here is the deal. The feds upgrade the prison, bring in and train staff, hell, even set up a Fed court. And the feds could give the county - 1, 2, 3, more ? million/year forever, and it would still be cheaper than gitmo. "

After the initial hoohaw by the press, they will forget about a place with no airports, lousy food, cold weather, and one hotel. The detainees will be out of gitmo; due process will be served; and a forlorn rural area will have some more jobs, and a bit of income, money for schools, etc.

We house all sorts of awful human specimens in our prisons now - child rapists, awful murderers, etc., so maybe some elected official could stand up and be counted ? Whadday say, Bart Stupak ?

Reid signaled his intentions upon becoming majority leader, when he told 60 Minutes that he didn't believe LBJ was a good role model for the job.

He's disproved that since day one. He needs to be gone.

"Is Reid isn't ready to step up or not?"

NOT!

That's been perfectly clear for quite a while. He's an embarrasment to Dems, and it's long past time to make a change.

I'm still trying to figure out whether Harry is (a) the Rush Limbaugh Dumber-than-Dirt Dittohead wing of the Democratic Party, or (b) the Democratic Party wing of the Rush Limbaugh Dumber-than-Dirt Dittohead show....

On the flip side. The Repubs Boehner comes across as a large stuffed orange faced groundhog, while Eric Canter's face can be found in most dictionaries as the definition of smarmy. Mcconnel is Reid warmed over.

Is it just a matter of our sense of fairness that keeps us from taking advantage of that?

Maybe Obama needs to nominate Reid for ambassador to something just to get him out of the way.

in a word? No. Never has been, never will be.

I'm with Slideguy:

"Somewhere between the time my father came back from WWII, having helped stop two massive war machines bent on destroying us, and 9/11, we became a nation of cowards, unwilling to stand up for the Constitution that defines and protects us. I'm ashamed."

I can't believe how we've become a nation of chickenshit cowards. You'de think these guys have superpowers the way the repubs (and now some Dems) talk about them.

They're just people who went through some military training. They're not James Bond.

Most of these guys would be eaten alive if thrown into the general population of our federal prisons.

As Jon Stewart says, "I'll put my money on the brain-eater."

I don't defend Reid's asshole comments but, Steve, your not considering the difficulties here. These "detainees" aren't prisoners. They haven't been prosecuted, convicted or sentenced. They, therefore, just can't be "dropped into" a U.S. prison. Detainees that aren't convicted face a very problematic foreign relations deportation. And, playing devil's advocate if a detainee deemed "safe" were released in the U.S. and that person harmed so much as a hair on a U.S. citizen's head, there would be holy hell to pay. The Republicans' talk, bullshit though it may be, is successful in painting Dems into that corner.

Rather than bitch, I took some time to comment on Reid's site. Here's my comment:

Dear Mr. Senator,

I have serious concerns as regards your statements about the relocation of Guantanamo prisoners on 5-19-09. I understand the difficulty in transitioning "prisoners" that have not been formally convicted to U.S. prisons. I also understand the political climate surrounding this issue. However, particular comments you made yesterday are egregiously soft and misinformed:

"I think there’s a general feeling, as I’ve already said, that the American people, and certainly the Senate, overwhelmingly doesn’t want terrorists to be released in the United States. And I think we’re going to stick with that."

"If people are -- if terrorists are released in the United States, part of what we don’t want is them be put in prisons in the United States. We don’t want them around the United States."

Do you realize how this looks? You just validated ridiculous Republican talking points. You just slighted all the men and women of our prison system and simultaneously undermined the closing of Guantanamo Bay prison. You're indicating that under no circumstances will Bush era detainees be tried and imprisoned in the U.S.

This type of apologetic language towards Republican misdeeds is inappropriate and feckless. I understand that you need the graces of certain moderate Republicans to increase the likelihood of overcoming filibusters, but you are leading a majority party now. Please act as such.

Guantanamo detainees that have been convicted of terrorist action and sentenced to life, most certainly should be held in U.S. prisons. Detainees convicted and sentenced for a limited time (if there is such a category) should be
held in U.S. military prisons before being returned to their respective country of origin. All others, such as the Uighurs, must be treated fairly and with compassion and returned to their origins to the best that foreign diplomacy allows.

that's why they call him "Give 'em Hello Harry"

More than anything it underscores the idiocy of expecting an anti-choice, anti-gay marriage, anti-civil liberties senator from one of the poorest, smallest, and least influential states to pass a platform of progressive legislation. It's like Tom Daschle all over again.

The bright side of all this is that if Harry Reid loses his seat, the next in line in leadership would be Dick Durbin.

Transferring prisoners from one prison to another has never been done before. I'm not sure it's even possible.

The problem is, every time they try it, some incredibly improbable plane, train or bus accident happens and monstrous killers are loosed among us. Dr. Richard Kimble, for instance.

And jeez, Steve, Reid has never been ready to step up. Why should you expect him to start now?

The bright side of all this is that if Harry Reid loses his seat, the next in line in leadership would be Dick Durbin.

But isn't he the traitor who compared our valiant troops to Nazis? Cue right-wing faux outrage in 3 . . .

Dr. Richard Kimble, for instance.

Or Cyrus the Virus.

@palinoscopy:

i agree letters should be sent to reid's office. i just don't think the guy is smart enough to understand what you say in yours. he proved that when he made his comments at yesterday's presser.

i sent him a letter but i cut to the chase. after citing his statements, i wrote:

You seem to be setting a record for stupid. As a Democrat and an American, I am astonished, mortified, embarrassed and ashamed at the absolute cluelessness of your thinking.
It is clearly past time for your retirement both as majority leader and senator.

i think harry reid has proved he has no understanding -- and does not care to have any understanding -- of the issues at hand.

as someone else suggested above, an ambassadorship to some nice, quiet part of the world sounds like it would be perfect for old harry.

Reid's confusion only adds to the foolishness of this stance by Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

Apparently this action stems from protests from residents and politicians in areas where there are prisons that are logical destinations. "No terrorists" "Not in our backyard" Here they are near prisons that house murderers, rapists, and serial killers, complaining about a few foreign nationals with some connection to terrorist attacks. So where is the big danger?

homer www.altara.blogspot.com

Dem Congress(wo)men are stooping to the gop level. That's asssuming, of course, that they ever rose above it. I'm disgusted with the lot of them. The only thing they're interested in is their own re-elections, their own little fiefdoms.

Indie is looking better and better all the time.

@Irving 9:33 am - Irv, you are either very young or you are a republican. If you think Congress doesn't lead, you are thinking only of the wimps of the last 8-20 years. You have forgotten or never knew the Congresses of yore. Consider LBJ, for instance, if you want to know what a real Congressional leader can accomplish.

Yes, Reid is smart. So WHY does he do these things... why, why, why? He has a motivation. Who is pulling his chain? Who does he serve? We can point to evidence all day every day.. "Did you see that?! He did it again!" Of course did, does and will! He's getting more consistent in that regard every day and predictable. He has become something like a GOP mole. He acts no differently than Specter or Lieberman. They all have this fox in the henhouse mentality. Why can't we find out who they serve and point to the reason for their behaviors instead of the results? Then we can smack them down. There is an underlying purpose, and it is basically to undermine the party and the progressive causes in an attempt to demolish the credibility of the Democratic party. They need to stop the progressive movement and they are doing it from the inside.

Harry Reid is doing exactly what he believes in. Trouble is, his belief system makes him better suited to being in the GOP.

Primary him. At least his replacement won't be in position to block needed legislation. Might even lead a bit.

Does anyone know why Reid is in trouble at home? It can't be his progresive votes, so what is it?

Chris: "...we no longer have a democracy, we have a dictatorship." Was this your position during the Bush years?

Reid cant even get Dawn Johnsen confirmed for the OLC even though Luger supports her and Ben Nelson said he'd vote for cloture. What's the hold-up?

Reid is a joke.

Gee. I dunno. The current Democratic leadership has only been in Congress during that long night of being back-stabbed, bullied and swift-boated -- ofttimes by their own people (who NEVER seem to have their backs.)

I "get" why they're a bunch of 'fraidy cats.

What I don't get is how the uber-dumbass Republican phony macho, pseudo-testosterone bluster turns into puling, wet-their-pants, pussy-wussy, shrieking, gibbering, drooling cowardice at the drop of a hat (or a World Trade Center).

Either way, the craven gutlessness of the American politician and the American pundit (excepting, of course, the bat-shit crazy psychotics like Malkin, Coulter, et al) has become so ubiquitous that there is (seemingly) no solution in sight.

Ohhhh, scary terrorists! (Many of whom are innocent). Scary SCARY terrorists!

(I'll give you a moment to mop up the piss that's soiled your chair and dripped onto the floor.)

Somehow, the specter of having them in US prisons (on what? *SACRED* US soil?) exponentially increases the need for rubber sheets amongst the bloviating class.

Frankly, it's pathetic, embarrassing and probably hopeless. History will laugh in our faces for having come to this, but we've now instituted invertibrates as our political animal role model. (Not to worry, 98% of all animal species are invertibrates. We're just going with the flow.)

Generation Xanax.

So, let's just face reality, bite the bullet, and emend Francis Scott Key's verse and be done with it:

Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave, o'er the land of the terrified and the home of the yellow-bellied knee-knockers.

(Might need to add a measure or two to the Anacreontic Song).

Feh. Ptui.

Halfdan:The bright side of all this is that if Harry Reid loses his seat, the next in line in leadership would be Dick Durbin.

What talents does Reid actually have that the Senate Democrats elected him over Durbin in the first place? Can't they reconsider?

Transferring those detainees to American prisons would save us the cost of Gitmo.

The idiocy of the Republicans (who would use that as a political argument to hammer Dems) is going to cost us the continued expense of running Gitmo.

How can they argue for smaller government and lower taxes if they keep arguing for stupid wastes of taxpayer money?