(no subject)

[heidi]

Gacked from Americablog:

understand that after four years of bashing gays, destroying the environment, trashing the Constitution, rescinding civil rights, ignoring the poor, ignoring minorities, ignoring women, raping science, deifying extremists, invading foreign lands, killing innocent civilians, and letting Osama get away, our illustrious president now thinks it's a time for healing and unity.

How do I say this nicely? Fuck him.

I'm all for unity. I'm all for healing. But I'm not an idiot. George Bush isn't our new president, he's our old president. We've had him for four years and we know how he works. He surrounds himself with ideologues and is too stupid, or uncaring, to do anything other than their bidding. He will attack and trash and pillage again and again like he has for four years. As Ronald Reagan would say: Trust, but verify. I'm all for George Bush being a uniter, and if he really proves he is, I'll join him.

So guys, please, if you see signs Bush is being a uniter and not a divider, let me know. I'm off to read some fanfic, some baby books, and some bios of Teddy Roosevelt, John & Abigail Adams, and Tom Jefferson.

---

ETA: There is one election I hadn't said anything about because (a) it's not my state anymore, and (b) I actually didn't know the results until this morning, but despite my being a generally-votes-for-Democrats type, had I stayed in Pennsylvania, I would have voted for Arlen Spector, because he is the chair of the Judiciary Committee, and I would have been too afraid to trust almost any other Republican in the Senate with that role. And if he follows through with what he said this morning, then I will be glad that he retained his seat - and here's why:

"If you have a race that is won by a percent or two, you have a narrowly divided country, and that's not a traditional mandate..."

"The number-one item on my agenda is to try to move the party to the center... I want to focus on the politics of inclusion."

Specter, as presumptive chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, suggested that he would block any Bush nominee to the Supreme Court who opposed abortion rights. Reiterating his position that a woman's right to choose is "inviolate," he said overturning Roe v. Wade today would be akin to trying to reverse Brown v. Board of Education, the court's 1954 landmark desegregation decision.

Arlen - go the distance, man.

Comments

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

But we don't BELIEVE him, really.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Oh, I believe him. He can't say that all Jews are unpatriotic and unamerican; the Republicans would never have another Jewish vote, and about 20% voted for him this time. And also, I know he thinks that Catholics who voted for him are as patriotic as fundamentalists. Sorry, that doesn't count as unifying - it's still just focused on his base.

[roguebitch.livejournal.com]

And in any case, that's just what he SAYS, not what he DOES. I'm much more interested in his actions towards uniting than in anything he might say.

[phoenixsong]

Maybe so, but that still doesn't change Bush's attitude, in and of himself. If he stops attacking gay rights, or abortion, because "Good Christians Don't Do Those Things" and they are therefore evil, then I might buy it.

On it's own, though, that statement really feels like either 1) a line to placate those just left of middle, or 2) code for "They're just like us, and therefore can be converted over to our way of seeing the world." That's not the kind of unity this country needs; we don't need to be converted to another belief system (not necessarily religious), we need to accept others as they are.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

Oh, have the fundies decided Roman Catholics are Christians again? Actually, the word 'condescended' needs to work in there somehow... especially since Catholics never stopped being Christians, since they were 'there first'.

I went to a school for 6 years where my first teacher there told the class Catholics were idol worshippers because of the veneration of saints. This is their mindset.

[selinakyle47.livejournal.com]

Not what you were looking for but...From Grover Norquist:

"Once the minority of House and Senate are comfortable in their minority status, they will have no problem socializing with the Republicans. Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they've been fixed, then they are happy and sedate. They are contented and cheerful. They don't go around peeing on the furniture and such."

What's that about unity again?

[datta.livejournal.com]

Re Arlen:

He's a good guy, as far as he goes. He's pro-choice, at least. But I can't help but think that they're going to go after the right to choose. It's a "moral issue", man!

I would have gone for Hoeffel, but Specter had labor behind him, which was a major plus.

[cleverthylacine]

He got the Log Cabin endorsement :)

[lizardlaugh.livejournal.com]

I was going to post about Arlan Specter as well. He also voted against the stupid marriage amendment. I have a lot of respect for that man. Wish there were more like him in the Republican party.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

There are! There's like, five! Chaffee, the women from Maine, and... um... Okay, there's four.

(Note: Yes, I know there are other Republicans who agree wiht Specter, et al, but I was limiting her "like him" to "Senators". And I still think I'm forgetting someone...

[selinakyle47.livejournal.com]

Chuck Hagel?

[cleverthylacine]

I totally <3 Arlen. :)

[demeter918.livejournal.com]

It seems like there are a lot of small instances of hope. The 'big' one where Bush won just seemed to smother everything else. =) Yay.

[verstehen.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love the bit about moving the Republicans back to center. I was talking about this with my Dem coworkers last night about what it might be like if the Republicans actually fielded a, you know, traditional Republican candidate again for the first time in probably my lifetime.

[virginia-bell.livejournal.com]

I didn't mind Specter winning. Saves Hoeffel for a Senate run in '06 against gay-bashing Rick Santorum.

[no-remorse.livejournal.com]

Arlen Spector is the shiny silver lining that won't translate into a new dawn for the direction of the Republican party. See, I loved the thing Tim Ryan pulled in October, but it won't translate into a new direction of the Democratic Party, either. They made Reid the Senate Minority Leader for Pete's sake.