Ding Dong, The Witch Ain't Dead. by Chris Floyd http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd04292009.html
The reaction to Specter's turning of his blood-spattered coat (or rather, his re-turning, as he began his political life as a Democrat) has been marked by the total amnesia that is the chronic affliction of our dozy, cozy media mandarins. The idea that Specter will vote in lockstep with the Democratic leadership's wishes, thus providing a "filibuster-proof" majority, is, of course, ludicrous, and flies in the face not only of Specter's own extensive (and deeply conservative) legislative record, but also the record of the current Democratic Party in the Senate. They can't even get "real" Democrats to vote their way on every issue. (Nor should we want them to; mindless factional conformity is hardly something to aspire to -- although our media analysts seem to think it's the cat's meow.) As for Specter's bolting presaging the death of the GOP, what can one say? This is a level of political analysis worthy of a 12-year-old who just started watching CNN for the first time a few months ago. Backed by the nation's wealthy elite and most powerful corporations, in control of statehouses and city halls across the land, buttressed by lavishly funded think tanks, political operations and a vast network of partisan media outlets -- and supported by tens of millions of ordinary citizens -- the Republican Party is not going to "die" or wither away anytime soon. Any more than the Democratic Party "died" after the much-larger wipeout it suffered in the Reagan landslide of 1984, or the so-called "Republican Revolution" of 1994. If the Republican Party didn't "die" in 1964 or1944, when it was thrust much farther to the margins than it is now, it is not about to expire or even become irrelevant in the imperial politics of our day. Anyway, wasn't it just a few years ago we were talking about a "permanent realignment" of American politics to the Right, under the unbreakable, unshakeable strategies of the great helmsman, Karl Rove? Such "permanent realignments" generally have a short shelf-life. But it seems our progressive triumphalists are just as giddily oblivious of history as their Bushist predecessors. From Jerry Policoff: I doubt today's Senate vote on the conference report to accompany S. Con Res. 13 (which deals with reconciling the different versions of the House and Senate budget bills) was all that important, but I could not help but be struck by the vote. It passed with 53 ayes and 43 nays (3 not voting). Evan Bayh and Robert Byrd joined 41 Republicans INCLUDING ARLEN SPECTER (yes, they are still listing Specter as a Republican) in voting nay. One might have thought that, for appearance sake if nothing else Mr. Specter might have at least considered sitting this one out if he could not bring himself to vote with the Democrats. <http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00173>http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00173 Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---53 Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Burris (D-IL) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Conrad (D-ND) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Gillibrand (D-NY) Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kaufman (D-DE) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR) NAYs ---43 Alexander (R-TN) Barrasso (R-WY) Bayh (D-IN) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Byrd (D-WV) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Kyl (R-AZ) Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL) McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Murkowski (R-AK) Nelson (D-NE) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Shelby (R-AL) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (R-PA) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Voinovich (R-OH) Wicker (R-MS) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to newsfromunderground-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
