2008 U.S. Presidential Election Political Discussion Thread

[Berlynn]

ty, Debra.  It was late, I should not have been attempting anything new.

And yes, Lieberman's got to go.  From what I've read -- and it's not a whole lot, to be sure -- the Repugs are spinning this as a way for Obama to demonstrate his bi-partisan commitment.  But surely, he has to think of what's best for the people and it's pretty clear that this dude is not best for the people!

[pogge]

But surely, he has to think of what's best for the people and it's pretty clear that this dude is not best for the people!

Actually I think the best thing Obama could do is to simply keep out of it. He runs the executive. Let the Senators run the Senate. They're supposed to be in two different branches of government and one of the trends that needs to be reversed is the blurring of the line between them and the attitude that the legislative branch should defer to the executive branch.

[Berlynn]

Thanks for that reminder, pogge.  I'd forgotten that the Prez is supposed to keep his nose in his own trough. :oops:

[pogge]

I think the argument that's being made against the position I took is that Obama is now also the leader of the Democratic party. It doesn't surprise me that people don't immediately suggest he should just butt out. But as is often the case these days, Glen Greenwald reminds us how the American system of government is supposed to work and he got me thinking. The campaigning is over and at this point Obama should be keeping his distance from the internal workings of the legislature. Part of their job is to hold him accountable.

[skdadl]

It is definitely time for the congresscritturs to remember what their job is and to start standing up to the prez, whoever he is. Maybe the first people they could demote would be Reid (Senate leader) and Pelosi (House Speaker), although I guess that's unlikely for the time being. There sure are some crimes that those two, especially Pelosi, do not want investigated. But there are some very strong committee chairs who could force a few issues. The time has come, guys.

[skdadl]

I think I'm going to lock this thread and start a new one called The Obama transition and cabinet, or something like that, since that seems to be picking up momentum now. Reflections on the politics of the election could still go in there.