Monday, June 23, 2008

Over in the Better Universe --


-- where Aaron Sorkin takes story notes from Franklin Roosevelt and Ben Franklin on the Way Things Shoulda Oughta Be -- the back-channel staff people working for Senators Obama and Clinton suddenly see a mutually advantageous way for their Senators to team up which would also;
Make history...

Unify the Party...

Reframe the national security debate live, on-camera, without interruption and in a medium they would control...

Give each of them virtually unlimited free publicity for them to be able to talk about what they want, for as long as they want...

Give them a joint, "Sister Souljah" moment where they can use their unique pulpit to discipline the goofballs in their own Party...

...all while actually -- gasp! -- doing the right thing.


It happens when Senator Clinton rises in opposition to the FISA bill

unpacks a lunch, and lets people know she’s gonna be at this for awhile.

She speaks eloquently on the subject of the Constitution, the rule of law, and how appalled she is that members of her party let themselves be scared and bullied into trading away the basic rights of American citizens in a way that both makes them look weak and stupid, and hands a victory to the greatest domestic enemy the Constitution has had in living memory: the Bush/McCain GOP.

At around the four-hour mark she yields to a question from Senator Obama

the question, he makes clear

(in a direct lift from “The Stackhouse Filibuster”)

is in “22 parts” and might take a while, so perhaps the Senator from New York would like to take a break and have a shot of Crown Royale?

Just another day of smart Democrats beating vile Republicans and Centrist meatheads like that poor, tired, rented mule.

Over in the Better Universe.

12 comments:

Malacandra said...

I have never seen any indication that Hillary would possibly do anything remotely that brave.

But that is, after all, the Better Universe.

Then again, in the Universe Better Than That, it's not even an issue: President Gore never even signed the PATRIOT Act that the Republican Congress tried to ram through after the failed Hijack Conspirator trials. Perish the thought of Gore having ordered wiretaps without judicial warrants.

As for Democratic Senators doing the easy thing, the politically smart thing, and the right thing all in one fell swoop, merely by inaction: (First, Do No Harm...)

Well, yes, isn't it pretty to think so?

Anonymous said...

Boy, oh Boy, oh Boy. Now I AM confused.

I was just about to thank you, Driftglass, for letting me know about this Hillary and Barack pushback on FISA, telecom-fuck immunity and the US Constitution's 4th Amendment.

Thanx on accounta I'm sick to shit of trying to convince my "elected" Democrat-Who-Bends-Over senators to do the right god-damned thing. On anything.

Now, I'm not sure this actually happened. So did Hillary grow a pair?? Did our guy Obama threaten to throw a sock puppet in the money wrenches. Or not.

??

driftglass said...

No.

It's what could happen if the Big Kids in the Senate had an ounce of imagination.

One of the biggest and most repeated complaints that people (especially fence-sitters and casual voters) have about Democrats is that they're fucking gutless.

So here you have a strategy that, even in terms of pure political self-interest, would come with little-to-no political downside and big-big upside potential.

And it will never happen.

Anonymous said...

Are they gutless? Or are we gutless? We liberals just keep giving our votes to these Repub-lite Dem motherfuckers even though they sell us down the river every single fucking time!

But what the fuck else are we supposed to fucking do?

Anonymous said...

PhysioProf:

That's why the saying is "More and better Democrats", mate. We need both, but especially the latter.

Malacandra said...

Yep. The Mo' Betta' Blues.

Anonymous said...

Drifty, it is SO not about imagination.

It's not about capitulation.

Life is simple, don't be fuckin it up.

It's all about the members of The Senate and The House, who WERE privy prior to Bush's Erection, and subsequent to it, who were ALL FOR a series of items:

1) Invade Afghan to get Bin Laden (but they also knew about the pipeline deal the Talibani cut CHENEY OUT of which is WHY we invaded Afghan, NOT to get Bin LAden).

2) Ensure the invasion of Iraq (see control of oil).

3) Support rendition, torture, and Gitmo.

4) Get the oil, any way possible. To screw the Russians and the Chinese.

5) Spy on domestic citizens and compile a data base from emails and internet surveillance to round up dissenters when martial law is imposed.

6) Ok this is far fetched, but Cheney is STILL bound and determined to do Iran, and before they leave office. And that will change EVERYTHING!!
Including elections, if the invasion is held before the elections.

Our elected body of politics are ALL complicit with any and all policies that are criminally insane and subject to habeus, or The Hague.

And they are changing our laws to escape from that culpibility.

And FISA, and Telco Immunity, are a cover to keep THEM from Judicial Accountalibity.

Pelosi, Reid, and the lot of them. Each and every one, is backing FISA, to keep THEIR asses out of jail, and out of The Hague.

And now, we are fuckalating with natural gas pipelines in the Middle East, and deals done with other countries that will cut out India, China, and Russia.

Those pals will NOT stand still . . . .

And they own us, finacially.

There's no imagining this shit, we are being run by people who want to rule the world, and they would sacrifice the masses, and each and every one of us, to do so.

And that's not some kinda George Orwell fantasy.

Only Russia And China can save us from a full firefight that WILL spur the Isreali's to USE their nukes.

After that, it's all over amigos y amigas.

It's all over . . . . . . will NO one deliver me from these meddlesome fucks? Please?

Can we deliver OURSELVES?

I fear not, we are lost.



Harumph.

Anonymous said...

And now a federal judge has called the House's bluff and told them to arrest Bolten and Miers. You Got the Powah! This is Nancy Pelosi's worst nightmare. What to do, what to do. Spit in a shoe. Wrap it up and give it to you.

Matthew Saroff said...

Dude, you have the BEST fantasies.

dguzman said...

I want to live in that world. This one sucks.

Unconventional Conventionist said...

That's a pretty darn good universe. Now I just need some sort of trsnport beam to get there.

Batocchio said...

I'm with ya, drifty. (The only thing I never liked about that episode is I found it hard to believe that Stackhouse wouldn't know the procedural rules, all the more so since he must have seen Mr. Smith!)