The most typed words on Daily Kos besides some sentence variation containing the words Aaaaw, pootie, cute and so. 'We don't have the votes.'
And that is incredibly surprising.....considering this is a political blog and supposedly politicaly knowledgeable people post here.
Let me (as is my wont) ask a question of you all....but PARTICULARLY those of you who use this apparently meant to be DISCUSSION ENDING phrase. 'We don't have the votes.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~What IS "POLITICS?"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
merriam-webster: c: the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government
How do you win control of a government?
By magically "having" the votes?
Did we have the votes to win both houses of Congress in 06?
No. The Republicans had the votes...as evidenced by controlling Congress before the election.
We won Congress by CHANGING the votes.
Did we have the votes to pass the legislation to end the war that now sits on Bush's desk?
No. Votes were CHANGED to pass the legislation
If votes never changed, we wouldn't have elections.
Politics....politicking.....is GETTING the votes. Politics is CHANGING the votes.
The vote fariy doesn't descend from the heavens and give someone 'the votes' and from that time til eternity they then "Have The Votes" and nothing can ever CHANGE that.
Did Suffrage have the votes? Did the repeal of prohibition have the votes? Did Brown vs. the Board of Education have the votes? Did Roe vs. Wade have the votes?
In my opinion, anyone who uses the phrase 'we don't have the votes' is politically ignorant or naive......or.....has been cowed and hoodwinked by the Right Wing domination of politics of the last twelve years.
EVERYTHING WE DO ON DAILY KOS AND IN POLITICS HAS ONLY ONE GOAL IN MIND......CHANGING THE VOTES.
Of COURSE we don't have the votes! I CAN COUNT TOO, YA KNOW...AS CAN EVERY IMPEACHMENT ADVOCATE. So if you think you are superior to us because you can divide the number one hundred....well again, ignorance (for lack of a more colorful epithet). It stuns and amazes me that people who don't want to impeach Bush and Cheney and Fredo, think that the people who do are UNAWARE that there are not 67 Senators who will AT THIS TIME, vote to impeach. Are you really silly enough to think we don't KNOW that by now? It's not like no one has told us, even if we did have the IQ of a sponge and couldn't figure it out. Did you ever think that through? Or is your thought process so bereft of logic that it runs like this. "These impeach guys are well meaning but really DUMB! I better let them know that there are not 67 Democrats in Congress."
WE KNOW.
If we had the votes...we wouldn't NEED to impeach him! If we had the votes we wouldn't be in Iraq, we wouldn't be in a constitutional crisis with signing statements....we wouldn't BE TORTURING INNOCENT PEOPLE. If we had the votes, I wouldn't need to come on to Daily Kos and advocate TO GET THE VOTES.
The question, my friends is not do we have the votes...the question is how do we GET the votes....how do we CHANGE the votes. So I suggest you pack that little cliche away in your 'damn I used to be ignorant before I read buhdy's diary' trunk, and haul it up to the attic with your skinny ties and your walkman and your Polaroid camera. We are NOT under the CONTROL of the Republicans....or any politicians. They don't get to tell us what to do....it's called 'freedom.' Politicians do not RULE us. They run the GOVERNment. Even ones who think they can take parts of the Constitution 'off the table' and dictate to us whether we can or cannot impeach.
So next time....and oh my yes, there will be a next time...some ignorant person says to you 'we don't have the votes'....just type one word into your reply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~YET~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Or if you feel the need to be more expansive in your rejoindering, reply to them.....Then let's GET them. It is what we are here to do. It's called ....Politics.
.
Let me impart another little nugget of information while I am illuminating you (heeheehee) political naifs.
THIS is a Representative Democracy.....Look it up. It's true! I promise!
People....ordinary people, just like you and me...in Congress are NOT gods or divine representatives or priviliged enobled aristocrats.
They are representatives. They represent people. WE THE PEOPLE. Represent: (2): to act in the place of or for usually by legal right. They REPRESENT.....US.
THEY do what we tell THEM. Not the other way around.
THEY work for us. They DO NOT tell US what to do. That is called tyranny. THIS is a Democracy....at least it was up til six years ago. And it can be again ....if we IMPEACH the guy who is trying with all his might to be a tyrant and plunge the world even further into war. The beginning of The Constitution, that much abused by Republicans and power hungry politicians, document... that is the Highest LAW of the land does NOT begin with the phrase....We the Politicians...or We the Congressmembers. It begins with the phrase, the SACRED phrase.....
We The People.
I know, I've seen it.
If the representatives in a representative democracy do not represent The People. The People are REQUIRED to remove them from office. Either through elections or......wait for it.....IMPEACHMENT!
And this little fact is one of the major things that CHANGES VOTES. When enough of The People want something....and YELL loud enough, the politicians do it....or are voted out. That's how it works. Special interests can give politicians money to get them to do what they want.....but what do the politicians use that money for? They spend it on campaigns...to get VOTES. We are the voters and....aside from tax cuts....you can't easily BUY our votes. They too are sacred and precious. They are the basis of our freedom.
And they are how WE control OUR Government.
When the 21 Republicant Senators who are up for reelection in 08 realize that if they continue to support and enable the worst and most unpopular President ever....a President who is sending THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY OFF TO DIE FOR NO REASON.....they will LOSE THEIR JOBS....THAT will change their votes.
When the 49 Republicant Senators and the Mutant Lieberman see the evidence that is now being developed through investigations, and realize that if they continue to support a CRIMINAL, voters will not vote for them again and they will be catigated and reviled in the media and whenever they return to their states.....THAT WILL change their votes.
When there is a hew and cry throughout the land as voters see that same evidence and REALIZE THERE IS A REMEDY, and you better damn well do something about it, Senator.....THAT WILL CHANGE THEIR VOTES.
And heck...a few may even have a conscience left.
In the first solid poll on impeachment since the election 40% of voters approve of DUAL IMPEACHMENT of both Cheney and Bush.
40%......want to impeach BOTH.
40%.....BEFORE ONE SHRED OF EVIDENCE, BEFORE ONE HEARING, BEFORE ANY SERIOUS TALK IN THE MEDIA.
40% .....support the idea on general principles alone, 40% are ready to impeach NOW....just wait til the ball gets rolling and impeachment becomes fashionable and rock stars and movie stars and sports figures support it! WHEN impeachment becomes a possibility.....when America CALLS for it
WE WILL HAVE THE VOTES
We are here to change things, not surrender to a perceived impossibility, otherwise, what is the point? We are here to bring about change...to do that, we must change votes.
To start with, we need to RESPECTFULLY let Speaker Pelosi know that it is time to put impeachment back on the table. ESPECIALLY if Bush refuses to end this illegal and disastrous war...if he abandons our troops by vetoing funding. THAT will be a watershed moment. And that is why WE need to be preparing the country, the politicians and OURSELVES to push to Impeach. To push and politic and harangue and YELL....AS IS OUR DUTY AS CITIZENS....TO.....
Get the Votes
Impeachment starts in the House....let's get it started. Kucinich has started impeachment against Cheney. Tell Speaker Pelosi you support Impeaching Cheney (does ANYONE here NOT want to Impeach him? Even though Kucinich is generally reviled?)
Please call Speaker Pelosi today, or e-mail her...or fax her. Today and every day. Please contact your own Senators and Representatives, to let them hear YOUR will....The Will of The People. WE the People.
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-0100
FAX 202-225-8259
E-mail and comments
The Gavel
Contact your Congressmember
1-800-828-0498 (thanks alegre!)
And Free Faxes from your computer
IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY TO HER JUST WRITE....impeach, PLEASE.
Let us, for our countries sake and for the sake of the Constitution....And for the sake of the world....start CHANGING the votes.