AP is calling it for Brown in Mass!!!

[sumpnz]

Heh.
Say, I'd heard that it was Teddy who arranged to have the replacement senator elected instead of appointed by governor in Mass, so that Romney couldn't replace him with a Republican if he died earlier? And now Romney's out, and the Democrat governor can't appoint a Democrat senator, and the election gives the seat to a Republican...
Thanks, Teddy. Couldn't've done it without you.  

Nope.  When the Dems were sure Kerry would beat W in 2004 they changed it from governor's appointment of a replacement to requiring a special election.  They didn't want Romney to appoint a Republican to that seat.  'Course that point was mooted by the epic fail on Kerry's part.  They switched it back when it was clear the Hero of Chappaquiddik would see his day of judgement before his current term expired.  

[sumpnz]

I should clarify that when Swimmer was dying, they changed the rule so that Deval Patrick could appoint a temporary replacement in order to keep the Donks at a 60 seat majority until the election could be held.  Without that, the election requirement would have left MA without one senator and the Donks with 57 seats (plus Sanders and Lieberman).  The Reps could have sustained a filibuster in that case.

The rule change the made under Romney simply prevented him from naming a temporary replacement senator had Kerry won in 2004.  The recent change just put it back the way it was prior to 2004.

[jackdanson]

woot.

[French G.]

Chris Matthews was outlining a way to ram through health care and saying that the reason they were losing races was because health care wasn't done.

Sir, I demand you share your fine smoke. I too wish to see the purple flying unicorn.

[Balog]

You can't expect Matthews to report objectively on the man he loves.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Nope.  When the Dems were sure Kerry would beat W in 2004 they changed it from governor's appointment of a replacement to requiring a special election.  They didn't want Romney to appoint a Republican to that seat.  'Course that point was mooted by the epic fail on Kerry's part.  They switched it back when it was clear the Hero of Chappaquiddik would see his day of judgement before his current term expired.  

I see. Thanks for clarifying.

[Silver Bullet]

Best news I heard this year.

Meanwhile ...

364 days down, 1097 days to go.

[Perd Hapley]

So is it Palin/Brown '012, or Brown/Palin?      

[vaskidmark]

The WaPo has a wonderful little slideshow on the left side of their main page.  Pictures of Dems (esp. J, Kerry) finding out that they did not win = priceless.  Bitterness and anger prevail as the emotions being expressed.

That may say something. [/obviousness]

stay safe.

skidmark

[Harold Tuttle]

[Harold Tuttle]

[makattak]

All I can say is, I woke up this morning with hope.

If Massachusetts can do this, hope yet remains for our country.

[Jamisjockey]

A)  Harold is the man
B) I'm stealin that first one for facebook!

[AZRedhawk44]

All I can say is, I woke up this morning with hope.

If Massachusetts can do this, hope yet remains for our country.

I just hope we don't over-react.

The last thing I want is a Republican supermajority and a Republican president in 2012.  This has already been bad enough.  Imagine what a Stupid Party supermajority would do to police powers domestically.

I love it like in 1994, when the FedGov shuts down and no one can agree on anything.  No spending.  No intrusive programs.

[makattak]

I just hope we don't over-react.

The last thing I want is a Republican supermajority and a Republican president in 2012.  This has already been bad enough.  Imagine what a Stupid Party supermajority would do to police powers domestically.

I love it like in 1994, when the FedGov shuts down and no one can agree on anything.  No spending.  No intrusive programs.

I want gridlock. I want the government STOPPED.

Status quo is better than Obama-_______ (Care, Energy, Stimulus, Taxing, Spending) but status quo is unsustainable. Something has to be done about entitlement spending and it must be done soon. It will collapse on itself within the next generation.

However, I don't know how we roll things back without a supermajority, though. I don't know how Social Security and Medicare are "fixed" (I'd prefer "ended") without that.

[roo_ster]

George Soros Learns About Brown Victory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4aQCiRjvZY&feature=player_embedded

This video is evergreen.

[Harold Tuttle]

[Nick1911]

However, I don't know how we roll things back without a supermajority, though. I don't know how Social Security and Medicare are "fixed" (I'd prefer "ended") without that.

I don't have reason to believe that the GOP would do any of these things with a supermajority.

[41magsnub]

I don't have reason to believe that the GOP would do any of these things with a supermajority.

+1  The GOP is not called the stupid party without reason.  The current crop seem to love budget deficits and big government as much as anybody.

[SADShooter]

jfruser:

Thank you. I needed that today. I almost wet myself. My co-workers probably thought I was suicidal until they realized I was laughing.

SADShooter

[Monkeyleg]

"Obama probably failed lunch."

:D :D :D

[AZRedhawk44]

I don't have reason to believe that the GOP would do any of these things with a supermajority.

Ditto.

Our only hope as voters, with an elected ruling elite that hates us (yet we still vote for), is to create the gridlock ourselves and inflate our way out of a spending deficit.

Or, get honest men in office.

Since honesty is unlikely, I hope for gridlock for a generation.  I'll wish in one hand and do something else with the other, though, and see how I end up.

[makattak]

I don't have reason to believe that the GOP would do any of these things with a supermajority.

Since I'm feeling hopeful:

I don't think the current GOP would fix entitlement spending with a supermajority.

However, the most popular political party in the country right now is the Tea Party. The group most specifically concerned about fiscal responsibility.

If we do not reign in government spending, our country will collapse in the next (WARNING! Economist predictions! Take with a grain of salt!) 30 years. Possibly into Argentina, possibly into Weimar republic. Those 30 years will be faster if we continue to grow spending.

However, like most of our problems, other countries will get there first.

What I'm afraid of is: What happens when the backbone of the world economy snaps? We're talking fall of Rome level of societal collapse.

I think the Tea Party's popularity is a result of citizens recognizing this. If this anger at spending finally gets traction with the public, we may elect republicans who WILL cut spending. (Democrats are genetically incapable of cutting spending.)

There is hope. It is not yet a surety, but at least we can see it is possible.

[Fjolnirsson]

OMG, Jfruser. That was brilliant! I needed that.

[alex_trebek]

I don't have reason to believe that the GOP would do any of these things with a supermajority.

I completely agree. Now I think way too many people are reading way too much into this. This MA election was between a liberal republican who didn't act like an elitist and a liberal dem who did.
Furhermore it occurred in a state that already has near universal healthcare. I think it's hard to draw the MA voter opinion about national healthcare, given this fact.

It's great that the repubs can potentially filibuster major issues in congress. It is certainly news-worthy that MA elected a R, regardless of his views.  Is this some sort of indication that people are waking up? I don't know, but I really doubt it.

If anything this will convince the GOP that the big tent philosphy is the way to go. I expect more liberal/left R's to run, giving future voters a choice between socialist/marxist and socialist-light (or whatever is one step to the right of leftist dems).

The R's won't have a true filibuster-proof membership, until the left-leaning R's are gone or more true conservatives are elected.  IMO, electing true conservatives (regardless of what label they choose) will be the only way to fix some of the problems we have.