I have to second this. Let 'em have it clean and with no excuses. Let’s see what they do. Be gracious and then hover over them like a vulture for the next four years. One thing I do predict is that all the scandals and investigations that were tamped down for this election will finally blow wide open.[/quote]
No scandals without Congressional investigations, and how are they going to get one?
Gah.
Yeah, very likely, but I’m not sure that makes me feel much better. I am interested to see how Bush & Co. react if we do get hit by another terrorist attack, after pretty much promising that they were the key to our eternal safety. And I wonder what kind of outcry there will be when Iraq finishes its long road to utter meltdown. Although based on this election, I’m guessing there won’t be much of one. People just don’t seem to care. According to exit polls, the issue that mattered most to Bush voters was his “moral character,” outranking the economy, his handling of Iraq, and his handling of the war on terror. So I guess as long as we think that he means well, it’s okay if he fucks up everything he touches.
My country scares me.
I’m with you on this one. At this point I’d like all the votes to be counted so there’s no doubt that Bush has won so when the democrats go into legislative sessions they’re not harboring the same type of grudging resentment they were after the last election.
I’m far more concerned about seeing us proceed as a country in some reasonable way, even if it’s not the way I want, than another four years of literally doing jack squat other than posturing and blustering about terrorism.
I also take comfort in the fact that I just can’t imagine Cheney as a viable presidential candidate in '08. Mind you, I can’t picture any Dems either. I’ll sit back and quietly hope that McCain can regain his sanity and show up as a viable candidate in '08 (Though he’ll be rather elderly by then I believe.)
Assuming we don’t all get blown to hell or die to some mutant virus strain coming through the mail due to our current choice of foreign policy. But I think if things are that bad we’d be in the same danger with whoever is president. (Unless, y’know, Bush does something really stupid like just decide to nuke someplace. Which doesn’t seem 100% improbable, but still really unlikely.)
It’s called Jeb.
That’s a weird thing to take comfort in, considering that Cheney doesn’t want to run, hasn’t been setting himself up to, will be even older than McCain at that point, and has a heart condition that makes him an unlikely choice for president (especially with four more years of age on him).
Come on, everybody knows what they want to see in '08. Hillary versus Rudy! Grudge match of the century! A good old-fashioned New York fight except this time the Mets don’t get the shit kicked out of them.
I’ve heard that he, too, is announcing non-interest in a Presidential campaign. I don’t buy this as much as I buy Cheney’s retirement, but still, Jeb would be a fool to run. Too much baggage, and too easily shot at with claims of dynastic succession, both in the primaries and the general election.
Oh God, I don’t want to see either Hillary and especially not Rudy.
Fortunately, both have a ton of garbage on them already. My hope is Powell, because there isn’t a Democrat that’s gonna get elected for another 12 years unless Bush really, REAAAAAAAAALLY fucks things up. And I just don’t think he has enough free military might to do that any longer - Iraq’s gonna be bad but it’ll save Bush from having to interfere in Iran and North Korea.
Hasn’t he been pretty clear in the past that he doesn’t want to run?
With the Republicans looking the way they are now, why would they run Rudy? After evangelical dreamboy Bush?
What if they held an election and no one ran?
Or something.
Hasn’t he been pretty clear in the past that he doesn’t want to run?[/quote]
Have you read his autobiography? That’s “I wanna be President” material if there’s ever been any.
I think he’s been told by the hardcore Republicans to back off, but I don’t think that means he doesn’t want to run. Probably just waiting for the right time.
That’s a weird thing to take comfort in, considering that Cheney doesn’t want to run, hasn’t been setting himself up to, will be even older than McCain at that point, and has a heart condition that makes him an unlikely choice for president (especially with four more years of age on him).
[/quote]
That’s a perfect thing to take comfort in. It breaks the most obvious chain of the continuation of the neocon movement. I don’t hate republicans, I don’t hate what the party stands far, I just hate the direction the current incarnation is taking the country because it seems hell-bent on doing things that run exactly counter to what I believe this country is supposed to be about. And they also make stupid foreign policy decisions (which may or may not be tied to that whole evangelical thing depending on how much truth you read into the various magazine and reporter takes).
Hasn’t he been pretty clear in the past that he doesn’t want to run?[/quote]
Have you read his autobiography? That’s “I wanna be President” material if there’s ever been any.[/quote]
Haven’t read it. I’ll check it out.
If Powell broke from the Republican party and ran as an independent in '08, I think that’s the biggest chance for a third-party president we’re likely to see any time soon. I’m not saying that he will, though I think he certainly has reasons enough to do so, and I think he’d capture a lot of the moderate/swing vote, as well as many Republicans who are uneasy with the neoconservative agenda.
It’s probably not going to happen, but it’s an interesting hypothetical.
I honestly expect that Colin Powell would/will get assassinated if he becomes President. Definitely on a Democratic ticket, certainly independent, 70% chance if he ran Republican.
Powell won’t run because his family doesn’t want him to.
My mom is a friend of some of his close relatives. He ain’t going to run, so stop dreaming.
Maybe 4 more years of Bush will change his mind?
=/
Honestly, here’s what I hope happens.
Bush graciously lets Kerry wait until all the rest of the ballots come in to be counted even though he’s pretty much got it wrapped up. Then when the votes come in and Kerry loses (which I’m pretty certain will be the case), Kerry graciously thanks Bush for his patience, he accepts the choice of the people, and concedes. It takes a while longer, but everything is handled with civility, no lawyers dragging it out further, and so on.
There’s really no harm in waiting until all the votes are counted to make your announcement, and I think if Bush starts saying “concede already, it’s time to move on,” that would be an assholish thing to do (and unnecessary since I think he has this locked).
Uh…no offense, but why?
Uh…no offense, but why?[/quote]
I think there are a lot of people who don’t want a black President. Combine those cuckoos with the anti-UN nutsies, and I think you’ve got enough hate in enough people for the odds of Powell surviving 4 years as President to be slim.