The Widdershins

A hodge-podge salad

Good morning Widdershins!  I sort of feel like my brain and my thought processes are hitting the bottom of the well.  Is it that I’m already soured on or over it on this election?  Could be.  I’ve already heard all I care to hear about Mitt, the dawg, Bain Capital, and his Mormonism.  Do I think he is evil incarnate?  No, he’s just another Republican running for President whose policies I oppose.

So am I absolutely enthralled with Obama and do I think he’s the best thing since sliced bread?  Oh hell no.   I’m getting equally tired of hearing about how what a feminist he is, how he’s now the First Gay President, and how, apparently, he’s Andrew Sullivan’s latest crush.  He’s caved to the Republicans on too many issues that were as important as these when it came to the good of the nation such as doing away with the Bush tax cuts, not closing Gitmo, feeling free to assassinate American citizens without the benefit of due process…the list goes on.

Accordingly, I’m just going to concentrate today on a couple of things that caught my eye over at HuffPo.

Olympia Snowe talks about the Senate filibuster

Ms Snowe, talking about the Senate, talked about  the current state of the filibuster and said “yeah, we oughta do something about that”.  (she didn’t say that, I said she said that – artistic license you know) Well now’s a nice time to have those thoughts, especially since you are leaving the Senate Olympia!  Senator Snowe  laments “the ideological rigidity that has paralyzed the chamber”.    Said she:  “I haven’t gone on any of the legislation that has proposed some of the rules changes. I don’t know if we have to change the 60-vote number or not because my concern is that’s what builds consensus, supposedly.”  Well Olympia, that 60 vote thing is what has hamstrung the Senate from carrying on with its business dear.  She said both parties had “abused” the rules, the Dems by limiting the number of amendments the Repubs could offer, and the Repubs by holding onto that magical 60 vote number that blocks anything from getting done.

Harry Reid (D-noballz) made similar pronouncements about modifying the filibuster rules saying “If there were anything that ever needed changing in this body, it’s the filibuster rule, because it’s been abused, abused and abused,”.  Harry said:

“The filibuster has been abused. I believe that the Senate should be different than the House and will continue to be different than the House,” Reid said at the time. “But we’re going to take a look at the filibuster. Next Congress, we’re going to take a look at it.”

But here’s the catch Harry (as you well know): “The reality is that it would be difficult to change the rule since it requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate to do so. And while Republicans may be guilty of using the filibuster excessively to delay action on bills in this Congress, both parties have engaged in the practice when in the minority.”   So does that completely wipe out the chances of getting a change in the rules since it would take that two-thirds vote to change the requirement of 60 votes to invoke cloture?  Well apparently not because there’s a small chance of it happening this way:

A Senate Democratic aide told The Huffington Post that Reid wants to revisit the issue in January, when the new Congress begins and when there is a brief window to change Senate rules with a 51-vote threshold.

“Right when you convene a new Congress, you have an opportunity to alter rules with just a simple majority,” said the aide. “Once that window closes, as soon you reconvene, it doesn’t happen again until a new Congress starts. We’re never going to get a two-thirds vote.”

Hmmm…a whole lotta hope to get the body to change itself is being *hoped* for.  And this in turn leads us to:

Bill Clinton: Richard Mourdock’s Refusal To Compromise Shows Why Political Gridlock Exists

Mr. Mourdock is the gentleman from Indiana who defeated Richard Lugar in that state’s Senate race.  He was backed by the Tea Party group in the state.   He ran on a promise not to compromise with the Dems in the Senate saying:

‘I’m just against compromise, we need to stop it, it’s weak, it’s foolish, our views are irreconcilable, we have to force the American people to choose which one of us is right’ — if that prevails, we’re toast. We’ll look like a bush-league country.”

Hunh!  With an attitude like that, it would seem that compromise or working together is gonna get tossed out the window.  When one person basically says “It’s my way or the highway”, I don’t see too many kumbaya moments on the horizon.

The Big Dawg said electing someone like Mourdock “represents what’s wrong with American politics these days, arguing that Republicans are too ‘scared’ to compromise.”  Clinton also said:

The evidence is that the Republicans will be scared to do it after what happened to Sen. [Richard] Lugar,”  referencing the six-term Indiana senator Mourdock defeated last week. “We will see, with two or three other primaries, what happens. Obviously, I think there should be a big, bipartisan coalition for this. We may just have to wait till the election is over.”

So, do I expect that the fall elections will bring about a change with our elected politicians to the point that they decide to act in concert to address the problems of our country?  In a word…NO.

This is an open thread.  What’s on your minds today?

Them that’s got shall get
Them that’s not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own

Yes, the strong gets more
While the weak ones fade
Empty pockets don’t ever make the grade
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own

Money, you’ve got lots of friends
Crowding round the door
When you’re gone, spending ends
They don’t come no more
Rich relations give
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don’t take too much
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own

Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own
He just worry ’bout nothin’
Cause he’s got his own