Here is an excellent quote about the very important topic of accountability that I heard on MSNBC Countdown last Wednesday night from Jonathan Alter that I think Democrats (and even seriously disillusioned Republicans) need to be constantly reminding people about concerning the midterm elections:
'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for August 23
Read the transcript to the Wednesday show
Updated: 10:00 a.m. CT Aug 24, 2006
Guests: Jonathan Alter, John Henson; Mo Rocca
ALTER: "I think it+óGé¼-£s really important for the Democrats to remind the voters that this election is really about accountability, because there hasn+óGé¼-£t been any. The only way you can get any is to get at least one chamber of Congress. Otherwise, you can+óGé¼-£t hold hearings to hold their feet to the fire, you have no subpoena power, forget impeachment and all the rest of that, just getting basic answers to questions about why this administration has been incompetent.
In order to do that, you+óGé¼-£ve got to get some control and some power back. And that+óGé¼-£s what this election is really about."
Every Democratic candidate running this year against a GOP Bush rubber stamp candidate should be running on this theme and should be talking about this in their campaign speeches as well as on their websites on a regular basis because this is a very powerful issue to connect with the voters to help win their races in my opinion!
Look at what Bush had to say about being "held accountable" for "mistakes or misjudgments" in an interview on January 16, 2005 shortly after he won reelection:
Transcript of Bush Interview
Sunday, January 16, 2005;
The Post: In Iraq, there's been a steady stream of surprises. We weren't welcomed as liberators, as Vice President Cheney had talked about. We haven't found the weapons of mass destruction as predicted. The postwar process hasn't gone as well as some had hoped. Why hasn't anyone been held accountable, either through firings or demotions, for what some people see as mistakes or misjudgments?
THE PRESIDENT: "Well, we had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 election. And the American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me, for which I'm grateful."
My reply to Bush's answer is that we have another "accountability moment" coming up soon "and that's called the 2006 election!"
We have got to get people to understand that the 2006 midterm elections are the ONLY WAY that Bush and the extreme GOP leadership can be held to any form of accountability before 2008. If people do not vote for accountability in 2006, then they will not get another chance to do that until 2008!
People also have to understand that just as how things have gotten much worse from 2004 to 2006 that they will continue get even worse from 2006 to 2008 if Democrats do not win back at least one branch of Congress in 2006 to help restore some form of real accountability back to this government before 2008!
If Bush gets a rubber stamp Congress as a lame duck for the next two years, then what can stop him and the Neocon controlled GOP leadership from bombing Iran or North Korea without sufficient diplomatic efforts or from doing anything else extreme that they feel like doing?
How else can Bush and the extreme GOP leadership be held to any form of serious accountability for "mistakes or misjudgments" if Democrats do not win back at least one branch of Congress in 2006? All people need to be asked these kind of serious questions before they vote in November!
Please forward this on so that all people will see that the 2006 elections are another "accountability moment" before they vote and will also see that a vote for ANY Bush rubber stamp candidate this year (especially George Allen) is just a vote for "more of the same" of what they are not happy about now and is a vote for a lack of accountability!
Mitch Dworkin
http://www.securinga...
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program:
An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda which will help our local candidates to win their races!
http://securingameri...
Gen. Wes Clark's endorsement of Jim Webb against George Allen
Newsweek Editor: Bush Administration ‘Incompetent’ And Needs to be Held Accountable
Posted by Scott Whitlock on August 24, 2006 - 16:44.
Jonathan Alter, the Senior Editor of "Newsweek," last night told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann that Democrats regaining power is the only way to hold the Bush administration accountable for its "incompetence." Appearing on the August 23 edition of "Countdown," he exhorted Democrats to inform voters of this fact:
Alter: "I think it`s really important for the Democrats to remind the voters that this election is really about accountability, because there hasn’t been any. The only way you can get any is to get at least one chamber of Congress."
According to Alter, this is the only scenario under which the Democrats will, at long last, be able to punish the President:
Alter: "Otherwise, you can`t hold hearings to hold their feet to the fire. You have no subpoena power, forget impeachment and all the rest of that, just getting basic answers to questions about why this administration has been incompetent. In order to do that, you`ve got to get some control and some power back. And that`s what this election is really about."
Mr. Alter is certainly no stranger to attacking George Bush. The MRC’s Geoffrey Dickens noted that he recently claimed a Bush veto of stem cell funding "may well doom thousands to die prematurely." The Newsweek editor, who appeared on the segment at 8:02PM EDT, discussed with Olbermann how the Iraq war will play out in the midterm elections. He claimed that Republicans may be able to spin the lack of a Democratic plan to their advantage, adding that the GOP is "better at the basic blocking and tackling of politics....They`re just -- they`re tougher." It’s surprising that Alter thinks of Democrats as poor little lambs, unable to play rough politics. George Allen, who made the mistake of calling a staffer of his political opponent "macaca," now finds himself being branded a racist by Democratic operatives. And who could forget Trent Lott and the Strom Thurmond birthday party? Does Alter believe that the Democrats were too delicate with him?
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Categories: Countdown | 2006 Congressional | Campaigns & Elections | George Allen | George W. Bush | Iraq | Keith Olbermann | MSNBC
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