Are they?

Post #303,253 by beepster 1/29/09 2:26:47 PM Reply	Are they? I believe that may be a chicken vs egg argument. Did Rush invent the argument, or did he get it from party sources and blow it out of proportion. Was it Rush's show that made all R and a couple dozen D vote against...or was it the substance of his argument..and if the substance of his argument we go back to point 1. Did he invent it, or did he hear about it and bring it up? Even so, was it Rush that convinced them ALL? or was it the substance of the bill? I will choose a path that's clear. I will choose freewill.
Post #303,258 by drook 1/29/09 4:02:40 PM Reply	Doesn't really matter When a talk show host has the power, through his legions of fans, to exert that kind of pressure on congressmen ... When a congressman calls to grovel and beg forgiveness for suggesting that Congress is in charge and not the talk show host ... When the nominal Republican leadership doesn't stand up and say, "You're damn right we're in charge. And the Next member who apologizes for that fact is getting censured" ... Then we really have a bigger problem than whatever is in the particular bill they're talking about. -- Drew
Post #303,259 by beepster 1/29/09 4:35:42 PM Reply	Do we really? Those "legions of fans" are voters. Those congressmen that retort "we're in charge, not you" against those "legions of fans" are then saying what, exactly? "Thanks for your vote, now shut up and leave me alone!"? Now there's a good message. I will choose a path that's clear. I will choose freewill.
Post #303,268 by drook 1/29/09 5:42:46 PM Reply	His fans are a portion of the voters There are a whole lot more voters who don't listen to him than there are who do listen to him. Pundits don't have to care about compromise or pragmatism. As long as they get enough people interested to make their ratings look good, they're happy. It doesn't matter to them whether their preferred policies are feasible, or whether they're acceptable to the majority of voters. You know, pretty much exactly what the congressman said to start this whole thing off. So no, it's not the same as saying, "Thanks for your vote, now shut up and leave me alone!" It's more like saying, "If you think Rush has such great ideas, tell him it's time to put up or shut up and run for office himself." -- Drew
Post #303,331 by Ashton 1/30/09 4:44:47 PM Reply	{sigh} The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. -- H.L. Mencken

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