The Nazgul in the Senate.

[elfs]

Jim Henley proposes that for now on, the nine Senators who voted against John McCain's anti-torture legislation be known as The Nazgul.

They are:

• Sen. Wayne Allard [R-Colorado]
• Sen. Kit Bond [R-Missouri]
• Sen. Tom Coburn [R-Oklahoma]
• Sen. Thad Cochran [R-Mississippi]
• Sen. John Cornyn [R-Texas]
• Sen. James Inhofe [R-Oklahoma]
• Sen. Pat Roberts [R-Kansas]
• Sen. Jeff Sessions [R-Alabama]
• Sen. Ted Stevens [R-Alaska]

"Darkness went with them, and they cried with the voices of death." - The Silmarillion, pg 358, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

Comments

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

I second the motion. All in favor?

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Nay!

Do we really need to engage in that level of demonization? Torture is despicable, sure. But do we want to spend our time on nine idiots who have already been voted down (and no doubt ridiculed) by 400 of their compatriots, or do we want to work on something with far more long-ranging consequences, like who's going to pass judgement on Congress' feeble attempts at legislation for the next twenty years or so? Or dealing with the hundreds of thousands of people affected by Katrina and Rita, and the fat cats that are gouging them and us? or the jive turkeys in the Homeland Insecurity Ministry who have our freedom by the short and curlies and yank on it every time we come anywhere near an airport or a politician?

If it's one thing that's frustrating about Democrats as a group, it is their inability to concentrate on freedom and principles. By and large the cheap shot is taken over the well-reasoned argument, and when it comes to policing their own, not rocking the boat is more important than getting a candidate that actually represents their principles. Not always, but there certainly is a tendency in that direction. And it hurts their standing in the larger community, which is where you have to win elections.

I would love to be proven wrong here. But so far I haven't seen it.

[solarbird]

90 of their compatriots. It was the Senate. The vote was 90-9.

[solarbird]

Also, lighten up. It's funny.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

It's a sore point. And there probably were 400 snickers, even if there were only 90 votes.

[solarbird]

Actually, there weren't. The Republican leadership fought desperately to keep it from coming to a floor vote. The Bush administration has been fighting this for years, and pulled out every stop to keep it from coming to a vote. Only when it was inevitable did the vote turn.

It's not part of the bill in the House, and it will be a big fight to keep it from being killed in the joint resolution committee. Only the current weakness of the Bush administration give it any chance of making it back to the House in amended form.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

"current weakness of the Bush administration".... now there's music to my ears. It's fun to watch the house of cards come apart under its own weight....