We all saw the same headlines, the same polls, in the Tribune prior to the 2002 and 2004 elections, which the Republicans won. According to Tribune writers, Republicans are ALWAYS in "trouble"--an editorial stance which undoubtedly reflects their personal political wishes.

Polls always result in favor toward the Democrats, but when the time comes, they lose. Why? Because outside of their lust for power, nobody knows what they stand for. The Democrat platform: Republicans are bad! That's it. If they actually told you what they really stand for (socialism), they wouldn't have a chance.

This very day USA Today ran an article proclaiming "Dems Slipping in State Races". The article highlighted polls showing that incumbent Democrat governors in Michigan and Wisconsin have bad poll numbers. The article also pointed out the latest Field poll, which shows incumbent Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger comfortably ahead in heavily-Democrat California.

Funny how "The Swamp" never mentions these polls, which match an actual Democrat against an actual Republican and which show results directly opposite to their hopes for a Republican disaster.

Another poll not mentioned--the Harris poll of June 2-5 which shows that only 26% of the people approve of Congressional Democrats, while 70& disapprove.

I guess "The Swamp" doesn't report on polls which contradict their media template.

After 12 years of Republican rule over Congress, and the way things are going in this country, people are finally starting to see the light. Big business and big oil companies are controlling this country by feeding the corrupt politicians in Washington, with Bush and his Administration at the top of their list. The Founding Fathers of our Constitution never intended our political leaders to twist the meaning of a Congressional Bill allowing the President to use force against a foreign interest, into, all U.S. citizens giving up all rights afforded them under the Constitution. I hope and pray that the voters in this country exercise their right to vote in November and remove this nightmare of greed and deceit from the politics of Washington.

41% prefer a Republican? How can anyone in his or her right mind support the GOP when they have failed on every count: security, the deficit, trade imbalance, the Iraq debacle, Katrina, health care, the prescription benefit (a benefit to the pharmaceutical companies, not the people), the environment, the list can go on indefinitely. Can any sane person accept the proposal that the most important issues facing America are gay marriage and flag burning? The biggest obstacle facing America's families, the number one reason for divorce is economics, not what other people are doing in the privacy of their own homes. The GOP has actually made it harder to obtain an education, by raising the interest rate on student loans (and forbidding consolidating these loans to help lower the interest rate), and cutting the funding for tuition assistance. The GOP is the enemy of working Americans.

It is great that the murderous beheader (I won't even mention his name) in Iraq has been neutralized, but it should never have taken 3 years to do so. In fact, the brave (and competent even in the face of adversity) had the opportunity two years ago but were told to stand down by a very incompetent White House. How many lives could have been spared had the commander-in-chief exercised better judgment? The Iraqi police had even captured this monster and let him go, presumably a result of police incompetence resulting from poor planning and poor assumptions on the part of Bush, Rumsfeld et al.

Meanwhile, the GOP congress has shown itself to be irreparably corrupt, with the infamous K-Street project, and numerous GOP pols using their power for self-enrichment to the detriment of the interests of the American people.

Lying about WMDs was a far graver sin than lying about an affair with a consenting adult, by an order of magnitude. Tom DeLay's crimes were an order of magnitude greater than the stolen postage stamps that landed Dan Rostenkowski in prison, yet DeLay walks free, nay, swaggers defiantly, basking in fawning interviews by Chris Matthews.

It's time for America to wake up. Republicans are morally incapable of governing. The GOP is incompetent to govern. America deserves better.

You are right here is some proff.For the First time in 12 years J Dennis Hastert has polled his 14 district .I tell you he got a veteran running against him named John Leasch.After not letting the poll out to the public Hastert people started to swift boat John.So if the Speaker of the House does not like his numbers what do you think the rest of the Republicans in the House think.That's why you will see very dirty tatics being used by the ones who numbers are down.And hard core wedge issues be voted on by the House.Remember Hastert statement to the papers,"I will not let any bill come to the floor of the House that is not Republican" I think that statement tells it all.

Oops, I missed an error even when I proofread my own post. I left out a word, the sentence should have read "The brave (and competent even in the face of adversity) military had the opportunity two years ago but were told to stand down by a very incompetent White House." I had inadvertently left out the word "military".

Jay,

I don't know about "always", but in 2004, the reason Bu$h took Ohio despite exit polls favoring the Dems can be tracked down to a corrupt secretary of state, Ken Blackwell, and his transparent methods for stealing an election, including improper allocation of voting machines, machines which "mysteriously" reflected impossible results and unlikely results, all favoring Bush.

Try getting your news somewhere other than Fox and right-wing talk radio. You might learn something.

Jay,We may not know what the Democrats stand for,but we do know where the Republicans stand,and it SUCKS,and it's failing horribly!!!

Whatever you have to tell yourself Patrick. What's your excuse going to be next time? Thanks for the news referral btw, I didn't know Fox news was the only outlet that reported a Bush victory in the last election. Although it wouldn't surprise me if the MSM tried to cover it up if only they could.

To: Jay, Bruce, and the rest of the Republican morons out there. It’s still beyond me how people in this country will repeatedly fail to use even a small portion of gray matter between their ears. They will just repeat word for word the stupidity that comes out of Rush Limbaugh’s mouth or what they heard on Fox News.

A couple of things.
First, Patrick, Dems did not poll better in exit polls in Ohio in 2004. Keep drinking that Left-Wing Kool-Aid and maybe you'll even end up talking like Robert "Baaaaa Baaaaa" kennedy Jr.
Second, it is the Mark Silva's and the Trib's wish for Republicans to do bad this November. First, they win the congressional election in California. Then Dem governors are doing bad in polls. And you're right, the Trib would never write about that.
Third, watch the media go after Ken Blackwell (Tribune already has in fact), Lynn Swann and Michael Steele in Maryland. Why? Because it would be a nightmare for the liberals and their media friends of three conservative black Republicans win this fall. Very bad for the liberal agenda.

Oh Patrick, maybe you need to watch Fox NEws and learn something and stop reading the DailyKos, Rolling Stone and other left wing lying machines!! You libs are all the same: never a fact but always on the attack!!

Democrats stand for socialism???!!! Seriously? Someone actually thinks this? Even the most liberal of Democrats (and I admit to being in this camp)are hardly socialists. What typical conservative thinking, find that which might scare people and give that scary label to the opposing party.

Ok so now that we've established what the Democratic party is not, what is it? Well there is no question that in recent years this has been the problem and hopefully as 2006 progresses we will see the Democrat Party make strides in informing the electorate what it does stand for. In the meantime I think that the following things are clear:

1. There needs to be a critical evaluation of the war in Iraq.
2. Personal liberties need to be protected not eroded as has been happening in recent years.
3. Poverty, which has been ignored by both parties for decades, needs to be adressed. A fully employed worker making minimum wage is just barely above the poverty line. Most democrats favor an increase in the Federal Minimum Wage.
4. Health Care in America is in a crisis stage. Millions of Americans are uninsured creating a vrtual state of emergency. Some form of national health care needs to be explored.
5. The right to privacy including a woman's right to choose, and a person's sexual orientation is one of our most important freedoms and must be protected from religous persuasion or bigotry.

There are many other points of course and I hope that the Democrats continue to clarify their message in the weeks and months ahead. The polls do seem to favor the Democrats right now but that could quickly change. I agree that what Americans want most right now is change no matter who is providing it. Yhey need to continue to forge an identity or their opponents will continue to throw around careless labels such as "socialist". By establishing themselves as the party of change the Democrats can go a long way towards healing our severely wounded nation.

Way to express your views "jack abramoff." Shouldn't you be at some gay pride, anti-war, pro immigration, or pro abortion rally somewhere? Are you and patrick sharing the same J?

Patrick,
Great conspiracy theory. Why didn't you just use the race card like JJ jr.? If that doesn't work you can always blame the EEEvil corporation of Diebold or gay marraige.

I love it how you throw a conspiracy theory like this around, yet chatise someone for where they get their news.

I'd love to hear more from this objective, non biased news source of yours.

Have they pinned the source of all the world's evil to SUV driving yuppies yet?

The problem with those nationwide generic preference polls is that they don't take into consideration where people live and how district boundaries were drawn. Any mapmaker worth his salt can recover from a 10 point deficit if they can draw the map. And the Republicans drew most of the maps last time around, especially in Texas.

You're in denial Dean. Why don't you try reading anything ever written by the gal you'll be voting for in the next pres. election. Keep your head in the sand.

Rory M.,

I respect a lot of the comments you've posted on various threads - you've had a lot of intelligent points. But don't let yourself be dragged down in the mud using words like "moron". Let other people's posts speak for themselves - I think Swamp readers are pretty good judges of what is moronic. I'm speaking from experience - I regret one of my baser comments on the Coulter thread. If John D. and JD and Jay want to slime up these threads, that's between them and the moderators (if the moderators even bother to read before they post). But let's try to be better people ourselves, okay?

Dienne, you need to take reality poll. You've entered much slime in your posts. Don't think otherwise.

Dienne, don't kid yourself. You've entered more slim here than a ghostbuster. Though please point out whatever slime I've written!!

What did I do?

I kid, but don't call people names.

We all saw the same headlines, the same polls, in the Tribune prior to the 2002 and 2004 elections, which the Republicans won. According to Tribune writers, Republicans are ALWAYS in "trouble"--an editorial stance which undoubtedly reflects their personal political wishes.

Posted by: Bruce | Jun 12, 2006 7:56:35 AM

And according to you, the Tribune is always wrong. Maybe Bush actually LOST both those times, if the Trib says he won.

There is only one poll that really counts and that is the elections in November. Let's see how it turns out.

I'm sorry, but I have to comment on some of the sheer falsehoods being preached by Patrick in this thread.

Ken Blackwell stole Ohio, huh? Here's what daily newspaper reporters and editors from big city (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus) Ohio dailies had to say about the "revelations" Robert Kennedy, Jr. and what passes for reportage in Rolling Stone magazine.

The cliff's notes version: It never happened and no new information was included in the Rolling Stone "report."

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002651747

Rory, don't worry about the PC Police (Dienne). She's never heard the phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." Like most libs, she believes in Unicorns, fairytales, and that heaven can be attained on earth. So feel free to express yourself in the only way you know how. I don't mind, and I'm sure the other conservatives have enough self-esteem to tolerate it as well.

We all saw the same headlines, the same polls, in the Tribune prior to the 2002 and 2004 elections, which the Republicans won. According to Tribune writers, Republicans are ALWAYS in "trouble"--an editorial stance which undoubtedly reflects their personal political wishes.

Posted by: Bruce | Jun 12, 2006 7:56:35 AM

And according to you, the Tribune is always wrong. Maybe Bush actually LOST both those times, if the Trib says he won.

Posted by: John | Jun 12, 2006 8:46:40 PM

Or maybe it was another of them typos you're always complaining about -- "GENETIC Trouble for the GOP." Maybe THAT'S it. Actually, that would make SENSE.

John D.,

I have posted many things with which you disagree (and some which you even apparently find offensive, but then, I find Coulter offensive). If that is your definition of slime, then so be it. But, with the exception of one post which I soon apologized for, I have not slung personal insults at fellow commenters. You, on the other hand, are quite fond of dismissing any commenter with whom you disagree as a "looney, loopy lib" and other quaint names without providing anything of substance to the debate. Feel free to dispute anything I (or anyone else) post (you might want to look at RRD's comments for guidance), but the name calling gets quite wearying.

JD,

You're right - you're not half bad. Sorry. But that comment about me and Jay getting married was below the belt, my friend.

Dienne,
Thank you for reminding me that I was falling into the same mindset of name-calling that is so widely used by the Republican propaganda.

Correction:
To: Jay, Bruce, and the rest of the misinformed Republicans out there…etc…etc…

Jay,

It's not about insults hurting anyone's feelings; it's about maintaining reasonable adult standards of communication. When one commenter insults another, the insulted one returns the insult, others pile on board, and eventually we might as well be on a third grade playground. If your mother taught you the "sticks and stones" phrase, hopefully she also taught you that if you don't have anything nice to say about anyone, don't say anything at all.

Dienne, i don't equate honesty with being nice. Sometimes, the truth hurts.

Dianne,

Just look at most of the comments from the "looney, loopy libs" to back up my statements. Geez, just today, you folks have seen controversy into Fitzgerald not indicting Rove (Fitzgerald is a Republican!!! -- yet he just nailed Republican George Ryan and indicted Scooter Libby), conspiracies about the killing of Zarqawi, etc. Even you with your comments of likening Bush to Hilter and Moussolini. If that isn't looney and loopy, then nothing is.

You're right. Good debate is always best. But when the left goes off on some of the most ridiculous comments such as likening Bush to Hitler, then the good, honest debate becomes impractical.

You have called Limbaugh fat and loved Al Franken's books. Franken is fat himself and what does anyone's weight have to do with anything? i've seen every name under the sun called on Ann Coulter.

It's funny though how you folk act like all conservative commentators and frankly all conservatives are the worst of mankind. That is indicated in comment after comment here. Again, if that isn't looney or loopy. And the namecalling? Frankly that was begun my libs!!

It's easy to see why John D ,Jay and JD like Faux news and other sources. They are used to hearing distortions and omissions being passed off as truth. Bullying and scoffing is passed off as stinging rhetoric. The bottom line is that the war is not going well, the troops are not being fully supported by this administration, we are in danger of losing basic civil rights in the name of terror, the economy is such a mixed bag that it's hard to tell if it's up or down. Bush is trying to play to his base again and you guys are about as base as it gets. (Sorry Dienne!)

Examples please, Catherine. "They are used to hearing distortions and omissions being passed off as truth."
Sounds more like your outlets than mine. But maybe you can give a specific example, with "footnotes, like you're doing your dissertation."

"The bottom line is that the war is not going well."
According to who, Catherine? Three years of war and less than 3000 (unfortunately) dead, does not sound bad to me. Perhaps you can provide examples of prior wars lasting 3 or more years in which we experienced less casualties. I will say that rarely does a war go as planned.

"the troops are not being fully supported by this administration."
Please provide examples. Here comes the armor story, but if you would have read more about it, you would have found that many service men consider the extra armor to be cumbersome.

"we are in danger of losing basic civil rights in the name of terror."
Really, how has the NSA affected you personally? Could it possibly be argued that in some extreme situations, this type of surveillance should be warranted? Maybe we should just let them bomb us again, and then you can rip the administration for doing nothing.

"The economy is such a mixed bag that it's hard to tell if it's up or down."
I'll give you inflation, but please, provide some examples of countries around the world in which a lower unemployment rate is given. Perhaps you'd like to live in France where the unemployment rate soars as Corporations are forbidden from firing incompetents, thus making it impossible for them to hire new employees.

Once again, the typical bomb throwers continue to throw the bombs with nothing but Dan Rather,Katie Couric, and the usual suspects to back them up.

John D.,

Please, repost anything that I have posted saying either that Limbaugh is fat or that I like Al Franken books. You will not find such posts because I have never posted any such thing. Name calling is bad enough, but blatant lying?

Note to all Dems, Liberals, me;

Remember three things;

Don't believe the polls,
Don't believe the polls,
Don't believe the polls.

If the polls were correct,
Al Gore would be prez.

Jay says;

"Three years of war and less than 3000 (unfortunately) dead, does not sound bad to me."

You have got to be s...... ,uh, kidding me!

You really mean that? I remember early in the war some talking head fool on Fox berating the critics of the Iraq war for not accepting the easy victory. He opined that only 200 dead was just great and an easy victory.

Wow, talk about 'moral relativism'. (Jean Kirkpatrick's phrase)

Remember back in 1959-63 casualties in Vietnam were relatively low, compared to later in the war. It was actually off the radar as far as the US public were concerned until '64. Only the families that lost someone seemed to notice. Eventually the total reached 58K.

Even with that many dead in Vietnam, many WWII vets scoffed at the causality counts in Vietnam. Many didn't even consider Vietnam a real war and wondered why the US military couldn't beat those little people.

Only 270 or so dead at Khe Sanh? Many didn't consider it a big deal. Maybe you are one of those?

Interesting note; Many VFW posts didn't want to accept Vietnam vets into their ranks at first.

My point? This thing is just getting started.

When I go into my local polling place (only once, I don't live in Chicago :)), I will see if ballot has the names "Generic Democrat" and "Generic Republican". If so, I'll see if I can cast 51% of my vote for the former and 42% for the latter. Than I go into Chicago and sell my remaining 7%.

This war is not going as planned because our government did not plan properly for it. They ignored intelligence that didn't agree with their worldview-their worldview being what the neocons and the leftovers from Bush Sr.'s administration. wanted it to be. Rumsfield and others thought it would be a cakewalk and they did not plan for things to turn out any other way. The lack of body armor might explain the horrible injuries suffered by the increasing roadside bombs. I think the lack shows callousness on the part of the administration but to each their own. The enlisted men are exhausted and need to be rotated but not many are interested in joining. Maybe some kids graduating this month may enlist. Halliburton provided unsanitary water to the troops last year causing some serious diarhea and other gastro problems. (MSNBC)

The 3000 dead are more than tragic and the wounded-maimed, blinded etc. are heartbreaking too. I don't think anyone should be cavalier about these statistics. Televised news reports had many stories of wounded soldiers being hounded for enlisting bonuses that the army wanted back since the soldiers could no longer serve. In Illinois veterans have been given drastically lower benefits than in other states. (Reported in the Chicago Sun-Times.) The Sun Times also reported the large number of unemployed and homeless recent veterans. I find that disgraceful but I guess I'm just a bleeding heart.

In the news tonight, the market report Dow Jones down 86.44, Nasdaq down 18.85 and the S7P 500 down 12.71. Maybe tomorrow you can pick up some bargains and start a rally. The price of gas speaks for itself.

I don't know if NSA affects me or not. That's my point. The terrorists have won already when people give up their rights. You may want to give yours up easily but I don't.

I'm not concerned about the economies of other countries because I am a citizen of this great country.

C.Morris, did you take a deep breath before heaving out all that nonsense? You must be through because my BS meter just woke me up after falling asleep reading your scattered thoughts. The only way I can see a US casualty total equaling 58K is if your beloved MSM continued to spill US secrets like a drunken frat girl at a sleep over. And make sure you've got plenty of prozac on hand to help get you through that next failed presidential bid for whatever windsock your constituents prop up there.

Jay, I think you and the O. J. jurors have a lot in common.

Jay,

"Scattered thoughts"??

I think they were all either on topic, (don't believe the polls) or at least interesting sidelights.

You're the one that brought up casualty counts, I simply responded with some points.

I would be interested to hear anyone's response to the 'moral relativism' surrounding the body counts.