I've noticed something remarkable about Democratic supporters of Michael Arcuri over the last week. Ever since Michael Arcuri decided to abandon the mainstream of the Democratic Party and join forces with George W. Bush to promote HR 6166, the Military Commissions Act, Arcuri supporters have stopped being Arcuri supporters. They have become Arcuri apologists.
It's no wonder, when you think about it. Here Mike Arcuri is, telling Democrats that he would vote for a bill that legalizes torture, revokes habeas corpus, gives the President the power to imprison anyone without criminal charges, provides amnesty to war criminals, and replaces the right to a fair trial with secret courts that can convict people of crimes and sentence them to death even before a proper investigation of the alleged crime is taking place (I'm not kidding - it's in the law that Arcuri supports. READ IT.)
Even longtime cheerleaders of Michael Arcuri have stopped coming to this blog to say what a great choice Arcuri is. They used to say that if we just got to know Michael Arcuri, we'd want him representing us in Congress. They used to say that Mike Arcuri was a brilliant politician. They don't say that any more.
Now all these last few dogged Arcuri loyalists have to say in Michael Arcuri's defense is that, although Michael Arcuri is a bad choice for Congress, Ray Meier is worse. I don't hear anyone pretending anymore that Arcuri is the best candidate the Democrats could have had this year.
The Arcuri for Congress campaign knows that it's in trouble over its allegiance with George W. Bush and the Republican Party to support the new pro-torture law. Maimun Khan, who works on the Arcuri campaign, has released a half-hearted attempt to explain why it's really not so bad that habeas corpus has been revoked, and that Bush can arbitrarily throw people in prison without a trial, and that people can now legally be tortured even within the United States. I have sympathy for her. It must feel terrible to have to defend a Democrat for supporting what the New York Times calls a low point in our democracy, "our generation's version of the Alien and Sedition Acts".
Even old Bob Hyde, who stopped blogging in favor of Michael Arcuri a long time ago, stirred himself for a couple of days to try to write about how bad the Republicans, including Ray Meier, are. But Hyde can't seem to bring himself to praise Michael Arcuri.
The Arcuri for Congress campaign is reacting in typical fashion, by becoming even more defensive and secretive, trying to cut back on opportunities for Democratic voters to interact with the campaign. They even took down the link on the Arcuri for Congress web site to MoveOn's online endorsement contest. Apparently, Michael Arcuri is afraid that web site visitors might start going there to vote for Ray Meier instead of for him.
Anyone can see that it was a colossal blunder for Arcuri to support the infamous Military Commissions Act without bothering to read it first. However, it seems that Michael Arcuri just can't admit that he was wrong.
There's been nothing on the Arcuri for Congress web site about this issue. Instead, what's the news we get out of the Arcuri campaign? Michael Arcuri's "breaking news" is that uncut sheets of the Arcuri for Congress trading cards are now available.
Does that make up for Arcuri's support for George W. Bush's failed agenda?
I don't think even Michael Arcuri's last dogged defenders could say such a thing.
We Democrats deserve better than this.
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12 comments:
Of course we deserve better Jon. After all, I was a Roberts supporter. But the election will come down to ridding us of the Ace of Base and his crew of cretins who contemptuously cauterize the Constitution.
It's time to toss the Republican leadership out, regain control of Congress and it's agenda and neutralize Bush and his right wing fanatic supporters including Ray Meier.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/04/opinion/lynch/main2059770.shtml
The complete link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006
/10/04/opinion/lynch/main2059770.shtml
Jon said "Now all these last few dogged Arcuri loyalists have to say in Michael Arcuri's defense is that, although Michael Arcuri is a bad choice for Congress, Ray Meier is worse. I don't hear anyone pretending anymore that Arcuri is the best candidate the Democrats could have had this year."
You and I never pretended that Arcuri is the best candidate, and yet we supported him until last friday when he said (stupidly) that he would have supported 6166. You and I know that he hadn't read it, and that he was told by higher ups in the party, that announcing his support for it was the smartest move politically. Those higher ups may have been right. I think it is despicable, to announce support for a horrible bill that he hadn't bothered to read, even if the party operatives are right about the political calculations. I'd rather have a candidate with a spine. But all this is academic. We aren't talking here about the elephant in the room.
In the Republican controlled Congress, Democrats can't have hearings, they can't issue subpoenas, they can't even get their legislation to the floor for a vote. If the Democrats take the house, it will lead to all the committees coming alive. They will start holding hearings, they will start subpoenaing witnesses, they will start investigating issue after issue. We will learn what the secrets were. We will learn what they are actually doing, and people will be held to account. There is even a possibility that John Conyers would initiate impeachment proceedings. This is a matter of life or death. This is a matter of protecting the Constitution or continuing to slide into fascism. Thats the elephant in the room.
It's much,much bigger than Arcuri's moral, or ethical qualifications. I want my country back. I know you do to, so stop shooting yourself in the foot.
Allen, I've been writing about Michael Arcuri's shortcomings this entire year. Until he said he supports HR 6166, I said he was the better candidate, but only barely. This tipped the balance to make him not the better candidate any more.
This issue is at the center of what makes America a free democracy, and thus it is not something that I can ignore. I cannot vote for Michael Arcuri, just as I cannot vote for Ray Meier. I cannot support anyone who suppports the Military Commissions Act. It is an unforgivable betrayal to support the new law.
The Democrats don't have the votes to repeal this law. Not even if they regain Congress gaining 30 seats - and the margin certainly won't be that big.
This is an issue that now needs to be addressed through extra-electoral means. Our representatives in government aren't doing their job, and they're not going to, whether the Democrats retake Congress or not - especially when Democrats like Michael Arcuri, Harold Ford Jr., Joseph Lieberman, and Ben Nelson make up the new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.
I'm not shooting myself in the foot by opposing Ray Meier and Michael Arcuri. I would be shooting myself in the foot by supporting either one of them.
I'm not going to vote for the less wicked Nazi SS officer. This is a fascist law that replaces our traditions of liberty and democracy with totalitarianism. I will not take part. I will not try to appease this tyrrany. I will oppose it.
Once again, even in response to this article, no one can come forward to say that Michael Arcuri is a good candidate.
He betrayed us all last week, and he won't even admit his mistake. He throws his lot in with George W. Bush, and then issues a news release about campaign playing cards. Arcuri is despicable.
Jon - "This is an issue that now needs to be addressed through extra-electoral means."
Well, that kind of takes the discussion to a new level. If you have the time, and dedication for extra-electoral means like the World Can't Wait protest tomorrow, then I'll shut up.
http://www.worldcantwait.net/
I can't afford the time. I'm workin hard to put food on my family. What do you mean by extra-electoral? Maybe you can't say because big brother is watching.
If you're actually going to stay within the system then I have to object to this that we've argued before:
Jon - "The Democrats don't have the votes to repeal this law. Not even if they regain Congress gaining 30 seats - and the margin certainly won't be that big."
As I said before, if we take back the house - the pressure from the DCCC will be gone. Dems won't be scared of being painted as weak on defense before an election. We would have the votes to repeal this law. They overturned the Alien and Sedition acts didn't they?
Joh - Allen is right and you are now simply cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Deal with reality here. It's going to get worse if the Republicans continue to control Congress. The majority of the American public doesn't know and wouldn't care about this law. Your not going to get some sweeping realization that things are not well constitutionally. We'll only survive this by the thinnest of margins and a healthy dose of luck. Democracy is not currently a destiny of humanity but instead a luxury that few enjoy.
Like the peacelovers who reluctantly take up arms to oppose even more violent foes, this is a case where you can only work with what we have not wish for what we want.
Swallow your anger and make a pragmatic call here instead of giving Ray Meier and George Bush what they want. That's right Jon - you are giving the Republicans you despise exactly what they want and need.
As a matter of fact, I will be participating in a World Can't Wait event tomorrow - after work.
I don't plan on getting arrested, but these days, you can't say for sure what will get you arrested any more. Speaking out against the Republicans is coming close to being considered probably cause...
... consider what happened to hundreds of innocent people thrown in jail for peacefully and legally protesting outside the 2004 Republican Convention in NYC.
But, Allen, I think that resistance to this new law needs to be much more sustained than action on one day, no matter how many people take part.
I assume you're in for the long haul.
I disagree. Michael Arcuri is giving the Republicans exactly what they want.
All Michael Arcuri has to do to get me to stop denouncing him is stop being an ally to George W. Bush's #1 most dangerous power grab.
It's that simple. Arcuri, you want me to stop point out that you support the torture bill, then admit you were wrong to support it in the first place.
Arcuri tells us that he's willing to admit when he's wrong. Now let him prove it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15105377/
Even Republican Joe Scarborough is throwing in the towel on the Republicans.
I don't want Meier in there to try and stem the tsunami that will be coming from the Democrats to reverse all the Rovian excess.
Go read the papers from the South and West Jon and see how Bush is slamming the Democrats who voted against this piece of trash bill you are obsessing on. It's not happening here and instead the Republicans are still on the run.
http://www.buffalonews.com/
editorial/20061004/1022610.asp
James Campbell thinks it will be close. Every seat counts including the 24th.
If you don't want to take it back anymore Jon, perhaps you need to change the name of your blog.
I want to take the 24th District back all right - I want to take it back from people who think that trashing America's freedoms is okay.
So long as Michael Arcuri supports the legalization of torture, the revoking of habeas corpus, and the end to enforcement of the Geneva Conventions, he's with the Republicans, and with the group of people we need to take the 24th district back from.
As it stands now, Michael Arcuri is part of the problem, not part of the solution.
One never knows what the Roberts Court will do...we might get lucky, they'll over turn it and we'll be brought back from the brink of facism like we have been so many times before. Unfortunatly, having lived as long as I have, seen what I've seen over the years, I don't know how many more times our republic can be brought back from the brink.
I will not be voting for Mr. Arcuri on election day, I was never going to, because he's an idiot. He's a trained monkey who makes the same stupid remarks over and over. We never really had a good choice here. Tytler was good but he wasn't well enough connected. Les Roberts, there was something else there that I can't quite put my finger on...and Mike Arcuri was doing alright until he put this nail in his coffin. I'm sure the far left will jump on this and back the other candidate.
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