The most troubling aspect of Recount: Republicans are proud that they are bullying douchebags

[CatWoman]

Al Gore Was Right



The most revealing moment in the new HBO movie Recount is the moment at the end when Al Gore tells Ron Klain that the fight is over and it's time to concede. Klain wants to fight on, but Gore overrules him, and Bush becomes president. There are a lot of Americans now, including former Bush supporters, who rue the day Gore yielded, but it is evident from the play-by-play in the film that the Republicans would have preyed upon a Gore presidency with the exact same vengeful, careless, aggressive sense of entitlement that they showed during the recount. If Gore had stuck it out, if the Supreme Court had been publicly shamed for its evident corruption, if the bullies had not gotten their way, then the Republicans would have obstructed the operation of Gore's administration and the nation would have been destroyed from the inside. As it happened, the Republicans got to take charge, and they promptly screwed up in every conceivable way, and so their maliciousness and absolute incompetence was revealed for all but the most obtuse of our citizenry to see. The Bush drug has been a terrible and nearly fatal dose, and we don't know how alive we will be afterwards, but at least it has shown how extensive and serious the disease of Republicanism was. Every Republican in Recount has since shamed and dishonored himself for all to see. It's clear that the recount was the Republicans' last hurrah.

Which is possibly why people like James Baker are said to be pleased with the film. It was a war they won, and even though they did so in unethical (rank partisanship on the Supreme Court) and illegal (Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris purging the voter rolls before the election) ways. Winning to them trumped every other consideration. It is also evident that they learned from their "victory" in Florida that bullying was the way to go, and so they attempted to use the same strategy and tactics in Iraq. The last eight years show that ethics, law, and human decency meant nothing to these Republicans. And their current pleasure in the depiction of their own rottenness shows that they have learned nothing.

I would like to be a fly on the wall in the room where John McCain is watching Recount. In the course of the next few months, knowing that bullying, cheating, and subverting the election might or might not work, he will have to make a choice. He can run an honorable campaign and lose or a dishonorable campaign that shames him. Does he watch Recount and see Warren Christopher as a "wimp" and James Baker as "tough"? Or does he watch Recount and feel the humiliation that every Republican should feel? He is the carrier of the Bush poison now. The sooner he recognizes it, the better off the nation will be.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-smiley/al-gore-was-right_b_103548.html

[applegrove]

1. McCain can try and use bullying tactics during this election but the American

electorate is wise to it now. Nobody will take what they did 7 years ago. Such tactics will just enrage the populace and give the Democrats even more votes. McCains hands are tied. He has to run an honorable campaign. IMHO

[DavidDvorkin]

2. McCain is a dishonorable man posing as an honorable one

I think we know what choice he'll make.

[BuelahWitch]

3. I remember a quote, but not who said it

At the time, or perhaps a bit after, someone made a comment that one of the reasons the Supreme Court ruled for Bush was that "the Republicans were prepared to tear the country apart" if Gore won. Of course, they did it anyway, just in a different way.

[Brigid]

4. I 'm anxious to see "Recount."

I will have to wait until it comes out on DVD, though, because I don't get HBO.

As for the Republicans being bullying douchebags, of course that's what they are. I will never forgive them for the theft of the election of 2000. Never. No matter what they try to do to make it up to me, which they aren't going to do anyway. Ever since then, I have considered myself free of any obligation whatsoever to listen to one word they say about anything. May they all burn in hell for what they've done to this country. :grr:

[Disturbed]

5. "ethics, law, and human decency meant nothing

to these Republicans" It still does not. Rethugs view politics as War with no rules. The only thing that matters to them is winning. McLame will do & say whatever it takes to win. He has already started his slime "campain".

[zbdent]

6. Not to mention the outright civil war that would have erupted had the Supreme Court

ruled in favor of Gore and the actual legitimate recount ...

[2008]

7. That's why bullies gravitate toward the right

Same reason they stole lunch money in school. They get off on victimizing others

[Peregrine Took]

8. They're paranoid so they feel justified in fighting thier "enemies." Sick, sick

sick people.

More to be pitied than censored - IF they weren't so dangerous and insane, that is.

[housewolf]

9. It's a difference in values ... morals, ethics & process vs. results

When it comes down to that choice, Repubs will choose results every time. They have no morals or ethics when it comes to that, they are ruthless in their quest for the result that they want.

We Dems highly value a moral & ethical process but to some extent, it disadvantages us when we compete with them.

[Loki]

10. Watching "Recount" last night

I remembered the absolute despair I felt when I watched this sordid piece of history unfold before my very eyes. It was like an unstoppable juggernaut towards making a man president that never lived or worked an honest day in his life. They may have hijacked the presidency, but in life's way of exacting a horrible trade for dirty deeds, the Republican party lost it's soul, and the Bush family will become synonymous with failure and having given us the worst President in our history. Karma has a way of exacting a horrific payment, I can only hope this one will come due in the Hague.

[angrycarpenter]

11. The ending was as sad as "Old yeller"

Because we know it was only the beginning.

[arcadian]

12. The preppie rebellion

Or whatever the hell it's called, when all the Republican staffers from DC flew done to Florida to make it look like a public outcry, those fucking people make me want to fucking puke. Each one of them now embedded in a cozy political appointment no doubt. Fucking assholes and you know they are proud of what they have done.

[tblue37]

13. The "Brooks Brothers Riot." n/t

[K Gardner]

14. It was painful to watch, painful to relive.. like walking back into a nightmare.

[Disturbed]

15. The fight for the Pres./VP will be an all out War.

The RWing will do whatever it takes to defeat the Dems.

McLame will say & do anything to win.

[K Gardner]

16. Yes, but I think we're smarter now.. bolder and not afraid of being equally as aggressive.

[lonestarnot]

21. Fuck'n A I hope you are right!

[ladjf]

17. They like the "J. R. Ewing" role from the TV show Dallas. It makes

them feel dominant. It satisfies their basic self-centered narcissism.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

18. I have not seen recount, but I intend too.

but, do we even know that Repub Sec's of State and AG's are not caging votes even as we speak? I always am wondering about this, as we do know the other side will do anything, repeat anything to win.

[ThoughtCriminal]

19. I would put my money on shame

but who would take that bet?

[young_at_heart]

20. James Baker was the worst----a bully of the first order!

I used to think he was a good guy---he certainly proved me wrong. I guess he and the others are adept at "masquerading" as real people.