Lame Duck Starts Already?

[stebo0728]

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/pelo ... -ss-checks

Is this lame duck bs already?

[IBCoupe]

From a political perspective, what exactly would the Democrats gain from doing it? The next election is two years away. This will be forgotten. It will be unpersuasive after two years of legislation (or a lack of legislation, as may be more probable), and the people they're planning to pay off might be dead by then.

I have never understood the use of the term "lame duck." I know what it refers to, but I don't know why people think that a person who will not serve after the end of the term is supposed to sit on his or her hands.

I'm serious: it was used to justify Sarah Palin's abandonment of her post. "Oh, well, she already said she wasn't going to be Governor for another term, so she was a lame duck anyways, so it makes sense that she would quit." No it doesn't. She was elected to do a job for a certain amount of time.

The editorial in the Washington Post argued that President Obama should quit because his second term would be a lame duck presidency anyways (as if announcing tomorrow that he's not going to run for reelection would have any other effect). Should a President who gets elected for a second term simply do nothing? Or should he take his election as a sign that he's meant to do his job for the full four years of his service? Why is it any different for the last two months of a Congressman's term?

Your link lists off a bunch of terrible things that the Democrats want to accomplish by the end of the term, and casts them in the light of wanting to do damage before they get kicked out of office. That would be a persuasive assessment if everything on that list hasn't been something Democrats have been talking about doing for the past two years. Christ, I hate this country sometimes. The blatant stupidity pains me.

[stebo0728]

I hear ya, yes they were elected to do a job, and do the job they should up until the last day.

I think the term "lame duck" refers more to actions taken that would not have otherwise been taken if there were no real consequences to them. (ie - its not like im gonna lose ANOTHER election now, may as well do this thing)

[IBCoupe]

And I don't think that's the case with any of the things mentioned in that link. In fact, I really don't think that's the case with much anything Congress does - if you're not fighting for your reelection, you're fighting for your party's continued power in the hopes that you can keep as many connections as possible, even if you do get thrown out.

I want to be clear, that I wasn't calling Stebo stupid. That was just part of the rant about American stupidity, in general.