Alexander to WH: Don't Create 'Enemies List'

[Police Moderator]

Alexander to White House: Don't Create 'Enemies List'
Oct. 21, 2009, 9:31 a.m.
By Keith Koffler
Roll Call Staff

Updated: 10:59 a.m.

A top Senate Republican took to the Senate floor Wednesday morning to suggest that the Obama White House is plotting a political strategy similar to that of ex-President Richard Nixon and may be on the verge of preparing its own “enemies list.”

Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), who served in the Nixon White House, offered what he said was a “friendly suggestion” to the White House not to repeat the errors he saw committed by the staff of the disgraced former president.

“Based upon that experience and my 40 years since then in and out of public life, I want to make what I hope will be taken as a friendly suggestion to President Obama and his White House: Don’t create an enemies list,” Alexander said.

Describing the actions of Vice President Spiro Agnew and Nixon operative Chuck Colson, Alexander said he sees “symptoms of this same kind of animus developing in the Obama administration.”

rollcall.com

[Scarlet&Gray]

Funny he never said that about the Bush team.

[gridbug]

Well, there an "enemies list" and then there's the "Axis of Evil". The former is the worse because it comes from the Obadman.

[Police Moderator]

Well, there an "enemies list" and then there's the "Axis of Evil". The former is the worse because it comes from the Obadman.

Big difference between our enemies (The Axis of Evil) who were actively trying to kill us and a segment of our media (The "enemies" list) that simply disagrees with you, Grid.

I believe that the President Obama administration, and the Democratic led Congress will out "low-class" the Nixon administration and a powerful Republican Congress (I can't remember who had control during the later part of the Nixon administration) by a long shot, based solely on the first 10 months.

If the Republicans could get some intelligent, moderate, grass-root leaning leadership they could really go places. Fighting President Obama just because he is President Obama, instead of fighting because his ideas are wrong-headed, is ignorant. They need to offer a logical and intelligent alternative and I have not seen that yet.

President Obama's poll rating are dropping like a lead balloon, but the Republican members of Congress have an even worse approval rating.

I kinda miss Barry Goldwater.

[Felix]

I kinda miss Barry Goldwater.

Oddly enough, PM, so do I. Not for his politics, which did not chime with mine, but for his rugged character, his principled approach to the realities of public life. It was no accident that his fellow Republicans asked him to take the lead in telling President Nixon that he would be impeached if he did not resign. Coming from Goldwater, that was a statement that the President could not dispute.

Character.

[el Gusano]

Oct 24, 2009 9:08:23 GMT -5 Police Moderator said:

the Republican members of Congress have an even worse approval rating.

Latest Rasmussen polls show republicans leading democrats in all 10 key electoral issues they poll, 5 of them by double digits, and show republicans leading in a generic ballot.

People are catching on that the republicans aren't quite as bad.

Now, if we could get rid of the RINOs and put some real republicans in there, it will be a landslide for years to come.

[Tsavodiner]

Oppose on principle, but compromise on everything else.

Each Executive gets to carve his own road; it's only up to the opposition to decide how FAR down that road they'll travel. The biggest gripe I hear from people like Pelosi, Frank, Dodd, and Rangel NOW is they 'cooperated too much', not that they opposed anything they went along with on principle to start with.

[professorx]

Oct 23, 2009 6:54:04 GMT -5 @gridbug said:

Well, there an "enemies list" and then there's the "Axis of Evil". The former is the worse because it comes from the Obadman.

Yeah, North Korea and Iran are exactly like the US Chamber of Commerce.

So far we had the president ask for people to submit names of people who have opposed his policies. The WH is collecting names of folks using search engines. The WH has taken on private organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce. Then last week a politican called republicans "enemies of the America". Then of course the whole argument with the administration and Fox News.

I know of no other time where any administration has taken on so many private individuals or organizations. This sort of stuff (Enemies of America) is normally only heard on fringe radio shows, like Beck or Air America. You don't normally hear such rhetoric from actual elected politicians.

[Tsavodiner]

Oct 23, 2009, 6:54am, gridBug wrote:Well, there an "enemies list" and then there's the "Axis of Evil". The former is the worse because it comes from the Obadman. Yeah, North Korea and Iran are exactly like the US Chamber of Commerce.

You'd think that would need no explanation.

Enmity is enmity; the United States took a lot of heat for rightfully directing it outward at our enemies during the Bush years.

Now, the Joker apologizes to THEM and directs it at US. What a world!

[gridbug]

Oops - I read that as list of countries. A list of individuals was just too silly and paranoid to consider.