Save democracy…by killing democracy. What a novel concept.
As a way to solve the national debt crisis, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue recommends suspending Congressional elections for the next couple of years.
“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”
Not likely. I mean, Peter Orszag and most Progressives probably secretly agree to some extent, but few of them are insane enough to say it aloud. They really do think an appointed elite would do better running the country without input from us pesky voters — you see that attitude most clearly in the elites’ smears of the Tea Party. That this is coming up in North Carolina, given the recent disclosures involving unaccountable government and its abuses there, just adds a nice layer of irony on top of the whole thing.
Progressives never actually seem to progress beyond their own horrible ideas.
More: It just so happens that Perdue is up for election next year.
Update: On facebook, Gov. Perdue’s desperate staff claim she was engaging in hyperbole. And just in case we’re all too stupid to get that, they define it for us.
Hyperbole (n): an exaggeration to create emphasis or effect
by Bev Perdue on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 1:54pmThere has been a little hubbub today about some comments the governor made at lunch today.
Here’s a statement from Press Secretary Chris Mackey:
“Come on…Gov. Perdue was obviously using hyperbole to highlight what we can all agree is a serious problem: Washington politicians who focus on their own election instead of what’s best for the people they serve.”
One, thanks for condescending (y’all might want to look that word up). Two, musing about canceling elections when you’re up for one next year isn’t funny. Three, it really isn’t funny. Now, go lose next year.
Update: More here. The local press seems to be spinning for Perdue, saying that the line was a “joke” in their headline, and prefacing the post with an attempt to play it off as no big deal. Even though she was talking about Congressional elections, the fact that she floated this at all is disturbing. Now we’ll get to see the mainstream press do their best to make little to nothing out of it, and end up mocking anyone who takes Perdue’s “joke” seriously.
(h/t Ace)
Perdue’s office has backed away from the statement, calling it “hyperbole.” OK …
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150294954001783
If you’re telling a joke, make sure 1) it’s funny and 2) people understand it’s supposed to be a joke.
Thank you for the damage control spin coming from Bev’s alert campaign staff. But before I let her off the hook on this one I want to review the tape.
hyperbole: n. a Democrat’s term for an embarrassing Freudian slip.
There you go.
Maybe Bev can take some comedy lessons from John Kerry.
Bryan – Tell the Liberal Fascists that you want to repeal the 17th Amendment, and they look at you like you’re a troglodyte; but it’s OK if they tell people that electiions should be suspended because of the economy.
BTW I suspect they want to suspend elections for the simple reason that they expect the Democrats to get thrashed next year.
Strangely enough, I’ve begun calling “progressives” proglodytes. Turn about and all that.
And, no… it’s not a misspelling.
Everyone always thinks that when Jonah Goldberg called his book “Liberal Fascism” he was just provocatively marketing it. Well, sure. But he was also evocatively quoting H. G. Wells, who prescribed it as a political cure for the Great Depression.
What the real world calls a Frudian slip politicians call a “joke.”
A la recherche de cervelle Perdue.
I said when Obama was ele cted that he would find a ‘national emergency’ to suspend elections once he was in office. It’s happening.
Purdue is carrying the water for this task. They’ll deny it, let it die down, then introduce the idea under another guise. Beware.
The backlash they’re already feeling (note the furious backpedaling) should push them away from the idea, if they’d ever really considered it.
thye are sweating…as they should
Yeh……jokes always end with phrases like: “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”
Note that we did not suspend the normal operation of constitutional government even during the Great Depression.
This is, therefore, a tacit admission that the Obama regime has been worse than the Great Depression—or an act of panic-mongering demagoguery which makes this governor something close to an enemy of the state.
Nor did we suspend congressional or Presidential elections during the Civil War.
Funny how it’s only a joke *after* someone realizes they’ve stepped in it.
What a dope. No elected official should ever say anything like that, especially one with the power of a state governor. I hope she gets her head handed to her in the next election.
Why do the Dems worry about suspending elections? They can rig them anytime they want to.
H
Ha the dems rig elections……that’s a republican thing. Two words: Florida Ohio
Busting the Democrats when they attempt to purloin elections, that’s a Republican thing you betcha.
You didn’t notice (but your betters did) that Florida Democrats were only holding recounts selectively in certain counties where they expected an advantage – not statewide. That selectivity (IOW “cheating) is what the court busted ‘em on.
The New York Times participated in a full statewide recount of all the Florida ballots and ended up admitting that Bush won and your Sore Loserman lost.
Try again.
Florida? Ohio?
WTF are you talking about? No one outside the conspiracy-minded fever swamps believes that. The 2000 Florida election was recounted multiple times, AND GORE LOST EVERY RECOUNT, EVEN WHEN APPLYING HIS OWN PREFERRED STANDARD.
The only accusations I’ve heard about Ohio — and I live in the state — are that there was a Republican Secretary of State who actually applied the laws of the state, ticking off the Democrat vote-manufacturers like ACORN. The only evidence of fraudulent registrations or ballots CAME FROM DEMOCRAT AREAS.
I even contacted the appropriate authorities in 2004; the largely urban and Democrat Hamilton county had thousands of “suspect” registrations, while the neighboring suburban/rural and Republican Clermont county had ONE.
Do you really believe Republicans “rigged” the elections? What’s your evidence? Why do I get the feeling you’ll never see this, because your assignment was to spout a Democrat talking point and move on?
I have two words for you: Al Franken
The funniest part about this comment is that he was so frothing-at-the-mouth eager to type it that he messed up the first time. Then it took him 3 minutes to recover, but the 2nd time he forgot how to type his name.
The rules of engagement have been set forth above. I will adhere to them if I can. My mother always taught me..”If you can’t say something nice about somebody , don’t say anything.” Well Ma…you never knew the governor. Having said that here is my message to the governor…Beth Purdue, I think you $#@#%^&***(&&(*&& and I also think that you *&^^%&%%$&**&** to ODUMBO. You and every demonicrat I can think of needs to &%@!%*_))_*&%$#$*(^$*(*%* and twice on Saturday. One day soon I hope we can rease and or eradicate the demonic party from all politics. My proposal also cast the evil eye on the republican party. You don’t represent me anymore. You just represent yourselves and your re-election. My idea is simply this…I’d like to start a new party. It would be called the CONSTITUTIONAL PATRIOT PARTY or for short THE PATRIOT PARTY. We as a people have had about all the demonicrats and the republican we can stand for this lifetime. I am a CONSERVATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL PATRIOT, let there be no doubt about that statement.
Eddie, I like your idea for a new party but your proposed CCP is a little too close to another party the CCCP commonly called the Soviet Union. Needs a little rework Eddie.
It is starting to look to me like the progressives / democrats / unions / CBC / DOJ / the current Administration are seriously floating the idea of a Bolshevik-style takeover of our constitutional republic. I’m pretty sure the U.S. military is not going to be on board. The folks in flyover county who are clinging to their bibles and guns aren’t either. North Carolina needs to vote this clueless, nut-job out of office ASAP.
What disturbs me most is what you’ve said doesn’t seem so completely outrageous and inconceivable as it might have, just a few short years ago.
Forewarned. Forearmed.
Isn’t that kinda what the Oath Keepers are worried about?
Oh, the military will be quite complicit. That was the idea behind repealing DADT. They thought it would cause progressives to flood the military.
Kitsune, it’s not that they expect the progs to flood the military; it’s that they want to have an excuse to remove as many conservatives as possible. Based on the conversations I’ve had, it’s going to be working over the next year.
She is behind in the polls already to Pat McCrory, a solid conservative. Our state elected a Republican controlled Legislature for the first time in over 100 years. All she did the past session was veto and veto!! Claiming she was doing what the citizens wanted, how she thought that is beyond any logic. She is also well connected to the Dems that have been convicted recently of assorted felonies tied to their political positions. I believe we will be all Republican after 11/12, including once again voting for the Repub candidate for president.
Perhaps the Obama Administration’s contempt for the rule of law and the Constitution will embolden other Democrats to follow his lead.
I hope Democrats continue to show their true colors to the American people.
Or maybe it has finally started to dawn on Dems that Obama has destroyed the party, and many of their careers. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
The next 14 months will be interesting.
Gee, Hitler needed the Reichstag Fire to put that one over.
I was warning about this type of thing before the 2010 election and was proven wrong; but their role models all took power through things like this and so we need to be on our toes…
The root url of the original story (not the after spin) reads:
perdue_suggests_suspending_congressional_elections_for_two_years_was_she_serious
She needs to be impeached. But she is a democrat in a state full of illegals and Y*nkees, so she will get reelected. Heck, John Edwards could probably win an election here.
Now THAT’S funny!
She only beat McCrory by 3 pts in 2008–I’m convinced that was the straight Dem voters that came out for the One. McCrory is 5 to 8 points over her according to the latest polls I’ve seen. She will not be Gov in 2012.
Actually someone should remind Ms. Perdue, that nothing is stopping her or any politician from ignoring reelection and concentrating on issues and the ‘good of the country’. Maybe politicans should be term limited to ‘one and done’.
This is the same governor who “suspended” pistol permits because of bad weather, right? Or was that also a joke?
Don’t all government officials in the US take an oath to uphold the Constitution? Can the governor be charged with perjury?
The woman was not joking. Nobody ends a joke with, “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”
This is a trial balloon, sent up to see what the public and media reaction would be. The public may be incensed but the media is yawning. I’ve searched the four major news outlets. This story is covered on exactly one of them. Thank you, Fox News.
Pay attention, folks. You have not heard the last of this.
Yeah…Let’s suborn the Constitution…HAHAHAHAHA…How ’bout we also practice euthanasia on people who suggest that…who’s with me?….Hey, just kidding, get it? (DOUCHE)
Now, you fellows are looking at this the wrong way. She didn’t say to cancel Senate or Presidential elections — only the one house where Republicans enjoy a majority (well, they’re not really enjoying it all that much, but there you go). She’s just reaching across the aisle, as it were. How very progressive of her.
Perdue polls badly in NC, and it would have taken something completely odd and unusual for her to do anything but lose her re-election bid in 2012. The Republican Pat McRory (mayor of Charlotte for 12 plus years) will be running for gov; he was barely defeated by the Obama coattail riding Perdue in 2008.
In 2010 the Republicans took the State House from the Dems for the first time since 1898. They control the redistricting, making 2010 a bad year for the Dems to lose the State House!
Perdue’s comments may not have been completely serious, but nor were they a joke or hyperbole, as her staff claims. They were, no doubt, the wistful musings of a power-greedy Democrat facing the reality of the failure of her party to govern effectively, and with the will of the people.
“Perdu” means “lost” in French.
It appears that Governor Perdue has lost her mind.
Just joking? Hasn’t Obama already threatened to do an end-run around Congress by issuing executive orders to various agencies such as the EPA if Congress refuses to give him his way? Isn’t this threat equivalent to canceling the 2010 mid-term election after the fact? It’s no joking matter. The Democrats are dead serious about it. They mean precisely what they say.
If you want to know what liberals really think, just listen to them talking to their pals. Does anyone besides me think it strange how many speeches Obama and Biden give without any reporters allowed, even locking them in a storage room, so they can’t quote them? What, exactly, are they talking about? They obiously don’t want us to know.
Did we pay for the plane ride to the speech? Is that illegal?
No real surprise that the News & Observer is spinning it for her. This is a paper that has twice offered staff opinions in favor of Obama’s jobs bill. Not signed opinion columns, but “Our View” columns. Once on the day after the speech, before there was any legislative language drawn up for it.
“I was just joking!” That sounds very much like the excuse the schoolyard bully gives after throwing the scrawny kid down on the ground and kicking the scrawny kid in the gut.
There are certain things, jokes included, that certain people in certain positions should not say. Even in jest. And not in a public setting. Responsible, mature people realize this.
No matter if this was said in jest (I do not subscribe to that interpretation), this was the wrong person to say such a thing. Not smart at all.
She and other Democrats (can I continue to use that term given her anti-democracy feelings?) long for the days when ObamaCare passed and they didn’t have to listen to Republicans or the People – and could just gavel out whatever they wished.
Or she’s hoping to suspend elections long enough to prevent a 350 seat Republican House.
Too many Republicans to name that wish their ‘dumb jokes’ could get this treatment in the media.
I don’t think Governor Perdue was making a serious proposal, or sending up a trial balloon…I think this was really just a rather dim-witted way to argue that our Congresscritters would be able to get together and solve our pressing national problems if they just weren’t inconvenienced by having to face the electorate next year. That’s nothing but a fantasy, as the problems run deep and won’t be solved by some kind of bi-partisan group hug, but this is the kind of bosh that I expect from the moderate left. All that aside…I’m sure if Rick Perry or any other Republican had made such a “joke,” the MSM would be in full Defcon 1 mode.
Oh, like in 2008 when candidate McCain suggested he and his opponent Obama suspend their campaigning for a few weeks in order to allow the banking crisis to get sorted out – a proposal Obama snubbed and his supporters mocked?
If the past showed progressives in a good light, they wouldn’t be so frequently revising, reinterpreting, resetting and reframing it.
My entertainment for the day was counting the number of grammatical errors, assumptions, unfounded claims and moments of political spin in this ‘article’.
And obviously you found none, because you posted none.
Thanks for confirming PJM’s quality.
And thanks for the page view, which helps increase profits, so PJM can continue to bring quality stories like this to America.
Have an absolutely wonderful day, knowing you’ve advanced the cause of conservatism.
Doesn’t take much to ‘entertain’ those on the left, does it?
Especially when they are trying so hard to spin uncomfortable realities.
Anyone else pick up on that what she said does not actually fit the definition of hyperbole?
Does North Carolina have the option of recalling Gauleiter Perdue?
She is “semi-hamless’ at this point–both houses solidly Repub for first time in about 120 years and she is trailng the Repub front runner for gov by about 8 pts. We can’t wait for 11/12!
The next time Governor Perdue is in a crowded airport terminal and standing in line at a TSA checkpoint, I hope she cracks a really funny joke about having a bomb in her luggage.
As they say over at HotAir:
+1000
If a “living Constitution” can simply redefine the meaning of “regulate interstate commerce,” what is there in a “living Constitution” that would prevent the meaning of “election,” or “term,” from being redefined.
If this bit of subversion is really a trial balloon, then the current spin isn’t terribly significant. The balloon is in place, flying where the sycophants like NPR and MSNBC can see it and run with it in the next few weeks – assuming that they don’t already have their marching orders via whatever replaced JournoList. The spin is just an attempt to save Perdue. She did her job by sending up the balloon; there’s nothing to be gained by the Dems by now losing her.
It’s pretty clear to native speakers of English that what she said wasn’t intended to be a joke – unless our Left has just redefined the meaning of the word “joke”.
Of course suspend elections so you can have permanent power. Would your being investigated for campaign “irregularities” have anything to do with it?
This comment comes on the heels of Obama’s ‘national emergency’ comment. And after we’ve been hearing a lot of talk from the Left of going around the Constitution or the Congress, or using executive order, or how Democracy isn’t really such a good thing after all.
Of course it’s a joke.
Everything the subversives (aka “democrats”) say and do is a joke.
Threatening the venture capitalists with crazy taxes is a joke.
Allowing Iran to have the bomb is a joke.
Destroying the economy with thousands of regulations is a joke.
Plunging America into the pit of an infinite debt is a joke.
Stopping us from drilling for oil is a joke.
Arming the narcos with weapons bought with the ATF supervision is a joke.
Declaring that Israel must return to its 1967 borders is a joke.
Saying that we must not run to conclusions about the Fort Hood attack is a joke.
Talking with the terrorists of the muslim brotherhood is a joke.
It’s all a joke.
But, we, the People, don’t laugh any longer.
Well, we did suspend elections in time of crisis. 9/11/01 was a local election day in New York. The election was suspended for 1 week, to the following Tuesday. On 9/18/01, even as Ground Zero continued to smolder, New Yorkers trudged on down to their local precinct to vote in local elections.
Does Governor Perdue believe that there is any current crisis in North Carolina, or in the US, that rises to the level necessary to suspend elections for 2 years? That wasn’t a bad joke, but a sick joke to those Americans who know what a real crisis is. For shame.
I wonder how the black communities of North Carolina feel about “suspending elections”.
Repeal the 14th amendment because that is where they have you lock stock and barrel. So without the 14th amendment they are powerless.
I had a leftist friend who was seriously suggesting around 2007 that Bush would launch a coup to hold onto permanent power. I told him he was paranoid, that Bush would never do such a thing, and even if he tried the US military would never back a coup like that. I was proven right.
But considering that numerous leftists beleived that Bush would cancell elections, even though no repub politico ever remotely suggested it, they should realize that we might not appreciate a “joke” like this from a dem, now that the shoe is on the other foot, and it is the dems that are headed for a huge electoral defeat.