fitz

EPU’d: DSCC. I have given them many thousands of dollars over the last few years, recently wrote saying not one more dime until they back Feingold and stop sabotaging candidates like Hackett and Lamont.

Their tepid response? They don’t do policy. Ok, they won’t respond to me, I won’t respond to any of their begging letters. DSCC: call me when you wake up to the new reality.

Whose quote? (Emmanuel or Schumer?) Oh, and Fitz!

Good afternoon- looks as if there was a good day of political strategizing- sorry I missed it.

I’m most interested in getting rid of the goopers- I want em out of the White House, out of control of the senate- and out of control of the house. After that I can start thinking of how to further improve the political landscape.

It’s job one: Get rid of the goopers,

Job two: make the resulting government more progressive- particularly in terms of universal health care, and energy conservation. I am also concerned about deficits and out of control foreign policy. These are my key issues.

We can’t accomplish anything while goopers still control the govt- and unless we control the senate this time around- we are going to have MORE obnoxious judges going onto the bench.

Taking the senate is the most important job of all.

Jane:

Your post says,

“And then there’s this wonderful quote by Rahm Emmanuel:

“When the far-left wing of the Democratic Party runs the party, we lose,” Mr. Schumer said at one fund-raiser.”

Do you mean wonderful quote by Chuck Schumer, or do you mean Rahm Emmanuel said at one fund raiser?

On wedge issues- from the previous post. In order to exploit a wedge issue- one must find an issue that a subtantial number of the opposition party is in favor of- but which the rest oppose- and push it hard.

Pushing abortion rights would be one example- one would propose legislation that insures that Rove vs. Wade stays the law of the land regardless of what the supreme court does. Goopers would mostly have to oppose your plan- and voila- wedge issue!

You would, of course, energize the base of the opposition- in a year that figures to be low turnout- so it could be dangerous- but that’s how it’s done!

These people are interested in one thing only. Their own wallets.

They must go. Period.

This Emmanuel is an idiot. Schumer is no better. With them in charge progressives have no chance to win.

In the long run this may be to our advantage for if the Democrats don’t take either house, a real possibility with these assclowns “in charge”, the Democratic Party will crumble. I don’t want to live through that.

I’d prefer for both Cheney and Bush to be impeached or, let Fitz have Cheney, and then Pelosi can become the first woman President.

I urge all progressives to make it happen. Write Schumer and tell him he’s toast next time if he doesn’t get out of the way and let good qualified progressives win now!

Donate to ACT!Blue and above all help Lamont win.

He’s the real deal.

And the netroots can become a force for this election if we can help him beat “Wet Kiss” Joe.

Ay-yi-yi.

Chuck Schumer is such a tool. We have the “ball-less, soul-less, clue-less” wing of the Dem party in the likes of him.

And what does he know about winning anyway?

Another “wedge issue” has to do with deficit spending. Many goopers are against it- and they made a “balanced budget amendment” a part of their “contract with america”. If dems came back advocating it now, it would put goopers in a tough position.

rwcole 6, “Rove vs. Wade” – now there’s a Freudian slip for you.

Thanks, JWR/neurophius. Fixed.

Leslie- Oops- yep it was!

I’m not an economist, but won’t this mean a rise in the price of crude oil?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/a…..99,00.html

While it’s generally true (at least in the post-Goldwater age) that any Democrat is preferable to any Republican, the arrogance of politicians like Schumer means that even if we succeed in creating a Democratic majority in the near future, we will still have a long-term job ahead of us in creating a new ethos. The values that members of the FDL community support and believe in are like trees: they need fertile soil and plenty of sunshine to grow and spread their branches.

On the other hand, there are still a lot of loggers out there to cut down any trees that get too big.

rwcole @6, while I revere your wisdom and analytical skills, I must draw the line at your posing that rove is somehow involved in the original Supreme Court decision.

But who knows? Under the current anything goes administration, where they don’t care what laws Congress may try to pass, maybe it IS Rove v. Wade.

egregious—guess my fingers are getting used to typing “Rove”- hope they get plenty of more opportunity soon.

I see that other sharper minds have delivered the point sooner. I still got the Fitz 2 days in a row :)

Fingers typing Rove, I’m thinkin’ the transcriptionists at the Hague.

Hi -
I am de-lurking to ask about something a little off-topic, although it is definitely connected to the Democratic Party’s failures.

I read Mr. Hornberger’s article about the President’s apparent assumption of dictatorial power (http://www.fff.org/comment/com0604i.asp). [Note - found it linked at Crooks and Liars]. Reading this article clarified something that has been bothering me for a while.

I have read and heard Republican pundit/power-people types publicly discussing their ambition to achieve a permanent Republican majority in Congress. While I know there has been some discussion here and elsewhere about the failures of our various re-districting rules, I am not aware (but would love to know) whether anyone has challenged the very concept of a permanent Republican majority. How is that not tantamount to oligarchy or dictatorship? How is that not inherently repellent to any American?

I am not in a position to ask any of these Republican folks (in front of cameras, preferably) why they feel so comfortable and patriotic while attempting to wrest our country away from democratic (little “d”) government. I want someone to do that.

I am irritated that this administration has forced me to give up my blissfully politics-oblivious life-style.

And, if it is just that they don’t like anything that sounds like “Democrat” – they should be reminded that Republics are also supposed to have governments elected by ALL the citizens.

Rw, as for wedge issues, the simple fact is that we are all getting worse off every year financially. I can’t understand why ANY middle class american would vote pug.

I mean, ok, I get that the wurlitzer had made hating liberals fashionable for a while.

I get that 9/11 made everyone want to rally behind the guy in charge, and kick some ass.

That being said, what have the Republicans EVER done for anyone who’s not a) top 5% earner b) holy-roller, hate mongerer c) kick back/defense spending oriented?

I just can’t imagine how ANYONE would think that the pugs actually give a shit about them.

From Audrey Yoeckel: We need to take these issues and frame them in a new way that is clear and concise. We need to ignore the political differences of the voters and just tell the truth in a way they can “get it”.
>>>>>
See Webb’s radical idea [VA Dem for Senate]: the government stops at my front door. Who loves whom, who owns guns, not any business of the government.

urban– I agree- but there you are- many don’t look at the economic issues cause they’ve been convinced that the social issues are more important. Other figure- “Well hell- at least the goopers are giving me a LITTLE tax break- the dems are talkin about takin more of my money- so I don’t care what happens to the fat cats- I care what happens to me”.

Others, of course, just aren’t paying any attention at all.

I know I’m stating the obvious to you all, but it just seems to me that we have to correct the impression in the minds of the DNC,DCCC,DLC all those “initial” guys at the national level that pandering to the center in order to get elected and then to keep your seat tells me that you have an entrenched, “anything to get elected” mentality and that you will do whatever it takes to get elected including throw your morals and ethics out the window. Isn’t that what the current guys are doing? I’d rather be true to my beliefs and lose as a Progressive than lie and lose because I don’t stand for anything.

Word has it here in the back-side-of-nowhere, Texas that the only candidates getting funding from the national party are incumbents. Well screw them all, they’ll not get another red cent from me. All my money will go into the campaign of my local candidates, Ted Ankrum and Barbara Radnofsky. And when all is said and done in November, the guys at the national party level will play hell getting another dime outta me for the next race as well.

I say power to the people.

Just dropped by to share this OT but helarious thing that happened at Jazz Fest in New Orleans today.

Mid afternoon, a plane flys overhead towing a sign saying simply “IMPEACH BUSH”! The crowd went wild cheering and clapping and shouting!

It was a great moment!

Keeping my fingers crossed in NOLA!

jb–I don’t think any candidates are getting money from the party during the primaries.

jb–I don’t usually give any money at all during the primaries. Why have dems piss my money away fighting one another. I save it for the general election when it can buy bullets aimed at goopers.

Military Fatalities: By Time Period

News
Current Time in Baghdad: 5:00:53 AM

Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days
5 248 6 7 261 1.92 136
4 715 13 18 746 2.35 318
3 579 25 27 631 2.92 216
2 718 27 58 803 1.89 424
1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43
Total 2400 104 110 2614 2.3 1137

Just gone 3am here and I’m off to bed. That’s 2,400 families mostly in the US devastated by a death caused by the Bush regime, 2,400 soldiers in a land they had no business being in sent in by a cabal of the rich and ruthless headed by Cheney.

Hell of a thing to go to bed on. G’night folks keep up the fight.

Urban Pirate,

Have you read What’s the Matter With Kansas? It’s not just about Kansas, it’s about why people vote against their economic self-interests. It has a lot to do with getting whipped into a religious frenzy by people like Rove and that punk-ass jerk who’s running for Lt. Governor of Georgia–Ralph Reed.

jb–maybe for the usual election, but not in ‘06. If we don’t take back at least one house of Congress and hold hearings and investigations, we might not have a country left to argue about.

Phony war in Iran, retaliatory strikes, other countries getting involved, nukes, deepening trouble, degenerating situation, WWIII. World wars do start somehow. This is entirely possible. It would be the end of our nation.

Mark–3,000 casualties will be a big psychological number- the number killed in 9/11.

but mfi you didn’t say poof!

Back to the topic at the end of the previous thread- internet and bloggers and politics. Jane, I ask this specifically of you, but chime in anyone else. I’m interested to know, since Swan seems to get it, what he sees as the demographics of bloggers (and more so that of their readers) and internet readers who are important to the cause. Some how I think that “people” (whomever) have the impression/assume that blogs are read by kids, and that anyone over 30 would have no clue. I don’t follow any blogs other than FDL to any great degree, but don’t think that this is the case here.

In the eyes of Schumer’s ilk, a “far left winger” is anyone willing to call GW Bush a sonofabitch.

This November we have to purge the republicans and get a democratic house, but we can also go after that quisling piece of shit Lieberman and put a real democrat from Connecticut in office. Then we need to prune the parasitic weeds from the democratic party–Schumer and Emmanuel are on the top of that list.

Valley Girl, someone provided a link in the last thread in response to my question about the ethnicity and economic status of people who read political blogs. It led to a lot of demographic information–very interesting. Many of them definitely are not kids.

The only thing these cretins destroying the democratic party have going for them is the fact that George W. Bush is president. I wouldn’t walk twelve feet to vote for one of their watered-down candidates except to get Bush out of there.

I am not aware (but would love to know) whether anyone has challenged the very concept of a permanent Republican majority. How is that not tantamount to oligarchy or dictatorship? How is that not inherently repellent to any American?

sp –

Thanks for de-lurking! You have hit the nail squarely on the head. Of course, it is inherently repellent to anyone who is genuinely American in spirit, which I think can be defined as someone who loves the Constitution and wants to see the ideal of true participatory democracy actually embodied in real life, rather than just in movies like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”

Such a definition represents what is best in our “grand experiment” in democracy. The fact that anyone can speak of permanent one-party rule with a straight face means that person is inherently anti-American.

I defy anyone to name an example of one-party rule, anywhere in the world, where such as scheme has worked out well for a country’s citizens. If the purpose of government is NOT the wellbeing of all of its citizens, whatever its actual purpose is, is a corrupt objective which results in tyranny.

Funny thing is, you only actually *hear* Goopers discussing their objective of permanent one-party rule in half-whispers. They try to only speak of it when they are amongst themselves, plotting.

The reason for keeping mum is obvious. All “real” Americans (in the sense I define it) will reject such a goal out of hand.

We need to quote those who have uttered their fevered dream aloud (and I’m looking at YOU, Rove) as loudly as possible.

[Actually, I first knew that we were in big, big trouble back in 2000 when I heard that Rove’s notion of the “best president ever” was William McKinley — president during the age of the rule of the robber barons. I wonder if he ever thinks about how McKinley’s presidency ENDED.)

I hope you de-lurk more often!

RWCole: Rahm shook the money tree for Tammy Duckworth in IL-06 against the grassroots candidate Christine Cegelis, who, among other things, built up the local democratic party from nothing when she ran against Henry Hyde in 2004 (and got 44% of the vote). Yes, the money didn’t officially come from the DCCC, but Rahm got well-known democratic candidates to help out Duckworth and got her about $800k. Cegelis had about a quarter of that money and came within 700 votes of winning.

OT but if you haven’t already, PLEASE, go say thank you to Colbert.

http://thankyoustephencolbert.org/

thank you all!

Just look at the escalation via Turkey re the Kurds– this thing is huge and uncontrollable.

I need to thank Christy and mfi and Oklahoma Kiddo from the earlier Foster Care thread. You all broke my heart. I often wonder about the orphans from our aggression. Not just the cute little ones with the big and wanting eyes, but the ones– the 12 yo, 14 yo, 18 yo, 20 yo, 40 yo 60 yo orphans with the empty and hopeless eyes. Who will have enough love and tenderness left over to protect and nurture them? What about the grandparents and parents and sisters and brothers missing someone…..

*ilson: When the Netroots can prove themselves by significantly assisting in winning elections, they will be courted assiduously.
>>>>>
And THAT’S why electing Lamont is so important.

Whoa…I took so long to get that last and lengthy comment out (149 in last thread) that I didn’t realize I EPU’d myself. Oh well…

DSCC and DCCC are extinct. They just don’t realize it yet. They do not provide a necessary service that cannot or shouldn’t be fulfilled by either the DNC assisting state parties, or by the state and local parties supporting candidates. DSCC/DCCC inherently dilute the little d-democratic effort, by representing incumbents or their own choices for office, rather than representing the will of the people.

No offense meant to Duckworth, but Cegelis was a pointed example of the DSCC/DCCC effectively thwarting the will of the people, foisting in a candidate and overwhelming the marketplace with advertising over a candidate that already had strong support from the local constituency. Ditto Hackett.

I will NEVER give one iota of effort or funding to DSCC/DCCC; if one of the defining points of the Democratic Party is its inherent value of democracy, then DSCC/DCCC are fundamentally in diametric opposition to that value as they currently operate today. Stick a fork in them, they are toast on my list.

Yesterday, someone provided a link to a WaPo story on the primary challenge Lieberman faces from Lamont. Way down in the story was this:

“Nancy DiNardo, Connecticut’s Democratic Party chairman, worries that the Lieberman-Lamont battle will detract from the primary showdown between two Democrats vying to challenge the state’s popular Republican governor, M. Jodi Rell. “I think we should focus on beating Republicans,” DiNardo said.“

I think first we have to define Republican for them. (Hint for Nancy.. it’s initials are JL.)

Neuro, I haven’t but now I will.

What puzzles me isn’t the holy rollers though, I almost get that. It’s the other 60% who voted Pug in 2004. The working guys who pay their taxes and scrimp and save to pay the childrens college tuition. Guys like me. I have heard it theorized that it is common to “project”. That even if you’re not benefitting from the tax breaks for the rich, you somehow aspire to someday.

I guess the pugs are pretty great at playing the bigot card also. Have convinced them the the libs will tax them and give it to the poor black folk. But, as we all know, Democrat leaders have been far more effective at fiscal management AND helping the less fortunate.

Hell, if Dems REALLY did just grab more money and give it to those who wont work (as commonly spewed) I would have a hard time voting for them.

Truth is, the Dems feel that the rich bounty of the great country should be shared by many, the pugs think it should be hoarded by few. They also have had the management expertise to make sure our riches are squandered. It’s always been that way I think, yet so many don’t get it.

I believe the point needs to be made often. Voting Democrat benefits YOU. Not just the poor, the sick, the old, but YOU. IN YOUR POCKET. (not you Dick Cheney)

Of course above I meant to say Dems have had the management expertise to make sure our riches are NOT squandered.

Valley Girl (32) — it’s a larger issue than just bloggers’ demographics; you can check Pew Internet & American Life Project for numerous studies on the use of the internet. There are other divides that we need to watch more closely than just the age of bloggers, like the use of broadcast media targeting older, less-wired voters; failing to navigate a matrix of different media types has cost campaigns enormously, like the Dean primary campaign and in my state, a 10-point swing against Dem governor Granholm.

I failed to tag my previous post with OT– but everything and nothing is OT with this miserable admin in power. Sorry, but I was away a lot today and was catching up and it just started to choke me. Watched 60 minutes with the debacle threatening the Columbia River and people with deadly waste and the dude from the Energy Dept making stoopid excuses to Leslie Stahl who was clearly horrified at the sheer ineptitude of the federal government of all stripes. That was followed by Mr. Colbert who the CM ignored all day…… it is unspeakable.

Jane brings Joe Klein to his knees

Well, at least Joe Klein and Chuck Schumer are on the same wrong page regarding the “far left of the Democratic Party”

here’s the right link

Jane brings Joe Klein to his knees

48 and 49

Where does Joke Line fit into this discussion? Did I miss something?

Earth to Schumer-
When the far left wing ran the Democratic Party, it beat the living crap out of Barry Goldwater. And Hoover. It was the lefties that made the GOP a quivering burnt-out shell in the 30s and 40s. The Depression wasn’t beaten by the middle-of-the-road accomodationists. It was beaten by the out and out lefties. Your constant race to the center has gotten you nowhere. Look where you are now. Does it look like you’ve been practicing a winning strategy for the last 10 years? Please shut the hell up.

Never mind

If by the far left wing of the Democratic Party, Schumer means anyone left of Joe Lieberman, then Bill Clinton couldn’t have gotten elected without the far left wing, Jimmy Carter couldn’t have gotten elected without the far left wing…no Democrat could.

I want to shatter the glass cage, and destroy the straitjacket that our country’s national political dialogue has forced us all into, thanks to rigid enforcement of the “acceptable” boundaries of our national conversation by the corporate media and the corporate parties led by people like Schumer.

My chosen direction? STRAIGHT AHEAD.

The media and the likes of Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel are telling me I must be “left-wing” or I must be “right-wing” (since, of course, no one is ever actually allowed to self-identify as part of the “mythical middle”). No other points on the compass exist. No other avenues are open to us, anywhere in this whole wide world, they claim. Our false, manufactured, unnatural “two-party system” is all that exists, and all that should exist, they assert. Well, they can all go jump in the lake.

I like straight-shooters. I like straight-talk. And I like walking wherever I want, straight ahead to my destination. Or, if I choose, I’ll follow the winding road. These conformists to authority and wanna-be petty tyrants can take their two “wings” and shove them.

Yours most sincerely,

- We, the People of these United States

i mean i could see if the dems had won the congress and the WH with these so-called dem operatives but uhh nooo they havent so i say the hell with them give progressive voices a chance to show what we can do!!! enough with so-called experts . they havent done jack shit and we’re screwed.

Dear Senator Schumer
12 years ago, the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, and the White House. Since following the wise strategy of chasing some illusory center,and using your approved list of consultants, it now controls exactly squat. Pardon my scorn, but why should we trust you not to screw it up again?

Why not put Steven Colbert in charge?

OT and check George Allen’s latest attempt at deliberate obfuscation or just plain old lying:

FARMVILLE — Sen. George Allen, under fire for wearing a Confederate flag pin as a teenager, said yesterday he will pursue a proposal for a congressional resolution apologizing for slavery.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/s…..sicArticle

OT http://www.hillnews.com/thehil…..udget.html
===House Dems invoke civil rights in suit over budget typo
Senior House Democrats allege in a new lawsuit that their civil rights were violated when the House passed a slightly different version than the Senate of the controversial budget-reconciliation bill in February.

“Plaintiffs were entitled under the United States Constitution to vote on the bill being described as the Deficit Reduction Act prior to it becoming law,†according to the lawsuit, which was filed this morning in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

“Each suffers irreparable injury by the enactment of a law without the opportunity to participate in its consideration as is required under Article I, Section 7 of the United States Constitution,†the filing asserts.

Democrats want the courts to declare the bill unconstitutional and to stop its implementation in its tracks. Judge Nancy Edmunds, a George H.W. Bush appointee, is set to hear the case.===

ummmm… Senator George Allen …. now … about that 40 acres and a mule … ummm ….

Joe Klein said, “I can’t imagine a first use of nukes, and certainly not the unilateral use of nuclear weapons — or military force of any kind — against Iran by the Bush administration now.”

I would say he doesn’t have much of an imagination. What does he think the Bush administration is–a bunch of reasonable, rational, level-headed statesmen?

Something I picked up from the dog whisperer: You can’t help someone if you feel sorry for them. We have to inform people as to what is really happening, they’re still going to figure it out themselves.
Look at W’s 32% approval rating-people will change their minds if you give them a chance-you just can’t let the lies go unanswered.

Rwcole(#22) many don’t look at the economic issues cause they’ve been convinced that the social issues are more important. Other figure- “Well hell- at least the goopers are giving me a LITTLE tax break- the dems are talkin about takin more of my money- so I don’t care what happens to the fat cats- I care what happens to meâ€.

rw: As usual, your analysis is spot on! However, the Dems could relate to the working class by saying (for instance 5 years ago) “A trillion $ tax cut? OK, but that means that NO family of 4 earning under $62,000 annually should pay a penny in taxes! We’ll invest in “demand” side economics (instead of the vodoo “supply” side).” Did they do that? No. They took a loser’s position by complaining that the deficit would be too large! Oh please!!! My son in little league could hit softballs like that out of the park, but the ‘fox hole’ Dems can’t relate to anybody — except their consultants.

(Interestingly enough, the $62,000 figure is almost exactly the inflation adjusted minimum taxable income when the income tax law was first passed — in 1913.)

This is what happens when our elected representatives fail to represent the will of the people:

(from the Nuremberg trial cross examination)
Herman Goering: I consider the Leadership Principle necessary because the system which previously existed, and which we called parliamentary or democratic, had brought Germany to the verge of ruin. I might perhaps in this connection remind you that your own President Roosevelt, as far as I can recall — I do not want to quote it word for word — declared, “Certain peoples in Europe have forsaken democracy, not because they did not wish for democracy as such, but because democracy had brought forth men who were too weak to give their people work and bread, and to satisfy them. For this reason the peoples have abandoned this system and the men belonging to it.” There is much truth in that statement. This system had brought ruin by mismanagement and according to my own opinion, only an organization made up of a strong, clearly defined leadership hierarchy could restore order again. But, let it be understood, not against the will of the people, having in the course of time, and by means of a series of elections, grown stronger and stronger, had expressed their wish to entrust their destiny to the National Socialist Leadership.

I’m dense. What’s a gooper?
I went to a dem luncheon here Friday and listened to a congressional candidate who is challenging the long term incumbent republican candidate in an overwhelmingly republican district in an overwhelmingly republican state-Kansas. But this guy impressed me. I saw charisma up close and personal, and expect he not only can but will win. He is very personable, and full of a deft comic sense that hits the nail on the head…like “I’ve never dreamed I could fill my gas tank and double the value of my car..” And if anyone is to be held accountable for these fuel prices, it is —————————-
Bush and his Congress of clones. Sometimes politics just bubbles up from the grass roots, and this sort of candidate can sweep away all trepidation of the Schummers and give democrats some Balls!

The whole first part of the Joke Line mea culpa is wildly disingenuouis. Shorter JK:

“Oopsie. I didn’t know that threatening to commit international war crimes was supposed to be implied, never spoken outright.”

neurophius – Klein’s last paragraph deserves some sort of truthiness award all on it’s own. He’s wankerific!

vox clamantis in red state:

Greetings fellow Kansan. Have you signed up for the Kansas netroots project? Which district is your candidate running in?

“far left” candidates lose?
How many Dems have lost from ahead rather than won from behind since Truman? I am not some Truman worshipper here. I am more moderate than I think many of the “lefties” are on this site, but certainly Truman, like President, made lots of mistakes.
But one big thing Truman was good at, was knowing what he stood for and explaining that forcefully in plain English, and not backing down. Since it was mentioned in a recent review of Joe Klein, I went and got the text to Truman’s “Turnip Day” speech. Here it is.
http://millercenter.virginia.e….._0715.html
Here are some excerpts.
“The reason is that the people know that the Democratic Party is the people’s party, and the Republican Party is the party of special interest, and it always has been and always will be.
…
The total national income has increased… These benefits have been spread to all the people, because it is the business of the Democratic Party to see that the people get a fair share of these things.
This last, worst 80th Congress proved just the opposite for the Republicans.
…
Here’s a bit on civil rights legislation. This Truman guy talked in plain in English, explained his position to people, and notice he called the GOP on its tricks very openly and to its face.
“Everybody knows that I recommended to the Congress the civil rights program. I did that because I believed it to be my duty under the Constitution. Some of the members of my own party disagree with me violently on this matter. But they stand up and do it openly! People can tell where they stand. But the Republicans all professed to be for these measures. But Congress failed to act. They had enough men to do it, they could have had cloture, they didn’t have to have a filibuster. They had enough people in that Congress that would vote for cloture.
***
So what have these centrist Clinton wanna-be’s (that never were, and aren’t nor ever will be even a one-fourth Clinton) brought us, except losing from ahead?

A gooper is a member of the GOP. A Republican.

RE: What Rayne at Comment #42 said regarding the recent Congressional primary campaign in Illinois.

“No offense meant to Duckworth, but Cegelis was a pointed example of the DSCC/DCCC effectively thwarting the will of the people, foisting in a candidate and overwhelming the marketplace with advertising over a candidate that already had strong support from the local constituency. Ditto Hackett.”

I agree with Rayne. I’ve got nothing against Duckworth but I resent the way the DCCC decided to jump into that race and run a different candidate. I went to my 25th journalism school reunion at Columbia University last weekend and ended up talking to a former classmate who now covers Congress for a big media outlet. She had covered the Duckworth vs. Cegelis race. When I made a comment similar to Rayne’s, my fellow Columbia alumni said, “Well, there was no way a candidate like Cegelis could win–she’s so off to the left and out of step with that district. The DCCC was simply trying to bring in a more centrist candidate.”

When I said Cegelis had done awfully well against Duckworth for being such a crazy wild-ass liberal, so out of step with her district, (I was being sarcastic) and that I resented having DC consultants come in and tell grassroots Democrats who is best for their district, the big media reporter said that I was obviously a “radical leftist.”

I mean, I just had to laugh. I’m this mild, stay-at-home mom, middle-aged, Sunday school teacher. Radical leftist? How the fuck does she know? Because I disagreed with the conventional inside-the-beltway wisdom that no liberal Democrat can win, that the party must pull to the so-called center?

I think they put Kool-aid in the water out there.

I love Howard Dean and wish him well, but I’m only supporting local Democratic candidates right now.

And yes, I do contribute to Dems in the primary—the best candidates often have the least amount of money. (The old hacks preaching same-old, same-old always seem to have funding.) And it’s in the primary where you get your most bang for your buck.

Sorry egergious I was also working in another tab on my blog. I leave you to imagine my surprise when I did a preview and saw just one word *poof*

I suggest you not imagine my language. Fortunately I edit in a separate XHTML editor so after running round my library screaming “shit shit shit what the fuck have I done?” for a while it was easy to get everything back.

One badly shaken somewhat greyer gaelic gorilla is going to his heap of leaves now to sleep and recover from the shock.

g’night again folks.

*poof*

Frist bombs again : http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05…..nted=print

Sharp Reaction to G.O.P. Plan on Gas Rebate
By CARL HULSE and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

WASHINGTON, April 30 — The Senate Republican plan to mail $100 checks to voters to ease the burden of high gasoline prices is eliciting more scorn than gratitude from the very people it was intended to help.

Aides for several Republican senators reported a surge of calls and e-mail messages from constituents ridiculing the rebate as a paltry and transparent effort to pander to voters before the midterm elections in November.

gooper– grand old obsolete party. a goober, no disrespect to peanuts everywhere, but ya’ know. GOOPER.

just making it up as i go along…hanging my head in shame.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/4/26/11425/2563
===Demographics of Democratic Blog Activists
Summary
Active readers of Democratic political blogs are very highly educated, highly politically active, quite well-to-do, voracious consumers of media, not very young, and skew male. Apart from the male part, these indicators fly in the face of stereotypes about progressive bloggers, who are supposedly drooling, rabid, anti-social, uneducated, teenage extremists with no political value and out of touch with current events. Quite to the contrary, active blog readers have a tremendous amount of political capital to spend, and are in search of adventurous progressive politicians and organizations to spend it on. Is there any major progressive political group in the country that would not want to appeal to the demographics of this readership? High concentrations of wealthy, highly educated, highly active media junkies cannot be found in many areas in either this or any other country. Mischaracterize and misjudge them at your own peril.===

http://www.democrats.com/blogads-readers
===Progressive Blogosphere is the Cream of the Crop
[.]So what can we say about this data?
* Democratic blog readers are the best-educated group of all
* Republican blog readers are the richest group, with Democratic blog readers second (the NY Times mean total is skewed by millionaires, and the Washington Post is read largely by middle-income bureaucrats)
* The audiences are around the same ages
* Democratic blog readers are the most active group of all

You, dear reader of progressive blogs, are the cream of the crop – the kind of reader that advertisers covet most.

Bill Keller and Leonard Downie, you are suicidal morons for treating us with contempt – rather than the respect we deserve!

Update 1: Via Matt Stoller, Kevin Drum says 10 million Democrats read blogs every day or a few times a week. That means we get as many readers as the New York Times web site (73% readers 10 or more days per month * 12.96 million U.S. readers.)===

In terms of demographics–I belong to a group of several women, all over 65, who have stopped contributing to the national party. When called, our response is: when you really start fighting back, we’ll send money. We’re sick of the weaseling and moving right.

angie 74:

Some of them also wear goop in their hair.

Punaise?

yay Nora and yay Ms.AnnaNOLA!

neurophius 62, I like this line from Josh Marshall on Iran:
To the president the Democrats should be saying, Double or Nothing is Not a Foreign Policy.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c…..008333.php

Here’s another softball for ‘fox-hole’ Dems. At a time when health care costs are soaring, United Heatth Group Inc. CEO, William McGuire has (unrealized) gains on his his UnitedHealth stock options (given as compensation) of $1.6 BILLION — yes Billion….with a “B”. Where’s Wimp Schumer on this? Isn’t this an issue that could resonate with working class NASCAR folks that have to pay dearly for healthcare while some MBA-type gets over a BILLION for pushing papers from one desk to another? Dems, this is an issue! But not one person in a million know McGuire’s outrageous compensation. If we had REAL Dems in Congress instead of DINOS, everybody would know — and everybody would be pissed as hell.,

angie @74 making it up as you go along—no need to hang yr head in shame! This is a standard, honorable engineering technique. Also known as tinkering until you come up with something interesting. Play/explore.

On Iran -yes it is hard to imagine that BushCho would do a pre-emptive nuclear strike under any circumstances, or a massive conventional air strike unless it was a last resort before a very immediate bad catastrophe would happen otherwise.
But look at Bush on energy… the guy is a true nut case. I heard a sound bite from him yesterday on energy policy. He is still arguing that if we just shoveled more money into US oil exploration, somehow magically, low cost, environmentally friendly (even by his rather loose standards), energy suppplies will appear.
Well, after five years of loosened up exploration and tax policy that increases profits, US production is still declining. People focus on ANWAR, but go back and read BushCo WH statements and press conferences on energy policy. It was to get us lotsa oil and gas dirt cheap. He still thinks throwing money at the industry will do it somehow. These people are not reality based, at all.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/mer/
check out US domestic oil production under low mid and high price scenarios (oil and natural gas projections chapter
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/index.html
His own energy department says its nonsense, but Bush Jr. spouts on.
These people do not think normally. Its a mistake to assume that they do.

Rayne, belated thanks for the Pew link. BTW, there is a link to follow if anyone is interested in participating in their survey of internet use.

Right, Margot 79. Those may be words that Chimpy could actually understand. As long as you explain that “foreign policy” does not mean “overseas insurance.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2006, as Loyalty Day. I call upon all the people of the United States to join in support of this national observance, and to display the flag of the United States on Loyalty Day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.

GEORGE W. BUSH

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news…..28-10.html

Jane, where DID you find that photo?!! I can’t believe I never found it.

85 They way he’s running things into the ground, there’s not going to be much left to be loyal to. A rogue nation, its allies alienated, its economy owned by China, with a “unitary executive” who can do whatever he wants, with no co-equal branches of government to get in his way.

Wrt to Georgie Allen. He and Kaine were recently at an event with a large Hispanic audience. Kaine was able to move deftly from English to Spanish and back during his remarks. Allen tried to speak a little Spanish. Kaine said in response, “I’ve been called a lot of things by Republicans, but I’ve never been called an “avocado!” (Allen had been trying to say “lawyer” in reference to Kaine.)

I simply point out the current status of their chief opinion makers.

Republican Limbaugh is a blubbering Republican hypocritical law and order junkie with a hotshot laywer.

Republican Bill O’Reilly is an overinflated, bullying windbag with a hankering to sexually harrass subordinates on the job, with a hotshot lawyer.

Republican Ann Coulter is a raving Fascista with homicide fantasies and an inability to vote correctly in her own district.

Republican Bill Bennett is a gluttonous moral wag with harsh cas of the degenerate gambling.

Republican Armstrong Williams is a propaganda whore for Bush/Rove opinion machine.

Republican Bill Kristol is a stammering war monger who can only get behind a t.v. camera to critisize how poorly his wars are executed.

You want me to listen to you conservatives because?

thank you wonderful FDL’ers– neurophius and egregious.

Some of them also have goop for brains…

like georgie-porgie, dana. he is sooo dumb and he’s not just playing aw- shucks, i never learnt any better– he never learned at all. he’s the real deal. a chip off the chimp.

Margot #79:
thanks for TPM link on Iran. In that post there is also a link to GOP tax strategy:
extend tax breaks on dividends and capital gains:
http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/29358

Will it “far left” to oppose this? (In the middle of an expansion, when tax-break driven deficits and high oil prices are starting to cause a serious slide in the $ and may cause significant macro-economic problems. Would opposing these silly tax breaks be advocating “class warfare”? I wonder.).
FDL and other safe&sane blogs should challenge Schumer and Emanuel to say what they regard as “far left” loony positions. Could they tell us? If they did, would they stick to that list if Rove and GOP smear artists announced another position was far left and looney (like honestly counting US war wounded, for instance -real nut case stuff there, huh? Or stop cutting $ for infantry equipment in the middle of a war. Another loony far left idea, I guess.)

I am serious, the blogs should politely ask these people to characterize what is responsible moderate and liberal positions, as opposed to far left and loony. I wonder if they have any real coherent ideas.

any dem consultant who has lost more than 2 elections should not get another contract.

Regarding the disconnect between the DC Dems and Progressive Activists, an old story about FDR comes to ming.

Some advocates on a particular issue got to meet with Roosevelt after he took over as President. Halfway through their presentation, he cut them off. “Well, you have convinced me. Now, go out and put pressure on me!”

FDR knew he was leading a movement — but he also knew that he could not do anything that the people did not support.

Today’s Democratic Establishment regards the activist base as meddlesome radicals; they want our money, but also want us to sit down and shut up.

Guess which one built an enduring majority — and which one can’t think their way out of a paper bag?

America needs a New Deal for the 21st Century — we need an FDR to lead us there . . .

Rayne 42 “DSCC and DCCC are extinct. They just don’t realize it yet. They do not provide a necessary service that cannot or shouldn’t be fulfilled by either the DNC assisting state parties, or by the state and local parties supporting candidates.”

I’m trying to help Selden Spencer against Tom Latham in Iowa 4th (Latham votes GOP 94%, the 4th is purple and include IA State U). He is scrambling for money and the DCCC will help him, but only if he is raising it already. It’s sort of a Catch 22. We give, if you already have. Meanwhile, Latham is calmly raking in the cash. The Democrats should be throwing money at candidates in districts like this, in a year like this. But no. And, having read CTG, I’m almost more afraid for him if they do help him than if they don’t. I’m going to give him a copy of the book tomorrow.

hmm, an FDR to lead us there…..

Gore

Dean

Feingold

FDN– we can do better, ’cause we have had enough.

Hate to say it, but it looks like Chuck and Rahm are literally out to lose every advantage we have this election year, and to squander all the hard-earned grassroots money on a stable of incompetent, losing consultants, mediocre candidates, and to try to “win” primarily by using the old standby tactic of depressing the opposition’s turnout.

Thanks guys. Really appreciate it.

It could work. It hasn’t worked for a long time. But it could work. They’ve been busy trying to flack their cleverness and good Democrat-ness, and yet their interference in the Ohio Senate race and the Il-06 primary have alienated most of the grassroots workers every campaign needs, and they have managed to stop the flow of money from the grassroots, too.

Thanks guys. Really appreciate it.

We should win on merits alone this fall. Everything is supposedly in our favor. But like Markos, I have a very bad feeling about November, and a much worse feeling about what will follow.

Chuck and Rahm give me no confidence at all. And it’s too late to replace them.

oh poop– FDG!!!

Does Schumer ever sit down and figure out what he means by “left” “far left” “moderate” etc? Bc what I see is that the unhappy dems – which he seems to equate with far left, are saying a lot of the same things as the unhappy Republicans. ?????????

They also rely on such skewed polls – I have hit it before, but look at the ABA poll on the NSA program (guys who actually understood the issue to poll it) v. almost every other poll. Look at the questions on complex issues like immigration and the war in Iraq. And look at the pathetic (did I mention PATHETIC?) job done by the Congressional Dems on educating people to any different alternatives or positions to those taken by the President? Instead, they line up and say – “yeah, us too” so often on things like the Patriot Act, the War, the wiretaps, etc. that when people do start to figure it out — they have as much or more contempt for people like Schumer.

Is being ant-war “far left?” So Schumer would just as soon not have anything to do with those 200,000 or so people who turned out in NYC? What does seperate a Schumer Dem from a far lefty? I’d kinda like to know.

Bob Shrum should retire and try to produce some reality shows. He has spent the past 30 years producing fantasies.

-GSD

simply put, the republicans are obnoxious bullies. people are not going to vote for someone who won’t stand up to them.

#82 wesgpc said:
He is still arguing that if we just shoveled more money into US oil exploration, somehow magically, low cost, environmentally friendly (even by his rather loose standards), energy suppplies will appear.

My mother described this as the same as the one used to get people to settle the plains: ‘rain follows the plow’. Or ‘if you drill, oil will appear.’ Not! Disconnected from reality; this is the con-man’s approach to getting things done: make promises of plenty and leave town before the bills come due.

Angie are you sure you don’t mean FDL–or FDR?

oh, I get it, angie. never mind.

GSD#99:

shrum is now tucked away at nyu teaching the next generation of trustifarians how to schmooze their way to millions without concern of consequences, safe in the knowledge that some backslapping pal made along the way will provide a cushy place to land when your services are no longer useful.

that was all screwy. but you got it, neurophius. I cannot choose from all my very few favorite patriots; perhaps it was freudian and i just really want Jane and Christy, Gore, Dean, Feingold as our new progressive leaders and all the brains here as trusted consultants. so, Go FDL!

Rahm == Mossad. The better to keep the Dems in line on Iraq and Iran and anywhere else the hard-right Israeli neo-cons want to send our children to fight and die.

It’s perfect: Aipac’s got the white house sewed up tight. If Blair is Bush’s poodle, Bush and the entire United States is Israel’s bitch.

http://www.rumormillnews.com/archive/91598.txt

One of them, Clinton domestic political adviser Rahm Emmanuel, actually went to Israel for one month’s service during the 1991 Gulf war in the Israel Defense Force “Overseas Volunteer Unit” to enable IDF personnel in essential civilian jobs to join their military units at the front. Emmanuel’s Israeli father was a member of Menachem Begin’s underground terrorist militia, the Irgun Zvai Leumi, and Rahm Emmanuel’s uncle was killed while serving with Israeli forces in the 1948 war.

Rahm = Head of US branch of Mossad

Subj: IS THE WHITE HOUSE BUGGED BY A FOREIGN COUNTRY?
Date: 9/24/98 3:11:40 PM Pacific Daylight Time
Comment from Rumor Mill News

While I do not agree entirely with the above article, I thank the New
Federalist and Ed Spannaus for doing research I have not had time to
do.

I have known for a while about the mole in the inner circle at the White
House. This is actually common knowledge among the “spooks” of out
intelligence services. They say that without the okey of the White House,
they can do nothing about it. In other words, Bill Clinton knows there is a
Mossad agent in the White House and will do nothing about it.

I have been told that the agent is not just any agent. He is the head of the
Mossad in the United States.

I have been told this agent sits outside of the Oval Office door and
monitors everyone who goes in to see the President.

I have been told that this agent is Rahm Emmanuel.

http://www.rumormillnews.com/archive/91598.txt

The New Federalist
September 21, 1998

What Was the Mossad Role in the Lewinsky Affair?
by Edward Spannaus

Sept. 16 (EIRNS)–According to a little-noticed passage in the Starr
Report, during March 1997, President Clinton told Monica Lewinsky that
he suspected a foreign embassy was tapping his telephone conversations.

Nothing more is said in the report about the incident, but according to
information received by this news service, that reference could provide
the key to the entire Lewinsky scandal and to the setting-up and
entrapment of the President. Reportedly, the embassy involved was that
of Israel, under the control of the right-wing Likud government of
Benjamin Netanyahu.

First, the time-frame of the Lewinsky affair should be taken into account.
It is bounded by two events: (1) the assassination of President Clinton’s
partner in the Middle East peace process, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak
Rabin, on Nov. 4, 1995, which opens the path for Netanyahu becoming
Prime Minister in May 1996; and (2) Netanyahu’s visit to Washington in
mid-January 1998–just as the Lewinsky affair was breaking in the U.S.
news media. On this visit, Netanyahu publicly insulted the President by
meeting with Bill Clinton’s worst enemies, televangelists Jerry Falwell
and Pat Robertson.

Netanyahu carried out this affront over the objections of both President
Clinton and moderate Jewish leaders in the United States.

The question must be asked: Was the set-up of President Clinton part of
the effort by the Likud fanatics in Israel, and their “Temple Mount”
backers in London, to punish the President for his efforts to force through
an implementation of the 1993 Oslo peace accords?

The Real Lewinsky Tapes
British investigative journalist Kevin Dowling has released an article for
publication to a variety of British and American news organizations,
charging that the Israeli Mossad was bugging the Watergate apartment
telephone of Monica Lewinsky, and was able to obtain material used to
blackmail the Clinton administration into shutting down a probe of
widespread Israeli espionage in Washington.

Dowling reports that well-placed sources in Tel Aviv say that full
transcripts of more than 30 sexually explicit conversations between
Clinton and Lewinsky are held by the Israeli foreign intelligence service,
the Mossad.

The backdrop is as follows, Dowling reports, and it is backed up by
published sources in the U.S., that the U.S. government was aware, from
late 1995 on, that the Mossad was carrying out extensive espionage
activity in the United States. When the Defense Investigative Service
issued a warning to defense contractors about the Israeli spy program, the
Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith went into an all-out mobilization
to denounce the DIS memo as “anti-Semitic.” Of course, just one year
earlier, the ADL had been the subject of a lengthy espionage probe by the
FBI and the San Francisco Police; and the ADL had earlier been deeply
implicated in the Jonathan Pollard spy affair.

Mary,

“Is being ant-war “far left?†So Schumer would just as soon not have anything to do with those 200,000 or so people who turned out in NYC? What does separate a Schumer Dem from a far lefty? I’d kinda like to know.”

200,000 is a fringe number when you’re pandering to the middle. Dems do it, Rethugs do it. End result? Voters choice being the “lessor of two evils”, same as it ever was.

*ilson 73
What! We’re not going to get our $100 Uncle Fristy Freedom Rebate? How come? Did they spend it all on whores? Damn stupid Republicans. If they’re not going to bribe me, then screw ‘em.

Pach — the pic came with the NYT article.

Bush’s nickname for Josh Bolten is “Yosh.”

Also, no policy change is needed. The Administration just needs to get their “mojo” back. Oy, God, The nation is doomed if this is what these dildonic chess players are up to.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..NlYwM3MTY-

BOOYAH, I finally caught up on all my fdl threads.

Bonne nuit/”poof”/!ztiF

Cleter,

Frist is scaling down that ambitious refund. They are going to mail out $5.00 “freedom fry” coupons and give free limo rides and hookers to every 1000th American instead.

Viva La Frist.

-GSD

Mary #98: D’OH. That was *just* on the tip of my little typie fingers… thanks so much. Once again you went for the jugular, just like Jane and Redd and Mr. C.

On foreign policy at least, seems like Dems who talk like Hagel (and, now, today, even The Powell) are branded as loony leftists. Some one should make a list. I should make a list. Anyone want to hire me as a political analyst. Where do I go to get the info to make a list on GOP moderate talking points that would be considered loony left?

OK. Roberts rules to prove we are the new moderate civilized non-reactionary reality based blogworld. I move (to chairpersons JH and CHS) that the reality based blogworld petition Mr. Schumer and Mr. Emanuel to state what they consider to be the “far left”? And how did they decide? On foreign policy, and Iraq in particular, are Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) and Colin Powell (R-Uber-Establishment-CW-Poobah-and-All-Around-Great- Moderate-Reassuring-Reasonable-American) far left?

“Mr C” was supposed to be “Mr. P” (Pach) –whose name I can never remember how to spell.

Any one second my motion?

cleter,

“What! We’re not going to get our $100 Uncle Fristy Freedom Rebate? How come?”

I’d like to see ANY Repug (voter) that thinks that flies. Anyone? Ann Coulter, Micheal Malkin? Come’on, SIGN ON! LOL

I want my Uncle Fristy Freedom Rebate deliverd in vouchers for Freedom Fries, cooked golden brown in US domestic crude, black gold, Texas tea, oil that is.

“Frist is scaling down that ambitious refund. They are going to mail out $5.00 “freedom fry†coupons and give free limo rides and hookers to every 1000th American instead.”

The whole point about the Frist Fraud Bribery program is that Republicans in Congress, who have become accustomed to having hookers provided to them by lobbyists, are now trying to treat the American people like hookers. They want to pay us $100 apiece (of our money) to screw us.

Before long, bloggers will run for and win public office. The web cuts out the middle man, it’s an extremely cost-effective broadcast device, and it’s a far superior medium to television when it comes to interactivity. It also is the platform coming generations will learn on.

Party conventions will be blogged. Congressional sessions will be blogged. Speeches and policy papers will be podcast. And the corporations who own politicians won’t be able to hold it off. Some technologists have seen this coming since the late 80s–now it can be stated with some certainty that it’s going to happen. The town hall is coming back. It’ll just be a lot bigger.

neuro #119: you’d make a good political strategist with stuff like that. I mean if the Dems are not going to go with boring stuff like, you know, ideas and policies and principles and coherent statements of facts and figures and basic thinking points, and other nerd crap, then we need people like you. I’m in for a glowing recommendation, if you apply for a job.

Thanks, wesgpc. I’m honored that my political perversity is appreciated.

I’ll second. *g*

I believe that the wildly left Pat Buchanon has been against the war from beforetimes and aftertimes.

Brent Scowcroft – who has no doubt been been known to hire pet psychics to talk to his fish for him, weepingly refuse to prune his ivy bc of concerns it might “hurt” and who co-hosts the Commentators for Cannibas telethon, thought it was a bad idea

Norman Schwarzkopf – of the Austin Powers sideburns and who hides a closetfull of smiley face ties and hums “I’d like to Buy the World a Coke” in elevators — thought we should have held off, and that Rumsfeld would be a really crappy guy to have in charge.

Dang – it is all wild lefties.

Those 18 grannies – Word is they were all wearing edible underwear. Word.

wrt Colbert, I’ll repeat my entry in the Colbert thank-you website:

I can think of no better definition of tragedy than when the last, best opportunity for truth-telling is comedy.

thanks for the inside scoop, Mary. I always knew that Schwarzkopf guy was a lefty weirdo. Wunner if he is related to the enviro-commie Arnold (R-CA Gubernator-and-stalking-horse-for-reactionary-CA-GOP)?

Schumer and Clinton as my representatives, lesser of evils rises and I’m bogged down in loss of hope for a better future. Can’t we do better than fool me can’t get fooled by Schumer, we are being fooled by the lesser of evils again and again. Lieberman, Clinton, Schumer cut from the same block as Bush. If some one is a little bit racist then they are a racist as someone is a little corrupt is corrupt. Why do we settle for a little bit corporate fascist when the end to it’s means is the same. Bush could push a button and we can all believe that, but Hillary could do the same and may be the more likely. I support Feingold but I can’t bring myself to support Schumer, Clinton, the lesser of evils, if the end to these actions causes greater harm, the slow pain of Bill Clintons centrist push that may have resulted in what we now face, therefore are we also to blame if we barter to a center that is façade.

OK, well, I’m glad the picture is new. I’d hate to think I had missed that one of Dumb and Dumber when they have so often been my piñata poster boys.

http://tinyurl.com/a6erq

Help Impeach Today… Write a letter to the media… Be activist ;)

Thanks :)

Jane bodyslammed Howard always unreliable Kurtz in her post, “Reliable.”

Anyone who would like, can share Jane’s insights with Howie, because
Howard Kurtz will be online Monday, May 1, at noon ET to discuss the press and his latest columns.

Me3 — contact me, please

I still think the best way to support more progressive politics is to pick progressive candidates to support in the primaries, then support those who left in the general elections. Those candidates that are always trying to figure out what the least common denominator is for every issue.

I’ve been checking Howie Klein’s DownWithTyranny ActBlue list regularly, and I don’t see much progress in either column. These are progressive candidates that have at least a snowball’s chance of winning primaries. Chuck Pennacchio, Lois Murphy, and Patrick Murphy are facing the Pennsylvania primary in about two weeks, so they could still make use of contributions. There are several other candidates with primaries in August and September.

Clearly, the DSCC and the DCCC are just going to waste money on consultants and candidates that will end up doing the same kind of work that the current bunch of quasi-Democrats are doing. If you think that’s not good enough, then I suggest going to the DownWithTyranny list and supporting some of these folks.

After venting my spleen and going into an automatic “two minute of hate” for the Democratic Establishment, a little bright side did occur to me:
Emanuel does want to see “proactive policy things”

“besides having X dollars cash on hands, they have to have three proactive policy things”

That is good. It is better than Schumer. And the NYT article was written by that Adam Nagurney fellow, and you could see a few subliminal GOP propaganda points in the piece. For example, Schumer and Emanuel, total centrists both, were referred to as advertizing themselves as supposed or putative moderates -as if it were a show and they were really very “liberal”. Hell, there is enough data on Schumer to indicate with little doubt that he does not hold strong ideological positions. And a reference to their energy proposals as “amorphous” was unfair. Maybe these kinds of things are involuntary tics with Nagurney by now.

Anyway, Emanuel seems better than Schumer. But they do still have a souless aparatchick bully boy political operative characteristics about them. Some of the descriptions of their high handedness and arrogance made me cringe. Not a way to build a strong widely based popular movement. It is a way to build a fanatical base, as in GOP cultural conservative base, maybe. But you can’t do with a non-ideological tactical approach that reduces policy to uspecified “things” that are to be produced periodically to get campaign support. This is not real political leadership that could build a wide based robust popular political movement. Commenter above was right, we need a sunny confident inclusive FDR type approach.

wesgpc – Always love your rants. C’mon upstairs and give some luv to Joey Klein.

new thread: “A Civility Lecture”

Egregious: Thanks. I’m quite fond of radicals myself.

Did you mean this Webb?
“But first, Miller must win a June 13 primary against James Webb, a decorated Marine who served as Navy secretary under President Ronald Reagan.”

(Got it from Google)
Wow. If this guy Eichenbaum can do that for Feingold, maybe we should hire him for the Roots Project. ;)

I’d love to see this guy in action.

“When the far-left wing of the Democratic Party runs the party, we lose,” Mr. Schumer said at one fund-raiser.

Will someone kindly tell Senator Schumer that THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS LOSING ELECTIONS AND HAS BEEN ON A DOWNHILL SLIDE SINCE 1994!

The only way his statement makes the least amount of sense is if he thinks he is the far-left wing of the party. A much truer statement would be that “when the clueless centrist twits like Schumer run the party, we lose.”

What a maroon.

Chuck’s getting nervous. If Ned Lamont can take out Joe Lieberman, Chuck’s job could be next. Sad that they think elections are permanent job tenures. Most Americans know differently.

I have to wonder, though. Would the GOP cut deals with guys like Chuck? “We’ll make sure you get elected, but you have to make sure we stay in the majority…”

Not giving to the Dem party after reading this. I’m going to pick my candidates and give to them. And the money I was going to give to the DNC and the DCCC, the total amount I promised on the phone, is going directly to Russ Feingold. And when they hound me for it I’m going to tell them exactly what I’m writing here.

And, hey Senator Shumer – I’m not a “far-left” Dem. I’m a housewife in the burbs and didn’t even get political till 2004. The hubris and power abuse by Bush turned a “soccer mom” like me into an activist. The sterling cohones of Senator Feingold are what I, and a majority of American’s are yearning for. Mr Shumer – yours are shriveled and hiding in your ass. And you are out of touch.

I am an American living in London, and I gave up on the Democratic Party in February when I attended a talk by Stan Greenberg sponsored by Democrats Abroad UK. You can’t get much closer to the center of the inside of the Beltway than Greenberg, can you? And he made clear in his talk that Hillary was going to be the nominee. In response to an audience member who protested weakly, Greenberg said we would all be very surprised at how strong her polling numbers are. Something like, he had done polls for Hillary in every state — or every early primary state, I can’t remember — and she came out way ahead everywhere. So the fix is already in. It’s Hillary’s turn, and anyone who questions that will be labelled far-left wing and dangerous.

AY at 135, yes James Webb running for Senate, first needs to win the Democratic primary in June, but he can defeat George Allen. That makes me smile just to type it.

jecadebu at 139, H. Clinton will be very surprised at the vehemence of opposition to her candidacy among mainstream Democrats. We voters can speak to each other without the party bosses holding our hands.

However we do need to keep Diebold and other voting machine warpers in mind: the Democrats benefit from voting machines too, that’s why there is no real opposition among elected officials.

would anyone like to point out when the “far left-wing” ran the Democratic party?

For one six-month period in 1972, and the pols have had it as their nightmare ever since.

I’m as uninspired as a person can be by Schumer and Emanuel, but your question does have an answer.

Midwest Meg (72) — ditto that middle-aged mom thing, got two elementary-school aged kids, a mortgage and all that jazz here in midwestern suburbia. I hear you about the “far-left”; hell no, I’m simply a business graduate who understands all too well we are bankrupt economically, and bankrupt morally as well under this culture of corruption in the White House.

But I must take issue with your comment about Howard Dean. Dean is NOT the DSCC or the DCCC; he is the DNC and is doing a yeoman’s work with trying to rebuild the party from the grassroots up. All monies going to DNC are being plowed back to state parties, funding organizers who work inside each state to rebuild the party. The 50-State Canvass this weekend was part of that process, part of a larger 50-State Strategy.

Support your local candidates; do it with money, and by helping with the canvassing process and becoming a precinct delegate or precinct captain. If voter records are improved through canvassing, your candidates have better information to use when distributing information about issues and their platforms as well as asking for votes. If you work as a precinct delegate/captain, you will be ensuring that all the Dems in your neighborhoods are well-educated about the candidates, about their polling places, and can make sure your Dem neighbors get out and vote. And that’s exactly what Dean’s vision is — a revitalized grassroots Democratic party.

Unfortunately, Dean cannot dictate in anyway to the DSCC/DCCC; these organizations are not subordinate to the DNC and have entirely separate goals and objectives. As DNC chair, Dean cannot work against any Dem. I’ll give him kudos for biting his tongue through; I know I couldn’t do that in his position.

I think that two of the repubs favorite issues can be used against them, taxes and children. Using Billmon’s there are no tax cuts idea, push the point that a dollar of spending must be paid for with a dollar of revenue. If the repubs remain in control, who do you think will bear the burden of providing that revenue? Ask the voters if they want their children to bear the burden of the repubs exess.

The more things stay the same, the more things stay the same. Money isn’t wasted by local consultants who know the lay of the land best and have won statewide elected offices. They’re wasted by the joker consultants in DC who lose election after election and apply cookie-cutter approaches to elections.

It makes me want to tear my hair out. And it confirms the advice I like to give — don’t give to party committees. Give to candidates who inspire you.

Wow. Kos, is that you? Sure looks like your handwriting! ;-)

Stop by often, as CtG tour permits!

Go to my website and read my articles on the Consultantocracy.

David Van Os
Democratic Nominee for Texas Attorney General
http://www.vanosfortexasag.com

Pissed in NYC says:

This November we have to purge the republicans and get a democratic house, but we can also go after that quisling piece of shit Lieberman and put a real democrat from Connecticut in office.

I’m voting for Ned Lamont, and I’ve donated to his campaign already.

That said, it’s a little bit more complex than you let on. Lieberman enjoys the support of 58% of REPUBLICAN voters in CT. If Ned Lamont looses, he’s already vowed to support Lieberman. If Lieberman looses, he’s already vowed to RUN AS AN INDEPENDENT. (how’s that for a kick in the nuts to the democratic party??)

So, if Ned Lamont wins the primary, he has to face a repub and Lieberman. That would tend to split the Dem vote, and a repub will vote repub before they vote for Lieberman, so a Republican candidate take a sure Dem senate seat.

Loose loose for the dems, but Lieberman is the representative of the Israeli party! …and the asshat voted for cloture on Alito! Maybe we’ll get a real dem after Lieberman packs up and goes away.

If Leiberman gets that much of the Republican vote and then runs as an Independent wouldn’t it do put a sizable dent in the Repub. candidate’s numbers, maybe enough to help Ned? How much support from Democrats does Lieberman get? It could be one of the most interesting races.

Sorry to be most profane, but, Confidential to Mr. Schumer:

Who the fuck are *we*, paleface?