As Atrios notes, it’s hard to overstate the significance of the staggering blow Ned Lamont dealt to Joe Lieberman yesterday. I’m getting reports fast and furious that Joe is bolting the party, Joe will run as an independent, Joe will take over as the head of state central for the Democratic Party. I doubt anyone really knows at this point, even Joe. But one thing is for certain — it was a grenade tossed in the middle of the Democratic party by the netroots, and it has the potential to ignite a war.
Our good friend Colin McEnroe has this to say in the Hartford Courant today:
There were stories circulating on the floor about Lamont voters who stayed home rather than show up and be squeezed by the rest of their delegations. And several Democratic elected officials admitted to me they were voting for Lieberman in the public forum of a convention while fully determined to vote for Lamont in the privacy of a booth.
I think 33 percent is a pretty bad number for an incumbent senator to give up to a challenger nobody ever heard of. Certainly, the Lamont team members were staggering around like dazed lottery winners. "Pinch me," Lamont campaign manager Tom Swan told a comrade. The Lieberman team was acting like they knew it all along. "Can we count or can we count?" Lieberman manager Sean Smith languidly told a reporter. He was unpersuasive. It may have been a number that tumbled out of their worst-case game theory, but it certainly was not a number they wanted.
The real number is lot worse for Lieberman than 33 percent. I don’t know how big the Lamont vote would get if you could tabulate the no-shows and the sleeper cells of delegates who plan to vote differently in the primary, but I do know it’s a bigger number. And the convention is full of party regulars, usually the easiest people to keep in line. Wisdom of the ages would suggest that the "amateur" voters are potentially much more rebellious.
As Kos has shown before, per the last Rasmussen poll Lieberman stands a better chance winning a three-way race as an independent in November than he does in a Democratic primary against Lamont, and those numbers are old. Ned’s awareness level is going to shoot up as a result of yesterday’s vote. An independent bid would allow Lieberman to run to the right, which is where he feels more comfortable anyway. He needs Republicans to win and he won’t be afraid to court them.
But should Lieberman run as an independent, not only will he have made fools of Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton (who supported him based on his promises that he would run as a Democrat). Reid will most certainly be forced to remove him from his committee appointments, and Chuck Schumer will have to face his worst fear: will he support the Democrat Ned Lamont, or the independent Lieberman? As he told Pach the other day, a lot of that turns on who Lieberman commits to vote for as minority/majority leader. In addition to being "an organization of incumbents," as Schumer says, the DSCC is scared shitless Lieberman will win and caucus with the GOP.
So their choices will be: a) cut a deal with Lieberman to caucus with the Democrats if he wins and stay out of the race, or b) throw everything they’ve got behind Lamont and take a stand for the soul of the Democratic party. Tom Watson is reporting today that big Democratic donors in New York — the ones that constantly shovel all that money toward Schumer and Hillary Clinton — are suddenly starting to take Lamont very, very seriously. It could be a big threat to the DSCC incumbency protection racket.
Astute observers will note that choice a) above depends on Lieberman keeping his word. Hey Harry, how’s that "independent" deal with Lieberman working out for you?
I’ll add one more thing, regarding Digby’s comments today, with which I concur: we backed Ned Lamont with everything we had not because we thought it was going to be easy, or because we thought a win was either likely or even possible. We did it because it was the right thing to do, because we HAD to, because the only other option was to sit back and watch every value we believe in turn to ashes in the wake of opportunistic politicians who care for nothing but stocking their own larders. That we have come so far, and have shaken the complacent elements of the party to their foundations is nothing short of remarkable.
Well done.
(graphic by NeoJoe)
Note: You can donate to Ned on our ActBlue page here. FDL has now raised over $30,000 for Ned, making us the biggest single blog donor to his campaign.
Related posts:
- “He’s With Us On Everything But The War”
- Lieberman’s Filibuster Threats Run Counter to 2006 Campaign Rhetoric
- Early Morning Swim: Jane and Rachel Discuss What to Do about Joe Lieberman
- Ann Kirkpatrick Leaning “No” — Rahm Losing Blue Dogs On Supplemental?
- Democratic Staffer: Blue Dogs are “Hell Nos” on Public Option
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
Colbert!
Fitz!!!
The Lamont story never made it to CNN’s website homepage. It isn’t even listed on their Politics page. Incredible!
Ned!
Rob Zuber #3 – not even in their news from the north east section either. They are too busy covering the NOLA election.
This race could have national implications as well. If we can dethrone Holy Joe, that will send a loud and clear message to Dems . . . we will not tolerate Republicans in “Moderate Dems” clothing any more. They and their Republican allies will be endangered species in November.
The Busby/Bilbray election is the most significant political event going right now. It will tell the story as to how deep the disaffection with goopers is. No coveage nationally that I have noticed.
Oscar–what specific outcomes would you predict if Lamont wins the primary? Would any dems change their positions on the issues? If so- which dems and which positions ?(roughly).
LAMONT!!
The netroots are a comet on a collision course with planet DINO. And we all know what happened to the DINOsaurs last time.
Sick of the hollow men. Out with the hacks, the liars, the unprincipled, the fools. They’re destroying us.
Wrote this earlier at Taylor’s blog:
I haven’t changed my mind in the succeeding twelve hours. Hype and hubris are common in the blogsphere. This isn’t either. It’s big, and hopefully it will lead to something bigger.
a) cut a deal with Lieberman to caucus with the Democrats if he wins and stay out of the race, or
Jane- I don’t understand “a”- meaning stay out of supporting anyone in the CT race if it’s Liebs Ind vs. Lamont Dem?
EPU’d cites:
DiFi: War Profiteer
Angelides: A brighter shade of Gray
rwcole–What I’m HOPING (why do I continue to hope??) is that Dems will finally get some guts to show their liberal side . . . stop feeling like they have to kowtow to the radical Christians (who will never vote for them anyway), have the guts to oppose the war & admit they were wrong to vote for it, maybe even (dare I hope) SAY OUT LOUD THAT BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER?????
Oops went on a rampage there! :)
I love that tag line at the end of Lamont’s ads, “AND SO DO WE,” shouted out by a group of netrooters after Ned says, “I approve this message.” I hope “AND SO DO WE” will turn out to be the opening volley in the takeback of the Democratic party from the elite by the rank and file. In 2006 it will just be a trickle, but Chuck, Rahm, Steny, put on your slickers for the 2008 primary season, because it’s gonna be a freakin’ waterfall.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..html#a8339
As I recall, Lieberman has to gather signatures to turn in the day after the primary if he wants to run as an indie. So he has to make a decision well before the primary if he wants to run as an indie and start getting the signatures. He can’t have people out gathering sigs for him and still campaign in the Dem Primary (or he could, with zero credibility), so he will have to make a decision pretty soon. His polling is only going to get worse.
He ought to have the grace to announce he is not going to run, liek LBJ did after McCarthy got 40% in the NH Primary in 1968. But Holy Joe is not LBJ–not even close. Say what you will about LBJ’s love of power, he knew when to give it up. Joe is just another guy who feels entitled.
” . . .big Democratic donors in New York — the ones that constantly shovel all that money toward Schumer and Hillary Clinton — are suddenly starting to take Lamont very, very seriously. It could be a big threat to the DSCC incumbency protection racket. “
was hoping that would happen – no idea this fast – appreciate your connections Jane!!!
“I’m sorry Chuck, what was that ? clank, clank, clank, we seem to have a bad connection…Oh yes, Together We Can Do Nedder”
P.S., Oh and can somebody please say out loud that the tax cuts for the rich are NOT stimulating the economy (hello!!) and should be discontinued immediately??
Lieberman will not run as an independent. He will use every bit of juice that he has to beat Lamont. He will drag everyone in Conn. down if he has to, but he will try to beat Lamont.
I don’t doubt that he has been doing opposition research on Lamont and will use it to weaken Lamont, even if it means turning the public off to a Democratic candidate.
Joe d’Gurney is a rotten person and he will wreck the party in Conn. if pushed.
I still can’t believe that Joementum ran as vice-prez with Gore. What was Gore thinking? Does this make Gore crazy or what??
Sean Smith needs to wipe his nose. What a bunch of ****! I hope Leiberschmuck runs as an independent and forces this down Schumer’s throat. The so-called Dem “leadership” will really have to show whether or not integrity rules. Because if Lamont is the Dem. candidate in November and the DSCC doesn’t support him, I’d venture a guess the CT Dem Party will make them pay dearly – first by severing any ties with the nat’l party bosses, and then by electing Ned in a landslide. I really believe it can happen.
Just got back from the Seattle Feingold event (Howie Klein, I did not spot you anywhere, but Goldy was there). He gave an impassioned speech about how great it is that for the first time in history all of WA State’s top political seats (Gov. and D.C. Senate) are held by women. He gave a short but sweet synopsis of how much he digs Patty Murray. He then delivered a very positive, rally-the-troops-stump-speech for Cantwell. (Iraq, of course, was not mentioned.) And the big Cantwell banner on the stage let us know this event really is for her benefit. So you’d figure she’d have the decency to show up, right? Wrong. Major faux pas for the Cantwell campaign. ALL the other major Democratic party players were on stage with Russ, including Darcy Burner (who’s running for the 8th district seat) and Cantwell’s absence amounted to a huge stinking hole at the foot of the stage. Everyone sitting around me was asking “well, where the hell is she?”
But Russ got a few standing ovations. He’s very short in person (and so cute) and he really did yoeman’s duty today. I hope for Cantwell’s sake, she never meets up with me in a dark alley.
I met Russ afterwards and said “did you know, you’re a star on firedoglake?” He said “I love the blogs!” I may go to the big Russ/43rd district party tonight if this blasted headache ever goes away.
Hey Jane: D’ya think Chuck knows who we are now?
I devoutly hope that Ned Lamont and his campaighn managers are reading and re-reading the account of Howard Dean’s betrayal in Iowa by the entrenched interests of the Democratic Party as described in Crashing the Gates.
Much of the progressive blogosphere has remarked that the Bush administration is becoming more radical as their desperation rises and their poll numbers sink. Tha same dynamic now applies to the Democratic leadership as they (again) confront dramatic institutional change. None of them are happy about this. Their lack of support for and hostility to the grassroots is clear in their comments about Lamont’s candidacy.
How far will they go to derail Lamont? I don’t know, but to think that the Democratic Powers that be are going to tamely submit to what they so clearly regard as intrusion into their territory would be foolhardy in the extreme. They have lots of cash at their disposal, and no scruples about protecting their power.
Someone needs to pull Chuck Schumer’s and Harry Reid’s noses away from the trees they are plastered up against, so that they realize they are standing in a forest. It might help them realize that if Lieberman had been acting like a real Democrat, there wouldn’t be any need to replace him. Duh! and Doh!
Make a deal with Lieberman? That’s a laugh. I can just see Schumer now, smacking himself on the forehead in an “I could have had a V-8″ moment, after Lieberman once again betrays his party, and Schumer contemplates that he could have had Lamont – a REAL Democrat.
EPU’d: JWR #121
If you’re a Windows user, the DNS flush command has been mentioned here to help in navigating to the new server. Click the Start button, choose “Run” and type in “ipconfig /flushdns” (w/o quotes) then click OK.
thanks for tip – that seems to have worked!
Together We Can Do Nedder !
Oscar–bubble up economics have a lot more intellectual respectability than trickle down economics do- and are more appealing to most voters. Don’t know why dems aren’t making that case.
I’m not sure what impact a Lieberman primary loss would have. Not much that I can see.
There was no mention of Lamont’s victory in the online NY Times today either. Granted, they don’t include everything in the hard copy, but you think it would be in the top ten. Chickens.
Pacha -
that’s your quote at the bottom of my @17
ccmask – are you recuperating ?- was wondering after you this morning
danger, Will Robinson, danger!
Anne:
Actually, I think Schumer is very, very angry at people like us for supporting a primary challenge in the first place, potentially mucking up his plans. In Chuckie’s world, Chuckie is never wrong.
shoephone what’s the deal with the 43rd party?? When/where? I’m in the 43rd and didn’t hear about Russ’s visit til it was too late to go . . . SOOOOOO disappointed!
Chuckie’s just one big cocktail weenie
I just read Christy’s A Change is Gonna Come post below, and found it very moving. I think Christy should become a political consultant to progressive Democratic candidates to help them with their message.
rwcole–Like I said, we can only hope . . . but I do think if Joementum actually lost the primary it would be BIG news in politico-world. More than a few would sit up and take notice.
It’s pretty hard to unseat as established an incumbent as Joe. Doesn’t usually happen except in tidal wave years . . .
VG — that would be my guess, I can’t imagine there would be anything other than a full-blown riot within the party if the DSCC came out and opposed Lamont & supported Lieberman. But I could be totally wrong.
Lieberman = The Poseidon
Cujo359 (11)
I voted in that election on Tuesday and can proudly say that my own borough printed up its own ballots, rather than use the county party’s, and they endorsed Pennacchio rather than Casey. I was going to vote for Pennacchio anyway, but was glad to know that not everyone was falling in line with Casey yet.
However, the comparison with Lieberman doesn’t really hold up. For one thing, PA is not as blue as CT, and Casey really is pretty popular, probably a lot if it’s because of his father, but still, he is. He also doesn’t have a three-term history (yet) of disappointing Democrats. And then we also have our own east/west, blue/red divide, too, and the western part of the state already feels like we have more than our share of representation with Rendell as governor.
Will I vote for Casey in Nov? Maybe. I wouldn’t want to endanger the possible chance of a Democratic takeover of the Senate with my one vote, but neither do I want to vote for him if I don’t have to.
Oscar @ 35
Can you say “tsunami” ?
If this politcal nightmare doesn’t produce one, what the hell will?
lurker . . . I’m afraid to answer that question, myself!! :(
Which is why I prefer to keep my hope alive!
“…Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton (who supported him (Lieberman) based on his (Lieberman’s) promises that he (Lieberman) would run as a Democrat).” Who said the art of politics is compromise? With Hillary, Reid, and Lieberman, ‘politics is the art of blackmail, aquiescence and the ends justify the means skullduggery’. Does the Democratic leadership of our party presume to stoop so low in our name?
Pach 22 — perhaps not by name, but if someone said “those assholes” I think we might jump immediately to mind.
punaise 30 says:
May 20th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
“danger, Will Robinson, danger!”
Warning–Nedlians approaching!
thanks cbl–I was in the hospital 2 days-they removed 1/2 thyroid and I am cancer free!! I will be laid up here for awhile though. Thanks for asking! I am feeling very lucky right now.
As I said this morning at the very end of the late night thread, this reminds me of the anti-machine politicians of the late 1800’s, like JFK’s maternal Grandfather, John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald. He believed in bottom-up politics, not top-down decrees from political hacks. His campaign motto was:
“The People, not the bosses, should rule!”
I say we adopt that as our battle cry this year — and forever.
Anne @ 2:27 pm (#24) – Call me a cynic, but I don’t think Schumer would be kicking himself. Schumer seems to be all about making Chuck Schumer more powerful, which means he’ll support people who are going to be beholden to him. Ned Lamont doesn’t strike me as the type – he fits the profile of someone who will go his own way in Congress. Schumer couldn’t have “had” Lamont, in any way that Schumer is interested in.
Cache help- I don’t see Run when I click on Start in my version windows XP (have an older version). Help? (obviously I have been clearing browser cache, but that does not help.
I have done the c: prompt to clear cache as suggested last eve, but this does not seem to help with my current problem– I don’t see new comments when I refresh, only after I’ve posted something myself.
PS Jane you are GREAT!!
PPS You too, Valley Girl. By the way, I have been putting in my garden today and I found a beautiful heirloom tomato to add this year — yep, “Valley Girl.” Maybe that is where your enigmatic handle came from (enigmatic because of where you do not live).
Ha! That little gnat that whiney Joe was trying to shoo away just bit him hard in the ass! Right after the Pennsylvanians handed 14 lawmakers their hats. Oh yes this is a BIG wake up call…
punaise @25 – Saw your message, last thread. Let’s just hope it stays fixed. (and happy to help.)
Oscar – this afternoon’s event was in the 36th. Tonight’s is a party for the 43rd and I don’t have the exact address (I’ll try to get it for you) but it’s at 7 or 7:30 in a historic landmark building overlooking Lake Wash in Madison Park. Basically, just go down to the very end of Madison Street where it meets up with the lake, turn right, and the building is supposedly in the first or second block. It costs $25 to get in. There will be food and drink. If you’re gonna go, email me at stellarinteriors at hotmail dot com and tell me what you look like. I’ll find you in the crowd. McDermott is going to be there introducing Russ.
ccmask: hallelujiah and hurray! Hope you feel better soon. Hey, a little enforced down time and you can finish all thos books for the book salon!
Namaste, honey.
we should all copy Anne’s comment at 2:27 pm, print it in 18 pt type in the middle of a page, write “anyone listening?” at the top, and fax it to schumer’s office hundreds of times.
Valley Girl, I have the same problem. I often have to get out of ciomments and refresh the home page of FDL or get out of my browser before I can get the new comments.
My wife (a tech head) says that our security stuff might be preventing refresh — we have some extra antispam and security software loading things down because she has to work over very secure lines….
Do you have a similar secuirty load?
No one’s actually used the c-word yet, but Lieberman really has a commitment issue. I couldn’t believe it in 2000 when he hedged his bets and ran for both VEEP and the senate. It was hardly commented on at the time.
He has just as much difficulty being committed to the Democratic party’s values.
So, it should be no surprise if he really does decide to run as an independent, and not just because it would make more sense electorally, but because then he could get back at everyone who has not treated him the way he thinks they should. That could be both parties?
Also, I really agree with Howie about Gore being a fantastic potential candidate. Yes, he did win the popular vote, but if the truth were known, and it won’t be with Repubs in charge, he probably won the electoral vote as well.
Before anyone every criticizes a Democrat for not getting enough votes, first ask yourself who counted them?
Thanks to Howie for this post. It’s really helpful to those of us who can’t keep up with it all, and need to know whom we should be watching.
A little sympathy for the dems in charge of winning back the senate may be in order.
They only get credit for winning- not for “making good progress”
They’ve got to win six seats and lose NONE.
They are currently leading in three of the six and are close in two more. They don’t know where the hell they’re going to get the sixth seat. Three of their own seats are in play- Minn, Maryland, and New Jersey. One of the seats they DIDN’T need to worry about is the junior senator from Conn- who has a 57% JAR (52% is average for incumbents right now). Now we have what promises to be a messy primary and the possibility of the popular incumbent bolting the party.
Don’t blame em for not being fond of this wrinkle. I wouldn’t want it either if I was in their shoes.
arcturus – also EPU’d
Arcturis #125
Angelides is progressive but he’s also pragmatic. He can’t turn his back now on the people who, until seemingly everyone in politics made a slow right turn, were his mentors and supporters. I believe Angelides will be a better governor than Westly and hands down better than Arnohld. No one I know of has a perfect progressive record.
Valley Girl
Go to start – programs – accessories and select command prompt. This calls up a dos prompt.
Type:
ipconfig /flushdns
That should do the trick.
thanks Mommybrain–reading sounds great but I’s got to have my FDL. You guys did so great with Ned that I now feel confident that anything is possible. The next best thing would be to unite Americans from all parties and get rid of the dinosaurs. But, the only way these dino’s can stay in power is to keep the people against each other. Times are a changin.
ccmask- All best wishes for a speedy recuperation! Please keep us updated.
ccmask – had no idea the big ‘c’ wss involved – very happy and relieved for you !!
time for a little ccmask time now – do what they tell ya and take care.
Oscar
I’m with you there. If not now, we’re doomed. Hate to jinx anything, but all indicators are that this will be more than a “throw the bums out” spasm–a true realignment, more comparable to Churchill being abandoned in ‘46 by his own party, or Thatcher for that matter. Everyone’s just had more than their fill, and Lieberman is no Churchill, just a pathetic, tired old hack.
He’s the equivalent of a walkman.
Thanks shoephone–I know the place (we sang Xmas carols for the Dem holiday party there in ‘03!)–will try my best! :)
Karen M 55
For all the things I hate Lieberman for (which is primarily his pro-rape and pro-torture positions — funny how those are now legally the same in international law) his running for Senate and VP at the same time is not one of them. I lived in Texas for a long time and came to love that ability as a product of my hero (i go in for the flawed types)LBJ. In fact, the rule that allows politicians (Lloyd Bentsen was another) to run for two offices simultaneously is dubbed “the LBJ rule.”
Ooops! That should have been a thanks to Howie for the previous thread.
thanks- gotta go. my mom is yelling at me.
ccmask – wow. You brave soul, you. Many good thoughts coming your way. right. now.
Also EPU’d but sort of on topic:
#4 ab initio sez – Who are DiFi’s primary challengers? She is another repub enabler that needs to be retired!
She has no real dem challengers that I know of, but the republican in this race is a stinking pile of ophal named Dick Mountjoy, who used to represent my district in the state senate.
Diane is 100,000 times better than that sack of crap. He has a bumper sticker on his car that says: “Abortion, gays, crack cocaine – liberals, don’t ya just love ‘em?” Wonder what he’d say if he knew that his son, who ran for and won Dick’s assembly seat, was on of the biggest drug dealers in high school? And the crack? Courtesy of our government, thank you very much.
Just came from a parade with Russ Warner. Such a nice man, I hope he doesn’t get too badly slimed in the race against Dreier, who didn’t even bother to show up today. Interesting. This is the first time he has not been here in 10 years.
Our new Dem club had the gaudiest float in the parade – red white and blue bunting, giant American and California flags, signs for all the local dem candidates and the candidates themselves, balloons for every child on the route – and got wild applause from our friends and neighbors. We were pulled by a 1949 Ford 3/4 ton pickup (owned and operated by Mr. Mommybrain) converted to propane and followed by a Prius. Our banner said “Foothill Community Democrats – Leading with Vision, not Division”.
TaDA – I’ve done my bit for today.
131
suttree
imm- That’s so great about the tomato name! Valley Girl- I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, during the time of valley girls- fer sure. (Zappa)
VG, JH, et al,
I do not thinik that the Democratic leadership is so foolhardy as to openly thwart Lamont. But I do not trust them not to try something surreptious. I believe that they still think that the grassroots are a temporary inconvenience to their business as usual.
OT:
Valley Girl. If you want a good free cleaner for all your temp files download CCleaner. And have you defragged lately? Might help.
Must run. Graduations.
Mommy- ARe you in Drier’s district? Get the sunnofabitch!
Karen M @ 2:36 pm (#38) – The machine seems to have done quite a bit to keep Casey’s primary opponents invisible. While it’s true that Casey isn’t an incumbent (other than being the incumbent state treasurer), there are advantages to being the incumbent, also. I don’t know if that balances out, but there’s certainly some basis for comparison.
I was sad to see Pennacchio go down, but perhaps in the next couple of years the grassroots can take hold in Pennsylvania and he can try again.
Karen M #55
No one’s actually used the c-word yet …(for) Lieberman…
the coward cowered in his corner.
immanentize 63:
I actually agree more with your reasons for disliking Lieberman than for that one race, and have been posting about them elsewhere, but I couldn’t help but remember 2000 with the discussion about his going independent. In a way, it really might make more sense for him, if only he were more independent.
Are we in the process of kicking the Reagan Democrats out of the party the way an earlier generation kicked out the Southern Democrats? Back then it was to rid the part of racism, now we’re trying to get rid of discrimination against women and gays and cut out corporate servitude.
Question: How does it look for Aaahnold’s reelection? Here in Minnesota I get a few words out of Arnie and sounds like he is trying to stay away from Bush.
I guess it just makes me angry that egomaniacs like Schumer can’t re-set their priorities at a time when their country really needs them to. We don’t need another Lieberman – not when you see the issues that face us (the Iran situation being one where I don’t see Lieberman voting US interests, but Israeli interests), and I think Schumer is kidding himself if he thinks Lieberman will be so grateful for Schumer’s help that he will fall into line like a good soldier. He won’t.
Yeah, I know Schumer has been hanging around a long time, and thinks he deserves a big juicy reward – like majority leader – and that’s what’s driving a lot of this.
It just makes me angry.
Valley Girl @47 – For XP “Run” command:
Right-click on the Start button and select:
Properties > Start Menu > Customize and place a check next to “Display Run”, then click OK.
imm- I don’t know about the security thing. But it was not a problem before the recent server move. However, your method is one I will use if nothing else works.
Le J- thanks I will try that.
Here’s a picture of Lieberman at the White House:
http://www.wolfblog.net/images/BonoboBaby.jpg
Oscar – so what’s the name of the place? (Just so I know exactly what I should be looking for!)
Dem’s biggest problem is how to get more people INTO the party- not how to kick some out.
“An independent bid would allow Lieberman to run to the right, which is where he feels more comfortable anyway. He needs Republicans to win and he won’t be afraid to court them.”
don’t care if liberschnitzle runs as an I. i wouldn’t want him to win, but at least he could no longer embrass me and the party with the ‘Democrat’ label he uses now.
i don’t mind dems that don’t always toe the line. i understand that the realities of getting elected can sometimes make candidates be a bit, um, ‘pragmatic’ in their voting. but lieberschnitzle is a symbol of all that’s wrong with the dem party now…endless corporate toadying, backstabbing and badmouthing the party, shameless pandering, dlc/gop lite centrism and capitulation, spineless pandering to whatever the ‘liberal’ boogyman du jour dreamed up by the gop is, etc.
when it gets to the point where a dem spends more time bashing his fellow dems then goopers, it’s time for him to go.
I wonder what Shrub’s approval ratings are in CA? (Or WA for that matter…) You always see the national numbers, but I bet those Left Coast numbers are pretty damning!
VG: Suzy Creamcheese?
It Can’t Happen Here?
OK, that is early Zappa….
…and a picture of Chimpy and his alter-ego…
http://www.wolfblog.net/images/BushAndFriend.jpg
Which is which?
shoephone oops I don’t know that! But there’s a long brick wall and it’s right on the water there. You will probably see lots of other people heading there. No worries! :)
oscar: Here’s the complete 50 state Bush Approval Chart
WA=32
CA=28
GW Clusterfuck’s approval number in Ca? 28%.
It’s 31% in Oregon and 32% in Washington State.
He’s 33% nationwide according to the same poll.
Not good on the left coast- but even WORSE in the Northeast.
rwcole –
gotta go outside in a minute to plant some plants before the rain starts again, BUT
I thought of you on Thursday when Rasmussen hit 36/62 for ol’ Bushy and he had to priint the “lowest ever fave” and “highest ever hate” message again…
“When it gets to the point where a dem spends more time bashing his fellow dems then goopers, it’s time for him to go.”
Amen, brother!
Imman- yeah- I saw that. Must have frosted his tiny little wingnut heart.
Oscar – thanks. I’ll be wearing Dior. You?
Karen 55
Your mention of the “commitment” issue reminds me of a joke I heard during the Mondale campaign in the Iowa caucuses. It was told in a speech to hundreds of volunteers getting ready to hit the streets.
“Do you know the difference between a chicken and a pig?
The chicken is involved in your breakfast.
The pig is committed.”
No disrespect to Lieberman’s religious/dietary beliefs intended.
I don’t think Joe is very committed to the Democratic Party at this stage of his career. He is just using us. As that becomes more obvious, it could turn a lot of Democrats against him. I think someone (FDL?) should begin a campaign calling on Lieberman to take a loyalty pledge (won’t run as independent, will endorse the Democratic nominee) before the primary and make a lot of noise about it if he doesn’t. Ned could start the ball rolling by taking the pledge himself and challenging Joementum to join him.
ccmask – ((((((all kickass healing vibes, I/we love you!)))))
and Casey really is pretty popular, probably a lot if it’s because of his father
This fucking father crap!!! Gods, it’s destroyed our country in five short years. Freakin George Allen only exists as a political figure because of his (way overrated) football coach father.
I think the Ned v. Joe thing is historic, political earth-shattering.
OT tings: my neighbor came over and told me I have a mom bunny and two little ones living under my house. Apparently they come out after I’ve gone to work and she enjoys watching them. Also I am totally in love with the most beautiful woman on the planet. Bush America blows donkey but there’s still good stuff to be found here and there…
JWR- thank you so much! It was driving me crazy why I couldn’t see the Run command, bec. I was certain I’d seen it before (prob. on another computer). Ah. I feel saner now.
shoephone–not sure if I can even go! But I will try and will look for you. If we have nametags my real name is Emily!
Bye now I have to go and will stop blog hogging! LOL
Presumably, Joe Lieberman doesn’t even know about any of this yet. Sun set yesterday before the results were in. Today, the Sabbath has a few hours to go. I wonder what Joe will be thinking after sundown. Not sure where the Senator is right now, but sunset is 8:08 in New Haven, and 8:18 in DC.
Cujo359 (71): We can only hope that Pennacchio makes another try. Hopefully, these other states’ races will begin to make a dent in the party machine. It’s pretty big here– for both parties.
Last year I emailed Hoeffel in response to some newsletter to explain why I was so disappointed in Casey as a candidate (especially compared to Hoeffel) and he actually took the time to write back and list as many good things as he could about Casey. I appreciated his reply more than I was convinced by his list, which was about his record on womens and children’s issues, i.e., families. I really don’t think that PA has much to brag about, especially on women’s issues.
In any case, if getting Santorum out of there means that we can change some committee chairs, that could be an improvement (but having been born in Missouri, I am reserving my judgment).
Punaise (72): Touche’ and I love homophones.
obsessed – the numbers are so low in that chart solely because people are sour because of the Iraq war. LOL
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00896.html
Oscar – me: Mickey.
mommybrain #56:
sorry, but I can’t can’t call a liberal establishment inside player like Angelides who’s been gunning for a gubernatorial bid for over a decade a “progressive” — still he’s the best of the lot — another election of the ‘least worst’ — grassroots progressives get short-shrift again
Oh, and most LOL Joe graphic ever.
VG:
San Fernando Valley. Brings back so many fond memo’s of orange groves. SF was sooo fine. My daughter is a Val Gal. And man, like… like she can talk the talk. Ya know?
Valley Girl – Still running Win98 myself, but Google is sometimes my best friend. ;-)
easiest fix: get a mac
feeling sorry for you who have to go to these lengths:
“Go to start – programs – accessories and select command prompt. This calls up a dos prompt.
Type:
ipconfig /flushdns”
get a mac
Sharkbabe, thought for sure you’d be wearing your sunflower bonnet at Pimlico today !
Oscar – GWB is running at 33% JAR in Calif. – but that was through EOM 4/06 (Survey USA)
Howard Dean Will Support the Eventual CT Democratic Nominee
was at an American Prospect breakfast with Howard Dean, and he said among other things that the DNC won’t be involved in the Connecticut primary. However, he went out of his way to single out Joe Lieberman for being an ‘outlier’ on national security, and he did say that the DNC will support the eventual Democratic nominee. You hear what I’m saying? If Joe goes Indy, he’s losing major backing.
Now if someone would only ask the Connecticut Democratic Party and all those officials who have endorsed Lieberman…
I watched quite a bit of the CT convention via internet last eve.
I was surprised by the number of “x absent” reports. I don’t know how many they totalled- but at the time I wondered if these were from delegates who didn’t support Lieberman, but didn’t want to rock the boat (or whatever) by voting for Lamont. So, that fits with the McEnroe comment.
Also, some of the comments as votes were presented were really telling. Of course I am biased, but it certainly seemed to me that there was a certain heady optimism in those presenting votes for Lamont. And, some intances of a split vote where the presenter said in a totally upbeat and proud tone “xx” votes for Lamont and then followed up in a dirge-like tone and x votes for Lieberman.
Also last eve someone here made the point (*ilson ?) that most of the small towns were going for Lamont vs. cities going to Lieberman, the latter bec. of their strong Dem. machine politics. The way I read this comment was the Dem. machine might control the convention delegates to play the “party” line, but that this is not necessarily a good indication of what voters themselves will actually do when marking their ballots.
All in all, it was one of my better “political evenings” in a long time! I am optimistic about Lamont.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/4/12/121618/683
Here’s the link to my last post about Howard Dean. Sorry about that, my preview is not working.
Neurophius (93)
Yep, I’ve heard that one, too. In fact, a minister at a church I used to attend liked to tell it. I think he was trying to convince we weren’t committed enough, but that story may not have had the desired effect.
Have you heard the one about the pig with a wooden leg? A visitor asks the farmer why his pig has a wooden leg, and the farmer lists a long string of heroic acts by the pig, things like saving a baby from drowning in the creek, and then says, “A pig like that, you don’t want to eat him all at once.”
Sharkbabe (94)
Just for the record, I happen to agree with you, but it can take a long time to use up a reservoir of good will– unless you’re GWB spending ours– and Casey Sr. also got a lot of sympathy after his heart transplant. You just can’t fight stories like that– unless you’re running a race in CA, where one candidate is saying that another doesn’t have enough “heart” because it’s been a few years since his transplant, and the “odds” are against his surviving the entire term.
I really cannot imagine that politics can be as crass elsewhere as it is in the US, but I suppose I could be wrong.
CBL- There’s a new Survey USA poll out. GW is now pulling 28% in the golden state.
Lieberman is a Weasel and a Traitor.
Just got an e-mail from my french step daughter who flew to Cannes for the film festival to support a friend’s movie. Poor baby. Just out of college and already on the celebrity circuit.
njr – word. Not to get all gilliard mac argument crap, but thank god I left my editor job for design and macs. When I’m forced to do something on microsloth, it’s like a sharp stick in my eye. One of the things I’m proudest of with my ex (a cop) is making her a mac geek. It was even worth leaving the ibook behind.
I had my doubts about the strategy to focus on Liberman. But if the democrats can take over one of the houses, and at the same time take a hypocrite out of their midst and replace with a more appropraite democrate it will be one of the greatest political victories of all time (and a dual with one of the worst polictical collapses – the repubs).
It couldn’t happen to a better country than ours.
Showing the willingness to clean your own house in complete contradiction to the Rubuplican criminal wing does give me hope even though I am unsure of the strategy.
Congratulations, Jane.
This reminds of nothing more than Lyndon Johnson’s “victory” in the New Hampshire primary in 1968 in which he received 60% of the vote. A few weeks later, I watched him throw in the towel on national TV. One more such “victory” by Bush’s favorite Democrat and the pathetic Democratic leadership will be undone.
1. A caution: Lamont is starting to get ID’ed as “the anti-war candidate”. Well, I don’t think such a label properly identifies Lamont. Mr. Lamont follows the Murtha proposal for Iraq. John Murtha certainly IS NOT an “anti-war” man. And I don’t think Mr. Lamont is either. But the anti-war tag carries alot of negative connotations with many voters. Folks here at FDL may not see it…but I would caution Mr. Lamont to avoid wearing such a label.
2. Will Mr. Lamont quickly challenge Lieberman to a series of debates? It’s free “TV time” for the challenger. Mr. Lamont may come off very well against the rather dry, laconic Lieberman. I encourage Mr. Lamont to come out of the blocks quickly on this…take the fight to Lieberman.
3. A problem: Mr. Lamont makes no reference at all on his web site to union labor issues. If Mr. Lamont wants to court the labor unions he needs to get something out on his stance regarding unions. So far, he has nothing. Not good.
Ghostman
What Joementum does next will be quite instructive. Will he run a slime and smear campaign in the Dem primary and unload his huge warchest expecting Ned to not be able to compete effectively or will he bolt and run as an independent? As others have noted to run as an independent would mean he has to start collecting signatures soon. Either way we’ll know soon enough. Watch the negative ads fly.
In either case its going to be decision time for the DC establishment of Schumer, Rahm, et al as well as the grassroots & netroots. Who is going to blink first?
http://www.cookpolitical.com/races/house/chart.php
Link to Charlie Cook’s new “competitive house” chart.
He now shows 36 gooper seats in play vs 10 dem seats.
A month or so ago- it was only 28 gooper seats. Seems to be going the right way.
I did not like Gore choosing Liberman, but he might have been the difference if FLA (assuming you remove the voter fraud that brough us the ring of criminals).
I guess you could look at it as not enough of a difference. NH would have looked good.
cbl 107 – dang yeah shoulda – beautiful day and any excuse for Baltimore! That’s where I go to dance.
gleex,
Bet you’re “unsure” about alot of things, but then, that is the hallmark of a “democrate”.
T
thanks rw, if you haven’t seen my acknowledgement in previous threads – you have turned me in to a surveyusa junkie! love how easy it is to navigate and they track very well with the elections so far
28% ?!?!? bwaahahaha!
and let’s not forget – as much as the goopers wish to poo-poo it, Latinos are registering in record #’s and will vote in November – wonder if Rohrbacher has sent Tancredo any flowers and candy
I never thought of my cellie as a homophone – does Sharkbabe use a dykephone to call her sweety?
back to the non-refreshable blues….
cbl—If the latino vote really gets out this year- it could be a very long night for the goopers. Of course they usually don’t- but the gooper “jail em” strategy on immigration may do the trick.
Most folks are unsure about most things.
Karen M 111 – yes what a nightmare – politics as the most dumbass, dumbed-down soap opera.
Why haven’t we learned the power of this reptile brain stuff and how to work it for good?
Ghostman(118) Good points. I hope someone out there is listening.
The problem with the other 32% is they dare to presume and speak for all (often including God), or they prevent or surpress a critical debate and come to majority decision with informed input…they are “deciders” if you will. Bah haha.
Note on spelling, perhaps go to a site with a spell check button, and that does not render the letters in ones post 15 words behind type speed. (if there is a spell check button here let me know)
Ned is about 3k short. I’ve seen it move 3k+ since this morning. DINO JOE MUST GO!
http://nedlamont.com/
sharkbabe (129)
The men have been in charge of too much for too long. And power corrupts.
If the point is to lay some groundwork for telling Hillary, Chuck, and others to stay away from the Connecticut Senate Primary — perhaps the question needs publicly raising as to why we send Billions to Iraq — take the deaths in combat and the profoundly wounded, all so the Iraqis can have a free and fair democratic election complete with purple ink, but they are unwilling to grant the same political rights to the Citizens of Connedticut? It would be a good message to send to the DNCC and perhaps to the DLC.
We need to expect this to be a very very nasty election — and while I hope Lamont stays positive and forward looking, I hope everyone is prepared for a very dirty campaign.
But if it gets dirty, one can usefully argue that it appears Lieberman is more willing to screw the voters in his own state than he was to back up Al Gore in the face of the Florida Fraud of 2000. My point is a little irony, perhaps some humor, but be prepared for the onslaught.
My understanding is that Lamont has a tight and experienced campaign team. I know his ads are being done by Bill Hillsman who did Paul Wellstone’s 1990 campaign (Hillsman was a former student of Paul’s at Carleton — and had a small ad firm specialized in environmental work) — and then he did the Jesse Ventura ads in 1998. While he is successful he has never been loved by the DC party, largely because he works with humor. Anyhow he knows how to work precisely this kind of campaign and respond to dirt and nasty. A few others from that first Wellstone campaign are working with him, and they are very sharp. (The 1990 Wellstone campaign was a profoundly important political matter — we ultimately spent just over a million dollars for the whole campaign — Caucus, Convention, Primary and General Election, and the opponent, Rudy Boschwitz, a 2 term GOP incumbant spent 11 million — about 6 of that in the last two weeks. We won by two points, but it was extremely dirty — very dirty.)
Because Joe Lieberman is very close to Rudy Boschwitz and his prodigy, Norm Coleman — the CT Primary will be something of a re-match for the powercenter to which Lieberman belongs (Think DLC and its extended friends) and the team working with Hillsman for Lamont. It is the same “power-centers” in combat.
Goopers who mouth the “jail em” strategy probably have hispanic constituencies that approach zero as a limit- but they haven’t calculated the potential effect of gooper brothers and sisters who are not in the same situation.
Many discuss the “future” hispanic vote- without realizing that there’s a sizable hispanic vote TODAY- and much larger if they get really pissed off.
OT – :( preakness favorite breaks rear left leg in 2 places.
correction – rear right. not like it matters
130, cancer cures…thanks. Hopefully someone will pay attention to the message. We’ll see.
Ghostman
Ironically, Rover and the Bushman had dreams of bringing the growing hispanic vote into the gooper column..Gooper congressional idiots have screwed that one up…Hug a Latino voter today!
so what happens if joe runs as independant and then the republcan party doesn’t run someone?
that looks like a win for lieberman to me
GOP Pins Hopes on Black Republicans
http://www.casperstartribune.n…..nk4980.txt
I guess that or a meteor.
Rover’s in the basement of the White House with a spray can creating black republicans. He’s running behind- low on raw material- kiss ass guys to paint!
A caution: Lamont is starting to get ID’ed as “the anti-war candidate”.
Caution?
The entire country is hating the fuck out of this elective war evilness, even with the corp media dutifully hiding so much of its evil.
ilson – dykephone, homophone – who cares, I’m so happy – funny thing is, nothing’s “happened” at all in the regular obvious make-a-move sense. But damn there’s so much wonderfulness, can’t describe.
Let Joe split the conservative vote. Sounds like the perfect scenario for Ned. What am I missing? I have to believe that Joe is finished if he goes as an Independent. A fool if ever I saw one!
the GOP had courted Muslim voters assiduously but the Iraq War wrecked those electoral plans too . . .
rwcole 142 – Tony Snow calls black republicans something else.
“clowns to the left of me
jokers to the right
here I am
stuck in the comments with you”
(that’s just a song reference)
I give up
I can’t imagine that the DCCC could actively support Lieberman if he went independent, much as Schumer might want to. In our open primaries in VA (we don’t have party registration), you’re required to pledge not to support any opponent to the Democratic nominee in order to vote. I’d be surprised if the CT caucus doesn’t have a similar provision. Informal crap with individual contributors, maybe, but if there was any official support, there’d be a revolt for sure.
Sisters/Brothers
We can!
cbl #124:
Rohrabacher is “Tancredo West”. He’s in a district that’s ~ 2:1 GOP, so the only thing that might concern him is blowback from his pal Jack Abramoff.
Dems are running Jim Brandt, ex-Marine CPT, successful businessman, etc. against him (again), but it’ll take more than a good-guy candidate to overcome the registration handicap.
Jeffy ‘Lube’ Gannon still HEARTS that DINO JOE:
http://patriotboy.blogspot.com…..6363792660
alibe 144 – I would agree, if he switches, he’s done. It shows that even he acknowledges that he’s not doing well.
Karen 133 – the fuck yeah – huge reason why I love and gravitate to this place, to Jane and Redd and everybody here – burgeoning woman power, actualized
rwcole –
I still can’t believe how poorly goopers stepped in it with the immigration issue
As to Latinos not turning out – There are 2 new players
Networking
En Espanol broadcast of Registration Info and Reminders (I watched this in amazement at the 2 rallies I attended. 17 years olds programming registration reminders in to their cells !)
The use of Myspace and other on line sites that can unify a once disparate group
The Catholic Church -
Before & After Mass registration.
And the Bishop has let it be known there will be tons of pressure on congregations the Sunday before the election
I know the Church is not a new player, but the LA Bishop is on it like we haven’t seen since Chavez and Farmworkers Union days.
Sharbabe – it keeps you on your toes
A US film featuring actors performing real sex is a “call to arms” against President George W. Bush, the director told journalists at the Cannes film festival.
“Shortbus,” an explicit, largely improvised arthouse flick that includes a rendition of the American national anthem during a gay sex scene, is a direct provocation, director John Cameron Mitchell admitted.
“It’s a little bit of a cri de coeur to us, a little bit of a call to arms” against the prevailing conservatism, he told a media conference, adding that his country was living in “the era of Bush, which is about clamping down, being scared.”
The 43-year-old, whose previous work was “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” about a transsexual rock singer, said the film was his own small act of defiance against Bush.
“If you can’t do elections you might as well do erections,” he said.
Although the first half of the film is filled with sex, including orgies and masturbation, the act itself is not meant to be erotic but rather to challenge the audience and make it confront issues such as loneliness, the illusion of self-sufficiency and other seemingly unrelated problems, Mitchell said.
One scene likely to create controversy in the United States and some other countries shows a gay threesome in which one participant joyfully bellows “The Star Spangled Banner.”
The actor with the singing voice, PJ Deboy, said he did the scene to show that he was as American as anyone, despite resistance to gays in parts of the country, including Washington.
“I thought to myself: ‘Can I do it…?’ And I decided I could, because it is a patriotic act…. There’s nothing un-American about gay sex and there’s nothing unpatriotic about it,” he said.
He also joked that “I am now touring and singing every country’s national anthem,” and called for volunteers to assist.
Mitchell pointed out that the movie, filmed in New York City, also made pointed references to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
Near the end of the movie, the lights flicker out as they did during a blackout that briefly occurred in 2003, provoking fears of a terrorist attack — and then relief and a sense of togetherness that is likened to an orgasm.
“This film is in the shadow of 9/11, but it shows we’re still alive, y’know?” the director said.
“Sex is not that interesting unless it’s put into an artistic context, or you’re having it yourself,” Mitchell said.
“And sometimes not even then,” added a cross-dressing actor called Justin Bond who played himself in the movie.
(Drudge)
Sharkbabe #95:
This fucking father crap!!! Gods, it’s destroyed our country in five short years. Freakin George Allen only exists as a political figure because of his (way overrated) football coach father.
I agree! It’s endemic to Virginia politics, even on the Dem side. I went to the state party convention in ‘04, and nearly everyone who spoke was “my mother was blah blah, and of course my grandfather was…” Then you have the bunch of upstart Deaniacs over in the corner, and it’s all we can do not to yell “Who gives a rat’s ass? Political ability isn’t genetic!”
new thread
new thread where?
cbl—Catholic church siging up hispanics to vote dem? Now THAT’S good news! Thanks for the lift!
EPU’d -
Being totally Maccentric I can’t guarantee this works in Windows, but with every browser I’ve ever used, holding down the shift key while clicking on reload (or refresh) forces the browser to ignore the cache and load from the net. Give it a shot.
Just saw a bumper sticker WMD– Women Making a Difference.
And just beside it,
What Part of Thou Shalt Not Kill Don’t You Understand? GOD
Officially, no party organization would support openly an independent or opposing-party candidate. The level of support it gives to its own candidate is quite variable. In Indpls, the GOP wants the Prosecutors slot badly so they are essentially giving up on the co-terminous Congressional seat held by a strong Democrat. They dont want her to get defensive and turn out “her voters” who would also vote against the GOP prosecutor.
In CT, there are some very hot Congressional races. The State Dems might not want to spend much effort & cash on a Senatorial race for Ned (inshallah!) should he be nominated. Who knows? …support level is quite variable.
#94 neurophius -
” I think someone (FDL?) should begin a campaign calling on Lieberman to take a loyalty pledge (won’t run as independent, will endorse the Democratic nominee) before the primary and make a lot of noise about it if he doesn’t. Ned could start the ball rolling by taking the pledge himself and challenging Joementum to join him.”
Ned has already started – I signed earlier and think your idea is great, let’s all encourage Droopy Dawg to act like a true democrat and not a sore loser!
http://www.nedlamont.com/page/…..rmanpledge
sorry I don’t know how to do the link thing – perhaps someone could enlighten me?
Update from CT –
The candidates for governor on the D side are going to primary, too, so that may be a draw to the polls on 8/8 for those who want change. The “endorsed” candidate, Dannel (not Daniel) Malloy, Mayor of Stamford only beat John DeStefano, Mayor of New Haven by FOUR votes.
And whose not in CT in August?? All the $$$ big wigs who go to their houses on Cape Cod, the Vineyard and Nantucket — those who love Joementum. The rest of us rabble-rousers will be here in the steaming heat and humdity changing politics.
Kelven 164
Thanks for the link. I hope the Lamont campaign gies a lot of visibility to this issue. Joementum needs to put up or shut up.
Jane, see Kelven @4:06 pm–
Any chance you could do a post encouraging people to call on Lieberman to sign a loyalty pledge?
Sara at $134 — Thank you so much for the insight into the Lamont campaign, and its connection to the Wellstone people. I live in Minnesota and am old enough to remember VERY well that campaign. Just yesteday, I was thinking about the grand ole yellow bus and wished it could be loaned to Ned.
I remember how hard that vote was for Wellstone, and his polling against Coleman was lagging, and everyone told him it would be political suicide to vote against the war — but he did and his poll numbers went up for the vry first time. People knew back then was the truth was.
Jane, have you & Christy seen these yet?
Fitzgerald’s 5-19 brief
http://americablog.blogspot.com/fitzmay19.pdf
Libby’s 5-19 brief
http://americablog.blogspot.com/libbymay19.pdf
i have been thinking alot about what we need in this country to roll back the advance of the imperial decline of the usa,and restore the repulic to some semblance of its potential glory.and indeed it seems something is going on,as evidenced by what appears to be happening to joementum.i hear the words”netroots movement”being used–but somehow the name doesn’t really cover everything i sense out there–what we really need to create if we are to survive.
it is the truth.that’s what we need–not a 9/11 truth movement,although that is part of it.not a katrina truth movement,although that’s a part of it as well.it’s not an iraq war truth movement,or a clean up congress movement,or even a movement to find out once and for all,who stole the kishka.
WE NEED A TRUTH MOVEMENT THAT APPLIES TO EVERYTHING-WE NEED A COUNTRY WHERE LYING IS NOT NORMAL OR ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR FOR ANY OF US ANYMORE–eat a peach for peace&join the truth movement today if not sooner
1,156 DAYS AND THE KILLING GOES ON AND ON AND…
GandmaJ:
I too remember Senator Paul and the lessons he taught us about the connection between populist and popular policy positions in the core constituency and winning elections. He understood us Minnesotans better’n a lotta natives (I now live over here in WI off the St. Croix River but I’m a native Gopher of your generation). From his first populist campaigns in the early 80’s in support of family farmers against the Reagan corporate land grab, to his stand against the first Gulf War, Paul was always showing the way against conventional wisdom (and WINNING!!)…institutionally, thanx to the networld, the Minnesota DFL and the national Democratic Party are beginninmg to act on the lessons Paul taught us. Why has it taken so long?!!
My son and I are gunna be up in yer territory in the middle a June for our spring Lake of the Woods fishin’ excersion…please tell me that the water is up and warm, I need some walleye therapy.
KEEP THE FAITH AND SHOOT STRAIGHT…YER ON GOD’S SIDE!!!
Uh, let’s not count our chickens before they hatch. Lieberman’s not dead yet.
Norske: I had no clue (well my kids can confirm this) that you were from Minnesota. About the water, it is UP and up some more, although just isolated flooding. MN should not complain, Wisconsin got their share. Hope it warms up a bit though.
When many of us went to Milwaukee to see Dean, and on the bus were many, many past Wellstone supporters and staff. Ned needs to get a yellow bus and talk to the regular people in small town America. He will win.
I wonder how much of the conservative vote in CT, Lieberman can actually get. He’s actually made statements on quite a few divisive issues and come out on the wrong side: UAE controlled ports, the Catholic hospital issue, etc. He’s also helping to sandbag Chris Shays, but not Nancy Johnson–Hmmm I wonder why. There’s really too much of a Chimpco apparatchik/Garden gnome in him. I can’t imagine that makes him all that appealing to conservatives. I think even CT Republicans need to think about trying to take back their party. Do they want Lieberman who has a ChimpCo phone tied around his waste so to speak?Or Nancy Johnson who represents the most embarrassing aspects of their party?
Did someone say new thread? Where? Is it a secret?
Ghostman (#118) Yes. Yes. and Yes.
173 ctnd. On second thought those last two questions were rhetorical.
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..gh-places/
Matt O. post: Friends in High places.
On CT city question. I agree with someone else in another thread, maybe immanentize said. Cities/big towns are not that independent. They may think independently though. Some votes for Lieberman seemed symbolic to my mind like giving Ned roughly between 15-20% which was what he needed and the big kahuna his due, just in case.
I saw what a Lieberdefender wrote on another post yesterday. & there are important issues that need to be constructed. I can smell it. & feel I need to cast in my two-cents.
First off, Lamont is nowhere near the millionaire Lieberman is. Self-made man? Yes Lieberman got into Yale when there was a quota, but so did a very close relative actually ( I won’t say who.) Self-made here is relative. Lieberman has made himself a servant to the forces that be and become one of them to boot.
sharkbabe (143) and *ilson:
homophone: coward/cowered were in response t0 a commment I made about Lieberman’s problem with the the c-word: commitment
Angie (162)
Thanks for those! I’m going to use them at all of the sites where I post.
A truth to power movement might really mean something to me because ‘ It’s the war stupid’ already means something – the first casualty of war is… the truth. George Orwell, who was a terrific journalist if you read his collected notebooks, once said ‘ telling the truth can be a revolutionary act.’
Truth means plain speaking and straight talking.
And if you can fake that then you say anything.
As it is now’Dr Smith’ has been in charge for the last 6 years we’ve all been lost-in-bizarrospace.
I am still soliticing signatures and letters to Congress for the wake-up call.
Hello!!! Bush is a crook.
http://tinyurl.com/a6erq
^^^ HELP IMPEACH TODAY
Keep the pressure on Congress… Talking about impeachment wakes people up… They question, it’s a strong motivator to get people thinking. It also lets Congress know how intense the dissapproval is for this President… They seem to be a little slow on the uptake. So please:
1) Sign petitions if you have not done so
2) Send a letter to Congress (both Senators & House rep)
3) Send a copy to the media
4) Enlist friends and family to help, ask them to chip in time
5) Spread the link around, email it (with a request to forward) post it on a blog, or in the comments of a news story.
Help out!!!
Thanks :)
Valley Girl re #47 and immanentize re #54 – defrag your C drives. Clearing caches is a good way to get rid of unwanted temporary internet files thus freeing up memory and but does not solve the type of problems you report. You can also do a check on your anti-virus database to detect programs contaminated by unwanted thingies and reload them, including Windows XP. Or else, simpler to reset your system to a date when no such problems occurred. That last is no solution as the problem is likely to recur unless fixed.
People can gripe about Casey all they want but I work with about a hundred women, all over 50, who will vote for Casey because of the NAME. They remember the father with great fondness. Anyone else would be in a tight race in PA, PA is not CT or NY or NJ.