fitz

FITZ!

Fitz indeed!

How ’bout a little oomph, egregious?

Roots Success!!

oh jeeez .. why not .. FROOTZ

Ned Neutrality!

this is the 4th of July District work recess (aka ‘vacation’) for Congresscritters … DC drones wont make significant decisions until the movers and shakers return to Washington …

Ken Lay dead of heart attack.

*ilson

True, but that means that the offices of the movers and shakers are focusing on listening right now . . . so it’s an opportune time to give them something hear.

T -

You’re just jealous :D

or rather, still dead of heart attack.

“likely support the winner of the Connecticut primary”

likely?

Likely?

LIKELY?

maybe its time to cancel that monthly contribution.

If the DSCC agrees to support the winner of the primary, you will see a landslide of other public officials following suit. This would make it “okay” to step forward now and make clear that the Democratic primary winner deserves the support of all Democratic elected officials. In fact, this more than makes it “okay” – it actually makes this the default position for all Democrats. If the DSCC, after all its hemming and hawing, has actually made a principled decision to support the primary winner, it will be much more difficult for other elected Democrats to support Lieberman. Such Democrats will be increasingly isolated on a deserted island of Lieberman supporters.

This announcement, if it is confirmed, could be the beginning of the end of Lieberman’s quixotic independent run.

Christy, hopefully you will have a chance to work this into your conversation with Lehrer about the power of the progressive blogosphere. Keep the pressure squarely on Schumer to go public with the statement made to CNN.

Great news. The public perhaps does have an impact. Certainly the comments posted on the DSCC blog were all in favor of DSCC support for the primary winner.

Dangitall, not at work today so must try to stream Redd with my poky dialup. I used to be able to make it work sometimes with Randi on AAR, but the Lehrer links just crashed me Firefox..*sigh*

Three down, calling the rest now.

Oh if only we had a strong advocate to go on radio and challenge the DSCC to make an official statement…

And while I’m dreaming here, how about within the next half hour?

And remember, local offices like to get real, live visitors. So consider stopping by the local office of your Senator or Congressperson today and talking to a staffer (or even your elected representative) about how important this issue is for the continued strength of the Democratic party structure. Joe didn’t just spit on Connecticut voters by trying to have his cake and eat it, too, he’s thumbing his nose at the whole of the party structure by saying that he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the primary, he’s running anyway.

This, too, could happen to your elected official someday. And how would they feel about that?

Sounds like something to hit hard on WNYC this morning.

And since, as *ilson points out, this is “let’s listen to the folks back home” week for the folks in DC, listeners might even run into Schumer around town and can let him know about this face to face.

Who knows – he might even be in your listening audience!

egregious -

And if only that advocate was being interviewed on a show broadcast in the tri-state area.

And if only that show had a fairly progressive audience…

Here’s my email to the DSSC–

Hello DSSC,

I hope the DSSC will support the winner of the Lamont/Lieberman primary in Connecticut. Ned Lamont has already pledged to support Lieberman, should Lamont lose the primary. Sen. Lieberman has refused to do the same, and has declared that he will run an independent campaign if necessary. If hope the DSSC will reward party loyalty and support the people’s choice.

Christy, Jane et. al.,
I wasn’t able to visit the lake over the long holiday weekend, but my thoughts of appreciation and admiration of what you gals/guys are doing were front and center on the 4th of July.

You are true patriots and our modern day pamphleteers. This country owes you an immeasurable debt of gratitude.

That was chimptastic news in the Waas article, and the call to action in the “We Hold These Truths…” post was most inspiring.

When will we know that the Peoples’ only redress is a violent overthrow of the current government?

“likely support…”

sorry, but this is still outrageous and it reeks of trying to quiet the comlainers while leaving the door open to back boltin’ joe. the primaries are a cornerstone of party politics and the response to a question regarding dscc support for the primary winner should be an emphatic “of course we will support the primary winner.”

schumer is playing with fire here and he knows it. shows where the establishment’s true loyalties lie: the status quo… make ‘em pay peeps, make ‘em pay…

wxyz – this is exactly what will happen – Joe crashed his Rape Gurney Express the minute he took this craven action – well, actually, the minute he embraced War Hero Karl Rove and his puppet Winston Chimpchill…

OT,but I just heard on the radio Ken Lay died of a heart attack overnight.

Surely the DSCC couldn’t support someone running AGAINST the winner of the Democratic Party?

Independent OR Democrat: pick one.

You can’t be a partial Democrat, it’s like being a little bit pregnant.

I am on the other side of this one

I don’t think the democrats should support lieberman regardless if he wins

he’s NOT a democrat, he’s a republican taking both our money AND republcian money

I think he should just plain be kicked out of the party

agree – “likely” TOTALLY unacceptable

We want an OFFICIAL statement from the DSCC.

Pats on the head from an anonymous rumor that they might do the right thing? Not so much.

OT: Leisure Guy – I responded re Kevin Drum many many threads ago….

Christy, you might want to make sure you’ve got Schumer’s NY office numbers handy during your interview, to let folks know where to direct their comments . . .

RIP Ken Lay, better luck next life. Grandma Millie would be dancing on your grave, but unlike your crowd she has too much humanity.

Babs is going to hear from me.

Egregious,

Again, I agree completely.

We want an OFFICIAL statement from the DSCC.

And, as importantly, the statement must be CLEAR AND UNAMBIGUOUS. No “likely” language is acceptable.

Hopefully, Christy can work this into the Lehrer conversation!

I’ll believe it when I see it. These DSCC folks have been rather wormy lately…

Lets see what happens once Joe looses. And by God he WILL loose!

Christy might want to keep her eyes on the comments thread during her interview – we might be able to chip in with some ideas or information that might be useful in real time…

Brian Lehrer, seriously? Windows connection only? WTF??

meta 38

click mp3 and it streams through itunes

Interesting point at the end… in races all across the country, you don’t see the “far left” refusing to honor the primary results. Winograd, Ciro Rodriguez, Harris Miller (well, considered to the “left” of Webb, anyway)… all honoring the primary results, and not endangering the victor’s chances in the general.

Why the “moderates” don’t have the same courtesy is probably a subject worth addressing at some point…

Wow. Good news and good call, Christy.

Okay, so I just called. Got a very nice young man that had no new information for me. I did say that that having a statement from an official spokesman would make me feel far more comfortable with the work the DSCC was doing.

Interestingly, he then said, that my best bet would be to wait until this afternoon. That after about 3 o’clock there might be news that would help me on this issue.

So, is there more trouble for Holy Joe or is it just a tactic to get me off the phone? Time will tell.

Wow thanks, RevD! Totally works!

RevDeb, thanks so much! Duh!

sharkbabe,

you are totally welcome.

My letter:

———-

Hello,

I’m a life-long, committed Democrat. I grew up in CT, currently live in Massachusetts, and will soon be moving to California. II am active in local politics, give money to Democratic candidates regularly. I have been following the Senate primary campaign between Sen. Lieberman and Ned Lamont quite closely, and would like to ask if the DSCC plans on supporting the primary winner or not. I would certainly hope that you do. I have long admired Senator Lieberman, but to support his bid for the Senate as an independent, should he lose the primary, would be to undermine the basic structure of the party system, and would be widely percieved by many Democrats as a betrayal of the democratic process. I consider myself among those who would be truly horrified by such a move.

Thank you for your attention,

MonkeyDog

Donna Brazile: “rubber-stamp Congress!” “lapdogs!”

me@28 – if the Lieb wins in August, they can “support” him with an endorsement, and send their cash to a potential pickup race instead. Especially since it won’t be a 3-way race.

Here’s a question: if there is a 3-way race in November, will Joe be endangering the Congressional candidates by drawing added GOP turnout? I imagine the Republican turnout would be somewhat depressed since Rell is considered to be a safe hold right now, it would be interesting if polling showed a greater GOP turnout with an independent Joe…

“Likely” is one of those words people use when they want the wiggle room to claim they never said something was a sure thing, even if it pretty much is (a sure thing, that is).

I have a feeling that much discussion has taken place among the DSCC, and they have concluded that (1) they should never have weighed in on a primary race, (2) the local Democratic party has given them an earful about the consequences of the DSCC’s equivocation and Joe’s tactics and (3) they think Joe will probably win anyway, so they are now taking the position they should have taken in the first place.

cnn– W at Dunkin Donuts talking about immigrant donut makers.

what a cruller.

my eyes are glazing over.

Lady on the radio saying she’s giving money to Move On rather than to the DNC because DNC doesn’t articulate thier message well and she doesn’t know what they are doing.

Love that.

Donna Brazile is saying we should give to both, support both, because it will help build the party.

T- says:
July 5th, 2006 at 8:14 am

No, not a violent overthrow – that’s not what was envisioned in the Declaration of Independence.

I’m liking Brian Lehrer already. He presses the point and keeps people focused. How refreshing!

Raw Story over-reach – their front page headline:

Slam: Top party official tells Raw Story Lieberman on his own if loses primary

and the headline to the linked article:

In blow to Lieberman, senior party official says campaign committee will back winner of Democratic party in Connecticut

the short article has the “likely” quote.

angie – it’s eclair that he’s out of touch.

Talk about out of touch, wrong side of history – thy name is Joe. I sensed this Ned thing would be pivotal – but nothing like this. Joe has kissed Bush/Rove ass for so long, he doesn’t remotely live in the real world, and when threatened his reflex is unsurprisingly cynical sneaky Rovianism. At this point I truly believe he has Karl on speed dial.

angie, make that crueler.

and it’s not because Ned is such a stud muffin.

angie –

Just don’t ask for any of the pieces they cut out from the middle of the donuts – they belong to Holey Joe

Just started listening to Lehrer. Doesn’t sound like Christy is on the show yet. Is that correct?

No Christy yet

i’m sure that i am being a little nutty, as in conspiracy nut, but as i was watching An Inconvenient Truth,(WATCH IT), it dawned on me that traitor lieberman ran with Gore as VP. I find it hard to believe that much has changed in his political views in 6 short years, which lends me to the idea that there was something sinister in the works. Like maybe he was a plant just in case, laughable as it now seems, the bushie’s election ripoff didn’t pan out as desired back in 2000 and Al won.

Nutty right?

no way the neocon movement could have planned that deep into something like that, right? That’s just the stuff of movies and books, right?

wxyz, I don’t think so. She wasn’t included when he announced the line-up. I think she’s on after this group.

that bagels the question…

ken lay on beach in tahiti with elvis. chimpy had CIA fix him up so no jail time

She’s coming very soon, he’s saying goodbye to this panel.

matt 60 – not so krazy to me…

donna brazile – love you girl (don’t know why) – but please go away and come back after you’ve FUCKING WON SOMETHING

Christy and bloggers coming up next.

Done. Called ‘em all.

GO CHRISTY!

Morning, firepoodles!

If you would like to send a message to Minority Leader Harry Reid, asking him to support Connecticut Democrats by honoring their choice, please click on my name above. That’ll take you to the “Give em Hell Harry” website, where I’ve blogged this weekend. Please join me in asking Senator Reid to support the winner in the primary.

We can make the DSCC take a step back from the abyss — and baby steps will be amplified via our fellow bloggers in Connecticut. Also, the poodles will get the word out:

=========
Had Enough?
=========

Brazile gives me a headache. I want her to, like, do something successful.

Y’all are so funny and smart– lord, how I love this place!

Radio http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/

Upper left listen live
If no windows, stream mp3 thru itunes

Christy on

You got it, TeddyMan.

Teddy, I tried to register at that site and I couldn’t. I’ll give it another try today.

Here come Christy and John!

bagels the question …

who knows why certain things utterly tickle one…but possibly my favorite punaise gem ever

OOps, Duncan, sorry.

candidates “kiss metaphorical online rings!” says Brian

looks like connecticut is the battleground state this time around. i couldn’t be happier.

OK redd in the house!!!! and atrios & shirt!

Christy: “corporate media reports”

Duncan: people didn’t go to YK to meet Harry Reid.

Great point about blogs building community right out of the gate!

if i’d gone to ykos, it would have been for one reason only – to MEET Y’ALL

Right on, people. YKOS is about everyone.

Christy brings up Hamdan! NOT a liberal court!

Actual BBC headline this morning: “Kenneth Lay: A fallen hero”
Amazingly bad headline, as the article eventually gets to the point that he was a fallen hero in his own mind and a crook in most others, but what a stinker of a headline. Where’s an editor when you need one?

HAMDAN – GO BABY

CHS “administration surrogates”

Hamdan “watershed event”

Christy bringing in Hamdan decision as related to believing in the actions of our government. Accountability! She’s great!!

I’m from NY, can we do something with Schumer, tie his schu laces together or something!

BTW Lieberman I think stands for “Rather man” in German.

Oh no! I’m reading the NYTimes and WaPo again, Leaving Lieberman, it appears like the Bush coup crew is active in Mexico. I posted about Obrador here a few times over the last weeks and my fears have been valid so far, (is the Bush coup crew aiding to rig elections in Mexico). Mexican elections are following the same patterns as here with Gore and Kerry. Not to discourage anyone from voting in the US. But I do want to see my vote count. Our local politics cross over with Mexican issues as I felt the lead up to hate your illegal’s “Mexicans” had some larger Bushbull use; suggesting maybe that use would play out in Mexico’s upcoming elections. The Mexican election/immigration issues I posted here, as I wondered what others thought, no response so far. Speculation, foreshadowing, prevention, protection of our rights, wait and see, who cares about Mexico and damb job stealers, I don’t know. I found info on these issues here and there on the internets, WMR has some more July 2/3, 2006.

FDL provides and I appreciate this forum and inspiration, including the not so skilled writers to try a hand at it, me… half the time I seem to piss people off but I’m trying to get better, either at pissing you off or expressing my thoughts clearer.

Caller making the point that bloggers are NOT FEARFUL to make a point.

Duncan “hold administration accountable”
waiting to see leadership, not only from the Dems but from the Repubs

Duncan “election irregularities”

CHS

vote re “monitoring in Ohio” and elsewhere
“everyone’s vote ought to count”

Google predicts that Lamont will win. Okay, I know this sounds goofy, but check out this article in the NY Times about this fascinating beta version of Google Trends and consider this:

YOU can see, for example, that the volume of Google searches would have done an excellent job predicting this year’s “American Idol,” with Taylor Hicks (the champion) being searched more often than Katharine McPhee (second place), who in turn was searched more often than Elliot Yamin (third place). Then you can compare Hillary Clinton and Al Gore and discover that she was more popular than he for almost all of the last two years, until he surged past her in April and stayed there.

So I did a trend search myself using Ned Lamont and Joe Lieberman’s names, and it came out like this!

Cool, huh? Though I sure do wonder why New York was the third highest ranked city doing searches on them. I would have thought it another CT city.

election stealing – duncan – waffling –

christy – very adroit

caller asks why doesn’t media ask about permanent bases in Iraq

Lehrer mentions polarization in politics, that we talk to people they agree with.
Caller saying media doesn’t ask pertinent questions, that it’s just to sell products.

ppp 89 – mexican shit absolutely Rove slime sliming across the border. no question. it works! why not take it international?

Sharkbabe! that just about lox it up, eh?

Duncan making the point that readers of blogs are more well-versed in the issues. Lehrer saying there is more nuance and not so much extreme stands.

Blogs one-sided?

Duncan–more about debate. know about the arguments of the other side.

CHS–we will call out our own side if they do something wrong, also we will give props to the other side if they do something right.

Duncan: blogs about debate, confronting talking points, readers well acquainted with all sides.

Brian: more nuance on blogs than on MSM talk radio. tend to give props to the other side on blogs

Christy: we spend time looking at the other sides perspective, but they get called out when they’re wrong

YOu go egregious, I’ll stop. Wasting bandwith.

CHS blogs good for in-depth discussion, what folk in America are looking for

“virtual town square”

100

Thanks, my first response on this issue, I keep trying.

lehrer dude really is good – good civilized actual think stuff as opposed to horseshit

Love this commentary about Republican simplistic sound bites versus Democrat putting complexity back into the reality of what we are dealing with.

CHS re are blogs mostly male?

“lot of women who blog”
“lot of powerful female voices”

Interesting: egregious (listening to radio instead of streaming?) is several seconds ahead of the instream content.

Here’s a question: if there is a 3-way race in November, will Joe be endangering the Congressional candidates by drawing added GOP turnout?

Fun fact from the Quinnipiac poll Norm De Plume linked to in the (IIRC) House Of Lords thread:

Dubya’s approval rating among CT Repubs: 61%

Joe’s approval among same: 66%

(and he’s sub-50 among CT Dems)

That should have been a bit longer, but it was good. He could do an entire segment on blogs alone.

Duncan blogs as a media where progressive voices can be heard, because we aren’t heard very much on regular media.

VERY good — I just wish they’d had the whole hour.

SP CPA 8:34 am — I understand your point about the Declaration and the ensuing original design of the Constitution, that both implied it should be easier for the people to remedy a despotic government.

But as my daughter asked me yesterday, how do we, the People, exercise our rights to alter or abolish our government when elected officials refuse to acknowledge our lack of consent or when elections are stolen? At some point when all institutional protections have been corrupted, the people retain their Creator-endowed right to self-remedy, including overthrow.

It shouldn’t take violence; it should only take what the Ukraine invested in the Orange Revolution. But it could take more, just as our country’s founding fathers discovered; they staked their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on it. why should we commit less?

Christy – Excellent, if altogether too brief, discussion. You always hold your composure and make the most articulate statements that keep the important points in the limelight. THANK YOU for your intelligence and civility!

I think you should start thinking about Yearly Firedoglake Conventions- set six months after/before Yearly KOS. And/Or regional mini-conventions around the country. Food for thought.

that just about lox it up, eh?

(laffing & marveling afresh at hairtrigger inventiveness)

KEN LAY DEAD

Eli,

That’s, IMO, what will make Lieberman tough to beat in a general election. He’s likely to get as many Republican votes as he does Democrat.

Na, just a fast typist and pattern seeker, yay ADHD.

bravo reddhead. more, please.

#51…

I before e, except after c (most times). See?

ppp – we’re in the middle of listening to Christy on air. If you’re just dropping in, you may have missed that.

Live blogging: I’m old enough to have learned REAL stenography, writing as fast as the person is talking :)

well hell, that was radio coitus that wasn’t even long enough to be interruptus.

As worried as we are that Loserman may split the Dem vote in the general election, it is just as possible he could split the R vote instead…

just a thought…

Nicely done, Christy. Ya sounded great! So calm, for a rabid lamb.

Great job on the radio as always, Christy.

there are 3 other hot races in CT: 3 Republican Congresscritters that we could take — Losermans stunt can fuck it all up for everybody ….

how do we, the People, exercise our rights to alter or abolish our government when elected officials refuse to acknowledge our lack of consent or when elections are stolen?

Or when the media consistently tells everyone that everything is fine, and anyone who says otherwise is a kook or maybe even a traitor.

CHS: You were magnificent!!!! More!!

My source for live blogging, the web page and the listen live button. Is that considered streaming radio? Newbie here. Also new at the live blogging stuff, feedback?

SharonW– how did you do that google graph. i would love to do that for different areas in connecticut to see where “my neighbors” are.

Rayne #116 — couldn’t agree more. These are troubling questions, asking “How would a patriot act,” and it’s clear where this is heading if the trend continues. When it becomes acceptable for a network like NBC/MSNBC to allow extremist right wingers to come on (and be invited back), to spout eliminationist rhetoric, call all liberals “godless” or “traitors,” call those who simply oppose the war unsympathetic to the beheading of American soldiers, and openly call for the execution of news paper editors, each of us has to wonder when we reach our personal tipping points.

I thought your comments yesterday, re your discussion with your children, were some of the most touching I’ve seen here, ever. Great mom.

Lieberman thinks Congress is like the House of Lords and he was appointed to a lifetime position.

Assimilated Press
Read “Lieberman Stock Trading At Record Lows” at:
http://assimilatedpress.blogspot.com/

Any other American citizen would have been behind bars, awaiting sentencing … but not Kenny-boy, oh no. If there’s any justice in the world, the Phelps clan will picket his funeral (assuming he’s really dead and not lounging on the Riviera as we speak …)

Rayne says: “It shouldn’t take violence; it should only take what the Ukraine invested in the Orange Revolution. But it could take more, just as our country’s founding fathers discovered; they staked their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on it. why should we commit less?”
July 5th, 2006 at 9:00 am

I agree.

egregious: I’ve always aspired to that skill, it’s invaluable. Among my prime condolences wrt Rove Junta primetime horseshit-puttings-forth is the realtime parallel truth of atriots & firedogs…

Great job Chrisy! Wish I could think on my feet as well as you.
If anyone is interested, Fresh Air today is an interview with the New Yorker author of the article on Addington (”Cheney’s Cheney”) this month. On right now.
Good radio this morning!

My letter:

Dear DSCC,

I am heartened by the news today reported by CNN that the DSCC likely will support solely the Democratic Party’s nominee for Connecticut senator. As a proud, loyal and life-long Democrat, I feel it is absolutely vital for the DSCC to support solely those senatorial candidates who rightfully earn the Democratic nomination through the primary votes of their fellow Democrats.

The news report from CNN is sourced to an unnamed DSCC official. According to the CNN report, this unnamed official stated that the DSCC’s support solely of the Democrat nominee for the Senator from Connecticut is “likely.” I sincerely hope that in the coming days, the DSCC will declare offically and unequivocally that the DSCC will support solely the Democratic nominee.

Thank you so much for your continuing efforts to take back the Senate for our party, and more importantly, for the American people.

Sincerely yours,

(matty fred)

I waited until Redd was done on WNYC to put in my 2 cents re Brian Lehrer. This is the second time I’ve listened to his show from up here in Alaska. The last time I listened was in late March, when he interviewed Katharine Viner, the Weekend Features Editor of the Guardian, and creator – along with Alan Rickman – of “My Name is Rachel Corrie,” which had been “indefinately postponed” by the New York Theater Workshop in late Febuary.

In the March interview, Lehrer completely slimed Viner and made up out of thin air a meme that is covered in the last paragraph of this partial transcript of the interview:

“LEHRER: So how to make sense of this creative and political mess? As is often the case with Mideast politics, there seems to be enough blame to go around. The NY Theater Workshop failed to do their homework in advance of scheduling the play – just the opposite of what the Westchester Philharmonic did with The Yellow Wind last year. Then they freaked out, and wimped out, when they decided they might be hurt. And I’m not convinced their Jewish donors would have been as thin-skinned as many people assume.

“But I think the play’s creators are equally at fault. It’s one thing to take an uncompromising stand against bulldozing homes when people’s lives might be at risk. It’s another to take an uncompromising stand against outreach to the Jewish community. It indicates to me that the playwrights were more interested in picking a fight and creating a public issue – creating another grievance against pro-Israel Jews – than they were in having the play seen and more widely understood. The cause of theater, and the cause of peace, are both the worse for their actions.”

After hearing that, my respect for Lehrer, who has done a lot of great stuff, went down quite a bit.

http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/58478

egregious, you were great.

I”m very interested to hear what this after-3pm thing is about.

As worried as we are that Loserman may split the Dem vote in the general election, it is just as possible he could split the R vote instead…

I think his master plan is to split *both*, as well as picking up the independents. He’s a lot more viable as a general election candidate than as a Dem primary candidate.

That same Quinnipiac poll (taken well before he announced his Cunning Plan) had him winning a 3-way race 56 to 18 to 8, with the Republican the nonfactor-y 8.

Lay dead? It Skilling me.

possible correction at egr 89
administration surrogates, not sure which one of them said that :o

Thanks to the good stenos who gave us Christy’s interview. Looks like she did a great job with the time they gave here. More! More!

Bill E at 42

Interestingly, he then said, that my best bet would be to wait until this afternoon. That after about 3 o’clock there might be news that would help me on this issue.

I think we should thank John King of the Situation Room for an interview (QT at c&l with a bonus DailyKos front page) that made it very clear how untenable Lieberman’s plans are.

If he doesn’t drop one of these two bids, this WILL be the issue, in both the primary and the general. It reinforces all of Lamont’s negative messages about self-serving, Bush-loving, disloyal Lieberman. The press is gonna keeping pushing this. Senators are gonna feel pressure to support the party, and not the man. This is not going away.

Oh, and just by the way, hasn’t it occurred to anyone that the reason that the filing date for the petitions is the day after the primary is to deter people from doing exactly this? If the CT legislature wanted candidates to get two shots at being in the general, they would have set the filing date a month or so later. The law is clearly designed to allow you to get on the ballot in only one way, with only one party affiliation.

ppp says:
July 5th, 2006 at 8:49 am

Has anything been reported about who won what percentage of the votes cast by eligible expatriate voters in Mexico’s election? How many expatriates voted?

Do you suppose Ken lay died of shame? Nah.
New headline reads, Ken Lay died of a massive coronary.
Was he in Aspen for the Institute? That would be quite the splash.

e @ 146,

It was Christy.

For those who want to hear Terry Gross on their schedule, it usually plays numerous times throughout the day. In Boston it’s on at 3 and 9pm. You can look it up here:

http://www.publicradiofan.com/

You can also see if Brian Lehrer is replayed on other stations through this site, in case you want to hear it again.

To hear Christy’s voice on airwaves (webwaves?) is to hear my own still belief in this country resonant

I spoke with a staffer chez Babs and politely registered my firm opinion re impotance of the leadership supporting the winner of the CT Senate primary. Also got through to Schumer’s office.

In both cases the response was essentially “OK, I’ll pass this along to the Senator”.

great job christy!!!!

Thx weeder

impotance of the leadership

I swear that was a typo

149:

there was a lot of voting problems on the boarder. Only 300 ballots per station and thousands of voters from the US.

Imman if you are around – WHO is Whitey Bulger (or possibly WHAT, if you are talking about a southern side dish)?

Whitey Bulger was an ‘enforcer’ in Boston politics.

Jayackroyd –

I think you are right. It is too big a cheat to for the Senators to let it slide by. Even now, by not coming out sooner with a clear message to support the winner of the primary, they are turning off thier base and risking thier best chance to pick up one of the houses of congress. They need to be clear that saying you’re a Democrat while undermining the part is a quick way to get a primary challenge and if you loose that primary, well you just got what was coming to you.

Off topic, is your screen name taken from the “Wild Cards” books? There is a wise-cracking private eye with exactly the same name. Just curious.

B-

Tony Snowjob now briefing about missle launches.

Called Sen. Lincoln’s office-got a live staffer to answer the phone. She said she’d pass on the msg to Lincoln. Woo-Hoo!

Called the DSCC. Got the voicemail box. Left a strong vmail insisting the DSCC come out strongly for the CT primary winner and that Joe’s ballot initiative is a slap in the face to every Democratic activist, volunteer, politician and elected official within the Party.

Matt at 48: From what I’ve heard, that’s a real danger, even more than vote-splitting in the Senate race, and is the reason why Lieberman’s move is so completely self-serving and damaging to the interests of real Democrats.

Thanks zen, for the schedule and links. This interview is so good—mostly about Gitmo, Hamdan, JAGs, broad executive powers, etc.

You’re welcome egregious—I really liked that phrase, that’s why I remembered it.

sharkbabe @ 153—beautifully said.

SharonW%u2013 how did you do that google graph. i would love to do that for different areas in connecticut to see where “my neighbors” are.

Pete, I’m not sure you can do it by area. You merely type in people or things that you want to see google search stats for. It does, however, give you the list of the top cities for those searches. The comparison thing works really well for politicians.

Go to Google>More>Google Labs>Google Trends. Once you type in some things to compare you’ll find other refining tools like years. I limited the Lamont/Lieberman trend to this year only as Ned would have no recognition prior to his announcing his candidacy.

CT Congressional races, I would like to learn more about how vulnerable they might be to this Lieberman foolishness. Could the outcome be different for Congressional races if he messes up the election? If so I think this is huge.

The Senate seat will stay at least nominally Democratic, but if he jeopardizes House seats that’s a crime.

“BREAKING: CNN Says DSCC To Support Primary Winner in CT”

It’s a sad state of affairs when that’s considered “breaking” news….

yeah punaise. they are HEARING FROM WE THE PEOPLE and we are going to UPEND THEIR BULLSHIT THAT HAS ALLOWED DICK THE FUCK CHENEY TO RULE/DESTROY THE WORLD, how can ANY civilized human let this be? My Md senators have mostly been on the side of the angels – both against feces-slinging retard chimp war blank check – but they’re still corrupt establishment enough to have enabled still all manner of corporate horror. They are comfortable and their comfort is their agenda, like Lieberman.

We the netroots are that barebreasted French Rev babe of Delacroix

I think when Hilliary made her statement yesterday…

“But I want to be clear that I will support the nominee chosen by Connecticut Democrats in their primary,” Clinton added. “I believe in the Democratic Party, and I believe we must honor the decisions made by Democratic primary voters.”

that it was a signal that the DSCC was moving in this direction. Keeping up the presure will go along way to sealing the deal.

Mary 159
Whitey Bulger, mob guy has been on the lam for oh, I dunno, 20 years or so? Every once in a while there is a rumored Whitey sighting, but they haven’t nabbed him yet.

His brother, Billy has been big in Boston politics despite (?) it all.

O/T:

Ballistic toothpicks of mass distraction.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..ssiles.jpg

A little thought about Ken Lay from the Houston Chronicle:

“Prosecutors in Lay’s trial declined comment today, both on his unexpected death and what may become of the government’s effort to seek a $43.5 million judgment from Lay that they say he pocketed as part of the conspiracy.”

Hmmmmm.

“Reykjavik, Iceland (3 July 2006) – A group of ten Icelandic citizens filed yesterday at the Office of the State’s Police Chief criminal charges against George H.W. Bush, former U.S. President, who is expected in Iceland this evening at the invitation of Icelands’s President Olafur R. Grimsson.

“The group accuses former President Bush for participation in war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against the peace, and crimes against internationally protected persons. It demands that former President Bush be detained by the Icelandic authorities and investigation on these charges. Should the investigation conclude that legal proceedings against him are warranted, the group requests that he be tried before an Icelandic court or extradited to an international criminal tribunal which possesses the requisite jurisdiction to deal with his case. Icelandic courts are, under international law, qualified to try individuals suspected of having committed international crimes.”

Link:

http://www.williambowles.info/…..arges.html

Sharkbabe – storming the ramparts

Re Ken Lay, a sheriff was called to the house around 1 AM. Lay arrived at the hospital at 3:10 AM and was declared dead at 3:11 AM. If these facts are true (I read them in the USAToday story) and given all the legal issues swirling around him, I would hope that someone drew some blood to do a toxs screen and run a check on any meds he might have been on. His legal situation and the timing certainly leave open the possibility of suicide (which is why some common sense checking should be done).

What follows is speculation. I do not know if Lay had a heart history. It is possible for someone to have a massive coronary without a prior history. That it took 2 hours to transport him to an ER, that a sheriff and not EMTs came, and that he was essentially DOA indicate that he was dead when found. If this was an unwitnessed event, there is no way for anyone to say that this was coronary in nature.

Will the menacing hand of Karl Rove be easily detected in Lieberman’s Indep. run? Or will we have to turn over rocks to see his influence? I guess the RNC will have to openly support the Rep. candidate, but what will they do behind the scenes to help Joe?

egregious and RevDeb – thanks. The things I don’t know.

I did not get to hear the stream, but someone above quoted Christy saying blogs were like a “virtual town square” – I think that’s a money quote.

CNN continues to report Ken Lay is still dead.

thanks SharonW. i will try that.

my local paper “the new london day” is running a poll about whether we argree/disagree with lieberman running as independent after the dem primary. i didn’t post the link because i was curious what the locals here think. at my vote 75 were for lieberman running as indy after the primary and 156 were against.

was Dick Cheney anywhere near Aspen with a gun?

Lieberman you are absolutely finished and so are all chimp-dick-lickers – let the word go forth

Hugh, the times indicate from the moment they received the call to the time he was pronounced. My bet is that the paramedics were doing a mini-code for a while before he went to the hospital. Not diminishing the questions you raise, my first thought was suicide when I heard. But on the scene, they don’t just scoop and run, they get lines started and give drug, defib, and do CPR. Takes time

the People are in the house

i don’t know if it’s already been posted, but if you want some laughs, check out this rabid lamb bleating at the dscc blog. titter, schumer obviously doesn’t appreciate the anger of the rabble. but he will.

Punaise

Dunno,Someone should asp-then.

ET 174 – the rest of the world thinks it pretty d*mn serious when a nation’s leader orders and participates in torture memos, Geneva Conventions violations, invasions of sovereignty for kidnap and torture, etc.

The Iceland thing is a stunt – but they are starting to make their leaders face the issue of abusive belligerent and open violations of interational and their nation’s laws. DOJ screwed up big time letting this policy of Executive Order superceding rule of law and miltarization of response with no military UCMJ parameters.

The problem is that the only response to cleaning up after themselves is to claim “state secrets” until they are blue in the face and not address the fact that they screwed up.

rising hegemon:

“Yes, this is Karl Rove, Mrs. Lay, reminding you that Ken always wanted a small, private — and I mean private funeral”

Mrs. Lay: “Actually, I’m not sure…”

Rove: “I’m not sure you understand me, Mrs. Lay, and perhaps those gentlemen you see outside your window can explain it to you better — Ken wanted a small, private funeral, without people outside the family attending.”

Mrs. Lay: “Well, since I have no choice.”

Rove: You don’t. Sorry for your loss. You never heard from me.”

*click*

P,
Yes I know…that was lame

my local paper “the new london day” is running a poll about whether we argree/disagree with lieberman running as independent after the dem primary. i didn’t post the link because i was curious what the locals here think. at my vote 75 were for lieberman running as indy after the primary and 156 were against.

Wow! That’s good to know because I’d suspect that with a local paper there’s less likelihood that anyone is trying to game the poll. I’d say that forbades well.

I wonder if WTNH might do a poll on this as well. They usually do a poll every night.

Taking Out Lieberman
Is the Democratic Party waking up?

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=9249

re jayackroyd @148 hasn’t it occurred to anyone that the reason that the filing date for the petitions is the day after the primary is to deter people from doing exactly this?

FWIW, in Minnesota the petition-signing window for an independent candidacy is only 2 weeks long and closes before the primary. Also, by signing the petition you agree to not vote in the primary for that office. See this link (http://www.bk4sos.org/BK nominating petition.pdf) for a fellow FairVoteMinnesota member who is seeking to run for Secretary of State.

Sharkbabe 181 – oh girl friend you do know how to turn a phrase – and how the word goes forth lickity split – mwahahahaha!

Hugh, starting to sound like a recent hunting accident, doesn’t it?

GREAT job Christy….ya done great!

*waves* to Anne Holliday

Mary @ #186,

I’m not sure whether or not you understand that the Icelandic lawsuit is against Poppy, not W…..

Mary, thanks for reminding us of the Italian mess. This may be a coiled snake. RENDITION.

Nuts, by the time I got my wireless to stay connected long enough to stream, Christy’s interview was done. Grrr…mixed blessing, this technology!

scarecrow 9:08 am — thanks much for your support. I remember once not long after having my second child having a “recognition lunch” with a female manager and a male supervisor who were supposed be fete-ing me for my tenure. Somehow the subject of parenting came up, and I said something to the effect that I didn’t merely want to be a “soccer mom”, unaware that the female manager spent all her free time shuttling her kids to soccer when she wasn’t at work. Fortunately the pained look on her face told me to shut my yap…

And now, eight years later, I’m definitely no soccer mom. While I don’t have a problem with moms who are (provided that’s what their kids want to do), I see far too many moms and dads who invest so heavily in sports and other extracurricular activities for their kids, and spend virtually NOTHING on time with their kids on citizenship. Too many Americans, especially those with kids, believe that working on citizenship is a necessity for immigrants only, as if being a citizen in an established democracy is an entitlement to which they are heir by default.

I’m conscious every day that no matter what my kids are or will be by virtue of their talents and skills, they will be citizens and voters. They must receive adequate training to do the right thing by that, and our “No Child Left Behind” system really doesn’t test for citizenship, only for academics at the bare minimum. It is no wonder our democracy is in the state it’s in, when the parents of a majority of Americans couldn’t or didn’t instill in us the enormity of the responsibility of democratic (little d) citizenship. (Yes, my folks, too, guilty…)

But here we are, toeing that thin line between toxic stasis and revolution. The very least I can do for the voters I am raising is explain how we got to this point; the very best I can do is teach them how to avoid this situation in the future.

Which brings me to a key word upon which I am writing a position paper for PDA: stewardship. I read a snip yesterday in Peter Block’s text of the same name that gave me pause, because it said what I understand about our democracy.

Stewardship is the umbrella idea which promises the means of achieving fundamental change in a way we govern our institutions. Stewardship is to hold something in trust for another. Historically, stewardship was a means to protect a kingdom while those rightfully in charge were away, or, more often, to govern for the sake of an underage king. The underage king for us is the next generation. We choose service over self-interest most powerfully when we build the capacity of the next generation to govern themselves.

Yeah, that. We are stewards to something far larger than ourselves, and I look in the eyes of the heirs every morning over breakfast.

ET 174 -

This is a glimpse into the future for Bush and his neocon buddies.

As the years pass, it will become increasingly difficult for them to travel internationally as further evidence of their war crimes comes to light.

Eventually, it may come to the point where the U.S. agrees to extradite them for trial…

Snow– the preznit has described Ken Lay as an aquaintance.

his response to question about w’s reaction to the news of the death of his friend, Ken Lay.

[My email to the DSCC]

Dear DSCC members:

According to CNN, the DSCC will “likely” support the winner of the Connecticut Senate primary. While “likely” is slightly clearer than “no comment,” it is far from a plain-spoken “Of course, we support all Democratic nominees. Why do you ask?”

Senators, do you actually have any doubt about this? Would you for one minute support Joe Lieberman’s attempt to do to us what Katherine Harris is doing to the Republicans? Not only is he trying to moot his own primary, he’s endangering Connecticut’s three House candidates whom we so desperately need to win. Hasn’t he slapped not just those Connecticut Democrats in the face, but also the national party — each of you — each of us?

It’s stunning that we “grassroots” should have to wonder about your position for even a minute. Please put a stop to Republicrat Joe Lieberman immediately — first with your unequivocal announcement, then with actions, both public and private, that match your words.

Please tell us, then show us, that while we cannot count on Joe Lieberman, we can count on you.

Thank you,

OT, I guess -

For our Laughing to Keep from Crying file, courtesy of USA Today, it seems that the good-guy Iraqi insurgents want our puppet government there to arm them against the bad-guy foreign insurgents. Here’s the link, so you’ll know I’m not making this up:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/w…..pons_x.htm

The time to leave Iraq was before we ever got there, but if now isn’t the second-best time, when might be? Apparently coalition forces are now so irrelevant that all they can do is more damage.

And the band plays on.

great letter lotus

Off topic, is your screen name taken from the “Wild Cards” books? There is a wise-cracking private eye with exactly the same name.

No, that’s my real name. I do know about the Wild Cards series, though, because when I google myself, they come up. Never read the books, although I am a George RailRoad Martin fan. I particularly like a short story of his called “Unicorn Variations.”

ET – no, I didn’t (I was trying to speed through comments and ketchup). LOL

I won’t say anything about “like father, like . . . ”

I didn’t say it.

Rayne #198:

Peter Block, yeah! I hadn’t thought to check on any thoughts he might have re: net-based empowerment, but he’d be a great source of inspiration regardless.

That was my guess, but I had to know for sure.

You should take a look at the books, they are great beach reads, not too challenging in any direction, but not so great that if you leave the book in the sand you will feel compeled to buy a new copy.

Um, Double Solitaire is the name of the book that has the most of the fake Mr. Ackroyd, that would be the one to get if you had any interest.

Rayne, you are an absolute gem of a mom.

Punaise @ 145:

Looks like Kenny Boy found an end ron around serving some stir time.

Jane has a new thread up, everyone. And Rayne — I’m told that WNYC is really great about putting up files from shows fairly promptly. I’m hoping so, because I missed the discussion just prior to Duncan and me, and I want to listen to the whole thing all the way through. :) Eli from Moveon.org was on, along with Donna Brazile, and that is a debate I’d like to hear. *g*

Check out the DSCC homepage for CT — incumbent protection racket, anyone?

http://www.dscc.org/2006races/ct/

zennurse #182

Of course, EMTs do onsite assessment and begin treatment but the time frame still seems wrong. The goal would be to get him as quickly as possible to a unit that could give him definitive treatment and care. Much of this could have been done en rotue. This was not done and that he was DOA indicates that it was already known and accepted even by physicians who had not yet seen him that he was already dead. Reuters reports there will be an autopsy so more answers will be forthcoming in the next week or two.

I hope everyone had a great Fourth, I wish mine had not been tinged with thoughts like, “What the *&^$ has happened to my country.” Mrs BC and I watched the PBS broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion from Tanglewood over the weekend. The closer was an audience sing-along of America, The Beautiful. Three verses, not the usual first-verse only. Listening to the third verse (Keillor had them sing it 1st, 4th [Patriot’s Dream] and 3rd [Heroes proved] for some reason) brought tears to my eyes … and reminded me just how much I hate Bush and his fascist backers. Meryl Streep (who has a surpisingly nice singing voice) was tearing up, too.

I wish that they had sung the verse they skipped, however.

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

It really sums up how I feel about things today.

Now, on topic. There is a little New Mexico history that is applicable to the Joe-nertia problem. I beg your indulgence to ’splain it. In 1993, the Governor of New Mexico was Bruce King, the Light Gov was Roberto Mondragon. Bruce apparently told Mondragon that he only wanted to do one-term (Bruce had been re-elected after sitting out of office for a while, and was not a young man.) Mondragon wanted to be Heavy Gov. When King decided to run for re-election in 1994, Mondragon took it personally.

Mondragon jumped ship and ran as a Green. The Repugnicans had a primary and nominated a wealthy Albuquerque builder, Gary Johnson. The campaign was long and nasty, but there were rumors at the end that King and Mondragon were going to kiss and make up, and Roberto would throw his support to King.

Didn’t happen. Election day rolled around, and none of the candidates won a majority. Johnson got around 49.8% of the vote, King got 39.9% of the vote and Mondragon got 10.3%. What happened was that Mondragon split off the liberal vote of the Democratic Party, and ensured Johnson’s plurality.

The Republicans played that card again when Congressman Steve Schiff died. They threw support in the special election to the Green candidate (Schiff held the 2nd district seat, northern NM, including Santa Fe), and got a Republican elected from one of the most liberal districts in the country. The error was corrected in the following general election, when Udall won election.

If there is a moral to be drawn here, it’s that we’re playing with fire. If Lieberman chooses to run as an independent, he may very well draw enough support to ensure the election of a Republican.

One thing we need to do (on a state-by-state basis) is to change our election rules to the Hare system, (a/k/a Instant runoff). Voters record their preference ordering for the candidates. In the case of 1994 New Mexico Governor’s race, it’s almost inconceivable that anyone voting for Mondragon would have Johnson as their second choice. Mondragon’s votes would have been allocated to his voters’ second choices, and King would have won re-election.

Until we have this sort of system in place, we’re going to be playing with fire every time we try to take down a resistant incumbent like Holy Joe.

BC

lotus – while I am too tech impaired to cross post I hope you cross posted your succinct email to DSCC on their site’s comments page.

punaise – you sure know how to put an old dame in a hollidaze.

Stephen Parrish, CPA

I heard of the 11 million eligible voters in the US, only 35000 voted in the Mexican election.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/new…..etail.html

Hmm, Hugh, do you think his wife found him dead and called the doc who then said to the paramedics “Go slow”? I think they first responders would still have to act, that’s how it is here. I also just looked back at the 3:10 and 3:11 times (I had initially seen 3:00) so it took the ER doc one minute to call the code or it had already been called. Speculative, I agree, Hmmmmm, it will be interesting to see what the autopsy shows, and they always do a tox screen.

Anne H, I just emailed it to info@dscc.org, as it said to do on their “Contact Us” page.

And thanks to you and punaise.

al-Scooter 203: If supporting one side of an armed confrontation between different domestically based militias will keep them from civil war, then I guess we should be for it.

Sharon @ 8:52

I bet the NY City Googles for Ned are people who work in NY but live, and Vote, in CT.

Bargain Countertenor — wow, thanks for the examples; I wish I’d had those in hand last night while trying to explain how important critical mass is to effecting change. Had a discussion with a young progressive who leaned Green about the dilution of power when folks vote for third parties that cannot muster enough votes to break a simple majority’s 50%; it is pragmatic and expedient to simple reform the second party that is closer to their position from the inside out (hello, Democratic Party!) than to establish a weak and diluting third party. Particularly when one of the parties has a death-grip on three arms of government…

Immediately after 2008, we should set in motion a plan for creating a strong, 3rd party, but it would need all 4 years between 2008 and 20012 to get the 30 % it needs to reduce the power of the other two parties. Until 2008, it should be our focus to break the control of Republicans on all government, period.

new thread

http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..nce-again/

Still waiting on Schumer . . .

Moveon.org just sent a message. Free bumperstickers.
https://political.moveon.org/stickers/?id=8173-6993420-OG9eCiUjNy4UP7ns4JFH8Q&t=6
Remember bumperstickers are in the 50 things you can do to fight the right handbook.

Rayne,
Thanks for so eloquently adding context to the comment of violent overthrow. Reading Christy’s post and the Declaration of Independence compels us to action. The only point of debate is the tipping point.

Stephen Parrish, CPA,
We are in agreement. However, I feel that we are 1 Supreme Court decision and/or 1 (more?) stolen election from considering that duty as American citizens.

T- 10:36am — thanks. Let’s hope that we never get to that point, that the worst we might have to do is follow the Ukrainian model. But we should at least discuss an “Orange Revolution” if there is one iota of disagreement between exit polling and votes this November. We should no longer sit and wait for the ruling junta to hand us our derrieres on a platter — particularly since the kids are watching.

We watched something this weekend — can’t remember what — that showed protests against the Vietnam War as well as against Reagan’s apathy towards AIDS. I pointed to the demonstrations and told the kids I remember these well, that protest still happen often here in the Statesn (although not often enough), but that I worried they wouldn’t see them or remember them because they never saw them on television.

At which point my twelve-year old said, “Because Republicans own the media…”

Made me so proud to know she was paying attention — and yet, it also emphasized how closely children are watching us.

Sharkbabe 16

You can podcast the Brian Lehrer show. Today’s show isn’t up yet, but when it is, iTunes will put it in my library.

To podcast, go to WNYC.org. Scroll down to “Am I Blue” and click on the “more” link.

That takes you to the Brian Lehrer Show’s page. On the right, click on the Podcast link or MP3 link, if that’s what you use.

On the linked page, click on the podcast provider you use, in my case, iTunes.

Presto! The next thing you know iTunes appears on your screen and the Brian Lehrer Show shows up in your podcast directory. iTunes immediately begins downloading the first show it sees in your subscription.

For those of you who haven’t taken the jump to podcasting, go ahead and get an iTunes or other podcasting provider account. There are going to be more and more things you’ll want to hear – - or see, if you’re ahead of my curve – - and you might as well get the means to hear them sooner rather than later.

A hint from this techno-dud: Don’t try to find your programs at the iTunes music store. Instead, go to the source of your desired show: AAR, PBS, WNYC, whatever, and follow the subscription directions from there.

Don’t ask me how WNYC knew whose iTunes account to put that subscription in (I don’t think I want to know) but it did.

Once you have transferred the progam from your library to your iPod or MP3 player, you can look like all the other techno-zombies at the gym or in the grocery, listening to your favorite liberal show as you go about your daily chores. :)

Rayne-
I admire how your children are responding to your parenting. Due to the effectiveness of the message and delivery, no doubt. I will have to go read the thread that a previous commenter referred to.

I have a 3.5 and a 1 year old. Both boys. I am raising them in the belly of the beast (GA).
It pains me when they come home from their cousins and they tell me that army tanks are cool. That wrecks mountains of progress and efforts that my wife and I have tried to instill in our kids.

What’s worse is that some think its no big deal that all kids play with tanks, and to that I say, “No shit. Look at the world we live in.”

WE must break the cycle of violence.

Peace.

T-

Let me say out loud that FDL RULES!
http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/9354

T- 11:36 am — Oh, you are entering the first and toughest part here, the “Why? Zone”. Why, why, why, and why, all the time, day and night.

Heh. The only thing that ever really slowed down the Whys in this house are full and complete explanations for whatever the Why is at that moment. Wish you much luck with that, been there, done that.

But that’s also the same time when you get to lay down all the most important code, the most critical part of kids’ operating system. It’s a much tougher job than I thought; I really learned to appreciate my own parents during that period of time. (And by “appreciate”, I mean I also realized then exactly how cracked my folks were in having 3 kids inside 3 years. Jeebus.)

The violence thing is very challenging; a lot of people too easily dismiss that guns are “natural” to boys. Poppycock. What was natural BEFORE guns? Personally, I think role playing and asking a lot of questions about feelings can blunt the damage that society will inflict in regards to guns and violence, like “How do you think the person feels after being shot?” “How do you think people should feel after they hurt someone?” and so on. Western societies are more likely to do this with girls than with boys; this is where we go wrong, though, by not encouraging more empathy in boys and also asking children to think outconsequences of every chosen action.

The other component going on in this house is that my spouse is a hunter. While I don’t care for guns or hunting, I respect this part of his cultural heritage; I personally have no problem with hunting if it is done within environmentally sound guidelines (like thinning overpopulation but not to excess) and as humanely as possible, with respect for the animals and their environ. My spouse is big on gun safety, too. The kids have grown to learn that guns are dangerous, do incredible damage and are intended to kill, that guns must be handled with utmost care, that guns are used only to kill meat that will be consumed — and for nothing more — and that they must pass a gun safety course before they will ever touch one, and only under my spouse’s supervision. That’s probably the only way I can see mediating the culture of guns. Not easy when there are so many Second Amendment freaks, but at least it’s a third way.

And we do talk about the Second Amendment here and how far too many people misunderstand its intent.

You know, it might be a hardball tactic, but any staffer that supports Joe into an indy race oughta need to be told they will not find work with Dems anytime in the near future, in any capacity. Let’em make a choice.

It’s pretty clear Chucky worked out the language of the absurd ‘independent Democrat’ moniker. Now he’s going to have to back out of it. He will have to as long as we keep up the pressure. I wonder whether Hillary started the ball rolling on this? Should I give her a smidgen more respect now, if she did?

Poor Joe, thrown out of the cult.