Take a look at this photo. There are two people in it — both of whom are responsible for Joe Lieberman’s loss yesterday in a number of ways. Joe Lieberman is going to have to come to his own terms with himself for his role in his own defeat.
But the Republican party is in a tizzy today to erase George Bush from this picture entirely. Why?
Because Republican candidates nationwide are looking at what happened to Joe Lieberman, and thinking about this photo and what it meant as the kiss of political death to Lieberman’s candidacy in so many ways.
…and they are wondering if they will be next.
Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman will be out in full smear gear, sending out the Wurlitzer on it’s wind up of "soft on security." Well, I’m calling bullshit on that one right now. I’m a former prosecutor, and I could probably outshoot Karl Rove on the gun range with a full-on case of the stomach flu. And I stand down for no one when it comes to protecting my child, my family and my country.
Here’s the truth: America has caught on to the fact that the Republican rhetoric is not backed up by actions that actually make us safer. In fact, every piss poor decision that they make drags us down a more dangerous path…every single day they are in office.
No amount of screeching "terrorist" at the top of their lungs makes their failure to secure our ports, the failure to adequately inspect cargo containers entering this country, the failure to provide our first responders with adequate communications equipment almost 5 years after 9/11, their failure to adequately plan for the mess in Iraq…the list goes on and on and on.
The failure buck stops at George Bush’s desk.
The path to more safety, more security, more accountibility is a government where one party doesn’t control all the purse strings, and where oversight and accountabiity are the watchwords. Checks and balances are essential components of liberty, and part of that is the give and take between competing interests — something we do not have with a Rubber Stamp Republican Congress and a President who wants to be king-for-a-day (so long as it doesn’t interfere with his bike ride or his bedtime or dinners with aging sports stars). The American public deserves a government that is concerned for "we, the people," not for "me and my cronies."
The fear this morning for GOP leadership has to be that the rank and file will choose saving their own political butts by distancing themselves from George Bush as fast as they possibly can and at every opportunity – and with that, the power chair that Karl Rove holds so dear begins to lose the legs out from under it.
You hear that sound? Democracy is calling…
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Jane, Ned!
Christy, hope you’re doing well. Democracy is in the house!
Just had to drag this from Kos:
Lieberman speaking to Chris Wallace in Nov 2004:
LIEBERMAN: … In the end, my own feeling is, looking at the polls, but intuiting, based on people I talk to, is that, although Senator Kerry got a lot of votes, 56 million votes, more than any Democratic candidate for president in history, but there’s no prizes for second place in American politics.
kobe !
Christie!! My bad!!
Old Sow!
votez!
Just to agree and repeat, Redd -
I want my country back… NOW!
I hope Lamont quickly gets out in front of this ridiculous ‘partisan party politics’ charge of Lieberman and attacks it head on. Something like this:
“When Senator Lieberman attacks those who voted for me, he isn’t attacking partisan politics. He is attacking American democracy. We have a democratic party system. It is an integral part of our 230 year old democracy. The oldest in the world. Party politics didn’t keep us from defeating fascism in Europe. It didn’t keep up from winning the Cold War and it didn’t keep us from establishing great achievements like Social Security and Civil Rights. Political parties should foster ideas and help bring the people into the political process. I am proud that my campaign is proof that is still happening today. I am proud to be a Democrat. I am proud that my campaign registered and motivated thousands of new voters who will participate in this great democracy for the rest of their lives. And I will be prouder still to be in the Senate majority bringing Democratic ideas to that great body and working with Senators on both sides of the aisle to implement them and move America in a much needed new direction. I invite Senator Lieberman to remain in our great party and help me in that effort.”
9/11 happened on their watch. Five years later our country, and the world, are less safe.
Adult supervision is long overdue. Elect a Democratic Congress. Accountability, checks and balances, and oversight are crucial in our Constitutional system.
Oh, and TradMed can go to hell.
Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman will be out in full smear gear, sending out the Wurlitzer on it’s wind up of “soft on security.”
To paraprase Presiden Lincoln-this will only happen if the dems allow the turds to do it to them.
To try to say that wanting our soldiers out of Iraq is akin to being “soft on security” is simply ridiculous, but where is the dem response to this smear?
Toasty Joe? Right on Christy, well said.
Christy, your writing is so perfect for expressing what we are feeling today. This piece is especially persuasive for making the case FOR change.
Democrats across our great nation feel the refreshing winds of change blowing us forward
republicans and joe lieberman are still lost in the destructive fog of neverending war
Lewis Black on The Kiss:
http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/
Wow! I just heard back from my parents, who live in Milford, and they voted for Ned!! I’m very surprised because a) 3 months ago my mother didn’t know who Ned Lamont was; b) they were supportive of Lieberman for a long time; c) used to be Republicans before they got all wacky and it’s nice to hear that they changed their party affiliation.
I love my parents a lot. :-)
And if the Republicans want to call my hard-working, down to earth, family business owning parents terrorists, they are going to have to deal with me. Fuck that shit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08…..ref=slogin
Sound familiar, Joe?
Indeed Christy. Joe is becoming a proxy for every screw-up that George Bush has made in office, but he won’t be the last to be skewered.
I am curious what the “Loserman” effect will be right there in CT with Joe’s planned indy run, but also how it may spill over into contested primaries in other states, for example Maryland, where the Senate seat is open and many Dems are campaigning hard, or MD-3 where the compromosed Albert Wynn (D-sort of) is getting challenged by a civic-minded activist without corporate ties.
Nicely put, Christy. Behold the rising tide.
Right on the money! Well said, Christy!
Christy wrote:
This is absolutely true, and has been true for quite a while. However, this does not guarantee victory by any means. I think that we can all remember how Rove and Bush turned the 2004 election into a referendum on Kerry. They haven’t said anything other than “yes, we suck at governing, but Democrat’s would be worse” for several years now and it has been working pretty well for them. I agree that getting rid of guys like Lieberman who grant credibility to their shamelessness and dishonesty is a good step, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do to show the country what government is for.
peace,
jim
“I could probably outshoot Karl Rove on the gun range with a full-on case of the stomach flu.”
Probably????
Come on, Christy. I’d put big money on you even if you were blindfolded and blogging with your shooting hand….
I couldn’t believe how angry I was with Liarman last night after his “concession speech”… I would assume he is having the same effect on the voters of CT…
EPU’d
egregious @ 170
Everyone can do something. If you are paralyzed from the neck down, pray for others. If you can walk, take steps toward a new democracy. If you can hear and speak, ask people you know what they want in our common political future.
TAKE ACTION. FIGHT BACK. THE WORLD NEEDS YOU.
obligatory line to ensure bold off :)
As usual, Redd writes precisely what I’m thinking. Must be common amongst redheaded Cincy Reds fans!
Freaking Bloomberg is an ass, just endorsed Lieberman
http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=516
Something else going on here is that incumbency is no longer the traditional safe haven it once was. If Joey can be booted out in a primary, imagine what’s going to happen in the general election. Those incumbents who think their political machines are going to protect them better think again.
“Democracy is calling…”
Indeed. And it’s about fucking time.
Someone in the thread below suggested that a grand opera, Der Fliegende Liebermann was appropriate for us.
I’m greedier. I want Goetterdammerung, for Lieberman and all his pals, DINO and GOoPer alike.
McCain? Feh — Straight Talk Express my a**. He’s sold out to Falwell and the rest of the christofascists. Olympia Snowe? What good are principles if you won’t back down on them?
Why is it that since T. Roosevelt, Democrats have had to clean up the messes made by Republicans?
BC
EPU’d: SF Chronicle above-the-fold front page headline:
“LIEBERMAN LOSES”
The problem? The accomanying large photo shows a smiling Joe surrounded by applauding supporters – from his concession speech. Small photo of Ned below the fold. Mixed message!
NYChick – isn’t Bloomberg a republican?
with fully 60% of americans now believing that iraq was a mistake, ken and karl have lost a lot of their audience. sure, it may stir up the “base”, but beyond that they have cired woolf one too many times. so how long before they start picking on the gays again?
Joe, you can keep the chair, just get out of the building.
I am still outraged that Lieberman is planning to run against the Democratic candidate for Senate in Connecticut! I mean, that is just BREATHTAKING in its arrogance and self-absorption. Who does Joe Lieberman think he is?! It’s embarrassing. Surely his family will come to their senses and give their loved one a little shove. And, if I were a Democrat in Connecticut, I’d be outraged. Think of it. You’ve voted all your life for Democrats, supported Lieberman for nearly 20 years, and suddenly, he stabs you in the back, and says, I will take this Democratic Senate Seat away from you–just because I’m a sore loser. Take it from me, no one will vote for Lieberman running as an “independent” despite all his “pretty words” about standing up for the “center.” It’s without a doubt the most transparent fib since, “I had my hand in the cookie jar, mommy, but I wasn’t taking any cookies out, I was just counting them for you!” And, it’s about at that level of id v. ego development too.
What a pathetic, disgusting coward Joe Lieberman is. Can’t even summon the courage to lose in a fair contest. I couldn’t have more contempt for Lieberman if I tried. He has earned my complete contempt; I feel certain that by November, he will have earned the contempt of most of the country, and most of Connecticut as well. It’s plain to see that the man has NO PRINCIPLES at all.
One of the lynhcpins in the Rove/Mehlman strategy was to lash Bush around every Republican neck like an anvil.
Recently John Thune of South Dakota and Rick Santorum of PA spoke loudly about distancing themselves from Bush.
Bush’s lame duckishness took a momentus leap forward yesterday with Lamont win. With that goes more of Karl Rove’s influence and powers of bullying and persuasion.
No one likes giving up power and some hate even more having it taken from them. Bush and Rove are the latter.
Betcha there is some serious hand holding and strategeryizing going on now.
Bush and Rove are shrinking once again. They will try to go back to that well of fear and smear one more time. Too bad they don’t know that most Americans can hear the bucket clanking on the bottom of that now empty well. They are about to expose themselves as the desperate men they really have been all along.
-GSD
Look! RGJoe got an elected Democratic official to stand next to him in Connecticut. Makes me wonder a little more about Hartford being the last precincts to report last night, which Connecticut bloggers said was an anomaly. Perhaps this Perez character was holding back the reports in case he could put RGJoe over the top?
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmp…..266469.jpg
e.c. @ 31
Umm, about a couple of months ago, wasn’t it? Remember the kerfuffle about a marriage amendment?
BC
P.S. Hey, lotus, are you on this thread yet?
OldCoastie @ 30
Yes, wink, wink he is a Republican and an embarassment to NYC.
Anybody know the law regarding what happens with any leftover Lieberman campaign money, which was raised by and for Democrats?
windje
FITZ!!!
In light of this palpable sea change in the nation’s mood, maybe our favorite Chicago based prosecutor will sense the Bush/Rovian weakness and American’s desire for accountability and issue forth some real high level indictments.
He’s been too quiet for too long.
OldCoastie @ 7
Me too! Thanks Christy, Jane and all the rest. I feel lighter today, and FDL and the results last night are a big reason for that. I am proud to be a Democrat again.
I’m sure some member of the librul media will juxtapose that claim with the story of the 11 Egyptian students wandering unaccounted for . . . never mind
windje @ 38
Yes. He can use the money for future political campaigns or he can donate to recognized charities. He can’t convert it to his beneficial use.
BC
OldCoastie @ 30
Bloomberg is a Republican yes. Of course he would support Neocon Joe.
Juan Cole has some very good stuff on the race. Important points about why it was necessary to defeat Lieberman, but I also particularly liked this:
Fitting – Lieberman’s first endorsement is from a REPUBLICAN.
Noron: Republicans are saying the EXTREME LEFT has taken over the Democratic Party. LOL Best of luck with that.
Bloomberg was a Democrat before switching parties to run for mayor of NYC.
He is flirting with an Independant bid for President.
This is a calculated move on Bloomie’s part to lend credibility to party switchers and Indy’s.
-GSD
Golly Ned, I missed this place last night! I managed to stay busy switching channels on the TV and wearing out the puters’ refresh button on the poll reporting sites. You guys are the best!
That Boosh kissing creep needs to get out of the way of the Next Democratic Senator from Connecticut; he needs to remove himself as a distraction and get busy as a citizen to save this country!
And yes Joe, as a matter of fact; you are chopped liver!
The Rude One agrees with Christy:
“Lieberman lost because he was wrong, on the war, on indecency, on torture, on Social Security, and more, more, more. He lost not because he said he was right, but because he tried to say that wrong was right.
Lieberman lost like so many others will, mostly Republican, because they hitched their wagons to George Bush’s star and that fucker went supernova.”
xyz @ 45
Jeeeebus, xyz. You should have heard Faux sNooze’s lament for HoJo last night. You’d’ve sworn his a GOoPer. Hannity even said HoJo was his favorite Democrat. No small wonder, since HoJo ain’t no Democrat.
BC
I am not sure that rejection, by purely Democrats, of Lieberman for fraternizing with the enemy can be extrapolated to a general election which includes Republicans. Certainly any Republican who depends on cross over votes (and one can hypotheseize independents, although none voted for or against Joe) needs to be wary.
The Republicans need to balance losses from the base with gains from the rest of the voter pool. I envision a lot of tightwire work for the Repugs.
So did any of us crazed librals set any furniture on fire to celebrate Ned’s victory?
I wish the punditry would actually DEFINE what “extreme left” means… I just don’t get it… what makes one “extreme”?
Hillay is going to get some heat tonight…
http://blogs.nydailynews.com/d…..norpac.php
From the Advocate in CT
Voter turnout ‘possibly unprecedented’
windje @ 37
He can spend it on his campaign, donate it to other campaigns, donate it to charity, or spend it on legal expenses (though unlike with Tom DeLay, those presumably aren’t a big factor.)
Unfortunately, the money was donated to Lieberman’s campaign, and donors can’t take it back just because it’s not going to Lieberman’s Democratic campaign.
Interesting question, though — if he does drop the Indy bid, his best use for his $10 million, influence-wise, would be donations to other campaigns. But would anyone want to risk taking it?
I heard Salazar has already endorsed Lieberman, but I can’t find confirmation. Anybody see that anywhere?
also…anybody I should be calling? I already emailed the DNC
Bargain Countertenor @ 41
Thanks, although it doesn’t seem right that it can be used against a Democratic candidate.
windje
and another thing, how is it Liarman keeps getting labeled a “moderate democrat”…?
he looks as much of a right wing nutjob as much as the next republican…
The Wheels are comin’ off Herr Karl Goebbels’ bullshit machine:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..080606.htm
Washington Post-ABC News Poll
The Washington Post
Monday, August 7, 2006
This Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone August 3 – 6, 2006 among 1,000 randomly selected adults nationwide. Margin of sampling error for overall results is plus or minus three percentage points. Sampling error is only one of many sources of error in this or any other public opinion poll. Fieldwork by TNS of Horsham, PA.
*= less than 0.5 percent
6. Which political party, the (Democrats) or the (Republicans), do you trust to do a better job handling (ITEM)?
8/6/06 – Summary Table*
___________________________________________Both Neither No
_______________________Democrats Republicans (vol.) (vol.) op.
a. The situation in Iraq___________43______40______*____11_____5
b. The U.S. campaign
against terrorism_____________46_____38_____1___11____4
*Item a asked of half sample, item b asked of other half sample. Trend where available: a. The situation in Iraq
http://mediamatters.org/items/200608080005 Tue, Aug 8, 2006 1:59pm EST
……”After repeatedly touting terrorism as a political advantage for Republicans, The Washington Post ignored its own poll’s finding that, in fact, more people trust Democrats than Republicans to handle “the U.S. campaign against terrorism.”…….
Damn, I am SO proud of the distinguished gentleman from Michigan:
The people have indeed spoken.
Vox populi, vox dei.
Cozumel @ 45
I saw her saying that to Dodd about an hour ago, Dodd pushed back ever….so….gently….
Jesus Christ, what does it take for these people to use the facts that are in their favor, for cryin’ out loud.
Twisted Martini @ 51
No, but I came this close to smoking a cigarette
(Oh wait- that was before he won, never mind)
Hope Ned says no thanks to the DNC if they offer their expertise to his campaign. Send money, DNC, but save your expertise for your stable of Lieberman DINOs.
Leiberman should simply run as the republican he is. He cries about partisanship but he seems to lay the blame at the foot of any democrat that dare oppose him or his beloved president. His scolding of bloggers for their so called coursening of politics never seems to include the Sean Hannity’s, Anne Coulters or Hew Hewlett’s of the world. Why is that? Because they support the man. Let them get out and campaign for him. Voters are not as stupid as the elites in the punditocracy seem to think they are. Those same pundits were telling us in ‘02 what a good idea this war in Iraq was. They have been consistently wrong ever since. They were hoping we didn’t notice.
Politics and national security:
Are we safer now than in 2000?
Did we find OBL? Or did we disband the unit responsible for finding him…Hmm…
Did we invade a country unrelated to 9/11 and lose 2,700 of our own people and 100,000 civilians who were stupidly in the way? Plus tens of thousand of vets with lost limbs/mental trauma that we need to care for over the next several decades. Cost = ??
Of course we can do what some countries do *cough*where i work*cough* and simply ignore desperate people who have medical emergencies. It saves a lot of money that you can then
steal//deposit in an offshore bank accountsave for tax cuts. [Twenty million dollars would pay for a lot of prostaglandin. Just sayin.]Did we accomplish anything whatsoever in Afghanistan, except re-establishing the heroin trade which benefits [censored, but look it up].
Are we more free or less free because of the actions of this administration? Open book exam, you MAY use the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions. Because the government sure as hell ain’t.
Well now, here’s some news:
Rove Calls Lieberman?
That’s what ABC’s George Stephanopoulos reports.
According to a close Lieberman adviser, the President’s political guru, Karl Rove, has reached out to the Lieberman camp with a message straight from the Oval Office: “The boss wants to help. Whatever we can do, we will do.”
We haven’t been able to get independent confirmation of this just yet.
Right on Christy and BW! In light of all that’s happening may want to keep in context latest White House happenings from The Nation. See Max Blumenthal’s “Birth Pangs of a New Christian Zionism.”
WATB Joe needs to fade away gracefully. Really, there are many career options available for a man of his experience. Personally, I’d like to see him start a Bowie cover band, just as long as he includes this little ditty in his repertoire….
http://static.firedoglake.com/…..ally-1.jpg
I’ll make you a deal, like any other candidate
We’ll pretend we’re walking home ’cause your future’s at stake
My set is amazing, it even smells like a street
There’s a bar at the end where I can meet you and your friend…
I’m having so much fun with the poisonous people
Spreading rumours and lies and stories they made up
Some make you sing and some make you scream
One makes you wish that you’d never been seen…
— David Bowie, “The Candidate”, Diamond Dogs (1974)
Conyers at Huffington
Rayne @ 61 – I am so incredibly sick of all the racist code in those statements… will these guys ever give up their stupidity?
Where the heck is Lamont? Lieberman is dominating the news shows. I had to watch him while I was working out at the gym, instead of Ned, the dadgum winner.
GSD @
46
Jim, you probably already saw this from the Rocky Moutain News: “Salazar in a tight spot”
“Sen. Ken Salazar is in an awkward position after Tuesday’s U.S. Senate primary in Connecticut.
Salazar has pledged to work to re-elect incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman in November, even though Lieberman now plans to run as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to challenger Ned Lamont on Tuesday.
“I am disappointed in the outcome,” Salazar said in a statement Tuesday night. “Sen. Lieberman is a good friend and a good man who has contributed greatly to the nation and the state of Connecticut. He has sought to pursue common ground and worked to transcend the partisan poison of Washington, D.C.”
Just six years after he was the Democratic vice presidential nominee, pre-election polls showed Lieberman being punished for his stance in favor of the war in Iraq and his willingness to cooperate with President Bush on occasion.
Salazar is one of a handful of national Democrats vowing to campaign against the party’s nominee, Lamont, and for the independent, Lieberman, from now until November.
Political analyst Floyd Ciruli said there is very little downside for Salazar to stick by Lieberman, because it bolsters his image as someone with an independent streak.
Ciruli said he recently completed polling that shows Salazar with unusually high approval ratings, not only from Democrats, but also from Republicans.
“If he stays with Lieberman, he’s going to have a friend for life,” Ciruli said. “I think that to some extent, what Salazar stands for in Washington is a little more centrism, a little more congeniality, a little more willingness to compromise. It reinforces that position. It shows he is his own person.”
Still, Salazar’s position has raised ire among some one-time supporters.
Peace activist Dan Winters said he supported Salazar in 2004 but that the Lieberman stand is just the latest way the senator has alienated progressives.
“I think Salazar has to remember that his voters are in Colorado, not in Connecticut,” said Winters, who led a protest at Salazar’s office Monday to ask him to support an immediate cease fire in the Mideast conflict.”
Christy,
Right on the money and beautifully written. Your quote about checks and balances is a winner…
—–
“The path to more safety, more security, more accountibility is a government where one party doesn’t control all the purse strings, and where oversight and accountabiity are the watchwords. Checks and balances are essential components of liberty, and part of that is the give and take between competing interests”
——-
I think Dems should be framing the discussion about the future in this way. How much more pro-America can you get than supporting the Constitution and the vision of our Founding Fathers? I was able to convince a wavering voter yesterday by pointing out that the Dems need a united front to reign in Bush’s abuses like spying on Americans. That point resonated a lot stronger than the argument that Lieberman had to go because he supported the war in Iraq.
No one in Connecticut gives a rat’s ass who the Mayor of New York endorses for CT Senator. Mind your own damned business, Bloomberg, you Republican!
OldCoastie @ 53
Thinking that 1984 was a warning rather than a game plan makes you an extremist in the eyes of today’s GOoP.
BC
Yes, today is a great day!
“(Aug. 9) – Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston will tie the knot, according to Us Magazine, which breaks the news in their latest issue.”
Take that, Brangelina!
Oh yeah, and that Lamont thingy, too.
*g*
Hey karen allen, CONGRATULATIONS, and a big THANK YOU for all your work ON THE GROUND in CT.
I’m sure I’m “extremely left-wing” because I believe in the words, “…liberty and justice for all.”
DANG! Scary, huh?
WES CLARK stands up big-time for LAMONT!
http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=14662#more-14662
I am curious which incentives — both the carrot kind and the stick kind — can be brought to bear on Joe by the Dem leadership to abandon his run.
If they kick him off committees, could he respond by caucusing with the Repubs?
Does someone have to find him a new job where he is adored, but basically can do no harm?
karen allen @ 76
Here’s a question, a lot of wealthy NYCers have country places in Ct. Can they vote there?
I ran into a lot of Lieberman supporters among the Dems here. I wonder if Bloomberg is signaling them looking for backing in a possible (and disastrous) prez run.
Wes Clark just sent out an email supporting Lamont and asking Lieberman to get lost.
Thanks John@73, I hadn’t seen that yet.
Oldcoastie #53 — umm, middle-class house in the suburbs, a mortgage, white collar spouse, stay-at-home/work-from-home mom, 2.5 kids, goldfish, cars in the driveway, thinking about the white picket fence…
Yeah, I’m radical, extremist, a fundamentalist Democratic Party member.
The ber-dangerous kind, because I not only read blogs, I write them. I write them for candidates and PAC’s. Evil, wicked, scary.
Hold that thought while I go make grilled sandwiches for the kids.
Uh, I mean, radical, extremist grilled cheese sandwiches.
Oh. My. God. From Hotline:
According to a close Lieberman adviser, the President’s political guru, Karl Rove, has reached out to the Lieberman camp with a message straight from the Oval Office: “The boss wants to help. Whatever we can do, we will do.
Holy Shit.
Rove is reaching out to help Joe.
http://abcnews.blogs.com/theworldnewser/
But the Republican party is in a tizzy today to erase George Bush from this picture entirely. Why?
Cuz they messed up and realize it.
For you California Rootsters, I’ve put an ACTION up for contacting Senator Feinstein. Here it is:
what DUMB FUCKS the LieberWeenies are!
http://www.Team-Connecticut.com
(stop me before I buy another domain )
Venomously rabid angry partisan moderate Elite extremist non- Wealthy Multimillionaire Cable TV Mogul here, just checking in…
“…I cannot and will not let that result stand…”
Joe, STFU. You LOST!
_
TeddySanFran @ 89
Thanks, Teddy. I’m on it.
OldCoastie @ 52
Anyone to the left of Sean Hannity I suppose. What a joke.
*ilson46201 @ 90
*ilson, “you domain”
Oh dear. Apparently I really am a radical, extremist, fundamentalist Democratic Party member and voter.
I used an umlaut and am now hung up in moderation.
p.s. *ilson, STOP!! You are now addicted to domains!! Heh.
But seriously, we should talk about how to optimize those now. Think you need to add some meta-tag info in the header of the site.
I like to think of metaphors. People (FDLers excepted) don’t seem to want to think about long, complicated expositions of the flaws in today’s Republican Party. But a good metaphor can slip in under the force field of willing bamboozledom.
Metaphor 1: For a long time, I’ve likened the Republicans to Hans Gruber, the guy who speaks so eloquently about political philosophy — but really just came for the money.
The Hans Grubers of the world are scary, evil, damaging, all bad things, and we should want to rid ourselves of their influence and divest them of their power. People don’t want that, though. People are attracted to power, even when it’s malignant, even when it will kill them or theirs.
People don’t renounce the powerful. They renounce the ridiculous.
Joe Lieberman was powerful for the last time last night, when he gave his “concession” speech. But even as the little outrageous bubbles of delusion floated out of his mouth, his power floated away, popping on the sharp reality of the people’s votes. He will be forever ridiculous not by The Kiss Float, which raised the idea, but by his own folly now in trying to keep hold like Gollum of the precious which the voters have already taken away.
Joe Lieberman is rendering himself ridiculous. What metaphor or association will render the Republican Party ridiculous? I think of Paul Ford in The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. He plays a silly man convinced of the venality of all things Russian and nearly starts World War III after the entire town has come to a more enlightened place. But that metaphor is too old and too distant, I think, to work today.
What is a good metaphor for the ridiculousness of Today’s Republican Party?
OldCoastie @
7
YES!
Sh*t, your addiction is contagious, *ilson, I’ve got to stop myself.
I’m sorely tempted to buy http://www.dumbf*cklieberweenies.com.
Heh.
Rock on Redd!
someone show me a list of the good things george w bush has done for this country.
And don’t get me started on anthrax/bird flu.
Be afraid! Boo! Are you afraid yet? Have we made enough money off of you yet? Oops, not supposed to talk about that. $$$ Intimidating Congress–note the recent shutdown of the Congressional offices for a ‘biological threat’.
Anthrax in Oct. 2001 was directed at Congressional Democrats and the mass media. Message: shut up or we will kill you. Message received, apparently. FBI investigation: not so much. Wouldn’t you think this would be a high priority? And not suddenly/mysteriously dropped, for what?
I have just enough insight into the business and medical world to tell you: bird flu is a total scam. People have made their money from this, it’s over, unless they want to use it once again as an
completely bogusOctober surprise.Bird flu [the latest scam, til the next one. identity theft lookin good] = if there isn’t person to person transmission, THERE IS NO EPIDEMIC.
Around 220 Americans died from terrorism while Clinton was in office – I forgotten the exact number. Out of those 169 were killed in Oklahoma and 6 died around the abortion issue. Without American rightwing terrorists, the 90s would have been an incredibly safe time for Americans. For comparison, around 450 Americans died of terrorism while Reagan was in office. I don’t believe any died during GW Bush’s presidency.
And let’s not forget that several terrrorist actions were stopped and the perpetrators arrested, convicted and sentenced to many years behind bars. Lots of Americans know nothing about the planned Landmark attacks that Clinton and company stopped. If your friends don’t know about them, tell ‘em. It puts the Democrats, Clinton and Bush in a far different light.
Christy,
what I should have said hours ago -
Thank you for everything – for inspiring, educating, and energizing my once apathetic ass. This morning’s joy would have been a mere falling star off in the distance to wistfully wish upon had it not been for all you have done and continue to do
One more Ned Zeppelin:
What Is (Ned) And What Should Never Be (Joe)
Clinton, Clark, Boxer, Conyers and more are doing the right thing. Lamont’s the party’s nominee. A win is a win is a win, no matter how small. At least it didn’t take a court to make the declaration that Ned won!
Where does a Lieberman run do the most damage?
Splitting the progressive vote (are there that many fall-on-your-sword democrats and/or closeted conservatives in CT?), or giving forgotten republicans a ‘name’ to vote for?
Answer please with a strategic, tactical plan.
um, if you’d like to call a Feinstein office, they’ll ask you for your ZIP code. Anything 9411* is San Francisco.
cbl @ 102
hear! hear!
*ilson46201 @ 89
Lieberweenies.com perchance? lol *ilson
Squonk @ 9:43 am – “In light of this palpable sea change in the nation’s mood, maybe our favorite Chicago based prosecutor will sense the Bush/Rovian weakness and American’s desire for accountability and issue forth some real high level indictments.
He’s been too quiet for too long.”
Speaking of indictments, I noticed this Raw Story headline:
Dept. of Justice set to announce major corporate fraud indictments… Raw obtains complaint… Developing…
LMAO!!!!
http://hotair.com/archives/the…..tional-tv/
punaise @ 107
oui ! oui !
Has any word been heard from Bill Clinton last night or this morning?
I sent him an e-mail at his foundation last night. Hope many more did the same.
I don’t see where he has any choice but to support the nominee.
Stephanoplous is reporting that Karl Rove has already offered a life preserver to Joe Lieberman.
Yep, that’s old Joe Lieberman. Karl Rove’s patsy.
http://abcnews.blogs.com/theworldnewser/
Pathetic Joe.
-GSD
TeddySanFran @ 105
94117 here Teddy. (Except that I’m in Texas)
Just called DiFi. Told her to pick a side.
From Billmon:
Update 11:20 AM ET:
“I worry that this victory by Ned Lamont . . . will send a message across our state and our country that the Democratic Party has been taken over by people who are not from the mainstream of America. And they are going to make this not Bill Clinton’s party anymore.”
Joe Lieberman
But I thought that was a good thing — because then we won’t have to explain to the children why their president is getting blow jobs from interns.
Is Holy Joe now saying he was for blow jobs after he was against them?
Posted by billmon at 11:14 AM
Cozumel @
110
File an FCC complaint against FOX for broadcasting that obsenity here: http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475B.cfm
GSD @ 113
the axis of anvil
>>The failure buck stops at George Bush’s desk.
Which is in DC…and Georgie is in Crawford…
Amazing how he’s always there when disaster looms…
xyz @ 87
It’s on Daily Kos, and Al Franken just brought this up on his show.
Joe’s sunk!
nedzeppelin.com (don’t want folks to think he’s full of hot air,though. hmm.) just sounds cute.
nomojoe.com
hadenufhaddassah.com
lockinlips.com
Lieberman has been identified with pharmaceuticals, other big business. He’s not a moderate Democrat, he’s been a moderate to right-wing Republican. What is his position on a cease-fire in Lebanon? Does he support Israel continuing to bomb Gaza and Lebanon? He needs to put up, tell the truth about his values.
Rayne — excellent point about adding meta tags — I’ve been having too much fun acquiring the domains to really do the meta-tags right. I shall work on it! Luckily, I can mass-add them to my little empire of Joe-mockery addresses… at $9.20 a pop, this addiction is cheaper than crystal meth (and it won’t rot my teeth)
Bargaincountetenor at 27 – Joetterdaemmerung.
HopespringsATurtle @ 114
we have the same ZIP, HSaT! I guess I knew that when you reminisced about watching the BtB coming up the Hayes Street hill from your fire escape….. hope today finds you hopeful!
PS Didja hear that they banned the naked from the BtB this year? The pecksniffs have arrived in our beloved EssEff!
We may need to go visit *ilson and perform an intervention hehe.
punaise @ 92
I called DiFi’s SF office just now. The guy told me she hasn’t put out a statement yet. Then he asked me if there was any reason I called? Did I get an email asking me to? I told him no, I just care about the Democratic Party and that I wanted Lieberman to lose because he’s been too supportive of Bush and the war. Then he asked for my zip code and said he would pass my message along. He was pleasant, suspicious — I wonder of DiFi relates more to HoJo than the hordes!
*ilson -
Keep going. Don’t stop stop until the only ones left are -
Joes-Diner.com
Joes-Bar-and-Grill.com
ok i know those must be gone by now, but …
Lamont has the Democractic Party on board for support.
Lieberman has Republican Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Karl Rove and the FOX All Stars.
You decide.
-GSD
TeddySanFran @
111
We ! We !
they say Haddassah is pushing Joe to stay in. She always seemed smarter than that to me during the 2000 campaign, but then I didn’t know she was a Big Pharma lobbyist.
I don’t suppose Al Gore is planning a surprise endorsement for Ned Lamont? please….?
…
The GOP and Bush are now known
as the “Boy who cried wolf” party.
We aren’t falling for this bullshit anymore.
Time to pay our bills on time, straighten out the lamp shades, kick all the late night party going leeches out,
and get the broom and dustpan.
…
Jane and Christy,
THANK YOU for all your hard work on this. We all owe you for this victory.
new thread: Redd!
LindyH…
Re: check from Senator Clinton to Lamont. Left a little note at bottom of last post for you. I have to say I think the Senator should show the same courage and take the gamble that Lamont did, and come out against the Bush War. I mean Lamont felt so strongly about the Iraq issue, he spent four mil of his own money on what came down to principle. I expect this from Hillary too.
See what happens when I leave town? The whole place goes to shit. I’m better and better Teddy. One day closer to seeing my life partner. And one day closer to the taking back of our country.
*ilson46201 @ 129
*ilson, I am shocked – shocked! – that you would contribute to a growing ziggurat.
I thought he did…
cbl @ 102
ditto
Twisted Martini @ 51
I sure wanted to throw something though the TV when I heard Loserman’s “concession” speech!
*ilson — hey, make sure you do the obvious ones, include Joe’s name in all variations to the meta-tags.
Let us know when you’ve done it so we can call for a Google bomb to push the site up to the top of any searches for any of the meta-tags.
I love Google-bombing runs!!!
punaise @
136
It was just my little tribute to the heroic peoples of Iraq …
new thread
Oh, man, somewhere in the recesses of my old, crappy laptop I have the fax number to Al Gore’s office.
Need to send a fax to the man and tell him to throw his weight behind the voice of the people.
*ilson46201 @ 141
and here we are, stuck in the hanging gardens of babble on….:~)
Rove’s offer is interesting. They only have two policy tools: swiftboating and bombing. Which first is the only question?
punaise @ 136
. . . all the way home!
Bruce @ 123
707
Bruce @
123
“La Lieberman e mobile”
OldCoastie @ 79
It’s still a radical idea. It’s astonishing, with all the whackos complaining about religious minorities trying to remove “under God” from that pledge, that they never seem to contemplate what those five words mean. They are the most important ones.
*ilson46201 @ 90
Hey, did you buy “independant-dems.com”?
I just checked — its taken already … but thanks for the idea!
LindaR @ 126
Don’t forget the low-tech ways work, too, and if politicians are suspicious and dismissive of netroots activity, here’s a good way to give your message extra impact:
Stock up on postcards, lined paper, letterhead and cheap stationery that is illustrated by a hobby. Depending on your beliefs and tastes, tablets with puppies and kitties, flowers, race cars, footballs, and (your flavor of) religious themes will stand out from the piles of emails and computer generated letters.
Then, when FDL is loading slowily, you can jot off a real, live, short note that is personal and has impact.
With no email address or isp info, you can be original every day!
Shoot, if the toobz are really slow to load, you could write several at once, to be mailed out over, say, a week’s time.
We need to let them hear our voices from every medium.
Blank Kludge @ 127
Don’t forget EatAtJoes.com
when the mafia don kisses you that means you’re dead. the cognitive dissonance comes into play ‘cuz junior didn’t mean for it to be that way. that’s just what happened. guess he didn’t unnerstan’ the symbolism. maybe karl and ken can ’splain it to him.
…why should Lieberman care if he divides Democrats?… He’s really a republican and he ought to switch his affiliation to the republican party and forget about this “independent” ruse…
That was so sexy.
punaise (#117):
here joe! have an anvil!
Can we get George to kiss a few more select politicians? If not what about Rove. What I hope for is a few more defeats so Republicans will be encouraged to denounce Bush or possibly impeach him. Similar to what happened to Nixon.
LindaR @
126
Blank Kludge @
138
ditto the ditto
Clay at 155 — Yeah, that kind of came out a little more Laura Croft than I intended. ;-)
Whether you talk about Kuhn’s paradigm change or Dylan’s Mister Jones, it’s really all about generational change. Some are leaving the stage, others — like Kos — are just starting to play their parts. The trouble with the conventional wisdom is that it’s conventional.
I will never forget Anne Haygood’s piece (reprinted below). It has been in my mind since the day I read it and it has never rung more true than today!
There’s no going back, folks. The corrupt, criminal Republican establishment is now officially on notice that they have a bullseye painted square in the middle of their fat backsides. Not only that, but those Democrats too spineless to do the right thing have also been served notice. We make no distinctions between the neocons and those who support them (hello, Hillary). The bullseye is on YOUR backs, too.
May 20th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
I personally despise the Democratic Party almost as much as I do the Republicans because of their contemptible cowardice, smarminess, and enabling of the Republican agenda. I left the Democratic Party last fall in the wake of the Roberts cave-in, and henceforth the only Democrats I will vote for are ones who I believe will show spine and resolve in opposing Bush.
That said, I strongly believe the fight to flush Joe Lieberman down the toilet is the most important race of 2006. As much as I would like to see the defeat of Jim Talent, Dogfuckerboy Santorum, and Conrad Burns, I think it is FAR more important that we not only defeat Joe Lieberman, but that we humiliate him, crush him, shit on him. Why? To send a message to other Democrats that they can either support traditional Democratic values and oppose Chimpco, or face similar humiliation and defeat — the wrath of the roots.
In short, it’s about accountability. The base has failed to hold Democrats accountable, and as a result we now have an epidemic of waffling, cowardice, appeasement, and triangulation. We need to clean house, and get rid of the deadwood — NOW. We need to throw Lieberman, and then Hillary Clinton, Ben Nelson, Dianne Feinstein, Joe Biden, Upchuck Schumer, and plenty of others into the toilet and flush, flush, flush that motherfucker until all of those worthless, useless assholes are nothing but a bad memory.
Really, other than Russ Feingold and Barbara Boxer, I’d be hard-pressed to name any Democrat in the Senate who I have any respect for. It seems like lots of folks here like Barack Obama, but I just don’t see it — he is a HUGE disappointment, another triangulating let’s-not-rock-the-boat Hillary Clinton wannabe. Every time he opens his piehole, I just want to scream at him to shut the fuck up.
This shit has to stop. If this country is going to survive, it needs a party that will stand up to the Repukes. The Democrats as they stand today don’t have enough spine to stand up to a trio of ants at a fucking picnic. Throwing Joe Lieberman out a window and down the stairs is only the first step in the long road to making the Democratic Party what it should be.
Thank you Jane, Kristy, and Pachacutec for continuing to keep this issue — and this extremely important race — front and center.
Thanks so much for the upbeat ending.
For a while, watching the results, I was worried.
The kiss float was inspired, and the you tube capture and replay of the kiss had, I think, a great deal to do with the outcome.
Yay you tube, yay kiss float, and yay to Christie, Jane and everybody at FDL for getting it in front of the public.
Saw Snow on a press conference from Crawford. He mentioned how far ahead Lamont was in the polls, and yet he only won 52-48. Claimed that indicated that democrats were showing “buyers remorse” at the end. Spin, spin, spin.
A comment by MichaelinChicago over on MyDD
about the Republican plan for the Iraq war:
“more of the same, stay the course, over the cliff.” Ah, yes, the lemming plan.
*ilson46201 @ 122
it might rot your brain though
hey, something happened to joezoe, right ???
could be catchy, so be sure to wear PROTECTION
practice safe politics folks
Snow is half a word.
Job is the other half.
I was amused that Tony Baloney would do a five minute rant on why we should stay in Iraq.
You can bet that Rove, Busch, Cheney & the Chickenhawks are more than a bit jolted. There’s a reason why they call Connecticut: “The land of steady habits.”
It’s also the land of smart and thoughtful voters. And Ned Lamont pinpointed the answers to the politics of fear.
You want fear? In the next five years (2011) the first of the baby boomers are going to hit 65. Many have taken early retirement.
And they’re going to be faced with paying for their own insurance and health care as they age.
Think it through. Can we afford to be burying $3-trillion bucks in the desert? How can tell anyone that we have plenty of money to spend in Iraq, but not enough to take care of our old people and veterans? And do you really believe those baby boomers are going to accept this conservative corporate crap when most of their Social Security checks will be going to pay for health insurance?
There’ll be a blood bath in those “conservative” districts.
So Ned Lamont represents the first step in what I think is going to be a huge Liberal backlash.
The war in Iraq is a huge issue. It will pale in comparison to the coming health care crisis.
vidocq
avenging_angel @ 163
if case somebody noticed that some of those targets are a little out of round, off center, or just plain sloppy ???
those are the ones I painted
sorry about that
I just ain’t no artist
Word, Christy, word. I got yet back on this in Florida.
I had a great lunch conversation today with a very-well connected political consultant, and she said virtually all the independents are royally pissed at the Rs, and that the Rs are about to pee in their pants. The whole party bill is coming due for them, and Lieberman is only the first payment.
I can’t wait for November!