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Many people have risked a great deal to oppose the petty and vindictive incumbent Joe Lieberman, even when he just couldn't take "no" for an answer from Connecticut Democrats.
Kirby (of ConnecticutBob) and Spazeboy spoke to U.S. Army Brigadier General John H. Johns who has never endorsed a political candidate before, but believes so strongly that Joe Lieberman needs to be removed from the national security discussion and his position in the Senate where he does so much damage that he is suppporting Ned Lamont. You can see the stirring video above, where General Johns (who teaches ethics) talks about Lieberman's foolhardy vision of Iraq and his unforgivable vote on torture.
Also worthy of note is Chris Donovan, Majority Leader of the Connecticut House, who risked much in coming out in support of Ned when Joe was threatening any Democrat who did so. His support of Ned has been unflagging and he's taken much heat for it, and yet he's persisted (please read his splendid statement criticizing Lieberman for covering for the GOP sexual predator protection racket). He also sings a mean version of "I Wanna Be Sedated" as the lead singer of a band called — yes — The Bad Reps.
If you've got a minute, please take time to drop him an email at Christopher.Donovan@cga.ct.gov and thank him for having the courage to Just Say No to Lieberman when there was no political advantage in doing so, just because it was the right thing to do.
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NED!
… and kobe!
TeddySanFran @
1
Teddy!
Kobe wants to come have coffee with you. He says he’s buying.
AN OPEN LETTER TO NED LAMONT
Dear Ned,
First of all, thank you for stepping forward back in January to take on Joe Lieberman. I can’t tell you how furious I had become at Holy Joe and felt as if there was not going to be any option to him this November. It was depressing…almost as depressing as it was when Bush was elected in 2004.
I went to my first political town meeting in March just to meet you and came away impressed enough to jump on your primary bandwagon with money, time and recommendations to friends and family. And my husband and I hung in on primary evening – with a good bottle of wine – and watched with baited breath as you beat the pants off Bush’s CT sock puppet. (Had a little headache the next morning, but it was worth it!)
Now, a favor please!
GET OUT THERE AND KICK ASS! I mean, what have you got to lose?
I know that you’re working on broadening your appeal to independents. I know that you have to make sure people know that you’re smart, experienced in ways that will translate to the Senate, and willing to take our issues to Washington.
But DON’T STOP FIGHTING when it comes to Holy Joe’s abysmal record in Washington.
I read the NYTimes this morning and gagged at the MSM’s description of your primary campaign as negative…seems that if you use an opponent’s record then you’re negative, even if you’re simply telling the truth. What do they expect you to do…lie and say that Joe has done a terrific job in DC?
BUT DON’T STOP CALLING LIEBERMAN OUT ON HIS RECORD. HAMMER IT HOME. KEEP IT SIMPLE. AND TELL IT LIKE IT IS.
WE NEED TO SEE YOU OUT THERE, STRONG, VOCAL, AND VISABLE. (Where’s the Kiss Float been since the primary?)
What have you got to lose? Not a damn thing. But your supporters have a lot to lose.
PLEASE!!
THANK YOU!
Someday I want to make it to San Fran, it sounds like the mecca of kewl. Just a quick drive-by kids, after all, Texas and OU are locked in mortal combat right now. bbl.
ps, look forward to seeing all of you. plus many many more, in Chicago for YKOS part deux. Siun, prepare yourself for dinner for two, my treat, the place of your choosing.
Jonathan Singer has a new post with great YouTube videos up at MYDD:
Two very endangered Republican Congressmen, Tom Reynolds (NY-26) and Don Sherwood (PA-10) — both of whose races the Cook Political Report downgraded to “toss-up” status yesterday — have come out with ads apologizing for letting down their constituents.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/10/7/161233/967
Nice interview.
U.S. Brigadeer Army General John H. Johns seems a sharp cookie as does Kirby.
Nice to hear articulate people on the side of right and reason.
I was a bit too late to get in on the Joe Sestak thread, but if Howie is still around — is the district now exurbs (outer suburbs)? I couldn’t tell from the description.
The GOP used to think they owned the exurbs here in VA, but we’ve given them some nasty surprises there from ‘04 onward. Hopefully it will be the same in PA-07.
Jane, the correct way to write Gen. Johns’ title would be “U.S. Army Brigadier General“.
OT, but I hope welcome. I just got a phone call where I was appointed election Judge for election day in Alameda County. I was directly inspired to apply by this fdl thread. I wasn’t sure they really needed people, but they do, and I’m sure that’s true in counties all over the country. We especially need people who understand a bit of the new voting technology and what kind of mischief that can bring.
ObTopic, it defies my understaning how Liebermann can have such a strong position in the polls. I hope his defense of Hastert is hung around his neck like the albatross it is. It’s clearly the “moderate Republicans” who most need to be persuaded, and I say, whatever works.
Cornholijoe!
;>)
Oilfieldguy @ 4
You, me & Teddy & Kobe will have coffee. Hopefully you will be a grandpa by then.
Lets be honest here: In those weeks after his win, when he let Lieberman run the papers, Lamont hurt himself pretty badly and has yet to really get off the ground. It just seems like he has been fighting Joe on his knees ever since. I think a lot of people asking about where Ned was at the time were really asking the right question. If I’ve learned anything from the last six years, it’s that no Dem can afford to sit back for weeks and just take hit after hit from his opponent.
Cujo359 @
9
Corrected, sir!
You all know (or have heard of) those drinking games where a bunch of 20-somethings watch some event on TV and take another drink every time a speaker says some word or phrase.
As the election draws nearer, money is more important than ever (see how the Republicans dumped millions into endangered Republican candidates’ races this morning).
I wonder what kind of “Donation Game” we could dream up. Perhaps it could work something like this:
Every time someone links here in the Comments to some truly new piece of news about Hastert-Boehner-Reynolds-Foley-Trandahl-Coverup, this would spur another round of donations.
Ah, perhaps this: Every time we post something revealing about the Republicans and their coverups, the poster should include in the Comment the link to the Act Blue FireDogLake community Donations Page for progressive candidates.
If the Commenter doesn’t do that, one of the rest of us who notices it might submit the link as a response: http://www.actblue.com/page/blueamerica
That can provide the vehicle for constantly reminding us to dig deep and repeatedly in the next couple of weeks. Now, how to get us to use that link and slap down that credit card?
Raph Levien @ 10
Raph that is FANTASTIC. I’ll let Pach know, he will be so excited.
Cujo359 @ 9
Sorry, Jane, the bold emphasis must have thrown you off. Transpose “Brigadier” and “Army” and it will be right.
*ilson46201 @ 14
Thanks, *ilson. I was just going to ask who the mod was who was on it so quickly.
Jane Hamsher @ 12
And if anybody needs an official FDL tatoo, I happen to know somebody.
Jane Hamsher @ 12
OFG -
“If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair”
(and stop by Berkeley!)
Any Friday polls on Lamont-Lieberman?
Raph Levien @ 10
Excellent initiative! Another route, if someone is a lawyer, is to volunteer for Democratic “vote protection” teams. I ended up coordinating time schedules for a team of lawyers in the 2004 election in my home town, setting up an Excel spreadsheet for the purpose. One lawyer flew across the country to join our team (and a good excuse for him to see some old friends nearby).
This happened all over the country, and it’s crucial to protecting the vote from being stolen — protecting voters who are turned away by making sure that the poll officials offer them a “provisional ballot” (a relatively new legal requirement — helping handicapped voters whom the poll officials may not want to assist — etc.
punaise @
20
I have been so busy (and traveling so much) since I got to SF I haven’t had a chance to see nearly as many people as I have wanted to. Should we have an FDL brunch next weekend or something? Swopa’s here, so is Jen Nix, I want to see Peterr, Teddy, you…Kobe might have to stay at home because dog bigots won’t let him in restaurants but alas that is the world we live in.
Hang that damn torture bill around Lieberman’s neck, too! I’m waiting for the “patriot candidate,” someone who will defend our American values like the original patriots did, without embarrassment. Why isn’t there more shame for those who mock the truths we hold to be self-evident as merely “fashionable,” as Lieberman did recently?
And where is that kiss float, anyway? It’s got to be at least as resonant during the general election as it was in the primary, or are there more Bush supporters in CT than I thought?
punaise @ 20
And the beautiful Monterey Peninsula would welcome you for a stop over here too with or without flowers in your hair! ‘~)
punaise, thanks for the pics of your kitten 2 threads back. What a handsome boy!
ember @ 26
Louis le chat says “merci”!
KC @ 13
Frankly, if demagoguery, innuendo, and bare-knuckle brawling is what it takes, then so be it.
No triangulation. No appeasement. No adherence to ‘gentleman’s rules’ or some abstracted sense of the ‘high road’.
The John Kerry paradigm of measured response to attack had its unfortunate results made manifest in ‘04. Failure, and ridicule for perceived weakness.
There can be no reasoning or barter with criminals and enemies of the Republic.
Jane Hamsher @ 23
hey, that could be fun…I’m in.
wow… what timing…
just got home after going to manchester, CT with scarecrow, Kathyrn_in_MA, and RevDeb to canvass for ned. it was a glorious fall day to walk the streets and meet with voters… and we got to meet ned again when he came to thank all the volunteers (and at the chili fair afterwards). one thing i especially want to share was many very nice things that were said about jane by one of the campaign staffers….
anyway… jane, if your ears were burning – that’s why!
Louis le chat says “merci”!
I initially typed ‘cute’ but remembered who I was referring to in time to self correct :)
Don’t forget to stop by Boulder Creek. It is on the way to Monterey (and we are a very dog friendly town).
Lieberman is wrong on his “foolhardy vision on Iraq”. Dead wrong.
Lieberman is not the only high profile “Democrat” helping to enable George Bush to continue the horror that is Iraq. My sense is that most Democrats want out of Iraq. But one or two seem to be stubborn beyond comprehension about this most crucial issue.
Thanks, Jane. After Jane posted our talk with Ned and Clark last evening, I wrote a long comment about how I see things here in CT from the ground, inside the meat grinder. I don’t know how to link to a specific comment (maybe *ilson would be so kind) — it’s at the end of that comment thread.
One thing I think is critical to point out — while we bloggers are invited to these events, treated as press, and sometimes get special availabilities, just as some MSM reporters get, we are NOT, no how, working for the campaign. Common interests? Yes. Joe tried to accuse CTBob of “working for Lamont” yesterday, and we need to stamp out that meme immediately. We provide input to various campaign people, as any person can. The MSM is getting testy — they don’t like the competition.
The kiss float is NOT in any way affiliated with the campaign. The people behind it control it, wish to remain anonymous (I don’t know who they are) and will bring it out if they want to, when they want to. We CT bloggers are doing our best to get word to them that we would love to see it from now till the end of the campaign, but we don’t control it either.
Remember, this is a marathon and we are at about mile 10. Keep your eye on the poll trend lines == that’s key and they are in Ned’s favor.
darkblack @ 28
yeah. to hell with the Marquess of Queensberry rules.
sf is a great town, spent many wonderful years there and was just back. i highly recommend a visit for anybody who likes interesting cities with ecclectic streaks.
Thursday morning, I got the, ya know, vision-thing. The New York Times was late, and I thought, ‘Breaking news!’ Maybe Hastert, Boehner, Reynolds and Shimkus had resigned, the entire Bush administration has fled the country, Gore and Kerry were sworn in as co-presidents, and the surviving members of the house and senate had banned the republican party by acclaimation. Whew!
But, it turned out to be a traffic delay due to a highway accident…but a boy can dream.
On reflection, I believe that while keeping up the pressure on the house leadership, we should be praying that Hastert et al. brazen it out. We really WANT them to hang on; new embarrassments are boiling out of the cracks now (latest being that a long-time republican ex-aide was the actual source of the email exchange). It keeps the inertia going! Resignation is the easy way out for these guys, if only they knew it.
OFG – if your travels take you through Atlanta you would surely have a lot of fdl pups wanting to have coffee with you. Betcha trex would even come to town.
kirby @ 34
here it is:
Someone tell Donovan he doesn’t mean “in lieu of.” He means “in view of” or “in light of.”
(And no, it’s not trivial. Using the wrong words can be very negatively impactful.)
Jane,
didn’t know you were in SF, I thought you hailed from a little further north, when not involved in your “day job.” There is just an aura of SF, that draws me. And Teddy is awesome. I can say that without losing my hetero membership card, right?
Anyway, am putting something together I hope you will approve of. May be ready this pm.
Thanks so much, Punaise
kirby – thanks for your analysis. i met lots of undecided voters today (the campaign had us canvassing Rs and Us as well as Ds…. very interesting experience – not at all like preprimary, people were much more interested in talking today that previous.
San Francisco IS “The City”.
“Old cop, young cop, feel alright, on a warm San Franciscan night”
kirby @ 42
you’re welcome
Oklahoma kiddo @ 44
LOL: there’s about three of those per year….not many more over hear in the East Bay
And don’t forget, if y’all are driving up (or down) the coast, make plans to stop in that cheap little town Santa Barbara. I happen to own the ice store that also sells dozens of interesting craft beers. If enough of you show up someday, I specialize in kegs…Heh.
OT (as if we didn’t veer way off awhile ago)
Didja see Nicole Belle’s short post on C&L “Oh no he didn’t“? Seems
punaise @ 35
I am a ‘rule of law’ advocate…But ‘adherence to the rules’ implies that both sides of the equation have a shared understanding and acceptance of the terms involved, and a willingness to abide by them.
The Bush administration, and their teabaggers such as Lieberman, reject such communality. They view it as weakness, an obstruction to seizing and retaining power…But provide sactimonious lip service to it much as they do issues of personal morality, for purposes of obfuscation.
punaise @
35
“Rules? In a knife fight? No rules” said Harvey Logan.
all you SF’ers are making me jealous… especially cuz i think this is the nicest time of year in the bay area.
used to live near santa cruz and then later near palo alto… sigh.
ember @ 38
I have been to Georgia, but never Atlanta. You see, I am sort of a backwards truck driver. I do not haul freight into the seedy section of some huge metroplex and bump the dock to deliver my freight.
I seek locations in the middle of a wheat field, or rock canyon the size of a postage stamp that requires you to jack-knife a motorcycle to turn through the gate.
I have been to Butchers Holler and Flat Lick and Toad Suck and Killpecker Dunes America. Everyone has more personality than dreary Big City USA. Still, SanFran and NY and a few others hold an allure for me, the smallest town I ever lived in had a population of over 270,000.
selise @ 50
if it makes you feel any better, we had our first rain this week. much earlier than usual. I’m still counting on our traditional autumn Indian summer heat wave.
Punaise has berber carpet. Somehow I thought that would violate some building code of San Francisco.
Just a driveby, but I got a nice thank you note from Jerry McNerney yesterday – what a class act.
Oh, and if you’re driving up the coast, I think Morro Bay still has the feel of a working fishing village – it’s lovely and real… worth the stop.
punaise @ 46
Yeah I know. I lived in the City, the Mission District and Noe Valley, when that tune was popular. God how I love, and miss the City. If one likes cold, windy and foggy, “the Stick” can’t be beat. Especially at night. Used to travel the Bayshore twice a day with no heater. Burrrr.
Oilfieldguy @ 53
err, that’s news to me. hardwood floors with a few throw rugs, actually…
Oilfieldguy @ 53
Luckily, Punaise is in the People Republic of Berkeley. I think berber is a requirement there.
“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” Mark Twain, lol.
Florida 13, LSU 7
Also, Joe Lieberman. He sucks. Just wanted to share that, in case anybody was wondering. Hey OFG, do you ever make it to Florida? We have some amusing small towns too. Waldo. Palatka. Yankeetown. Nothing to compete with Toad Suck, but still… If you ever end up in Florida, I’ll buy you a cup of coffee.
kirby @ 34
I first wrote in response: “I’m sorry, but that’s not what I see on the “trend lines” that are shown graphically on Pollster.com’s site for the Lamont-Lieberman race. What I see is no movement for a month, at least when all the polls are averages.”
But then I looked more closely, and I do see the trends that kirby mentions.
A nice thing about Pollster.com’s website is that you can click on any polls to remove them from the chart.
If you focus only on Rasmussen, for example (by clicking all the other ones, making them turn grey in the list, and removing them from the chart), you do see a good trend from mid-Sept. to now.
Now hit the “reset” button and start over.
If you focus on Zogby Interactive, you do see some trend.
If you focus on Quinnipiac, removing all the others, you see a trend toward Ned VERY strongly.
If you look at American Research, you see basically no trend.
You really do have to click things away to do this exercise, but it is worth it. Otherwise, all the polls get the same color dots and are mixed together.
Go try it.
Jenny from the Blog @ 54
hey JftB – people were wondering about you here yesterday.
I lived in Morro Bay during one of my college years, commuting to San Luis Obispo. your description is apt.
Lieberman has GOT to be hit for his defense of Hastert — repeatedly and hard.
JOE LIEBERMAN DOESN’T CARE ABOUT REPUBLICANS FUCKING YOUR KIDS!!!!!
Suzanne @ 57
true, with a twist: our clothes, not our floors
OFG – You’re on for dinner in Chicago! and since I won’t be doing YKOS media, I’ll actually have time to visit with my FDL friends next time.
I berber get back to work….
Hi Punaise and everyone!
I haven’t been to Morro Bay in years but I loved the place like nothing else… sticks in my memory as a profoundly beautiful and simple spot, relatively un-gentrified (compared to places like Carmel, etc.).
Frankly, I’m on outrage overload these days and have no energy for talking and ranting and getting upset all the time. After the torture vote I’m just done in. I’ll stop back when I have something to contribute because right now I’ve got nothin’.
Take care, everyone.
OK, that does it for me and Carville. My suspicion index has been rising over him for some time. I’m done with him.
Hey, marksb, I am 50 miles right up the road from you!
It was so neat to see the folks who are volunteering for Sestak show up at Blue America – the union folks are getting out for some of our great candidates and that’s awesome.
marksb – I hadn’t heard about that Woodward report – yeow! if that doesn’t finish the Carville game!
(anyone else watching the Talledega truck race – wooo! it’s a good one!)
Prof @ 60
a nice thing about clicking “Lamont” in the voting booth is the removal of Joe from the Senate.
Siun @ 70
Do you ever go to Daytona?
cleter @ 59
I lived in Williston for well over a decade. If you’ve ever heard of it. Spent a lot of time in Cedar Key, Manatee Springs, the Suwanee River, Micanopy, Cross Creek and Citra by Orange Lake too. Fishing, frogging and hunting gator off the airboat. And of course G’Ville.
cleter – I haven’t but I sure would love it! I love the restricter plate races … all that drafting and speed just fascinates me.
Oklahoma kiddo
I know where Williston is. There’s a good barbecue place in Micanopy.
Ever go to the Waldo Flea Market?
Watching the Frontline piece from 10-3 (available online now and probably scheduled fro some re-runs) on Return of the Taliban will help someone decide on Leiberman.
If not, pencil in Frontline coming upon on 10-10, The Enemy Within for more good reasons. Congress handing over unprecedented powers with no oversight and Leiberman’s first in line.
Better yet, in addition to reading Imperial Life in the Emerald City, watch Frontline 10-17 to see how things were handled on Joe & Georg’e Watch, The Lost Year in Iraq
In the aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein, a group of Americans led by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III set off to Baghdad to build a new nation and establish democracy in the Arab Middle East. One year later, with Bremer forced to secretly exit what some have called “the most dangerous place on earth,” the group left behind lawlessness, insurgency, economic collapse, death, destruction–and much of their idealism.
But they did keep the support of Joe Leiberman.
OT, but not really:
Here’s the rest of the article.
And if your name is Robert Johnson, Gary Smith or John Williams and you live in CT, you might want to make a special effort to thank Joe Leiberman for his bipartisan efforts after you watch 60 minutes tomorrow night.
See Dick and Don Write a No Fly List
cleter – so, have you done Daytona?
Siun @ 64
Looking forward to it.
General Election all 50 States:
1 month 58 minutes and 57 seconds…
cleter @ 75
Been to the WF Mkt. more than a few times.
Second Source Tells ABC of Earlier Role by Hastert’s Office
ABC’s John Yang reports: A current House staffer has told ABC News that Scott Palmer, House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s (R-IL) chief of staff, met with disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) to discuss the time and attention he was giving House pages many months before the Speaker’s office has said it became aware of the issue.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/polit…..rce_t.html
Yeah that Carville thing really “frosts my berber”.
CU 10/Baylor 10
We can’t go 0 and 6
Here is the trending we’re following.
Also, 8 days until Joe’s campaign donations for the last quarter become public. THAT will be fun.
Florida 23, LSU 7
Well, Siun, I’ve been to the town of Daytona many times. I’ve never actually been to the track during an event. I did get to experience Bike Week, though. That was interesting.
The NASCAR girlie men. Try dropping off of Lizard head, 10 miles of swervy, curvey 8% downgrade weighing a quarter of a million pounds, with over 50 tires on the ground going so fast your headlights are bending out toward the ditches.
No, I don’t want to try that either, I would much rather watch the professionals at NASCAR ;)
Prof @ 60
For my money, this is the best way to look at polls. Each major poll has its own methods for gathering data. Comparing a Quinnipac poll to a Zogby poll, or whatever, just confuses the issue. The trends in like polls are important. How important any absolute numbers are (IOW, is Joe up by five percent or ten?, that sort of thing), I’m not sure, and this seems to be a very debatable point among the experts.
Of course, the No Fly List, in addition to flagging every Bob, Gary and John with the highly unusual names of Johnson, Smith and Williams, also leaves off the names of real bad guys. Why come (as we used to say way back when)?
Well, cuz they are secret of course.
So secret we can’t tell anyone. uh huh.
All this secrecy just makes things so much better. Safer.
Just like we are all safer when Leiberman’s Congressional view of making things safer via “bombing, shooting, or killing someone, anyone, cuz it makes us look tough” is adopted by soldiers on the ground in Iraq.
Medic Describes Cold Blooded Random Killing Of Handicapped Father of 11
Does Joe have a stated, on the record opinion about how he feels now that he’s managed to make the US Military a destination point for skinheads and neo-Nazis? Since they are the prime resource of Americans willing to follow through on the Congressional/Executive Branch concept of the American Military as a torture machine for innocent civlians?
Safer?
Kirby @ 86
ned said today he thought the republicans were pouring money into joe’s campaign…. will be interesting to see the actual data…
Jane strikes again with a new thread.
Mary @ 3:02 pm (#90) – Worst thing about the no-fly list, besides the fact that you can’t get off of it if you’ve been put on by mistake, is that the secrecy about what “rules” are used to create it makes it difficult or impossible to discuss the validity of those rules. I don’t for one second trust that this is being done, especially in the current environment.
I also agree that asking Joe L. about the skinheads in the army would be a Kodak moment, to use another obsolete expression.
70 Siun says:
October 7th, 2006 at 2:35 pm *
(anyone else watching the Talledega truck race – wooo! it’s a good one!)
That was a good one! (you know that we Indiana guys can’t resist racing or basketball)
Where’d Todd Bodine end up?
Kirby @
86
Sort of makes my point about the trends vs. absolute numbers thing. That WSJ/Zogby poll has Lieberman up by 1.8 percent, and a Rasmussen poll taken a week later has Lieberman up by 10 percent. Which is right? I have no idea.
Kirby @ 86
Yes, I included that in my analysis. The one you are watching is one of about 4. The WSJ uses Zogby Interactive, which uses computer-based Internet polling. It shows Ned improving by 2 percent between Sept. 5 and Sept. 25, and just 3 points behind Lieberman.
I suggest, however, that you not confine yourself by looking only at Zogby. He got the 2004 election wrong, and some have criticized the reliability of the automated (interactive) polling method. Zogby explains the method here. Anybody can register to be part of that poll here.
The criticisms of Zogby Interactive, as I understand it, is that its self-registration process does not screen for likely voters, etc., etc. Probably the only thing that it can be used for at this point time is trend.
But other polls can also be consulted for trend, at http://www.pollster.com.
Iraq isn’t just a “single issue”. It is the biggest foreign policy blunder in the nation’s history, one whose full damage to the nation probably lies ahead. Why should one of the key, unapologetic enablers of this disaster have a seat at the national security table?
So any word on the current polls — and reason that so many in Connecticut are still willing to go with good ol’ Joe?