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Boy, do we have a great weekend planned for you guys.
This week, Howie had an opportunity to interview our favorite Connecticut hero, Ned Lamont, for Saturday's Blue America. I cannot wait for you all to read the wonderful write-up that Howie has done of their conversation. I just know you will all love the interview. But...what's better than a great article about Ned?
Yes, that's right, this week's Blue America guest is going to be none other than Ned Lamont -- live, in the comments, right here at FDL tomorrow starting at 11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET. Answering your questions and stopping by to say hello to everyone.
Poor Howie will have to miss the chat, though, because something has come up that he has to deal with tomorrow. (Yes, he is bummed.)
But fear not, readers and political junkies, for Jane and I have volunteered to be your Blue America hostesses for tomorrow's chat. So please, drop by and say hello to Ned, and thanks for a job well done: for having the integrity to ask the tough questions about the mess in Iraq; for daring to utter the word accountability at a time when the Washington establishment was shuffling around in the corner somewhere trying to make nice with the very people causing the problems; and for standing up for the concerns of average Americans on education and health care and poverty and so many other issues over the course of the campaign.
Ned's campaign was inspiring and energizing, and I cannot wait to thank him in person tomorrow.
Saturday's Blue America is going to be a great one, so do not miss it. Stop by, say hello to Ned, and find out whether he's finally cleaned up his messy desk. (Honestly, I don't care about Ned's desk. I just wanted an excuse to link up this ad again. Love it.) Say thanks, ask a question, just hang out in the comments and chat. But do stop by and let Ned know just how much we all appreciate his efforts on our behalf. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself on the line in the nasty world of politics these days -- Ned did so with honor and integrity and a whole lot of heart. And we are so happy to be able to thank him for all of that tomorrow at 11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET.
As if that weren't enough excitement, we also have Elizabeth de la Vega stopping by for Book Salon on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm PT/5:00 pm ET .
Whew, what a weekend!
(And yes, I have still had enough of Joe Lieberman. But I can never get enough of this song. Go Tommy Yum and Ken! Go TRex!)
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NED!!!
Zed?
Eeeeeeek! [teenage girl scream]
and
Fitz!
Ding, ding!
hehehehe I thought I heard some clapping coming from your direction just to the north, RevDeb. :)
Can we draft Ned to run for President?
Zed’s dead, baby. Zed’s dead.
Sent an e-mail to our contact person in Kerry’s office re the war escalation and stopping it. Got one back from him tonight. It seems that Ned is now a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. Jon met him yesterday.
Ned we need you!!!!
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._0209.html
I love it that “Deluded Dan” has resurfaced in time for us to revel in all that is right about Ned.
Ned’s primary victory electrified activists and ordinary citizens all over the country.
If it could happen in Connecticut against a long-term incumbent, then maybe…it could happen in my state people realized.
Ned! Our hero!
OT: I very much enjoyed the two threads this morining about the Inspector General’s outing of Doug Feith’s Office of Special Plans and their participation in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. But I have a strange sense of de ja vu about all of this. Two-to-three years ago, there was an FBI investigation into all of this that simply bagged a guy, Larry Franklin, who worked six layer down from Feith and got a couple of Israeli diplomats sent home — see http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041004/dreyfuss for a 10/4/04 report on that investigation.
Christy -
What a pleasant surprise! :)
Calling all Nedheads!
Yeah Ned!!!
I’ll be here with bells on…
gpMike @ 7
The Lake’s alpha has gone to omega?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 4
Not just clapping, cheers and shouts!
Thanks Christy for all you and the gang are doing to keep us engaged. I’ve got a really challenging week coming up and it will be hard to do all that I have to do and do it well while my heart belongs to the inhabitants of the Lake.
That’s fabulous! I am looking forward to thanking Ned Lamont in person for his willingness to do the right thing.
KO just mentioned Sunday will mark 1400 days in Iraq.
Wow, this is a get! Thanks for the heads up.
Christy -
Although off topic, this story, which just came to my attention, should be mentioned now:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._0209.html
I will refrain from putting Ned Lamont in the awkward position of having to comment on my burgeoning contempt for Joe Lieberman.
Terrific! Sorry that I can’t be here to join in the live action this weekend.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
punaise @ 21
I’m with you here. I thought my contempt for Joe Liarman couldn’t “burgeon” but,then again, I was raised as a nice southern girl. I never imagined I could feel this level of contempt for someone. He’s worse than Dubya.
punaise at 20 — You know, I wrote that in with a H/T to you in the post originally, and then decided that, because Ned is such a swell guy, I would take it out as a mark of respect.
But you and I both know that Lieberman deserves the scorn. *g*
OT…Just a few comments about the new Politico being funded by Allbritton Communications and the connections to Riggs Bank, money laundering, pinochet, Bush, Saudi Arabia. Jim Vandehei, who left the WaPo to start this, with John Harris. Don’t know a lot about Harris but do know that poolboy’s wife was an aide for Tom Delay. Say no more, but you just know this is right wing Faux internet news.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....5Mar7.html
J-Lie has allied himself with the wrong crowd. They smugly, arrogantly bullied the media or coopted them into enabling a war that was more likely planned in Chee-knee’s secret energy meetings than the Pentagon.
Rupertmedia tools and Rushdittoheads and Malkkkkkinites may have at the very least been muddleheaded dupes. But more and more it is emerging that these are not history’s actors they’re sharing cocktail weenies with. They are history’s monsters. And history will judge them harshly.
Would that the Congress and the criminal courts would, as well.
Have you checked out who’s on the Sunday gasbag shows yet and sent them your questions? Thanks, I knew you would. Happy weekend, pups.
Christy,
Did you ever get to meet Ned?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 24
good call :~)
Good thing it is raining because this is gonna be another weekend I spend here at the Lake - Ned Saturday and then Elizabeth de la Vega Sunday.
Woohoo and double ding.
punaise,
I think that you and I are probably around the same level on the scorn for J LIE scale. Obviously Ned knows what a sh*t Joe is which is exactly why he ran to unseat him. We don’t need to rub it in.
RevDeb @ 30
exactly. discretion being the better part of
valorhospitality, and all that.(although as a “local”, your scorn would rightfully eclipse mine from way out here on the left coast) .
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/.....-backfire/
This is for you, Punaise: Colin McEnroe put up a link to a New Yorker article about HoJo.
McEnroe: So does everybody already know about this deeply revealing and grimly satisfying New Yorker article about Joe Lieberman?
Oh Man,
CHS et al You’re doing your level best to keep my eyes glued on FDL every single day. Nothing is getting done around here and now the weekend just got filled up.
Fabulous job you’re doing.
Rus
punaise @ 30
more a neighbor than a local. We didn’t have to show our passports when we crossed state lines to help though I would imagine that Joe would have blocked our entry if he could have.
RevDeb — No, I haven’t gotten to meet Ned yet. Have talked with a lot of the campaign folks and with several of his supporters in CT, but not Ned himself. I hear from some very reliable sources that he’s a genuinely decent and nice guy, though. ;-)
Valley Girl @ 33
Thanks VG - I get the dead tree version and read the piece with disgust. Biodun (I think) posted many excerpts in an earlier thread today, and it was much discussed.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 35
Indeed he is. He would have made us and CT proud. I surely hope that he has elected office in his future.
punaise @ 37
oops- my FDL reading (comments) has fallen way way behind. I will go back to find the comments. ty
Any news on Mrs. K8? I have a terrible migraine but I have searched the comments for her and my vision is getting blurry.
Hot Damn!
Love ya Ned.
Prairie Sunshine @ 26
This is a very astute conjecture. It makes all the sense in the world that the oil company reps would discuss and encourage a war with Iraq in secret meetings. This may well have been the first concrete steps in planning the war. So far, it seems everything is going according to these plans: The oil companies profit and the military/industrial complex profits - what more could they want?
1watt @ 32
I hope that will be preserved for future examination. Because if Bush goes ahead, then it can be safely garnered from his reply that he was fully aware of the consequences and didn’t care about them.
If there’s an attack on Iran, from Bush’s answer, I’d say that it’s clear–from that and Iraq–that the intention was to create new enemies lasting far into the future, thus guaranteeing large military appropriations approved by a public forced to adopt a siege mentality….
Teresa @ 40
quick way to scan comments, if you didn’t already know: hit the F3 key, which brings up a search function at the bottom of the screen. enter the word or name (or portion thereof) that you’re looking for, and click “highlight all”. this will put a yellow highlight on those groups of letters, allowing you to scroll through a thread rapidly. I don’t recall seeing any mention from her today; hope her tests went well.
EPU’d:
stingray @ 146
Kathleen - what is your link, if you even have one? This would be big.
Just posted a question at MTP for Sunday’s media panel of Ifill, Broder, Simon and Kurtz…
Hoyer and Boehner [yes I am refraining from commenting snark, cause we wouldn’t want to offend the sensitive little ears of Billy Donohue] are the guests.
Which thread was the HoHo discussion in?
juslin - If you’re still around I left you a note in EPU-ville downstairs. ;~)
Valley Girl @ 33
From the article:
A question: “second thoughts”? Did he have any thoughts at all?
Maybe Joe Lieberman should write his name on the bottoms of his shoes. His nose is so far up Bush’s ass that it will be the only way to identify him when Bush comes to a sudden halt.
I wasn’t aware of that punaise. Thank you!
Teresa @ 49
de rien, scan at will…
Stingray at 6:35 pm — that particular article about potential cooperating witnesses and such is an old one from before the Libby indictment was brought down in 2005. Just FYI. That’s from the time when Leopold was still working for RawStory, before he went to Truthout. I don’t think he and Larisa have co-written anything in well over a year or more. Just FYI.
Drive by …
Oh, you have to be here to
listenread what Elizabeth De La Vega has to say on Sunday. Verrrry interesting stuff. She was one of the speakers at the Progressive Caucus’ Impeachment Forum at the Ca. Dem. state convention last yearI really hope I can make it
Gotta run, have a gr8 night
Teresa — FWIW, I have not seen Mrs.K8 in the comments today, but I’ve been off and on the blog with radio stuff, so that’s not dispositive.
I am not sure I would put too much trust into a Jason Leopold prediction.
Aha, the wonderful Find command. I’ve been computing since KayPro days, so I automatically do a control F to bring up the find window. You can also just type the text and hit enter, and it’ll quickly bring you to the first occurrence if any and then you can select next to search for more.
I use Find when I’m dipping in sporadically and want to get back to where I left off after refreshing if I didn’t note the last comment number. I use a short phrase or name to retrieve where I left off.
From the executive summary of the DOD Inspector General’s report on the Office of Special Plans headed by Doug Feith:
http://levin.senate.gov/newsro.....020907.pdf
The IG’s report seems to be saying that it is OK if low and mid level policymakers create their own intelligence assessment as long as they get authorization and clearly indicate how this assessment differs from the rest of the intelligence community’s thinking when they report it to their bosses. In doing this, the IG has finessed a crucial point and bought into a convenient fiction. Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz through Feith created an operation whose purpose was to tell them what they the bosses wanted to hear. (I know, shocking with this Administration)
The IG portrays this as a bottom-up deal, but it really was a top-down one. I mean if the bosses had really wanted an independent analysis of the intelligence would they have chosen a compliant idiot like Feith to do it? Seriously? Or stuffed it with hardline ideologues? This is rather like asking for an independent assessment of quacking and appointing a commission of ducks to run it. Yet curiously the IG acts like the real independence of Feith’s office was never an issue.
Instead it states that circumstances have changed, which is to say that we are in Iraq, Douglas Feith is gone, and his office has been largely dismantled. So no problem, right? No need to make any recommendations. No need to offend a vindictive Vice-President or tell him to leave intelligence to those who have some.
Thanks Christy.
You guys do a terrific job. I rarely comment but I have been here since way before the indictment came down. You have the best community of people here and the writers you have added are terrific.
Been working way too hard lately, so haven’t been able to linger hear as I’d like, but I want to hear how your bit with Sam Seder went this morning Christy.
punaise @ 21
Quite frankly, I’m sure he’d be happy to comment on his continuing contempt for Joe Liarman.
I too am thinking of Mrs. K8. Alas, she probably won’t know the results of the ultrasound for at least a few days (based on my experience), and IRRC, results are just an indicator of what to do next, not “definitive”.
Twisted at 57 — I thought it went pretty well. Sam’s always great. :)
Teresa at 56 — Thank you so much. We adore our commenters, and it’s always so great to have another reader stop in and say hello. Now that you’ve dipped a toe in, I do hope you’ll do so more often. The more voices, the merrier, I say. (But get rid of that migraine, first. What helps me with them when I get one is a warm cup of orange spice tea, a dark room and some quiet Mozart or Chopin. Unless it’s a really bad one, in which case I try to sleep it off. HTH!)
Christy Hardin Smith @ 36
He is the real deal. He really is Mr. Smith and he should have gone to Washington.
dab from CT @ 61
What dab said.
Hugh @ 56
You mean, don’t put it in the hands of people like Doug “the stupidest fucking guy on the planet” Feith?
Off to read Marcy’s book. Night all.
Valley Girl @ 60–Right you are…Having just gone through the whole process myself, they use the ultrasound mammogram to more clearly define what they think they might have seen on a regular mammogram…Then if they find something definitive, they can use the ultrasound again to do a ultrasound-guided biopsy…The whole thing–at least up to that point–is relative painless but scary.
I’m praying for a good outcome and sending positive energy for MrsK8 as she did for me when I went through my procedure a few weeks ago.
dab from CT or RevDeb- any links as to what Ned is up to now, as prep for his visit?
I’m trying to think ahead as to a question, and the only one I can come up with is “do you/ when do you plan to run for public office again?” But maybe that is not where he plans to go. Help?
Thanks Christy. I’m headed for that dark room right now. I’ve been checking here with one eye covered with an ice bag. That means I am seriously addicted.
By the way, this Tennessee reader can’t wait to read the Lamont interview. See you tomorrow.
PeppermintPatti @ 66
Don’t say if you don’t want to PP, but I didn’t see your update. News?
Hugh @ 56: This is rather like asking for an independent assessment of quacking and appointing a commission of ducks to run it.
That would be ridiculously funny if it weren’t so true.
VG, I’m interested in what Ned learned from his run. What lessons did he come out with?
Suzanne @ 71
Now that is a great question! Will you be there?
oh yeah, VG, unless I lose power (knocking on wood and crossing fingers and saying no jinx no jinx) - i plan on being here for ned and elizabeth.
VG - I believe he is a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government - and he is also (I believe) on the board of an organization focused on ending the war in Iraq (no surprise there). Another FDL commenter has the email announcement about joining the board - sorry, don’t have more specifics.
Suzanne @ 73
Annie?
The Kennedy School is where quality people go while they wait for their next opportunity to serve in the government. He is in good hands.
New shiny thing at egrBlog.
When the history of this era is written, Lamont’s primary victory will loom large in its inspiration of ordinary citizens across the country. He showed us that WE can make a difference. We rose up and made the November miracle happen.
I truly think there would have been a different outcome, certainly in the Senate, if we did not have this powerful inspiration of his primary victory.
sorry, vg - i should have been more specific - elizabeth de la vega on sunday. unless you were referring to something else with your Annie?
Is anyone in upstate NY? I can’t imagine what 8 feet of snow is like.
Suzanne @ 77
Ah… now I understand… Annie is Lamont’s wife.
I would like to see Ned run again. Maybe force a primary in the Joe for Joe for Senate in 2010.
Also, there has been talk of a “burgeoning” of contempt for Joe Leiberman. I can’t really call my contempt “burgeoning”. I would cateogize it more in the “festering” or “putrefying” class of contempt at this point. FWIW.
dab from CT @ 78
Winter of 2003, it snowed 100 inches at Alta, Utah in a seven day span. The best powder skiing in my lifetime. And I am a born and raised Utah snow snob. That’s a lotta snow.
Shooogarp, I have to agree. There is nothing like Little Cottonwood Canyon. The last time I was on skis was Snowbird in 86, although I would like to take the kids next year.
Red meat questions at: http://counterpunch.org/lindorff02092007.html
Here then are a few of the questions Bush:
* Mr. Bush, what was your role in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame? And were you lying to the press and the public when you said you had no idea who did it and wanted a thorough investigation into that leak?
* Why did you say to Congress and the American people in the 2003 State of the Union address, just weeks ahead of your invasion of Iraq, that you had just learned from British intelligence that Saddam Hussein had “recently sought” to purchase uranium ore from an African nation?
(contd)
Twisted Martini @ 82
Give me a heads up and I can dial you in on some “locals” discounts, etc.
I have a guest room that can sleep a family of five (like sardines) for free. ; )
punaise @ 44
dab from CT @ 78
Come to Russia in February sometime :)
Hey, VG, heard you on the Phoenix Air America radio. Couldn’t find Redd cached there though, ’cause I got into their feed too late.
Re Ned Lamont, seeing, hearing and reading about what Jon Tester’s up to and comparing his performance to he who has no shame, makes me hope Ned can get to D.C. soon.
Tester is involved in Senate hearings, which began yesterday, into the slave empire created by people like Jack Abramoff and Don Young, called the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Tester is interested in the more sordid details of the continuing failures of our administration of the islands.
Were Lamont in the senate, I’m sure we’d also be seeing a lot of his inquisitive insight at work in the Senate. What a loss.
AirportCat @ 64
Yeah, that one. Of course, since Cheney et al wanted to cook the intelligence, he was the perfect tool for them.
egregious @ 86
or my front yard…now.
Ed*ard Teller @ 87
Hey, ET, thanks for the info! I wondered if anyone had stayed tuned! Hope I made some sense, and didn’t sound like too much of an idiot! I am not a professional phoner-inner!
shooogarp @ 81
I’ve never skied out West. I understand it’s much better than the Northeast - a lot less icy.
Valley Girl @ 90
You and - was it TBogg? - clearly showed that in a market like the one that station has developed in Phoenix, progressive talk radio can be as viable as wingnut talk radio. You were great!
PeppermintPatti @ 66
PeppermintPatti! I didn’t hear the outcome of yr tests. What’s the prognosis? A lot of us were praying for you.
ET front yard—lol
Hey ET- what did I say (that made sense?) I felt I was babbling. I am not being coy here. I really don’t know how it came off. But, Brad is a great champion on the voting issue.
egregious - loved your post about your mother’s trip to Paris. My mother is an adventurous 77 year old who travelled to Italy last fall.
My 76 year old mom went to Ireland on a tour bus last year.
Hugh @ 88
Feith on Blitzer show clip is up at C&L. Wolf was actually pretty tough on a republican for a change. Careful, watching and hearing Feith may cause nausea.
dab from CT @ 91
Utah Powder is sublime. It is literally like flying through air. Seriously.
Is this really true? Because top-down versus bottom up becomes twisted, if it really is true:
Cheney’s daughter Elizabeth is the “Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs” and the VP’s liaison with the spooky new “Office of Iranian Affairs”
http://counterpunch.org/leupp02092007.html
Hugh @ 56
dab from CT @ 96
Inspiring. Hope we’ve got the guts to do what our moms do re travel at that age.
ps dab you guys are TOTAL HEROES for all the work you did on behalf of Lamont. His victory inspired people across the country to become deeply involved in Congressional races. It made the difference especially in the Senate. YOU helped to get this started. Thank you.
ccmask @ 97
Oooh I’m envious. Never been to the Emerald Isle despite (1) part Irish (2) fav color green. Feel like I’m missing out.
Me too, eg. It is at the top of my list of things to do.
From Raw Story:
Now, I don’t know if I trust Jason Leopold, but someone commented on Swopa’s “can of worms” a few threads back and mentioned Wurmser, so it caught my attention.
stingray- thanks for the heads up on the Office of Iranian affairs. Thanks to that, I found a page about it at SourceWatch, here
from SourceWatch:
The Office of Iranian Affairs (OIA) is the reincarnation of the Office of Special Plans, “apparently housed in the same Pentagon offices inhabited by its predecessor and involving some of the same slimy personnel,” Gary Leupp wrote May 29, 2006, in Dissident Voice. [] more at link
My contempt for Joe Lieberman knows no bounds. I will, however, keep it out of bounds from the Ned Thread tomorrow, out of respect for Ned.
I’ve been among the Feithless since I read Karen Kwiatkowski’s first article in January, 2004. She worked at the OSP, saw through the BS:
Certainly, the neoconservatives never bothered to sell the rest of the country on the real reasons for occupation of Iraq-more bases from which to flex U.S. muscle with Syria and Iran, better positioning for the inevitable fall of the regional sheikdoms, maintaining OPEC on a dollar track, and fulfilling a half-baked imperial vision.
That was over three years ago, gang. When I used parts of Kwiatkowski’s article in a speech I gave on 8 April, 2004, I was booed (and cheered…). A six-pack of cops ended the aftermath of the speech.
The first inside article about Doug DFGOTP Feith.
Lindy @ 104