Pach!

Fitz
Trex

THIS IS A FUCKING OUTRAGE!

zed?

have I mentioned that my deep contempt for Joe Lieberman is nourished daily by sh*t like this?

http://www.PublicCampaign.org.

That’s how we get the corporate money (and the people dependent on it) out of politics. (It’s Howard-Dean-approved.)

The whole reason that the Democrats got taken over by the Lieberman types in the first place is because they felt that they needed the corporate cash to go toe-to-toe with the GOP. The problem is that when you hit up the same donor pool as the GOP, they want to turn you into the GOP.

Lieberman is as funny as the crap that gets flushed down a toilet.

He can do the rebuttal to my speech about how he failed to investigate Katrina.

Good luck with that.

This is just nauseating beyond expression. My only quibble is that I wouldn’t be so quick to call Pelosi an ally. If bombing Iran isn’t off Cheney’s table, why is impeachment off hers?

C&L did a piece earlier today about Lier-man calling into Imus and being totally clueless about the Walter Reed situation.

I so wish it could be Webb instead…

ahem. sorry about the all caps.

I have the feeling that Lieberman is actually feeling the heat from us (or from those of us in Connecticut) — hence his desire to throw us a bone (in his way of thinking) by opposing Bush on something (but of course, not where it would actually be meaningful).

As for punishing BlueDogs, CfLers and others: Got a list? Who should we nail in ‘08?

Time to pick up our fired o’glakes and put some folks on notice we dont like wasted opportunities like the one we gave these putzes.

That picture just says it all, doesn’t it? LIEberman, Chimpy, and Hills, one big happy family f**king up the country.

Gnome de Plume @ 10

C&L did a piece earlier today about Lier-man calling into Imus and being totally clueless about the Walter Reed situation.

Aaand so why exactly does HE get to do the rebuttal???

I thought Delbert was poaching your handle for a second there, punaise.

punaise @ 12

ahem. sorry about the all caps.

They’re probably warranted, in this situation ;-)

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 14

Time to pick up our fired o’glakes and put some folks on notice we dont like wasted opportunities like the one we gave these putzes.

FiniFunami!

You heard the man:
Fire up the o’glakes people let’s get going.

Since when is Lieberman a Democrat? Since when is Lieberman in opposition to Bush? Since when does Lieberman represent anyone but Connecticut Republicans?

All questions that reasonable people might ask, but politics in Washington do not stoop to the crudity of representing actual ((shudder)) people.

egregious @ 19

FiniFunami!

Hehe…me likey!

Egregious – punishment for being an idiot? If Reid knew about the interview it would be an interesting bit of payback.

I am so angry with the lot of them. How dare leader Reid shove that good for nothing Independent back in our D face, just a week after he embraces Fox with its announcement of hosting Demo debates.
Everything you say is spot on Pach. If it weren’t for the Fire in the Lake I really don’t think I would be calling myself a D anymore.

On the casting thread earlier, can’t believe the most appropriate was bypassed. Bonzo the chimp as …

AMEN !!! I couldn’t have said it better myself Pach.

Primaries. Primaries, primaries, primaries.

We need to pick off some DLC incumbents to demonstrate that we must be feared.

Although I guess they’ll just end up getting re-elected as independents…

start_beating_around_the_bush @ 24

On the casting thread earlier, can’t believe the most appropriate was bypassed. Bonzo the chimp as …

Ooooh…Will Farrell does a great impersonation.

What is the best way to put Liebermunch in a spot of bother? I’d sure like to know.

He’s been showing way too much of his creepy bottom row of teeth lately.

Pach…couldn’t agree with you more re hitting
the congress with mail with the disbelief that
they themselves didn’t get the message sent in
November..last year I was sending “love notes” to many of those running and telling them to get off their butts and ream out Bush and company. Some did, some I am sure put my note in the round file!
Nancy does seem to be a tough nut, but I wonder how tough she really is when it comes to dealing with Reed and others in the leadership. I know the Democrats have accomplished a lot in the past few months, but there does not seem to be complete unity amongst them… Lets hope that we can ignite the blogger world to get back to the writing and sending our disappointment in them. Can’t hurt!!

Thanks for all your wonderful articles and keep it up.

Who chooses the weekly radio speaker? Can’t we complain to somebody NOW???

Hey, if Fox is good enough for hosting the debate, I guess Joe is good enough for the Democratic response. Thanks again, Harry – that rope-a-dope is really wearing the Republicans out for us.

Joe will probably complain that the terrible conditions at Walter Reed are eroding support for the glorious, glorious war that we all love.

This is not just an issue of who we target in ‘08 but a time for us to make it very clear to every democratic senator and congresscritter that we have had it. When you win the first skirmish, you don’t retreat … you press forward.

Crap. Now I am doubly frustrated – it is Friday nite and there is not a gosh darned thing I can do about Leiberlier giving the rebuttal tomorrow morning AND the friggin Libby jury left for the weekend with two notes to obsess over.

I swear, I hate wishing my weekend away pining for Monday morning.

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 27

start_beating_around_the_bush @ 24

On the casting thread earlier, can’t believe the most appropriate was bypassed. Bonzo the chimp as …

Ooooh…Will Farrell does a great impersonation.

I read somewhere that he said that if he had stayed on the cast, he would have played *all* of his Dubya scenes in a flightsuit.

We kept thinking that between the 2006 elections, and the underwhelming polls which show the public’s dislike of the war and Bush, that the Dems would actually do something. I just can’t get over how every time it appears that a couple of them do want to stand up, all the rest play Whack-a-Mole.

How much pressure can we put on them when they really don’t seem to give a damn what we think?

Siun @ 32

This is not just an issue of who we target in ‘08 but a time for us to make it very clear to every democratic senator and congresscritter that we have had it. When you win the first skirmish, you don’t retreat … you press forward.

What *really* pisses me off is that they’re not just pissing *us* off. Every Independent and fed-up Republican who voted for the Democrats to end the war is now wondering why the hell they bothered.

I don’t trust these Reids and Hoyers to provide real oversight or opposition either. Letting Lieberman give the response is too much. We all know he’s gonna end up having to switch parties if he runs again because the CT Dem’s have had it with him. Pelosi seems okay but she should really put impeachment back on the table. Enough is enough already.

OT – I heard a rebroadcast of Ahnuld’s recent “can’t we all just get along” speech in DC. He made brief mention of the White House encounter that Webb had with Bush, (without naming Webb) but he got it all wrong: he berated a certain senator for his lack of civility in rebuffing an earnest query from a caring preznit.

I call BS. At the very least he is woefully misinformed about that incident, in which Bush taunted Webb, knowing his son had recently escaped major harm in Iraq.

Selecting RGJoe to give our party’s response is a travesty.

Please join me at Reid’s “Give ‘Em Hell Harry” community blog to ask the Majority Leader WHY??

Harry Reid, why would you choose Senator Joe Lieberman to give the response to President Bush’s radio address on March 3rd? This is a real insult to Democrats nationwide who worked hard to elect Connecticut’s Democratic nominee in November. Choosing Joe Lieberman only makes me wonder whether you’ve even read this Senate’s organizing resolution — it won’t allow the GOP to take over committees if Joe switches parties.

LIeberman won’t investigate Katrina contracting.
Lieberman won’t investigate Iraq war-profiteering.
Lieberman supports Bush’s War on Iraq — and the SURGE!

We’re tired of DeeCee Democrats acting like Joe Lieberman is a Democrat. Let him switch, Senator Reid — he’ll be more useful to Democrats as a real Republican! And don’t let him speak for our party again, please.

Comments welcome!!

The Democrats aren’t even pandering to the middle. The middle wants us out. They’re pandering to the other side’s base. Like that’s gonna work.

DLC = Grima Wormtongue.

punaise @
12

ahem. sorry about the all caps.

No apology necessary.

yes, Teddy!

What are we gonna do? This is a one race at a time problem. One race at a time, we gotta send a message. So who’s the target?

punaise @ 38

OT – I heard a rebroadcast of Ahnuld’s recent “can’t we all just get along” speech in DC. He made brief mention of the White House encounter that Webb had with Bush, (without naming Webb) but he got it all wrong: he berated a certain senator for his lack of civility in rebuffing an earnest query from a caring preznit.

I call BS. At the very least he is woefully misinformed about that incident, in which Bush taunted Webb, knowing his son had recently escaped major harm in Iraq.

That’s the official Republican narrative about the encounter. President Concerned-About-The-Troops was just trying to be nice, and Webb was a total meanie.

No mention of the fact that Dubya was specifically asked *not* to bring Webb’s son up, because that whole almost-getting-killed thing made him kind of a sensitive topic…

You’re right. And a retrospective of Bush comments on the secret society Skull and Bones is quite interesting. The joke indeed is on us.

on a more positive note, punaise jr. score a try in tonight’s rugby game. after years of soccer spectating, rugby is quite an adjustment.

The larger progressive blogs (FDL, DailyKos, TPM, etc.) should band together to do an end run around this crap and create our own weekly radio (podcast) address.

We have our own media.

There should be an immediate moratorium on any and all netroot fundraising.

No money until these pricks toe the line.

As long as elections are not publicly financed, our elections are in large part controlled by big money. I don’t want to in anyway say that it is simple or straightforward to craft legislation that publicly finances national elections. I also do not mean that just because big money is “in,” that we have to fold up our tents.

dave @ 48

There should be an immediate moratorium on any and all netroot fundraising.

No money until these pricks toe the line.

Not even for primary opponents?

What I would really like from Reid is some straight talk: is using Lieberman some deep politik, a way to bring the little hairless lapdog back to heel? Is this Reid’s way of reminding Liebermonster that he’s said he’s going to caucus with Dems, that he has to act like one, that he has to take the beating that will surely commence if Dems are going to be blamed for this mess?

I thought Reid was shrewder than the rest of the DLC/old-school centrists, but I can’t tell; it’s been too damned long between remarkably bright moves on his part.

All I know is I’d much rather see Jim Webb making the statement — and I hope Jim Webb kicks Liebermuncher’s ass and mops the floors of Building 18 with him if he doesn’t do the right thing.

The other 8000 lb. gorilla sitting in front of us is that it really has nothing to do with the Democrats whose butts we are going to bruise over this horrific kabuki. The key word in the most recent WaPo article fingering the gorilla was “privatization” — the sick f*cks in office tried to run their profiteering scam on Walter Reed, too, and this is what happened, just like Iraq, just like Katrina, less fortunate human beings trapped in disgusting conditions and the administration’s cronies pocketing the cash.

There’s nothing we can do to stop the radio address, but the more fundamental issue is this: will the netroots claim power and use it, or will we retreat the sidelines to cheer lead, hoping others will create a progressive future on our behalf?

Once that question is sorted out, then we can figure out strategies, tactics, line up projects, etc.

Imus called Lieberman (and the Senate) out on their absurd lack of oversight. (See ThinkProgress).

IMUS: I had Senator John McCain on — I can’t remember when it was. It was yesterday…

LIEBERMAN: Yes.

IMUS: … or the day before. And I asked him — and he’s the one who took me and Charles and Bernard over to Walter Reed. He told me he didn’t know what was going on there.

LIEBERMAN: Yeah.

IMUS: And do you think he is telling me the truth?

LIEBERMAN: I do. Of course, I do.

[…]

IMUS: It would occur to me, Senator Lieberman…

LIEBERMAN: Yes, sir.

IMUS: … that, particularly if you’re somebody who thought the war was such a wonderful idea, as you did, and continues to support this idiotic exercise that you — and probably you sit on some of these oversight committees…

LIEBERMAN: Yes.

IMUS: … that you would have a special responsibility to know what the hell has happened to these kids.

LIEBERMAN: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

IMUS: It’s not enough to say you didn’t know or you didn’t ask the right questions. I mean, that’s why we elected you.

Instead of Lieberman’s soft pedaling and Inspector Magoo oversight Democrats should have put Rep. Louise Slaughter on the radio address. Here’s what a REAL Democrat has to say. Rep. Slaughter:

“While I was glad to see that initial steps had been taken to change the leadership at Walter Reed, yesterday’s news of Mr. Kiley’s appointment was simply baffling. How can a man who stood by for years while American soldiers suffered needlessly be expected to enact real reforms?”

“The outrage of the American public over the conditions at Walter Reed will not be pacified by simply shuffling the deck,” Rep. Slaughter said. “Secretary Gates must immediately remove from command anyone who allowed its facilities to fall into such a state of disrepair.”

Pach- ya know, shaming the netroots is not exactly the best way to motivate people. Shaming us is not the best way to garner support. I think we know what the stakes are, and don’t need to be shamed into action. This is a really negative approach, and not the best way to rally the troops. I just wish you would stop doing this. Frankly, TRex’s ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK is a lot more inspiring.

Sickening. Reid’s rubbing our noses in Liebereecccch.

Soccer is a contact sport.
Rugby is a collision sport.

I agree – the last time, only republicans were the enemy. We can now afford to lose some faux democratic congresscritters also. I say target the “bluedogs” too, let ‘em know nobody is safe inside the “beltway triangle”, where congress enters and loses all communication with the outside.

“Harry Reid is putting Lieberman out there because he does not care what we think, and he does not care because we in the netroots, collectively, beat our swords into plowshares after the midterms. That’s been a costly mistake, and one some among us warned against.”

Absolutely, and same with the decision to let FOX host the debates. I’m none too thrilled about this.

John Casper @ 56

Soccer is a contact sport.
Rugby is a collision sport.

you got that right.

I’m a little disappointed, but I was thinking that this certainly catches Joe’s tail in a crack. How moronic is he going to look if he gives the Democratic response and then turns around and blasts it? I mean can you say he’d look really foolish when he next goes to kiss the king’s ring? I’ve seen Harry Reid and I’m pretty sure that he’s a step ahead of Joe on this.

utahgirl

Valley Girl @ 54

Pach- ya know, shaming the netroots is not exactly the best way to motivate people. Shaming us is not the best way to garner support. I think we know what the stakes are, and don’t need to be shamed into action. This is a really negative approach, and not the best way to rally the troops. I just wish you would stop doing this. Frankly, TRex’s ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK is a lot more inspiring.

I’m sorry you feel this way about it. I see this as a family conversation across the netroots. Shaming is about humiliating people, and I don’t feel I’m doing that. I am asking all of us to wake up.

Oh hey there brendan, been looking for a chance to say hi and welcome to the Lake. Great job last night, and I read some of your own blog today, I added its feed to my Google Reader list. Welcome aboard this crazy train!

I SO must be stoned right now. Like, I totally thought you just said that Joe Lieberman was giving the Democratic radio address this weekend.

Frank Probst @ 62

I SO must be stoned right now. Like, I totally thought you just said that Joe Lieberman was giving the Democratic radio address this weekend.

true to your theory, he’s going to plead for Scoots to take a last-minute plea bargain.

If this is Harry Reid’s way of ensuring RGJoe doesn’t switch parties — (not that it matters, the organizing resolution is in place and forbids take-backs should control switch) — then it’s a really insulting-to-the-base way of glueing Lieberman in place. Alongside Reid’s saying he’s “happy” FOX will sponsor the August Presidential debate in Nevada, it makes me question his judgment. A lot.

I will be pressing my Senators to make another choice for Majority Leader in 2009.

This is the reason that people think Democrats have no principles and won’t stand up to or for anything.

Give the whole ball of wax back to the Bush and the rest.

Let Ann Coulter become secretary of education.

Let Grove Norquist become head of the treasury.

Give Michael Savage the defense department.

Give Newt the VP slot.

Give Rush the FCC.

Might as well.

-GSD

Frank Probst @ 62

I SO must be stoned right now. Like, I totally thought you just said that Joe Lieberman was giving the Democratic radio address this weekend.

And I picked the right night to come home with a bottle of Laphroaig under my arm.

My large wooden pitchfork may no longer be a decorative item. I placed it next to the front door a couple of months ago next to my 16 year old US out of Iraq protest poster on a stick.

Friends of mine who don’t follow this closely are scratching their heads over the lack of response in DC. I hope they will get angry before its to late. (Iran and our treasure)
Even our own OK kiddo is ready to jump ship and support Hagel. I think that is bat shit crazy but I must say we need a whole new crazy right about now.

If Ned Lamont were the vindicative sort – which is not – he could set up a shadow senatorship to catalog and publicize all the things that HoJo does wrong – things that Ned would have got right.

VG, we need to deliver a horses head into someone’s bed.

It has been common knowledge to the Congress that these conditions existed at Walter Reed since at least 2003. None of these fuckers spoke up because they didn’t want to embarrass the chimp in chief. Just another in a long line of national disgrace this criminal maladministration has brought upon our country. As much as I hate to say it the dems were complicit in the whole thing. Every last person who knew about this should go, and frankly I don’t give a shit what party they are affiliated with.

It’s an oldie, but I just had to share for anyone who hasn’t seen this before…

Conservative Virgins Donate Blood for Coulter’s Bath

DKos diary on this matter:

Joe’s position toward the party is what biologists call parasitic symbiosis: he attaches remora-like onto the Dems because we need him (temporarily), doing longterm damage to the host. In this specific case, he is most like … a worm that slowly eats at the tongue of its host fish, eventually replacing the fish’s tongue with itself.

Joe Lieberman, you see, stopped being a Democrat when he refused to obey the dictates of the Democratic primary. He is now officially a “CfL”, which best as I can tell translates roughly to either “chloroform” or “kerfuffle.” Not that he can really claim a home there, either, since the takeover of his joke of a party by those who are officially on the Democratic Anti-Parasite platform.

Paging Patrick Murphy . . .

thereisnospoon has a Daily Kos diary about this, including contact information for Harry Reid.

utahgirl @ 59

I’m a little disappointed, but I was thinking that this certainly catches Joe’s tail in a crack. How moronic is he going to look if he gives the Democratic response and then turns around and blasts it? I mean can you say he’d look really foolish when he next goes to kiss the king’s ring? I’ve seen Harry Reid and I’m pretty sure that he’s a step ahead of Joe on this.

utahgirl

I think you might be assuming he will sound like a Democrat..as we think a Democrat should sound anyway.

Re: “Across the netroots, we need to get back to doing less cheerleading and more aggressive organizing and targeted punishment.”

Looming elections will continue to be a powerful motivator, but what is the best motivator during time in the election trough ? What will sting a politician during the interim post-election afterglow? There may not be a great option due to the cycle, but generating publicity and noise will always have an effect. The louder the better.

MY CONTEMPT . . .

ahem

My contempt . . .

Someone, somewhere, needs to enlighten us unwashed masses about how the non-presidential spokesperson is chosen.

Meanwhile,

What’s to keep progressives like us from figuring out a mechanism for putting out a “progressive response” to the president’s message of the week. Few people listen to the president’s address — the media looks for a soundbyte, and there you go. What if Blue America was to put up a YouTube video of a regularly scheduled weekly address by a progressive?

Howie, others, any thoughts?

Valley, you have done an awful lot for this community. You have nothing to feel shame about. We all have limits about how much money and energy, we can give to liberal causes. As I think you know, honoring those limits is not being disloyal or unpatriotic.

I know I have really fallen behind wrt Spotlighting. We’re feeling our way as a community and I think it’s natural that there be a healthy tension in the community about exactly the kinds of things Pach raised. I detest Lieberman as much as anyone, but we need his vote. I don’t have any particular problem with Harry on this one. I also have a healthy regard for Pach’s opinion on this. I also don’t know that I’m right. If somebody wants to tell me I’m full of shit, on this one, I’m probably going to say, you’re probably right.

I see the Reed outpatient story as very similar to DeadEye shooting Harry in the face. It works at both the literal and metaphorical level imo in a way that helps the reality based communities. The media is constantly showing photos of young soldiers who are amputees. We can’t generate coverage like that. This story imho is Rove’s worst nightmare. It’s a bipartisan issue, but Rove is on the wrong end of “bipartisan.” He’s lost Lieberman.

Pat_AlexVA @ 69

VG, we need to deliver a horses head into someone’s bed.

We are not supposed to advocate violence at FDL, but this does have a certain ring to it. I just want it to be placed in the correct bed. Not the netroots, would be my vote.

Peterr @ 77

MY CONTEMPT . . .

ahem

My contempt . . .

Someone, somewhere, needs to enlighten us unwashed masses about how the non-presidential spokesperson is chosen.

Meanwhile,

What’s to keep progressives like us from figuring out a mechanism for putting out a “progressive response” to the president’s message of the week. Few people listen to the president’s address — the media looks for a soundbyte, and there you go. What if Blue America was to put up a YouTube video of a regularly scheduled weekly address by a progressive?

Howie, others, any thoughts?

I’m willing to put my podcasting skills to use for a weekly podcast response to the radio address. This makes the most sense I believe since the original is a radio address.

Has anybody pointed out to Harry Reid that Holy Joe isn’t a fucking Democrat? That Lieberman is a particularly lame and uncool party of one? What the hell is this?

Peterr @ 78

MY CONTEMPT . . .

hey, will you tone it down? sheeesh…

Muzzy @ 76

Re: “Across the netroots, we need to get back to doing less cheerleading and more aggressive organizing and targeted punishment.”

Looming elections will continue to be a powerful motivator, but what is the best motivator during time in the election trough ? What will sting a politician during the interim post-election afterglow? There may not be a great option due to the cycle, but generating publicity and noise will always have an effect. The louder the better.

Funny you should ask that. I kind of asked that of a person with some education and training in human motivation that very question within the last 14 days.

I’d like to see more concrete answers about motivating folks in off-season to remain connected, to continue to build the machine so that it’s ready when it’s needed, not only in the months during primary and election season.

The reason why Reid is trotting out Lieberman should be obvious, once you read the subject and give it a few moments thought.

The subject of this week’s radio response is Walter Reed. Walter Reed is news. You want maximum impact from your Saturday speaker. You get maximum impact by putting on Bush’s closest congressional ally and telling him, “Look, kid, stick to the script ahd we won’t throw you out on your ass.” With luck, Bush will get pissed and be mean to Joe and screw himself for the next couple years. If Joe is capable of reading a script, then we’re fine. (Naturally, if he can’t, then I offer my profuse apologies in advance.)

I would suggest we keep this weekly response as an FDL feature every Saturday and invite appropriate responders to record the response. If we start it here first it will catch on bigger around the toobz. We could start with all the front pagers here responding the first few weeks.

Valley Girl @ 80

Pat_AlexVA @ 69

VG, we need to deliver a horses head into someone’s bed.

We are not supposed to advocate violence at FDL, but this does have a certain ring to it. I just want it to be placed in the correct bed.

There’s no need for violence. Somewhere in this country, a horse died today of natural causes.

Valley Girl @ 79

Definitely a figurative horse’s head, not a literal one.

We’ve already gotten the figurative horse’s ass.

Um, on second thought, I’m sure we’d all agree that Lieberrunt is literally a horse’s ass.

It’s really an excellent example of conservation of mass and energy.

Joe gets to deliver the Democratic address and simultaneously give the Republican response – using exactly the same words.

Peterr @ 78

MY CONTEMPT . . .

ahem

My contempt . . .

Someone, somewhere, needs to enlighten us unwashed masses about how the non-presidential spokesperson is chosen.

Meanwhile,

What’s to keep progressives like us from figuring out a mechanism for putting out a “progressive response” to the president’s message of the week. Few people listen to the president’s address — the media looks for a soundbyte, and there you go. What if Blue America was to put up a YouTube video of a regularly scheduled weekly address by a progressive?

Howie, others, any thoughts?

Peterr,
You’re onto it. I’ve watched the PoliticsTV clips. It’s powerful stuff. The netroots has to realize that’s the way to go. It’s gotta be quick, and broadly distributed.

Eli @
26

Primaries. Primaries, primaries, primaries.

We need to pick off some DLC incumbents to demonstrate that we must be feared.

Although I guess they’ll just end up getting re-elected as independents…

Schumer! Can we start with Schumer???

Pat_AlexVA @ 90

Peterr @ 78

MY CONTEMPT . . .

ahem

My contempt . . .

Someone, somewhere, needs to enlighten us unwashed masses about how the non-presidential spokesperson is chosen.

Meanwhile,

What’s to keep progressives like us from figuring out a mechanism for putting out a “progressive response” to the president’s message of the week. Few people listen to the president’s address — the media looks for a soundbyte, and there you go. What if Blue America was to put up a YouTube video of a regularly scheduled weekly address by a progressive?

Howie, others, any thoughts?

Peterr,
You’re onto it. I’ve watched the PoliticsTV clips. It’s powerful stuff. The netroots has to realize that’s the way to go. It’s gotta be quick, and broadly distributed.

And send a clip to Ko every time!

Valley Girl @ 80

Pat_AlexVA @ 69

VG, we need to deliver a horses head into someone’s bed.

We are not supposed to advocate violence at FDL, but this does have a certain ring to it. I just want it to be placed in the correct bed. Not the netroots, would be my vote.

Could it be a “My Little Pony” head?

Protest marches across the country, withhold tax payment…that’s what we did during Viet Nam and it worked. Civil disobedience and everywhere they looked was a protester sticking it in their faces…no one seems willing to inconvenience themselves anymore (present company excluded of course)

Sandia Blanca @ 93

Could it be a “My Little Pony” head?

I thought the point of the horse-head-in-the-bed routine was intimidation, not diabetic coma.

A couple of days ago Lieberman had the microphone on the Senate floor via cspan2 for an awful long time. Evidently he and Senator Collins have a bill that will save us all.
Anyway I have a question about procedure. Does leader Reid control who has the floor? If so why would Reid allow Leiberman a day on the floor like that? Even cspan now labels Lieberman and I-CT.
Another point comes to mind. Many firepups over the last few months have suggested Collins may be someone the Dems could garner support from. If that is true why is Reid allowing Lieberman gang of fourteen tactics (keeping Collins at bay) in a time when Reid could actually win Collins over? It appears rather self defeating.

conniptionfit @ 90

Schumer! Can we start with Schumer???

You want something concrete to do to get through to Schumer RIGHT NOW?

Hit him in the pocket book and ego.

Review his book.

Oh, and be sure to note who’s given his book a glowing plug. What a bunch of horseshite.

…please, no horses, they are my faves and we are still slaughtering our Mustang and sending their meat to Japan…

To the extent that BushCo goes completely tits up and the disaster in Iraq implodes on the Admin in coming months, I imagine Lieberman probably won’t be such an opportunistic tease.

It’s hard to know what all is in play right now and how the longitudinal sequence of events dating back to the CT primary has us where we are in relation to the conduct of Dem leadership, but it suffices to say that while we’re justified in not being pleased, there is reason for some restraint.

I think a lot hinges on what joe says in the response. If he truly speaks against the handling of the wounded, by extension he is speaking against the execution of the war in Iraq. Joe responding is bad, but there is the potential for aspects of a favorable outcome over time.

Late to thread, but Amen, Pach! It’s time to get back to business. Tired of being betrayed..

I’ll leave you all with this teaser. . .

Once the trial is done, it’s time to get back to building Roots Project.

Now I’m off to bed. Have fun together, but, as they say, stay in fighting shape!

Sandia Blanca, EvilDrPuma-

707

FWIW, I think Rugby is less dangerous than US football. While shoulder pads, the helmet, and face mask were invented with protection in mind, football players use them to inflict more punishment than they otherwise would be able to.
It’s no surprise that one of the dirty little secrets in US football is concussions.

Muzzy @ 98

To the extent that BushCo goes completely tits up and the disaster in Iraq to implodes on the Admin in coming months, I imagine Lieberman probably won’t be such an opportunistic tease.

It’s hard to know what all is in play right now and how the longitudinal sequence of events dating back to the CT primary has us where we are in relation to the conduct of Dem leadership, but it suffices to say that while there is reason for some restraint, we’re justified in not being pleased.

I think a lot hinges on what joe says in the response. If he truly speaks against the handling of the wounded, by extension he is speaking against the execution of the war in Iraq. Joe responding is bad, but there is the potential for aspects of a favorable outcome over time.

And pigs may fly.

Joe Lieberman stuck it to the democratic party of the state of Connecticut, when he refused to abide by the results of the primary last year.

Joe Lieberman stuck it to the national democratic party, when he gave Bush a blanket endorsement for whatever he wanted to do in the “war on terror.”

Joe Lieberman stuck it to me, and to millions of others, when he said that women who have been raped can just take a short ride to the next hospital for Plan B, rather than require all hospitals to provide all legal medical options to women who have been raped.

My comtempt for Joe Lieberman(1) . . .

* * *
(1) punaise, at FDL, on more than one occasion.

I think there are a few fundamental congressional and constitutional facts about power that are not being recognized. While people focus on one over 50% being a majority, a majority is not what it takes to have power to achieve legislative goals in this environment.

Put on your Machiavellian hats and face some real numbers: 60, 67, and 292.

ANY proposal the WH does not agree with will take 60 votes to even get voted in the Senate. Count on it. Any bill passed not agreed to by Bush will require 67 Senate votes and 292 House votes to override his veto. It is that simple. Until Democrats have those numbers (which can include Republicans), they won’t be fully empowered. They don’t need those numbers to issue subpoenas or stop confirmations, but to obtain conviction in the Senate of a House impeachment will require 67 votes.

Period. Face reality and keep working on it. And remember, it has only been a few weeks. The investigations are going to be what makes the numbers grow. And the WH knows it; why do you think the Justice Dept. is teaching the executive branch how to refuse to obey congressional requests?

spidey, i believe upthread it is mentioned that it is a figurative horse’s head, not a literal one and there was the caveat that it had passed naturally.

Muzzy @99- “Tits Up”??? TITS-UP????

If the netroots puts together a Saturday response via politics tv. (a fabulous idea imo)
May I suggest Senator Ned Lamont as one of the first speakers…)

My favorite pillow in the world.

Suzanne @ 106

spidey, i believe upthread it is mentioned that it is a figurative horse’s head, not a literal one and there was the caveat that it had passed naturally.

Or that it be a My Little Pony, although I regard My Little Pony as less a horse than the bastard mutant offspring of a mule and a Care Bear.

We have to get out from under the DLC/AIPAC leadership. They are economic/military neocons. We can’t be an alternative to the dominant paradigm until we are rid of them. It’s simple as that.

When the GOP Senators threaten to filibuster, I wish Harry Reid would actually make them filibuster. A few 24-hour news cycles of Mitch McConnell standing at a lectern defending BushCo policies would do wonders for the Democratic party in America.

TeddySanFran @ 111

When the GOP Senators threaten to filibuster, I wish Harry Reid would actually make them filibuster. A few 24-hour news cycles of Mitch McConnell standing at a lectern defending BushCo policies would do wonders for the Democratic party in America.

Hear! Hear!

TRex @ 108

My favorite pillow in the world.

That is so awesome!

TRex @
109

My favorite pillow in the world.

Ok, but you hafta figure out how to get it where it’ll do most good, TRex!

Relax, the horses head is of course a godfather reference. The question is, do we have power? Do we have the means to send a message?

Reposting from the last thread–I found our “Kiss this guy” misheard lyrics book and took pictures of a couple of the illustrations. It’s funnier than just sharing the quotes. (Click.)

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 113

TRex @ 108

My favorite pillow in the world.

That is so awesome!

Sigh.

Isn’t it the sweetest thing?

I want one really bad.

spiderpaws @ 97

…please, no horses, they are my faves and we are still slaughtering our Mustang and sending their meat to Japan…

I agree this is awful. Really disturbing and disgusting. I hope you realize that the reference was to a certain event in a certain movie, which now has become a metaphor. And, I trust that you do. And, the very idea of doing that, literally, is something horrible. Alas, that seems to be what we are faced with. Hence, the metaphor.

Pat_AlexVA @ 115

Relax, the horses head is of course a godfather reference. The question is, do we have power? Do we have the means to send a message?

See TRex @109

Maggie @ 104

I think there are a few fundamental congressional and constitutional facts about power that are not being recognized. While people focus on one over 50% being a majority, a majority is not what it takes to have power to achieve legislative goals in this environment.

Put on your Machiavellian hats and face some real numbers: 60, 67, and 292.

ANY proposal the WH does not agree with will take 60 votes to even get voted in the Senate. Count on it. Any bill passed not agreed to by Bush will require 67 Senate votes and 292 House votes to override his veto. It is that simple. Until Democrats have those numbers (which can include Republicans), they won’t be fully empowered. They don’t need those numbers to issue subpoenas or stop confirmations, but to obtain conviction in the Senate of a House impeachment will require 67 votes.

Period. Face reality and keep working on it. And remember, it has only been a few weeks. The investigations are going to be what makes the numbers grow. And the WH knows it; why do you think the Justice Dept. is teaching the executive branch how to refuse to obey congressional requests?

The Dems will never get to the magic 60 or 67 if they keep rolling over for ShortRide Joe and “moderate Republicans.” Only when they show that they have had enough will disgruntled Republicans join them.

As long as the Dems cave and do not stand together, no Republican – not a single one – will cross the lines to vote with the Dems. As long as Harry Reid makes Joe look like a Dem, Harry hurts the Dems ability to force fence-sitting republicans to step over the fence.

Trex, laughing my arse off!!!!

Pat_AlexVA @ 114

Relax, the horses head is of course a godfather reference. The question is, do we have power? Do we have the means to send a message?

I say we buy 51 of those horse head pillows and deliver em Crashing the Gates style to all the Dem senators.

Pat_AlexVA @ 116

Relax, the horses head is of course a godfather reference. The question is, do we have power? Do we have the means to send a message?

I still have both my middle fingers, and I know how to hoist ‘em.

I’m torn between the stuffed and unstuffed versions….

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 123

I say we buy 51 of those horse head pillows and deliver em Crashing the Gates style to all the Dem senators.

All 50 Dem senators plus Lieberman, I take it.

Pat_AlexVA @ 124

I’m torn between the stuffed and unstuffed versions….

That item really deserves its own post, I think.

EvilDrPuma @ 124

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 123

I say we buy 51 of those horse head pillows and deliver em Crashing the Gates style to all the Dem senators.

All 50 Dem senators plus Lieberman, I take it.

Yes I forgot to make that distinction, thank you. I of course meant all 51 Dem CAUCUS members.

TRex @ 127

That item really deserves its own post, I think.

That’ll be your homework for Sunday.

EvilDrPuma @ 124

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 123

I say we buy 51 of those horse head pillows and deliver em Crashing the Gates style to all the Dem senators.

All 50 Dem senators plus Lieberman, I take it.

Could save a little money ($70 each, yikes!) and spare the good Senators who never voted for the mess we are in, in the first place.

TRex @ 125

Pat_AlexVA @ 124

I’m torn between the stuffed and unstuffed versions….

That item really deserves its own post, I think.

Not that I dont enjoy the pen posts because I do dig fountain pens, but you had this gem in your bookmarks and have not brought it to our attention before? For shame bro!

Eureka Springs, AR @ 130

Could save a little money ($70 each, yikes!) and spare the good Senators who never voted for the mess we are in, in the first place.

How about just sending the others a photocopy of the ad…just to let ‘em know we know where to get more?

Eureka Springs, AR @ 128

Could save a little money ($70 each, yikes!) and spare the good Senators who never voted for the mess we are in, in the first place.

Oy vey, I didnt realize they cost that much. Maybe we could just do like you said and send some to the Top 10 Motherfuckers or something. Lieberman is on top that list of course, but Hoyer…who else?

Hilarious is that Matt Stoller is now saying pretty much what I said before the election. I was threatened with expulsion from the group for “bashing Democrats.” I have been a Democrat longer than Stoller and his bunch have been alive.

Feature a longshot possibility of Hillary Clinton vs. Chuck Hagel. Those who put voting against the Iraq War and possibly an Iran War, above all other considerations, would be forced to vote Republican. I would pass.

Best, Terry

Oy vey, I didnt realize they cost that much. Maybe we could just do like you said and send some to the Top 10 Motherfuckers or something. Lieberman is on top that list of course, but Hoyer…who else?

Me, if we’re giving those things out for free. I really do want one.

TRex @ 135

Me, if we’re giving those things out for free. I really do want one.

Look, man, you’re a freaking
carnosaur. Can’t you just do an Ozzy and bite the head off a horse yourself?

Triangles…and more triangles….ho hum…

This is all some Harry Reid super-subversive move to embarrass J. Low, and make him stay in the DemocratIC Party all at the same time. Trust him, he’s a genius!!

BULLSH*T! This is the kind of crap we’ve been hearing ever since the DLC-types have taken over our Party since the early 90’s. What more proof do people need to realize they are NOT Democrats! They do not care about the things we care about. They are knowingly there to serve their Conglomerate masters, and keep liberals pacified enough with the occasional liberal-ish speech. These same names have been in the Democratic “leadership” as the Party has crumbled, and have enabled a rogue band of Repubelickins to march us into a Constitutional Crisis. They need to get kicked out of office and replaced with actual liberals.

Between Howard Dean replacing Terry McCauliffe (now Hillary’s campaign manager I think), and the rise of this new media, we’re able to fight back, as evidenced by Lamont’s primary win and the ‘06 elections. It’s incumbent upon each and everyone of us to get friends, relatives, co-workers, etc. to check out places like FDL. Get them off the Conglomerate Media teat. We need to make sure the numbers keep rising at FDL and others, both in traffic and dollars. This is absolutely crucial for our country.

Ugh…gotta go catch my breath…FOR SHAME Harry Reid, FOR SHAME! Jeezus, the Democrats of CT voted the guy out and you have him represent Democrats?!?! We’re on to you buddy…

Look, man, you’re a freaking
carnosaur. Can’t you just do an Ozzy and bite the head off a horse yourself?

I’m dieting, and I know if I bite the head off, I’ll eat the whole thing.

Besides, horses are lovely and I’d never want to hurt one in a million years.

Does Lieberman have naked pictures of someone or something? I really don’t get it.

TRex @ 138

Look, man, you’re a freaking
carnosaur. Can’t you just do an Ozzy and bite the head off a horse yourself?

I’m dieting, and I know if I bite the head off, I’ll eat the whole thing.

Besides, horses are lovely and I’d never want to hurt one in a million years.

How about a dead horse? You know, like the one we’re beating in this thread?

TRex @ 133

Me, if we’re giving those things out for free. I really do want one.

Maybe if someone is real snarky between now and his birthday some of his fans will chip in and get one for his birthday!

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 140

TRex @ 133

Me, if we’re giving those things out for free. I really do want one.

Maybe if someone is real snarky between now and his birthday some of his fans will chip in and get one for his birthday!

The word “fans” makes me so uncomfortable. Can we call ourselves “readers” or something? “Fans” just sounds so…unequal.

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 139

TRex @ 133

Me, if we’re giving those things out for free. I really do want one.

Maybe if someone is real snarky between now and his birthday some of his fans readers will chip in and get one for his birthday!

fixed.

TRex, you get back here for the verdict, we get a single guilty, and I’ll buy you one stuffed head.

Instead of moaning about this HERE we should be contacting Harry Reid and asjking why he is allowing Lieberman (who was responsibileas a Committee member) to basically ignore or keep silent on this until the media disclosed it.

Reid should be told in no uncertain terms that Leiberman should be removed from his Chairmanship…this is absurd!

http://reid.senate.gov/contact/email_form.cfm

TRex @ 140

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 140

TRex @ 133

Me, if we’re giving those things out for free. I really do want one.

Maybe if someone is real snarky between now and his birthday some of his fans will chip in and get one for his birthday!

The word “fans” makes me so uncomfortable. Can we call ourselves “readers” or something? “Fans” just sounds so…unequal.

And modest too, count me as one who would be willing to chip in.

Unequal is bad. Collaboration and mutual support is good.

‘cept my day job keeps getting in the way of moving forward with that particular project.

Across the netroots, we need to get back to doing less cheerleading and more aggressive organizing and targeted punishment. Until we do that, we will continue to watch these betrayals, on matters of war, the environment, net neutrality, executive branch accountability, public campaign financing, you name it.

looming elections will be a powerful motivator… to get out and campaign for the lesser of two evils again. Washington Dem betrayals will once again go unpunished, because withdrawal of support from them is unthinkable to the kosnik segment of the ‘netroots’.

Mr Obama who says “all options should be kept on the table” in regard to Iran – how is that any different from Lieberman or Bush?

All options would seem to include any concievable war crime, including of course aggressive war, the supreme crime according to the Nuremburg standard.

He forfeited any possibility of my support a while ago, I just wish more ostensible progressives could follow through with their convictions and make clear that it is not acceptable to threaten Iran with nuclear attack.

EvilDrPuma @ 138

How about a dead horse? You know, like the one we’re beating in this thread?

Yep, it’s dead, but the notion of how to respond and get in front of Joe Lieberman is alive and kicking.

This. Has. Got. To. Stop.

Part of outflanking Joe is to support Nancy Pelosi and the dems in the house. If the Senate can’t muster the votes to put Bush on the spot, let the house take the lead.

Joe Lieberman is the chair of the Homeland Security committee — but he can’t be bothered to issue any subpeonas to DHS to check out Katrina followup or anything else. OK . . . so how about leaning on the House Homeland Security Committee? They’re getting their act together, but getting damn little attention for it. If Joe has to confront a new story every week, not from the netroots or the leftwing wackos but from the United States House of Representatives, that shows how he and his committee are failing at their work, maybe — just maybe — he’ll get the idea.

Or maybe, just maybe, the press will catch on that Joe’s not a democrat.

Pope Rex, how’s that back? Still communing with the heating pad?

terry hallinan @ 133

Hilarious is that Matt Stoller is now saying pretty much what I said before the election. I was threatened with expulsion from the group for “bashing Democrats.” I have been a Democrat longer than Stoller and his bunch have been alive.

Feature a longshot possibility of Hillary Clinton vs. Chuck Hagel. Those who put voting against the Iraq War and possibly an Iran War, above all other considerations, would be forced to vote Republican. I would pass.

Best, Terry

Hagel is not an acceptable candidate for progressives.

This ranking explains why.

ralphbon @
9

This is just nauseating beyond expression. My only quibble is that I wouldn’t be so quick to call Pelosi an ally. If bombing Iran isn’t off Cheney’s table, why is impeachment off hers?

I think Pelosi has taken those options “off the table” because she doesn’t want to bring up something she can’t possibly pass. To do so makes any leader look weak, and obviously accomplishes nothing beyond the symbolic effort for effort’s sake. Are we really eager to watch a brave resolution of impeachment reach the House floor and then get voted down?

Based on what we’ve seen so far from the Democratic Congress, the war in Iraq is going to continue until the U.S. military is driven out of the Green Zone. Same story as in Vietnam, but with probably far worse consequences for our country.

So who are the bitter-enders now, Rumsfeld? How does it feel, Cheney? Are you proud of yourself, Junior?

We should not blame ourselves. We blogospherians are doing everything in our power. We should continue to disseminate as much truth as we can find. Expose the bastards. That is our function. It’s a very important function, but inherently limited. At the most basic level we are writing the history of this period.

TeddySanFran @ 149

terry hallinan @ 133

Hilarious is that Matt Stoller is now saying pretty much what I said before the election. I was threatened with expulsion from the group for “bashing Democrats.” I have been a Democrat longer than Stoller and his bunch have been alive.

Feature a longshot possibility of Hillary Clinton vs. Chuck Hagel. Those who put voting against the Iraq War and possibly an Iran War, above all other considerations, would be forced to vote Republican. I would pass.

Best, Terry

Hagel is not an acceptable candidate for progressives.

This ranking explains why.

Hagel being in the republic party is reason enough for me.

Peterr @ 149

EvilDrPuma @ 138

How about a dead horse? You know, like the one we’re beating in this thread?

Yep, it’s dead, but the notion of how to respond and get in front of Joe Lieberman is alive and kicking.

This. Has. Got. To. Stop.

Part of outflanking Joe is to support Nancy Pelosi and the dems in the house. If the Senate can’t muster the votes to put Bush on the spot, let the house take the lead.

Joe Lieberman is the chair of the Homeland Security committee — but he can’t be bothered to issue any subpeonas to DHS to check out Katrina followup or anything else. OK . . . so how about leaning on the House Homeland Security Committee? They’re getting their act together, but getting damn little attention for it. If Joe has to confront a new story every week, not from the netroots or the leftwing wackos but from the United States House of Representatives, that shows how he and his committee are failing at their work, maybe — just maybe — he’ll get the idea.

Or maybe, just maybe, the press will catch on that Joe’s not a democrat.

Actually, I was referring to the horse-head gag, not the ongoing struggle against the Connecticut senator who makes us gag. Sorry for the confusion.

EvilDrPuma @ 152

Peterr @ 149

EvilDrPuma @ 138

How about a dead horse? You know, like the one we’re beating in this thread?

Yep, it’s dead, but the notion of how to respond and get in front of Joe Lieberman is alive and kicking.

This. Has. Got. To. Stop.

Part of outflanking Joe is to support Nancy Pelosi and the dems in the house. If the Senate can’t muster the votes to put Bush on the spot, let the house take the lead.

Joe Lieberman is the chair of the Homeland Security committee — but he can’t be bothered to issue any subpeonas to DHS to check out Katrina followup or anything else. OK . . . so how about leaning on the House Homeland Security Committee? They’re getting their act together, but getting damn little attention for it. If Joe has to confront a new story every week, not from the netroots or the leftwing wackos but from the United States House of Representatives, that shows how he and his committee are failing at their work, maybe — just maybe — he’ll get the idea.

Or maybe, just maybe, the press will catch on that Joe’s not a democrat.

Actually, I was referring to the horse-head gag, not the ongoing struggle against the Connecticut senator who makes us gag. Sorry for the confusion.

You’re pardoned. *g*

Peterr @ 103 – no need to convince me of anything about Liarman, but from his standpoint of amoral self preservation, he’s not entirely stupid. The best outcome of a bad situation with him is for joe to screw over the Republicans who helped buoy his survival last fall. That is more likely to the extent that BushCo founders worse than they already are, and yes, it can get a lot worse.

conniptionfit @ 106 – ‘tits up’ means being blanched, bloated, and floating dead in the water. Not sure if you were offended or something, but I hope that helps to settle your senses. I’ll say it again, 6 months from now, we could be in a VERY different place and BushCo could be substantially worse off than they are now, as hard as that may be to believe.

TeddySanFran @
39

Selecting RGJoe to give our party’s response is a travesty.

Please join me at Reid’s “Give ‘Em Hell Harry” community blog to ask the Majority Leader WHY??

Harry Reid, why would you choose Senator Joe Lieberman to give the response to President Bush’s radio address on March 3rd? This is a real insult to Democrats nationwide who worked hard to elect Connecticut’s Democratic nominee in November. Choosing Joe Lieberman only makes me wonder whether you’ve even read this Senate’s organizing resolution — it won’t allow the GOP to take over committees if Joe switches parties.

LIeberman won’t investigate Katrina contracting.
Lieberman won’t investigate Iraq war-profiteering.
Lieberman supports Bush’s War on Iraq — and the SURGE!

We’re tired of DeeCee Democrats acting like Joe Lieberman is a Democrat. Let him switch, Senator Reid — he’ll be more useful to Democrats as a real Republican! And don’t let him speak for our party again, please.

Comments welcome!!

you have GOT to be kidding me!

I am definately guilty of relaxing a bit after the mid-terms. Time to step it up a notch.

I re-dedicate to do whatever I can.

Son of a bitch.

Muzzy @ 154

Peterr @ 103 – no need to convince me of anything about Liarman, but from his standpoint of amoral self preservation, he’s not entirely stupid. The best outcome of a bad situation with him is for joe to screw over the Republicans who helped buoy his survival last fall. That is more likely to the extent that BushCo founders worse than they already are, and yes, it can get a lot worse.

conniptionfit @ 106 – ‘tits up’ means being blanched, bloated, and floating dead in the water.

Also known as a “floater”

Note to President Bush about the Iran puzzle: Still trying to figure out what happened to the good old days when the Shah sat on the Peacock Throne and the SAVAK kept him there? Wondering how to get rid of the mullahs and bring back the Peacock Throne? You don’t really need covert ops, aircraft carriers, cruise missiles and nuclear bunker busters. Just play with a peacock jigsaw puzzle. It’s fun and challenging, the puzzles are readily available and you don’t have to kill anyone. Just take the pieces one at a time and play around with them until you can make them fit. Here’s a partially completed one to get you started. Don’t those eyespots look pretty?

TeddySanFran @ 112

When the GOP Senators threaten to filibuster, I wish Harry Reid would actually make them filibuster. A few 24-hour news cycles of Mitch McConnell standing at a lectern defending BushCo policies would do wonders for the Democratic party in America.

Not to mention that Reid could bring up how those very same Republican Senators spent most of 2005 and 2006 whining about how the filibuster was a tool of the devil!

Shadowstalker @ 149

Pope Rex, how’s that back? Still communing with the heating pad?

I was just starting to think about the heating pad. An old friend came to town tonight and took me to the university’s annual dance department spring recital.

It was awesome. However, the chairs were not really suited for theropods, and certainly not ones with aching backs.

Here’s a scene from act one.
Another.
Act Two.

cinnamonape @
145

Reid should be told in no uncertain terms that Leiberman should be removed from his Chairmanship…this is absurd!

That ship sailed, IMO. The time to yank Liebermonster’s chairs was after the primary.

If Reid yanks the chairs from an Independent Dem, what happens? Liebermonster flips parties and caucuses with Repugs — bye-bye majority, bye-bye all other Democratic chair seats.

The real screwing happened when the DLC/old-school centrists failed to be truly agnostic during the Connecticut primary, and then failed to shut out Joe in the election.

In this respect, Reid is now over a barrel as are we. But Reid could be using Liebermunch as a lightning rod and shoving him out there in front on an issue where there is an angry horde. I can understand why, but I can’t understand how senior Dems don’t grok brand building.

Rayne, I was so sorry you missed last night’s pen thread. I kept thinking surely you’d be along any time.

The time to yank Liebermonster’s chairs was after the primary.

Actually the time to yank Lieberman’s chairs is any time he’s about to sit down.

TRex @ 165

The time to yank Liebermonster’s chairs was after the primary.

Actually the time to yank Lieberman’s chairs is any time he’s about to sit down.

Unless you have a whoopie cushion or some plastic doggy doo.

Rayne @ 161

cinnamonape @
145

Reid should be told in no uncertain terms that Leiberman should be removed from his Chairmanship…this is absurd!

That ship sailed, IMO. The time to yank Liebermonster’s chairs was after the primary.

If Reid yanks the chairs from an Independent Dem, what happens? Liebermonster flips parties and caucuses with Repugs — bye-bye majority, bye-bye all other Democratic chair seats.

The real screwing happened when the DLC/old-school centrists failed to be truly agnostic during the Connecticut primary, and then failed to shut out Joe in the election.

In this respect, Reid is now over a barrel as are we. But Reid could be using Liebermunch as a lightning rod and shoving him out there in front on an issue where there is an angry horde. I can understand why, but I can’t understand how senior Dems don’t grok brand building.

Yes, but . . .

Joe’s only power comes as an independent who is willing to stiff the Dems. If he flops, he’s only one of a crowd — and a crowd that doesn’t particularly trust him. As it is, he’s got a lot of incentive to remain “independent” and not switch parties.

Harry doesn’t need to rub his face in the fact that he’s not a democrat, but he also doesn’t need to give him a fig leaf. There are lots of . . . what’s the word? . . . ACTUAL democrats who could give that speech tomorrow, and the result would be better all the way around.

Let Bush give Lieberman the time slot for the radio address.

Chuck Hagel in an interview with GQ, in response to his antiwar views putting him in alliance with the antiwar left:

“I think these issues are starting to redefine the political landscape. You are going to see alliances and relationships develop that are based on this war. You are going to see a reorientation of political parties.”

I’d support him today – as is described here ad infinitum, the democrats are not capable of serious action to stop this war, and the next one against Iran, and it may be because they support the hegemonic impulse, and just think they can manage it better.

sorry, I believe imperial conquest is incompatible with democracy and freedom, and if it takes supporting an Old Right Republican instead of an odious, neo-con DLC Democrat like Clinton or Obama, then I’m there, becuase these wars define the political landscape now, and the Dem shadowpuppetry in Congress has been unconvincing.

see:http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10434

TRex — yeah, I was sorry, too, laughed when I saw the comment about the Mauna Keas. Heh.

Still in boxes, opened but unused…waiting for the right pen case to come along. Can’t justify spending 50-plus bucks on a leather pen case. [sigh]

Hey, I noticed there was an ink-mixing kit at one of the sites linked…have you tried that, to get your own custom color?

Teddy – I joined you telling Harry how I feel. Thanks for getting the ball rolling.

Pelosi is NOT our friend. She has taken impeachment off the table, and that is the biggest betrayal I can think of.

Bob in HI

Rayne @ 167

Hey, I noticed there was an ink-mixing kit at one of the sites linked…have you tried that, to get your own custom color?

I think TRex prefers Red. Blood red. Shaken, not stirred.

Just found out about this via Democratic Underground.

The photograph of Mr Blair making a regrettable hand gesture was taken when he was a student at Oxford University in the mid-Seventies.

Rayne @ 167

Still in boxes, opened but unused…waiting for the right pen case to come along. Can’t justify spending 50-plus bucks on a leather pen case. [sigh]

Why not buy a hardshell eyeglass case? They’re about the same size and cheaper.

Peterr @ 167

See my (51). Webb.

There’s no way around this, we are in the middle of a particularly nasty bit of political chess.

But while we are moaning about the move in front of us and the crappy pieces on the board, we need to be thinking several moves ahead. Hell, an entire game ahead.

Can any of you name one, two or more strong candidates to run in the primary against a crappy Dem in your own district?

I can’t — and that’s been the case for several terms. We can’t merely kick Reid in the arse or spank Lieberman; we have to find the candidates to replace them, build the funds they need for an effective primary and election run, train the grassroots to help them beat the pants off these useless meat socks.

Albert Einstein said it best: A problem cannot be solved by the same state of consciousness that created it. What are we doing to change our consciousness? Are we ready to compete at the next level and beyond?

dab_from_CT @ 170

Teddy – I joined you telling Harry how I feel. Thanks for getting the ball rolling.

As did I.

The moon is full in Virgo tomorrow night and there is an eclipse. Interestingly, Virgo rules the military and service to one’s country (among other things). It’s beginning to look as if this Walter Reed/Bad Soldier Care situation has legs. This thing could blow up into a huge mess without let up for the next two weeks til the next eclipse and disgust will mount. I think this is big and very bad for the bushies. Both Bush & Cheney are running around trying to look busy but they are really just running away from their respective messes.

FiniFini — oh dude, that’s brilliant!! Why didn’t I think of that?

I can cut a piece of flannel, sew a little lavender-filled “pillow” to line the case to keep the pens from knocking around inside the case…groovy, cushioned protected pens AND a sweeter smelling purse!!

Rayne @ 176

FiniFini — oh dude, that’s brilliant!! Why didn’t I think of that?

I can cut a piece of flannel, sew a little lavender-filled “pillow” to line the case to keep the pens from knocking around inside the case…groovy, cushioned protected pens AND a sweeter smelling purse!!

TADA! Glad I could inspire ya.

Rayne @ 173

I missed your comment @ 51 – good stuff.

But with regard to your last comment, I think I am thinking several steps ahead. Giving Joe this speaking opportunity at this point is rewarding him — despite the rather large finger he raised to the party. The next Dem who is threatened by a progressive challenger is going to look at this and say, “Hey, if Joe could get away with it, why not me?” It’s like giving in to a five year old kid — next time, it’ll be worse.

I’m in CA, in a very blue district (Pete Stark) with two blue senators. My roots are in Missouri and Illinois, where three of four senators are Democrats, and a good chunk of the house members as well. But you’re right: we need to find progressives who will stand up — now — to make it plain to those who hold office in DC that we are not pleased with where things are going.

Rayne @ 162

cinnamonape @
145

Reid should be told in no uncertain terms that Leiberman should be removed from his Chairmanship…this is absurd!

That ship sailed, IMO. The time to yank Liebermonster’s chairs was after the primary.

If Reid yanks the chairs from an Independent Dem, what happens? Liebermonster flips parties and caucuses with Repugs — bye-bye majority, bye-bye all other Democratic chair seats.

The real screwing happened when the DLC/old-school centrists failed to be truly agnostic during the Connecticut primary, and then failed to shut out Joe in the election.

In this respect, Reid is now over a barrel as are we. But Reid could be using Liebermunch as a lightning rod and shoving him out there in front on an issue where there is an angry horde. I can understand why, but I can’t understand how senior Dems don’t grok brand building.

Not true. The organizing resolution for this Senate has no “take-back” clause. Unless the GOP introduces a new organizing resolution (which the Democrats could filibuster) the majority is set. Committee chairs will not change hands if RGJoe flips. Reid is secure, which makes his pandering to Lieberman all the more infuriating.

You know, Rayne, I have spent the last five years as a bottled ink user and I’ve just about decided that I’m ready for a couple years of cartridges. I just got tired of having ink all over my hands.

I sure as hell hope the Walter Reed/Bad Soldier Care situation has legs and is front page fodder for as long as it takes, spiderpaws. Two weeks with no let up – not to mention any Libby conviction – will have bush/cheney at their most vulnerable and incompetent selves.

It’s time to start asking loudly about that undocumented money in Lieberman’s campaign again……

FiniFini — too funny, I already have a glasses case. My spouse is still in denial about needing reading glasses, can’t seem to keep them on hand. There must be 15 pairs lying around the house and in our cars, whereever he’s left and lost them.

So I carry a pink-and-white case with a groovy-cool magnetic closure mechanism with a pair of silver-rimmed pink trimmed glasses in my purse — even though I don’t use reading glasses. I figured if he’d get annoyed enough about having to use the rather wussy pink glasses in a fine dining establishment often enough, he’d catch the cluetrain and start carrying his own.

Unfortunately he is still firmly in denial, 3 years later. But there’s enough room in the case for that little lavender pillow and my new Mauna Keas. Heh. Now those pussified glasses are going to stink kind of girly, too.

Only downside is that he’ll want to use my Mauna Keas to sign the check after he reads it after dinner…

TRex – I borrowed attack attack attack for a post at give ‘em hell harry… He needed it

They’ve got a lineup of speakers to give the Democratic Party speech.

First the Independent Democrat from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman.

Second, Howdy Doody

Third, Charlie McCarthy

Fourth, George W. Bush.

What I want to know is when does Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi or a real Democrat give the speech.

BTW, how many of the things that Howard Dean were hammered on during the 2004 campaign turned out to be wrong? None? Okay. Why are we now saying Lieberman’s views are right and accepted by the party? Why do we have someone who isn’t even a Democrat giving our speech? What is going on?

Rayne @ 183

Only downside is that he’ll want to use my Mauna Keas to sign the check after he reads it after dinner…

Hehehehe…oy vey.

TRex @ 182

Yeah, I hear you. Had enough casualties as a draftsman, black ink stains on my cuffs and fingers. But getting the perfect shade of “TRex Blue” might be worth the fun just once. ;-)

I will buy and drink a bottle of Remy-Martin Louis XIII Cognac when I read Lieberscum’s obituary.

sporkovat:

if it takes supporting an Old Right Republican instead of an odious, neo-con DLC Democrat like Clinton or Obama, then I’m there, becuase these wars define the political landscape now, and the Dem shadowpuppetry in Congress has been unconvincing.

I would be interested in hearing why you or anyone imagine Obama is a rightwinger like the Clintons.

I can tell you Obama has put out some thoughtful positions that startled me. See his discussion of genetic medicine for a prime example. Most of those politicians for stem cell research seem to be for it because there are two four-letter words they can remember.

Best, Terry

Rayne @ 188

TRex @ 182

Yeah, I hear you. Had enough casualties as a draftsman, black ink stains on my cuffs and fingers. But getting the perfect shade of “TRex Blue” might be worth the fun just once. ;-)

I’ll tell you what my perfect color was for a while was a mixture of Private Reserve American Blue with some Waterman blue black and a splash of Levenger Skies of Blue.

But I didn’t use a mixing kit, just an eyedropper and several bottles.

Okay, gang. I hear the heating pad and a kitty or two calling me.

Good night.

UptownNYChick @ 184

It’s time to start asking loudly about that undocumented money in Lieberman’s campaign again……

Funny how that’s just been swept under the carpet – along with the whole website hacking incident.

We simply have to continue to be vocal and jump up & down – demanding that those in power do the right thing

Guitar_Playing_Bastard @ 188

I will buy and drink a bottle of Remy-Martin Louis XIII Cognac when I read Lieberscum’s obituary.

My contempt for Jo…oh hell you know the rest of this.

I’m trying and failing to understand why there’s no party discipline.
The Democrats, hell, even most Republicans, WANT THE WAR OVER NOW.
Reid, Pelosi, enforce, already.
FIGHT. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT if you want people to donate to you, and if you don’t…f- you. Time for you all to come home and find a job at Penneys or Lowe’s or something.

List of recent Democratic Radio Addresses

Dangnabitall. The little guy is up roaming around, not in bed. His sleep cycle is all out of whack after the flu last week, and full moon is making it worse.

Off to go re-tuck him in and hit the hay.

Have no pride, show no mercy, take no prisoners, gang. I’ll tour the debris field in the morning — see you then.

g’nite TRex – don’t forget to use your back buddy for bed.

considering he is a decorated war veteran who was injured in the line of duty, would Webb be the guy that should be giving this address?
besides the fact that actually is a democrat?

Suzanne @ 181

I sure as hell hope the Walter Reed/Bad Soldier Care situation has legs and is front page fodder for as long as it takes, spiderpaws. Two weeks with no let up – not to mention any Libby conviction – will have bush/cheney at their most vulnerable and incompetent selves.

Tomorrow’s WaPo has the latest on the administration’s response, including the appointment of a new commander. It seems, however, that someone still doesn’t get it. The last two paragraphs of the story are this:

It appears he has his work cut out for him. Yesterday, soldiers living in Building 18, the site of the worst problems, were told to pack their things so that Walter Reed could properly renovate the dank structure besieged by mold, leaks and rot. Some of the wounded were moved to another building on the post, while others were driven to a hotel in Silver Spring.

One soldier who had been living in Building 18 for 16 months, waiting to be treated for back problems, was told to report to barracks in Fort Meade, Md., according to his father. The soldier arrived at Fort Meade yesterday afternoon with his gear but was unable to move into his new accommodations — the building had no elevator, and the soldier could not climb the stairs.

Bush is scared — very scared — of the vets and the families turning on him. And at this moment of political vulnerability, who do the Dems turn to for the weekly party speech? Not Jim Webb. Not Patrick Murphy. Not Nancy Pelosi. Not Russ Feingold. Not anyone who is a member of the Democratic party at all. They turned to Joe Lieberman. Unbelievable.

This story has legs — don’t worry about that. My worry is the the Democratic leadership doesn’t know how to deal with being in front of an issue.

dab_from_CT @ 192

UptownNYChick @ 184

It’s time to start asking loudly about that undocumented money in Lieberman’s campaign again……

Funny how that’s just been swept under the carpet – along with the whole website hacking incident.

We simply have to continue to be vocal and jump up & down – demanding that those in power do the right thing

I am so proud to know all my Connecticut Democratic friends — and so happy that you are making every effort to keep RGJoe’s lies front and center. Whenever I hear folks knock Democrats from Connecticut, I defend you all and say, “NO, Democrats worked hard to elect Ned; our Democratic leadership let us down. Karl Rove and the GOP elected Lieberman.”

Ned’s money and your hard work got Democrats our majorities in the Senate and the House — the money that went to RGJoe to defeat Ned would have won seats for the GOP elsewhere. Thanks. Keep it up!!

sporkovat – Why support Hagel who was wrong like Hillary and most others for so long? He deserves credit and support for his corrected position, not the Presidency.

Kucinich has been correct and steadfast in his position and he would be excellent on so many other issues both during and after Iraq. ( he would be the best possible president in respect to your recent keffufle without a fairness doctrine)

No need to shoot yourself in the foot, amigo.

I just gave Harry some hell:

Senator Reid, how can you reconcile your radio address invitation to Joe Lieberman with the fact that Joe Lieberman is not a Democrat?. Ned Lamont put the lie to Lieberman’s party credentials with his resounding defeat of the latter, who persists in flaunting his repudiation of Democratic values, principles, and policies.

Joe Lieberman has earned nothing but the enduring, indeed flourishing, contempt of many solid Democrats with his neo-con flailings and shameful, embarassing Bush pandering. With all due respect, Senator, you do your party and the nation a disservice with your overtures to the junior senator from CT. I urge you to do the right thing and strip Senator Lieberman of any power and privilege associated with the majority Democratic Party. He is not one of ours.

Whenever I think of bush/cheney being vulnerable, scared, and therefore desperate, I remember Jane’s post about the wounded coyote and how a wounded animal is very dangerous.

nice comment, punaise –

“enduring, indeed flourishing, contempt”

I’m way sleepy, but I went ahead and posted a quick blog entry directing people to TeddySanFran’s post.

I’ll check back in the morning, to see if there are any other recommended actions I should add to that post.

Hi everyone,

I’m late, and I see our host has gone to bed. I hope he’s feeling much better.

I live in a state that insisted we reelect our “Democratic” senator, Maria Cantwell. After all, the alternative was much too awful to contemplate. At the same time, I am so weary of calling, writing, faxing, begging my representatives to listen when I know they’re just not. After all, we won’t vote for a Republican, will we, and we can’t field anyone (at least right now,) to unseat Ms. Cantwell.

Here’s a story about Maria Cantwell. I called, faxed, wrote, begged her to vote “NO” on the PATRIOT Act and again on the IWR. You can imagine how she voted. Her staff member told me on the phone, “We’re keeping a running tally, and the Senator will vote accordingly.” I asked the staffer to write in large letters on an 8 x 11″ piece of paper, “Senator Cantwell, which party sent you to Washington?” with my name and phone number on it, and stick it to her office door. I’m still waiting for a response.

I was frankly thrilled to read further up that Pachacutec is bringing the Roots Project back in short order. Yeah, we got back the House and the Senate, but at least so far, it’s SSDD, and I don’t know about anyone else here, but I’m sick of it.

We begin anew. We must. Those who have consistently ignored us (till we are told to vote for them and write checks yet again — after all, a Republican might take that seat!!!!!) will not listen until they understand that not only will they be voted out, we can raise the cash and the candidates to ensure they won’t be back.

-S

TeddySanFran @ 194

List of recent Democratic Radio Addresses

Not quite the right link. Try this.

Quite a list of speakers there. Not a single non-democrat among them. I wonder if they’re going to put Short Ride’s speech on the website.

Paging Dr. Dean . . . Dr. Dean to the white courtesy phone . . .

Tammy Duckworth. She lost her election, but now is head of the IL Veterans Affairs Department. Seems to me that she’d be a bit better at speaking against the Bush Administration tomorrow than Short Ride Joe.

maybe the washington democrats do NOT want the war over now?

maybe they take the antiwar left, the ‘netroots’ utterly for granted, and rightly so, becuase no matter what in early november it will vote for the lesser of two evils, no matter how evil?

John Walsh has more:

http://www.counterpunch.com/walsh03022007.html

Let’s look at the facts. In October 2002, the Democrats controlled the Senate when the Iraq resolution came up. 23 Senators, including one Republican, Lincoln Chafee, voted against it. Right there it could have been stopped. 18 more votes would have sustained a filibuster and the resolution would have been dead. But those 18 votes did not emerge. Why? Because every Democratic Senator facing a close election in the very next month or harboring presidential ambitions voted in favor of the resolution. The only exception of which I know was the late Paul Wellstone. Daschle and Cleland voted for the resolution and they lost their races anyway, defeats they richly deserved. And of course John Edwards and John Kerry and Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, all with presidential ambitions, voted for the war. Kerry compounded his criminality by running on a prowar platform in 2004. It is interesting that the polls had a majority turning against the war late in October of 2004 just before the election, but Kerry had locked himself into his bellicose stance and lost. Think about that. John Kerry consciously decided to climb to the presidency atop a mountain of Iraqi and American corpses. To make amends for that crime, a simple apology will never be enough.

So the Democrats gave Bush his war for the sake of their ambitions, precisely what Rove and AIPAC were counting on. And year after year Bush came along with requests for supplemental funding. And each year the Democrats provided the votes. But the Dems were not in the majority, say “Progressive” Democrats of America and some in the leadership of United for Peace and Justice. In fact that is why those folks urged us to vote for Dems in 2006. But in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 the Democrats had 41 votes in the Senate, giving them the power to end the war in any of those years. They never even tried. And now they have 51 votes, a majority and much more than they need to filibuster against the war appropriations. And still they will not so much as raise the issue of the filibuster. It has been the Democrats’ war all along; it was from the start; and it is so in spades today.

The Edwards campaign is firing back at La Coultress:

Dear Teddy,

Did you hear about Anne Coulter’s speech this afternoon attacking John? A friend just forwarded me the video and it’s one of the worst moments in American politics I’ve seen.

I can’t bring myself to even repeat her comments. Her shameless display of bigotry is so outrageous you actually have to see for yourself to believe it.

This is just a taste of the filth that the right-wing machine is gearing up to throw at us. And now that it’s begun, we have a choice: Do we sit back, or do we fight back?

I say we fight. Help us raise $100,000 in “Coulter Cash” this week to show every would-be Republican mouthpiece that their bigoted attacks will not intimidate this campaign. I just threw in 100 bucks. Will you join me? Just click here.

Coulter’s attack was no accident. It happened on national television at one of the year’s biggest conservative conferences. Dick Cheney and most of the Republican candidates were in the audience. She was even introduced by Mitt Romney.

John was singled out for a personal attack because the Republican establishment knows he poses the greatest threat to their power. Since they have nothing real to use against him, Coulter’s resorting to the classic right-wing strategy of riling up hate to smear a progressive champion. And the Republican attack dogs will keep playing this despicable trick as long as they think it works.

But this time, you and I can change the game.

If we can raise $100,000 in “Coulter Cash” this week, we can show that bigotry will only backfire on those who use it. John is not the first progressive leader to face this kind of slime, but together, we can make sure he is one of the last.

Tonight, I’ve put in 100 bucks of “Coulter Cash” to get us started. Can you match me, or chip in whatever you can afford? Just click here:

http://johnedwards.com/r/6665/409061

Thanks,

David Bonior
Campaign Manager
John Edwards for President

TeddySanFran @ 203

nice comment, punaise –

“enduring, indeed flourishing, contempt”

*ruffles and flourishes*

TeddySanFran @ 203

nice comment, punaise –

“enduring, indeed flourishing, contempt”

and jr senator (he he, snicker)

Courtesy of Political Wire:

“Four former majority leaders who used to battle on the Senate floor plan to launch next week a ‘Bipartisan Policy Center’ to encourage Republicans and Democrats to work together on national security, energy and agriculture issues. With funding from philanthropic organizations, former Democratic leaders Daschle and Mitchell, and Republicans Dole and Baker, aim to develop what a spokesman calls the best ideas from the left and right and then build political momentum.”Quote of the Day “I don’t want to sound like sour grapes, but you should not pay attention to early polls.” Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, quoted by the Des Moines Register, on polls that had him running behind the Democratic front runners in his home state.

Washington Wire: “Four former majority leaders who used to battle on the Senate floor plan to launch next week a ‘Bipartisan Policy Center’ to encourage Republicans and Democrats to work together on national security, energy and agriculture issues. With funding from philanthropic organizations, former Democratic leaders Daschle and Mitchell, and Republicans Dole and Baker, aim to develop what a spokesman calls the ‘best ideas from the left and right’ and then build ‘political momentum.’”

Pachacutec @
61

Valley Girl @ 54

Pach- ya know, shaming the netroots is not exactly the best way to motivate people. Shaming us is not the best way to garner support. I think we know what the stakes are, and don’t need to be shamed into action. This is a really negative approach, and not the best way to rally the troops. I just wish you would stop doing this. Frankly, TRex’s ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK is a lot more inspiring.

I’m sorry you feel this way about it. I see this as a family conversation across the netroots. Shaming is about humiliating people, and I don’t feel I’m doing that. I am asking all of us to wake up.

Pachacutec @
61

Valley Girl @ 54

Pach- ya know, shaming the netroots is not exactly the best way to motivate people. Shaming us is not the best way to garner support. I think we know what the stakes are, and don’t need to be shamed into action. This is a really negative approach, and not the best way to rally the troops. I just wish you would stop doing this. Frankly, TRex’s ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK is a lot more inspiring.

I’m sorry you feel this way about it. I see this as a family conversation across the netroots. Shaming is about humiliating people, and I don’t feel I’m doing that. I am asking all of us to wake up.

I have been awake. Where have you been? VG is right, this is not a productive tone to take. In a family.

TSF – Countdown (not KO tonight) played a bit of the Anntics this evening.

Peterr @
210

*ruffles and flourishes*

ruffles for rejects

I think saying this Walter Reed story “has legs” is an unfortunate turn of phrase, but the fact is: people are losing their jobs. This never happens in BushWorld, that several members (so far three) in the chain of command are let go. BushCo must be very, very scared of this story, hoping they can relieve actual Generals and Secretarys of their positions and the story will go away.

The only way this story will go away is if RGJoe helps it go away tomorrow.

Who cares who gives a five minute speech *nobody* listens to? It’s only good for your own constituents. It means nothing to anybody else. I’ll bet 9/10 of the posters today never listen to them, and we’re the active political public.

Let’s find a better target.

huh. hadn’t seen this at Raw Story:

Judge Walton: Testimony by Cheney may have helped Libby’s acquittal prospects

“The judge in the criminal trial of Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby is making it clear for the historic record that he thought the defendant would take the stand, and that the presumption figured strongly into his decisions about classified material he would have allowed into evidence,” CNN’s Paul Courson reports.

According to CNN, Walton “also suggests the defense could have improved the prospects for acquittal of their client had they called Vice President Dick Cheney to the stand.”

…

CNN adds that “Walton’s comments were made in a ‘memorandum opinion’ written to ‘memorialize’ the basis for some of his decision-making during the trial.”

Eureka Springs, AR @ 213

TSF – Countdown (not KO tonight) played a bit of the Anntics this evening.

I liked this KO replacement person better that the MOST lady who has replaced him before. She was asking Dana Milbank challenging questions like “Where are the Democrats on this Walter Reed story?”

You are right, Teddy, and I apologize for using that unfortunate turn of phrase. However, I want more people to lose their jobs over this. I want Bush to lose HIS job over this. I want Cheney to lose HIS job over this. The chain of command failed.

I am friggin furious and I don’t feel alone in that fury.

TeddySanFran @ 213

I think saying this Walter Reed story “has legs” is an unfortunate turn of phrase, but the fact is: people are losing their jobs. This never happens in BushWorld, that several members (so far three) in the chain of command are let go. BushCo must be very, very scared of this story, hoping they can relieve actual Generals and Secretarys of their positions and the story will go away.

The only way this story will go away is if RGJoe helps it go away tomorrow.

Amen to your main paragraph, but I don’t think even Short Ride can make this go away. Wounded vets living in mold-infested quarters . . . that’s not a pretty picture, and no kind words from Dubya or Joe will make it so.

TSF – So did I and she had the added benefit of being very easy on the eyes. humma humma

thanks Eureka springs, I like Kuchinich, I like Feingold, I like Dean.

my point is, that they cannot continue to expect people on the left to support a dem no whatter what – if they are out there at AIPAC rallies saying “all options are on the table” – meanwhile, impeachment is off the table – then sorry, your party has to be changed wrenchingly from within, by primary challenges, and from without, by withdrawal of support for the likes of Obama, Clinton, Leiberman, Reid, etc.

I confess to some confusion about the Walter Reed story. These are outpatient facilities for soldiers? Or for vets? People seem to use the terms interchangeably when talking about this story; have these folks been discharged or are they disabled soldiers in care?

Not that either should be subject to this treatment; I’m just confused about their status.

Glum CPAC.

haha.

Between the war in Iraq, President Bush’s low approval ratings, the recent midterm defeats and a void at the top with neither the president nor the vice president in the race, several Republican strategists said the mood is drearier than it has been since 1992.

“There’s a sense that the Republican brand is down and it needs to come back up again if there’s going to be a chance,” said John Feehery, who served as communications director for Tom DeLay when the Texan was House majority leader.

Even among White House staff members, there are frequent morbid jokes that the next occupant will be a Democrat, and there has been no mass exodus of Bush administration officials to Republican campaigns as there might have been during a more optimistic time.

I wonder if Cheney could be convinced to run in 2008 — he’s so delusional.

I think this Walter Reed story will be the source of a bigger backlash than even Abu Ghraib caused. They have been harping for so long about supporting our troops and this has been a huge thing with military families who know better who have been trying to get attention on this for a long time. My friend has been fighting the VA for his benefits since Apr 2005 after he took shrapnel in his back from a mortar blast in Oct 2004.

TeddySanFran @ 219

I confess to some confusion about the Walter Reed story. These are outpatient facilities for soldiers? Or for vets? People seem to use the terms interchangeably when talking about this story; have these folks been discharged or are they disabled soldiers in care?

Not that either should be subject to this treatment; I’m just confused about their status.

Both veterans and active duty soldiers are able to use Walter Reed.

TeddySanFran @ 219

I confess to some confusion about the Walter Reed story. These are outpatient facilities for soldiers? Or for vets? People seem to use the terms interchangeably when talking about this story; have these folks been discharged or are they disabled soldiers in care?

Not that either should be subject to this treatment; I’m just confused about their status.

In a general sense, I tend to use “vets” to cover any who have served, whether they are on active duty or not. I realize that there is a formal distinction between the two, which is important when you are trying to address a given situation (do I complain to the DOD or VA?). But when it comes to “caring for those who have borne the battle,” it matters not whether they are still on active duty or not.

To be clear: Walter Reed is for active duty soldiers, and is not part of the VA. The soldiers have not been discharged, but it’s a huge guess as to whether they will ever return to full duty.

G’night, all!

TeddySanFran @ 221

I confess to some confusion about the Walter Reed story. These are outpatient facilities for soldiers? Or for vets? People seem to use the terms interchangeably when talking about this story; have these folks been discharged or are they disabled soldiers in care?

Not that either should be subject to this treatment; I’m just confused about their status.

There was a good segment on The News Hour today, featuring Dana Priest (WaPo) and Mark (?)Benjamin (Salon.com).

Walter Reed is active duty US Army. DOD.
VA is different – has its own problems.

they are injured soldiers, therefor come under the DOD and not the VA. they are outpatient but have not had a determination as to their ability to continue to soldier or be discharged.

I thought Walter Reed was also a VA facility. I got confused I guess.

fini, walter reed treats both active duty and those eligible for va benefits so it can be confusing.

The little heard part of this Walter Reed story is that a number of Congresscritter wives regularly visited the place and made complaints known to their husbands who did nothing. This is gonna stink up not just the White House, some of our favorite folks in Congress are gonna get the gas face too. The Republic Party has tried to own the phrase We Support Our Troops for years now and did nothing when their wives said “Honey thats bullshit – I saw how much We Support Our Troops at Walter Reed!”

I want to put a band together called BushCo and give the members of the band names like Walter Reed on drums, Rita Katrina on Bass, Abu Ghraib on Guitar and Halle Burton on vocals.

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 222

I think this Walter Reed story will be the source of a bigger backlash than even Abu Ghraib caused. They have been harping for so long about supporting our troops and this has been a huge thing with military families who know better who have been trying to get attention on this for a long time. My friend has been fighting the VA for his benefits since Apr 2005 after he took shrapnel in his back from a mortar blast in Oct 2004.

I caught a part of the News Hour this evening with guests Dana Priest and another journalist discussing the story. Suggestions were made about how long these problems have been around as well as how many places are in the same situation, if not worse. I sure hope some reporter is digging up another location to expose, right now.

sporkovat – Sounds like we are in agreement for the most part. Part of thinking outside of the box will bring up a few hairy ideas. (draft Feingold *s*)

TeddySF @ 209

So glad to know Edwards will be defended from Coulter and can only send $50 now but pledge to donate again asap. Thanks for the heads up on this. They must be very afraid of John Edwards.

If these targeted smears don’t constitute hate crimes they should. The FOX deal with Harry Reid is appalling. Did you get a response from your Give ‘em Hell Harry blog comment?

No? Nor did I.

Not sure what is more depressing – Lieberman on the radio for the Democratic party or Harry Reid’s blunder with FOX. Sigh!

I am not sure anyone ever tends Harry Reid’s blog; the same silly Senator Menendez post continues to appear at top, with a new date. Harry posts sometimes; but there’s very little response to the community posts. I’ve never seen Harry comment on any posts.

But I appreciate the comments you made tonight — we’ll see if it has any impact. I will certainly give Senator Reid a piece of my mind about this at YK2, if he shows up in Chi-town this year. Perhaps his pilgrimage last time was due to our being in Vegas.

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 235

I want to put a band together called BushCo and give the members of the band names like Walter Reed on drums, Rita Katrina on Bass, Abu Ghraib on Guitar and Halle Burton on vocals.

Woo Hoo! FiniFini you do know how to raise my spirit. Keep us posted on this fine idea!

newspaperbrat @ 234

FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 235

I want to put a band together called BushCo and give the members of the band names like Walter Reed on drums, Rita Katrina on Bass, Abu Ghraib on Guitar and Halle Burton on vocals.

Woo Hoo! FiniFini you do know how to raise my spirit. Keep us posted on this fine idea!

I was only joking but I might try to turn this into an animation or something. Maybe use some old Rage Against the Machine music. Hehehe.

TSF – I appreciate you initiating posts on his blog and will follow up with you anytime. I guess it’s about all we out of state folks can do as an immediate response. Knowing they are on the record, so to speak, for back up when a Firepup meets him is icing on the cake.

Sorry for the server hiccup there, folks. Let’s give a big round of applause to the techie folks toiling away who got us back up so fast.

At the top of the pyramid in Nevada is the cleaned-up Mob. Nobody rises without them. Mobsters are generally pretty troglodyte in their politics. Ergo… Nevada’s the wrong place to base party leadership. In sum, Reid’s the wrong guy for the job.

I know that nobody likes to hear “I told you so”, but in this case, I was on to what the reality is.

But most here still don’t get it.

Listen…it’s our system that is broken. It’s not so much the “Right” or the “Left”, but the entire system.

These people — not just the R’s but the D’s as well — don’t represent the masses (their so-called constituents) but rather the big money that gets them these jobs and keeps them there.

These REAL constituents want the things that make them the most money; i.e., the Middle East wars; for-profit health care, and killing the middle class.

The D’s — like all politicians — talk tough at election time…usual rhetoric, but they never deliver…as we all see now again.

This isn’t about D’s vs R’s…this is about a broken system of government that needs to be changed dramatically at it’s roots. It won’t be, because the very people who can — who must — change that system, benefit from it the most. Meanwhile, the rest rest of us all get screwed.

Face it…the D’s – as many of you are now finally coming to admit — aren’t going to stand up for what we voted for…what they promised us if we voted for them. They never intended to.

This isn’t about being scared to stand up politically, it’s about serving those who supply their paychecks, and it’s not us.

Our system of government has been corrupted to the core, and it’s not going to change if we continue to play into the rhetoric, to the debate that they frame, and continue to take sides and then complain when “our side” doesn’t do what we elected them to do.

It’s that simple.

It’s the money, stupid!

It’s all FUBAR, and until we are willing to admit that, and move forward agressively to change that, nothing is going to change and we’re all fuc*ked.

Sleep well sheep!

Cliff
Fresno, CA

Nevada’s pretty much run by the cleaned-up, Disneyfied Mob. Nobody rises there without their blessing. Mobsters as a rule have troglodyte politics. Ergo, Nevada is a lousy place to base Democratic party leadership, no matter how red or blue its electorate is. The electorate doesnt matter.

that’s it for me tonight. g’nite all.

The lunar-right?

Feh

Democratic-socialism?

Feh

Libertarian-socialism?

Yeah. maybe.

Bakunin did say: We are convinced that freedom without socialism is privilege and injustice, and that socialism without freedom is slavery, didn’t he.

Or was that our Pachman?

Eureka Springs, AR:

So you folks think an extreme right-to-lifer, who wants to do away with Social Security, gay rights, equal opportunity for minorities, efforts to control corruption in politics, thinks instruction on abstinence should replace condoms and is to the right of Rick Santorum would be a mighty fine choice for president because he opposes the Iraq War?

Interesting.

When you get around to it maybe you can help me with why you think Obama, who seems like few others (John Edwards, Jim Webb) interested in providing opportunity for the bottom tier rather than the “suffering middle class”(tm) is a DLC neo-con winger like Hillary?

Best, Terry

Server glitch up above. Dont want you all to think I stay up all night quintuple-posting and fretting about the cleaned-up mob in Nevada. I swear I’m not obsessed! I swear!

spiderpaws @
177

The moon is full in Virgo tomorrow night and there is an eclipse. Interestingly, Virgo rules the military and service to one’s country (among other things). It’s beginning to look as if this Walter Reed/Bad Soldier Care situation has legs. This thing could blow up into a huge mess without let up for the next two weeks til the next eclipse and disgust will mount. I think this is big and very bad for the bushies. Both Bush & Cheney are running around trying to look busy but they are really just running away from their respective messes.

Hmm. I vow to summon all my (vast) Virgo-ly powers to rain down upon them.

terry hallinan – Not exactly sure how you take my more polite distaste for others who hint at favoring Hagel, as support for him? Anyway I do like how you sum up Hagel and hope you will join me at this point in time, in support of Dennis Kucinich.
As for defending or explaining Obama, I’ll pass thank you.

btw, are you from AR? your name is vaguely familiar?

matt stoller is on the case and talking Pach’s language loud and clear over at MyDD.
See The Progressive Convulsions Start.

the corporations and their fellow traveler fascists own the republican party and they just buy off what they need in the democratic (MY!) party to have it all their way all the time.

we have more enemies than friends out there.
but we got a lot of friends.

The wikipedia entry on Walter Reed Army Medical Center has been updated as of yesterday with info on the current controversy up until then.

The hospital’s main purpose is for treatment of wounded Army and other active duty personnel first, then retired Army, then retired military, then other veterans, in that order. I hadn’t heard until Fini’s comment above that congressional wives had been complaining about the state of the facility. I doubt this story has the legs of Abu Graib or Katrina. Maybe spiderpaws is right, though – that the directions of the narratives we live can be impelled or even compelled by forces beyond our control. Beyond the usual fubar, that is.

Can’t Lieberman give every senate committee chair back to the Rethugs if he joins the republicans outright?

Isn’t this just Reid showing him some cheap lovin’?
To keep short trip feeling cared for?

least we lose senate subpoena power.
and a check on judicial appointments.

isn’t this the price we have to pay for Lieberman?
even though we hate him.

yellowdog jim – thanks for the mydd link.

No, Lieberman can’t do any such thing. TeddySanFran explains it above (somewhere) but the new senate rules are worded in a way that removed that possibility. That is in part why this is unecessary hat tip from Reid is so egregious.

Lieberman probably requested the opportunity to give the radio address in response to the outrages that have surfaced over the past week involving Republican maltreatment of our troops, especially the wounded.

We will soon know if Lieberman soft-pedals what should be a very energetic and hard Democratic response to the Republican Party’s clear abuse of our troops.

No matter what Lieberman says Saturday, though, you just know the right-wing noise machine will spin it to reflect the utterly fictitious claim that Democrats don’t support the troops.

But I just bet that Lieberman won’t mention either George W. Bush’s or Dick Cheney’s names, but lay the entire blame for what has been happening at Walter Reed Hospital on the former Secretary of the Army and the generals placed in charge of the hospital.

In other words, you can bet that Lieberman will fail to mention the one’s in the White House higher up in the chain of command who are the real ones responsible for the degrading and disgraceful conditions at Walter Reed Hospital.

Of course, I could be wrong. Lieberman might just surprise me and take Bush and Cheney behind the wood shed. Nah.

My email to harry reid. Feingold needs to be Senate Majority Leader. Don’t just be outraged start a campaign to replace Reid. He really needs to go now. Didn’t he vote for Alito and the Military Commissions Act. His so called leadership has been one betrayal after another. Get reid out now!

http://reid.senate.gov/contact/email_form.cfm-

—You need to step down. You are not up to the job of Senate Majority Leader. Betraying our troops by having lie-berman supposedly rebut whatever lame excuses bush comes up with is the act of a man who is too weak to be a leader of anything, much less this great country in a time of treasonous thieves who have stolen our government.

Resign!

Calm down. We are enthusiastic rookies. And we have comparatively steeper learning curves on average. They’ve just been acting like Lords and Dukes for quite a while. So they’re seasoned.

It’s so amazing watching us find our licks. Maybe the music we do isn’t so hot, but it does get better moment by moment. And we hit some very sweet harmonies from time to time. Our chorus is getting bigger and better. Woo hoo.

So, they’re getting older, we’re getting smarter. That’s why baseball teams have 9 players. Oh yeah, there’s no I in Team. Really.

eureka springs arkansas
(visited about 30 years ago.)

happy to oblige with stoller’s link.

and thank you for the reassurance that Lieberman hasn’t got us by such short hairs.
but i’ll want to read these senate rules too.

But I have another responsible party to name, and it may surprise you.

Us.

Who?

The progressive netroots as a whole is in part to blame, here.

Bullshit!

Progressives have known from the beginning that we are dealing with a corrupt and broken political system and that the rot goes far deeper than the GOP. We have known from the start that we need to rid ourselves of the Vichy Democrats, to purge their ranks and put in their place representatives who will actually represent us and not the corporations.

We’ve know this for a long time, have you Pachacutec? If you’re really going to go around throwing stones you’d best think long and hard. By all means, own up to your own shit, but don’t you DARE accuse me or anyone else before you take a long hard look in the mirror. Are you really so clueless that you thought the system wouldn’t fight back? That all we had to do was show up in Nov. and that would be it?

Did you really believe that the last election wasn’t just as managed and the results just as fraudulent as the 2000 and 2004 elections because we won? You clueless schmuck.

When will people get it through their heads that we are fighting not the GOP but but a deep malignant cancer at the very heart of our country? A cancer that has metastasized and spread to the Democrats and media and even beyond our borders to include much of the western world.

Has no one noticed how the prime ministers of Canada and Australia are in lock step with the Bush administrations policies? Even going so far as to allow their nationals to be tortured by us because it furthers the over all agenda? Can no one put two and two together and remember how Blair spun on a dime over the one thing he was truly passionate about, global climate change, right after Bush had a little private talk with him and told him what his position was going to be from then on?

Anyone know what a made man is? ‘Cause that is what Lieberman is. He has a collar around his neck and the leash leads right back to a file somewhere at Langley. Probably a photo of a dead hooker or a live boy. Lieberman has no thoughts that aren’t given to him. He takes no positions and has no agenda that isn’t already made for him.

And he isn’t the only one.

But you people already knew that, you just don’t want to believe it. You want to vote and then go home and not have to fight for your freedoms. You want to have a little fun and laugh at clowns like Maulkin or Coulter and you’re gullible enough to believe that they are the only threat there is. They are not, but you’ll learn that soon enough, of course, by then it’ll be too late.

At this way late hour, I’m going to take issue with one of Pach’s points in his essay:

Who are the villains? The same people I talked about just before the midterm elections. Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Rahm Emanuel, Steny Hoyer and others. But I have another responsible party to name, and it may surprise you. Us. Who?

The progressive netroots as a whole is in part to blame, here.

What Pach said glosses over the warnings people like Howie Klein threw out there right and left as soon as the numbers were proofed the day after the election. Experienced organizers like Howie, who sweated blood to get this new crop into DC, were ignored in their warnings that pols like Reid were little better than shills such as Emanuel.

I warned then that if a real progressive victory was to be had, we need to think of last November’s victory as something more like a new movement bringing life to the moribund Dems than our coming to the assistance of the beleagered “old guard.” We shouldn’t be at all shy in condemning what Reid has done in enabling Lieberman. But we need to be even more agressive. Pach is right, but I feel he still doesn’t get what it is going to take to help bring progressives in control of the Democratic Party machinery in 2008.

Jane posted an essay shortly after the election that questioned the wisdom of the Dems going too hard against the war, because Bush owns it, let him eat it. I was against her (rhetorical) position on that then, but I’ve come to believe that the war is spiraling downward and outward too fast to control at this point. I think the Dems need to concentrate as best possible on domestic issues, and when they deal with the military, concentrate on the care and training of our vets.

Here’s an example of how quickly the situation is getting out of hand.

Good essay, Pach. It really got me thinking.

looks like noen and I were working a similar idea out…

good comment, noen!

“REMEMBER THE WAR BONUS VETERANS”
“REMEMBER THE COWARDS IN CONGRESS”
“REMEMBER THEY SENT MARINES TO BREAK UP THE PROTESTING VERTERANS WHO WERE DENIED THIER BONUSES”

NOTHING HAS CHANGED FOR THE DUTY BOUND WARRIORS. “THE FEW, THE PROUD, THE EXPENDABLE?
I DO NOT THINK SO? BUSH/CHENEY ARE EXPENDABLE, IMPEACHABLE AND JAILABLE. AS FOR LIEBERMAN, HE EMBODIES THE TERM “SELF-INTEREST.” I WONDER IF HE HAS A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL…………..

It’s time to get angry again, folks.

For God’s sake, Pach, SOUND THE TRUMPET.

Hey Harry, why don’t you let Zell Miller do it instead?

Weekends don’t seem to matter anymore — another day, another outrage. From the movie Major League — “Who are these f****ng guys?”

the razing of stateattorneys exercised by domenici

approved by WH

(buzzflash)

AHH insomnia. Well I thought in the original post Pach was just trying to say perhaps we aren’t doing enough no matter how much that may have been. But I had the same reaction that Valley Girl did shortly into the comments.
I don’t for a minute doubt Pachs sincerity or progressive intentions.
But the comment #52 that VG voiced discomfort with in particular…

There’s nothing we can do to stop the radio address, but the more fundamental issue is this: will the netroots claim power and use it, or will we retreat the sidelines to cheer lead, hoping others will create a progressive future on our behalf?

Once that question is sorted out, then we can figure out strategies, tactics, line up projects, etc.

That bothered me much more on the first read but now it reads like Pach, perhaps, is asking himself, more than the group. He is working his ass off on so many netroot projects including the trial, frankly I am in awe.

One thing Pach cannot understand (by his own admission) is folks who never understood or supported the Iraq war I and II, including any war over the last 50 years. I never agreed with a war that took place in my lifetime, including Afghanistan. On almost every issue now called “progressive,” well they could be for the most part in my genetic makeup. I didn’t have to convert along the way. So this progressive battle for many has been not only visceral, but blatantly obvious in its cruelty and greed among so many other things.

If he wasn’t just tired or grasping for a line that would instigate more action, in himself and or others, then its a sign of a newbie progressive and I for one am delighted to be with him. Pach, no one is suggesting a retreat, unless you have a vacation seminar in mind. *s* Now lets stay angry until these bas****s are finito.

That said, Heya noen..) Always good to see you and loved your take as well.

The razing of state attorneys exercised by Domenici

approved by WH
(sry bad 2nd link last time)

I don’t understand the indignation expressed by VG and others at Pach’s honest assessment that the progressive blogosphere hasn’t done nearly enough and must do more.

He’s not slamming, he’s exhorting, and he’s right.

Q: what does it mean to be a Democrat?
A: It means being a spineless jellyfish who kisses repug ass and above all and in all ways you “go along to get along”
ain’t that right, Hillary?

Ed*ard Teller @
262

At this way late hour, I’m going to take issue with one of Pach’s points in his essay:

Who are the villains? The same people I talked about just before the midterm elections. Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Rahm Emanuel, Steny Hoyer and others. But I have another responsible party to name, and it may surprise you. Us. Who?

The progressive netroots as a whole is in part to blame, here.

What Pach said glosses over the warnings people like Howie Klein threw out there right and left as soon as the numbers were proofed the day after the election. Experienced organizers like Howie, who sweated blood to get this new crop into DC, were ignored in their warnings that pols like Reid were little better than shills such as Emanuel.
[…]

I will never forgive the so-called “Democratic leadership” for their failure to take a stand against the MCA. Their comment was that “we’ll leave no daylight between them [the Republicans] and us on this issue” or words to that effect. That tore it for me. Those people have to go as do their backers who pushed them in this direction. So far as I can tell those backers are the DLC and AIPAC.

Mornin’ all!

CSPAN covering article on libby trial…

ralphbon @
272

He’s not slamming, he’s exhorting, and he’s right.

What he said. By the way, skippy posted about a similar topic last night.

Good morning, pups. Today we can celebrate the fact that it’s Ann Althouse’s last guest column in the NYT, Rory Stewart is a new guest columnist writing from Kabul, and bringing up the rear is MoDo’s bitchfest.

http://mgpaquin.blogspot.com/

French roast this morning, and a big pot of tea. Because it’s Saturday there’s French toast with whatever you like — butter, real maple syrup, powdered sugar, and there are fresh strawberries too. Have a wonderful Saturday.

Don’t wanna be EPUed so I’ll jump in without having read all comments…

It might be a way to bring Joementum back into the fold a bit. If he is castigating the admin for it’s incompetent manaagement of Walter Reed Hosp. then maybe Joe can’t go spouting off about maybe switching parties. I know, politics.

This will be EPU’d, but I just had to jump in. WRITE-ON Pach!!! As a collective the Dems still don’t get it. Somebody (perhaps us) needs to beat them in order “to get their attention first.”

thanks, Marion – breakfast sounds delicious…

coulda used a verdict yesterday to cheer me up…

terry hallinan @ 191

sporkovat:

if it takes supporting an Old Right Republican instead of an odious, neo-con DLC Democrat like Clinton or Obama, then I’m there, becuase these wars define the political landscape now, and the Dem shadowpuppetry in Congress has been unconvincing.

I would be interested in hearing why you or anyone imagine Obama is a rightwinger like the Clintons.

I can tell you Obama has put out some thoughtful positions that startled me. See his discussion of genetic medicine for a prime example. Most of those politicians for stem cell research seem to be for it because there are two four-letter words they can remember.

Best, Terry

Yeah. He’s not my #1 choice from the Dems right now, but most of the reasons being used to attack him are utter bullshit.

Coffee and baby feeding intervened, so I’ll finish my comment now. (I think Christy will back me up on this: first you make the coffee, and then you feed the baby, for precisely the same reason why first you put the oxygen mask on yourself, and then you assist others.)

My political activity over the past five years breaks down very approximately as follows:

80% trenchant blog comments

5% letters to legislators

5% donations

5% marching in demonstrations (including, in 2004, standing in front of Chuck Schumer’s Brooklyn apartment wearing a dog leash to protest his post-Abu Ghraib endorsement of the ticking-timebomb canard)

5% volunteering for Ned Lamont.

Could my personal balance shift more constructively? Yes. Are my percentages unrepresentative? Y’all tell me.

powwow500 @ 278

Don’t wanna be EPUed so I’ll jump in without having read all comments…

It might be a way to bring Joementum back into the fold a bit. If he is castigating the admin for it’s incompetent manaagement of Walter Reed Hosp. then maybe Joe can’t go spouting off about maybe switching parties. I know, politics.

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. However, Harry Reid has also pulled the stupidity of cozying up to FOX.

Phoenix Woman, for bullshit on Obama nobody does it better than MoDo. Today’s column is a case in point.

OOOPS… I got stuck in mod for a bad word… Phoenix Woman, I used that word when describing how Maureen Dowd writes about Obama. After a period of time the bad word can be used to fertilize your garden…

I hope this isn’t too late — I haven’t read all the comments…

Who listens to the Democrats’ radio response — or to the President’s Weekly Radio Address, for that matter? The Prez’ “speech,” if you can call it that, is at 10:30 a.m. (I think). The Dem’s response is sometime after that (used to be a little after 11 a.m.). Who’s listening?

Have you ever heard Bush give his weekly address? He reads it and he sounds like a 2nd grader.

oh, interesting free speech issue – seems a couple young women went around and put some stickers on a politician’s signs that were planted on public property (the signs were violating a local ordinance) and that’s what the stickers said… the politician caught the teenagers and had them arrested…

from the LA Times

this is not right.

I keep saying here, the cons still outnumber the pros, despite the Democratic advantage.

We need MORE progressive Democrats elected in 08′, and not a mass exodus to “Naderism” based on disappointment with the baby steps we’ve taken so far.
\Phoenix woman at 6 has posted an answer to our questions, and it is well worth reading and referencing. Don’t miss her link!
Phoenix Woman @ 6

http://www.PublicCampaign.org.

That’s how we get the corporate money (and the people dependent on it) out of politics. (It’s Howard-Dean-approved.)

The whole reason that the Democrats got taken over by the Lieberman types in the first place is because they felt that they needed the corporate cash to go toe-to-toe with the GOP. The problem is that when you hit up the same donor pool as the GOP, they want to turn you into the GOP.

I sent this to the party. I’ll post any response.

Please use someone who is
a) A Democrat
b) Legitimate
c) Knowledgeable
Tammy Duckworth would have been excellent on Walter Reed! Why use someone with no legitimacy or character–OR DEMOCRATIC CREDENTIALS–to speak on something he helped cause. Why did Holy Joe promise no oversight to anything bush does?
My wife, who spent her weekends working for Kerry in 2004, had decided that you will get no more of our time or money until you shape up.

Pach -

IT JUST GOES ON! Day after day, year after year. Why does Lieberman get away with it? Why is he speaking for people who despise him? Why is there no mention of privatization in the regular press? And Haliburton? And the year 2000 when the rot set in? It’s Saturday morning. I really need a Christie fix. Bring out the seed catalogs! Some good music! But it’s no good. The stuff just doesn’t go away, it’s waiting for you the moment you lift your nose out of the java and sniff the outside air.

Obviously we need new leadership

Time to dig out a personal scandal on Holy Joe and beat it to death until it makes it’s way into the mainstream. You know there has to be one. Holier than thou people never practice what they preach.

Dig away.

sunny @
292

Time to dig out a personal scandal on Holy Joe and beat it to death until it makes it’s way into the mainstream. You know there has to be one. Holier than thou people never practice what they preach.

Dig away.

“Man is conceived in sin and born into corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud. There is always something.” -From Robert Penn Warren’s “All the King’s Men.” 1949

Harry Reid needs to go.

I have not read all of the comments yet, but I can assure you that this mealymouthed, simpering, sucking-up to power, money and the war machine is NOT what we need. How dare he appease this traitor?

As for us progressives, I hardly think there’s been a whole lot of celebrating around here! I still see people working hard and despairing a lot over the issues that matter.

I blame the machine and those that benefit from it.

We’ve got lots of work to do, but blaming ourselves is not part of it. We just have to never give up so that we never have ourselves to blame.

Kucinich gets it, folks.

Good morning.

Eureka Springs, AR @
252

terry hallinan – Not exactly sure how you take my more polite distaste for others who hint at favoring Hagel, as support for him? Anyway I do like how you sum up Hagel and hope you will join me at this point in time, in support of Dennis Kucinich.
As for defending or explaining Obama, I’ll pass thank you.

btw, are you from AR? your name is vaguely familiar?

Hey, Eureka, I would love to support Kucinich. I could even be talked into supporting Joe Biden but nether of them are going to be nominated.

My wonder was at your endorsement of a statement of a vote for Chuck Hagel as opposed to “DLC neocon Obama,” who was equated with Hillary Clinton.

We live in the state that takes in Arkansas’ most toxic trash: – New York. Sorry.

Best, Terry

Some of us combat veterans against the war from the first hint have not celebrated one iota. We’ve been in the streets for over four years calling for change, not sitting on our asses writing diatribes on our laptops and patting ourselves on the back. And we’re still in the streets calling for change because we knew that in November 2006 it didn’t happen. It’s been tepid tea in a old thermos at some shitty intersection with people yelling at us, throwing things at us, not a double latte in the warmth and safety of Starbucks. I figure if I can bring a moment of awareness to one fat white fuck in an SUV my two hours in the cold rain was worth every minute. So while the words flow ad nauseum I’ll still be out in the streets where they can look into my eyes and know I ain’t bullshittin’.

Just woke up. Let me clarify a little. I am not calling out this community, or, of all, people, Howie Klein.

I’m addressing my comments broadly to the whole netroots/grassroots movement. For example, I got emails after the election asking me to quit with the “Chuck and Rahm show,” and not from commenters, but from some people in positions of relative netroots influence. I won’t name names. I was told people were tired of it, we won, let’s act like winners. Let’s work with the Congress.

I said I want people to be tired of the “Chuck and Rahm show” because they are tired of Chuck and Rahm, and not writing about what they are doing will not stop them from doing it. Quite the opposite.

Please remember, maybe 1% of our readers are actually commenters. Sometimes we write for a larger audience very consciously.

Howie’s not around, but believe me, he will agree with every word I’ve written, and in fact would probably like to make a more harsh case.

JEP @
288

I keep saying here, the cons still outnumber the pros, despite the Democratic advantage.

We need MORE progressive Democrats elected in 08′, and not a mass exodus to “Naderism” based on disappointment with the baby steps we’ve taken so far.
\Phoenix woman at 6 has posted an answer to our questions, and it is well worth reading and referencing. Don’t miss her link!
Phoenix Woman @ 6

http://www.PublicCampaign.org.

That’s how we get the corporate money (and the people dependent on it) out of politics. (It’s Howard-Dean-approved.)

The whole reason that the Democrats got taken over by the Lieberman types in the first place is because they felt that they needed the corporate cash to go toe-to-toe with the GOP. The problem is that when you hit up the same donor pool as the GOP, they want to turn you into the GOP.

Link is incorrect, there is only one ‘c’ in publicampaign.org.

s/b http://www.publicampaign.org

There is a saying in politics: “When your opponent is self-destructing, don’t interfere.” So, in spite of running on an anti-war platform, the Democratic Party leadership is doing zip to end the war. What would be in it for them? The worse the war goes, the worse for Bush, the Republicans, and the war’s other advocate, Joe Lieberman. End the war and there will be an endless string of “Democrats lost Iraq” complaints in the mainstream press.

Until the Democrats have progressive leadership, they’ll simply be the UnGOPs, the Republican-lites to whom the voters can temporarily turn when the Republicans screw them too hard.

wigwam @ 293

sunny @
292

Time to dig out a personal scandal on Holy Joe and beat it to death until it makes it’s way into the mainstream. You know there has to be one. Holier than thou people never practice what they preach.

Dig away.

“Man is conceived in sin and born into corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud. There is always something.” -From Robert Penn Warren’s “All the King’s Men.” 1949

Howie says Joe has a diaper fetish.

But in a town where male hookers in the White House is a non-story, exactly how much mileage do you suppose that will get?

This will be a tough read for some, I posted it earlier this week and it fits again:

In a political culture defined by a centrist-to-reactionary political spectrum, Paul Wellstone was a breath of fresh air when he brought his progressive politics to the U.S. Senate in 1991. His death in 2002 robbed the country of a humane voice on the national political stage.

I lived for a time in Minnesota and followed Wellstone’s career closely. The last time I saw him speak was December 1998 when I was part of a peace group that conducted a sit-in at his office to protest his support for a U.S. attack on Iraq and force a meeting to challenge the former anti-war activist’s hawkish turn. Yes, that’s right—a group sat in at Wellstone’s St. Paul office when he supported Bill Clinton’s illegal 1998 cruise missile attack on Iraq, which was the culmination of a brutal and belligerent U.S. policy during that Democratic administration.

It might seem odd to recall such a small part of contemporary history when the United States is mired in a full-scale occupation of Iraq, but there’s an important lesson in this little bit of history—one that’s is often difficult for many liberals and Democrats to face:

Illegal and immoral U.S. aggression is, and always has been, a bipartisan affair. Democrats and liberals are responsible for their share of the death, destruction, and misery caused by U.S. empire-building along with Republicans and conservatives. I mention the Wellstone incident not to suggest he and George W. Bush are equally culpable, but to make the point that even politicians with Wellstone’s progressive politics can be twisted by the pathology of power and privilege.

more here:

http://www.tompaine.com/articl…..empire.php

SouthernDragon @ 296

Some of us combat veterans against the war from the first hint have not celebrated one iota. We’ve been in the streets for over four years calling for change, not sitting on our asses writing diatribes on our laptops and patting ourselves on the back. And we’re still in the streets calling for change because we knew that in November 2006 it didn’t happen. It’s been tepid tea in a old thermos at some shitty intersection with people yelling at us, throwing things at us, not a double latte in the warmth and safety of Starbucks. I figure if I can bring a moment of awareness to one fat white fuck in an SUV my two hours in the cold rain was worth every minute. So while the words flow ad nauseum I’ll still be out in the streets where they can look into my eyes and know I ain’t bullshittin’.

SouthernDragon, I appreciate you. I truly think the Netroots would benefit greatly from stepping away from the laptops for a while and stepping up to the plate on some organized, collective street action.

Get out there, and spread the word!

http://www.pephost.org/site/Pa…..15;3.app2a

I have found this at 8.50 on Sat morning.

You are absolutely right.

We have The Best (New) Congress Money Can Buy. It does not really matter whether it is Democratic or Republican because the result is but minutely different. Read Mearsheimer and Walt.

Sorry Pachacutec, but Pelosi is only marginally ahead………. The Lobby owns them all.

Phoenix Woman @ 283

powwow500 @ 278

Don’t wanna be EPUed so I’ll jump in without having read all comments…

It might be a way to bring Joementum back into the fold a bit. If he is castigating the admin for it’s incompetent manaagement of Walter Reed Hosp. then maybe Joe can’t go spouting off about maybe switching parties. I know, politics.

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. However, Harry Reid has also pulled the stupidity of cozying up to FOX.

Moi trois.
I think this is a calculated appeasement which allows LIEberman to appear to be a Democrat criticizing the Administration without any give on his warmongering posture.
One more Democrat in the Senate, and we will not be having this discussion.
Of coures, as we all know, that Democratic Senator should have been Ned Lamont, but to paraphrease another politically expedient statment.
“You go to Congress with the Democrats you have”
Do not mistake my pragnatism for support.
Herry Reid is not a Democratic *Leader*, he is a politician playing with the hand he has.
LIEberman is playing his ’swing vote’ hand for all it is worth. In this play will leave him swing slowly in the wind (metaphorically, of course)

I frankly took seriously the common picture of Barack Obama as a chuckle-headed internet candidate from central casting until I read this from his website:

Harnessing the Power of Genetic Medicine

Genomics has the potential to revolutionize the practice of medicine, but despite significant scientific advances, very few genomics-based tests or treatments have reached consumers. Genomics could eventually help predict which Americans will get sick, diagnose illness earlier, and screen patients to determine which drugs will be effective and safe. Senator Obama introduced the Genomics and Personalized Medicine Act to overcome the scientific barriers, adverse market pressures, and outdated federal regulations that have stood in the way of better medicine.

That is stunning. The fine political scientists at the FDA have probably killed more people than Saddam Hussein, George Bush or just about anybody you can name by blocking efficacious drugs from dying patients and occasionally approving dangerous ones with little merit.

Every mother in the world surely knows, even if all fathers don’t, that people react differently to medicine depending on their genetic makeup. The FDA doesn’t.

Genetic tests are available but ignored that can distinguish racial ancestry far more definitively than the idiot prejudices of black, white, hispanic, what have you as well as more precise tests for particular genes.

That alone put me in Obama’s corner.

Best, Terry

This may or may not come as a surprise, but there’s more profanity on “The Internets” than in traditional media. Lots more. The enterprising blogger Patrick Ishmael (newsbuckit.blogspot.com) did an, excuse the pun, quick and dirty analysis of the ideological divide in online trash-talking. Make that, ideological chasm. He did a Google search for comedian George Carlin’s famous “seven dirty words” on popular lefty and righty blogs. Lefty Daily Kos took top honors with 146,000 pages containing one or more of the words in question. Its lefty competitor, The Huffington Post, was close behind with 109,000. No right-wing site reached even 10,000 on the Carlin scale.

A commenter at the site refined the methodology to account for overall site size, finding a “‘7 words’ to pages” ratio of “1 profanity every 2 pages” for Daily Kos and “1 every 121 pages” for the Free Republic (”the foulest” of the righty sites).

I just love it. I still miss bill

Your points are well taken —BUT– we must
beware of becoming entirely negative and thus
marginalizing any effort.

This shouldn’t be happening. Pelosi is a Grandmother after all…

David Scherrey @
306

Is there a point you’re trying to make, beyond a recitation of statistics that may be questionable?

Personally I find outright racism and sexism to be obscene — did the statistics account for these forms of inappropriate social conduct?

Wow.

Lieberman has managed to get exactly what he’s wanted. He’s put himself into a position where people on both sides of the aisle drop to their knees & give him BJs. All he has to do is threaten to vote with the Republicans or caucus with them, and he gets another carrot from the Democratic leadership. It just goes to show what a self-centered prick Lieberman is. He only cares about people making him feel important – using & abusing power – instead of caring about representing his constituents by doing what is right for his country.

I know this is late in the thread, but I just had to post this. I’ve never had a high level of contempt and disrespect for Lieberman until recently. I was disgusted that he did the C4L ploy, because that was the first sign than his ego was more important than the Democratic process and Democratic party. Ever since November, he’s been increasingly repulsive. I can’t believe I cast a vote for this disingenuous megolomaniac for Vice President.

Rayne @
310

David Scherrey @
306

,,,I find outright racism and sexism to be obscene — did the statistics account for these forms of inappropriate social conduct?

That’s mighty fine but what is race?

It is usually defined by popular prejudice and sociological claptrap. I get a particular kick out of “mixed race” when we all are.

Obviously those who think there is no way of easily distinguishing the general population of, say, Stockholm and Tokyo are blind as bats. But the inhabitants of Stockholm may be distinguished from other Europeans by their admixture of East Asian ancestry while royal lineage in Japan likely has a hefty dose of Indo-European ancestry.

Good to be against bad things. But it might be helpful to know what those things are I think.

What do you think race has to do with cussing? [I note that you seemed to dismiss such a notion.]

I think nothing at all.

Best, Terry

For sunny @ 302

Thanks. I think that preaching to the choir doesn’t bring change to the masses. I can debate the merits with any leftist around but I’d rather debate the merits with someone who holds an opposite view. I went to schools where I was taught to think, not to believe. After almost 4 years in the Mekong Delta the only thing I believed was that Charlie was gonna kill me if I wasn’t thinking. After 6 years of neo-con rule I think that they can still win if we don’t fight them in the streets. Every day, every non-violent way.

The Butcher’s Bill as of 3 March 2007:
3169 US Killed in Iraq

If we could kick the AIPAC the hell out of the country, perhaps Lieberman and his wife would follow, and Pelosi, yes, Pelosi, might at last come down to earth and do some real good. And please don’t raise that anti-Jewish red herring.

As for lefty cussing, the poet said it best:

“‘There are moments,’ writes poet Charles Simic, ‘when true invective is called for, when it becomes an absolute necessity, out of a deep sense of justice, to denounce, mock, vituperate, lash out, in the strongest possible language. But however we act, we’d do well to treat ordinary citizens with respect.’”

–quoted in “The argument culture,” Irish Times, December 17, 1998

But the hard right ain’t ordinary citizens, they’re beyond the pale, and they and their followers need to be dealt with accordingly, in the strongest possible terms.

SouthernDragon @
313

For sunny @ 302

After almost 4 years in the Mekong Delta…

When? Why?

I was stationed in Saigon for two years in the late 50’s. A JFK fan did more damage to me than a VC bomb had when I told him the nomination of Kennedy would lead to disaster.

Thanks for all you are doing. Sure hope your efforts are more worthwhile than mine.

Best, Terry

terry hallinan said-

My wonder was at your endorsement of a statement of a vote for Chuck Hagel as opposed to “DLC neocon Obama,” who was equated with Hillary Clinton.

We live in the state that takes in Arkansas’ most toxic trash: – New York. Sorry.

Best, Terry

Terry – Forgive me if I sounded like that at any time… I don’t support a vote for Hagel, ever. I don’t like Obamas tendency to favor DLC tactics, such as his recent speech to AIPAC etc. but I am trying to keep an open mind about Senator Obama (for cosideration later if my other favorites fall by the wayside).

As for who will be able to win or not (Kucinich) well it’s early, nothing is decided and I intend to support the best in the running for the position. Its preprimary and up until that season has passed I don’t want to accept the MSM notion that whoever is in a “winnable” position must be the only people we should take seriously.

After all, that is how Clinton made it to NY..

For Terry @ 315

1967-1970. Bounced between the Riverine Assault Force based at Dong Tam and the PCF’s at An Thoi on Phu Quoc. RAF operations were mostly Army ops against NLF guerrillas and NVA regulars. PCF ops mostly Phoenix missions. Young, dumb and crazy, that’s why. I knew JFK when I was a kid (I was born and raised in DC and lived not far from him and my stepdad owned a deli where he shopped) and met him a number of times after he became pres. Thought he was the greatest. History does show what fools we can be.

I don’t understand why my efforts would be more worthwhile than yours.

Never give up.

SouthernDragon @
317

I don’t understand why my efforts would be more worthwhile than yours.

Never give up.

Thank you very much.

I have gotten old, my friend. Not a good thing to get but the alternative is much worse.

Best, Terry

For Terry @ 318

Getting old is the object of the exercise.

Never give up.