The verdict’s in
Harriet Miers won’t get an up or down vote.
And I’m changing my registration back to Independent where I’ll pursue the rise of third parties because the two party system is broken.
Kevin Drum asks the wrong question: “What does this say about the lefty blogosphere?”
The real questions are: What will the lefty blogosphere learn from this and aim to schieve next? And what does this mean for the chances of American democracy to survive?
The best comment I’ve read. Because we’re in a war and this is just one battle. Surrender is not an option.
The best message we can send in response to this cloture vote? Kevin de Bruxelles nails it. Let’s ‘raise the bat and put $100,000 in Ned Lamont’s coffers in the next 24 hours. We don’t need to immolate numerous Dems. Let’s target one, the titular head of the DINOs, as that will reverberate to the others that DINOs will be facing extinction if they don’t evolve.
Akaka, Daniel K. (D-HI) Yes
Baucus, Max (D-MT) Yes
Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM) Yes
Byrd, Robert C. (D-WV) Yes
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA) Yes
Carper, Thomas R. (D-DE) Yes
Conrad, Kent (D-ND) Yes
Dorgan, Byron L. (D-ND) Yes
Harkin, Tom (D-IA) NV NV
Inouye, Daniel K. (D-HI) Yes
Johnson, Tim (D-SD) Yes
Kohl, Herb (D-WI) Yes
Landrieu, Mary L. (D-LA) Yes
Lieberman, Joseph I. (D-CT) Yes
Lincoln, Blanche L. (D-AR) Yes
Nelson, Bill (D-FL) Yes
Nelson, E. Benjamin (D-NE) Yes
Pryor, Mark L. (D-AR) Yes
Rockefeller, John D., IV (D-WV) Yes
Salazar, Ken (D-CO) Yes
They’ll say they were trying to preserve the filibuster from being nuked, but when Alito nukes America, what good is that?
Update: Since Lamont’s still in an exploratory phase, there’s no place to send your bucks just yet. Maybe we can convince Jane Hamsher or Kos to setup a special fund that will go 100% for Lamont if he runs, and otherwise will be spent on ANYONE who’ll put up a primary challenge to Lieberman (DINO head) or to Landrieux (because Katrina’s victims deserve at least one politician to be on their side).
January 30th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
That’s a good plan. Lieberman is as whiny as Jim Leach and progressive as a stump. Yeah, it’s time to drive the DINOs to extinction. That’s one message to send and hopefully will stiffen some sappy spines. Another one, if I may suggest, is that corruption caries a price beyond your soul. Contribute to Francine Bushby in CA-50 (Randy “Dukestir” Cuningham’s old foraging grounds). The message there is to the republicans: Were going to retake the house in 06!
January 30th, 2006 at 11:39 pm
I’m sick of this “don’t surrender” shit. How about an actual honest and frank discussion of strategic options instead of the Bush-shit about how we’re “turning the corner” and how we must “stay the course”?
The people I see surrendering are the ones who knee-jerk assume that after each “defeat” what needs to be done is the same stuff that caused the last defeat only more of it. Just keep doing exactly the same thing again and again. Maybe next time it will work.
If that’s fighting then they are punch drunk.
More like addicts than soldiers.
Let me get this straight. We’re in the middle of a constitutional crisis led by a president who was brought to power by a coup arranged by a corrupt court and now he’s further packing the same corrupt court. The Dems had enough people to stop it but chose not to. Why? I guess they had other priorities. Or they didn’t want to upset their Republican constituents perhaps.
But the good news is that if there is ever another vote this important and if the left can beg and plead with their so-called representatives as effectively and oh yeah, if no Republican senators bother to show up to vote, then we MIGHT scrape through with a majority vote in our favour, although don’t expect it to be 25-20 because we were doing so well to get that this time.
Here’s a thought.
Why don’t we all just vote Republican? They wouldn’t vote for our policies either but at least we’d start with a larger number of Senators in “our” party and apparently that’s all that matters.
This has been such a huge farce. But alternatives to this delusional thinking can’t even be discussed because that would be “surrendering”.
What the fuck does “let’s retake the party” mean? It has never been “our” party. It has always belonged to the rich and the corporations that these senators have to spend half their lives running around begging for money. Has this so-called plan ever worked? Of course not.
Would you ever bargain this way in any other aspect of your life? Hey Mr grocer man here’s eighty bucks. Maybe latter on you could give me some groceries huh? No? Ok here’s another eighty. No? Ok here’s some more cash. A tin of turnips you say? I don’t really like turnips but … oh wow at least I got something!! woweee!!
Somehow when the megacorps donate I am thinking they know exactly what they are getting. $20,000? Sure if you make sure I get $20 million in corporate welfare. What are we? Fucking idiots? Oh gee the Senate didn’t vote on principle again? Oh wow that was so surprising. Gosh can’t they see how important this is? It’s almost as if they have different priorities. Naaah that can’t be it.
Boneheaded.
January 31st, 2006 at 7:39 am
I thought the real question was, “Why does the lefty blogosphere - or any section of the blogosphere - think itself so disproportionately important?” It’s the same question I’ve asked of online comics fandom, which vocal minority still doesn’t really represent the average comics buyer. Neither do we, as clever and insightful as we think ourselves to be, represent the average voter, even the average liberal voter.
January 31st, 2006 at 6:31 pm
While you can’t contribute yet to Ned’s campaign, you will be able to contribute soon. Until then, you can at least make a pledge.
In addition, please try to get as many volunteers from Connecticut to sign up. We are going to win this thing, and we are going to do it by all of us getting out and talking about the issues and why Ned is the Democrat we need.
http://www.nedlamont.com