NOTE: this blog is no longer active as of 12/07. New one: http://blog.kirchhof.com
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Wed, 09 Aug 2006
Democracy Works
Well, good. Joe Lieberman, a three term incumbent Democratic
senator in Connecticut was handed his hat in the primary last night
and told to find his way to the egress. It was widely viewed as a
referendum on Bush, and Bush's coat tails took Lieberman down the
drain.
I couldn't be happier. I originally thought that Lieberman was a
pretty good strategic choice for veep in the 2000 election, but it
took me about two weeks to get tired of his "more pious than thou"
religious marketeering and his "knee-jerk centrist" attitude on the
issues that are of import to me. For the last four years, he's been
protesting that he's a "Loyal Democrat" while he rubber-stamped
virtually every outrage that the Republican side could bring up for a
vote in the Senate. Lieberman earned his results last night.
Now we find out who he really is. Instead of a statesmanlike
concession and an endorsement of his party's choice, he is bolting the
party and running as an independent. His response? "For the sake of
our state, our country and my party, I cannot and will not let that
result stand." Oh
really? Your state your party and your country are wrong
because they don't want to give you another six years, mocking them at
the Republican feeding trough? Boo hoo, Little Joe.
This is a big loss for the DLC, for the lobbies of the beltway, and
it strikes real fear into the hearts of the Republican reelection
committees. Look for the spin; it's already starting. The "Democrat"
party has been taken over by wild-eyed lefty hippie peaceniks!! Protect
your children!! The "War on Terrrr" is at risk!
There's only one small issue with that tack - jingoism isn't
working like it used to. A full 2/3rds of this nation believe that
the war in Iraq is a fundamental mistake. More than that believe that
our President is an incompetent fool, even some who support his
policies. Almost 50% of us (Wow!) are now aware that Iraq didn't have
a damned thing to do with 9/11. And we as a people are finally
beginning to more clearly distinguish between legitimate anti-terror
actions and using the military as a tool for big money profiteering.
The American people are slow, but they usually get it right after a
while. Lieberman got bounced in a freely contested election because
he didn't represent his constituents. It is called "democracy." And
there's a lot more of it in the wings, waiting to speak just as clearly.
Posted at 09:46 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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