Jumpin' JoeMentum!

[filkertom]

Oh, you'll love this. Dubya's favorite "Democrat", Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, has just announced that he's going to remain in the CT Dem primary, but also start collecting signatures to get himself on the ballot as an independent in case he loses. Calls himself a "petitioning Democrat".

Which basically means what we knew all along: The only thing that matters to Lieberman is his seat at the table, his spot in the pecking order.

CT Dems should, bluntly, boot him out of the party, not give him another dime of campaign funds, and get squarely behind Lieberman's primary opponent, Ned Lamont.

How are your elected representatives representing you lately? I'm at about 60/40 -- Conyers is amazing, but Levin and Stabenow are a little uneven. Wouldn't trade Levin for anybody, though.

Comments

[the_rck]

I do wish, though, that Levin had an e-mail address that I could find...

[aulayan.livejournal.com]

Levin's Contact Page (http://levin.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm). Sure, it's a formpage so you don't actually get it, but it supposedly gets to his office. Unless you mean PERSONAL E-mail address.

Personally, while I wish Levin was a little more pro-environment, I'm fine with him. Stabenow I like due to her health care stances, but her recent vote on the last amendment troubled me.

And Hoekstra is the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and despite his stance against Hayden, I usually find him unsatisfying. Of course, I am a liberal and he's a conservative that votes party lines on nearly everything, so that is probably why.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Go here (http://levin.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm).

[the_rck]

I'm wary of webforms because my browser (Safari) often doesn't work with them and eats what I've typed rather than sending it or leaving it on the screen and giving me an error message.

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Picked a hell of a day to announce this, didn't he? I'm just mad "The Daily Show" can't take a crack at him. (Of course, that means they can't turn me all cynical and distrustful of politicians, as is their wont.)

... too excited to spell correctly. Grr.

[aulayan.livejournal.com]

Between Ted Steven's recent statement on how the Internet works, and this announcement by Lieberman, I'm sure Stewart and the gang will do some stuff next week. If it's important or funny enough, they'll mention it despite their lateness.

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Word is there'll be a TDS ep on Wednesday. And yes, Steven's statement about the Internet was the funniest thing I've heard recently. (His staff sent him an internet? Now everyone's gonna want one.)

[ericcoleman]

I must have missed this ... what did he say ???

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

The Internet is a strange and magical place (http://blog.wired.com/27BStroke6/index.blog?entry_id=1512499) where anything can happen. If you can make any sense of this, please let the world know. :-)

[ericcoleman]

::blink::

::blink blink::

HUH ???

This hurts to read ...

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Well, CLEARLY he's saying ... um ... that the ... uh ... laser cats are, um, too risky to be ...

Yeah, I got nothing. Too bad there's no Babelfish translator for "Senatorese to English."

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

I remember when anyone who wanted to be a Senator had to have mastered the art of clear and cogent public speaking. It was part of the basic training for the job.

Of course, that was in Rome, a few years ago now...

OTOH, axylides who is by no means stupid, finds the various jargon terms confusing and tends to use them interchangeably. But then, she doesn't hold public office...

[mathmuffin.livejournal.com]

Checking Senator Ted Stevens' biography, he was born in 1923 and has been a senator for 37 years. The key to translating his speech is to view him as an old guy whose staff handles Internet contact for him. He has no feel for the Internet and does not know the vocabulary.

In his speech, he seems to think that the Internet is short on bandwidth and does not want to encourage sending movies over the Internet because that would consume more of the channels (which he calls "tubes") that are best used for Web pages for small business and personal use. And he thinks that a regulation for net neutrality would encourage sending movies over the Internet, so he is against the regulation.

Erin Schram

[kengr]

The page won't load.... or, rather it just sts there *trying* to load forever

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Try here (http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/7/2/142626/9066).

[kengr]

I finally got it to open. Used the "open in IE" in firefox and just let that window sit there until it finally loaded. Yergh. That is *so* bad...

Representation

[bschilli.livejournal.com]

Not bad. Baldwin and Feingold are great, Kohl is okay.

Ben

Re: Representation

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I'd support Gore/Feingold in a heartbeat.

Re: Representation

[bschilli.livejournal.com]

I won't. Feingold is too good to be given the sinecure of Vice President. Let's try the 2000 ticket again...

Ben

Re: Representation

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Let's not. Gore, sure. But Joe needs to go into business somewhere, get wealthier, and get out of politics.

I like what I read from Tom Vilsack, governor of Iowa. I think he'd add huge credibility to a Gore ticket: geographic balance and a demonstrated ability to communicate to and win in a "red" state are at the top of the pragmatic list. (He's also not afraid to fight, and apparently holds a progressive set of values.)

[ericcoleman]

Two words ... Tom Harkin

This quote from Wikipedia says a lot

Along with California Senator Barbara Boxer, Harkin is one of only two Senate Democrats to come out in favor of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold's resolution to censure President George W. Bush.

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Brad Sherman, D-CA. Feckless little weasel. Don't like'im at all.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

I can't BELIEVE Ensign voted FOR the flag-burning ammendment!

Ah, well... I guess can overlook it this ONCE.

[hiddenriver.livejournal.com]

I donated to Ned Lamont's campaign a couple of months ago and will do so again after he wins the primary (thinking positive here)...and I don't even live in Connecticut. Goodbye, Joe, and good riddance.

My rep is Jay Inslee (the guy behind the Apollo Energy Project), so yeah...I'm pretty happy with him for the most part.

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

My senators are doing fine. My representative, however, is the Speaker of the House. 'Nuff said?

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Wolf (VA 10th) is about as moderate as I can expect to get from this district. I'm sure he understood the state house election results last November, when the eastern half of his district threw out several radical rightists. My senators, on the other hand, aren't doing enough good. Regardless of my personal political stance, just sheer long-term practicality should be booting them in the head. Warner's likely to retire, and Allen might run for prez in '08. If they want Republicans to fill those seats, they'd best take a hard look at things, and ask themselves: do they realize just how much damage the current administration is doing to the Republicans in Virginia, and do they have the cojones to do something about it?

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Got some issues with both Senators (Hilary and Chuck). I wish they'd hew more to a solidly progressive line, instead of caving to Republican pressure, and, of course, it would be nice if Schumer would disown Joe. Today's announcement seems a good time and reason to do so. (Reminds me, must go read the latest in Firedoglake, which has had the best Lamont coverage from day 1.)

[sdelmonte]

I like Chuck Schumer a lot. He's gutsy, he does a lot for the people of the state, and he is pretty liberal (though hawkish).

Hillary Clinton hasn't been much of a senator. Were she someone not named Hillary Clinton, she would be a decent first-term senator from the minority party, learning the ropes. But since she wants to president (or so we've been told by the GOP and the media), she asks to be judged differently. And there is nothing about her term that makes her worthy of that job. Her wishy-washiness on Iraq doesn't help either. I don't have any trouble with her being re-elected, but it would have been nice to have a choice from within the party.

My congressman is an unimpressive man named Anthony Weiner. He takes strong stands in favor of homeland security and Israel, but I don't know anything else about him, or whether he is good with constituent services. He is one of the interchangeable party hacks that get elected too often in a one-party city.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Ron Wyden is about as good as you can expect a Senator to get. Smith, the Republican, is disgusting.

Pete "the Faz" DeFazio is wonderful. I hope he goes after Smith in 2008.

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

DeFazio is indeed cool; I went into major culture shock when I went from him to Christopher Cox. (Still conflicted over whether it's good that he gave up his seat to become SEC chairman.) I'd love to see DeFazio as a Senator.

I've just moved up to WA, but I was proud of Boxer, and Feinstein...enh.

No idea yet who my rep is in WA. (*checks* Dave Reichert--anyone heard of him?) I've heard good things about Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, but I'm vague on details.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

My Congress-critter is Zoe Lofgren (http://www.house.gov/lofgren/). I like what she's done for both the nation and the district.

My Senators are Feinstein and Boxer. Feinstein is starting to annoy me with some of her positions and Boxer is too far-liberal for my tastes. (What can I say, I'm liberal on some issues, quite conservative on others.)

I find myself becoming a Goldwater Republican. Should the GOP ever get back to its roots of supporting a small government that sticks to the duties given it in the Constitution, I'd change parties.

[louisadkins.livejournal.com]

Every time I read something like this guys response I hear Jim Carrey as the Grinch from the scene where he is talking to himself in his home cave. The voice reverbs back through the cave (and my head) to say... "You're an idiot!"

[umbran.livejournal.com]

Which basically means what we knew all along: The only thing that matters to Lieberman is his seat at the table, his spot in the pecking order.

Watching CNN right now, and they mention that Ned Lamont has no experience in public office. Watching an interview with Lieberman on the channel, he says it is because he really and truly feels that he can do a better job than his opponent.

Governance is not about loyalty to a party. When a man's political affiliation comes before the job he can do for his constituents, real democracy is sorely wounded.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

That's a very good point, but parties have become, in general, what people vote for (which for me is the real rebar through democracy's torso), and the comforting fiction is that politicians belong to a particular party because they agree with its principles. If he had declared that he was no longer able in conscience to belong to that party, then okay, that's a principled stand, but this is just hedging his bets.

And he would say that, wouldn't he? They all do. When I march on Parliament with fire and sword and crown myself King Zander the First, it'll be because I really and truly feel I can do a better job than anyone the people might elect. The money, the power, the perks, are nothing to me. Honest. :)

[umbran.livejournal.com]

but this is just hedging his bets.

Ah, but if he were a principled man, hedging the bets would still be a viable tactic. If it is important to him, it is worth hedging. What we are quibbling over is the reason for the importantce.

And he would say that, wouldn't he? They all do.

Yep. He'd say that in either case. That doesn't mean it can't be true.

That's the thing - so far, the observed behavior is consistent with both the cynical and the optimistic interpretation.

[aylinn.livejournal.com]

I hate my congress-critter. http://bartlett.house.gov/

I'm still iffy on the senators
http://mikulski.senate.gov/
I kinda like her.

http://sarbanes.senate.gov/
He's leaving this year.

[mathmuffin.livejournal.com]

As a fellow resident of Maryland (I enjoyed Aylinn speaking at the Women in Gaming panel at Balticon), I have the same senators. Barbara Mikulski spoke at a rally I attended once. I like that she likes to keep in touch and explain herself to her constituents. My representative is Elijah Cummings, and I never hear anything about him in the news. Is that good or bad?

Erin Schram

[aylinn.livejournal.com]

*blink*

*waves*

well, I'd say good. you can look up his votes on the house websites and decide further from there.

At least YOUR rep isn't making news because he hangs out at the Moonie breakfasts or votes to support Jim Trafficant! yech, ptui. I've been dutifully trying to vote out Bartlett since I moved down from NY.

Mind you, I'm still in culture shock from that move and it'll have been 10 years in November.

I was a good voter - I voted in every election they held. EVERY year. I move to MD & do the voter reg bit when I re-regged the cars. I then went to vote on that tuesday.

okay, first - THE SCHOOLS WERE STILL OPEN! (election day is holy in NY - the schools close.)

Second, the place where I was supposed to vote wasn't hosting an election. (okay that I could buy - they expected such a low turnout that they only closed one school.)

Then came the kicker. I got to the place where they WERE holding elections and got told to GO HOME. *plotz* There was nothing for me to vote on in my election district.

NOTHING. No county, no state just the city which I lived outside the voting area. no referendums, no proposals - ZILCH. To give you an idea - there is always something to vote on every year in NY.

And I miss those good ol' lever action mechanical voting booths as well.

fellow Marylander

[wayward-va.livejournal.com]

I just moved back into Maryland from Virginia, to my parent's old house. I like Mikulski and Sarbanes. I'm not sure about either of the two front-runners to replace Sarbanes this year.

My house used to be in Connie Morella's district. I thought she was an excellent Congresswoman. Great constituent service, represented the views of the district, and stayed in the Republican party to 'fight the good fight from within' as it were. Sadly you weren't living in Maryland when we sent actual liberal Republicans like Charles Mathias to the Senate and Congress. Then you'd understand how the district could have voted Republican.

But Connie Morella was moved out thru redistricting. Now I find I'm in Albert Wynn's district. I have no idea what 'common interest' my suburban Montgomery County neighborhood is supposed to have with Mt. Ranier and Camp Springs but there you go. I'll have to check Wynn's positions and voting record between now and November.

[blackpaladin.livejournal.com]

This is where I hang my head and mention that I'm from Pennsylvania, right? (Oh the shame! The terrible shame!)

At least my guy in the House is pretty good...

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Lucky you all, who have representatives who periodically represent... my senators, but for odd, inexplicable moments, are doofuses (doofii?) and my representative is essentially lock-step. I have to adopt representation from other states and prior residences... I haven't lived in the Toledo area for 13 years, but I still count Marcy Kaptur as my representative, and I've adopted Tom Harkin and Russ Feingold as my senators.

[ladymer.livejournal.com]

You think you've got it bad? My senators are Lisa Murkowski (appointed to the job BY HER FATHER!) and Ted Stevens (mentioned above). And the chances of getting either out is slim to none. Well, maybe Murkowski, but Stevens is gonna die in office. And my rep is Don Young, but I haven't given up hope that one of these days will vote HIM out.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

We've got Dick Durbin and Barak Obama in the senate, so it doesn't get much better than that. Our Rep, unfortunately, is Henry Hyde. The good news is that he's retiring, and the D's seem to have a good chance of taking the seat.

My real question is as follows - It was pointed out to me recently that there are actual, good reasons that it's usually governors, not senators who get elected President (to whit that being an executive is a different skill set than being a legislator, and it's good for people to have some experience before they get the top job.) Given that, does anyone here have anything good to say about their governors? (Other than Granholm, who's not eligible.) I am sad to say that Illinois' Rod Blagojavic is a tool, and may be indicted soon.

-Nameseeker