One of today's writers posted a comment which included a quote from my posting with regard to the Daily KOS yearly event, the issue of "progressive Democrats" and the DLC. The writer said that no junior senator has been elected without DLC support.

Ironically, as I was researching the definition of "progressive Democrat" for my friend, I was also doing research to determine whether my state's junior senator - Barack Obama - was a member of the DLC. In the process I learned a lot about the DLC, mainly because prior to the election The Black Commentator raised the issue of Obama's possible membership in the DLC. The organization had actually listed him as a member and also highlighted him as one of the 100 Democrat rising stars.

For three editions, the dialogue went back and forth between BC and Obama until the Senator finally put it in writing that he is not nor has he ever been a member of the DLC. (Frankly, until I saw that I, too, thought he was.) That kind of belies the idea that all junior senators are beholden to the DLC, doesn't it?

And yes, I still don't understand or approve of the Lieberman endorsement from Obama---mentor or not! I applaud Alexander Cockburn for taking him to task several times on that action. Moreover, I believe that no matter what kind of commitment party leaders think the Senator owes to them, his first commitment is to the people of Illinois!

Interestingly, my research also showed that people are beginning to flee from involvement in - or connection to - the DLC. It doesn't seem to be a positive thing these days, I learned, to be a DLC candidate or a DLC officeholder.

Perhaps the Republican-wannabe-DLC (and yes, Bill Clinton was a good Republican president) has reached its limit of influence. Thanks to the bloggers who tell it like it is -- and some of whom are now saying "Show us your LIBERAL credentials" to aspiring Democrat candidates -- we may see an end of "Republican Lite" and a return to "Happy Days are Here Again" with real Democrats getting elected and serving---honestly!---in public office.

Damn, if I had only been able to predict the numbers then, I could have pulled our money from those investments that went down the tubes when Bush/Cheney came into office, and put them into Halliburton!

Earlier today I received an e-mail from Senator Kerry showing the handful of Senators that voted with him on the Feingold-Kerry proposal to began removing troops from Iraq by July 1, 2007. I am pleased to note that one of my Senators, Dick Durbin, voted with them. Sadly, Senator Barack Obama didn't and, thus, continues to frustrate many of us who felt we were voting for a man of substance and integrity.

But what's more interesting is that I just received an e-mail from Senator Hillary Clinton touting her message YESTERDAY on the floor of the Senate to began withdrawing troops from Iraq. She said she supported the Levin amendment. But she didn't vote for the Feingold-Kerry one and the timing of her e-mail tells me that she's concerned that Kerry and Feingold placed out there for everyone to see the fact that she DIDN'T vote on the same issue TODAY.

Obama and Clinton are both disappointments. I wonder how things will pan out when they start to go after each other in their efforts to become either the first female or the first part-African-American president. This STRONG FEMINIST and CIVIL RIGHT PROPONENT wouldn't vote for either one at this point in time!

First, it's apparent that you can't even insult these TV journalists and get a rise! I loved Springsteen's "present company included" comment.

But, on to Ann Coulter. Another blog writer has suggested we take advantage of Coulter's latest outrageous comments and turn the tables on the Republicans. Instead of cowering and saying "I'm not a Liberal, I'm a Progressive" or hiding our ACLU membership cards or letting them get away with their "cut and run" statements, we should simply start asking them if they're "Ann Coulter Republicans." Each and every Republican we encounter should have to answer whether or not he or she is an "Ann Coulter Republican" and if they support her comments about the 9/11 widows, or fragging of John Murtha, or any of the other silly nonsense that spews forth from her hateful lips.

When I read that, I immediately penned a short letter to my local paper telling them that I'm proud to be an ACLU-supporting Liberal Democrat and not a hate-mongering, filth-spewing Ann Coulter Republican. Do it, folks. It'll make you feel a lot better. Oh, and when you visit your local bookstore, simply turn Coulter's books backwards on the shelf. Just one small step for for your personal piece of mind---and one giant step for liberal democracy! If they don't see her face, they probably won't buy her crap.

Why do we keep kidding ourselves into thinking that George Bush believes in ANYTHING? The hardest part of Tony Snow's job is the need to create an image that the man has a brain! (And while we're at it, how many readers are getting tired of that phrase "slippery slope"?)

When Arlen Specter asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales why OPR's lawyers were denied access to the warrantless spying program when "many other lawyers in the Department of Justice had clearance" Gonzales' response was: "The president of the United States makes the decision about who's ultimately given access." Obviously, someone didn't listen closely to what he whispered under his breath, as he crossed his fingers behind his back. The full text was "The president of the United States makes the decison about who's ultimately given access, and that person, honorable Senators, is Richard Cheney."