Letters to the Editor
-
give up on the damned dems already
There is no difference between the 'parties'. It's over. Make that realization already...
-
Given the choice between an imitation republican and a real one..
The republicans will chose the real one each time. If the democratss try to act like republicans they are going to lose, and lose badly.
Oh, wait, the democrats DID imitate republicans in the last election, and they DID lose badly. Why are people still talking about this again?
-
Will Marshall is not a "centrist"
Goldberg gave almost a page to the Will Marshall and described him as a member of the " centrist Democratic Leadership Council"
Will Marshall isn't a centrist, he's a neoconservative and he cosigned a letter by the notorious "Project for a New American Century" endorsing the invasion of Iraq and a neoconservative worldview. Marshall is farther to the right than Lieberman himself. Marshall, regularly attacks liberals in his own party; his jab against the MoveOn types as "would-be cyber-commissars" is one of his milder criticisms. Only when it comes to a Republican tool like Joe Lieberman does Marshall begin to shed tears about party infighting, cautioning us about sending the message that some people aren't welcome in the Democratic Party.
Marshall is a loser and a coward and a collaborator. No political strategist would ever state that his political party was "stuck at a 48 percent ceiling." By writing off a majority of the United States population for the indefinite future, Marshall makes it clear that he simply doesn't find the viewpoints of the Democratic Party very compelling.
In other words, Marshall speaks for Democrats even less than Lieberman does. Marshall is part of the problem and he needs to go just as Lieberman does. Marshall was never elected, so we can't vote him out of office, but we can demand that the press prevents him from masquerading as a mainstream Democrat. I am addressing you, Ms. Goldberg.
-
So tired of this crap
Hearing all of this talk about moving more to the center is a laugh. There's a damn socialist in the house, voted in by people who voted for Dubya, that tells me the American people don't mind true progressive views, when they have the choice of picking them!
-
All the Rage
How clever of liberal Democrats to launch pre-emptive opposition to a third-term Bush presidency.
Maybe the Big Thinkers at MoveOn, etc., haven't noticed, but Bush & Cheney won't be running, and taking a "bold stand" against the Iraq War is, at this point, worse than silly.
While it might be fun in a Sixties-radical-kinda-way to purge the Democratic Party of "undesirables," it communicates absolutely nothing to Middle America.
Once again young-and-restless Democrats show absolutely zero interest in the boring, number-crunching, ambiguous business of realpolitik and economic policy.
Liberal Democrats can "rage" all they want at Liberman but, while they rage, the Republicans are busy formulating a coherent response to the Bush presidency, which will include policies regarding Iraq and domestic economics that the rank-and-file American voter can easily understand.
-
Talk about homogenization
The dems and republicans are looking more and more like eachother. Especially with moveon.org sponsoring (possibly) a candidate that is further left than Lieberman. Are the dems practicing a kind of whitewashing like the republicans? Sounds like it. If people are against the war than Lieberman's days are numbered, there's no reason to get all republican (see: mercenary) about a house majority.
-
Will Marshall authored the previous Post
Will, it's bedtime. You need your sleep. You have a busy day of bad-mouthing progressives ahead of you.
-
The real problem
I'm not sure who's right in the debate between Joe Lieberman and other centrist democrats who see a Democratic majority in seizing the middle ground and the progressives who argue that Democrats will never again seize a majority without an identity that distinguishes them. I do know, however, that once again I find Joe Lieberman simply wrong, and that's the real problem. We can worry about how things look politically all we want, but if we support policies that are failing, we'll ultimately fail too. If Joe Lieberman wants to be a statesman, how should try and occassionally get the policy right.
-
Lieberman plays for the other team...
Sorry, but there it is. For all his talk of liberalism, he's consistently opposed any progressive policies and consistently supported right wing agendas. Bush's war? Bush's tax cuts? You name it, Lieberman is right there pushing. His nadir came when he voted on cloture on a disastrous bankruptcy reform bill that will cause untold misery.
But even so, there are conservative Democrats. What makes Lieberman so objectionable? Very simply, he's always willing to attack his fellow Democrats and always willing to defend or excuse Republicans. Lieberman is Zell Miller without guts or personality.
Finally, and the truly sad thing, Lieberman has consistently shown the worst judgement of any major politician. Remember his Vice-Presidential run when he tried to restart the culture wars by attacking Hollywood... Yeah, that's all we needed. It was a non-issue before he came along, but Lieberman leaped like a pro-censorship tiger to attack Democratic supporters in the entertainment industry. Thanks a lot. Or consider his disastrous performance in the VP debate with Cheney. Or consider his handling of the post-election controversy, where he gave up the fight on illegal military ballots? The profound lack of judgement seen in his run shows up consistently through his political career. Joe picks the worst time, the worst targets and the wrong sides.
So call him a hypocrite, call him a backstabber, or call him a buffoon. No one in the Democratic party needs this guy.
-
Give me a break
All this worrying about just how far to the left or right the Democratic Party is keeps handing elections to Republicans. I live in Massachusetts where I must watch Kerry's frequent painful adjustments to find the exactly perfect spot on the left-right scale. In 2004, he lost an election to someone who is demonstrably incompetent and deceitful. Can we please stop all this adjusting? Can we please have the courage and intellectual honesty to take principled positions? If moderates were drawn to position-splitters, Democrats would be running the country.
Opposition to Lieberman is a matter of principle and it shows that the Democratic Party is not afraid of its platform.
-
Snake
When I have seen Lieberman throwing kisses to Bush, my blood has boiled and I have not forgotten how quickly he turned on Clinton during his Monica troubles. I don't like the man in any way and I am not sure he is to be trusted within the party. As far as backing someone else, Weicker seems much more sincere, reflecting precisely my views on Iraq and the Democratic senators who gave their okay to the idiotic invasion. But...actually actively sending money to someone other than a Democrat, even Lieberman, could be destructive to party efforts to attract a broad base. I am content with letting the chips fall where they may; however, I would never give to Lieberman's campaign!