Now here's something you'll really like, The Washington Post provides a nifty database of votes by Senators along with what the "official" GOP and Democratic Position was. This makes looking at the voting record of a particular Senator crystal clear. Click on the vote itself and see the actual vote totals. Pretty simple.
So what would have happened if the killer bees had Ned Lamont voting in place of Lieberman? The answer is that the vote outcomes would not have changed. Which means that every outrage the killer bees feel would still be an issue. The killer bees would have you think that the actual votes don't matter much, "it's the rhetoric" that matters.
Except that the Democrats as a party have a long history of governing better, a tradition Senator Lieberman is a part of. Governing means actually doing things, instead of just talking about it. The work of a senator includes sponsoring legislation, and amending bills. The committees who control what gets sent on are all are chaired by the members whose party holds the majority, the Republicans. As it turns out, being able to compromise and make deals is a good thing. A senator can't be effective he's not willing to work with his colleagues, just look at Bill Frist as an example.
The killer bees would have you think that this primary vote is about the soul of the Democratic party. It's not, it's about the soap box of the Democratic party.
14 comments:
There is a place where rhetoric and governing meet - and it's the Senate if it's anywhere.
Lieberman literally opened debate for the Republicans while debating the Iraq amendments. Russ Feingold and John Kerry were both cut short so the Republicans could speak, and then the first person to speak on the Republican time was (who else?) Joe Lieberman. I'm thrilled with all he has done for ANWR, etc., but no "Democrat" should be the lead-off hitter for the Republicans. That is the difference.
The real problem lies in the Democratic caucus forcing Joe Lieberman to speak on Republican time. I think Harry Reid has done a great job as Minority Leader, but Democrats need to get in the habit of listening to dissenting views within the party. Joe should've been able to give his same speech on Democratic time.
Lieberman is a valuable moderate voice in our party and there are some who don't accept him for it. He isn't facing a tough primary challenge because he spoke on Republican time. He spoke on Republican time because it was either that or silence. That's a shame.
Bruce,
Heres a partial list of Turfgrrls clients from her own website.
AOL/Time Warner
+ Melanie Eve Barocas
+ Channel Sources
+ Digrazia Vineyards
+ Dun + Bradstreet
+ Enteractive
+ Fusco Corporation
+ Iomega Corporation
+ Jacob Marley's
+ Kirby Lester
+ Message Center Management MCM
+ Major League Soccer
+ Modem Media
+ New Haven International Festival of Arts + Ideas
+ Novartis
+ OfficeMax
+ PC NET
+ Power Smart
+ Schick
+ Smart World Communications
+ Software AG
+ Speedware
+ Telemar
+ UPS
+ WondriskaR
I wonder if she got a bonus from Fusco for getting GC to put her on the front page here?
Shouldn't those on the front page here reveal their conflicts BEFORE they post?
BR,
Should any anti-war expression from someone who once supported the war be taken with a grain of salt? Senator Kerry seems to have won over the anti-war crowd just recently, and he certainly played more political games with the war than Diane Farrell has. A lot of smart, principled Democrats supported this war initially and have since come around. I count Diane Farrell among them.
BR,
I have the same position as the likes of Diane Farrell and John DeStefano. Joe Lieberman couldn't be more wrong on the war, but they're not about to overlook his accomplishments as a great U.S. Senator for Connecticut. It's not hard to see which candidate has the track record and national reach to do good work for the state of Connecticut.
I honestly don't meant to repeat Lieberman campaign talking points, but they do have some merit. When I refer to his accomplishments, I mean that don't believe that a Ned Lamont and Chris Dodd delegation would've been able to save the Groton sub base like Lieberman did.
Lieberman's support for NAFTA and CAFTA was based on his principled support for free trade. The merits are debatable, but he was a Democrat standing for what he believes in. As a pro-life Democrat, I certainly deviate from the party platform from time to time, but I would never take seriously accusations that I'm a DINO. Lieberman has balls. I respect him for standing up for unpopular policies that he really believes are the right thing to do.
...and I honestly don't mean to use awful grammar that puts my entire argument into question.
Coulter, Hannity, and Bennett have obviously given their tongue-in-cheek support to Lieberman simply to fire up liberals. The more infuriated Democrats get with Lieberman and his right-wing "supporters" the more they can turn around and say "Look, they're angry." I think we all know better than to take that lot seriously.
Wow,
If this is true about Trufgrrl, shw has some explaining to do.
As a blogger, you should explain yourself if there is a conflict of interest and TrueBlue and Keith offer a pretty solid case.
If Trufgrrl has a friendship with Lynn Fusco, then she should be removed from this blog pronto. I mean really, do you think Lynn (and Lieberman's camp) don't know that Trufgrrl posts here (I was amazed on the ease in which TrueBlue and Keith were able to connect the dots. It's amazing the power of a google search).
FYI: Lynn Fusco is Joe Lieberman's treasurer...get the picture.
This is bad...real bad.
I'm not a fan of Trufgrrl because she just throws bombs without backing it up with facts but this goes way beyond that. Not letting anyone know about your relationship with Lynn Fusco and the Fusco Corporation is a big no, no and I bet Genghis didn't even know about it.
Wow.
I have an 18 year history online, various companies, and hundreds of clients. I've even had a few campaigns as clients. None of this relevant, or is it a conflict of interest.
This is different and you know it. You're a blogger on a popular political site, you have a connection (and I would say direct) with the treasurer of the Lieberman campaign but you never posted a disclaimer and that's wrong.
Imagine is I let someone who was friends with John Hartwell post on my blog and all he did was rip Joe Lieberman while never mentioning that
he is buddies with the treasurer of Lamont's campaign.
You're arrogance will be your downfall and I promise you as the "two degres of seperation" relationship between you and the Lieberman campaign circulates throughout the national blogs, the credibility of this site will be put into question and it will all be due to you.
It's bad enough that you're dishonest and too weak to back up any of your claims with facts, people now consider you to be a mole for the Lieberman camp.
See you on the 8th :-)
Imagine is I let=Imagine if I let...
damn typos.
Also for the record, I've talked to turfgrrl and am satisfied that there is no conflict of interest here. I'll leave it to her to divulge the details she told me about her business if she so chooses, but you can see what she said about Fusco here (referred to as Lynn Fusso, obviously a typo). Again, there is no conflict of interest that I see and turfgrrl has my complete confidence. Really.
Thanks everyone for your vigilance, and apologies to turfgrrl.
Typical,
The "I'LL DARE YOU ACCUSE ME" defense instead of,I made a mistake,heres everything.
Karl Rove would be so proud.You've even got the victim part down pat.
Neal said... "
"personal passion for free trade" has been a slap in the face for our working class. "
You're entitled to your own opinion, just not your own facts.
For starters I hope you're rude to everyone you know who drives a Toyota (the only vehicle manufacturer in No. American, Europe or Japan with zero CT content throughout their entire line. (Even cars not sold in the US often have some CT content.)
Next, don't look now but no state in 50 gained more with NAFTA than we did. CT's number one export destination is in fact MEXICO.
Sorry to interupt your little rant...carry on now.......
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