Rant

Olbermann.

Good night, and good luck.

House Forecast

By Chris Bowers.

Do I agree? I understand Kos' pessimism, but I'm an optimist. If we don't reach the goals we set, we'll push the bar even further and work twice as hard.

Soundbite!

Paul Hackett on the Republican candidate for TX-17.

The Sky Falls - Good News for Republicans

If you are a member of the beltway media, then there a silver lining in every cloud for every Republican. In an election season where the stories should be focused on the overall anti-Republican trend - which is happening and is not just a progressive wet dream - how else can you explain an anti-Democrat fantasy like this?

In a year when Republicans are on the defensive almost everywhere else, the GOP smells a chance for victory in Michigan -- and a leg up on a vital presidential battleground for 2008, a state where such Republican hopefuls as Arizona Sen. John McCain and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are already spending lots of time.

Broder has been drinking - and probably making - the kool aid for much too long now. He even admits in the last paragraph, after he has made his point, that

In truth, parts of Michigan are doing well, including this area in the northwest corner of the Lower Peninsula, where more and more executives from Chicago and other big cities are living and working via Internet and cellphone while enjoying the lakes and golf courses in their back yards. Ann Arbor and other university towns are also thriving, and some high-tech businesses are beginning to arrive in the state, lured by new business incentives pushed by the governor.

Then why is the thesis of his piece "A Ray of GOP Hope"? The interesting trend is how Republicans are in a rout this election season - just look at how the media treated the Democrats in recent elections - not how the Republicans can possibly win one governorship - and never mind that the article does not even focus on how great the GOP candidate is, just on how bad things are for the Democrat because of the auto industry - in the upcoming elections.

This kind of hack editorializing is not much different from the Bush 32% - 33% approval rating bounce that had the media salivating. Woohoo! Only real whack jobs dislike the President. I cannot find the fantastic Media Matters article that explains the silver lining thesis very well, but it says the media will act like this:

Good month in Iraq? Good news for Bush! His plan is working!

Bad month in Iraq? Good news for Bush! He can paint Democrats as weak on security and step up the war on terror!

The silver lining in this cloud is that it is always good to find another constant in life.

By the Way

I know have not posted much on the economy of late - though I hope that will change if I get the job I really want - but both the big and small pictures are we're fucked.

However, I think bonddad is overly pessimistic because he is missing a couple points - namely, if we can get out of Iraq, or cut off funding, then we can spend that money domestically and we can get rid of Bush's tax cuts and corporate subsidies. These actions might help some, but we're still fucked.

Sen. Dude Ranch

Because it is no longer feasible to be outright racist to black people in public - although Republicans still do so, just look at Coretta Scott King's funeral - Republicans will turn to the next available minority:

"This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great," Allen said, as his supporters began to laugh. After saying that Webb was raising money in California with a "bunch of Hollywood movie moguls," Allen said, "Let's give a welcome to macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." Allen then began talking about the "war on terror."

Depending on how it is spelled, the word macaca could mean either a monkey that inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa. In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs.

This is beyond absurd. The fellow in question happens to be born and raised in "America and the real world of Virginia", quite unlike Allen who grew up in L.A. and spent a good deal of time on a dude ranch. The people running our country are avowed racists and psycopaths. Plus, for the money,

Anyone who speaks French knows what Macaque means... both in context of the animal and the slur. And we know now, thanks to Dr. Cornier, George Allen speaks French.

Oh George, your true colors are showing. On the plus side, the Webb campaign just got a whole lot of good, free press.

Time to Go, Joe

The both of them.

IT IS OVAH!!!!!

Joementum has hit a brick wall.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman conceded to cable executive Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary for the Connecticut Senate nomination Tuesday night but vowed to run as an "independent Democrat" this fall.

With 94 percent of the precincts reporting, Lamont led Lieberman 52 percent to 48 percent, according to The Associated Press.

I honestly was not sure we were going to win today, and I am more than pleasantly surprised. If we had lost today it would have been coming next time, but why put off til tomorrow what you can do today? This is a great victory for the country's Democratic grassroots. We have now rid ourselves of the worst incumbent we had and will replace him with a real Democrat.

We know that Lieberman cannot run as an 'independent Democrat' because only the Democratic candidate in a CT general election can bear the 'Democrat' title. If I recall correctly, the winner of the best name for Lieberman's party contest at Eschaton was 'Bullshit Moose.'

I think we can finally breath a deep sigh of relief, pat ourselves on the back, and go get fucked up.

Enjoy :)

Showtime

The Democratic CT-Sen primary is tomorrow, and it's more than a little obvious who I've been rooting for all along. There are a million and two posts out there on the progressive blogosphere right now about Lamont/Lieberman, and I must agree that regardless of whether Ned wins or loses tomorrow, this campaign has shown how far the progressive movement has come in such a short time, and we have already won a victory by being as competitive as we have. The best post I've read so far is by Chris Bowers, and although it's more of a random thought roundup post, he offers this profound insight:

In the end, that seems to me to be the biggest signal that can be sent in this race. The ultimate reason, bar none, that the progressive movement has formed and that the activist base has grown angry with Democrats in DC is that Democrats keep losing. This goes beyond partisanship, beyond ideology, beyond anything. If Democrats were winning, netroots anger at the establishment would significantly dissipate.

This rings very true. Not only does Ned Lamont represent both better ideology and clear partisanship - see the 'Democrat for U.S. Senate' on Lamont's signs but no mention of the party on Lieberman's - but he also represents a position that is more in synch with Connecticut voters than the D.C. establishment's position.

I will be out of town all day tomorrow and unable to blog about the election, but I will be back on it at night, and here's hoping.

Guess Who Hearts Joe?

I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was this bad.

Only five more days to go til we get rid of Joe!