Chris Matthews is such a prick. George W. Bush is at 39%.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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But first thing tomorrow I’m registering as an independent.
Democrat or Green or other is going to have to court my vote. I’ll campaign as hard as ever for solid progressive candidates. Never again the party line.
My money will be going to specific candidates…never again the DSCC or DNC.
I’m tired and ready to move to Canada….and yes I have the economic wherewithal that they’ll let me in.
will you adopt me?
i can live in your basement.
I want to buy a piece of property – not to rural (just outside of a medium town, with an organic garden and greenhouse…big old farmhouse…
And since I would be selling SF area real estate – should be able to get a nice piece of land!
Now – how do I convince the spouse?
Kelowna, BC
I’ve always felt uncomfortable with kneejerk support of ALL Democrats because some of them are lousy, and some of them need to go. And sometimes, at least historically, the Republican candidates have been far better — particularly in my home state of Washington, where we once had a marvelous stable of the most righteous, progressive Republicans (until the party got f–ked up by Pat Robertson et al.).
I don’t want to vote party line. It just makes no rational sense. For any reason.
But I had vowed to stay voting Democratic only until the country swung back to the left. But today taught me that the Democrats we elected aren’t with us … and don’t want the country to become more progressive, and don’t care if the Constitution is abrogcated by Dubya.
I will NEVER vote for a Republican. Ever. Name one who has really gone against the Party line. Not even Chafee…
Well, okay, Hagel’s decent on some stuff…but still…as long as the RNC has the evil microchip they trigger whenever the really vital stuff comes up, I won’t ever vote for a Republican.
So, uh, Sallycat, I got a little property in Venice…if I want to go live in the woods someplace, you got any suggestions?
If you want really woodsy and rural or any place along the ‘sea to sky’ highway north of Vancouver, BC.
We no longer ski but the area has lots of hiking, mountain biking, sea kayaking, etc…and we just found 2 whitewater rivers to run!
The absolute best of SF area lifestyle…except for the cost of wine (really expensive because of taxes!). We ate at small cafes along the road, went to resorts and local towns…all the seafood was locally caught, the meat was all Canadian with no hormones, and the absolutely most marvellous people!
We are going back on vacation again in ’07. I think I’ll be looking at it a little differently this time.
Oh, I’ve heard good things about that area…but the wine…dang…that’s sort of an issue for me!
Oh well. I can adapt.
Sallycat, any candidate who gets your support is one lucky person.
They oughta court you. You deserve that.
(After that vote, I couldn’t take it, laid down in the bedroom, and watched Kathy Griffith reruns on Bravo — perfect elixir — and kind of napped.)
There are lots of us our here….and it will be interesting the next time we meet.
We are mostly middle aged women sending out emails and flyers and walking precincts and making phone calls AND writing checks.
We all are old enough for pre-Roe v Wade people, we all have experienced racial and sex discrimination and age discrimination in the workplace.
And we were all pissed before…could be an interesting meeting.
Meteor Blades — who is in our age range and shares an intense political history with us — wrote a very powerful diary that Kos promoted. See what you think of what he has to say.
I have loyally fought for Dem’s for 25 years…including the Feinstein’s out there. I’ve supported Reid and Salazar…and Kerry even when I was a Deaniac…..
So I’ll probably have to read MB’s diary a couple more times before I have a rational response to it.
Currently I’m more in the Maryscott mood…
He’s right. You have to be able to lose a battle, pick yourself and go on. It IS possible to lose every battle and ultimately win the war.
I second your recommendation, susanhu. Well-reasoned and seasoned, is Meteor Blades — frankly, I generally find his shared knowledge & opinion exceptionally worthy of attention, as well as his measured prose style. I find it very helpful, most especially as opposed to an overheated rant.
http://movies.yahoo.com/showtimes/theater?id=4365
Brokeback Mountain in Silverdale.
It wasn’t a great day to see it for me. I was feeling low about this and then the movie multiplied it because some of what Alito is about brings most of the heartbreak in the movie. It was good for one hell of a cry though about today……so maybe it is a good night to see Brokeback Mountain. Remember what we are all fighting for……to be able to be true to our perfect hearts and our precious souls and the beauty that our creator gave every single one of us.
This is the only thing that has brought me any kind of feeling of relief tonight. I am now an Independent and will have the paperwork to change my party affiliation sent to me tomorrow.
Don’t go!
We need you here and we can find another basement to put Cedwyn in ;o)
Seriously, I’ve thought about bailing out of the country so many times. New Zealand sounds especially nice and they are looking for immigrants with my skills so I probably wouldn’t have much trouble getting in. Christmas in summer is another issue altogether though ;o)
But when I really stop and think about how leaving goes completely against my values, I realize that it will have to get much, much worse before I give up and leave. I’m not ready to concede defeat yet. Personally I couldn’t live with myself if I did that.
But that’s me. Everyone has their turning point. I’m just not there yet.
When the spouse retires we’ll have a reasonable pension income and we haven’t decided where we want to live.
If this country continues this path to fasicst and ultra-conservative then Canada becomes and option. I’ve worked my ass off since the Anderson campaign in 1980 and every election cycle since then. Two more cycles is about all I’ve got in me at the rate we are going…’06 and ’08. We lose those and we are gone.
So while everyone else was watching c-span I was signing campaign contribution forms as a campaign treasurer. This week I’ll have another buyblue.org meeting, a DFA meeting, and a Take Back Red California meeting.
So….I’m changing my registration in protest, sending thank you letters where appropriate, ‘have you no honor’ letters where appropriate….and thinking twice about where my money goes. As I said in an earlier comment here or another diary….it worked in 1980…we’ll do it again.
And I’ll always have cozy guest rooms for friends!
Supersoling, thank you for sharing this.
I’m not ashamed to admit that public considerations of going ex-pat (& I’ve seen a lot of it since the last election) are always extremely disheartening to me — mainly because I see a willingness to relinquish so very much, to abandon to the apparent victors exactly what they feel they deserve.
Yet those historically most subject to repression, discrimination and violence in this country as a matter of established history remain with us.
Please scratch ‘historically’ — sorrow makes me sloppy.
It’s likely that many of the victims of oppression and violence that you speak of would have left had they had the resources to do so. But that’s their lot isn’t it? The one’s most in need of help or the need to retreat from violence and oppression are the least able to do it. Just like those who suffered the most from Hurricane Katrina. They were most in need of help, yet suffered the highest losses.
I agree too about leaving my country to these criminals. They can’t have it without a fight. I won’t give them that satisfaction.
That’s absolutely right.
Yet, if ‘everyone has their turning point’ in reaching a point of perceived diminishing returns, so to speak — with regard to investing their lives in this nation — what are theirs? Is there a question of endurance beyond this turning point, or is the perception of a turning point basically just a matter of privilege?
I’m guessing more & more of us will be coming against our ‘turning points’ in the coming years. A matter of endurance & strength in light of unheard-of hardship may come into honest consideration on a tremendous scale. How to retain our personal humanity & dignity in these events may be a lesson we can learn from those farther along the path.
I basically remain optimistic on our account because I see that it can be done.
What strikes me about your post is that, historically, oppressed peoples have come to this country seeking a new life. So it always seems counterintuitive to flee the U.S. Which may be why the oppressed don’t leave. They believe (rightly or wrongly) that if they are oppressed here, how could it possibly be better somewhere else.
I have very limited personal experience with immigrants to the US & their stories — but I’m sensing that there are as many reasons to have chosen to live in the US as there are individuals, & there are likewise as many reasons to consider leaving. A common thread in most narratives, though, may be community — which is perhaps the strongest assurance of sustenance that exists for human beings, whatever their societal position or cultural background.
This is why the systematic destruction of New Orleans communities, for example — due to human intervention — has been so horrifying to me.
Ken Salazar, DINO
Tomorrow is Independent’s Day. Time to drop the D, after nearly 40 yrs., not a step I take lightly.
Peace
Okay, they didn’t do what you wanted them to do. First of all, fillibustering Alito’s nomination was not in itself going to defeat him. It would have at best been one step. Tomorrow’s vote is likely to be closer, but we’re likely to lose again.
Everyone is entitled to their individual choices. But while this might feel good in the emotion of the moment, I don’t see this as a reason in itself to let up on the pressure the netroots successfully applied on Democrats. Maybe they should see the level of disaffection in these threads. But if you look at this with a cooler head, you may conclude that the fact that Senate Democrat came to the blogs for support indicates the power you can build within the party. But maybe not. Just offering this as something to consider.
Just saying that I want to see real progressives.
They want my money, they want me to work for them….prove they are worth it. I supported the netroots and gave money all over this frickin’ country last year…including a big chunk to Salazar.
A few more Nelsons and Liebermans and Salazars and the Republicans can legitimately claim a 2/3 majority and pass constitutional amendments at will.
Yeah – I’m pissed…
And I was just as pissed in 1980 when I changed my naive Republican registration to Dem on the republicans making women 2nd class citizens at their convention. I’ll stay pissed for a long time.
I think we should focus not just on this, but who voted for the bankruptcy bill and the medicare D business == everyone knew that was a scam.
There are a lot of very compromised Democrats in DC.
Feinstein actually redeemed herself….for years she has been on my list of DINO’s. Push came to shove and she voted for filibuster and will vote against Alito (or damn well better!).
We’ll see – the CA voters were pretty heated – and it should be an interest ’06 campaign for congress critters this year! ;^D
a single hand applause on this one…and IIRC, she never said she would oppose a filibuster, she just thought one was “unlikely”.
I’m still seriously considering the “decline to state” option here in California…but we’re stuck here for at least 8 more years till the spouse retires…and I hold out faint hope for sanity to return to this nation.
As for my attitude toward giving to the Democratic Loser Council and their ilk, see my current sig…
That’s very good thinking, KB. I’m afraid that Cantwell was pro-bankruptcy and Medicare.
Do you have a list where we can check for the common names?
don’t forget about these 16 sellouts that voted for Medicare D
They have got to go!!!!!!!!!!
for the ’06 elections. Every evening and weekend is basically tied up from March until our June primary here in CA.
AND all the candidates are SOLID progressives….
So much for feel good….we’ll talk about that after I get some blisters walking precincts against Pombo.
who you’re working for in the mid-terms; let’s dish end of March. I’d like to know what progressives could use some green. Wonder if there are any halfway-decent prospects in Pombo’s district…
in our Take Back Red CA group. I’ll get more info on Jerry McNerney. He ran against him in ’04 as an unknown and did pretty well…but lost. He’s one of the groups I’m working with. The district is down to Tracy and out through West Contra Costa (Richmond). So precinct walking and money….here we come!
Here’s his website
It might be bad form here but SF Kossacks is a good group for this as well. But then again I think we all started there and I know I saw you a lot of you there this week! SF Kossacks have meetups all over the bay area…not just SF. SF Kossacks
and will definitely consider shooting him some green.
Will be interesting to see if Pete McCloskey follows through on his suggestion that he may run against Pombo in the primary, and if that does any damage that the Democrats can capitalize on in the general; McCloskey is one of the better Republicans around (the fact that my right-wing mother held her nose to vote for him because he had the “R” after his name is a good sign) — anti-war, pro-environment, and (I think) pro-choice, for starters…
Yeah…if I could vote for McCloskey, I might make an exception to my “No Republicans EVER” rule.
It was the symbolism of it all.
It was hugely important to stand up to Bush et al. — as a group.
It was even more important to back the party’s most vocal and hard-working activists on a vote that won’t be remembered by anyone BUT the hard-working news-aholic activists.
It makes me question the common reasoning that if we get over 50% in the House and Senate, that we can stand up to George Bush et al. If we can only get 25 our of 40+ votes on an issue that is critical for the two above reasons, we cannot count on a majority in Congress standing up to Bush either. They’ll still be owned by the same special interests or insider clubbiness that stole their votes today.
I don’t know why I feel compelled to do this, maybe it’s my sense of compensating for what I’m not seeing stated, but let me toss in a few more thoughts:
It was a 2-generation-long commitment.
And that optimistic assessment presumes we can shut down medical advances worldwide tomorrow.
Never thought I would do such a thing but I know that my grandmother understands and supports me fully. She knows all now where she is.
But, anyone who thinks I am going to shut up re: Medicare D and single payer has another thought coming!
I’m right behind you SallyCat! They haven’t voted for anything I want them to in for too long. I am one of the fortunate ones to have Boxer and sometimes DiFi!
How else can one explain his vote?
I’m currently in a spending mood!
I promise to keep it small in keeping with your campaign goals for netroots support.
No. At least not before the Primary.
At that point I’ll likely lift my self-imposed $1 limit.
We Radical Moderate Independants welcome you to the group.
Can I go to Canada when someone goes? I can do stuff.
I love you guys. All of you. I started writing a comment here, but it turned into a ranting diary. So read it and weep if you want. And thanks for everything from everyone who fought so fucking hard today and in the past months.
And wholeheartedly agreed…
Love and hugs right back at you BostonJoe!
Bush is at fucking 39% approval, and the Dems can’t get their collective shit together to vote against one of the worst Supreme Court nominees ever?
After I vote in the PA primary, my registration goes back to independent.
I’m going to get a stack of voter reg forms…and just before the deadline I’ll decide where I want to vote.
Is it a Dem that I can help?
Or a Dem that needs a boot in the ass?
Is it a totally dreadful republican that needs to be stopped?
Check your deadlines and walk the forms in if necessary….
It’s always interesting to see people saying that they’re changing their registration to independent, etc. I’ve never lived anywhere where one registers as belonging to a particular party. We just register to vote, period.
I don’t understand why any state would ask your party on your voter registration. It seems to me that it just invites mischief – remember in 04 when the R’s hired a company to register voters and they shredded the ones that had “Democrat” filled in for party?
Seriously, why do some states make you “declare” a party?
Theoretically, since a primary election is meant for a PARTY to pick ITS candidate, only members of that party should be able to receive that pary’s ballot. So Republicans couldn’t cross over to try to pick a Democratic candidate.
But since its not the rule in all states, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. My state is like yours. We just register to vote. We ask for a specific party ballot at the polls during election.
I understand that some states allow “open” primaries where you don’t even have to pick a party ballot. Which sounds strange to me.
AFAIK here in California. I actually registered as a Republican in 1980, which thrilled my mother…she didn’t know it was solely to vote against Ronald Reagan in the Presidential primary… 😉
I think it’s meant as a safeguard against an opposition party defeating a desirable candidate in the primary. The non-participating party voters could knock out a good candidate as sabotage that way.
He’s arguments have become so insane that they’re not worth a well thought response.