ConnecticutBLOG

Good riddance!

2011-01-19T19:19:00.002-05:00

Oh my!!! It's been a LONG TIME since I've posted anything on my ol' site but today is a special day.

Here's a cross post I did on My Left Nutmeg regarding Joe LIEberman's retirement announcement

Before Democrats, Independents, and former "Stick with Joe" supporters could get their chance to fire Joe LIEberman, Sarah Palin's favorite senator decided to yell "I QUIT" and exit stage right.

As someone who has expressed his opinion about our laughable senator online for the last six years, it was a pleasure to be on hand and witness this now irreverent pain in the ass call it quits.

For your viewing pleasure, here's the last video I'll ever do on this clown (hopefully).

I could go on and on about my feelings about LIEberman but what's the point? He'll only be a jerk to the residents of Connecticut until next November then he's history. In the end, those who opposed Joe in 2006 were vindicated while the Stick with Joe crowd watched as their man stood side by side John McCain and Sarah Palin.

In short, good riddance Joe! Now lets work on getting a REAL Democrat in that senate seat!

BTW: Remember, LIEberman's announcement would not have happened without the grassroot support Ned Lamont had during his 2006 campaign (that means YOU MLN community). I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the AMAZING work progressive bloggers (in state and out of state) did in driving LIEberman (and his campaign staff) nuts in '06 and I hope every one of them are celebrating today's announcement.

Although Ned didn't win in November 2006, in the end, we all won because of his efforts starting with a Democratic majority in Congress in 2006 and 2008 and Barack Obama as President in 2008. LIEberman's retirement is just the icing on the cake.

Cramer versus Stewart

2009-03-13T11:40:00.000-04:00

It really wasn't even a contest...

The letter

2009-01-26T08:33:00.000-05:00

...for your viewing pleasure.

Malloy: "If Blumenthal is out, then I'm in"

2009-01-16T14:32:00.002-05:00

In his interview on WVIT's "Connecticut Newsmaakers", Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy explains where he stands in terms of running for governor...and I have the feeling that we'll be hearing the same thing from other candidates soon.

You can watch the entire interview this Sunday at 6:30 AM on WVIT.

Well said Rachel Maddow

2008-12-16T18:58:00.001-05:00

Much has been said about the President Bush's infamous shoe incident in Iraq but yesterday, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow put the whole situation in it's proper perspective.

Food for thought.

Way to go Ari!

2008-11-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

Personally, I'm tired of hearing the media-hyped bullshit over the "outrage" the progressive blogosphere have with the recent Obama appointments.

Thankfully, Ari Melber gave the slapdown to this nonsense as well as called out the "anonymous" source in the politico Lieberman article who claimed that Joementum's pardon solidifies the notion that the anti-Joe movement is a joke.

MIKE VIQUEIRA: Let me ask you this, Chris you know..I'm sorry, Ari. Chris Cilizza, the Fix blog in the Washington Post, quoted a Democratic aide who said about bloggers and the Lieberman vote, quote "They can rant and rage but they still do not put the fear into folks to actually change their votes."

You know, I work on the Hill and I've heard that sentiment expressed many times over again, that the netroots -- the liberal blogosphere -- overestimates its influence. What do you say to that?

ARI MELBER: Well, number one you have to look at the source. There you have someone who isn't even going to speak on the record, under their own name. That would suggest some fear right there, hiding behind anonymity for a very basic claim to the Washington Post. And someone who sees themselves potentially -- I don't know the person because they won't stand up for themselves -- but potentially a competitor with the liberal blogs. Maybe it is from a congressional office that has had conflict -- maybe it was a Lieberman aide, we don't know because that person won't say. But I do think you have competition here.

He shoots, he scores!

Dan Malloy: Is he running for governor or not?

2008-11-21T18:16:00.001-05:00

Is he in is he out? That the question that comes to mind when I think about Stamford mayor Dan Malloy and the 2010 governor's race.

Although Malloy gave very clear indications earlier this year that he intends on running for the state's highest office again, after watching his reaction to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal hinting on running (again), I guess we'll have to wait and see on what happens next year.

Here's Malloy's interview from Face the State:

A REAL Democrat!

2008-11-18T22:01:00.001-05:00

Given the screw-job the senate Democrats did to everyone who voted for change by their sucking up to Joe Lieberman, it was refreshing to see the person I voted for in 2006 on the airwaves today...

The picture tells the story

2008-11-13T13:19:00.000-05:00

(h/t crooks and liars)

It's time for Democrats to DUMP JOE!

2008-11-07T16:30:00.000-05:00

This is it.

The time is now.

Joe needs to go.

Despite his pledge during the 2006 debates to do everything he could to get a Democrat in the White House in 2008, Lieberman went back on his word.

Despite his glowing comments about Barack Obama back in 2006, and his pledge not to say anything negative about Obama at the Republican National Convention, Lieberman went back on his word.

Lieberman 2006:

Lieberman 2008:

When word that State Central is considering taking action against Lieberman, he equated the Democratic Party to "Soviets"

Look, it's simple. Lieberman has lied to the people of Connecticut, stabbed the Democratic Party in the back, and openly campaigned against the very person he praised two years earlier.

Now that the elections are over, it's time for members of the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee AND the members of the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee to DEAL WITH THE LIEBERMAN PROBLEM ONCE AND FOR ALL.

Please help send a message that it's time to dump Joe NOW.

1: Please sign Firedoglake's petition to the members of the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee telling them that it's time for Joe to go.

2: PLEASE sign the petition to the members of the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee asking them to support the pending resolution to censure Joe Lieberman (NOTE: State Central will meet to take up this matter on Dec 17th.

Send a message that Joe is not welcomed in the party...sign the petitions today.

The First Family (and a comment)

2008-11-05T12:27:00.001-05:00

Eugene Robinson, WashPost (11/04/08):

Whoever wins this election, I understand what Barack Obama meant when he said his faith in the American people had been "vindicated" by his campaign's success. I understand what Michelle Obama meant, months ago, when she said she was "proud of my country" for the first time in her adult life. Why should they be immune to the astonishment and vertigo that so many other African-Americans are experiencing? Why shouldn't they have to pinch themselves to make sure they aren't dreaming, the way that I do?

I know there's a possibility that the polls are wrong. I know there's a possibility that white Americans, when push comes to shove, won't be able to bring themselves to elect a black man as president of the United States. But the spread in the polls is so great that the Bradley effect wouldn't be enough to make Obama lose; it would take a kind of "Dr. Strangelove effect" in which voters' hands developed a will of their own.

I'm being facetious but not unserious. In my gut, I know there's a chance that the first African-American to make a serious run for the presidency will lose. But that is precisely what's new, and, in a sense, unsettling: I'm talking about possibility, not inevitability.

For African-Americans, at least those of us old enough to have lived through the civil rights movement, this is nothing short of mind-blowing. It's disorienting, and it makes me see this nation in a different light.

You see, I remember a time of separate and unequal schools, restrooms and water fountains -- a time when black people were officially second-class citizens. I remember moments when African-Americans were hopeful and excited about the political process, and I remember other moments when most of us were depressed and disillusioned. But I can't think of a single moment, before this year, when I thought it was within the realm of remote possibility that a black man could be nominated for president by one of the major parties -- let alone that he would go into Election Day with a better-than-even chance of winning.

Let me clarify: It's not that I would have calculated the odds of an African-American being elected president and concluded that this was unlikely, it's that I wouldn't even have thought about such a thing.

African-Americans' love of country is deep, intense and abiding, but necessarily complicated. At its hour of its birth, the nation was already stained by the Original Sin of slavery. Only in that past several decades has legal racism been outlawed and casual racism made unacceptable, at least in polite company. Millions of black Americans have managed to pull themselves up into mainstream, middle-class affluence, but millions of others remain mired in poverty and dysfunction.

A few black Americans broke through into the highest echelons of American society. Oprah Winfrey became the most powerful woman in the entertainment industry by appealing to an audience that is mostly white. Richard Parsons, Stanley O'Neal and others became alpha males in the lily-white world of Wall Street. Through superhuman skill and unbending will, Tiger Woods came to dominate a sport long seen as emblematic of white privilege.

Along came Barack Obama, a young man with an unassailable resume and a message of post-racial transformation. Initially, a big majority of African-Americans lined up behind his major opponent in the Democratic primaries, Hillary Clinton. The reason was simple: In the final analysis, white Americans weren't going to vote for the black guy. Better to go with the safe alternative.

But an amazing thing happened. In the Iowa caucuses, white Americans voted for the black guy. That's the moment Obama was referring to when he said his faith in the American people was vindicated. For me, it was the moment when the utterly impossible became merely unlikely. That's a huge, fundamental change, and it launched a sequence of events over the subsequent months that made me realize that some things I "knew" about America were apparently wrong.

Even if John McCain somehow prevails, that won't change the fact that Obama won all those primaries, or that he won the nomination, or that he raised more money than any candidate in history, or that he rewrote the book on how to run a presidential campaign. Nothing can change the fact that so many white Americans entrusted a black American with their hopes and dreams.

We can all have a new kind of pride in our country.

VIDEO: 111 State Rep (Masters v Frey) / 24th State Senate (Hartwell/Boucher) debate

2008-11-01T15:17:00.000-04:00

From last month at the Ridgefield Playhouse, here's video footage of the 111th State Rep debate between Di Masters and John Frey as well as the 26th State Senate debate between John Hartwell and Toni Boucher.

Chris Murphy gives David Cappielllo the smackdown

2008-10-27T17:42:00.000-04:00

On Fox61's ~~Beyond the Headlines~~ The Real Story, Chris Murphy showed why he'll have no problem winning re-election in his conversation with David Cappiello.

While James Galantes's best friend whined and tried to attack the freshman Congressman with nonsense (going as far as to pull an O.J. Simpson talking points out of his ass), Murphy actually talked about issues that are on the minds of the people in the 5th district.

Grab your popcorn, the Cappiello train wreck is a treat to watch.
Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

CT-04: Himes-Shays Stamford debate

2008-10-26T20:11:00.000-04:00

From last week in Stamford, here's video footage of the 4th CD debate between Jim Himes and Chris Shays.

Sarah Palin set to music

2008-10-19T15:03:00.001-04:00

(h/t Crooks and Liars)

Powell endorses Obama...and gives a scathing critique of McCain and the GOP

2008-10-19T14:17:00.003-04:00

While everyone is talking about Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama, it's his criticism towards the way John McCain has conducted his campaign that's REALLY damaging...

In case you want to know Powell is talking about when it comes to the way McCain is conducting his campaign, this will give you a clue.

Was Rep. John Lewis right?

2008-10-16T16:20:00.001-04:00

Here's a copy of Rep. John Lewis comment regarding the hate speech being incited at McCain-Palin rallies.

"As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

Keep that in mind when you watch this report from Ohio...

"I'm afraid if he wins, the blacks will take over. He's not a Christian! This is a Christian nation! What is our country gonna end up like?"

"When you got a negro running for president, you need a first stringer. He's definitely a second stringer."

"He seems like a sheep - or a wolf in sheep's clothing to be honest with you. And I believe Palin - she's filled with the Holy Spirit, and I believe she's gonna bring honesty and integrity to the White House."

"He's related to a known terrorist, for one."

"He is friends with a terrorist of this country!"

"He must support terrorists! You know, uh, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. And that to me is Obama."

"Just the whole, Muslim thing, and everything, and everybody's still kinda - a lot of people have forgotten about 9/11, but… I dunno, it's just kinda… a little unnerving."

"Obama and his wife, I'm concerned that they could be anti-white. That he might hide that."

"I don't like the fact that he thinks us white people are trash… because we're not!"

Food for thought...

First Congressional district debate

2008-10-16T12:10:00.000-04:00

From last week, here's footage of the 1st district debate Congressman John Larson, Republican Joe Visconti Green Party candidate Steve Fournier.

Palin as President

2008-10-16T08:49:00.000-04:00

Remember, a vote for McCain could result in this...

"Angry" McCain debate highlights

2008-10-16T01:15:00.000-04:00

David Schuster is my hero

2008-10-13T21:18:00.000-04:00

Today on MSNBC, David Schuster was on a tear over the findings in the Sarah Palin Troopergate report.

Ripping the McCain and RNC talking heads to shreds, Schuster does the country a favor and by stopping the right wing misinformation...if only for a few moments.

Jim Himes does Face the State

2008-10-13T18:52:00.000-04:00

In advance of tomorrow's debate between Congressman Chris Shays and Jim Himes, WFSB Face the State gave an open invitation to both candidates to come on the show.

Chris Shays refused to appear after repeated requests...nuff said.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Philly love for Palin

2008-10-12T16:14:00.000-04:00

This is ugly...

John McCain & The Making of a Financial Crisis

2008-10-06T17:40:00.000-04:00

The Obama campaign released this video documentary on John McCain's connecitons to the Keating Five S&L scandal of 1990.

Worth watching...

Sarah Palin: No class

2008-10-03T20:22:00.001-04:00

If this doesn't tell you all you need to know about Sarah Palin, then I can't help you.

Kos has more...

Pick the real Sarah Palin

2008-09-30T22:28:00.001-04:00

I'm at a loss for words...

Rest in peace Paul

2008-09-27T11:25:00.003-04:00

Last night, one of my all time favorite actors and humanitarians passed away.

In honor of this legend, from my favorite movie, here's the Great Paul Newman doing what he does best (although the clip is long, it's priceless).

In terms of politics, as a critic of Joe Lieberman, Newman was also great contributor to Ned Lamont's campaign.

My deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Joe Lieberman's new poll numbers...

2008-09-26T19:23:00.000-04:00

...are in the toilet.

Fifty-four percent of residents rated Lieberman negatively, saying he is doing a fair (26 percent) or poor (28 percent) job. Thirty-seven percent viewed him positively, giving an excellent (10 percent) or good (27 percent) rating.

The poll found that Lieberman, a registered Democrat who relied on Republicans and unaffiliated voters for his re-election in 2006, has lost much of his independent base.

Sixty-one percent of Republicans viewed him favorably, compared with 23 percent of Democrats and 37 percent of independents.

He was viewed unfavorably by 30 percent of Republicans, 69 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of independents.

"He's really polling as a weak Republican, rather than a wounded Democrat," said Barnes, a former pollster at the University of Connecticut.

"Those who do not study the past get an exciting opportunity to repeat it."

2008-09-26T11:58:00.000-04:00

Watch and learn...

Crash course in the connection between John McCain and the Keating Five S&L bailout scandal

2008-09-25T18:44:00.000-04:00

Watch and learn...

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT: Michele Mount for State Rep

2008-09-21T17:51:00.000-04:00

The next entry in my "Campaign Spotlight" series brings me to Connecticut's 112 State and features a Democrat who challenging a Republican incumbent with one of the worse voting record in the General Assembly (as well as someone who has a problem when it comes to mathematics).

Meet Michele Mount, a former legislative liaison, former special adviser for Bill Finch, and daughter of former State Rep and Attorney General Carl R. Ajello. As a former legislative liaison, Mount is no stranger in terms of how things are done in Hartford and outlined where she stands on a long list of issues that are of concern in the area that makes up the 112th district (Newtown, Monroe).

Yesterday, I sat down with Mount and talked to her about her campaign, her goals if elected State Rep, and the differences between her and her opponent.

For more information of Mount, please visit her website.

My previous Campaign Spotlight posts can be viewed below:

1. State Rep. Bob Godfrey.

2. Local Democrats come out to support the Bethel DTC at annual picnic.

3. Congressman Murphy delights Italian festival crowd.

4. Danbury DTC Calmbake

McCain: Ready to lie

2008-09-16T19:10:00.000-04:00

People, this is brutal...

Fundamentally strong?!?

2008-09-16T16:20:00.000-04:00

The latest ad from the DNC that targets McCain's out-of-touch mentality when it comes to the economy.

Chris Shays is having a bad day

2008-09-16T12:48:00.000-04:00

Poor Chris...it seems like the Congressman in the 4th CD is having a reall bad day.

First, the DCCC released a new ad blasting Shays for his support of the President that just about every Republican is currently running away from.

Now, in light of the Congressman's recent ~~laughable claim~~ statement that the economy is "fundamentally strong", we find out that Chris Shays is now REFUSING to schedule debating Jim Himes.

Apparently worried that he cannot defend his recent claim that "our economy is fundamentally strong" and seven years of support for the Iraq War, Chris Shays has refused to schedule debates with Jim Himes. Shays has refused offers to debate from reputable third parties, including Bloomberg television and the League of Women Voters. The Shays campaign has also refused to respond to requests from the Himes campaign to discuss debates. The Himes campaign issued the following statement in response.

"It's no surprise Chris Shays is hiding from Jim Himes," said Dana Houle, Campaign Manager for Jim Himes. "Chris Shays is the guy who parroted George Bush's claim that 'the fundamentals of our economy are strong.' Jim Himes understands our economy and understands the challenges facing us in Iraq and Afghanistan, on education, on healthcare. Chris Shays is out of his depth in serious discussions about the economy and his time in Washington has left him out of touch with the concerns of Connecticut families."

This is how you expose a lying McCain hack

2008-09-12T15:49:00.000-04:00

I'll let the video speak for itself...

Attaboy Ari!

Never forget

2008-09-11T06:56:00.001-04:00

Cross post from HatCityBLOG

September 11 2001 is a day I'm sure many residents of Danbury (as well as the nation) will never forget.

I remember that morning when I woke up, made my usual cup of coffee, walked outside to my porch and saw the clearest sky I've ever seen. As usual, I was running behind schedule and scrambling to get ready to work. While ironing my clothes, I was catching up with the morning news (I think I was flipping back between Good Morning America and Today) and laughing at the thought of my friends goofing on me when I walk into the office late.

I can recall going for the remote and just about to press the power button when someone on television broke with the news that "something" hit one of the World Trade Center towers. Now, this happened about a quarter to nine and I didn't see the tower on TV when I turned it off...I just thought some small single engine plane hit the building or something.

I jumped in my car and while I usually listen to Stern in the morning, I tuned to 1010 WINS to find out what was going on and that's when I first learned that something serious happened. By the time I made it to my job, the second tower was hit and it finally hit me...the country was under attack.

I remember going into the office and seeing complete chaos. The internet being completely down (the WTC was a major hub for communications), people on their cell phones trying to get in touch with friends and loved ones who worked in the city, and work coming to a complete standstill. There was no way to get any information except for the radio (we had no TVs in the building) so people walked outside and hovered around cars listening to news reports.

I remember the moment the first tower collapsed and my heart dropped as I realized that a friend of mine worked at the tower from time to time and none of my friends knew whether or not he was at the WTC on that day.

He had a young son and a daughter on the way.

I remember the horrible feeling of emptiness, a dark feeling you get when someone close to you passes away. That blank expression that people get when they’re hypnotized and you don’t know what to do.

By late afternoon, I remember saying “the hell with this”, packing up my things, and left work. I couldn't get any work done...no one could get anything done on that day. My thoughts were on my friend, his family, and all those people who lost their lives. Driving around town, you could see that everyone had the same look of shock and disbelief on their faces. It was like, how could such a beautiful day turn into a nightmare?

I pulled over to a restaurant that had a television and it was there for the first time that I witness with my eyes what I only heard on the radio and it made the situation even worse. The only bright spot of that day was the phone call I got telling me that my friend didn't have to work in the city on that day but he lost a lot of colleagues who never made it out of the building.

That was a brief look at what I remember the most from that day and to be honest, I don't even know why I'm writing this for.

Maybe it's because the memory of that day is fresh in my mind as I watch the memorial service.

Maybe it's because that moment was a turning point in my life when I decided to get more politically active.

Maybe I just wanted to share my feelings with someone who going through the same emotions right now as we remember those who lost their lives six years ago.

Whatever the case, I know in my heart that I'll always recall that experience on that terrible day on every September 11 for the rest of my life. My heart goes out to all those who lost a loved on that horrible day in our country's history. I pray that none of us will never forget and pass on our experience to the next generation who will never know what the beautiful New York skyline looked prior to September 11, 2001.

You can watch live footage of the 9/11 ceremony via CNN by clicking here.

Begala nails it!

2008-09-10T22:15:00.000-04:00

Thank you Paul.

ALEX CASTELLANOS, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Let's be a little gentle.
Look, every elected official in this country works under the system we
have, which is you try to get a little bit of your tax money back. You
just don't want to leave it all in Washington. The amazing thing about
Sarah Palin is when she became governor she actually stood up and said
no. And she made it -

BEGALA: That's not true.

CASTELLANOS: She took a strong stand. That is rare and that never
happened.

ROBERTS: All right.

BEGALA: That's just not true. You know, John, the facts matter.
There's lots of things that are debatable who is more qualified or
less experienced or more this or more passionate, whatever. It is a
fact that she campaigned and supported that bridge to nowhere. It is a
fact that she hired lobbyists to get earmarks. It is a fact that as
governor she lobbies for earmarks. Her state is essentially a welfare
state taking money from the federal government.

ROBERTS: We still have 56 days to talk about this back and forth.

BEGALA: This is the problem. We have this false debate when we ought
to have at least agreed upon facts.

Amen.

Tweety calls it right

2008-09-10T21:47:00.000-04:00

After a whole day of MSNBC going goo-goo over McCain's sexism charge against Barack Obama, Chris Matthews calls McCain's latest cry of foul for what it is...bullshit.

The video tells the story.

Back in the game

2008-09-10T21:43:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts but I've been spending most of my energy focusing on My Left Nutmeg.

Since I'm refocusing the mission of this site to expand more towards national politics as well as state stuff, I'll be posting more content on the presidential elections.

You've been warned.

Accidential mic on MSNBC offers conservative's real view on Palin

2008-09-03T17:29:00.000-04:00

Whoops...Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy get their guards down and give their real take on Sarah Palin.

Instant classic.

Ouch

2008-09-02T19:27:00.000-04:00

The picture tells the story...

Happy birthday John

2008-08-29T17:57:00.001-04:00

We'll never forget...

h/t to Scarce

Michelle Obama: The closer

2008-08-26T09:06:00.001-04:00

An amazing speech by our future first lady.

Are you kidding me?

2008-08-21T16:18:00.002-04:00

Really Chris, you're kidding right?

Chris Shays: an independent or a Congressman who's lock in step with George Bush? Unlike Shay's laughable ad, his voting record doesn't lie...

(h/t to the great Scarce)

UPDATE: Even Chris Matthews is laughing over the ad.

...again, props to Scarce

BREAKING NEWS

2008-08-09T10:42:00.000-04:00

Devastating...

John McCain view on Iraq

2008-07-23T12:13:00.000-04:00

I think this just about sums up everything you need to know about John McCain and his view on the Iraq war.

Joe Courtney offers his take on issues in the 2nd district

2008-07-14T17:05:00.000-04:00

With the campaign season kicking into full gear, Joe Courtney came on Face the State to talk about the issues on the minds of his constituents in the 2nd district.

In honor of Jesse Helms

2008-07-04T12:05:00.000-04:00

Memories of Jesse...

Stick with Joe voters having second thoughts

2008-07-03T16:44:00.000-04:00

Research 2000 came out with a new poll which mirrors the latest Q-poll and is more bad news for McBush and Lieberman.

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Joe Lieberman is doing as U.S. senator?

All Dem GOP Ind

Approve 45 (47) 37 (40) 66 (62) 43 (46)
Disapprove 43 (40) 49 (45) 28 (32) 44 (40)

If you could vote again for U.S. Senate, would you vote for Ned Lamont, the Democrat, Alan Schlesinger, the Republican, or Joe Lieberman, an Independent?

All Dem GOP Ind

Lamont (D) 51 (51) 74 (74) 4 (4) 53 (53)
Lieberman (I) 36 (37) 18 (19) 74 (74) 36 (36)
Schlesinger (R) 7 (7) 2 (2) 19 (19) 6 (6)

I was going to give my two cents on this latest poll but Kos pretty much nails it...

Independents disapprove of George Bush 14/86, so that has a clear effect on Lieberman's approval ratings. He is even less popular with Democrats while more Independents now disapprove of his performance than approve. While Lieberman's approval ratings continue to fall, the matchups with Lamont were largely unaffected compared to a couple of months ago.

Other findings from the poll -- Obama crushes McCain 57-35 in Connecticut, and Lieberman would actually hurt McCain on the ticket in the state. Let's hope McCain picks him.

My biggest fear is that Lieberman retires in 2012. I want him defeated at the ballot box. And until then, this poll, along with yesterday's Q-poll, should go a long way toward dispelling the notion that Lieberman is popular. His loving embrace of Bush and McCain, along with his rabid warmongering, have definitely killed his support at home.

Help give LIEberman his walking papers

2008-06-26T10:12:00.000-04:00

We can not afford to wait till after the election...Joe Lieberman needs to go NOW.

We CANNOT tolerate a leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus who supports George Bush and McCain's War in Iraq. We CANNOT tolerate a Democratic chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee who endorses and stumps for McCain. We call on the Senate Democratic Steering Committee to strip Joe Lieberman of his chairmanship and his leadership role.

Please sign up and join the over 30,000 people who are demanding that Lieberman be stripped of his seniority NOW.

George Carlin RIP

2008-06-23T13:20:00.000-04:00

I'm on vacation in Newport R.I. right now so posts will be somewhat slow.

Saying that, it saddened me to hear this news.

George Carlin, the dean of counterculture comedians whose biting insights on life and language were immortalized in his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV" routine, died of heart failure Sunday. He was 71.

We've lost a great, GREAT comic and I hope our younger generation will take the time and see some of Carlin's earlier work as it still applies to today culture.

From Keith Olbermann's show Countdown, here's a clip of one of Carlin's last interviews...

He tried to warn you...

2008-06-17T17:13:00.000-04:00

...and now you have only yourselves to blame.

(h/t to the great Scarce for the clip)

Dodd criticizes LIEberman?

2008-06-16T16:19:00.000-04:00

Although it's rather off-handed, I'll take it.

Lieberman seemed to be breaking new ground, shifting gears from simply promoting McCain to taking shots at Obama.

[...]

Lieberman's Connecticut colleague, Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd, said he's heard McCain talk about keeping a civil tone to the campaign.

"It might be a good message for him to convey to his supporters," said Dodd, also an Obama supporter.

We have lost a great journalist today

2008-06-13T17:44:00.000-04:00

Tim Russert, managing editor and host of NBC's Meet the Press has died of an apparent heart attack today at his office in DC.

Words can't express the complete shock and sorrow many people across the country are experiencing at this moment and my heart goes out to his family.

Bush's exit strategy: bomb Iran

2008-06-11T18:14:00.000-04:00

Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran.

President Bush on Wednesday raised unprompted the possibility of a military strike to thwart Tehran's presumed nuclear weapons ambitions, speaking bullishly on Iran even as he admitted having been unwise to do so previously about Iraq.

Should we be concerned?

The end of Joementum as we know it?

2008-06-10T16:49:00.001-04:00

Josh gives his take on our junior senator and I tend to agree.

What does seem clear to me is that Lieberman's days in the Democratic caucus, or more specifically, his days with a committee chairmanship courtesy of the Democratic caucus are numbered in months.

My assumption is that after the November election, regardless of the outcome of the presidential campaign, Joe will be stripped of his chairmanship. (This seems even more certain to me if Obama wins the general, but I suspect it will happen regardless.) Whether he'll actually be expelled from the caucus I don't know and probably doesn't really matter. Once he's stripped of the benefits he gains from it, presumably he'll leave himself and become an actual non-caucusing independent or, more likely, start caucusing with the Republicans.

What that tells me is that Lieberman has no incentive not to make the maximum amount of trouble over the next five months both for his senate colleagues and for Sen. Obama.

Why wait, strip him now and get it over with. I mean, after everything Obama did for Joe back in '06, for Lieberman to be John McCain's number attack dog is disgraceful...not that I'm surprised.

It's a toss-up!

2008-06-05T19:05:00.002-04:00

Paging Congressman Chris Shays...you now have a problem.

The Cook Political Report, whose ratings of Congressional races are well-respected by political pros, has just changed its ratings on ten House races -- and has changed them all in favor of the Dems.

It's very rare that Cook flips so many ratings at once -- much less flipping them all in favor of the same political party.

[...]

CT-04 - Chris Shays - Lean Republican to Toss Up

Here's the full report from the Cook Report...

Of all the Republican incumbents who are moving into the Toss Up
column, Shays probably possesses the deepest and longest-standing
personal appeal. But he also sits in the most Democratic district. At
a PVI of D+5, this district has a clear leftward tilt and more urban
cities like Bridgeport and Stamford are likely to see a surge of
support for Obama. Shays survived impressively in 2006 because voters
knew the difference between him and national Republican leaders, but a
presidential year presents him with an even more difficult test.

Democratic investment banker Jim Himes starts out the race with less
name recognition than Westport selectwoman Diane Farrell began with in
2006, but his blistering fundraising pace will allow him to get his
name out in the fall and match Shays dollar-for-dollar on television
and in mail. Himes will also be able to argue that now that Shays is
in the minority, the value of his incumbency has diminished.

McCain's nomination saves Shays some grief and reinforces the helpful
notion that Republicans can be mavericks. But in this kind of district
and political climate, Shays can take nothing for granted.

HIMES! HIMES!
HIMES! HIMES!

Congressman John Larson statement on Obama

2008-06-04T22:42:00.000-04:00

Congressman John Larson sent the following release on Barack Obama's nominaiton

On January 31st, Congressman John Larson (CT-01), Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, became the first member of the House Democratic leadership to endorse Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.

Last night Senator Obama secured the nomination as the Democratic candidate for President. Congressman Larson says:

“Americans across the country have made an historic decision to elect Senator Barack Obama as our Democratic candidate for President. I said it in January, and it is even truer today, Senator Obama has a remarkable ability to inspire generations and unite people towards our nation’s common good. I am proud to call him my nominee for President. And, I am thrilled to continue to support him in this next phase of his journey to the White House. I know that he will restore honesty and integrity to the presidency, and offer Americans a leader they can believe in.

“I also commend Senator Hillary Clinton for her diligence and passion in this campaign. Her candidacy showed women around the world that they can aspire to any goal. She is a wonderful public servant and the American people are lucky to have Senator Clinton working on their behalf.

“Now, it is time for our party and our country to come together in support of Senator Obama. We must heal the wounds of this campaign and do what is best for our nation’s future. We are the party of change, the party of ideas. With Barack Obama as our leader, I am confident that we can put an end to the policies of yesterday – the policies that have diminished our standing on the world’s stage, damaged our environment, and spoiled our economy. Today, we begin to work towards a new, better reality for the American people. One where the American dream really means something to our children and our word means something to our allies around the world. As Senator Obama said last night, ‘this is our time.”

For old time's sake, here's video of congressman Larson's endorsement of Obama.

Jim Himes stands with Obama

2008-06-04T14:12:00.001-04:00

4th CD Democratic candidate Jim Himes issued the following statement regarding the presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama:

"In Connecticut and across the nation, this campaign season has seen unprecedented turnout from voters young and old, black and white, rich and poor - all of them standing up in record numbers to say they are ready to turn the page on the failed policies of the past eight years.

"Hillary Clinton has run an historic campaign, and she and her supporters should be proud. As this process draws to a close, it is clear to me that the values that unite the Democratic Party, values that both Clinton and Obama share, are much stronger than what divides us.

"I am proud and excited to be running with Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, and I will do everything I can to make sure we both win in November. Voters across our district and the nation have made it clear they are ready for new energy in Washington, not the same old politics of the past offered by John McCain and Chris Shays. Senator Obama has the vision, the new energy, and the ability to restore America to the values that made it great. As Congressman next January, I will bring that same energy to Washington to help President Obama deliver the real change voters are hoping for - fixing our economy, standing up for the middle class, bringing our troops home from Iraq, and reclaiming our standing in the world."

The next President of the United States

2008-06-04T09:40:00.000-04:00

Nancy makes her choice...

2008-06-02T10:58:00.000-04:00

...and picks Obama.

“Senator Barack Obama has helped to energize thousands upon thousands of Democrats in Connecticut and across the country. He has inspired the electorate and won their confidence by demonstrating sound judgment, strength of spirit, dedication to those in need, and belief in the transforming power of community. Although we are blessed to have two outstanding candidates for the Democratic nomination this year, Senator Obama was the choice of Connecticut Democrats on February 5th, and he is my choice to head the ticket in November.

“As Chairwoman of the State Democratic Party, I believe not only is it important for me to reflect the sentiment of our Party, but I also have a responsibility to endorse the candidate who will help unite the many voices of our Party in its commitment to change and to building a secure future for generations to come. Senator Obama offers Connecticut and our country a chance for such unity – at healing the divisions caused by years of war, deficits, and partisan wrangling. He shares Connecticut’s and our nation’s concern for building strong communities and re-building our economy ravaged by Republican policies.

“More fundamentally, Senator Obama understands the everyday struggles of Americans and is devoted to realizing the vision of a nation in which we and our families, friends and neighbors can earn a decent wage, secure affordable healthcare and housing, send our children to good schools, heat our homes, and breathe clean air. Senator Obama’s experience as a community activist and his record in Congress demonstrates his focus on these issues and his ability to effect change without becoming ensnared by and beholden to the political establishment.

“Senator Obama has built his campaign on an appeal to the deep-seated goodness of America – the goodness that all Americans intuitively understand. I would encourage every citizen of Connecticut to take a close look at Senator Obama’s policies for our State and our great country, and to make the right choice and VOTE OBAMA in November!”

Now that's how you sing the National Anthem

2008-06-01T19:17:00.000-04:00

Colbert and John Legend.

Clinton supporter unhinged

2008-06-01T08:42:00.001-04:00

Tell us how you really feel about a black man running for president...

h/t to Jane for catching this meltdown on video.

Thanks for nothing Joe Lieberman

2008-05-28T14:50:00.001-04:00

While watching the HBO movie "Recount" I couldn't help but this notice this Joementum moment when our junior senator threw Al Gore under the bus...

This is what you call damage control?

2008-05-26T15:30:00.001-04:00

From Talking Points Memo, here's a review of the Clinton's damage control on the Sunday talk shows.

Personally, I don't the Clinton campaign did themselves any good Sunday...in fact they probably made things worse by pointing the blame at Obama and media for the whole episode.

FOXNews jokes about assassinating Obama

2008-05-26T12:19:00.001-04:00

Why am I not surprised...

Clinton's team blames everyone but Hillary for "assassination" remark

2008-05-25T13:31:00.002-04:00

This is simply unbelievable.

From today's Face the Nation, here's Clinton's mouthpiece Howard Wolfson BLAMING the Obama campaign and the media for Hillary's poor choice of words Friday in her now infamous "assassination" remark.

Like Bob Schieffer, I'm at a loss for words...

Obama commencement speech

2008-05-25T12:49:00.002-04:00

Here's the text of Barack Obama's speech.

Thank you, President Roth, for that generous introduction, and congratulations on your first year at the helm of Wesleyan.
Congratulations also to the class of 2008, and thank you for allowing
me to be a part of your graduation.

I have the distinct honor today of pinch-hitting for one of my
personal heroes and a hero to this country, Senator Edward Kennedy.
Teddy wanted to be here very much, but as you know, he’s had a very
long week and is taking some much-needed rest. He called me up a few
days ago and I said that I’d be happy to be his stand-in, even if
there was no way I could fill his shoes.

I did, however, get the chance to glance at the speech he planned on
delivering today, and I’d like to start by passing along a message
from him: “To all those praying for my return to good health, I offer
my heartfelt thanks. And to any who’d rather have a different result,
I say, don’t get your hopes up just yet!”

So we know that Ted Kennedy’s legendary sense of humor is as strong as
ever, and I have no doubt that his equally legendary fighting spirit
will carry him through this latest challenge. He is our friend, he is
our champion, and we hope and pray for his return to good health.

The topic of his speech today was common for a commencement, but one
that nobody could discuss with more authority or inspiration than Ted
Kennedy. And that is the topic of service to one’s country – a cause
that is synonymous with his family’s name and their legacy.

I was born the year that his brother John called a generation of
Americans to ask their country what they could do. And I came of age
at a time when they did it. They were the Peace Corps volunteers who
won a generation of goodwill toward America at a time when America ’s
ideals were challenged. They were the teenagers and college students,
not much older than you, who watched the Civil Rights Movement unfold
on their television sets; who saw the dogs and the fire hoses and the
footage of marchers beaten within an inch or their lives; who knew it
was probably smarter and safer to stay at home, but still decided to
take those Freedom Rides down south – who still decided to march. And
because they did, they changed the world.

I bring this up because today, you are about to enter a world that
makes it easy to get caught up in the notion that there are actually
two different stories at work in our lives.

The first is the story of our everyday cares and concerns – the
responsibilities we have to our jobs and our families – the bustle and
busyness of what happens in our own life. And the second is the story
of what happens in the life of our country – of what happens in the
wider world. It’s the story you see when you catch a glimpse of the
day’s headlines or turn on the news at night – a story of big
challenges like war and recession; hunger and climate change;
injustice and inequality. It’s a story that can sometimes seem
distant and separate from our own – a destiny to be shaped by forces
beyond our control.

And yet, the history of this nation tells us this isn’t so. It tells
us that we are a people whose destiny has never been written for us,
but by us – by generations of men and women, young and old, who have
always believed that their story and the American story are not
separate, but shared. And for more than two centuries, they have
served this country in ways that have forever enriched both.

I say this to you as someone who couldn’t be standing here today if
not for the service of others, and wouldn’t be standing here today if
not for the purpose that service gave my own life.

You see, I spent much of my childhood adrift. My father left my
mother and I when I was two. When my mother remarried, I lived in
Indonesia for a time, but was mostly raised in Hawaii by her and my
grandparents from Kansas . My teenage years were filled with more
than the usual dose of adolescent rebellion, and I’ll admit that I
didn’t always take myself or my studies very seriously. I realize
that none of you can probably relate to this, but there were many
times when I wasn’t sure where I was going, or what I would do.

But during my first two years of college, perhaps because the values
my mother had taught me –hard work, honesty, empathy – had resurfaced
after a long hibernation; or perhaps because of the example of
wonderful teachers and lasting friends, I began to notice a world
beyond myself. I became active in the movement to oppose the
apartheid regime of South Africa . I began following the debates in
this country about poverty and health care. So that by the time I
graduated from college, I was possessed with a crazy idea – that I
would work at a grassroots level to bring about change.

I wrote letters to every organization in the country I could think
of. And one day, a small group of churches on the South Side of
Chicago offered me a job to come work as a community organizer in
neighborhoods that had been devastated by steel plant closings. My
mother and grandparents wanted me to go to law school. My friends
were applying to jobs on Wall Street. Meanwhile, this organization
offered me $12,000 a year plus $2,000 for an old, beat-up car.

And I said yes.

Now, I didn’t know a soul in Chicago , and I wasn’t sure what this
community organizing business was all about. I had always been
inspired by stories of the Civil Rights Movement and JFK’s call to
service, but when I got to the South Side, there were no marches, and
no soaring speeches. In the shadow of an empty steel plant, there
were just a lot of folks who were struggling. And we didn’t get very
far at first.

I still remember one of the very first meetings we put together to
discuss gang violence with a group of community leaders. We waited
and waited for people to show up, and finally, a group of older people
walked into the hall. And they sat down. And a little old lady
raised her hand and asked, “Is this where the bingo game is?”

It wasn’t easy, but eventually, we made progress. Day by day, block
by block, we brought the community together, and registered new
voters, and set up after school programs, and fought for new jobs, and
helped people live lives with some measure of dignity.

But I also began to realize that I wasn’t just helping other people.
Through service, I found a community that embraced me; citizenship
that was meaningful; the direction I’d been seeking. Through service,
I discovered how my own improbable story fit into the larger story of
America .

Each of you will have the chance to make your own discovery in the
years to come. And I say “chance” because you won’t have to take it.
There’s no community service requirement in the real world; no one
forcing you to care. You can take your diploma, walk off this stage,
and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the
other things that our money culture says you should by. You can
choose to narrow your concerns and live your life in a way that tries
to keep your story separate from America ’s.

But I hope you don’t. Not because you have an obligation to those who
are less fortunate, though you do have that obligation. Not because
you have a debt to all those who helped you get here, though you do
have that debt.

It’s because you have an obligation to yourself. Because our
individual salvation depends on collective salvation. Because
thinking only about yourself, fulfilling your immediate wants and
needs, betrays a poverty of ambition. Because it’s only when you
hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize
your true potential and discover the role you’ll play in writing the
next great chapter in America ’s story

There are so many ways to serve and so much need at this defining
moment in our history. You don’t have to be a community organizer or
do something crazy like run for President. Right here at Wesleyan,
many of you have already volunteered at local schools, contributed to
United Way , and even started a program that brings fresh produce to
needy families in the area. One hundred and sixty-four graduates of
this school have joined the Peace Corps since 2001, and I’m especially
proud that two of you are about to leave for my father’s homeland of
Kenya to bring alternative sources of energy to impoverished areas.

I ask you to seek these opportunities when you leave here, because the
future of this country – your future – depends on it. At a time when
our security and moral standing depend on winning hearts and minds in
the forgotten corners of this world, we need more of you to serve
abroad. As President, I intend to grow the Foreign Service, double
the Peace Corps over the next few years, and engage the young people
of other nations in similar programs, so that we work side by side to
take on the common challenges that confront all humanity.

At a time when our ice caps are melting and our oceans are rising, we
need you to help lead a green revolution. We still have time to avoid
the catastrophic consequences of climate change if we get serious
about investing in renewable sources of energy, and if we get a
generation of volunteers to work on renewable energy projects, and
teach folks about conservation, and help clean up polluted areas; if
we send talented engineers and scientists abroad to help developing
countries promote clean energy.

At a time when a child in Boston must compete with children in Beijing
and Bangalore , we need an army of you to become teachers and
principals in schools that this nation cannot afford to give up on. I
will pay our educators what they deserve, and give them more support,
but I will also ask more of them to be mentors to other teachers, and
serve in high-need schools and high-need subject areas like math and
science.

At a time when there are children in the city of New Orleans who still
spend each night in a lonely trailer, we need more of you to take a
weekend or a week off from work, and head down South, and help
rebuild. If you can’t get the time, volunteer at the local homeless
shelter or soup kitchen in your own community. Find an organization
that’s fighting poverty, or a candidate who promotes policies you
believe in, and find a way to help them.

At a time of war, we need you to work for peace. At a time of
inequality, we need you to work for opportunity. At a time of so much
cynicism and so much doubt, we need you to make us believe again.

Now understand this - believing that change is possible is not the
same as being naïve. Go into service with your eyes wide open, for
change will not come easily. On the big issues that our nation faces,
difficult choices await. We’ll have to face some hard truths, and
some sacrifice will be required – not only from you individually, but
from the nation as a whole.

There is no magic bullet to our energy problems, for example; no
perfect energy source - so all of us will have to use the energy
sources we have more wisely. Deep-rooted poverty will not be reversed
overnight, and will require both money and reform at a time when our
federal and state budgets are strapped and Washington is skeptical
that reform is possible. Transforming our education system will
require not only bold government action, but a change in attitudes
among parents and students. Bringing an end to the slaughter in
Darfur will involve navigating extremely difficult realities on the
ground, even for those with the best of intentions.

And so, should you take the path of service, should you choose to take
up one of these causes as your own, know that you’ll experience
frustrations and failures. Even your successes will be marked by
imperfections and unintended consequences. I guarantee you, there
will certainly be times when friends or family urge you to pursue more
sensible endeavors with more tangible rewards. And there will be
times when you are tempted to take their advice.

But I hope you’ll remember, during those times of doubt and
frustration, that there is nothing naïve about your impulse to change
this world. Because all it takes is one act of service – one blow
against injustice – to send forth that tiny ripple of hope that Robert
Kennedy spoke of.

You know, Ted Kennedy often tells a story about the fifth anniversary
celebration of the Peace Corps. He was there, and he asked one of the
young Americans why he had chosen to volunteer. And the man replied,
“Because it was the first time someone asked me to do something for my
country.”

I don’t know how many of you have been asked that question, but after
today, you have no excuses. I am asking you, and if I should have the
honor of serving this nation as President, I will be asking again in
the coming years. We may disagree on certain issues and positions,
but I believe we can be unified in service to a greater good. I
intend to make it a cause of my presidency, and I believe with all my
heart that this generation is ready, and eager, and up to the
challenge.

We will face our share of cynics and doubters. But we always have. I
can still remember a conversation I had with an older man all those
years ago just before I left for Chicago . He said, “Barack, I’ll
give you a bit of advice. Forget this community organizing business
and do something that’s gonna make you some money. You can’t change
the world, and people won’t appreciate you trying. But you’ve got a
nice voice, so you should think about going into television
broadcasting. I’m telling you, you’ve got a future.”

Now, he may have been right about the TV thing, but he was wrong about
everything else. For that old man has not seen what I have seen. He
has not seen the faces of ordinary people the first time they clear a
vacant lot or build a new playground or force an unresponsive leader
to provide services to their community. He has not seen the face of a
child brighten because of an inspiring teacher or mentor. He has not
seen scores of young people educate their parents on issues like
Darfur , or mobilize the conscience of a nation around the challenge
of climate change. He has not seen lines of men and women that wrap
around schools and churches, that stretch block after block just so
they could make their voices heard, many for the very first time.

And that old man who didn’t believe the world could change – who
didn’t think one person could make a difference – well he certainly
didn’t know much about the life of Joseph Kennedy’s youngest son.

It is rare in this country of ours that a person exists who has
touched the lives of nearly every single American without many of us
even realizing it. And yet, because of Ted Kennedy, millions of
children can see a doctor when they get sick. Mothers and fathers can
leave work to spend time with their newborns. Working Americans are
paid higher wages, and compensated for overtime, and can keep their
health insurance when they change jobs. They are protected from
discrimination in the workplace, and those who are born with
disabilities can still get an education, and health care, and fair
treatment on the job. Our schools are stronger and our colleges are
filled with more Americans who can afford it. And I have a feeling
that Ted Kennedy is not done just yet.

But surely, if one man can achieve so much and make such a difference
in the lives of so many, then each of us can do our part. Surely, if
his service and his story can forever shape America ’s story, then our
collective service can shape the destiny of this generation. At the
very least, his living example calls each of us to try. That is all I
ask of you on this joyous day of new beginnings; that is what Senator
Kennedy asks of you as well, and that is how we will keep so much
needed work going, and the cause of justice everlasting, and the dream
alive for generations to come. Thank you so much to the class of
2008, and congratulations on your graduation.

Live blogging from Wesleyan University

2008-05-25T10:10:00.001-04:00

My fellow blogger Spazeboy) is a student at Wesleyan University and is the only blogger in the country with full access to Barack Obama's commencement address (lucky bastard :-)

You can follow his reporting over at the student-operated Wesleying blog. You can watch the speech live via WEScast as well as WTNH Online

Having Obama step in for Ted Kennedy and speak at Wesleyan University has become a MAJOR media event and to have a blogger there covering all the activity is pretty amazing.

Straight talk

2008-05-25T09:55:00.000-04:00

The video speaks for itself.

Thanks to Robert Greenwald and Brave News Films for the laughs.

Fallout from Clinton remark continues

2008-05-24T13:17:00.002-04:00

The hits keep coming.

Newsday:
Al Gore's 2000 campaign manager Donna Brazile, an uncommitted superdelegate who has been complimentary to Obama, told Newsday: "I am numb."

[...]
Houston Chronicle blog:
So she has to hang around just in case Barack Obama gets shot? I tell you, the lady has completely taken leave of her senses.

[...]
Rolling Stone:
If there’s an innocent explanation for this, it escapes me.... And of all the weeks to be invoking dead Kennedy’s. She’s got a touch of Michael Savage in her, this one.

UPDATE: Clinton apologizes… to the Kennedy’s. Not Obama... All class.

[...]
Goodwin:
SICK. Disgusting. And yet revealing. Hillary Clinton is staying in the race in the event some nut kills Barack Obama.

It could happen, but what definitely has happened is that Clinton has killed her own chances of being vice president. She doesn't deserve to be elected dog catcher anywhere now.

Her shocking comment to a South Dakota newspaper might qualify as the dumbest thing ever said in American politics.

Her lame explanation that she brought up the 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy because his brother Ted's illness was on her mind doesn't cut it. Not even close.

We have seen an X-ray of a very dark soul. One consumed by raw ambition to where the possible assassination of an opponent is something to ponder in a strategic way. Otherwise, why is murder on her mind?

The picture tells the story

2008-05-24T02:41:00.000-04:00

Clinton knows she f*cked up...

Olbermann offers scathing "Special Comment" on Clinton/RFK remark

2008-05-23T22:26:00.001-04:00

The video speaks for itself...

Finally tonight as promised, a Special Comment on Senator Clinton's "assassination" remark to the editorial board of the Argus-Leader newspaper of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Once again, it was this:

Asked if her continuing fight for the nomination against Senator Obama hurts the Democratic party, she replied, quote... "I don't. Because again, I've been around long enough. You know, my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the
California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in **June** in California. You know, I just don't understand it. You know, there's lots of speculation about why it is. "

The comments were recorded and we showed them to you earlier and they are on-line as we speak.

She actually said those words.

**Those** words, Senator?

You actually invoked the nightmare of political assassination.

You actually invoked the spectre of an inspirational leader, at the seeming moment of triumph, for himself and a battered nation yearning to breathe free, silenced forever.

You actually used the word "assassination" in the middle of a campaign with a loud undertone of racial hatred -- and **gender** hatred -- and **political** hatred.

You actually used the word "assassination" in a time when there is a fear, unspoken but vivid and terrible, that our again-troubled land and fractured political landscape might target a black man running for president.

Or a white man.

Or a white woman!

You actually used those words, in **this** America, Senator while running against an African-American against whom the death threats started the moment he declared his campaign?

You actually used those words, in **this** America, Senator, while running to break your "greatest glass ceiling" and claiming there are people who would do anything to stop **you**?

You!

Senator -- never mind the implications of using the word "assassination" in any connection to Senator Obama...

What about **you**?

You cannot say this!

The references, said her spokesperson, were not, in any way, weighted.

The allusions, said Mo Uh-leathee, are, quote... "...historical examples of the nominating process going well into the summer and any reading into it beyond that would be inaccurate and outrageous."

I'm sorry.

There is **no** inaccuracy.

Not for a moment does any rational person believe Senator Clinton is actually **hoping** for the worst of all political calamities.

Yet the outrage belongs, not to Senator Clinton or her supporters, but to every other American.

Firstly, she has previously bordered on the remarks she made today...

Then swerved back from them and the awful skid they represented. She said, in an off-camera interview with **Time** on March 6th...

"Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June, also in California. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing
particularly unusual. We will see how it unfolds as we go forward over the next three to four months."

In retrospect, we failed her when we did not call her out, for that remark, dry and only disturbing, in a magazine's pages.

But somebody obviously warned her of the danger of that rhetoric:

After the Indiana primary, on May 7th, she told supporters at a Washington hotel:

"Sometimes you gotta calm people down a little bit. But if you look at successful presidential campaigns, my husband did not get the nomination until June of 1992. I remember tragically when Senator Kennedy won California near the end of that process."

And at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, on the same day, she referenced it again:

"You know, I remember very well what happened in the California primary in 1968 as, you know, Senator Kennedy won that primary."

On March 6th she had said "assassinated."

By May 7th she had avoided it.

Today... she went back to an awful well.

There is no **good** time to recall the awful events of June 5th, 1968...

Of Senator Bobby Kennedy, happy and alive -- perhaps, for the first time since his own brother's death in Dallas in 1963...

Galvanized to try to lead this nation back from one of its darkest eras...

Only to fall victim to the same scurge that **took** that brother, and Martin Luther King...

There **is** no good time to recall this.

But certainly to invoke it, two weeks before the exact 40th anniversary of the assassination, is an insensitive and heartless thing.

And certainly to invoke it, three days **after** the awful diagnosis, and heart-breaking prognosis, for Senator **Ted** Kennedy, is just as insensitive, and just as heartless.

And both actions, open a door wide into the soul of somebody who seeks the highest office in this country, and through that door shows something not merely troubling, but frightening.

And politically inexplicable.

What, Senator, do you suppose would happen if you withdrew from the campaign, and Senator Obama formally became the presumptive nominee, and then suddenly left the scene.

It doesn't even have to **be** the 'dark curse upon the land' you mentioned today, Senator.

Nor even an issue of health.

He could simply change his mind...

Or there could unfold that perfect-storm scandal your people have often referenced, even predicted.

Maybe he could get a better offer from some other, wiser country.

What happens then, Senator?

You are not allowed **back** into the race?

Your delegates and your support vanish?

The Democrats don't run **anybody** for President?

What happens, of course, is what **happened** when the Democrats' Vice Presidential choice, Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri, had to withdraw from the ticket, in 1972 after it proved he had not been forthcoming about previous mental health treatments.

George McGovern simply got **another** Vice President. Senator, as late as the late summer of 1864 the Republicans were talking about having a **second** convention, to withdraw Abraham Lincoln's re-nomination and choose somebody else because until Sherman took Atlanta in September it looked like Lincoln was going to **lose** to George McClellan.

You could theoretically **suspend** your campaign, Senator.

There's plenty of time and plenty of historical precedent, Senator, in case you want to come back in, if something bad should happen to Senator Obama.

Nothing serious, mind you.

It's just like you said, "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."

Since those awful words in Sioux Falls, and after the condescending, buck-passing statement from her spokesperson, Senator Clinton has made something akin to an apology, without any evident recognition of the true trauma she has inflicted.

"I was discussing the Democratic primary history, and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns both my husband and Senator Kennedy waged in California in June in 1992 and 1968," she said in **Brandon**, South Dakota.

"I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That's a historic fact.

"The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy. I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive, I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever."
"My view is that we have to look to the past and to our leaders who have inspired us and give us a lot to live up to and I'm honored to hold Senator Kennedy's seat in the United States Senate in the state of New York and have the highest regard for the entire Kennedy family.

Thanks.

Not a word about the inappropriateness of referencing assassination.

Not a word about the inappropriateness of implying -- whether it was intended or not -- that she was hanging around waiting for somebody to try something terrible.

Not a word about Senator Obama.

Not a word about Senator McCain.
Not: I'm sorry...

Not: I apologize...

Not: I blew it...

Not: please forgive me.

God knows, Senator, in this campaign, this nation has **had** to forgive you, early and often...

And despite your now traditional position of the offended victim, the nation **has** forgiven you.

We have forgiven you your insistence that there have been widespread calls for you to end your campaign, when such calls had been few.

We have forgiven you your misspeaking about Martin Luther King's relative importance to the Civil Rights movement.

We have forgiven you your misspeaking about your under-fire landing in Bosnia.

We have forgiven you insisting Michigan's vote wouldn't count and then claiming those who would not count it were Un-Democratic.

We have forgiven you pledging to not campaign in Florida and thus disenfranchise voters there, and then claim those who stuck to those rules were as wrong as those who defended slavery or denied women the vote.

We have forgiven you the photos of Osama Bin Laden in an anti-Obama ad...

We have forgiven you fawning over the fairness of Fox News while they were still calling you a murderer.

We have forgiven you accepting Richard Mellon Scaife's endorsement and then laughing as you described his "deathbed conversion."

We have forgiven you quoting the electoral predictions of Boss Karl Rove.

We have forgiven you the 3 A-M Phone Call commercial.

We have forgiven you **President** Clinton's disparaging comparison of the Obama candidacy to Jesse Jackson's.

We have forgiven you Geraldine Ferraro's national radio interview suggesting Obama would not still be in the race had he been a white man.

We have forgiven you the dozen changing metrics and the endless self-contradictions of your insistence that your nomination is mathematically probable rather than a statistical impossibility.

We have forgiven you your declaration of some primary states as counting and some as not.

We have forgiven you exploiting Jeremiah Wright in front of the editorial board of the lunatic-fringe Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

We have forgiven you exploiting William Ayers in front of the debate on ABC.

We have forgiven you for boasting of your "support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans"...

We have even forgiven you repeatedly praising Senator McCain at Senator Obama's expense, and your **own** expense, and the Democratic **ticket's** expense.

But Senator, we cannot forgive you this.

"You know, my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."

We cannot forgive you this -- not because it is crass and low and unfeeling and brutal.

**This** is **un**-forgivable, because this nation's deepest shame, its most enduring horror, its most terrifying legacy, is political assassination.

Lincoln.
Garfield.
McKinley.
Kennedy.
Malcolm X
Martin Luther King.
**Robert** Kennedy.

And, but for the grace of the universe or the luck of the draw, Reagan, Ford, Truman, Nixon, Andrew Jackson, both Roosevelts, even George Wallace.

The politics of this nation is steeped enough in blood, Senator Clinton, you cannot and must not invoke that imagery! Anywhere! At any time!

And to not appreciate, immediately -- to **still** not appreciate tonight -- just **what** you have done... is to reveal an incomprehension of the America you seek to lead.

This, Senator, is too much.

Because a senator -- a politician -- a **person** -- who can let hang in mid-air the prospect that she might just be sticking around in part, just in case the other guy gets shot -- has no business being, and no capacity **to** be, the President of the United States.

Good night and good luck.

Clinton foresees Obama's assination as a reason to stay in the race!?!

2008-05-23T20:44:00.000-04:00

WTF is Clinton smoking? Does she know something about Obama's near future...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton quickly apologized Friday after citing the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy as a reason to remain in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination despite increasingly long odds.

[...]

"I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and in particular the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever," the former first lady said.

The episode occurred as Clinton campaigned in advance of the June 3 South Dakota primary.

Responding to a question from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader editorial board about calls for her to drop out of the race, she said: "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know I just, I don't understand it," she said, dismissing the idea of abandoning the race.

Clinton said she didn't understand why, given this history, some Democrats were calling for her to quit.

After the Obama campaign pounced on her remark, the Clinton campaign offered this so-called "clarification"

Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said the senator was only referring to her husband and Kennedy "as historical examples of the nominating process going well into the summer and any reading into it beyond that would be inaccurate and outrageous."

Ah...yeah, right.

After realizing that the excuse wasn't going to fly, Hillary tried to do damage control again.

"I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns of both my husband and Senator (Robert) Kennedy waged in California in June in 1992 and 1968 and I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That's a historic fact," she said.

Yeah, but what does this "historic fact" have to do with you bringing up Kennedy's assignation with the context of her entire original comment? And oh yeah, your reference about your husband Bill is WRONG as the '92 campaign was effectively over IN MARCH of that year!

Please, please, please go away Hillary...please.

UPDATE: Sweet! TPM has the video footage...

UPDATE 2: The rounds of condemnation is spreading across the blogs.
The Political Carnvial:

Done. I'm done with her.

MyDD:

This must now end.

Over the past weeks, many have called for Clinton to end her campaign based on metrics. But with the infrastructure-building the primary keeps delivering, I've been reasonably comfortable waiting until June for closure.

But this is unacceptable.

The United States has a history of profound political violence - and the use of violence to oppress and coerce. And while I'm not quite willing to accept that Clinton spoke maliciously - it doesn't matter. There is no excuse for flippantly referencing assassination, especially given the historic nature of Obama's campaign and our nation's grim history of racial oppression through violence. When Hillary Clinton speaks of our history, she is not reflecting academically or only in a vacuum - her words and influence are real. To act otherwise is negligent, at best.

No context can save her. She must go.

Daily Kos

The willingness to say such a thing in a cheap effort to sway superdelegates is disgusting.

Oliver Willis

Seriously, who says this sort of thing? Your average person doesn’t say it, let alone somebody running for president. Hillary Clinton didn’t lose this race because she was a victim of sexism. She lost this race because people are tired of her clawing for power and running over everything to do it.

..and for her excuse that she had Kennedy on her minds because of his current, illness, can someone from her campaign explain her similar remarks she made to TIME magazine back in March?

TIME: Can you envision a point at which--if the race stays this close--Democratic Party elders would step in and say, "This is now hurting the party and whoever will be the nominee in the fall"?

CLINTON: No, I really can't. I think people have short memories. Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual.

Oh, I'm praying for an Olbermann "Special Comment" tonight.

UPDATE 3: Rachel Maddow offer her two cents...

Eugene Robinson on Clinton's non-apology apology

My interview with Congressman Joe Courtney

2008-05-23T11:09:00.000-04:00

In light of his endorsement of Barack Obama for President, earlier today I conducted a interview with Congressman Joe Courtney where we talked about his decision to back Obama over Hillary Clinton. We also touched on other subjects such as his support for the new G.I. Bill (which the President has threatened to veto) and his thoughts on being a first term congressman for the second congressional district.

You can hear the full interview right now over at My Left Nutmeg.

Back from Baghdad, Congressman Larson again calls for a timetable

2008-05-22T16:59:00.000-04:00

Back from his visit to Baghdad, Congressman John Larson issued the following statement regarding the situation in Iraq.

Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01), Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, joined Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a trip to Iraq this past weekend. The delegation met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Larson confronted al-Maliki with the reality of America’s waning patience with the War in Iraq and the government’s performance there.

Congressman Larson said, “Having spoken with Prime Minister Maliki, I am even more convinced of the need to establish a timeline for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. The American people have supported the Iraqi government with life, limb and treasure. Now, it is time for Iraqis to stand up and take responsibility for their own future. It is time for Iraq’s neighbors and the Arab League to help create a stable and secure Iraq. It’s incumbent for Iraq’s neighbors and the international community to step up. It seems obvious to me they are content to see this administration go it alone.

“Americans at home are wondering why our troops are paying the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq, caught in the midst of a sectarian war. The United States is going deeper and deeper into debt to rebuild Iraq while the Iraqi government is running a surplus.

“Iraq’s government must demonstrate to the United States and the world that it is capable of building a strong coalition to lead their country to stability and security. We have yet to see that sort of leadership from them.

“This continues to be one of the worst foreign policy decisions in our country’s history, the scope of which is eclipsing the Vietnam War.”

Personally, at this point, I think we're long past eclipsing the policy decision in Vietnam.

Courtney backs Obama

2008-05-21T13:21:00.000-04:00

Today, Congressman (and super-delegate) Joe Courtney made his decision and endorsed Barack Obama for President.

Today, I am pleased to announce my endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.

Our country has experienced a remarkable contest for the Democratic nomination with a field of unprecedented talent, including Connecticut's senior Senator Chris Dodd whom I originally endorsed. The race has boiled down to an historic choice between the nation's first African American or woman president, and the party, and our nation, are richer for this contest.

The results last evening from Oregon have clarified that Barack Obama will be the nominee for our party. As John McCain continues to act with a free hand in the Republican contest, it is clear that we must unite and rally around a nominee to give the nation a strong alternative in the Fall. With our economy languishing and our foreign policy in tatters, the last thing our country can afford is a third Bush term, which I believe John McCain would deliver if elected President.

While I am making this endorsement, I want to take the time to recognize Senator Clinton for her contributions to this contest and to our nation. Hers was a gutsy effort, and one that spoke to the economic anxiety that so many in eastern Connecticut and across the nation are feeling after eight years of George Bush's rule. As the father of a young daughter, I was also heartened that we took a step closer to the long overdue day when we elect a woman to serve as President. Senator Clinton has been an important leader of our party and will continue to play a key role in the years ahead.

I am enthusiastically endorsing Barack Obama because I believe that he can lead this nation and bridge the partisan divide that has hindered progress in our nation over the past eight years. Barack Obama has demonstrated leadership in pledging a new direction to drawdown our forces in Iraq and end our disastrous engagement that has stretched our military to the breaking point, damaged our economy, and diverted our attention from terrorist threats in Afghanistan and across the globe. Senator Obama's economic vision would revive our sluggish economy and invest in our middle class which has been so neglected in the Bush era. The power of Barack's words is matched by the force of his ideas.

In addition, by endorsing Senator Obama I am keeping faith with the new and young voters who helped propel me to a razor-thin victory in 2006. At UConn and on campuses across eastern Connecticut and the nation, Barack Obama has inspired new voters to engage in the political process and make their voices heard. A torch has been passed to a new generation to help solve the serious challenges facing our nation.

Our country is in desperate need of change in the White House. Today, I endorse Barack Obama to deliver that change in January after victory in November.

TerryMania is running wild!

2008-05-15T16:26:00.001-04:00

The video speaks for itself.

(h/t to TPM.com>

Turncoat Joe stoops to a new low

2008-05-14T17:22:00.001-04:00

Can someone PLEASE explain why some Democrats stuck with this moron after the 2006 primary?

Lieberman's recent smearing of Obama is really outrageous.

Joe Lieberman: a disgrace to Connecticut.

Monkeyboy

2008-05-14T16:53:00.002-04:00

I guess the maker of this racist T-shirt voted for Clinton in the primary.

Marietta bar owner Mike Norman says the T-shirts he’s peddling, featuring a look-a-like of cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with “Obama in ‘08? underneath, are not meant to offend.

Norman acknowledged the imagery’s Jim Crow roots but said he sees nothing wrong with depicting a prominent African-American as a monkey. We’re not living in the (19)40’s,” he said. “Look at him . . . the hairline, the ears — he looks just like Curious George.” About a dozen prostestors rallied against the shirts Tuesday afternoon, condemning them as racist and asking Norman, longtime proprietor of Mulligan’s Bar and Grill on Roswell Street, to stop selling them.

Marietta native Pam Lindley, 47, joined the protest after reading about the controversy online.

“I don’t want people to think this is what Marietta is all about,” she added, motioning towards the tavern. “This is what some people think the South is still like. Marietta’s come a long way but I guess it’s still got a little ways to go.”

...but of course, it's crazy to suggest that racism will be a factor in this year's presidential election, right?

White like me

2008-05-12T15:14:00.001-04:00

I'm seen some surprising comments from the Clinton campaign during this campaign but Hillary Clinton's recent argument in terms of why she's the most electable candidate turned my stomach and really pissed me off.

Now, it goes with saying that Clinton's remark didn't go along well in the African-American community, even along her most hardened supporters. In fact, it was by far one of the most disgusting statements I've ever heard from the a political family I use to respect during the 90s.

In full damage control mode, the Clinton campaign sent Terry McAuliffe to do the Sunday talk show rounds to do what he does best...spin.

I bring this topic up for a reason. It's apparent to anyone who's looking at this rationally that at this point, this primary needs to end, and the sooner the better. As each super-delegate makes a decision, the closer this nonsense can come to an end and the excuses I hear from the those uncommitted doesnt' nearly pass the smell test.

Joe Courtney and Nancy DiNardo...are you listening?

Chris Dodd stumps of Obama on MTP

2008-05-12T14:14:00.000-04:00

For Mother's Day, Chris Dodd made an appearance on Meet to Press to talk about the inivitable Democratic Presidential nominee Barak Obama and the stress for unity after Hillary drops out of the race.

Earth to Clinton

2008-05-08T15:28:00.000-04:00

IT'S OVER!

With stupid, divisive, and potentially racist comments like this from the Clinton machine, it's time for the Democrats to show Hillary the door and move on to fighting McCain.

Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Wednesday to continue her quest for the Democratic nomination, arguing she would be the stronger nominee because she appeals to a wider coalition of voters — including whites who have not supported Barack Obama in recent contests.

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

In layman's terms "unlike Obama, I connect with white people."

Obama's campaign reaction to Clinton's statement is more than correct.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said that in Indiana, Obama split working-class voters with Clinton and won a higher percentage of white voters than in Ohio in March. He said Obama will be the strongest nominee because he appeals "to Americans from every background and all walks of life. These statements from Sen. Clinton are not true and frankly disappointing."

[...]

Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said Clinton's comment was a "poorly worded" variation on the way analysts have been "slicing and dicing the vote in racial terms."

Poorly worded is an understatement...

Clinton will drop out by June 15

2008-05-07T16:47:00.001-04:00

So says Lawrence O'Donnell in this piece he did for the Huffington Post today.

A senior campaign official and Clinton confidante has told me that there will be a Democratic nominee by June 15. He could not bring himself to say the words "Hillary will drop out by June 15," but that is clearly what he meant. I kept saying, "So, Hillary will drop out by June 15," and he kept saying, "We will have a nominee by June 15." He stressed what a reasonable person Hillary is.

Great, maybe on June 16, the media can focus their attention on John McCain. You know, the guy who has his own pastor problem, wants the US in Iraq for the next 100 years, and stated that the war is all about O-I-L.

The longer this primary continues, the longer McCain gets a free pass from the press. For the sake of the party, I wish the super-delegates would make up their mind now so we can get this whole Obama/Clinton primary thing over with already.

Why wait till June 15 for something we already know today...it's OVER

All about love

2008-05-06T18:12:00.000-04:00

With yesterday being Cinco de Mayo, most people probably didn't realize that an important women in equal right passed away...Mildred Loving.

Who's Mildred Loving you ask...

Mildred Loving, a black woman whose challenge to Virginia's ban on interracial marriage led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling striking down such laws nationwide, has died, her daughter said Monday.

Peggy Fortune said Loving, 68, died Friday at her home in rural Milford. She did not disclose the cause of death.

''I want (people) to remember her as being strong and brave yet humble -- and believed in love,'' Fortune told The Associated Press.

Loving and her white husband, Richard, changed history in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their right to marry. The ruling struck down laws banning racially mixed marriages in at least 17 states.

''There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause,'' the court ruled in a unanimous decision.

Her husband died in 1975. Shy and soft-spoken, Loving shunned publicity and in a rare interview with The Associated Press last June, insisted she never wanted to be a hero -- just a bride.

''It wasn't my doing,'' Loving said. ''It was God's work.''

Meteor Blades over at Kos posted this message written by Loving on the 40th anniversary of the historic ruling that made laws that banned interracial marriages unconstitutional.

When my late husband, Richard, and I got married in Washington, DC in 1958, it wasn’t to make a political statement or start a fight. We were in love, and we wanted to be married.

We didn’t get married in Washington because we wanted to marry there. We did it there because the government wouldn’t allow us to marry back home in Virginia where we grew up, where we met, where we fell in love, and where we wanted to be together and build our family. You see, I am a woman of color and Richard was white, and at that time people believed it was okay to keep us from marrying because of their ideas of who should marry whom.

When Richard and I came back to our home in Virginia, happily married, we had no intention of battling over the law. We made a commitment to each other in our love and lives, and now had the legal commitment, called marriage, to match. Isn’t that what marriage is?

Not long after our wedding, we were awakened in the middle of the night in our own bedroom by deputy sheriffs and actually arrested for the "crime" of marrying the wrong kind of person. Our marriage certificate was hanging on the wall above the bed. The state prosecuted Richard and me, and after we were found guilty, the judge declared: "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix." He sentenced us to a year in prison, but offered to suspend the sentence if we left our home in Virginia for 25 years exile.

We left, and got a lawyer. Richard and I had to fight, but still were not fighting for a cause. We were fighting for our love.

Though it turned out we had to fight, happily Richard and I didn’t have to fight alone. Thanks to groups like the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, and so many good people around the country willing to speak up, we took our case for the freedom to marry all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. And on June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that, "The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men," a "basic civil right."

My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God’s plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry.

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the "wrong kind of person" for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.

When will the media finally focus on McCain's pastor problem?

2008-05-04T13:37:00.000-04:00

...and you think Rev. Wright is bad? Here's a glimpse into John Hagee, the person John McCain actively reached out towards for his support.

BORED by those endless replays of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright? If so, go directly to YouTube, search for “John Hagee Roman Church Hitler,” and be recharged by a fresh jolt of clerical jive.

What you’ll find is a white televangelist, the Rev. John Hagee, lecturing in front of an enormous diorama. Wielding a pointer, he pokes at the image of a woman with Pamela Anderson-sized breasts, her hand raising a golden chalice. The woman is “the Great Whore,” Mr. Hagee explains, and she is drinking “the blood of the Jewish people.” That’s because the Great Whore represents “the Roman Church,” which, in his view, has thirsted for Jewish blood throughout history, from the Crusades to the Holocaust.

Mr. Hagee is not a fringe kook but the pastor of a Texas megachurch. On Feb. 27, he stood with John McCain and endorsed him over the religious conservatives’ favorite, Mike Huckabee, who was then still in the race.

Are we really to believe that neither Mr. McCain nor his camp knew anything then about Mr. Hagee’s views? This particular YouTube video — far from the only one — was posted on Jan. 1, nearly two months before the Hagee-McCain press conference. Mr. Hagee appears on multiple religious networks, including twice daily on the largest, Trinity Broadcasting, which reaches 75 million homes. Any 12-year-old with a laptop could have vetted this preacher in 30 seconds, tops.

Since then, Mr. McCain has been shocked to learn that his clerical ally has made many other outrageous statements. Mr. Hagee, it’s true, did not blame the American government for concocting AIDS. But he did say that God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its sins, particularly a scheduled “homosexual parade there on the Monday that Katrina came.”

Mr. Hagee didn’t make that claim in obscure circumstances, either. He broadcast it on one of America’s most widely heard radio programs, “Fresh Air” on NPR, back in September 2006. He reaffirmed it in a radio interview less than two weeks ago. Only after a reporter asked Mr. McCain about this Katrina homily on April 24 did the candidate brand it as “nonsense” and the preacher retract it.

Mr. McCain says he does not endorse any of Mr. Hagee’s calumnies, any more than Barack Obama endorses Mr. Wright’s. But those who try to give Mr. McCain a pass for his embrace of a problematic preacher have a thin case. It boils down to this: Mr. McCain was not a parishioner for 20 years at Mr. Hagee’s church.

That defense implies, incorrectly, that Mr. McCain was a passive recipient of this bigot’s endorsement. In fact, by his own account, Mr. McCain sought out Mr. Hagee, who is perhaps best known for trying to drum up a pre-emptive “holy war” with Iran. (This preacher’s rantings may tell us more about Mr. McCain’s policy views than Mr. Wright’s tell us about Mr. Obama’s.) Even after Mr. Hagee’s Catholic bashing bubbled up in the mainstream media, Mr. McCain still did not reject and denounce him, as Mr. Obama did an unsolicited endorser, Louis Farrakhan, at the urging of Tim Russert and Hillary Clinton. Mr. McCain instead told George Stephanopoulos two Sundays ago that while he condemns any “anti-anything” remarks by Mr. Hagee, he is still “glad to have his endorsement.”

I wonder if Mr. McCain would have given the same answer had Mr. Stephanopoulos confronted him with the graphic video of the pastor in full “Great Whore” glory. But Mr. McCain didn’t have to fear so rude a transgression. Mr. Hagee’s videos have never had the same circulation on television as Mr. Wright’s. A sonorous white preacher spouting venom just doesn’t have the telegenic zing of a theatrical black man.

Perhaps that’s why virtually no one has rebroadcast the highly relevant prototype for Mr. Wright’s fiery claim that 9/11 was America’s chickens “coming home to roost.” That would be the Sept. 13, 2001, televised exchange between Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, who blamed the attacks on America’s abortionists, feminists, gays and A.C.L.U. lawyers. (Mr. Wright blamed the attacks on America’s foreign policy.) Had that video re-emerged in the frenzied cable-news rotation, Mr. McCain might have been asked to explain why he no longer calls these preachers “agents of intolerance” and chose to cozy up to Mr. Falwell by speaking at his Liberty University in 2006.

Obama gets grilled while McCain gets a pass. Hypocrisy or racism...I guess you can guess my pick.

Straight talk express admits the truth

2008-05-02T19:41:00.005-04:00

We're there for the oil...

“Senator Obama and Senator Clinton want to set a date for withdraw. That's what they want to do is get everybody out. I believe that would lead to catastrophe and chaos and that we would have the whole region including the whole region and the country in such turmoil that we would be required to come back to the region. And I just want to promise you this. My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will - that will then prevent us - that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East.”

Of course, McCain gets a pass from the media on this while everyone keeps talking about Rev Wright.

Crooks and Liars has more...

UPDATE Bullshit! He wasn't talking about the first war, he was talking about THIS war. Obama and Clinton were NOT in the senate during the time of the first war. Read and listen to the full context of his remark AGAIN!

“Senator Obama and Senator Clinton want to set a date for withdraw. That's what they want to do is get everybody out. I believe that would lead to catastrophe and chaos and that we would have the whole region including the whole region and the country in such turmoil that we would be required to come back to the region. And I just want to promise you this. My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will - that will then prevent us - that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East.”

...and wasn't the rationale for the FIRST war against Iraq was the liberation Kuwait?
FLACHBACK 1991 and Daddy Bush:

President Bush told the world from the Oval Office, one day after the expiry of the United Nations ultimatum for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait: "The world could wait no longer."

[...]

"Our objectives are clear. Saddam Hussein's forces will leave Kuwait. The legitimate government will be restored to its rightful place and Kuwait will once again be free."

Try again McBush...

Take the Bush_McCain challenge

2008-05-02T19:25:00.000-04:00

What better way to start the weekend than to take this challenge and remind yourself why a vote for McCain is actually a vote for George W. Bush for a third term.

Joe Biden JJB speech

2008-05-01T09:55:00.001-04:00

From this year's Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey dinner, here's the speech from guest speaker Senator Joe Biden (in it's entirety).

100 years

2008-04-30T15:18:00.000-04:00

It's simple...a vote for McCain is a vote for the same.

JJB wrap-up

2008-04-29T09:53:00.001-04:00

Senator Dodd thanks Connecticut Democrats for their support during
his presidential campaign at the annual Jefferson-Jackson Bailey Dinner
Connecticut Convention Center, Hartford CT. Photo by CTblogger 04.28.08

Here are a few pics from last night's Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey dinner, featuring guest host Senator Joe Biden.

I didn't take as many pictures as I did in the past but other bloggers were on the scene and so everything was covered. I'll post footage from last night's event later.

Off to the big show!

2008-04-28T18:25:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm all dressed up for the annual Connecticut Democrats Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey Dinner. This year's special guest is Senator Joe Biden and if it's like the previous years (2006: Barack Obama, 2007: Nancy Pelosi), then it should be a great time.

I'll bring you all the details from the big Democratic get-together later.

Limbaugh wants a riot

2008-04-28T16:59:00.000-04:00

Seems like someone is doing hillbilly heroin again...Olbermann has the details.

The real McCain

2008-04-27T12:46:00.002-04:00

What better way to start the week than examining the silliness of "the angry" John McBush.

Here's McBush attempting to explain his votes on making Martin Luther King Day a federal holiday.

Here's the straight-talker giving his views on the ~~Iraq~~ 100 year war.

John McBush=more of the same.

Shock and Awe

2008-04-25T23:50:00.000-04:00

In honor of those who came out to protest the Bush/Kissinger/Cappiello/Shays shamefest.

The criminal in chief is in town

2008-04-25T10:17:00.001-04:00

In honor of the three trillion dollar man's visit to Connecticut (at taxpayer's expense), here's the rundown:

Rick Green of the Hartford Courant wrote a great piece on the stupidity behind Bush speech on Malaria IN HARTFORD while he ignores the real troubles in the North-End.

Connecticut Opposes the War is your ONE STOP site for all your protest information.

If you looking for a newspaper that's covering the protest, look no further than The Litchfield Times

Want to make a statement, help offset Cappiello's shameless fundraising with our grassroots contributions.

Well, I'm off to the big show! I'll be back with the goodies.

Introducing John Hartwell

2008-04-23T16:09:00.000-04:00

Cross post from HatCityBLOG

Recently, Democratic 26th District State Senate candidate John Hartwell made an appearance on the local access show "Bethel Today" where he talked about why he's running for office.

In light of current senator Judith Freedman announcing her retirement, here's your chance to learn more about the Hartwell as the statewide campaign season kicks into full gear.

Amann not seeking re-election

2008-04-23T12:55:00.000-04:00

Just got word that House Speaker Jim Amann announced that he will not be seeking re-election.

More on this later...

Yes, I'm serious...

2008-04-22T15:56:00.001-04:00

...this guy is running for Congress against John Larson.

Elizabeth Edwards repsonds to cheap shot charge from McCain

2008-04-21T16:17:00.000-04:00

Angry John McCain was in rare mode Sunday.

Calling Elizabeth Edwards critique of his health care fraud a cheap shot, John McCain explains why people with pre-existing conditions are pretty much screwed.

In response to McBush's nonsense, Edwards had this to say about the so-called cheap-shot.

John McCain accused me of taking a “cheap shot” on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” yesterday for noting that people with preexisting conditions, such as he and I have, would not be able to get health care under his plan –- and that he perhaps was not as sensitive to this problem as he should be since he has been in government health care his whole life.

Sen. McCain noted that he was not receiving government health care for the six years he was in captivity. That is true. But it has nothing to do with my point — which is that the problem with Sen. McCain’s health care plan is not how it affects us –- but how it affects the tens of millions of Americans with preexisting conditions who, unlike Sen. McCain and myself, do not have the resources to pay for quality health care.

That is not a cheap shot, it is a potentially life and death question for tens of million of Americans. And it is a question Sen. McCain must address.

McCain’s health care plan is centered around the idea that we’d be better off if more Americans bought health coverage on their own, rather than receiving it through a job or government program. But maybe since he has never purchased insurance in the individual market, he does not know the challenge it presents for Americans with preexisting conditions.

A recent study showed that nearly nine out of every ten people seeking individual coverage on the private insurance market never got it. Insurers will disqualify you for just taking certain medicines because of the possibility of future costs, including common drugs as Lipitor, Zocor, Nexium, and Advair. People who have had cancer are denied coverage and those who get cancer run the risk of simply being dropped by their insurer for any excuse that can be found. And insurers make it a practice to deny coverage to individuals in high risk occupations, such as firefighting, lumber work, telecom installation, and pretty much anything more risky than working in an office.

McCain opposes universal health care because he claims it represents a “big government takeover and mandates.” But yesterday, he said he would help cover people with preexisting conditions by creating a “special Medicaid trust fund.”

A “special Medicaid trust fund”? Talk about a big government takeover. Tens of millions of Americans have preexisting conditions. If he is going to expand Medicaid to cover Americans with preexisting conditions, he is talking about a massive, massive increase in the Medicaid program. He says he opposes more government involvement in health care, but his idea really would be government-run health care.

My questions is: why is he doing this? If he is so concerned about expanding government’s role in health care, why doesn’t he just tell the insurance industry that they have to cover people with preexisting conditions? Why is he more concerned about protecting the insurance industry –- an industry which, by the way, his corporate tax cut plan gives a $1.9 billion tax cut to –- than the tens of millions Americans with preexisting conditions?