If We Win Two Weeks From Today

From October 24 2006:

Am I the only one that remembers the hope we once had? I was at my office watching election results four years ago on election night. Watching and trying to keep hope alive — for Mondale, for Carnahan, for Strickland, for Cleland. And we lost. And some pundit — and I wish for the life of me I could remember who — said that if the Democrats had stood for something, they might still have lost, but losing wouldn’t feel so bad. And he was right. That’s how I felt four years ago. Democrats voted in support of the war. Wellstone was killed. And then came the losses. Out of that defeat came new life. Out of the knowledge that we lost not in spite of our principles, but because we failed to state our principles, we were all able to take solace. And in the immediate aftermath of that campaign came the campaign of Howard Dean. We believed in him and in the fact that victory belonged to those who said what they meant, and stood for change.

Idealism, Democracy, and an Argument Against Growing Up

From August 2006:A response to Ed Kilgore: Scroll down for piece about Feingold attacking centrists.

So, on one hand, yeah that’s me. DLC = bad; activist Democrats like Dean and Lamont = good. I am a MoveOn member. I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11. I’ve done all those activist-y things like marching in protests, reading Huffington Post, and wishing like hell that Al Gore would make another go at it. And yeah, I do think Feingold’s “rant” was a profile in courage. Yup, you know me so well, Ed. And you know the funny thing? You think that I have the DLC pegged in the same two-dimensional world-view as the one you use to see me.

Dueling Events

From July 25, 2005:

Couple of interesting developments today…

First, Columbus Ohio is playing host to this year’s DLC National Conversation — over 400 opportunistic Democrats from across the nation are gathered (today and tomorrow) to reportedly develop a “positive” agenda. I have a positive agenda too… I’m “positive” the DLC is fucking up the Democratic Party.

Apparently, Hillary Clinton is not so positive of this. She called for a cease-fire today in the intra-party wars at this year’s conference. That makes sense… the DLC starts the wars, divides the Party, rides those divisions to victory with Bill Clinton, and now that they are on the defensive, has their rising star call for a cease-fire.

So You Want to be a Media Source…

From July 6, 2005:Today, NYT reporter Judith Miller and Time Magazine reporter Matt Cooper faced a civil contempt charge for failing to reveal the confidential White House source who leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. “The Source” called Cooper at the last minute and waived the confidentiality, allowing Cooper to testify before the Grand Jury. While the contempt charge against Cooper was dropped, Miller was immediately remanded to custody and will serve up to 120 days in a D.C. jail.

Arguments over the first amendment aside (and I admit, that’s quite an argument to just lay aside…), today’s events bring us very close to the outing of the White House source. Karl Rove’s lawyer has confirmed that Rove was “a source,” but insists he was not the source who leaked Plame’s identity. If Rove is the source, he is not only a traitor for his role in the scandal, but he is also a coward for allowing a reporter to serve jail time for his crime.

Who Will be the First to Say

From July 5, 2005:

Impeachment.

A new Zogby poll out shows that 43% of the American public believes that impeachment is an appropriate response if it is demonstrated that Bush misled the nation to war. More surprising is the percentage of Republican respondents — 25% — who support impeachment in this circumstance.

Edwards the Populist?

From June 2005:

John Edwards had some harsh words in response to Howard Dean’s comments about the Republican work ethic. Dean charged that many Republicans had “never made an honest living in their lives.”

Edwards responded: “The chairman of the DNC is not the spokesman for the party,” Edwards said. “He’s a voice. I don’t agree with it.”

Notes from Albuquerque

 

From May 2005:

The Right is pushing for the confirmation of John Bolton, extremist judges, a complete dissolution of our nation’s social safety net, and a stay-the-course policy on our disastrous efforts in Iraq.

If ever there was a time to make sure Democrats Stand Up and Keep Fighting — this is it.

The Party of George W. Bush, Tom Delay, and Ted Bundy

From February 2005:One of the more interesting mini-controversies of the past few days is the saga involving the New York Republican Chairman, Steven Minarik, and his attempts to link the Democratic Party to the civil rights attorney, Lynn Stewart, convicted of aiding imprisoned terrorists. Earlier this week, Minarik declared: “The Democrats simply have refused to learn the lessons of the past two election cycles, and now they can be accurately called the party of Barbara Boxer, Lynne Stewart, and Howard Dean.” The attack was rebuked by NY Republican governor, George Pataki, who called it “outside the realm of appropriate political debate,” and Howard Dean called for an apology or the resignation of Minarik.

When The Note is Wrong

From February 2005:Alright — I admit it. I may reject most insider opinion (and who can blame me when they are almost always wrong), but I do have one very inside guilty pleasure — ABC News “The Note.” Along with The Hotline, The Note is the political Establishment’s Bible (and, unlike The Hotline, it can be accessed by the general public). Usually, The Note is actually pretty insightful, but I do think they missed the point a bit in their reporting on the White House vs. Harry Reid on Friday.

People Powered Howard, Beltway Supporters, and a Belated Celebration

From February 2005:

About a year and a half ago — just after the Sleepless Summer Tour, I had a chance to see Howard Dean speak in person at a rally in College Park, Maryland. It was an amazing day — more than 4,500 University of Maryland students, and other area supporters (like myself) sat at an outdoor amphitheater in perfect weather at the peak of the greatest grassroots campaign in generations, listening to a candidate finally stand on a national stage and ask the questions Democrats across the country had been asking in their communities.