Republicans Eating Their Own "Fascists"

From Steven D at the BooTrib:

It's directed at Republicans. And it's not who you might suspect:

A day after the Democratic sweep of the midterm elections, Woodbury County Republican Chairman Steve Salem had harsh words for his own party, lambasting the influence of the conservative Christian right wing.

Salem said he coined a new phase: "You've heard of IslamaFascists -- I think we now have Christian fascists. What is the definition of a fascist? Not only do they want to beat you, but they want to destroy you in the process."

Salem said "if things keep going the way things are going locally and statewide, it is going to be more and more difficult for Republicans to recruit candidates. We have elements of the party who are moral absolutists, who take the approach that if you don't take my position every step of the way, not only will I not support you, but I will destroy you."

Now before we all get our schadenfreude on about Republicans eating their own, let's consider something far more important: Mr. Salem is right. They are fascists ...

(cont.)

Sorry Steven D... I can't help the schadenfreudean title up there... lol Not only is that Republican a little late in pointing out the obvious, he is also wrong in claiming to coin a new phrase since various forms of "Christofascism" have been out on the net ever since they helped make the GOP as radical as they are now.

I have no problem with other peoples' personal choices of religion, or their right to talk about it and practice it in the ways that they want to... I do have a problem with other people thinking I have to practice their religion their way.

This country wasn't built on religion. It was, however, built partially on religious freedom. That freedom applies to the religious people of ANY faith and the non-religious alike.

MSNBC POLL: Impeach Bush?

MSNBC did a live poll:

Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? * 332234 responses
	Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial. 87%
	No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching "high crimes and misdemeanors." 4.4%
	No, the man has done absolutely nothing wrong. Impeachment would just be a political lynching. 7%
	I don't know. 1.8%
Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.

Americans really want a change.

TPM MUCKRAKER's Early Dem Picks

The TPM MUCKRAKER has already made its early picks as ones to watch on the Dem side of the aisle for possible muck:

Thankfully, less-than-squeaky pasts don't appear to be a factor in the Dems' reasoning as they divvy up leadership posts and committee chairs. Here are our favorite Democrats poised to take key positions:

Like everyone else in the USA, I want to see an end to corruption in Washington. And it doesn't matter which side of the political spectrum it comes from.

Grassroots politics is all about accountability and getting the corporate lobbyists' greedy hands out of the government till.

Still Waiting on CT-02

WFSB3 has Courtney still holding on and only losing one vote in the recount so far:

Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons picked up a single vote after the first town in the 2nd Congressional District recounted its election results on Thursday.

But the three-term congressman still trails Democrat Joe Courtney by 166 votes.

Joe's New Mantra on Iraq

"Git er done!"

No more "Stay the course!" for Joe Lieberman.

Joe Lieberman, who rebelled against his own Democratic Party to win back his U.S. Senate seat as an independent, pledged Wednesday to build bridges across party lines "to get things done."

"Git er done!"

"If we don't stop hating the people across the political aisle, how are we going to strengthen this country and get anything done?" Lieberman said to reporters.

"Git er done!"

Gary Rose, a professor of politics at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, said he would be surprised if Lieberman took away any lessons from the election.

"I think he knows why he lost the Democratic primary, but I don't think it will condition how he acts," Rose said. "He was on the wrong side of the fence on the war but he went ahead and won the general election so I don't think he feels compelled to change that position." Nevertheless, when Congress returns for a lame duck session next week, Lieberman said he would focus on building a bipartisan coalition around the Iraq war. "Not to retreat from Iraq but urgently change what we are doing to get things done," he said.

UMMM??? Sounds more like:

"Stay the course!"

We warned Nutmeggers that a vote for Joe was a vote for the same incompetence that got us in this mess in the first place.


A new mantra for you Joe:

"REDEPLOY!"

It is what Americans voted for.

More Trouble in Florida Voting

In FL-13 some glitches may have cost the Dem the race.

As The Corporate Owned Media Spins

As the corporate media grasps at straws to try and defend the "conservatism" that owns them they completely disregard the facts. Media Matters puts the MSM's "disassembling" of the GOP talking point that the newly elected Dems are "conservatives" to rest:

Following are the findings of a Media Matters examination of the positions staked out by the 27 Democratic challengers on their campaign websites, in news reports, and in candidate questionnaires:

• All 27 candidates support raising the minimum wage.

• All 27 candidates advocate changing course in Iraq.

• All 27 candidates oppose efforts to privatize Social Security.

• Only two of the 27 candidates do not support embryonic stem cell research.

• Only five of the 27 candidates describe themselves as "pro-life."

Does anyone in this group sound like any of the typical conservatives we have voted out of power?

America voted Liberal, or Progressive if that is what you prefer? And there is is no amount of lying by the GOP, or the DLC, or the corporate owned MSM that can change this fact. Americans knew what they were doing when they voted in this new bunch of Dems. They were voting for the left.

Bayer Closing In West Haven

It is a bitter pill to swallow, but Connecticut continues to hemmorage high paying jobs on the heels of Jodi Rell's re-election.

Bayer To Close West Haven Facility
Bayer HealthCare said today it plans to close its research facility in West Haven, which employs an estimated 1,000 people.

...snip...

Layoffs at the West Haven facility will start next year, but the company would not disclose how many. Personnel in the cancer research division will be the first to go, a company spokeswoman said. Some employees will be transferred to company sites in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, the spokeswoman said. The shutdown of the West Haven facility is expected to take about a year and a half, the company said.

You will have to ask Rell how many jobs at McDonalds and Walmart will be needed to replace the local economic cash flow generated by those 1000 Bayer jobs since almost all of her job creation has been low paying service jobs with few benefits.

Picturing Connecticut littered from end to end with fast food joints and big box retailers... And nobody will be able to afford an asparin for this massive headache because they won't have healthcare.

Thanks again Jodi!

A Conservative Casualty Of the Radical-Wing-Nut GOP

One of the few members of the GOP that wasn't completely wing-nutty goes down honorably:

Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., who was defeated by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse on Tuesday, told reporters in Rhode Island on Thursday that he would continue opposing Bolton. That would deny Republicans the votes they would need to move Bolton's nomination from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the full Senate.

Dems would have killed Bolton's nomination on the floor anyways, but this saves a collosal waste of time on the floor during the lame-duck session. So much for Bush reaching out across the aisle...

Chafee is about as close to being a moderate, and maybe even a conservative, that the GOP had to offer. He was one of the very few to take a stand in the lying Bush administrations' rush to war with cherry-picked intel.

There are very few differences between Chafee and the Dem that will replace him. Chafee's biggest sin? Being a Republican in the North-East, which obviously made him a dead-man-walking in this political climate.

Even the Kids Know Bill O'Reilly is an Idiot

An 8 year old kid unloads on the FICTION FACTOR FOOL:




I envision this kid eventually working at Media Matters or Factcheck.org... lol

Joe tells it like it is:

If there was ever any doubt that Joe is only in it for Joe:

Now that he's won re-election as a petitioning candidate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman is pledging to remain a Democrat, if for no other reason than to keep his 18 years' seniority in the Senate.

"I'll sign up with the caucus to protect my seniority," Lieberman said Wednesday. "My seniority is important to my ability to deliver for the state of Connecticut."

Ability to deliver exactly what Joe? Much needed cover for the lying Bush administration whenever every other Dem was exposing Bush fallacies? Get over yourself Joe.

Lieberman briefly joked about how the Republicans might coax him into joining the GOP, a switch that could keep the closely divided Senate under Republican control.

"There is a little playfulness in me that wants me to make a joke about that, but it's too serious. The answer is no," he said. "When I give my word I stick with it, and I am definitely going to organize with the Senate Democrats."

I wish that we had a Senator in which we could take his word at face value BUT the fact remains that Joe Lieberman said that he would only run for 3 terms in the Senate and here we are with him in his 4th term breaking that promise.

What a lying sack of Joe...

"Mission Accomplished" on White House Propaganda

Remember the infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech delivered by bush? The White House doesn't want you to:





And they pay people to produce this ignorant stuff?

Don't worry Bush! We will make sure the original video is well documented for historians' use... We wouldn't want future generations of American kids to get the wrong idea concerning the type of incompetent preznit you are.

(UPDATE)Infidel points out in the comments that this may be a hoax:

The video is fake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkRHki5P6fc

What an irony that the guy does what he accuses others of.

Irony indeed.

But it still does not change the fact that the Bush administration has used propaganda over and over, whether it is paying TV personalities (Williams, etc.) to push their talking points, or pushing GOP talking points through the MSM, or phonecalls to supress voters, or more recent plans to put lipstick on the Iraq pig AGAIN by the Pentagon.

Pentagon memo reveals launch of new PR war
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is buttressing its public relations staff and starting an operation akin to a political campaign war room as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld faces intensifying criticism over the Iraq war.

In a memo obtained by the Associated Press, Dorrance Smith, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, said new teams of people will "develop messages" for the 24-hour news cycle and "correct the record."

...Another branch would coordinate "surrogates." In political campaigns, surrogates are usually high-level politicians or key interest groups who speak or travel on behalf of a candidate or an issue.

The plan would focus more resources on so-called new media, such as the Internet and Weblogs. It would also include new workers to book civilian and military guests on television and radio shows.

Rumsfeld Resigns

Meet the new boss:

Robert Gates is a member of the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan panel co-chaired by James Baker III and Lee Hamilton to develop a new strategy for Iraq. In Feb. 2005, Gates turned down an offer to serve as the Director of National Intelligence, the position now held by John Negroponte.

Same as the old boss:

The Associated Press reports that President Bush has accepted Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation.

We won't get fooled again by the likes of Bush cheerleaders like William "Billy-Bong" Kristol:

And the truth is, to win this war — and I have been a critic of Rumsfeld for a while, so some people can discount this — to win this war, it will be helpful to have a new secretaryy — no one man is indispensable, you know, and it will be helpful to have a new Secretary of Defense to give a new face to the war, to make the case to the American people, to work with Congress.

The DoD does not need a new face... It needs a new strategy that includes redeployment. Anythiong less than CHANGING THE COURSE, as Dems promised they would in the campaign, is just same BULLSHIT the Neocons sold unsuspecting Americans the first time around.

Dems have a "MANDATE"
and lots of "POLITICAL CAPITAL".

I am certain they will find some great ways to use it to stop the radical Bush agenda in it's tracks.

FBI Investigates GOP Voter Intimidation in Virginia

The FBI is reportedly investigating voter intimidation and voter suppression efforts by the GOP candidate George Allen in Virginia's Senate race...





Is there anything lower than GOP political campaign? It appears that in this anti-GOP corruption climate they felt that smears, lies and distrasction would not be enough to stop the Democratic wave from sinking the GOPs sickly political plans.

CT-04 The NRCC's Illegal Calls?

For the sake of getting this out fast this is just a cut'n'paste from Josh Marshall at TPM:

More of the scam calls from the NRCC, from TPM Reader PS ...

I was canvassing in Stamford, CT for Lamont and Farrel yesterday... some of the canvassers were talking about a nasty robocall hit on Farrell, which they said people at the doors had talked about. I didn't hear that at the door personally, but I wasn't focusing on the congressional race - i was talking about Lamont primarily.

Apparently the call starts with something along the lines of "Diane Farrell has some information for you," then pauses, waiting for annoyed people to hang up, and then delivers a negative message about Farrell. The canvassers say the call has hit some people as much as 6 times, and at 5 - 6am as well. Presumably, the intent is to annoy people and stick Farrell with the negative name ID as somebody who keeps robo-calling them.

We won't be able to get to the bottom of this operation until after Tuesday, which is the point. They'll happily pay the fines for breaking the federal regs on misidentifying calls.

-- Josh Marshall

Your Friendly Monday Lamont Planner!

Flyer Hand-Out at Train Stations in Fairfield County (Congressional District 4)
Date: Mon, November 6th 6:00 am
Description:
We are at the last stretch of the elections. We need a final push to elect Ned Lamont! Please join us in distributing flyers at the Metro-North Train stations in Fairfield County between 6:00 - 8:30 am (during peak morning hours) on Monday, November 6. We especially need volunteers at: Bridgeport, Cos Cob, Danbury, Darien, Glenbrook, Greenwich, Merritt 7, Noroton Heights, South Norwalk, Springdale, Stamford, Westport, and Wilton stations. We would like to cover all stations in Fairfield County. When signing up, please specify the train station where you can volunteer.

Ned will talk to voters in Norwich
Date: Mon, November 6th 8:15 am
Description:
Ned will greet voters at Jackie's Bakeshop in Norwich.

TURN OUT TEN
Date: Mon, November 6th 9:00 am
Description:
It's your mission to get 10 people to vote for Ned Lamont on Tuesday, November 7. How are we going to do that? This Monday, November 6 from 9AM to 9PM, Lamont supporters all over CT will be dialing 10 people they know to convince them to vote for Ned Lamont. Each one of us can do this right in your own home. Think about friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, and acquaintances who are undecided, misguided, or sitting on the fence. Tell them the war in Iraq has destabilized the Middle East and threatened our national security, and that of our allies in the region. Tell them running as an independent doesn't mean being independent. And fighting for the environment doesn't mean voting for the Bush-Cheney Energy Bill. Tell them earmarks are just another word for old-fashioned pork. Remind them that there has never been a more critical time to VOTE FOR A CHANGE. So join in! If you can't TURN OUT TEN voters on Monday, November 6, just choose any other time this weekend before the election. We can do this!

Ned will deliver Keynote Address in Hartford
Date: Mon, November 6th 12:00 pm
Description:
Ned will deliver the final address of the campaign summarizing his vision for change.

Ned will greet volunteers in Plainville
Date: Mon, November 6th 1:45 pm
Description:
Ned will greet volunteers at the Plainville DTC Headquarters.

Ned will greet volunteers in Watertown
Date: Mon, November 6th 2:40 pm
Description:
Ned will greet volunteers at campaign HQ in Watertown.

Join Ned for the final rally of the campaign in Danbury!
Date: Mon, November 6th 3:30 pm
Description:
Join Ned for the final rally of the campaign at 3:30pm in Danbury! Joining Lamont supporters from across the state of Connecticut will be the Dave Bickler Band, whose leader is former lead singer of Survivor, famous for their hit "Eye of the Tiger."

Ned will greet volunteers in Norwalk
Date: Mon, November 6th 5:30 pm
Description:
Ned will stop by the Norwalk HQ to greet volunteers.

New Haven Area GOTV Organizing Meeting
Date: Mon, November 6th 6:00 pm
Description:
Come to the New Haven Lamont Headquarters to find out all you need to know for election day!

If you can't make the meeting, but you plan to work election day, please come by the New Haven office any time Monday.

Ned will greet volunteers in Stamford
Date: Mon, November 6th 6:30 pm
Description:
Ned will greet volutneers at the Stamford Democratic HQ.

Ned will greet volunteers in Greenwich
Date: Mon, November 6th 7:15 pm
Description:
Ned will greet volunteers at Greenwich Democratic HQ.

Where in the GOP is House Leader Hastert?

I had written the other day on the questionable skills of the Eggman, Matt Drudge.

Here is what I mean:

‘Vanishing’ Pelosi To Appear At Multiple Public Rallies Tomorrow

The right-wing media — including Matt Drudge, Rush Limbaugh, and Fox News — have launched a baseless campaign (already picked up by MSNBC) suggesting that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has gone into hiding before Tuesday’s election.

While Drudge, and other republican mouthpieces, repeat GOP talking points like the Rove parrots that they are, the real truth is that Nancy Pelosi has been doing interviews all over the place:

Pelosi has been featured in numerous public and media appearances recently. Two days ago, she appeared at a public rally with former President Clinton, portions of which aired on television, and in a feature interview on CNN. She also appeared in interviews on CNBC’s Kudlow & Company on 10/24, ABC’s Good Morning America and ABC’s World News Tonight on 10/26, and conducted interviews for profiles in the New York Times (10/30), Newsweek (10/23), and the Baltimore Sun (10/27).

Now let us get to heart of the real problem here: Hastert has not been seen or heard from since the Foley scandal exploded in Hastert's lying face. And the GOP talking points concerning Pelosi are only to distract from the recent Hastert revelations.

The real question is:

"Where is Denis Hastert?"

Is the (Foley) GOP hiding (Foley) him for some (Foley) reason in (Foley) particular?

More GOP Dirty Tricks

DK at TPM documents some more GOP dirty tricks in New Hampshire, New York, California and North Carolina...

Interestingly enough the NRCC fully endorses these tactics that are unethical and really should be made illegal. Of course the NRCC says that the republican candidates have nothing to do with these NRCC efforts, even though the NRCC's only job is to get Republican candidates elected to the House.

It is also interesting how these Republican candidates have to distance themselves from their Republican president AND from their National Party's commitees. If things are that bad that they have to do that, why even be a Republican at all?

Oh Yeah! It's because of the money...

News Times: Citing Lieberman's "unquestioning support of the Bush war policies."

The Danbury News Times endorses Ned Lamont:

"In Tuesday's election, the Editorial Board endorses Ned Lamont.

From the start of his campaign, Lamont has been a confident candidate, sure of his message as an outsider, not intimidated by Lieberman's long experience in government.

Lieberman dismisses Lamont as someone who wouldn't be able to match his presence in the Senate. Lieberman summons the same attitude toward voters who disagree with him on the war.

The problem for Lieberman is that all of his experience, all of his knowledge, didn't help him recognize what the Bush war policies were doing and now American military personnel are in the middle of a civil war in Iraq.

If the most experienced members of Congress didn't exercise oversight responsibilities on Iraq, have they really earned re-election?

If elected, Lamont will have to learn the ways of Washington. But Washington would benefit from having new people who ask questions, who wonder why "business as usual" can't be challenged and changed.

Lamont served in town office in Greenwich and is a successful businessman. He has a social conscience that motivated him to do more than just make a donation to help poor students; he volunteered to teach a class of Bridgeport teenagers about business.

In a year when the voters must impose change on Washington, Ned Lamont is the better choice."

Vote Ned Lamont
Stand Up For Change!

Lieberman Calls Lamont a Jerk

During his bipartisan campaign to rid the world of negative campaigning a conservative lady angry at Lieberman had this to say during a campaign stop in Naugutuck:

One woman insisted that he was not conservative enough for her, chiding him over his views on abortion. She pleaded with Mr. Lieberman about why he did not support a ban on so-called “partial-birth abortion,” which she called a “disgrace.”

“Come on, how can a man like you agree with that,” she asked, sitting in the waiting area of a hair salon. “You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to write in my husband. I don’t like any of them. Ned Lamont is the biggest jerk in the world.”

And what was Joe Lieberman's "bipartisan positive campaign" response?

“Well we agree on that,” he said. “So if you’ve got a choice between a jerk ...” He trailed off, not quite finishing his sentence.

What an effing HYPOCRITE!

Earlier on in the NY Times article they discussed Lieberman's seeming arrogance at being challenged by anyone in the race and the Lamont campaigns' positive energy:

Whether among friends or not, Mr. Lieberman, with his avuncular, grandfatherly demeanor, usually seems right at home, happily chatting with children or their mothers. But he keeps the stops short — typical for a campaign in which his appearances are carefully orchestrated and tightly controlled. His aides routinely cut off questioning when they feel Mr. Lieberman has addressed an issue adequately, and the senator himself, a three-term incumbent, sometimes has the air of a candidate who did not quite expect to be defending his seat again.

Mr. Lamont, by contrast, seems to possess almost limitless energy. He lingers at events, shaking hands until his driver begins tapping him impatiently on the arm, always seeming to enjoy himself.

As befits an underdog, he is also unusually patient with the news media, even after his primary victory, when television crews and reporters from around the world converged on Connecticut and mobbed his events.

Joe Liberman is an arraogant hypocrite because he is willing to conduct the exact sort of negative campaigning he decries while living in a delusional Bush world of false denials and innumerable Flip-Flops and lies in order to please whomever he happens to be speaking to.


The irony? Both Lamont and Schlesinger have only ever attacked Lieberman's positions, Lieberman's public statements, and Joe's illegal use of campaign funds, and rightfully so. If Lieberman thinks that his own positions and statements being thrown back in his face are negative attacks, then that just exposes one more of his many weaknesses. It is much like admitting, sub-consciously, that even Lieberman hates himself.

Ned Lamont has been honest and consistent in his message that if you want to "Change the Course!" then you have to attack the real problems in Washington. Problems like Joe Lieberman's absurd support of the Bush administration.

When I got into this race, people told me it's impossible, but important. It's important because 47 million Americans don't have health insurance, and skyrocketing health care costs bankrupt working families and business alike. It's the lobbyist written legislation, like the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" and Dick Cheney's Energy Bill that Senator Lieberman supported. And most importantly, for me, it was the war in Iraq.

Now, as tens of thousands are dead and wounded, our military is stretched thin, we can't finish the mission in Afghanistan, and our own National Intelligence Estimate says we are less safe. It's not simply that Senator Lieberman supported the Bush/Cheney agenda in Iraq. It's when he questions the patriotism of concerned citizens as they say, "we gotta ask the tough questions, they're must be an alternative to stay the course."

We got into this mess in Washington not because we asked too many questions, but because we asked too few. On November 7th, we start asking the tough questions again, the first one being, "can't we do better?"

If you send Ned Lamont to Washington as Connecticut's next JR. Senator you will be sending a clear message to the failed Bush administration that we need to change the course.

VOTE NED LAMONT AND HE WILL
STAND UP FOR A CHANGE!