Lieberman and Lamont

Blog post catalyzed by this New York Times article on Lieberman's last-ditch effort to salvage his primary bid. I suspect, frankly, that he doesn't give a shit any more and is just positioning himself to run as an independent.

I find the whole thing very frustrating. Having watched Lamont's Colbert Report appearance, I really got kind of a queasy feeling about the whole thing. Lamont clearly has no sense of humor, and I suspect him of merely taking advantage of Democratic frustration with the war (and frankly, with Lieberman) to put himself in power. I have no faith that, were he to win the seat, he would do anything useful. If I were a voter in Connecticut, I'd be despairing rather deeply right about now.

As previously stated, Lieberman's an ass. As noted in a recent Krugman op-ed (which unfortunately I can't link to because it's a TimesSelect article...grumble), it's fantasy and naivety to believe anything other than profoundly partisan politics is operating in the federal government right now. In other words, Republicans have been ramming through their agenda, and you either get on board or be attacked and mowed down. It isn't "bipartisanship" to lend your support to their shit; it's lying down and letting them run over you. Lieberman likes to trumpet the fact that he's a moderate and "doesn't hate" Republicans, and while that may be a nice sound bite that might resonate with Connecticut housewives who haven't been paying attention to the political scene, the fact is that Lieberman has been enabling Repulican shit for years now and not gotten anything in the way of progressive legislation in return. Somebody please explain to me what the fuck Lieberman has been able to accomplish by kow-towing to Republicans time and time again? I would love to know, because as far as I can tell, all he's accomplished is avoiding the Republican attack dogs, which is not so much honorable as it is saving his own ass.

But, like I said, I don't trust Lamont either. I'd probably vote for Lamont on the principle of punishing Democratic enablers who didn't have the fucking spine to stand up to Republicans when this Iraq shit started (which, yes, would imply I'd vote out pretty much every Democrat in the Senate right now, which I would). But it would definitely be a "lesser of two evils" vote. And now the Democratic party faces having Lieberman run as an independent, which must have the Republicans grinning ear to ear. If Lieberman weren't such a self-centered douche, he would fucking bow out after losing the primary. If he's really the man of principle he says he is, what does he hope to accomplish having alienated his own party if he were elected as an independent? Who the fuck on capitol hill is going to listen to him?

Grr. It's just so fucking infuriating. Why is it so hard to get Democratic candidates who have more charisma than a soggy bowl of corn flakes and are willing to say things like, "Look. 1) We're digging ourselves a hole in Iraq, we're bolstering Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas, and we need to leave now before more of Americas children die, 2) the nation is going to shit as gas, healthcare, and college costs skyrocket, 3) government stopped looking out for the public (e.g., the EPA, FDA, etc.) the instant Republicans took power, and they're letting big companies poison your children, and 4) the current Republican leadership is too corrupt and incompetent to do anything about it (see 3). I can fix it." Why? Why why why? Why is that so hard? Everyone but the top 1% are getting dicked, and if you made even the slightest insinuation that you want to do something about it, the message would resonate.

I don't understand how the Democrats can be this inept. You couldn't create a better political atmosphere for a liberal revolution if you tried, and they're still managing to fuck it up!!!