Harold Ford announces for US Senate (yawn)

In a move that surprised absolutely no one, our own Blue Dog congressman has told a group of 200 Democrats in Chattanooga. There has been a lively discussion at MyDD (My Due Diligence) regarding his chances for the office, and most responses have been positive and encouraging.

Not ALL of them, however, as this poster contends:

Ford came to one of the first public fora sponsored by the Music Row Democrats and spoke. During that speech he tried to rationalize his vote for the Iraq War: "We were wrong. We thought Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, but unfortunately we were wrong."

(The DLC-ers weren't wrong. They ALL knew better. They just voted for the war for a whole bunch of OTHER reasons.)

In any event, a few minutes later in that same speech Ford said, "I believe that we are safer with Saddam gone."

I wanted to ask the SOB how we could be safer with Saddam gone, when the evidence showed that a) He had no WMD and b) he had no Al Queda ties.

The point is, he completely contradicted himself logically in his speech by mouting nothing but conventional, DLC-talking point, platitudes that made no logical sense.

During that same speech last spring, Ford had the nerve to caution moderation in Democrats' criticism of Bush (the typical DLC approach.) He even went on to shame Democrats who were too angry with Bush, saying that anger wasn't going to get the Democratic Party anywhere.

Soon after, someone in the audience got up, and right to his face said, "I don't know about you, Congressman Ford, but I AM ANGRY. And I'm not going to apologize for it. After seeing what Bush has done over the last three years, how can anyone help but be angry?"

The 200 + people in attendance, at that point, gave that woman a rousing ovation, and Ford, momentarily was left looking like the fool he is.

Yes, I'm Back! So How Did We Lose Ohio?

Steve Rosenthal of America Coming Together, who was responsible for our ground efforts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other key states, thinks he has an answer in this Washington Post article.

This dispels many of the myths about the 2004 election, like that Rove had a terrific ground game:

Fourth myth: Republicans ran a superior, volunteer-driven mobilization effort.

Reality: When we asked new voters in rural and exurban areas who contacted them during this campaign, we learned that they were just as likely to hear from the Kerry campaign and its allies as from the Bush side. (In contrast, regular voters reported more contact from the GOP.)

Then perhaps it was conservative religious groups or pro-life organizations or the National Rifle Association that reached these new Republican voters? No, according to our post-election polling; only 20 percent of exurban and rural Ohio voters reported that they had been contacted by someone from their church, and only slightly higher percentages were contacted by conservative organizations. In contrast, these same voters in the least unionized regions of Ohio were more likely to have been contacted by a labor union.

Napalm? Are we the World's worst Rogue Nation now?

Thanks to Jeannette Warren for emailing me with this London Sunday Mirror report that Fallujah was being Napalmed in spots by US forces. This was banned by the United Nations in 1980 for use on civilians, and if this is true, it opens the doors wide open for MORE terrorist escalation, as we have NO moral ground to stand on. NONE.

This makes me ashamed to be an American.

I'm Still Upset....

that Hubie Brown has "retired" as coach of the Grizzlies, and the reports in the CA about why Hubie left have me even madder. Eric Neel has a glowing tribute to Hubie at ESPN today that any Grizz fan should read, and remember how great this man was, and why we were lucky to have him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, it's a day early, but the Cracker here is wishing a happy holiday to all of you.

May you be with the people you love (and avoid the ones you DON'T), eat heartily, and have a rollicking good time tomorrow.

Unless something dramatic happens, no blogging until Friday at the earliest!

Republicans may run AGAINST Gays, but at least they'll let them run the RNC!

Mike Signorile has an interesting article in the latest New York Press reporting about the quiet ambiguity of incoming RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, who ran the BC04 Campaign. Mehlman and his "buddies" at the White House refuse to answer one way or the other about his orienation.

Here's an excerpt:

Of course, if the White House or the RNC went on record saying Mehlman is straight, it would invite the media to study the issue further and report facts they may find to the contrary. By not saying anything, the White House keeps the topic off-limits entirely.

This also has some interesting (frightening?) insight into the way Mehlman ran BC04:

Mehlman was actually boasting to the governors about his slick new strategies, telling them that the Bush-Cheney campaign studied voters' consumer habits—basically snooping into voters' personal lives—in targeting them.

Want to know how we lost Iraq?

Among other reasons, Richard Leiby writes in today's Salon piece how even the least little bit of assistance from the US after its overthrow of Saddam could have changed Iraqi hearts and minds. It's a fascinating read where the journalist is even asked to lead a group of Iraqi Army soldiers.

You will have to sit through a commercial to get to Salon Premium, but it's worth it.

And these are the people we counted on to win??

The Kerry campaign put much of their focus on winning undecided voters, but that may have been a BIG mistake.

Christphoer Hayes reports in a New Republic article about groups of these undecided voters, who had great difficulty with their vote. Read it and weep.

Call Your Congressman (IF they're Republican)!

Noticing that other blogs have encouraged their readers to call the offices of Republican Congressmen, I have urged the Germantown Democrats to call theirs, Marsha Blackburn (R-Brentwood) to inquire whether she voted to allow Tom DeLay to remain House GOP Leader even if facing indictment.

Of course, this is a modification of the rule the House Republicans passed after Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) was indicted, and later convicted in 1993. I guess they believe that rules only apply to little people (DEMOCRATS).

You may find her phone numbers here.

How We Got Here

J Pratt over at the blog MyDD writes about our party and how we got where we are and what we might do to move forward, I encourage you to read it and the comments that follow...

Blogroll and Links are coming!!!

Thanks to fellow blogger and defender of the left Mike Cromer, I will be able to set up my links and blogroll by the end of this weekend.

I hope that it will be a DOOZY.

Go Germantown Democrats!!!!

Due to the hard work of David Robinson, the Germantown Democratic Club now has their own website! Go check it out, it has a veritable plethora of information about this club, striking fear in the hearts of GOPhers in their own backyard.

Also, they have linked to this very site as well in their Links section, and I am very appreciative for that!

Great job David!

House Republicans Protect DeLay

The House Republicans are planning to change their rules to allow Tom Delay to continue to serve as House Republican Leader even if he's indicted in Austin for various illegal fundraising activities. Some of his associates have already been indicted by the same grand jury that is expected to force him to trial.

The Morally Superior Party (just ask them) squawked LOUDLY to have rules to force Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) to step down as House Ways & Means chairman in 1993 because of ethics violations.

Yet, in typical Republican "We're morally superior to you, so the laws don't apply to US" fashion, they are working to change the rules so DeLay can continue to run the House (you DON'T think Hastert is REALLY in charge, do you?) while under indictment.

Frank Rich Nails It

I sent to my email list Frank Rich's Sunday NYT piece regarding the fact that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, home of the Red-staters source for news, is ALSO the source for lots and lots of the type of programming that "moral values" voters object to rather strenuously.

Here's an excerpt:

If anyone is laughing all the way to the bank this election year, it must be the undisputed king of the red cultural elite, Rupert Murdoch. Fox News is a rising profit center within his News Corporation, and each red-state dollar that it makes can be plowed back into the rest of Fox's very blue entertainment portfolio. The Murdoch cultural stable includes recent books like Jenna Jameson's "How to Make Love Like a Porn Star" and the Vivid Girls' "How to Have a XXX Sex Life," which have both been synergistically, even joyously, promoted on Fox News by willing hosts like Rita Cosby and, needless to say, Mr. O'Reilly. There are "real fun parts and exciting parts," said Ms. Cosby to Ms. Jameson on Fox News's "Big Story Weekend," an encounter broadcast on Saturday at 9 p.m., assuring its maximum exposure to unsupervised kids.

Welcome back

It's been a nice weekend, Tigers beat Southern Miss on Friday night, Grizzlies beat the Warriors on Friday night and then CHOKE last night in Seattle. They still are a long way from their 50-win form of last year.

Today Kos has a great article about the fight for DNC Chair, including this prescient comment:

I always, always laugh when I hear one of these insiders talk about the "disaster" that a Dean chairmanship would wreak on the party.

I mean, disaster compared to what? Being shut out from all levers of government? From the White House, Supreme Court, House, Senate, majority of governorships and majority of state legislatures?

How about the disaster of three straight losing election cycles? That's not a freakin' disaster?
Dean means reform. Simon Rosenberg means reform. There are probably other dark horse candidates out there who would mean reform.

And that's what we need. Reform, not status quo. The status quo is untenable. I'm tired of losing, and that's the only thing the current gang has delivered.

Yet another reason to hate Alabama

And this has nothing to do with football.

This tells the story of a 13-year-old girl in Mobile, Alabama who requires 24-hour-a-day supervision, and she has been on a special Medicaid program that pays for her services. However, Dr. Mary McIntyre, state Medical Director for Medicaid, is planning to terminate her from the program.

I presume this is compassionate conservatism.

After reading, you may email Dr. McIntyre at this address: mmcintyre@medicaid.state.al.us

Thanks to Atrios for pointing this one out.

Segregation Today, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever

Unfortunately, ol' George may have been a visionary.

In Alabama, an amendment to repeal segregation-era language from the state Constitution is on its way to DEFEAT.

In 2004.

Yes, there are mouth-breathing bigots everywhere, including North of the Mason-Dixon line (rural Indiana, hell, rural ANYWHERE). But at least in Northern states, they were smart enough not to put racism in their state Constitutions!

The only good news I can report is that the vote is close enough to trigger an automatic recount.

Segregation, whether by color, religion, or economic class is growing, not diminishing. Those of us who live in more "open-minded" parts of town don't have enough contact with those who aren't necessarily that way, and vice versa.

Until we learn to live together without killing each other, we will continue to look more like the Balkan nations, and less like America.

Rant over.

Nation's Poor Win Election For Nation's Rich

Only THE ONION Could have come up with this...

It's almost too true to be funny!

More on TennCare

I'm not here to pile on Bredesen (at least not right NOW) but I would like you to read the position paper of the Tennessee Justice Center, led by Gordon Bonnyman.

There is a PDF called Fourteen Myths about TennCare that I hope you will take time to peruse. Those of you who work in the industry probably already know these, but I don't, and I found this enlightening.

More good stuff about reinventing the Party

You WILL have to set through an ad for yet another Bill Murray movie that may or may not be funny to get to Salon Premium, but by all means read "Memo to Sore Losermen" in today's Salon here.

here's a taste...

Get up ... and get your war on. Enough resting and moaning already! The day that the Democrats and progressives run a perfect campaign, with a great message and great mechanics, with our values and a compelling, hopeful vision of American community truly on the line, and then we lose to cultural class warfare and gay-baiting, that's the day to give up. That didn't happen on Nov. 2. This is a long struggle, and admit it: We're Americans who want instant gratification, even in our politics. This was not a 1984 or 1964 landslide. We put 56 million votes on the board and 252 electoral votes. Remember, the right-wing didn't just stop working when they hit pay dirt in 1994. Change takes time. Think Nelson Mandela.

The Brawling Begins

I read, as many you may also, DailyKos. Today, JamesB3 posts a scathing attack of Bill Clinton and James Carville, stating that we have to move beyond the 1990s if we are going to rebuild the Democratic Party.

Earlier this year, Democrats could have voted for REAL change. But that change was sandbagged by the media, by Dean's own mistakes, and by a self-involved, greedy, short-sighted media whore named Joe Trippi. When Dean lost, the CW became that Democrats really didn't want a new voice. They were just "flirting" until they went back to the same old faces.

AND

Democrats have continued to lose over the past 4 years. This is not because of Clinton's absence. This is because we cannot identify a national vision for this party. We cannot sell ourselves on a national level. But the building blocks are there. Democrats did better on a statewide level this year than they have in over a decade. The reason for that is because Democrats on a grassroots level, inspired to be independent and to talk about genuine issues, trained and molded by progressive organizations working in the image of Howard Dean and Paul Wellstone, convinced voters on an individual basis that Democrats are the party of the common man. That Democrats truly do want to help the poor, the sick, the needy. They did not rely on tiresome catchphrases or on guest appearances from has-beens.

I've made it easier to post...

Thanks to Charlton for pointing out that one had to register to post. Until we start getting trolls (hopefully NEVER) I want to make it as easy as possible to post comments to our threads.

Wake Up Everybody! It's the God Gap!

According to a Washington Post story today, this election may have served as a wake-up for liberal and moderate Christians regarding THEIR values and how their message is getting out.

According to Perriello, liberal religious groups registered 500,000 new voters, made 400,000 get-out-the-vote phone calls, and raised $1.75 million for newspaper and radio ads during the campaign. But he said the post-election poll found that 71 percent of voters had heard from the religious right while 38 percent said they had heard from the religious left.

Well, it's a start!

TennCare

I have taken heat already for an email I sent to my list blasting Bredesen for threatening to dissolve TennCare.

I was asked if I believed that Bredesen had done all that he could to save it. My response is that after he has gutted TennCare, how will it be different (if at all) from Medicaid from the standpoint of the users?

This appears to be a pissing contest between GovPhil and Gordon Bonnyman; the problem is that afterwards, both of THEM will still have healthcare, but 400,000 Tennesseans may not.

Here We Go

I am, as the title implies, a cranky, single, 45-year-old white guy from Memphis who happens to be LIBERAL, in every sense of the word.

I, for one, believe that Democrats have grown too conservative and refuse to stand for their basic principles, and have allowed the Bushistas to define them. My job (and yours, too, I hope) is to change all of that.

Welcome to LeftWingCracker!