It's time to put Howard Dean back in charge

Sometime I find myself in complete agreement with the left. Surprised? The left wants Obama to hold to a firm left wing position and so do I. The left wants Howard Dean back as Chairman of the DNC. So do I. I am convinced that the more radical the other side appears, the better our side looks. I am convinced that America is a nation of pragmatic people who favor individual liberty. We are basically a center-right nation.

I am reprinting a Daily Kos article in which the author advocates the return of Howard Dean as chair of the DNC. I want to help the left move the Democrats to the left. I want to help the left drive all moderates out of the Democrat party. I want to help the left bring back Howard Dean.

Warning, this article contains liberal use of blasphemy and the "F" word and an occasional use of the "S" word. Quite frankly, I really am not terribly offended by colorful language but I wanted to give you more sensitive souls a warning.

I think it is important to know how the other side thinks, so I am reprinting this as a public service. Read this and you will see the contempt in which they hold those with opposing views. You will see how illiberal liberals really are. Are these people with which we can find common ground? Just as many libs have never actually watched Fox news or listened to Rush Limbaugh, many on the right have never actually read a MoveOn or Daily Kos post.

Remember, I read Daily Kos and MoveOn so you won't have to.


by jhawklefty
Share this on Twitter - It's time to put Howard Dean back in charge Tue Jan 19, 2010 at 06:32:20 PM PST
This'll be a short diary, but I'm about to scream right now and have to vent. Howard Dean is a winner. He understands exactly what the average Democrat stands for and votes for. He also understands exactly how disgusting the right-wing and the Republican Party are. He's not afraid to spread the truth about the right, and if that truth happens to hurt a few wittle wight-wing feewings, well, TOO FUCKING BAD.

jhawklefty's diary :: ::
What we have now are people that are afraid of their own shadows, let alone the Goddamn Republicans. The WH and the asswipes in the Senate have been deathly afraid of offending these certifiable nutcases. I just saw Richard Wolffe saying that the WH is planning on going balls to the wall this year and is, in effect, done with putting up with the attacks from the right. A little problem there: TOO. FUCKING. LATE. We just LOST a Senate seat in Massachusetts. We couldn't get shit done with 60 votes in the Senate, what makes you think anything will be done now with 59? The bubble around the WH has made the Democratic Party unbelievably weak. Like, losing a senate seat in Massachusetts weak. Wolffe also said that the WH was "surprised" about the party discipline from the GD Republicans. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? SURPRISED? I've lived in Kansas my entire life and I could've told you on the night of Obama's win exactly how the right and the GOP were going to play this. These morons get paid how much and have direct access to the President and they were fucking surprised? Jesus! Watching five minutes of politics would tell a person living in complete isolation in fucking Siberia who and what the Republicans are and how they roll. Christ on a crouton.

After Wolffe, the good Dr. came on. Said people are upset with the kind of change they're seeing, that it's not the change they voted for. That they didn't vote for an insurance industry-written bill. That they didn't vote for sweetheart deals with Wall Street. And that there are "a lot of Democrats who aren't sure if they're Democrats." I'm sorry, this guy is more of a leader than the empty suit in the WH. Get Kaine's sorry ass out of there and put Dean back in. He knows what we're up against and knows how to win.

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MoveOn Member: Stop Scott Brown. "A Republican victory here would be a catastrophe—Democrats would lose their 60th vote."

I would bet most readers of A Disgruntled Republican are not members of MoveOn.org. I am. I am so you don't have to be. I thought you might find it interesting to see how concerned the left is about the possibility of losing the Ted Kennedy Senate seat to a Republican. Please read. If the left should loose this seat they would have a major pity party and would have the wind taken from their sail. Please, please do anything you can do to help Scott Brown take this seat. The post following this one has information about how to drop the moneybomb and push Scott Brown over the top. Also, I don't know for sure that God is Republican but I am praying for a blizzard in Massachusetts on January 19. Please pray for that blizzard; it can't hurt.

An interesting unknown in this race is the roll of the third party candidate. Some reports call him a "libertarian." I really have not researched him and don't know a lot about him. He could hurt Brown by pulling away a few votes that would otherwise go to the Republican. On the other hand, the third party candidate is named "Joe Kennedy." How lucky is that? I have always thought that stupid Democrats were more stupid than stupid Republicans. I am betting that Joe Kennedy will cost the Democrat more votes than he cost the Republican. We could win this one. It would be a fantastic victory. I know it is a long shot, but it is worth the investment.

Dear MoveOn member,

In 11 days, we could lose progressive hero Ted Kennedy's Senate seat—and with it, any hope for passing major progressive legislation this year.

A new poll Tuesday showed Democrat Martha Coakley's lead in the special election to succeed Kennedy is at the edge of the margin of error, and the non-partisan Cook Political Report now says it's very competitive.1 And today, some of the people behind the infamous Swift Boat and racist Willie Horton ads are spending $400,000 on a new attack ad. Republican Scott Brown and his extreme right-wing supporters are significantly outspending Coakley on TV.2

A Republican victory here would be a catastrophe—Democrats would lose their 60th vote in the Senate, health care could die, and the Republicans could block pretty much anything they want.

We can't let a right-winger take over Ted Kennedy's seat because not enough progressives are paying attention. Coakley urgently needs help before it's too late. Your contribution in the next 24 hours will help her expand her all-out campaign for victory. Can you contribute $5 to Coakley's campaign right away?

https://pol.moveon.org/give/coakley_martha.html?id=18516-15255949-5ZzxPYx&t=3
Martha Coakley will carry on Ted Kennedy's progressive legacy. In endorsing Coakley, Vicki Kennedy, Ted Kennedy's wife, said, "My husband fought for healthcare reform for more than 40 years. Martha Coakley shares those critical beliefs." Coakley has also been outspoken against restrictions in the bill on women's right to choose.3

As Massachusetts Attorney General, Coakley was aggressive in challenging the Wall Street titans who helped bring on the financial crisis, and she recovered tens of millions of dollars for taxpayers and victims of Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and UBS for their deceptive activities.4 She'll be a strong fighter in Washington for tough regulations on the financial industry.

And Republican Scott Brown? He's a "free enterprise advocate"5 who thinks the system works just fine. But he's giving Coakley a serious challenge. He promised, "As the 41st senator I can stop a lot of this stuff in its tracks....I can actually force them to go back to the drawing board."6 And there are rumors that the Republican Party and the Club for Growth will also begin attack ads on Coakley soon.

And the race is further confused by the presence of a 3rd candidate, named Joe Kennedy, who isn't related to Ted Kennedy, but is a tea-party extremist. Martha Coakley needs our help to cut through the clutter and get her message out—on TV, at the doors, and on the phones.

At this moment, when Ted Kennedy's greatest goal in life is within reach, we cannot afford to let Republican extremists snatch away his legacy. Can you help with an urgent contribution of $5? Click here:

https://pol.moveon.org/give/coakley_martha.html?id=18516-15255949-5ZzxPYx&t=4
Thank you. Sincerely,

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More MoveON email

Kay, keep up the good work. I hope everyone calls Cooper and tells him not to compromise and tells him to stand firm. The Senate bill is a sell-out. It needs to be defeated. I called Cooper and expressed my view.

Cooper as you know is a leading Blue Dog. I hope the good progressives like MoveOn can get the most progressive candidate they can find to run against Cooper in the primary. He needs to be challenged by a true progressive. I think Cooper is a DINO (Democrat in Name Only).

We don't need no stinking compromise!

Defeat Cooper!

Power to the People!

Rod Williams

--- On Mon, 12/21/09, Kat Barr, MoveOn.org Political Action wrote:

From: Kat Barr, MoveOn.org Political Action
Subject: Fix the Senate Bill
To: "Rod "
Date: Monday, December 21, 2009, 12:58 PM

Can you call Rep. Cooper right now? Tell him that you're counting on him to fight for the real reform that the House passed—including the public option—when the Senate and House health care bills are merged.

Representative Jim Cooper
Phone: 202-225-4311

Report your call

Dear MoveOn member,
At one o'clock this morning, the Senate health care bill cleared its last big hurdle, putting it on track to pass on Thursday.

Unfortunately, the Senate bill was badly weakened by conservatives. It doesn't have a public option, doesn't do enough to make insurance affordable, and doesn't create real competition for insurance companies.

The House bill is much better. So as the two bills get merged, we need House Democrats to insist that the best pieces of the House bill are included.

Can you call Rep. Cooper right now and ask him to demand that the key elements of real reform—including a public option—are in the final bill before the House and Senate vote on it?

Representative Jim Cooper
Phone: 202-225-4311

Then, please report your call by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FHTN_05&cp_id=1218&id=18377-15255949-8YIEYWx&t=3

The House health care bill included vital provisions that were dropped in the Senate. Unlike the Senate bill, it has a public option to keep insurance companies honest. It does more to make health insurance affordable for the lowest income Americans. And it pays for these reforms with a small surtax on the wealthiest Americans. (The Senate bill taxes many middle class families' insurance benefits instead.)
All these differences will be worked out between House and Senate leaders and the White House during the "conference" process.

We've already seen that progressives can exercise real leverage when they make it clear that their votes can't be taken for granted. Senator Bernie Sanders just won billions of dollars in extra support for community health clinics in the final hours of negotiation in the Senate. But House Democrats will be under intense pressure to give in to the demands of conservative senators who are threatening to hold the process hostage again.

So we need Democrats in the House to insist on real improvements before agreeing to vote for the final bill.

Can you call Rep. Cooper right now and tell him you want him to fight for the public option, for making insurance more affordable, and for other progressive priorities in conference?

Representative Jim Cooper
Phone: 202-225-4311


Then, please report your call by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FHTN_05&cp_id=1218&id=18377-15255949-8YIEYWx&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Kat, Ilyse, Daniel, Lenore, and the rest of the team




Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to Rod on December 21, 2009. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

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Dear MoveOn member, Urge Cooper to oppose the Senate Health Care bill

To my progressive friends and especially to my siblings,

I know that politically we don't agree on much of anything and so you may be surprised that I am forwarding to you an email I received from MoveOn. I bet you are also surprised to find that I am a MoveOn member aren't you? One can become a member of MoveOn by just joining by email; you do not have to pay a membership fee. Trust me, I have never contributed to MoveOn but I am a member. See, the letter says "Dear MoveOn Member."

Some of you, I suspect, are also members of MoveOn yourself but maybe you missed this email. Some of the others of you are equally as "progressive" as MoveOn members but may never have gotten around to joining. Anyway, I am sure you respect the roll played by this fine progressive organization. I am sure you support their work on behalf of social justice and the downtrodden of the world. I did not want you to miss their most recent message on health care reform.

MoveOn is urging their members to call Representative Jim Cooper's office and urge him to oppose the Senate version of the health care bill. Their thinking is that if the House stands firm that the Senate will buckle and the final bill that passes will be a bill closer to the House bill which contains the public option. I am not a professional political strategist and I don't know if MoveOn is correct but this political strategizing seems like a game of high stakes poker and MoveOn must think they have the winning hand.

My view, and what I hear from the people I listen to, is that if the final bill contains a public option there will not be enough votes in the Senate to pass it. So, I want the progressives to urge the House to not buckle and to hold firm for the public option. I fear that if the House does capitulates to the Senate that the Senate bill that is before us will pass. While the Senate bill is not as bad as the House bill, it is still a bad bill. I want it to fail so we can start over and do real reform that includes tort reform, the ability to purchase insurance across state lines and that brings market forces to bear on health care cost. I want reform that empowers the individual, not the state.

While I would hate to get the House bill when we could have gotten the less bad Senate bill, I say roll the dice and go for broke. So, dear progressives please follow MoveOn. Please call Jim Cooper and urge him to oppose the Senate version of health care. Tell him to stand firm. In addition to making the health care bill more likely to be defeated, I suspect that if Cooper holds firm in support for the House bill instead of the Senate bill without the public option, he will be more susceptible to being defeated the next election.

If you remember, when voting for the House Bill, Cooper said he was only voting that way in order to move the debate forward and that he really did not support the public option. Cooper is a leader of the Blue Dogs and often talks conservative but always votes liberal. I have liked Cooper. He is obviously a smart man. He has a depth of knowledge about a lot of issues and probably understands more about the threat posed by this nations massive debt than anyone else in Congress. When he talks I find myself agreeing with him. The problem with Jim Cooper is he never votes the way he talks. He had me fooled for a long time. He still has a lot of people fooled and gets a lot of support from Republicans and conservative Democrats. Go ahead, put Cooper on the spot. I would like for Cooper to show his true colors. If he votes for a final bill with a public option, I suspect he will face tough Republican opposition next time he runs.

Don't trust me and take my advice on this; here are your marching orders from MoveON.

Dear MoveOn member,

The Senate health care bill is being gutted one piece at a time, and people are fed up. A new poll shows growing opposition to health care reform—from progressives angry at moves to drop the public option. Governor Howard Dean called the bill "the insurance companies' dream," while former insurance executive Wendell Potter said, "It absolutely is a big gift, a big bailout to the industry."1

The Senate, led by Joe Lieberman, has gone too far—and there's tremendous momentum to fight back. But some House conservatives are reportedly considering support for the weak Senate bill.2 Your representative, Jim Cooper, is a member of the conservative Blue Dog Caucus. Can you call Rep. Cooper right away and urge him to oppose the watered-down Senate bill? Make sure he knows that voters are outraged by the Senate's weak bill and want real health care reform with a strong, national public option.

After the Senate bill passes, leadership from both sides will meet to merge the two bills into one in what's known as a "conference committee." In theory, both sides will negotiate and pieces from each bill will be included in the final legislation, which then goes to President Obama. But pressure on leadership to pass the weakest bill or a near-unchanged version of the Senate bill will be intense—from conservatives like Joe Lieberman, and from those arguing that we can't to risk losing their votes. So to end up with a strong final bill, all House members need to stand strong in support of
their version of the bill and its key pieces like the public option.

The House bill is, in nearly every way, stronger than what's in the Senate. It
would cover 36 million Americans, create real competition with a national public option, provide stronger subsidies for low income Americans, hold insurance companies accountable with real regulations, and much more. Of course, it also contains the awful anti-choice "Stupak" provision, which is just another reason we need strong progressive voices leading up to conference.

Can you call Rep. Cooper today and tell him that the Senate bill is unacceptable? Make sure he knows that you're fed up with the gutting of the Senate health care bill and want real reform with a strong, national public option.

Here's where to call:

Representative Jim Cooper
Phone: 202-225-4311

Then, let us know how it went by clicking here:
http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FHTN_05&cp_id=1213&id=18333-15255949-5mMAO6x&t=4
Thanks for all you do.
–Kat, Stephen, Ilyse, Lenore, and the rest of the team

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Moveon Democrats Show Their Contempt for the Military

General David Petraeus, the U. S. Forces Commander in Iraq, is a man who has served his country faithfully for 35 years with honor and distinction. He is a 1974 graduate of West Point, graduating in the top 5% of his class. He was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Class of 1983. He earned a PH. D in International Relations from Princeton University in 1987.

His awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal, two awards of the Defense Superior Service Medal, four awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal for valor, the State Department Superior Honor Award, and the NATO Meritorious Service Medal. In 2005, U.S. News and World Report recognized General Petraeus as one of America’s 25 Best Leaders. In January 2007 he was confirmed unanimously by the U. S. Senate to become the U. S. forces commander in Iraq.

Last Thursday, the anti-war far-left organization MoveOn.org called him a traitor. The full-page ad sold to Moveon by the New York Times at a discounted rate, cleverly playing on the Generals name, and in large print asked, “General Petraeus or “General Betray Us”? They accused him of lying in his progress report to Congress.

Calling General Petraeus, the man who is leading our troops in time of war, a traitor is disgusting and beyond contempt. As one who was serving in Vietnam at a time when anti-war protestors carried Viet Cong flags and Jane Fonda visited our enemy and posed for pictures on an anti-aircraft gun, I can imagine how the troops in the field must feel when their Commander is called a traitor and politician vote to endorce that view.

Following the ad, the Senate voted 72 to 25 to condemn Moveon.org for the attack. Some Democrats joined Republicans in this vote including high-profile liberals such as Diane Feingold, Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, and John Kerry. Other Democrats, many of whom had voted to confirm him as Commander back in January, refused to condemn the attack on Petraeus. The Democratic Senators who are seeking their party’s nomination for President, Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd, were among those siding with Moveon. Barak Omaba was present but choose not to vote and Senator Joseph Biden was absent, campaigning in Iowa.

Ads like this are polarizing and I guess that is the point. It motivates the base of the party and forces people to choose sides. The Presidential candidates can no longer waffle. They must decide if they will serve as puppets of Moveon and show their contempt for America's military leadership or if they will vote for decency and condemn those calling our top General in Iraq a traitor.

I don’t know how this will play out in the polls, but Democrats, while pleasing the fringe, may loose support in the middle. Also, nastiness like this may push moderate Republican who question the wisdom of our policy in Iraq, back into the Republican fold. Not all Democrats and Independents share the contempt for our military shown by the Moveon Democrats. As one who has been critical of the Bush Administrations decision to go to war and the conduct of the war, and who also has developed other dissatisfaction with the Republican Party, my loyalty to the Republican Party has been slipping. Events like this remind me why I am still a Republican.

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