[haus]

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for the revolution...

It's time to stand up - not to cheer, but to fight back.

-- Sen. Feingold's dailykos.com Blog Entry on Executive Power. [2006-02-02]
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/2/10581/84829

[-V-]

so if you gave Russ a 10 that must mean he's your #1 choice. I remember him being aggressive on a few issues several years ago but I haven't heard him making any waves lately. I don't know enough about him yet to judge.

[haus]

Choosing a candiate is a complicated project. Everyone has their own ideological litmus test. Everyone has their own criteria for determining if a candidate has the leadership gene. Is the guy (or gal) likable? Is he effective? Is he aggressive? Is he for real, or is it all just an act?

There are two candidates who meet all my tests. They were both surprises for me. One of them, obviously, is Russ Feingold.

(The other, the bigger surprise, is Wes Clark. I'm sure some people reading this paragraph have just come to the conclusion that I've popped my cork, flipped my lid, or some combination of the two. If I jumped in the WayBack Machine and told November-Haus that Wes Clark is a liberal wreckin' machine, I think November-Haus would offer me a strong cup of tea & the number of a good psychologist.)

Unfortunately, I've got to head to work now. But I'll leave a news-nugget. The USA-PATRIOT Act will be re-authorized in the Senate today. The nation isn't paying any attention to that fact. But there's a guy that's still fighting against it. Guess who? (Here's the answer (http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20060216/cm_thenation/1560694_1).)

[-V-]

Clark is viable. I threw his hat in.

[haus]

http://progressivepatriotsfund.com/sync/images/228.gif

Want to thank Russ for his work on the USA-PATRIOT Act? Free trade? Wiretapping? ANWR? Alito? Energy and the Environment? Civil rights? Campaign finance reform? Want to wish him a happy birthday? Want to nudge him to run for president? Here's your chance.

The Progressive Patriots Fund is sponsoring an online text chat with Senator Russ Feingold on Friday, March 10 at 10:30AM Eastern Time. Sign up early at The Progressive Patriots Fund (http://www.progressivepatriotsfund.com/page/s/ols).

More or less x-posted from http://ohio4russ.blogspot.com

[haus]

Here's the audio for Feingold's call in the Senate to censure bush this afternoon.

Windows:http://news.globalfreepress.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-3582
Everyone Else:http://news.globalfreepress.com/mp3/Feingold_Censure-03-13-06.mp3

I watched this live on C-SPAN 2 this afternoon, and it was GREAT. I haven't seen any video surface on the web yet.

(h/t to bpilgrim@DU)

[-V-]

Feingold is looking better all the time.

As you can imagine, however. I'm not satisfied with the antiquated concept of "censuring" a President. Citizens don't have the option of being "censured" when they commit a crime.

[haus]

I'm looking at the censure resolution as part of a process, rather than an end in and of itself. It should fuel debate and reinforce Conyers' resolutions. It should also help in November.

Weird trivia: the only other President to get censured was my great-great-great-great Uncle. Cantankerous old bastard.

[Jane of Arc]

Great, Great, Great, Great Uncle Haus! :sunny:
http://www.nationalist.org/images/photos/history/jackson.jpeghttp://www2.corvallis.k12.or.us/chs/Model_Convention/Images/john%20kerry.jpg
He looks a lot like John Kerry, doesn't he? Weird.

[MAGI]

I'll bite.............What was his name haus?

:confused:

[haus]

Andrew Jackson. Not one of your more notable presidents, but the Democratic Party's Donkey symbol descended from so many people calling him a jackass, and him thinking it was kinda funny.

[MAGI]

Well, Andy has one fine Great, great,great Grand Nephew!

:sunny:

[haus]

Russ is going to be on the Daily Show w/ Jon Stewart Wednesday night. Should be a fun show -- I predict a little ass-kicking.

[-V-]

i'll be watching

by the way, i had to deduct some karma points from Fiengold for saying that impeachment may not be appropriate in a time of war.

[haus]

http://feingold08.sourceforge.net/images/firefox-menu-big.jpg

This extension to the FireFox browser (http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/) contains links to approximately 70 web resources of interest to supporters of Russ Feingold for President. These resources include the National "Russ Cafe" discussion board, the chat room at russforpresident.com, prepackaged searches through many of the leading search engines, all the blogs in the "50 Blogs for Feingold" program, as well as Feingold's official Senate, Senate Campaign, and PAC sites.

This extension only works with the Mozilla FireFox browser. That is to say that it won't work with Microsoft Internet Explorer or any other Netscape browser. You can get the FireFox browser for free by clicking here. (http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/)

The extension is available for download at addons.mozilla.org (https://addons.mozilla.org/addon.php?id)

This is one of several projects in development at RussForge (http://feingold08.sourceforge.net/). RussForge is an independent group of techies and artists who support Russ Feingold for President. RussForge is not affiliated with any candidate or committee.

[haus]

I'm doing a project and could use some input.

It's difficult to condense the experience of following Russ Feingold's battles in Washington into "5-Easy-Bullet-Points", but getting an accurate read of the landscape is important as we roll into close to two years of presidential primaries.

So I put together an IRV poll to rank how people relate to Russ and would like to know what you think. (http://www.demochoice.org/dcballot.php?poll)

Here are a few of the items to choose from:

Opposed to Iraq War from the beginning
Fighting for Universal Health Care, rated 100% by APHA
Defender of public educaion, rated 91% by NEA
Leader in fight against Bush's Torture Policies
Keep Church and State separate: 0% rating by Christian Coalition
Introduced bill to censure George W. Bush
Fought hard against the Patriot Act
Adamant supporter of Fair-Trade, 25% CATO voting record


It's entirely possible that we missed some fairly obvious and significant items on the poll, which is why starting the discussion is so important. So, please consider taking the poll, (http://www.demochoice.org/dcballot.php?poll) and I'm all ears if you have questions/comments.

[-V-]

Haus, if it were my choice, my ticket would be Gore-Feingold. Or better yet, Kucinich-Feingold, then you'ld really see some changes. But at some point it, unfortunately, it does become a question of realistic strategies and playing the numbers.

I'm not up on the science of election winning. But isn't it the consensus that any viable candidate has to have some reach in the South?

To be blunt, can a liberal Jew from Wisconsin muster up enough support across this country to get the job done in 2008?

[haus]

Let's look at 2000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_2000):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/US_presidential_election_2000_map.svg/320px-US_presidential_election_2000_map.svg.png

The electoral vote was 271-266. Do I think Russ can win these states? Yep. I also think he can add Ohio, Indiana, Florida, New Hampshire, and Missouri. 73 electoral votes...so, that'd be 339-198.

He's won every election he's been in Wisconsin, which has a higher degree of redneckosity (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/55000.html) and not significantly more Jewish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin#Religion) than the average state.

Also telling is that the August Zogby Blind Bio Poll (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/articles/060820/28whisplead_2.htm) puts him within 2% of the front-runner.

So, yeah, I'm not as concerned with the general election as I am the Democratic Primaries...

p.s. I saw this the other day and thought it was cool. I think electoral college votes are proportional to house seats, so this map from govtrack.us shows the relative importance of states:

http://www.govtrack.us/data/us/109/gen.rolls-cart/h2006-378.png

[Jennifer_SFBA]

Between the Devil and the deep blue sea with only Democrats and Republicans representing, not We, the people, but the powerful, enormously wealthy RepubliCratics of America, I must vote Green Party 2008. Not even Feingold stood up to philabuster the bill that destroyed habeous corpus and that allowed the U.S. to determine what part, if any, of the Geneva Conventions the U.S. would adhere to. Feingold was certainly no "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" at the time someone, anyone was most needed!!! Their oath of office means nothing to our U.S. Congressional representatives. In my view, they are all traitors to the principles of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. My bottom line: NO FASCIST DICTATORSHIP IN AMERICA where law applies only to the citizenry while the most heinous evils committed by federal elected officials are protected in the name of National Security!

Habeus Corpus defined:

http://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htm

Keith Olbermann's video commentary on the destruction of Habeus Corpus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En9eA...elated&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSBI6...elated&search=

Amateur 'video bloggers' under threat from EU broadcast rules

http://snapshot.jkn.com/758538.288233697832

Vote GREEN for all United States federal candidates for federal political office in 2008, and make U.S. government the government of the people, for the people and by the people once again!!!

I began with Feinstein this year, 2006, by casting my vote instead for Todd Chretien, the Green Party candidate for CA U.S. Senator. Any religiously oriented or learning, or non-progressive candidate for CA state or local office, I likewise voted down and then proceeded to affirm my vote FOR the GREEN PARTY candidate.

For state judicial candidates where their record was NOT available on legal rights descisions like gay marriage (marriage equality), GLBT rights or abortion, etc., I looked up whether they had been Republican or Democratic appointees. With no other compelling information available to me, I voted against Republican governor appointees for judicial positions and for Democratic governor appointees. Had there ever been GREEN PARTY judicial appointees, I'd have felt more assured in my vote that they represented my values for America, "with liberty and justice for all."

[-V-]

I removed a bunch of posts that strayed too far off topic and were not at the level we've come to expect from both posters. Peace out.

[Jane of Arc]

It's very clear to me that Russ Feingold took himself out of the running early on because he's been asked to be a Vice Presidential candidate.

He would be a perfect balance for somebody like say ... Hillary? And he would neutralize her hawkish stance on the war which is her greatest liability.

Any thoughts?

[FDRfollower]

I think its still a little too early for predictions Jane D'arc.

I want to see how the democrats handle the impeachment and the collapse of the bubble economy(ies) before I start choosing sides. A crisis is always good in bringing out the true leaders (if they're there).

Rest assured, that whoever is running, will face a cheap version of the Bush admin in a McCain/Leiberman ticket. :puke:

[Jane of Arc]

Oh my dear FDR ... it isn't too early at all. :) The 2008 race has begun! The deliberations were started ages ago. Feingold has a plan, as he should.

With just 2 years the very first thing the Democrats must do is repair our broken democracy and establish honest elections. This election was a complete ruse. It was played out perfectly. Without the Democrats seizing this opportunity we still are and will remain a corporately controlled oligarchy.

[haus]

My guess is this: Hillary will pick the #2 in the primaries as her running mate.

In the meantime, Russ will be instrumental in rolling out and building up a Progressive Caucus in the Senate. With Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders there now, it seems pretty likely it'll be formed. It'll be interesting to see who else joins up.

The one thing that could change everything is if Lieberman defects. If he does and we lose Committee chairs, it seems likely to me that Russ will pull a RFK.

[MAGI]

Sheesh!

I hope you both are very wrong with your 2008 presidential candidate pick because we'll be looking at a republican president for another 4 years at least if that happens!

I need a barf bag..................
thumbs-down

[Jane of Arc]

Let's look at the hard cold facts.

Was the voting system in this country reformed with legislation? No.

Does 80% of the country vote on new electronic voting machines that are the private property of a few right wing corporations? Yes.

Can the vote still be easily changed without a trace of evidence that tampering occurred as proven by many private studies including Princeton University? Yes.

Does the same group that controlled the 2000, 2002, 2004 elections still control the 2006 and 2008 elections? You betcha.

And nobody knows this more than Russ Feingold. He knows damn well what the status of American elections are and who runs the show.


Haus, I think your right about Feingold. And I think that Lieberman is the NeoCon fly in the ointment. I'm pretty sure CT is one of the few places with a good voting system. So who the hell in CT voted this creep in? The Republicans. He's already going against his campaign promises of staying "liberal" and starting with the subtle threats. He's a real political whore.

[MAGI]

I'll help haus:
Mr. Joe sixpack - the older, brainwashed, uneducated white MAN AND the republicans!

http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/localnews/ci_4678528




Berg also passed on what he said Election Day exit polls showed across Connecticut. Basically, Lieberman won by the margin of how many old white men without college educations voted for him and against Ned.


Ned did well with women, younger voters, college-educated of all ages and non-whites.


It certainly wasn't the Democratic majority.


http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-jepsen1119.artnov19,0,3741601.story?coll=hc-headlines-oped

Lamont Helped Light Democratic Fire
November 19, 2006


Lamont's impact in Connecticut is more directly measurable. Democratic registration since May grew by 33,000 - nearly 7,000 per congressional district. Compare that to new Republican registrations of only 12,000. Voter turnout surged from 56.5 percent to 61.6 percent. Thousands of people, many of them young, volunteered for the first time in a campaign. Although a number of personally popular Republicans survived - including U.S. Rep. Chris Shays of the 1st District, assisted by an eleventh-hour conversion on the war - it was a historic Democratic sweep.

Why did Lamont lose? For one, Lieberman ran a well-financed, strategically smart, on-message campaign. Second, the Lamont campaign failed to pivot quickly after the primary, allowing Lieberman to define himself and the opposition, and to frame the race. Finally, Republican Alan Schlesinger's candidacy all but collapsed, leaving Lieberman perfectly situated to build a coalition of nearly all Republicans, most unaffiliated voters, plus a slice of Democrats. The math was simply too much for Lamont to overcome.

Will the Democratic Party be split? Only if we let it. Happily, this "blue" state has far more to unite than to divide Democrats. Even most Lieberman supporters agreed with Lamont's positions.
To make things work, Lamont activists can't sulk and walk away. Politics is a contact sport and losing, although painful, is part of it. They need to understand that with very tenuous majorities in Congress, Democrats are hardly in a position to call all the shots. Compromise will be necessary to govern responsibly and position the party for further growth. As long as Lieberman remains with the Democratic caucus, he should be given the opportunity to work for positive change.



George Jepsen, Ned Lamont's campaign chairman, is former chairman of the state Democratic Party and former state Senate majority leader.