What follows is my very own, personal, top o' the pops list for who needs to be primaried out in 2010 and 2012, and/or deprived of their Congressional leadership positions, and (my entirely subjective reasons) why... in order of, well, how much they piss me off.
- Nancy Pelosi
For taking impeachment off the table; for hypocritically voting no on the very bill (Iraq Capitulation) she agreed to in negotiations. For being, in general, a completely spineless and useless Speaker. For being an embarrassment to women and Democrats everywhere.
- Steny Hoyer
For being Steny Hoyer.
- Harry Reid
For matching Nancy Pelosi in general spinelessness and uselessness. For propagating the myth that the only way to get anything done in the Senate is to have a sixty-vote majority and for neglecting to observe that the Republicans got a whole lot done in the past two years without it, largely thanks to him. For even considering letting Joe Lieberman keep a committee chairmanship.
- Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray (tie)
For bending over for the Rethugs over and over again during the past eight years. Yeah, I know they are no different from the majority of the Dems in the Senate, but they are my Senators, so it's personal. Plus, Maria has never once responded to my letters to her, and Patty just sends me three-page-single-spaced-boilerplate-bullshit-press-releases that are nothing but a waste of my time.
- Dianne Feinstein
For walking Condi down the aisle at her confirmation hearing. I have never liked Di-Fi, but on that day, I learned to loathe her. Then she iced her own cake with Mukasey.
- Chris Dodd and Evan Bayh
For their vocal support of allowing Joe Lieberman to retain his chairmanship.
- Hillary Clinton and everyone else currently serving in Congress who is a member of the DLC
For being members of the DLC. I'd list them all individually, but -- how very strange! -- the DLC website no longer posts a membership roster. Gee, why wouldn't they want everyone to know who their members are??? And yeah, I know, you're reading this and shrieking "NOT HILLARY!" and thinking that I've lost my mind. No, I haven't. I hate the DLC with the heat of a thousand burning suns, and she's at the top of the DLC heap.
- Every member of the Blue Dog Coalition who's from a blue state
No explanation needed. Presumably. I'll give the ones who live in the red states a pass just on the theory that if they got primaried out their seat would go to a Republican. But the rest of them need to go.
Note: Joe Lieberman is not on this list because he's not a Democrat. He is beneath even my contempt, and that is saying something. Rahm Emanuel would be on this list if he wasn't moving over to the WH (a choice by Obama that still has me completely bewildered).
Honorable mentions: They don't deserve to be primaried out, but they could use a good public spanking. These are people I've admired in the past, but in whom I've been bitterly disappointed during the past couple of years.
- Barney Frank
For pushing so hard on that disastrous $700 billion bailout bill that he, and everyone else, knew wouldn't fix a goddamned thing. Barney, I've adored you forever, but on that day, you broke my heart.
- Henry Waxman
For being the master of the sternly-worded letter, but apparently not much else. For talking big, and doing little, and just generally sending my blood pressure through the roof as I watched his committee hearings over the past couple of years because I knew that he wasn't going to do a goddamned thing.
- John Conyers
For the same reasons that Waxman is on the list.