There comes a time when people who consider themselves
good, loyal, true Blue Democrats, look at the way their elected
Democratic office holders have been voting, and, at least, wonder...
WTF. The best time to do that is primary time. Tuesday there are primaries in 8 states. But there sure aren't many challengers to incumbents-- not even to incumbents like reactionary California congressmen who have a marked tendency to frequently vote against their constituents' interests so they can join Republicans in supporting the Big Business interests that are free with the... campaign contributions. The California "Democrats" who abandoned the most basic principles of the Democratic Party to help the GOP pass its hideous bankruptcy bill were Tauscher, Costa, Baca, Cardoza, Thompson and Harman. The only one facing a challenge (and for conduct unbecoming a Democrat) is Harman, where Marcy Winograd is giving her a run for all that corporate money she's vacuumed up. The other 5 disgraces are off scott-free.
There are a couple of other races coming up in the near future where
Democrats-who-vote-like-Republicans have to face real challenges from real Democrats. Everyone knows about Ned Lamont's valient effort in Connecticut to dislodge the unscrupulous and duplicitious Joe Lieberman, George Bush's favorite Democrat. But just one month after Ned's showdown with Lieberman in Connecticut on August 8, there is a very similar primary-- albeit a less well-known one-- shaping up in Maryland. There, in the 4th CD, corporate shill Al Wynn is finally getting called out on the carpet by grassroots progressive Donna Edwards. This is a
rare opportunity to hold accountable a very wayward Democrat who votes with Republicans again and again when it really matters (war and bankruptcy being two stand outs in Wynn's case).
Reading David Sirota's brilliant new book, HOSTILE TAKEOVER, helps put these "wayward" Democrats into context. It's a book every Kossak should read. Today I've tried to put some of Sirota's precepts into another kind of context with a little contest over at Down With Tyranny, where anyone who knows much about Joe Lieberman's shenanigans has a chance to win a rare 2-disc CD package with some kick-ass music by a diverse array of artists from The Ramones, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Ministry, Wilco and Lou Reed to Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, Armageddon Dildos and Neil Young.