I admit to being a KOS newb - I've been perusing hte place for a couple of months, taking it in and trying to get a feel of what this movement was all about. I am continually amazed by the level of discourse here - by the fact that people who talk economics or legalities KNOW what they're talking about.
As my eyes open wider, I'm feeling even more of a kinship.
On that very note, never has the phrase "Crashing the Gate" resonated so profoundly within me as in comparing and contrasting the respective stances of Senators Russ Feingold and Dick Durbin on the brewing Connecticut tempest.
Follow me, please, and tell me if I'm catching on to it all...
Every time I listen to Russ Feingold - really listen to him, instead of listening to what other people say he's saying (if you know what I mean) - I become more convinced that the guy would make a terrific candidate for President. I'm still not familiar enough with him (working on it!) to say if I'd vote for him over another candidate, say Al Gore, but he impresses me on one issue after another. I sense an admirable level honesty and level-headedness in the man, and a true understanding and humility regarding his place in our society.
Yesterday was no exception. Regarding the fight in Connecticut's Democratic Primary, Russ Feingold's response to Tim Russert on Meet the Press was eloquent, appropriate and to the point: he said that he wasn't getting involved, that he was a long-time friend of Joe Lieberman, that Ned Lamont's views were closer to his own, and THAT THE VOTERS OF CONNECTICUT WOULD DECIDE THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE.
More importantly, he said that he, Feingold, would fully support that DEMOCRATIC nominee.
Senator Dick Durbin, on the other hand, disappointed me no end. From what I had seen to him to date, I liked Dick Durbin. I liked his passion and his compassion. I usually find him worth listening to.
He needs his gate crashed.
He prattled on about his friend, Joe Lieberman. To his credit, he didn't disparage Ned Lamont, but to my astonishment, he refused to say that he'd endorse Lamont should Lamont win the primary.
WTF?
I mean, seriously, WTF?
Senator Durbin, on the wild, miniscule, ridiculously infinitesimal chance that you hear my advice: deflate your ego. Remind yourself of what it means to SERVE the American people. Remind yourself that you are A CITIZEN first and a Senator second. You do not own this club you call the Senate, sir, nor is it appropriate for you to so dramatically interfere with an election that is not your own. If you have reason to endorse Joe Lieberman, then by all means, feel free to offer your opinion on him to the people of Connecticut. Feel free to tell them that you believe they should re-elect your friend.
But don't you dare say that you won't support the verdict of the people who will be represented by the winner of that primary!
I didn't find your remarks about GITMO anti-American, Senator Durbin - you need have offered no apology to this citizen for making them. In fact, I found them quintessentially American, for only by looking into a mirror darkly can we hope to brighten our future. So now let me hold that mirror up to you.
It is not YOUR Senate anymore than it is MY Senate. You are not above the voters of Connecticut because you have been privileged enough to serve in the United States Senate - a service that is at the pleasure of the people of your state. The idea that a group of Democratic insiders can somehow demand an outcome in a primary, as your smarmy nonsense and Chuck Schumer's recent remarks have hinted, is patently anti-democratic and against everything you elected Democrats supposedly represent. You can't be the party of the common man if you (deep in your heart, I mean) truly won't trust the judgments of common men and women. So which is it? Are you a public servant or an elitist? Are you privileged to serve or do you think us privileged to have you?
You owe the people of Connecticut an apology. You owe yourself some soul-searching. Come down off your high-horse, Senator Durbin, of your own accord, or the increasingly frustrated Democrats are going to yank you off that mount and throw you to the side of the road.
Here's a hint: listen to Russ Feingold. I suspect that he is who you used to be, once upon a time.