It's been reported Michael Moore has called for a boycott of Connecticut and its businesses in an effort to pressure Joe Lieberman to end his opposition to a public health insurance option and expanded Medicare coverage. Being a (usually) proud Connecticut native, I feel Mr. Moore needs to reconsider this position, and I'm sharing this letter with dKos readers.
Dear Mr. Moore,
With all dues respect, you're acting like a f***ing idiot.
(Okay, that may not be a productive way to start, but it gets a little better reasoned after the break)
First, Lieberman doesn't care what his constituents want, so there's no way he can be pressured by them. He's ignored us for more than two decades of so-called public service. He ignored the Democratic voters in the 2006 primary. He ignored the Democratic Party in the 2006 election. He ignored the Democratic candidate in the 2008 election. He ignores the Democratic Caucus every day of the week. He's ignoring the 70% of Connecticut that favors a public option. He's a self-aggrandizing narcissist who only listens to himself - and revels in it. Why in the world do you think he'd suddenly now care about the people of Connecticut?
Second, if you're going to boycott Connecticut, why don't you also boycott all the states where Democrats refused to endorse legitimate Democratic candidate Ned Lamont against Lieberman in 2006? That's really easy to do. No one, except Chris Dodd, John Kerry, and Ted Kennedy endorsed and campaigned for Lamont. So just boycott everywhere but Massachusetts. (Technically, Hillary did announce she made a contribution, but never travelled the 10 miles into Connecticut to publicly endorse or campaign for Lamont.) These cowards refused to cross Lieberman back in 2006, and now they're getting their reward: a great big knife in the back. And they still won't stand up to him. Why isn't anyone in leadership talking about taking his chairmanship away??? Joe's only constituent is Joe, and you can bet he'll decide to do whatever is best for Joe, like protecting his committee chair. Given a choice between supporting the bill or losing his chair and becoming a back-bencher for the Republicans, what do you think he'd choose?
Ignoring the fact that you'd be hurting the people who work for local businesses (or what's left), boycotting a bunch of companies you either don't know or can't avoid isn't a real solution. Cancelling your health insurance seems kind of self-defeating, so we'll just skip that obvious one. Will you take the stairs to your office instead of riding the Otis Elevator? Will you stop flying because all the planes use GE or Pratt & Whitney engines? You can't take the train because the engines are probably made by GE too. You can throw away your Craftsman and Stanley tools and buy the no-names - oh wait - they're probably made here too, or else China, which is even worse. Are you beginning to see the futility?
Better than screwing Connecticut, why don't you show some real balls and go after Harry Reid and Nevada? He's the real enabler of Lieberman, not the ignored citizens of this small state. Which do you think would be more effective: boycotting Lego bricks or taking a bite out of Vegas? Kick Harry's contributors in the crotch and you can be sure he'll take action. Let people know that every trip to Las Vegas means higher health care costs. Tell the SEIU, the Teamsters, the AFL-CIO, the NEA, and the other unions - and the AMA, the Cancer Society, the AARP, and every other organization supporting reform to cancel any conventions they have planned, and not to go back to Las Vegas until Reid gets rid of Lieberman. Make sure Harry Reid knows that the economic health of Nevada depends on our health, and our health depends on health care reform.
So please. Mr. Moore, stop and think. Your solution to the problem is good; your strategy sucks. Even if Connecticut had a recall rule, you can't recall Federal congressmen. So go after someone who can actually make a difference, not a bunch of innocent bystanders.