Saw Kathleen Sebelius in Macomb County today!

[PassingFair]

SharonRB and Livvy were there, too.

I took my 16 year old -- we were both
impressed by her.

Debbie Dingell? Not so much...

[SharonRB]

1. I'm with you on Debbie.

And on Sebelius.

Sorry we didn't get a chance to talk...I was in the middle of discussing something with Ellen Cogen-Lipton when you guys had to leave and then someone from the Oakland Press came over and interviewed me.

:hi:

[maddogesq]

3. The problem with Dingells.

It is tired old stuff. Passing, Sharon, and anyone else, it's Get Down with the Mad Dog, because we are the hipsters (snort) and we want our communtity to be like the Boulder, Colorado that I lived in in the 1980's. We can have this, I know we can. It has been my dream since moving back here after college in 1085. They are not progressive in the modern sense. They are wonderful people, but it is time to hang up the ego for the sake of this area.

OK, call me nuts. I believe our state can be the leader again. Debbie is problematic in that she gets into these tired old discussions on Channel 4 on Sundays, and frankly gets her ass kicked. When ego gets in the way, nothing matters. Come on folks, look at Kwame! Do you think he is pondering the future of this region right now?

We have the colleges, the tech centers, the agriculture, and the resources (managed cleanly) to take this away from the bad guys in the dry or swamped south. Debbie and John have done a lot, but it is time for them to drink some tequila and step away.

[PassingFair]

8. She gets her ass kicked because she's frequently arguing the wrong side...

Not ALL the time, just enough of the time.

:)

[Loftlore]

10. Candice Miller - my oped

"Congresswoman Candice Miller has read her tea leaves and determined that it would be advantageous to reverse her position on the war on Iraq. Her flip-flop did not come with an apology. If it had, she might have taken the time to apologize for her support of making America a nation who tortures and spies on its citizens. She might also apologize for raising the national debt to over nine trillion dollars, the highest it's ever been. That's over thirty thousand dollars of debt for every man, woman and child in the United States. It's a debt our children and our grandchildren are stuck paying! We are a debtor nation, and it is hurting the American economy. It is hurting us all at a kitchen-table-bill-paying level!

Above all, where is Miller's apology for getting us into Iraq in the first place? Will anyone see an apology to the four thousand-plus American serviceman and woman who have died in Iraq?

John McCain has said that no one has supported George W. Bush more than he has. It's not true. Senator McCain has a ninety five percent record of supporting the Bush administration's legislative agenda. Congresswoman Candice Miller has a NINETY-SEVEN percent record of supporting Bush legislation!

If not voted out of her Congressional seat, Candice Miller will be an unwelcome residue of a disastrous Bush administration. Her legacy of support for neo-con mistakes will render her wholly ineffective as our representative."

[BeatleBoot]

2. I'm sorry you feel that way about Debbie

She's a real sweetheart once you get to know her.

[PassingFair]

4. I don't want to be friends with her...

I'm sure she's a very nice person.

She is somewhat embarrassing to listen to,
over the top as a speaker.

She was a huge proponent for the DISASTROUS
early primary, which ultimately didn't work
out the way she and others planned.

:crazy:

Does she hold elective office anywhere?

[1gobluedem]

5. No, but I think John Dingell hopes to pass the seat down to her eventually

That's the buzz around here at any rate.

Debbie and I are both judges at Taste of Ann Arbor; I've found her pleasant to talk with but I've never had any real substantive political conversation with her.

[PassingFair]

7. Don't you watch her on the local news shows?

I didn't mean to imply that she was a bad person.

[UrbScotty]

6. She's on the Wayne State board of governors

which, as you may recall, is a statewide elected position.

[Strawman]

9. I think I heard what is good and bad about Debbie Dingell this morning

Normally never listen to 760 in the morning (and won't ever again outside of MSU sports), but I was flipping and heard her on with the morning guy who sounded like a Repug. She was talking about Ted Kennedy's speech and Michelle Obama's speech and how unfair the blogs have been to Michelle Obama. And said "I need to criticize the blogs on the left and you need to criticize the blogs on the far right..." Just like the primaries, it was as if she was saying in so many words "we need to control these people." Like they have no right to speak (or decide political outcomes in the primaries).

It was very early, she hadn't gotten much sleep and she was (understandably) emotional talking about Ted Kennedy. And then this a-hole host cuts her off and says "You're shrill" in just the most dicky conservative male sexist tone one could possibly say that in. It was really cold and mean-spirited and it really pissed me off.

So there I was totally disagreeing with her control-freakish ideas about stifling free speech on blogs because it is "not nice," yet at the same time admiring her passion for good people and good causes, and feeling like I wanted to take her side against this conservative prick.

I think she would be better off saying that ridiculous mean-spirited personal attacks (Rovian political discourse), be it on blogs or in the corporate media, while respected as free speech, ought to be tuned out by reasonable people. She would be better off if she could find a way to accept voices and outcomes that she and her insider friends weren't in complete control of.