All DU'ers Need to Read THIS...the WHOLE THING...Print It...or Bookmark It.....

[KoKo]

You will need to know this going into the coming year.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/12/21/dodd_reid/print.html

[graywarrior]

1. Wow!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[Faux pas]

2. Can you give me a hint? I don't like to allow cookies unless it's

for a good reason. Thanks.

[K Gardner]

10. Here's some text...

So here we have one of the very few acts of the last year by a Democrat in Congress which has actually engaged and energized people; made them feel as though someone was listening to them and taking a stand for what they believe; something that enables actual citizens to have some influence on the political process; and, most of all, an effort that at least disrupted the relentless Congressional march to capitulate to all of Bush's demands.

And in response, Harry Reid and his mewling anonymous Democratic allies immediately recruit the Washington Post's Congressional reporter to attack what Dodd has achieved, demean his motives with a ferocity that they never display in opposing George W. Bush, and assure everyone that their will to do the President's bidding will be realized despite Dodd's temporary interference.

It's one thing to watch Congressional Democrats fail to stand up to any of the Bush abuses. It's another thing entirely to watch as they actively enable them. But they've now moved beyond even that to actually perceiving as their Enemy anyone -- such as "Dodd and his allies" -- who seeks to disrupt their Bush-enabling efforts and, worst of all, who infects their rituals with any dirty, outside riff-raff, such as actual citizens.

[eleny]

13. Maybe it's true that Dodd will make a bid for Majortiy Leader

I hope Reid is in big trouble where this is concerned. Dodd would make an interesting and vocal Leader.

[sniffa]

16. he is running for president

and he'll most likely get my vote. i'm lucky enough to have had my primary moved up from (late?) March to Super Tuesday, so there should still be some options by then.

[creeksneakers2]

81. If Dodd support surged right now

that would rearrange the entire power structure. The net would show that it can really help or hurt Democrats.

Dodd is the best candidate anyway. Harry Reid is wrong about Dodd. Dodd has been fighting back for his whole career. He's not afraid of the right wing. And Dodd doesn't just lash out. He knows how to box.

[Le Taz Hot]

14. Thank you!

n/t

[Faux pas]

47. Thank you very much....sounds like it's worth the read. n/t

[seemslikeadream]

3. SCUM

SCUM.... anonymous, cowardly Democrats



SCUM..... anonymous, cowardly Democrats

[brentspeak]

4. This is just rumor that Greenwald is spreading

[Karenina]

21. It's just a rumor that your posts

make ANY SENSE at all! :rofl: Tschüß!!! :hi:

[Le Taz Hot]

5. It says

"Click on the Sponsor logo to read this article for free." I can't find a sponsor logo. Could you maybe post an excerpt or something or at least direct me to this sponsor logo? I have a -1 tolerance for this sort of thing.

[magellan]

7. Same here, are you using Firefox with Adblock?

Yes, a few quoted paragraphs would be appreciated.

[Le Taz Hot]

9. Firefox

and my husband set it up so I'm not sure what controls he put on it. I'll try IE. Thanks!

[Le Taz Hot]

12. Not working in IE either.

:shrug:

[magellan]

19. Try turning off the anti-phishing check at the bottom of IE

...by right-clicking on the icon in the status bar and disabling. Then reload the page and if necessary, click Enter Salon at the top right. Finally worked for me.

Remember to turn anti-phishing back on when you're done.

I always have this trouble with Salon!

[tblue37]

61. Check your inbox.

I sent you a copy of the whole article.

[Blue-Jay]

8. Same here. Are you using Firefox?

I guess we can't read the WHOLE THING.

Maybe someone could sum it up for us, eh?

[cosmicdot]

32. try this link

vs print page

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/12/21/dodd_reid/

I use Firefox, and I was able to open the OP link, and this one.

[tbyg52]

50. I have Firefox

and I am reading the whole thing from the original link. I'd tell you how I did that if I knew.....

[proud2BlibKansan]

65. Still wants registration first

[mod mom]

62. TIME FOR NEW LEADERS, as ours are complicit:

"Reid and friends aren't merely refusing to stand with Dodd. They're not even merely impeding what he's doing. They're actually attacking him, impugning his motives, dismissing his efforts as insincere and worthless."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. These are the paragraphs that agree with what I have observed

over the past 27 years:
---------------------------
Where to begin? In the Beltway world, anyone who aggressively objects to the Bush administration's extremism, and especially its lawbreaking, is always guilty of (at least) one of two sins: they are either fringe, unSerious, overly earnest losers, or -- as in the case with the accusations against Dodd here -- simply pretending to be bothered by such things in order to rouse the rabble and exploit them for cynical political gain. Anyone who disrupts Beltway harmony in order to hold the Bush administration accountable -- anyone who seems actually bothered by the rampant lawbreaking -- is thus easily dismissed as an annoying radical or a self-promoting fraud.

After all, it can't possibly be the case that Dodd actually believes in what he's doing and saying. He can't really care if telecoms are protected from the consequences of their years of deliberate, highly profitable lawbreaking. Clearly, Dodd's just doing all of this to prop up his flagging presidential campaign, just a cynical ploy for attention, not because he has any actual convictions that there is something wrong with granting such an extraordinary and corrupt gift to lawbreaking telecoms. No Serious person would ever actually get riled up about anything like that.
(snip)
Notice, too, who is smearing Dodd's motives here. It isn't Dick Cheney or Mitch McConnell. Instead, it's Harry Reid and anonymous, cowardly Democrats whispering in Paul Kane's ear about Dodd's manipulative "grandstanding" and proclaiming that Dodd will ultimately fail, dismissing the notion that he achieved anything other than delaying their well-laid plan to ensure that the President has everything he wants.

So here we have one of the very few acts of the last year by a Democrat in Congress which has actually engaged and energized people; made them feel as though someone was listening to them and taking a stand for what they believe; something that enables actual citizens to have some influence on the political process; and, most of all, an effort that at least disrupted the relentless Congressional march to capitulate to all of Bush's demands.
-----------------------------------------------------------

There are a lot of people on this board, mostly DLC types, who scream bloody murder if someone criticizes a Bush-enabling Democrat. They go on and on about "the circular firing squad" and "lack of party loyalty" and "being a closet Republican."

Yet over the past 27 years, I've seen countless examples of good, honest Democrats trying to do the right thing and being sabotaged and belittled by their own party.

[magellan]

11. Thanks, LL!

That describes my observations too.

[Le Taz Hot]

18. Thank you

for that snippet. I hadn't realized how pro-active the corporo-Dems were in destroying anyone not marching lock-step. If the REALY Democrats don't regain the party soon, there will be nothing to save.

[Major Hogwash]

27. Oh, no, not Lydia Leftcoast, too!

Still kicking ass, I see. Man, don't you ever get tired of kicking ass? Don't you have an ass kicking quota, or sumpthin?

Hee hee hee

Merry Christmas, Lydia, you ol' asskicker, you!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

34. Same to you, Major!

So many asses to kick, so little time...

I may want to get some help from Skittles. :-)

[TahitiNut]

39. That's absolutely correct, imho.

It's disgusting to me (and part of why I'm an independent) to have seen this behavior repeatedly. The sneering, condescending dismissal of principled, liberal Democrats who stand up for holding the powerful to account, impugning their acts as "rabble rousing" and "grandstanding" (because, after all, why ELSE would anyone insist on adhering to the Constitution and the rule of law??), and marginalizing any truly democratic representative with a sense of duty. Feingold. Wellstone. (And others!) They're "purists" after all, and we can't have that, can we? Cyincism. Appeasement. We gotta be "just a little" corrupt - it's the 'smart' thing to do, of course. Lesser evils.

Fucking arrogant bastards! :grr:

[warren pease]

69. Corruption: It's not just for Republicans anymore...

How's that for a campaign slogan the DLC crowd can support enthusiastically?


wp

[creeksneakers2]

80. I'm one of the bloody murder screamers

But this time Reid is going too far.

I'm less worried about telecom immunity than I am about a bill that fails to provide adequate 4th amendment protections. The bill Reid moved contains few protections. The one passed by the judiciary committee is better. If Reid and the Democrats don't insist on those protection they are traitors to the constitution.

The best response though is not to refrain from voting for Democrats. The best response of all is support for Chris Dodd for president. From there, primary opponents are a great idea. Once there are enough Democrats to provide a cushion, it will be time to cull some out.

[K Gardner]

15. I still have not gotten over the fact that NONE of the Presidential Contenders

showed up to support Dodd with what would have been a powerful microphone and podium. Biden issued a statement of support. After issuing one noncommittal statement, Obama was prodded and issued a second one in support. Hillary said she hadn't read the bill and couldn't comment on it..and refused to commit one way or the other. Yes, it's a game, and we're the losers.

[AzDar]

17. Well, I suppose if we see this materializing we need to stand up and

kick ass in defense of Brother Dodd.
Period.:patriot:

[magellan]

20. Here's more:

Notice, too, who is smearing Dodd's motives here. It isn't Dick Cheney or Mitch McConnell. Instead, it's Harry Reid and anonymous, cowardly Democrats whispering in Paul Kane's ear about Dodd's manipulative "grandstanding" and proclaiming that Dodd will ultimately fail, dismissing the notion that he achieved anything other than delaying their well-laid plan to ensure that the President has everything he wants.

So here we have one of the very few acts of the last year by a Democrat in Congress which has actually engaged and energized people; made them feel as though someone was listening to them and taking a stand for what they believe; something that enables actual citizens to have some influence on the political process; and, most of all, an effort that at least disrupted the relentless Congressional march to capitulate to all of Bush's demands.

And in response, Harry Reid and his mewling anonymous Democratic allies immediately recruit the Washington Post's Congressional reporter to attack what Dodd has achieved, demean his motives with a ferocity that they never display in opposing George W. Bush, and assure everyone that their will to do the President's bidding will be realized despite Dodd's temporary interference.

It's one thing to watch Congressional Democrats fail to stand up to any of the Bush abuses. It's another thing entirely to watch as they actively enable them. But they've now moved beyond even that to actually perceiving as their Enemy anyone -- such as "Dodd and his allies" -- who seeks to disrupt their Bush-enabling efforts and, worst of all, who infects their rituals with any dirty, outside riff-raff, such as actual citizens.

[femrap]

58. Sometimes I think that the

Repugnants are making contributions to certain Dems campaign funds...bribery, I believe, is a common form of that 'enabling.'

[warren pease]

70. They don't have to...

The same corporations fund both parties now. They call it hedging their bets. I call it equal opportunity bribery.

But it amounts to the same thing: Both parties are feeding so desperately at the corporate trough that expecting democrats to stand for human values and against corporate orthodoxy is like expecting a shark to turn vegan.


wp

[femrap]

74. I can't wait to see the day

when Corporations are begging for forgiveness. Karma is guaranteed. After all, look what happened to ronnie reagan.

[warren pease]

75. May you live a very long life, then...

Because I'm afraid that, absent something completely weird and unforeseen that yanks Americans away from their Whoppers and fries and iPods and corporate mass media and gets their illusive attention, some version of this plutocratic bribocracy will persist for the long term.

Thing is, the courts have already ruled on the matters of corporate personhood and money = free speech. Reversing those rulings in the current political climate, with Neanderthals like Scalia and Roberts on the supreme court, is probably unrealistic.

And worse yet, the people who could create legislation that would remove private money from politics and institute public financing at all levels are the same people who are getting rich and powerful milking the current system dry.

So, absent "a new Pearl Harbor," as the neocons are so fond of saying, I really doubt the influence of private money in politics is going to change much, if at all.

It's not like people are rioting in the streets over the fact the Clinton accepted $90 million in corporate, PAC, lobbyist and special interest bribes in just the first nine months of this year. They'd rather focus on her hair or her midwest twang or how many times a day she prays or... Gawd save us from anything of substance.

So that's my rather dour view. What did happen to Ronnie Raygun, btw? You mean Alzheimer's? Or some kind of reckoning with corporate America that I slept through?


wp

[femrap]

82. Yes, his alzheimers....I wouldn't wish

that kind of death on anyone.

Check out this link...

http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1364&category=Environment

Interesting article, huh?

If we become the next Argentina, that bumper sticker, "End World Hunger. Eat the Rich" could get the Elite a bit edgy.

I just have the feeling that our future is going to be dramatically different.

[marmar]

22. GO to hell Harry....Give 'em hell Chris.

As Thom Hartmann said, we (progressives) have got to infiltrate the Democratic Party's Upper Echelons. I so look forward to the day when the leadership is composed of the Russ Feingolds, Barbara Lees, Lynn Woolseys and Barbara Boxers of the world.

[VP505]

23. Thanks for the

head up, I agree this ought to be required reading for all at DU. It validates what most who stood with Dodd probably suspected all along.

[TwilightGardener]

24. Harry Reid needs to go--he is a detriment to our country and our constitution.

I don't care why Dodd did what he did, I just glad he did it. I hope he does it again in January.

[TwilightGardener]

25. Oh, and: Chris Dodd for Majority leader!

[OzarkDem]

37. Yes, good idea n/t

[undeterred]

26. Sickening.

I'm glad Feingold is my Senator or I would have to move.

[Major Hogwash]

28. Bookmarked for KoKo!

I was just reading about Greenwald the other night. This guy's on their trail bad!

[ThomCat]

29. How is it that we ended up with cowardly right-wing assholes

in our Democratic Party leadership positions? Aren't there any actual Democrats available to move up the ranks. x(

Pelosi and Reid are not just incredibly disappointing, they're enraging and disgusting in their servility to the right-wing.

[TahitiNut]

41. There's an infestation of weevils, of course. "Lesser weevils."

:grr: :puke:

This is what comes from appeasement and selling out on principles.

[warren pease]

72. We got the cowardly ones...

...because the GOP had already siphoned off the blowhards, bullies, wife-beaters, diaper-chasers, bathroom sex solicitors, pathological fundies, sociopathic predators, serial liars and the like.

By the time the first round of the bigot draft was over, only the dipshits were still available when it came time for the Dems to pick. And like all lower draft choices, their skills were questionable, their sense of self-importance was completely out of sync with reality and their commitment to the team was about an inch deep.

So it's not like they're the cream of the crop or anything. We only get the mediocre wingnuts, while the GOP gets the Delays and Inhofes and Craigs and Hatches of the world instead.

And the leadership is just a reflection of that mediocrity: a bunch of whiny aging pols whose consciences and principles were drowned long ago in a giant river of limitless corporate money.

So instead of leaving with their fortunes intact and ending the daily outrages they inflict on their constituents, they decide to hang on a little longer, hoping the next million will show up quickly or that their places in history will get cleaned up a little before they're run out of town on a rail.

A severe pox on all these alleged leaders. They're only fit to lead lemmings, not thinking people, and they need to get the hell out of those chairs yesterday so somebody not glued to a pile of corporate bullion can take over. And then it'll be time for tar and feathers.


wp

[Hotler]

30. It's time we started talking about firing Pelosi & Reid.

It's time to start a movement to let it be known that the two will never hold ofice again after their currant terms.

[acmavm]

31. Reid's got quite the racket going.He's taking taxpayer money and supporting

and criminal and treasonous cabal. Corporate America is getting one hell of a deal as well. We pay Harry's salary, provide him with benefits and perks that none of us will ever get, and he does everything he can to further their agenda.

What a scam. What a scammer.

[stillrockin]

33. We SO need to replace right wing tool Reid.

Dodd would be a good choice.

[balantz]

35. Excellent!

[OzarkDem]

36. Reid and his cohorts simply look the other way

when crimes are being committed and illegal and unethical legislation is being rammed through Congress or when investigations are called for. I was shocked when experiencing the new Dem leadership shortly after they took the majority during lobbying on the Hill. The casual acceptance of the status quo and the willingness by so many in Dem leadership to fail to develop anything resembling an agenda was shocking.

This kind of attitude serves no one well in the long term, not Democrats, not voters, not our economy, not our future.

Its always been an odd world inside the beltway, but the tolerance for corrupt and ineffective government has reached historic proportions. This stuff makes the Nixon/Watergate years look amateur by comparison.

Like everyone else I'm sick of hearing all the excuses, the apologies. Dems took the majority with no agenda except to lay low and ignore Bush corruption until 2008. We do need to replace those who have been corrupted.

[sendero]

38. Folks here need to get this..

... we are going to have to send some of these people HOME. We are going to have to find challengers and TAKE AWAY THEIR SEATS.

That is the only way we are going to get change in Washington, the problem is NOT just Republicans, the whole system is stinking of corruption.

[Deja Q]

40. Even the URL reads "OPINION". How the heck do you know it's a fact?

:eyes:

Forgive me, but I refuse to sign up for a Salon account either. So I don't even know what you're claiming is a fact, despite the URL in of itself saying "opinion", which is defined as "hyperbole or inference based on existing facts and does not mean such hyperbole or inference will actually happen."

[Stephanie]

44. oh for god's sakes - you don't need a Salon acount to read it

Just wait a few seconds for the ad to load thenn click "enter Salon"

Second, it's an excellent column about the spineless Harry Reid and other anonymous Senate Dems who are accusing Dodd of grandstanding on the telcom bill because somehow they cannot grok that one of their member might stand up and act on principle in refusing to grant immunity to lawbreakers. It's a good article.

[Oilwellian]

45. Uhh, you don't read Glen Greenwald's commentaries?

Are you implying he's wrong about the Democratic leadership bending over backwards to push Bush's agenda through?

You don't have to sign up to read Greenwald although I can't understand the bee in your bonnet where Salon is concerned. They're one of the best progressive sites on the web. Greenwald used to have his own blog but recently was picked up by Salon as one of their premier commentators. It's worth sitting through a few seconds of advertising to get to his page.

[Warpy]

42. Dodd's the only candidate from inside the beltway

on my list of possible votes on primary day. Otherwise, it's either Edwards for the populist rhetoric or Richardson for the quiet competence and ability to get things done.

The last thing we need is another hack from inside the beltway. If there were a way to push them out of the center of the party power structure, I'd do it. They're as bad as the GOP because they refuse to hold the GOP accountable as long as the cash flow is positive.

I expect the same conventional wisdom that gave Reagan two terms to pick from the party inner circle this time, too.

This article showed me I'm not the only one who feels this way. So thanks.

[kentuck]

43. We had a discussion about the "filibuster" topic yesterday...

<snip>
As Benen notes, the GOP has used the filibuster as a common tool on virtually every piece of significant legislation, all part of what Trent Lott described as their strategy: "The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail . . . and so far it's working for us."

But this extraordinary obstructionist behavior has hardly been highlighted at all by most journalists covering Congress. Part of the reason for that is the fault of Senate Democrats, who have, in essence, allowed Republicans to filibuster without forcing them actually to filibuster, thus removing the theatrical display of the obstructionism. But the obstructionism is the same, and it ought to be reported as such. But it isn't.

[Pastiche423]

46. IF

what Greenwald said is true, it sure as hell explains the past eleven months.

I can not imagine what other reason there could be for the actions of Reid.

[Triana]

48. Our mission: "support successful primary challenges against incumbent Democrats ...

... who deserve to be removed from office."

Harry Reid is top of the list.

[tbyg52]

49. Right you are.

I don't usually click without a hint, but I'm glad I did this time.

[tbyg52]

51. Blood-boiling quote from Pelosi:

Though crediting activists for their "passion," Pelosi called it "a waste of time" for them to target Democrats. "They are advocates," she said. "We are leaders."

Sweetie, if you want to be *my* leader, you had better get in front of me. Right now, you're out in right field.

"Which way did they go? How many were there? How fast were they going? I must find them; I am their leader. "

Whoo boy. Here's some more stuff our "leadership" could sure stand to read:
http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/leadership/quotes.html

[Hydra]

56. You should read that whole interview

Sorry it's WaPo, but it was a general interview.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100902006_pf.html

That REALLY made my blood boil when she said all of those things on camera.

[femrap]

59. Here I thought that Fancy Nancy

was OUR representative....she has been such a disappointment. I want her and Harry out of their 'leadership' positions.

[lateo]

52. As the years drag on...

It is painfully obvious to the progressives that the Democratic party has an element inside of it that is willfully aiding the Republicans in their destruction of America.

Yet there are people in this party who are willing to make excuses for them.

[Individualist]

67. That element, DLC,

needs to be removed from the party.

"The Democratic Leadership Council's agenda is indistinguishable from the Republican Neoconservative agenda," http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Kucinich_DLC_agenda_undistinguishable_from_Neocon_0813.html

[tavalon]

53. Okay, I did and I'm even more furious than I was

I will send money to people who are running primary challenges. We need to get on board with this. We put the fear of the grassroots into them all with the Lieberman upset but it all worked out for them anyway so I think they've forgotten. They need a reminder. We will be heard!

So, aside from that, how do we shut them down? What can we do to disrupt business as usual? Because it is clear that that must happen. They must be made to listen.

[snot]

54. k&r'd nt

[annabanana]

55. perceiving as their Enemy . . . "Dodd and his allies"

That's it! Just sent an email to the Dem "leadership" identifying myself as on of Dodd's allies.

[Hydra]

57. Unfucking believable!

From a tactical perspective, the Dems have the best chance they've EVER HAD to undercut Bushco and their supporters, both with legal challenges and politically speaking...and we find out that they are working for Bushco!!!!

I'm done. Finished.

I'll be waiting for the Revolution. Apparently our system isn't salvageable.

[walldude]

60. That's party unity for ya...

Someone tell me again how I must support the Democratic leadership no matter what... :eyes:

[nadinbrzezinski]

63. Isn't this what some of us have been saying for years now?

that our "leadership" is enabling the fuehrer?

Oh hold it, they truly cannot be two sides of the same bloody coin.

They must be challenged in primaries, ALL OF THE SICK LOT... and preferably defeated.

[Joe Fields]

68. It is. And it's way past the eleventh hour for ALL DUers to wake up!!

A great many people in this forum, who call themselves progressives are STILL buying into the party bullshit. And I'll guarantee you right now that the system will not change with a Hillary, Obama or Edwards.

[BeHereNow]

76. Don't hold your breath.

Just prepare to take care of your family
and loved ones.

It's going to get worse before it gets worse.
Especially since so many chose to remain
ignorant.

BHN

[proud2BlibKansan]

64. Need to register to see the article.

[hedgehog]

66. kick to read later

[Swamp Rat]

71. Same as it ever was...

[Vinca]

73. Harry Reid is a water carrier . . . for the Republicans.

Pelosi apparently looks down on us. (We're the "advocates," they're the "leaders" and know what's best for us.) What is so bad about a Democrat acting like a Democrat?

[pjt7]

77. Bush's power grip is slipping every day

Put in Chris Dodd & let him go after the criminals. Harry might be a nice guy, but he doesn't haqve the energy to lead the fight.
Dodd is a true statesman, so he will go after them hard, but do it respectfull which the general public will appreciate.

[riona]

78. What on earth has happened to our Democrats?

It's like I've reading a novel by Ira Levin - The Stepford Senators.

[debbierlus]

79. Dodd can continue to filibuster, & he won't be running a campaign when the next vote occurs

So, what will they say he fights again?

Reid, Pelosi, the GOP Leaders of the Democratic Party

Traitors.