Chris Carney, One Of The Worst Blue Dogs Ever, Wants To Ride The Anti-Trump Wave Back To Congress

I thought that Denny Heck and Cheri Bustos, respectively, the chair and vic-chair of the DCCC recruitment committee, had the worst idea ever when they tried to recruit corrupt conservative party boy Patrick Murphy to run for the open Miami seat that is being abandoned by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. I've been told that even if Heck and Bustos were too obtuse to realize it, Murphy figured out that a 73% Hispanic district is probably not his highway back to a career. So they came up with an even worse idea-- or, at least, one as absolutely horrible. Who remembers sleazy Pennsylvania Blue Dog Chris Carney? Bustos, a reactionary Blue Dog trained by Rahm Emanuel, and Heck, a rich asshole from Washington hate progressives and are working diligently to draft as many conservative Republican-lite candidates as they can. Their paw prints are on every bad candidate seeking Democratic nomination. Few are as terrible as Carney.

Back when Blue America endorsed Carney-- before we learned our Carney lesson-- we weren't asking much of our prospective endorsees. On LGBT issues, for example, we didn't ask them to promise to support a gay marriage bill; we just asked them if they will fight for gay equality, even if they have to exhibit some leadership in a tough environment. If they couldn't do that, there was still a chance we could still root for them to beat a much worse Republican, but we wouldn't raise money for them. We expected the candidates we endorsed and raised money for back them to support a woman's right to choice, to support serious campaign finance reform, to favor serious proposals to end the occupation of Iraq, to support gay equality-- and, like I said, to be willing to exercise leadership on difficult issues. I mean, sure, we wanted candidates who were for the minimum wage and who opposed the dismantling of Social Security, but those should always be the easy issues for Democrats.

In the course of the 2006 midterms, I had several relaxed and pleasant conversations with candidate Carney and, unlike other netroots groups, Blue America endorsed him. We encouraged our members to volunteer for his campaign and to help raise consciousness in PA-10 about Don "The Choker" Sherwood... and to donate money to the campaign. 722 of our members made donations to Carney's campaign. We even made a 30 second spot sung by Rickie Lee Jones to help focus PA-10 voters on the issues at hand. And we were overjoyed when he won, convincingly, on election night.

We don't expect the men and women we support to necessarily support the same position we do on every single vote. But even in the short time Carney was in Congress, he moved further and further away from all the other Blue America endorsees who won seats. In terms of supporting progressive issues in general, he has established himself at the bottom of the barrel among the freshmen, along with candidates we chose not to endorse, like Jason Altmire (PA), Rahm Emanuel's Heath Shuler (NC), Nick Lampson (TX) and Brad Ellsworth (IN). Some of us were disappointed but none of us chose to castigate Carney. And then something happened that made us decide to speak up. We realized Chris Carney lied to us. When he wanted our support he told us he favored equality for the LGBT community, something he also made clear to the folks at Project Vote Smart, when he checked the little box that indicates he would like to "Require that crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, and disability be prosecuted as federal hate crimes."

So weren't we in for a surprise a few months after he took office when Congressman Carney joined 13 of the most die-hard reactionary Democrats in the House-- near-Republicans who almost always support a reactionary social agenda-- to vote against the Hate Crimes bill. The bill passed 237-180 and all but 14 Democrats supported... well, supported exactly what Carney promised in his campaign he would support, "that crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, and disability be prosecuted as federal hate crimes." I felt betrayed-- like I had been kicked in the stomach. Based on my research and interview with candidate Carney, Blue America had endorsed him and hundreds of our members had donated effort and money to his campaign. Some of those donors are members of the LGBT community and others have friends and family who are part of that community and others just like to think that the candidates they contribute to will support equality as a core value. Chris Carney let us down, violently.

I requested an opportunity to speak with him and went back and forth with his office a few times until they finally sent me this e-mail:

Hi Howie, I have a short statement for you that I hope will be sufficient. This statement has been issued exclusively to you. Please let me know that you received it. Thanks.

Congressman Carney has not wavered from his original position of equality. Treating people the same is one of his core values, creating separate constitutional classes detracts from that goal. This was overarching legislation that created too many classes of people, and Congressman Carney could not support it.

This was a difficult decision and some of our supporters will disagree. As always, Congressman Carney voted with what he saw to be the best interests of Pennsylvania's 10th District.

I explained that sending me the Republican Party talking points-- which have long and routinely been used by the party of hatred and bigotry to try to please their rabidly homophobic base while covering their asses is not satisfactory.

So what did I want from Congressman Carney? Well, I wanted him to publicly apologize for a vote that encourages and enables the bigots and haters and I'd like him to return the 722 contributions he accepted from Blue America members. I had dozens of complaints from members already and at least one has sent Congressman Carney a letter, copying me, requesting a refund:

Dear Congressman Carney:

Apparently, we had a misunderstanding with regard to your support for equal rights for gay Americans when you sought Don Sherwood's seat last year. I supported your campaign, through BlueAmerica on the advice of Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny.com.

Now that you have voted, with some of the most reactionary Democrats in the House of Representatives, against the Hate Crimes Bill, I have reconsidered my previous support of your campaign. I would like to have my contributions returned, please. I am disabled and on a fixed income. I can only support candidates who support gay rights and, more importantly, keep their word to me and to those I trust to evaluate candidates.

I have provided my contribution information below and would appreciate your sending a check as soon as possible, as there are candidates who share my values who need my support. Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

So now Bustos and Heck want this garbage back in Congress and think they can swing it if the anti-Trump tsunami is high enough. The district has been gerrymandered considerably since Blue America helped defeat Carney. Scranton's not part of it and the PVI is a prohibitive R+12. Obama lost the district to McCain 57-42% and lost it to Romney 60-39%. Last year Trump beat Hillary there, 66-30%, helping Trump narrowly clench Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes. The Democrat who ran against Tom Marino was Mike Molesevich; he didn't get 30% of the vote.

Mark McDade, teachers union representative, is running and Scott Brion, who ran against Marino in 2014 wants to give it another try. Former Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith, who now works as Governor Wolf’s Director of Government Affairs and Outreach, is supposedly considering a run as well. But Bustos and Heck want the Democrat most like Marino-- and most like themselves: Carney. Borys Krawczeniuk is the local reporter who knows the area politics better than anyone and has been reporting on it forever. He wrote that Carney says he's thinking about running and the DCCC is "polling district voters about their views of Carney and Marino, according to two people who received automated calls Wednesday afternoon."

Winning Back The Senate-- Will The Corrupt Conservative Establishment Get Out Of The Way?

Reactionary Pennsylvania Blue Dog Chris Carney

Yesterday we took a quick look at the Senate race starting to form up in Florida. Best case scenario: corrupt power-monger Debbie Wasserman Schultz doesn't run (and neither does Charlie Crist) and Alan Grayson beats conservative Democrats Patrick Murphy or Gwen Graham. Grayson in the Senate would be as big a deal as Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders in the Senate. It would be a dream for Florida progressives; in fact, it would be a dream for progressives nationally. But Florida isn't the only state where a significant upgrade is on the table.

Rubio may be awful but Wisconsin lunatic Ron Johnson is probably even worse. And it now looks like Russ Feingold is getting ready to run for that seat, which Johnson won from him-- 1,125,999 (52%) to 1,020,958 (47%) in 2010. Rumors about a rematch have never ceased but now it looks like Feingold has been taking positive steps in that direction-- and in the process saving Wisconsin and the country from New Dem chairman Ron Kind who had been threatening to run if Feingold didn't. Sam Stein, reporting for HuffPo yesterday, broke the story:

Russ Feingold will soon deliver his final speech as United States Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, closing one chapter of his career and inevitably sparking speculation about the next.

Many have speculated the former Democratic senator will run for his old seat in 2016, taking on the man who beat him: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Leaving the State Department would be the first logical step in exploring a campaign, as Feingold is heavily restricted from preparing to run for elected office while serving in his current post.

A State Department official declined to say when Feingold’s last day on the job will be. A source confirmed that he is leaving and not simply forgoing speeches from here on out.

There has been persistent chatter that Feingold is serious about running, and national Republicans have been targeting him under the working theory that he will run. The 2016 election, with a presidential race on the ballot, would be far more favorable to his candidacy than the 2010 election, when Republicans made big gains in both chambers.

Feingold went to State in July 2013, after spending 18 years on the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, including 4 years as chairman. He’s earned praise for his work in one of the globe’s toughest regions. His final speech will focus on efforts to convince officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo to follow through on their commitments to take action against rebel groups in the country.

At least Wisconsin Democrats are united firmly behind Feingold. In Pennsylvania, conservative Democratic power mongers are screwing up the chances for Democrats to win the seat Pat Toomey took in 2010. In their hatred for frontrunner, Joe Sestak, some are going so far as to push for reactionary, defeated Blue Dog Chris Carney to run. At National Journal yesterday, Alex Roarty asked about Sestak, who he mentioned "has an impressive biography [and] could be the party's Senate majorty-maker... why doesn't anyone want him to run?" By "anyone," he means the grotesquely corrupt Pennsylvania party establishment, not actual Democratic voters. The Establishment worries that Sestak is a maverick; real voters admire him for that. Philadelphia party boss Bob Brady, a congressman, is one of the leaders of the stop Sestak movement.

The concern over Sestak is multifaceted. Party insiders fear he's a loose cannon and doubt he will listen to the advice of political professionals. That's a necessity in what will be a hard-fought race against Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, an outspoken fiscal conservative who has effectively shifted to the political center since taking office in 2011.

But there's also a personal animus toward Sestak, known to party leaders as a political loner who defied the Democratic establishment in 2010 when he ran against Arlen Specter. That year, against the advice of party leaders, he challenged the party-switching senator in the primary-- and prevailed, even though President Obama, Gov. Ed Rendell, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee were against him.

Sestak won the primary, but went on to lose narrowly to Toomey. It's a scenario that Democratic leaders worry will happen again if he wins the nomination again next year.

"In my estimation, if Joe Sestak is the nominee in 2016 for U.S. Senate, we will once again lose to Pat Toomey," said T.J. Rooney, who was state Democratic Party chairman when Sestak ran in 2010.

Whether brokers like Brady and Rooney will be successful-- or even whether their efforts are a good idea in the first place-- is a heated topic of debate among many Pennsylvania Democrats. Already, a handful of potentially strong candidates have decided not to run, daunted at the dual challenges of a bruising primary against Sestak and an expensive general election against the well-funded Toomey. Futhermore, some Democratic strategists remain convinced the former House member and Navy admiral is the party's best bet to win next November despite the animosity between him and party leaders-- especially if he can avoid a costly primary.

That's left the party in a vexing situation, with some worried that efforts to torpedo Sestak now will prove feckless and only damage him for next fall.

"What this highlights is there is always a bit of distance between what party leaders want and what voters want," said Dan Fee, a Philadelphia-based Democratic consultant. "This is a guy who, in a terrible year, barely lost. At the very least, he starts ahead."

Democrats have cast a wide net in their search for an alternative. Tester, the newly minted chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, has called Allegheny County executive Rich Fitzgerald to gauge his interest in running, according to sources familiar with party recruitment. DSCC officials have met with Ed Pawlowski, the mayor of Allentown who briefly ran for governor in 2014, about a campaign. In Pennsylvania, Democrats have encouraged former Rep. Chris Carney and state Sen. Vincent Hughes to run.

All of these sales pitches came after most of the party establishment was set to rally behind Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro, who represents the wealthy Philadelphia suburbs. Shapiro had indicated he was interested in a campaign, but many insiders no longer believe Shapiro will run.

Fitzgerald, in an interview with National Journal, said he won't run, either. And it's unclear if the others will ultimately launch a candidacy or if they would be a serious challenge to Sestak anyway. But in recent weeks, another intriguing name has surfaced as a potential candidate, someone who until recently was on few people's radars: Seth Williams, the district attorney of Philadelphia.

The 48-year-old, Philadelphia's first black district attorney, told National Journal he's focused on his current job. But he didn't discount the possibility that he might be interested in seeking higher office.

"Who wouldn't want to be a U.S. senator?" Williams said. "I really believe if we want to make the city safer, to prevent crime, we need to create more early-child education opportunities, and increase economic opportunities for individuals and businesses. And being a senator would allow me a great opportunity to let me do all of those things." He added: "I'm a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard, so I take orders well. If they give me a call, I'll listen."

Williams has a profile that could excite some Democrats: A former student leader at Penn State, he's served in the military and tangled with embattled state Attorney General Kathleen Kane over a public-corruption investigation into fellow Democrats. Just this week, he's blasted the state's newly elected Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf for issuing a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania.

But along with his centrist credentials, Williams could become the first black senator in Pennsylvania's history—which could motivate liberal and African-American voters to turn out in a race many Democrats see as a base election anyway.

Brady, the longtime chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic Party, said Williams has been a "great" district attorney. "I would like to see him to take a good look at it, and if he did, I certainly would be willing to support him," he said.

At the moment, DSCC officials are still mulling over their options. A spokesman acknowledged that Tester called to inquire about other candidates, but indicated that the committee is still open to backing Sestak.

"Senator Tester was simply doing his due diligence in Pennsylvania as he is in all of our states by talking to elected officials and community leaders to solicit advice and get a sense of what's happening on the ground," said Justin Barasky, spokesman for the group. "There are number of great potential candidates in Pennsylvania who can beat Pat Toomey, and that includes Joe Sestak."

Some outside observers coudl be confused as to why Democrats are so reluctant to back Sestak. He won a swing-state suburban Philadelphia seat in 2006, and he defended his support for Obamacare in 2010 by arguing that he wanted every parent to have the same treatment for their children that his daughter received when she battled brain cancer as a toddler.

He lost to Toomey in an otherwise horrific year for Democrats by a mere 2 percentage points, or 75,000 votes, in part because his military experience was a major political asset with blue-collar voters in western Pennsylvania. He ran well ahead of the Democrats' gubernatorial nominee, who lost his race by 9 points.

By all accounts, he's a tireless worker who won his underdog campaign against Specter because he relentlessly courted local Democrats in even the smallest of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. As part of his aggressive outreach, he's already traveled to all of the state's counties again since losing the last election. And his background as an admiral-- particularly one who has been critical of President Obama-- could help at a time when foreign policy might play a large role in the campaign.

"Joe has a lot of that independent streak to him, and that doesn't always play well in party politics," said Kathy Dahlkemper, who served with Sestak in the House and now is the chief executive for Erie County. "But for the voters, it often can play very well." (Dahlkemper, who other Democrats have mentioned would be a strong possible Sestak alternative, said she likes her onetime colleague and won't run for the Senate.)

Democrats also say openly that they don't think they need a top-tier candidate to beat Toomey next year. The party's presidential nominees have each won Pennsylvania since 1992—President Obama won there in 2012 by more than 5 points. In an era in which Senate candidates are increasingly tied to the performance of their party's presidential nominees, that might be enough to defeat Toomey.

"We're probably going to have Hillary Clinton on top of the ticket," said Fitzgerald, the Allegheny County executive. "I just think bodes well for any Democratic nominee to win that seat."

It's also unclear if the Democratic establishment could defeat Sestak even if they found a viable candidate. He defeated Specter in 2010 despite opposition from all corners of the party's apparatus, and it's unlikely any attempt to defeat him in 2016 would include such a comprehensive effort from party leaders.

But concerns run deep within Democratic circles about Sestak's political operation. He declined to work with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's coordinated campaign in 2010, and many of the staff on his last Senate campaign were members of his family.

"On paper, the guy has a great profile. How often to do you get a retired admiral running for office?" said one Democratic strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly. "That's the frustrating part. He's got a great story to tell, a least on paper, but there are serious concerns that he's going to blow a very good opportunity here."

And to some Democrats, it's personal. It's not just that Sestak ran against Specter despite the party's wishes. In 2012, he endorsed a primary challenger to conservative Democratic Rep. Tim Holden, helping now-Rep. Matt Cartwright defeat the well-liked incumbent. He also helped out a write-in challenger to former Rep. Allyson Schwartz.

These have contributed to the impression among some Democrats that Sestak isn't a team player and is unwilling to listen to the advice of others.

"He still thinks he's an admiral. And he thinks everyone should stand up and salute him," said one Democratic officeholder.

It takes a lot to dislodge Howie from his blogging chair -- a blast from the past

WEDNESDAY, MAY 09, 2007

LIVE GRIFFITH PARK FIRE BLOGGING AT DOWN WITH TYRANNY

the green on the upper left is all charred now

Yesterday I was so busy excoriating Chris Carney for lying to me about his position on equality when he wanted Blue America support, that I didn't pay any attention to anything else. So when my ex-roommate, Roland, called as he was driving home from school-- he teaches in Compton and, like me, lives in Los Feliz-- his news surprised me. "Get out of there," he shouted. "The fire is headed right towards your house." What fire? "What planet are you on?" he asked. "Are you sitting and working on that crazy blog of yours all day? Turn on the TV." He called about 30 minutes later and I had to admit I hadn't turned on the TV. At that point it was something like 3PM and I still didn't know there was a fire other than having heard it from him-- and he tends to get dramatic sometimes.

-- the start of Howie's DWT post at 1:36pm PT on May 9, 2007

by Melody

Yep, as Ken wrote the other day, telling us about Howie's temporary absence from his usual perch: “It takes a lot to dislodge him from his blogging chair, which is the place where he pretty much most likes to be in the whole world.” For those of you who don’t know Howie’s priors, I want to take you back to that day in May 2007, when the DWT post that began as you see above appeared at 1:39pm PT -- with the aerial photo highlighting "Howie's Pad" and text that began as you see here.

I have dug out two YouTubes from Day 1 of the Griffith Park fire -- the fire that led Roland to ask, "Are you sitting and working on that crazy blog of yours all day?” (Which of course he was!)





Bear in mind that while all of this was going on, Howie had been busy -- as he told us here -- excoriating Pennsylvania freshman Congressman Chris Carney. Chris Carney is a paticular sore point for all of us who have followed Howie’s tireless efforts for Blue America, and just to bring this report full circle, he has refused to vanish into the night. Just this past Tuesday Howie wrote a post titled "The Return Of Blue Dog Chris Carney?," which began:

In the 2006 midterms Blue America made a ghastly mistake. We allowed ourselves be be taken in my a bold-faced liar and fast-talking charlatan running for Congress in northeast Pennsylvania. Although we were warned that Carney, a former employee of Douglas Feith in the Bush White House, was untrustworthy, we endorsed him and helped him raise money and develop strategies against against Republican incumbent Don Sherwood. (We did not know at the time that he had worked as an "interrogator" at Guantanamo.) During our endorsement interview he portrayed himself as a progressive and vowed that if he were elected he would vote for the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. He was elected, immediately joined the reactionary Blue Dogs and started voting with the Republicans on one crucial roll call after another. . . .

Blue America apologized to our contributors, and asked Carney to refund the money our donors have given him. He started cursing at me. We started raising money to let PA-10 voters know what a fraud Carney is and in 2010 he was one of the dozens of Blue Dogs swept out of office. Republican Tom Marino beat him 109,603 (55%) to 89,170 (45%) and we hoped we'd never have to think about him again, except as an object lesson about how to deal with dishonest candidates.

Unfortunately, Carney is rearing his ugly head again, threatening to run against Joe Sestak in the 2016 Pennsylvania Senate primary. Anti-Choice, anti-gay, he's so right-wing he could easily switch to the Republican Party. But over the weekend he said he wants to run against Republican incumbent Pat Toomey as a Democrat. . . .

I can only conclude that Chris Carney has some really bad mojo.

Chris Carney may not agree, but here's hoping that Howie's back in his beloved blogging chair ASAP.


KEN ADDS: I wish I had news to report, but as of my latest information Howie is still resting mighty uncomfortably while, presumably, those cracked ribs do some healing. Thanks to all for all the good wishes. We'll try to keep you posted.

#

The Return Of Blue Dog Chris Carney?

In the 2006 midterms Blue America made a ghastly mistake. We allowed ourselves be be taken in my a bold-faced liar and fast-talking charlatan running for Congress in northeast Pennsylvania. Although we were warned that Carney, a former employee of Douglas Feith in the Bush White House, was untrustworthy, we endorsed him and helped him raise money and develop strategies against against Republican incumbent Don Sherwood. (We did not know at the time that he had worked as an "interrogator" at Guantanamo.) During our endorsement interview he portrayed himself as a progressive and vowed that if he were elected he would vote for the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. He was elected, immediately joined the reactionary Blue Dogs and started voting with the Republicans on one crucial roll call after another-- including the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. (Two years later he also voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, one of a small handful of Democrats who did.) Blue America apologized to our contributors, and asked Carney to refund the money our donors have given him. He started cursing at me. We started raising money to let PA-10 voters know what a fraud Carney is and in 2010 he was one of the dozens of Blue Dogs swept out of office. Republican Tom Marino beat him 109,603 (55%) to 89,170 (45%) and we hoped we'd never have to think about him again, except as an object lesson about how to deal with dishonest candidates.

Unfortunately, Carney is rearing his ugly head again, threatening to run against Joe Sestak in the 2016 Pennsylvania Senate primary. Anti-Choice, anti-gay, he's so right-wing he could easily switch to the Republican Party. But over the weekend he said he wants to run against Republican incumbent Pat Toomey as a Democrat.

"I have been encouraged by many folks who have approached me about running, and I've had many conversations with people across the commonwealth," Carney told National Journal. "I am taking it all in and weighing what's best for my family and the people of Pennsylvania."

The onetime congressman, who represented a district in the state's conservative northeast corner from 2007 to 2011, said he would decide about a campaign "fairly soon."

Carney's interest in the Senate comes as a surprise. For months, Democratic operatives keen to find an alternative to Sestak did not include Carney on their short-list of potential candidates, and he's been largely absent from public life since losing his House seat in 2010. Although affable and well-liked within the party, Carney is a former member of the Blue Dog Coalition who opposes abortion-rights and voted against "cap-and-trade" legislation in 2009—positions that would not endear him to a liberal Democratic primary electorate. In 2009, Republicans even tried to persuade him to switch parties.

But Carney's entrance would nonetheless give Sestak his first credible primary challenger, at a time when many Democratic operatives in the state had started to believe Sestak would run unopposed. Other would-be opponents, like outgoing state Treasurer Rob McCord, former Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, Attorney General Kathleen Kane, and Rep. Matt Cartwright, have passed on a bid for Senate. And party insiders now believe another potential candidate, Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro, is no longer interested in a campaign after once considering it.

Has Steve Israel Been Foiled In His Attempt To Sneak Homophobic Blue Dog Chris Carney Back Into Congress?

When I lived in Stroudsburg, it was part of PA-11 and the congressman was a crooked old Wall Street Democrat, Paul Kanjorski. Back then the PVI was D+5 and Bush only managed to win 43% against Gore in 2000 and 47% against Kerry 4 years later. When Pennsylvania's avatar of xenophobia and racism, Lou Barletta first ran against Kanjorski in 2002, Kanjorski beat him 56-42%. Barletta was back in 2008 and made it much closer-- 52-48%. And then the Republican legislature did a major gerrymandering routine with giving Barletta, then the KKK hero mayor of Hazelton, a safe perch from which to preach his anti-Hispanic claptrap. The district didn't just lose my hometown of Stroudsburg, but also lost the heavily Democratic precincts in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, replacing them with conservative suburbs way to the southwest around Harrisburg. Suddenly a D+5 district was an R+6 district. This time, the bigot beat the crook 54.7% to 45.3%.

"Ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel, the execrable clod Pelosi reappointed to chair the DCCC, even after his grotesque failures in 2012, has been trying to recruit fellow Blue Dog Chris Carney, an anti-Choice and viciously anti-gay conservative ex-congressman from neighboring PA-10. Carney is exactly the kind of garbage Steve Israel is trying to populate the Democratic House caucus with.

When Carney first ran for Congress, he sought Blue America's endorsement. Despite a warning from Markos that he was a sleazy and untrustworthy warmonger, we interviewed him and took him at his word that he was a progressive Democrat. He told us, for example, that, if elected, he would vote for the hate crimes bill then wending its way through Congress. We endorsed him and raised money for him and he was elected. He immediately joined the Blue Dogs and started voting consistently with the Republicans on crucial issues. The exact Hate Crimes bill we discussed at some length on the phone came up and he voted against it, one of only 14 homophobic Democrats to do so. 25 Republicans crossed the aisle and voted with the Democrats. Years later, one of Carney's staffers told me he was laughing at me and making obscene gestures at the phone during the interview. Blue America was forced to spend over $100,000 helping to defeat him when he refused to return the contributions we had raised for him. When I asked him to, he said, "Fuck you!" What a guy! Just the kind of politician Steve Israel adores.

Now there's a fly in Israel's ointment. On Friday prominent civil rights attorney Andy Ostrowski announced his own candidacy against Barletta. We'll find out more about his stand on issues, although it's worth noting that last year Romney beat Obama in this district 54-45% and that Barletta beat his little-known Democratic opponent 58-42%, garnering more votes than Romney. Barletta won every one of the district's 9 counties, even blue-leaning Dauphin which a Democrat needs to win big in order to take the district.

Hate Crimes

On April 29, 2009, the House passed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 249-175, 18 Republican abandoning their hate-filled and bigoted leaders, crossing the aisle and voting with the Democrats. Boehner, Cantor, Ryan and McCarthy were against the bill and they had support from 17 of the most racist and conservative Democrats in the House:

• Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK,) forced to retire
• Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), defeated with the help of Blue America
• Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA), defeated with the help of Blue America
• Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), defeated
• Artur Davis (New Dem-AL), defeated, now officially a Republican
• Lincoln Davis (Blue Dog-TN), defeated
• Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), pushed into the Senate in a quirk
• Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN), defeated
• Bart Gordon (Blue Dog-TN), forced to retire; now a slimy lobbyist
• Parker Griffith (Blue Dog-AL), switched to the GOP before being defeated at the polls
• Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC), still hanging on by the skin of his racist teeth
• Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA), defeated
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), still in Congress
• Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), forced to retire; now running for governor
• Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), forced to retire
• John Tanner (Blue Dog-TN), forced to retire
• Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS), defeated

So, of the 18 homophobic bigots and racist renegades only 3 survived politically, two-- Donnelly and McIntyre-- just barely. The rest were almost all part of the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010 the following year.

I just want to say one thing about the Hate Crimes bill. In the 2006 and 2008 election cycles, the bill was very important to progressives and Blue America used it to help us vet candidates. One candidate who consciously lied to us and portrayed himself as a progressive to get our endorsement and money was a right-wing shithead from Pennsylvania, Chris Carney. One of the lies he told us is that he would unhesitatingly back the Hate Crimes Prevention legislation if he was elected. Years later, a staffer of his told us he was laughing at us when he made that pledge-- which he promptly broke anyway. He was the only Democrat from the Northeast who voted with the Republicans on that. By then it was obvious he played us for fools and we gave him an ultimatum: either return all the money he had gotten from Blue America donors or face the consequences. His response-- and I quote: "fuck you." We put almost a quarter million dollars into defeating Carney and happily, his miserable career in politics ended as part of the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010.

When Dan White, Harvey Milk's murderer, was let off with a slap on the wrist by a bunch of clueless and bigoted jurors, San Francisco was convulsed in riots. City Hall was trashed and six police cars-- I counted them but wasn't responsible for all six-- were overturned and burned. Eventually White was "found dead, an apparent suicide" in his garage, although more than a few people know very well he didn't take his own life any more than the police cars overturned and burned themselves. It made quite an impact on the governing elites at the time. Conventional media types-- as you see today-- hate this kind of extreme activism.

Murdered by right-wing bigots

Climate Change... Which Members Of Congress Would Vote To Drown Their Own Constituents?

In June of 2009, we had a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president. The Republicans didn't have much-- other than K Street. Obama and the Democrats were determined to deal with Climate Change. They failed. I think Ed Markey was just elected senator from Massachusetts because of his leadership in this struggle. He and Henry Waxman put together the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a cap-and-trade bill that limped through the House-- passing 219-212 and got destroyed by the Senate. When the House voted on June 26, 44 Democrats crossed the aisle and voted with the GOP, including Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA) and a whole slew of ConservaDems, most of whom were victims of the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010. Democrats just did not turn out to vote for these conservatives who were disappointing them. Carney lost his seat that day. So did two dozen others just like him. And the Republicans regained the House.

Why do I single out Chris Carney? Yes, he was one of the worst and most corrupt of the Blue Dogs elected in the 2006 anti-Republican tsunami and, yes, he certainly deserved to lose his seat. But I singled him out for another reason altogether. Investigative reporter Lee Fang examines how K Street cash warps the system in his new book, The Machine, and he begins by discussing a letter Carney got from an astroturf GOP front group.

"We ask you to use your important position to help protect seniors and other consumers in your district from higher electricity bills," wrote Helen cast of the Dunmore Senior Citizens' Center, in a letter requesting that Congressman Christopher Carney (D-PA) oppose Waxman Markey, the cap-and-trade legislation making its way through Congress in the summer of 2009. Helen Cast, however, didn’t exist. The senior center in Carney's district had no position on climate change and energy policy.

Similar letters, using almost identical language and formatting, were sent from local chapters of the NAACP, the Erie Center for Health and Aging, the American Association of University Women, and nearly half a dozen other organizations, to congressmen in competitive districts before the vote on the bill. Staffers working for freshman Congressman Tom Perriello, a recipient of the anti-cap-and-trade faxes, decided to call some of the groups. They discovered that the letterhead was fake, the names made up, and the letters forged and sent without the consent of the groups. In fact, the letters were written by Bonner and Associates, a consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. that was working on behalf of the coal industry.

The lobbying coalition behind the forged letters, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, also funded a $28 million campaign of targeted advertising, rallies, and organizing around congressional town halls in 2009. A loophole in lobbying law, however, ensured that none of this spending was recorded or disclosed at the time.

Perriello ultimately voted for Waxman Markey, but two other Democrats who received the fake letters voted no. The onslaught of lobbying slowed and watered down the legislation until it could be killed in the Senate months after it barely passed the House of Representatives.

The window of opportunity to deal with global warming closed largely as a result of the failures associated with Waxman Markey. Despite widespread belief in action on climate change among the American public, near consensus in the climate science community on the urgency of action, and the job-creating and utility rate–cutting benefits of clean energy policy, the bill still failed in a Democratic Congress with a Democrat in the White House. The coal and oil lobby proved to be too strong.

The secret to the failure to act on global warming lay in the dramatic expansion in what is known as “outside lobbying.” This type of influence peddling seeks to manipulate the public into pressuring regulators and lawmakers. In many cases, like the coal industry’s forged letters, corporate interests construct the perception of public support using deception and coercion. But this type of lobbying isn’t registered, because registered federal lobbying only applies to firms that spend over 20 percent of their time speaking directly to lawmakers.

The work of integrating grassroots groups, orchestrating letter-writing campaigns, rallies in support of corporate lobbying goals, and phony studies published by think tanks is typically tasked to public relations companies that work in tandem with traditional K Street firms.

Managing public opinion has been a key component of lobbying since the early twentieth century. Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud living in America, developed some of the first major corporate campaigns to shift policy through public relations. For Mack Truck, for instance, Bernays set up conferences in the Waldorf Astoria and created front groups like the Better Living Through Increased Highway Transportation to influence the development of the interstate highway. His tactics remain the basis for an industry that is exploding in growth inside the Beltway.

One might quip that anti-environment fanatic John Mica may one day see the value of his Orlando area home rise dramatically, as rising oceans cover Miami and southern Florida and make Mica's home-- over 200 miles from Miami Beach-- beachfront property. This year, Mica will be facing off against progressive Democrat Nick Ruiz, for whom environmental sustainability is a primary reason he's even running. This morning he told me that "the ramifications of John Mica's time in Congress (he's 70 years old, and has been entrenched in Congress since 1993 like a giant lobbyist tick) are much more serious. As such a longstanding artifact of Congress, no single central Florida federal representative could be more to blame for Florida's horrible ecological mismanagement than John Mica. Since his two decades in office, the Indian River Lagoon is dying; algae is spreading; dolphins, manantees and fish are dying off in record numbers, stunning biologists and residents. Florida's rivers and conservation areas are being strangled by pollutants, all because of the decreasing oversight of agencies like the EPA. And John Mica continues to act to further limit their ability to protect these areas. All of this destruction can be laid at the feet of the worst representative for the environment that Florida could ever have elected: Mr. John Mica."

Now even conservative organizations-- like the R Street Institute we talked Thursday-- are telling Republicans in Congress to stop with the ostrich behavior and face the challenges of climate change... before it's too late. R Street president Eli Lehrer: "Rather than pretend climate change isn't a problem, there are ample opportunities for Republicans to point out the obvious flaws in the left's plans to deal with it and offer alternatives of their own... Nobody seriously involved in the policy debate over climate change-- not even those the left unfairly labels as “deniers”-- actually denies that humans influence global climate. There’s also no dispute that the Earth is warmer than it was before the Industrial Revolution or that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases can trap heat energy."

Likewise, there’s little doubt that the worst plausible projections of sea level rise and temperature change resulting from this warming trend would present major problems in almost every corner of the globe. While more carbon in the atmosphere could have some benefits, such as fewer deaths from cold, it’s also likely to pose a variety of severe problems ranging from droughts and floods to the destruction of commercial fishing. Nearly any accounting of these costs indicates they will exceed the benefits."

What was that crack about "those the left unfairly labels as 'deniers'?" Is he kidding? Has he never met anti-Science sociopaths like David McKinley (R-WV- $725,776), Steve Scalise (R-LA- $520,735), Marco Rubio (R-FL- $529,013), Fred Upton (R-MI- $1,723,236), Joe Barton (R-TX- $3,852,995), Ted Poe (R-TX- $413,453), John Boehner (R-OH- $2,763,714), Bill Cassidy (R-LA- $407,750), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA- $179,244), Morgan Griffith (R-VA- $386,588), and Paul Broun (R-GA- $118,350)... these guys, all of whom have had their careers financed, at least in part, by oil, gas and coal companies. The dollar amount next to each name is how much in legalistic bribes they've taken from these companies to say the crackpot nonsense on this video:



The half dozen states that will suffer the most catastrophic consequences of rising sea levels-- in order of magnitude-- are Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, South Carolina, and Georgia. All 6 states will be absolutely devastated if nothing is done about global warming. These are the bribed climate change deniers whose districts will be most underwater in another few decades:

• Steve Scalise (LA-01)
• Charles Boustany (LA-03)
• Steve Southerland (FL-02)
• Ander Crenshaw (FL-04)
• Ron DeSantis (FL-06)
• Bill Posey (FL-08)
• Gus Bilirakis (FL-12)
• Bill Young (FL-13)
• Vern Buchanan (FL-16)
• Tom Rooney (FL-17)
• Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
• Trey Radel (FL-19)
• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-27)
• Jack Kingston (GA-01)
• Mark Sanford (SC-01)
• Tom Rice (SC-07)
• Walter Jones (NC-03)
• Randy Weber (TX-14)
• Blake Farenthold (TX-27)
• Steve Stockman (TX-36)

This list of congressmen above have decided to drown their own constituents in return for bribes from energy and natural resources companies... and their constituents keep electing them. By the way, notice that there's only one Democrat on this list.

Streams Of Consciousness

Lucky we didn't give up-- now think Joyce Elliott & Ed Potosnak

Nancy Pelosi was overwhelmingly reelected top House Democrat. Obviously she won't be Speaker for the next two years but she will be Minority Leader. She was opposed by the conservative Blue Dog Caucus-- possibly with the connivance of the Democratic Leadership-- which nominated reflexive aisle-crosser Heath Shuler. He got 43 votes, basically from Democrats who would rather join in the demonizing of their own party than in helping their constituents understand that Democrats fight for ordinary working families and Republicans fight for their wealthy career financiers. That may be, at least in part, because the very Democrats who voted against Pelosi take the same tainted money from the very same wealthy career financiers. Shuler was nominated by ultra-conservative Utah Blue Dog Jim Matheson, another Democrat who voted more frequently with the GOP on contentious issues than with his own party.

Virginia Democrat Jim Moran, apparently missing the cynical kabuki nature of the move, wondered aloud why the extremely mediocre Shuler, who rooms with Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn in the C Street cult's Family house, might have thought himself deserving of a role in leadership. "The accomplishments of the last two years have been achieved without Heath's vote," mused Moran to reporters. "And now he wants to be leader?"

Other conservatives who backed Shuler included Blue Dog Mike Ross and perpetually befuddled loser Larry Kissell, one of the incumbents slated to lose his seat in next year's gerrymander.

The Blue Dog Caucus then adjourned to elect their own leaders. Their two top co-chairs, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and Baron Hill, were both defeated for reelection. In both cases Democrats and left-leaning independents didn't bother turning out to vote for them since they both voted with the GOP for the last two years. And Republicans, of course, had their own candidates to vote for. Shuler's consolation prize was to be elected as the new Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. The other 2 co-chairs will be the only Democrat more likely to be gerrymandered out of a seat next year than Kissell, John Barrow, plus the most patently corrupt Blue Dog, Mike Ross. And the new Blue Dog whip-- who won't have much whipping to do since the Caucus lost over half its members-- is Oklahoma reactionary (and Bush's favorite shill), Dan Boren.

And speaking of Blue Dogs... I'll be glad to see the end of dishonest Pennsylvania creep Chris Carney, though not because of the startlingly corrupt flaming freak who replaced him, Tom Marino. Can you imagine what a piece of crap Carney had to be to be beaten by this guy?



Although Carney was reelected in the northeast Pennsylvania district in 2008 while McCain was beating Obama by 9 points, his 160,837 (56%) to 124,681 (44%) win was reversed this year as Democrats and left-leaning independents abandoned him and Republicans flocked to the polls, not thinking about how Carney voted for all their issues but just about electing a tribal Republican. Almost half of Carney's 2008 supporters just didn't show up. Marino managed to win 109,603 votes (55%) to Carney's abysmal 89,170 (45%). In a stunning upset, Marino won every county in the sprawling district except Lackawanna and Luzerne, even though Carney spent $1,230,918 and Marino only spent $517,246. (The DCCC also managed to throw away $606,070.20 in Independent Expenditures on Carney.)

And A Little Good News... Even If It's Only Imaginary

Harry Reid owes the Latino community his victory. And he stepped up today and promised to bring the DREAM Act to a vote as a stand-alone bill during the lame duck. Fat chance the GOP won't filibuster that. And I can't imagine any Republicans will break ranks with their racist caucus to break the filibuster. I can imagine several Democrats, even beyond Nelson, helping with the filibuster. We'll make a point of helping Latino voters remember next time any of them face reelection.

Reid also announced today he would make sure the repeal of DADT gets a vote in the Senate, where McCain has already threatened to veto it. Reid:

“During the work period following the Thanksgiving holidays, I will bring the Defense Authorization bill to the floor, including a repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Our Defense Department supports repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ as a way to build our all-volunteer armed forces. We need to repeal this discriminatory policy so that any American who wants to defend our country can do so.”

Winning Hearts And Minds-- But Not In Afghanistan, In Another Country Threatened By Narrow-Minded Primitive Bigots

When Danny Goldberg was Chairman of Warner Bros Records, he appointed me president of Reprise, something that very substantially changed my life. Although a highly successful businessman, he's basically an intellectual and an idealist brimming with ideas. Today he shared some with readers of The Nation about what Democrats need to do to compete with the surging GOP. It's worth clicking the link and reading his whole post. Here's a small excerpt:

Unless and until progressives change the mind sets of the tens of millions of people who believe right-wing mythology, who never read the New York Times or listen to NPR, who never watch any TV news other than Fox, future elections will have disappointing results for progressives regardless of who is in the White House.

...Changing minds is more of an art than a science. Polling and focus groups are reasonably accurate at determining how people already feel, but the idea that every message to educate or convert can be mathematically tested is illusory. Even more dangerous is the notion that public opinion somehow comes from the sky and is thus impossible to influence. The right wing knows better.

The impulse to reconnect with American identity through the Constitution is not inherently right wing. Yet progressives have largely ceded the language and majesty of the founding fathers to the likes of Glenn Beck, who regularly expiates on his own bizarre version of them on Fox News and to the far larger audience for his talk-radio show. Progressive Christians like Jim Wallis helped remind American Christians that their faith did not mandate conservative politics. Progressive civil libertarians need to recapture the constitutional flag. There ought to be dozens of books, films, speeches, op-eds, and conferences about the liberal values Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson.

The gay rights movement stands as a contemporary role model on how to change public opinion. Gays could not afford to operate solely within the confines of existing opinion and thus were compelled to find ways to change it.  The growth from minority to majority of support for gay service in the military and other issues is due to a morally driven effort across many forms of communication to make sure that gays were perceived as full human beings.

...Today both Democrats and the left (by “the left” I am referring primarily to the larger progressive entities such as labor unions, progressive foundations and public interest groups) are almost slavishly deferential to a rigid political culture that invests so much money and credibility in election season short-term tactics, (driven by polls and focus groups) that there are very few resources left for devising and implementing long-term narratives.

There is currently an obsession among many progressive foundations to limit support to those projects which can be measured mathematically. The buzzword for measuring supposedly pragmatic proposals is “metrics.” This syndrome is part of the dynamic that led to the recent right wing surge. You cab count how many people click onto a web page, how long it was viewed and how many people it was forwarded to but determining how much impact it has on the minds of the readers requires educated guesses and fallible intuitive human analysis. You can measure what people are thinking today but not what they will think a year (or two) from now.

Too little credence is paid to those who look to the future with creative intuition, either in the progressive news media, or the arts and culture or even in advertising.

 This over-reliance on research is not ideologically neutral. It reinforces narrow conventional wisdom. Decades of conservative indoctrination have produced a cohort of “independents” who usually veer toward the right unless there is an extraordinary crisis like Hurricane Katrina. Conservative Democrats are comfortable working within the existing public consciousness because it supports their agenda. Progressives must invest in changing minds not merely measuring them.

In the last election a large segment of the American public decided to blame government instead of Wall Street for their problems. This did not come about by happenstance or an act of God. Corporation worship among the masses has been inculcated by decades of expensive conservative effort in many media and forums. The Koch bothers and others have poured large sums of money into the conservative idea factory. Because the right wing’s primary function is to represent the interests of big business, Republicans and conservatives have long had a more intimate relationship with the dark arts of persuasion than liberals. In The Education of Ronald Reagan, the pro-Reagan author Thomas Evans describes how the future president was hired in the 1950s by Lemuel Boulware, the marketing genius of General Electric, to convince the company’s workers not to unionize. Boulware wrote most of Reagan’s career-changing 1964 speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater. Richard Nixon’s powerful chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman spent twenty years at the J. Walter Thompson ad agency before moving to the White House. Reagan’s “Morning In America” re-election campaign was created by Phil Dusenberry who had created the Pepsi ad with Michael Jackson.

... There is an urgent need to develop funding for progressive media to partially counterbalance the huge investments that various conservative and authoritarian billionaires have made in recent decades. There are numerous under-funded progressive blogs, magazines, radio and video programs etc. on the left that with additional funding could immediately broaden their audience.

The left also needs to frame and express issues in ways that resonate emotionally. The massive audiences that turned out for Barack Obama in 2008 did not typically describe themselves as “informed” but as “inspired.”  George Lakoff, Drew Westen, Michael Lerner and others have developed a language about how progressives can frame and express their beliefs in ways that touch the hearts of audiences but their influence had been marginalized in the election driven short-term research driven culture of supposedly serious political communication.

Progressives need to learn from the mistakes of Air America and Democracy Radio and invest in getting non-conservative ideas and narratives onto the talk radio frequencies where 40 million commuters spend their listening time. In the arts and entertainment progressives enjoy a cultural advantage, but the liberal political establishment tends to have a love-hate relationship with show business, which minimizes this potentially valuable resource. In an era when the mainstream media is weaker and more fragmented than in the past, cultural avenues are vital even though the efforts in the creative worlds inevitably have mixed results.

In a scene in an episode of the fourth season of Mad Men the show’s main character, Don Draper (with guidance from the copywriter played by Peggy Olson) intuits that the way to sell Pond’s Cold Cream is to show women it is a product with which to pamper themselves. A researcher had warned him that participants in female focus groups said that their main concern was whether or not a beauty product would help them get and keep a man. Draper fumed  “That’s because they haven’t seen a year’s worth of my ads.”

Real life leaders in other aspects of culture have similarly recognized the limits of research. Film producer David Brown who, among his many accomplishments, hired the then unknown Steven Spielberg to direct Jaws, explained in his memoir Let Me Entertain You that researchers at many film studios rejected ideas for several films which later became blockbusters including Gandhi (too serious) One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (too sad) and ET  (only of interest to small children). Both Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen commercially flopped on their first albums but were given the ability to make the subsequent recordings that made them famous because of the intuitive belief of the legendary A&R man John Hammond.

The book When The Game Was Ours recounts a moment in 1991 when Magic Johnson, diagnosed with the HIV virus, was voted by fans onto the NBA All Star team. Some team owners were nervous at a time when many people wrongly believed that HIV or AIDS could be transmitted by bodily contact or sweat but NBA commissioner David Stern insisted that Johnson should take his place as one of the starters for the West Coast team.” Aren’t you getting a little too ahead of the curve on this?” asked one owner. “Why don’t we do some polling?”  “No,” Stern answered, “That doesn’t work for me. I think we can affect the polls.”

Research is seductive because it has the aura of rationality. But public opinion forms in mysterious ways. Attempts at persuasion require experimentation, the risk of failure, crazy ideas and temperamental creative personalities. But if progressives want to “make” the President or other Democrats do anything, they will need to rely less on math men and more on mad men.

Will The Teabagging And Violence Backfire On The Republicans In 2010?

Republicans have a real problem coming up next year-- and more than just the possible triumph of inertia, David Frum was fretting about yesterday, should they and their corporate allies kill health care reform. Most of the action you've been hearing about involves mobs of angry and ill-informed right-wingers disrupting Democratic town hall meetings. Yesterday's NY Times summarized the action:

The bitter divisions over an overhaul of the health care system have exploded at town-hall-style meetings over the last few days as members of Congress have been shouted down, hanged in effigy and taunted by crowds. In several cities, noisy demonstrations have led to fistfights, arrests and hospitalizations.

Democrats have said the protesters are being organized by conservative lobbying groups like FreedomWorks. Republicans respond that the protests are an organic response to the Obama administration’s health care restructuring proposals.

There is no dispute, however, that most of the shouting and mocking is from opponents of those plans. Many of those opponents have been encouraged to attend by conservative commentators and Web sites.

“Become a part of the mob!” said a banner posted Friday on the Web site of the talk show host Sean Hannity. “Attend an Obama Care Townhall near you!” The exhortations do not advocate violence, but some urge opponents to be disruptive.

“Pack the hall,” said a strategy memo circulated by the Web site Tea Party Patriots that instructed, “Yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”

“Get him off his prepared script and agenda,” the memo continued. “Stand up and shout and sit right back down.”

The memo was obtained by the liberal Web site ThinkProgress. Its author, Robert MacGuffie, a founder of the conservative Web site Right Principles, confirmed to The New York Times that the memo was legitimate.

Who are these violent mobs of people who demand the right to be ripped off and treated like shit by insurance companies? They're not all just run of the mill racists who hate the idea of a Black president succeeding. Local Republican Party offices are urging activists to attend Democrats' meetings. GOP front groups, like Conservatives For Health Care, FreedomWorks and the teabagger organizations, are also trying to get out masses of people. And then, of course, you have the actual leaders of the Republican Party-- Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck-- actually inciting violence for the sake of ratings points. Conservatives certainly opposed the Declaration of Independence-- and many even joined the British during the American Revolution-- but that doesn't stop right-wing political hacks from inciting violence-- if not overthrowing the government-- by quoting the very document that Jefferson wrote and their ideological antecedents fought against.

Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) takes exception to the "angry mob" characterization of vocal opponents to the Democrat's health care plan.

"I would suggest that everybody go back and read the Declaration of Independence," Bishop told Frank Beckmann this morning on WJR AM-760 in Detroit. "The kind of reaction that you're getting from the public out there was envisioned by our forefathers. And it's our responsibility to let the public know and to let our elected officials know how we feel about things."

There are substantiated reports of delusional wingnuts-- armed delusional wingnuts-- from Arkansas and Mississippi storming into a health care forum in heavily Democratic Memphis, Tennessee.

But the ugly truth about who the protesters are is that an inordinate number are Paultards. That explains why conservative, anti-health care Republicans (like South Carolina Rep Bob Inglis), as well as far right, anti-reform Blue Dogs like Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ) and Chris Carney (PA)-- who actually started whining that protesters were "rude" and that "they should remember that I'm one of the Blue Dogs that slowed the process down so we could have a discussion about this issue"-- are being targeted along with Democrats who favor health care reform.

But the self-righteous and thoroughly delusional Paultards-- fanatic followers of Libertarian Ron Paul who long for a less complicated age (and the Gold Standard)-- aren't trying to take over the Democratic Party. They are, however, attempting to take over-- or at least exert more influence on-- the Republican Party. In some ways that wouldn't be so terrible. They're adamantly opposed to foreign wars of choice for example. But they haven't earned the "tard" on the end of their name because the members of their base's IQs make the leap from 2 digits to 3. Try talking to one some time-- though not on a plane-- and you'll think you're talking with a Scientologist or a Mormon. Same-same.

And the danger I was referring to: primaries in 2010. These folks running around in self-righteous-- albeit manipulated-- rage at the tea parties and health care protests want to defeat incumbents and that certainly includes mainstream Republicans. When McCain tweeted that "Town hall meetings are an American tradition - we should allow everyone to express their views without disruption - even if we disagree!" he may well have been worried about the extremist goon running against him in the Republican primary, Minuteman Chris Simcox. The anti-McCain attack line is simple, as outlined her in a Simcox press release:

"John McCain has failed miserably in his duty to secure this nation's borders and protect the people of Arizona from the escalating violence and lawlessness," Simcox said. "He has fought real efforts over the years at every turn, opting to hold our nation's border security hostage to his amnesty schemes. Coupled with his votes for reckless bailout spending and big government solutions to our nation's problems, John McCain is out of touch with everyday Arizonans. Enough is enough."

While rabble-rousing right-wing hacks like Palin, Gingrich, Romney, Jindal, Huckabee and Pawlenty jostle for position and plot to beat Obama in 2012-- and while Obama's approval rating has started climbing again in the midst of the teabagger anti-health care violence-- Paulards and other fanatics on the fringes of the GOP are looking to defeat incumbent Republicans and take over open seats. Arizona may be a stretch. But Kentucky isn't. Ron Paul's son, Rand, is running for the open Senate seat against the heavily financed Establishment choice, Trey Grayson who was handpicked by Mitch McConnell even before he drove somewhat senile incumbent Jim Bunning out of the race. Grassroots money is pouring in-- steady dribs and drabs-- and he's going to be able to compete with the dull, corporately funded Grayson. If anti-Insider sentiment is strong enough next year, he'll beta him too.

The Republican Establishment in Connecticut also has a favorite, ex-Congressman Rob Simmons, to run against Chris Dodd. But the Paultards-- and Ron Paul personally-- are behind crackpot stockbroker named Peter Schiff.

South Carolina is a complete mess for the GOP establishment, with series extremist challenges brewing for conservative incumbents. Henry Brown will be battling it out with the Confederate Sarah Palin, Katherine Jenerette. Bob Inglis already has 4 right-wing loons running against him, which may well help account for the vicious response he got on Thursday at a health care forum. (He reminded the attendees that he's a Republican, not a Libertarian.) And Gresham Barrett would have had a tough challenge for re-election but he's running for governor as the Establishment candidate with several grassroots extremists running against him in the Republican primary.

Anywhere you look in the country, there are far right-wing extremists challenging conservative Republicans in the crazy party they share. Marco Rubio is the darling of the far right in Florida and he's been beating heavily favored Establishment-backed Charlie Crist in every county straw poll. Radical right birthers and teabaggers are threatening to defeat Mary Bono-Mack in Riverside County, California. A teabagger, Curt Schroder, and a normal conservative, Ryan Costello, are fighting it out for who will run against Doug Pike in Pennsylvania's 6th CD. Senator Robert Bennett in feeling intense pressure from the far right in Utah and could well be defeated by whackjob Mark Shurtleff, the same way conservative Chris Cannon was defeated in last year's Utah Republican primary by radical right sociopath Jason Chaffetz.

The GOP moving further and further right is probably not the best way to respond to a general public that is clearly moving further and further away from the failed right-wing policies and politics of the last three decades. But try telling that to party leaders Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck!

I want to end this post with something I got in the mail today-- one of those viral spams that, despite the title, doesn't come from a right-wing astro-turf operation (for a change):

I AM AN AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE SHITHEEL

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US department of energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the US Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issed by the Federal Reserve Bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to ny house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it's valuables thanks to the local police department.

I then log on to the internet which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic and Fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.

UPDATE: Is There A Recess Event Near You?

I'm going to one on Tuesday evening. Use the Firedoglake searchable data base to find the event closest to where you are: