Sirota: If Lamont Wins Big

Tomorrow night we’ll find out just how close the barbarians have come to crashing the gates of the DC establishment.

Anyone following national politics at any level knows that Sen. Lieberman is in the political fight of his life against challenger Ned Lamont for the Democratic nomination for Connecticut’s Senate seat; and, all things remaining as they are, tomorrow night’s victor should go on to win Connecticut’s general election in November — because the state is considered a safe "blue" seat.

A lot of pixels have been devoted to chronicling the Lieberman/Lamont race and, of late, there are a lot more pixels being devoted, by both camps, to downplaying expectations given the stakes of tomorrow’s out come. That said, I think that David Sirota has it right:

Here’s the deal folks: No matter what the outcome tomorrow – and I sure am hoping Lamont wins – we should all remember that last point: the fact that Ned Lamont and the progressive movement have mounted such a serious challenge to an entrenched incumbent with such a massive corporate-backed warchest is a HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT. In the course of just a few months, a guy who has never run for office took on one of the most well-funded, insulated politicians in America, who used all of his clout and cashed in all of his favors to get other Big Time members of the Establishment to help him. If Ned gets within 15 points of Lieberman, it is a display of real strength, and it is a major step forward in our movement.

In his post Sirota describes four possible outcomes to tomorrow night’s Democratic primary. Here’s the outcome I’m crossing my fingers for:

Lamont wins big (by more than 5 points): Again, Xanax and Prosac fly off the shelves of DC pharmacies, though this time so does Immodium, because the Democratic Party elites get so scared, they collectively and uncontrollably begin soiling their pants. Incumbents begin worrying about whether their votes to sell out to Big Money or to preserve the Bush administration’s "stay-the-course" nonsense in Iraq will draw them a serious primary challenge. Suddenly, votes by the Democratic caucus in both the House and Senate become far more unified. Instead of huge numbers of Democrats undermining their party on core economic and national security issues, there is more party discipline than has been seen in a long time because suddenly, every Democratic lawmaker realizes that they, too, might have to actually answer to voters.

Go read Sirota’s post — and keep your fingers crossed, too, for a big Lamont win.

Bush, Castro and History

It’s incredible how many history altering events have occurred under this president’s watch: 9/11, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, Arafat died, Sharon had to be hospitalized, the Liberal flag is flying over Latin America once more, Israel invades Lebanon, Bush had a chance to nominate two Supreme Court Justices, Katrina and now Fidel Castro may be disappearing from the scene. It’s really incredible.

This president’s administration is leaving a deep mark on history, if only it were for his competence and positive policies, or at least an ability to influence world opinion. However, the Bush administration’s mark on history is more like a disfiguring scar, rather than a mere mark; because of the administration’s total lack of competence, slowness to action and an unmatched ability to coalesce world opinion, including our long time allies, against the United States.

And now, as I mentioned earlier, Castro may be disappearing from history’s stage. It’s widely reported that Castro transferred control of Cuba to his brother Raul because, according to official Cuban reports, Castro had to be operated on. However, many in Little Havana, down in Florida, speculate that Castro may already be dead and that reports of the operation are just a diversion.

Imagine that: Castro may die under Bush’s presidency! Wow! Since the US imposed a blockade against Cuba more than fifty years ago now, all subsequent US presidents have prepared for the eventuality of a Cuba without Castro at the helm. And now, under this man, the most incompetent of all US presidents in recent history, if not in the entire nation’s history, Cuba may have to go without Castro at the helm. Incredible. What an opportunity to reshape the Western Hemisphere this is — and it comes to pass under an administration that, if history is any guide, will simply rat fuck the situation and, perhaps, drive us into the brink of war right of the coast of the United States (of course, that’s only if we use the administration’s recent foreign expeditions into Iraq and their messianic wet dreams to "reshape the Middle East").

Let’s just hope that Cuba can hold on till an adult administration, with a responsible and able foreign policy, comes to power in the United States in 2008.

Joe Lieberman: An Inconvenient Spoof

A poster over at DailyKos.com has a great diary on how Joe’Mentum lost his mojo, and why he now faces a primary challenger in Connecticut. Go check out the diary. Here’s just a tease of what you’ll find there: