Don't Forget, Nominate A Vet

Adam Nagourney and James Dao of the Times write on an influx of veterans for Congress:

FOR Democrats struggling to win back Congress, it seemed like the most obvious of election strategies: erase the Republican advantage on national security by running real-life combat veterans as candidates.

In theory, at least, a candidate with a uniform, rank and military résumé should be redoubtable: a symbol of strength, patriotism and resolve, and at least somewhat inoculated from the debilitating personal attacks that have come to represent American politics.

So it is in the 2006 Congressional elections, soldier-candidates are marching across the campaign field in numbers not seen in a half-century, many veterans of the Iraq, Afghan, Vietnam, Balkan and first gulf wars — nearly 100 candidates in all, not including a single incumbent.

I found this segue to be utterly baffling:

Nor is it clear that these veterans will help the Democratic Party.

Many Democrats were cheered when James Webb, a former Vietnam veteran and Reagan-era Navy secretary, announced that he will seek the party's nomination to run against Senator George Allen, a Virginia Republican, this November. And he made his announcement after drawing notice for criticizing Republicans for trying to discredit war-hero candidates by attacking their combat records.

But Mr. Webb, an independent sort, might look to Paul Hackett for how things can go very wrong. Mr. Hackett, a loud, profane and unpredictable Iraq war veteran and Democrat, almost won a Congressional election in Ohio last year and had been running for the Senate this year.

But last week, he quit politics, declaring he had been forced out of the Ohio race by national Democratic leaders who had no faith in his electability in a statewide race. He also contended that he was the victim of a whispering campaign alleging he was responsible for war atrocities.

OK - what about Mr. Hackett's experience is Mr. Webb likely to experience?  Are Messrs. Mnagourney and Dao telling us that Dem leaders are about to pull the plug on his money?  Doe he have a secret past as a war criminal?

I've only read this twice - maybe someone else can find the answer.

MORE:  Background on Hackett at The Moderate Voice, Mother Jones, and Blogcritics.  My question is still open - did the Dem leadership really and truly blindside the Mighty Kos with this decision?  Where is the L-U-V?

Comments

[kim]

Depending on their personal experiences and messages, some of these veterans will face the same difficulty Kerry did, that is being both a war hero and an anti-war hero at the same time. It is possible to pull that off, though difficult. Impossible for Kerry.
======================================

[Rick Ballard]

Perhaps the Swiftboat flotilla was noticed as it gathered just over the horizon? Maybe the netroot nitwits noticed that the Cambodian Adventurer sank and that Hackett was beaten by a rather lackluster candidate? Could the the party bosses be sending a "put up or shut up" message to the nitwits concerning Dean's - I'd say 'lackluster' but 'diastrous' is a better fit - fundraising ability? Is "Where have gone, Dear Joe Trippi-o" going to be Howie's swan song?

R/S/S knows - no sunshine in the forecast for Koslandia.

[larwyn]

Another "Don't you dare call us UNPATRIOTIC - YOU'RE UN-AMERICAN"

Minn Dems campaign to suppress ADS by Iraqi War Vets and Gold Star Mothers
A case study

In Minnesota the Democratic Party has undertaken a campaign to suppress two advertisements giving voice to the sentiments of Iraq war veterans and Gold Star Families who support the war. Brian Melendez is the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic Party. This past Thursday Melendez called a press conference and condemned the first of the two advertisements -- the one featuring the veterans -- as "un-American, untruthful and a lie."

The two advertisements can be viewed here. The first of the two ads is devoted to the Iraq war veterans; the second to the Gold Star Families, featuring Merrilee Carlson of St. Paul. Mrs. Carlson's son Michael was killed in Iraq last year; the Wall Street Journal published Michael's "credo" this past Memorial Day.

In Minnesota the mask has fallen from the Democratic Party. It has condemned the message of Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson and the other veterans supporting the mission in Iraq as "un-American." Yet it has gone beyond its outrageous condemnation of the ads. It has actually sought to suppress the message of the featured war veterans and Gold Star Families, emailing Party members and urging them to contact television stations demanding "the removal of the ads."

What do Minnesota's Democratic Party candidates, such as Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar or Congressional candidate Coleen Rowley, think of their Party's campaign condemning the servicemen and Gold Star families in the ads as "un-American"? What do they think of their Party's campaign to suppress the advertisements as "un-American"? Does Brian Melendez speak for them?

And what of the Minneapolis Star Tribune? Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman has now devoted two hysterical columns to condemnations of the advertisements. Coleman's first column made a basic error of fact as a result of its reliance on a far-left Web site and cited the testimony of a Kerry delegate to the 2004 Democratic convention as a "nonpartisan" source. (John fisked the column here.)

Coleman's second column fastened on "the Delores Kesterson issue" -- attacking the Gold Star Families ad for presenting the stepmother of Erik Kesterson in lieu of his mother. For this bizarre point Coleman relied without attribution on his friend "Hesiod"at Daily Kos. Coleman overlooked fellow St. Paulite Merilee Carlson -- the genuine biological mother of Michael Carlson -- in this rant.

Events this past week in Minnesota provide a graphic illustration of the crossover among the Internet's nutty left, the mainstream media, and the heart of the Democratic Party. We think this is one of the most important stories of the past week

READ THE LINKS AND REST OF THE STORY AT POWERLINE - A DISGRACE!

Posted by Scott at 09:04 AM | Permalink
Click here: Power Line: A case study

[maryrose]

I read the Hackett saga at "Mother Jones" and it was the definitive story for what happened to him at the hands of the powers that be in the dem leadership.Are all these candidates qualified to run for office? What is their previous experience? Are they well-liked in their communities? What policies or new fresh ideas do they have? Being a veteran is not the only qualification that people will be looking at.

[maryrose]

Larwyn: This outrageous display in Minnesota goes beyond the pale. I guess they really don't want to win in 2006. Where are Dean Reid and Pelosi on this travesty? It's incredible the lengths some people will go to silence the truth about the Iraq war.

[Cecil Turner]

I found this segue to be utterly baffling . . .

If you keep in mind the desire is for "a symbol of strength," rather than strength itself, it makes more sense. What they really want is a combat vet-shaped shield to drape over the party's weakness on national defense . . . not an influx of independent-minded DINOs.

What I thought was particularly funny was the obvious effort to separate these two paragraphs (first page):

After all, attacking war heroes has been fair game: John Kerry's Vietnam record was attacked when he ran for president . . .

And second:

Americans' attitudes toward returning veterans today was strikingly different from those in the 1960's and 1970's, when many veterans were all but branded war criminals.

Heh. No, no connection here, folks. Nothing to see . . . Move on.

[patch]

Veterans on the Democrat line?

Hmmm....

Sounds like wishful thinking on the part of the donkeys. There may be a couple, but the lefties will never allow veterans to be a major force in the donkey party.

[Other Tom]

Of the 100 candidates referred to in the article, how many are Democrats? By the way, in my opinion Webb will pose a very formidable challenge for George Allen. He's a genuinely decorated combat veteran and an honorable man--in short, he's no John Kerry.

[Extraneus]

It just occurred to me that the Democrats are kind of like Muslims. The radical thugs have basically taken over, and the silenced moderates cower in fear. In their leftist religion, support of the Iraq war is blasphemy, and of course there's no way any of their combat-vet congressional hopefuls or any other observant Democrat could be in support. Just like the Muslims, it wasn't always this way, but none of them will ever mention that fact as they air-brush the history of the Senate AUMF vote with the help of their Imam Joe Wilson and the WMD excuse. I bet they're jealous over the cartoon uprising and would love to be able to do the same thing over affronts to their idols.

[maryrose]

George Allen appears to have a pretty good chance of being re-elected.

[Rick Ballard]

Maryrose,

He had $6.2 mil on hand as of 12/31 and Webb had not filed a FEC report. Allen is not losing any sleep.

People should not skip over this graf:

Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who started the year aggressively recruiting veterans, said that a candidate who had worn a uniform was not enough.

"It's a credential to talk about," Mr. Emanuel said. "But you've got to have more than that."

It means that the Dems have polled this into the ground and come to the understanding that the idea really was as stupid as it first seemed.

[JM Hanes]

Ditto what Cecil said.

Except that my favorite bit is the rather strained reference to nearly 100 candidates in all, "not including a single incumbent."

[kim]

The problem they have is that there are not a lot of credible vets who will take an anti-war stand.
===========================================

[GentleGiant]

The NYT writers aren't trying to send a message, they just don't know anything about Webb. Webb is the real deal. They needed more than forceps to get him back into action. He was a whale of a SECNAV. I can think of few men I respect more.

That having been said, I think he's wrong about Iraq.

And the Dems aren't getting George Allen out of office unless they have pictures of him with farm animals or something of that magnitude.

[Extraneus]

kim, what do you think the breakout is? Has anyone done a poll of Iraq vets? It's been long enough that plenty of them are already out and back. It's so obvious, it must have been done, but I don't remember seeing it.

[kim]

I think Iraqi vets resent being underpaid, underappreciated, and put upon, but very few oppose what we are doing over there.
==============================================

[Rick Ballard]

Sorta like Valley Forge.

[kim]

Been so long, I forgot what it was like.
===========================================

[Soylent Red]

He also contended that he was the victim of a whispering campaign alleging he was responsible for war atrocities.

This, and Larwyn's link to the Powerline piece speak volumes to me.

Has anyone actually heard of, let alone verified, "war atrocities" committed in Iraq or Afghanistan?

Yeah, yeah Abu Ghraib, yada, yada. What I'm talking about is a My Lai-type incident. Anyone?

Of course not, because there are none to date. The fact that Reid is reported to have taken down Hackett over pictures of "atrocities", if true, suggests to me that the Kossacks are more firmly in control of the Party than even they suspect.

Reid is either consciously, or unconsciously, buying in to the peacenik/socialist Left agenda of veterans as

a. victimized pawns in the Republican death game (the Casey Sheehan model), or

b. murderous willing accomplices to the Republican death game (the tried and true "baby killer" model)

Hackett, as a Dem, didn't fall neatly into category A. However Hackett, a Dem, could not be allowed to fall accidentally into the peace freak conceptualization of category B (which would include pretty much any kind of photos of him doing standard war -related activities).

Hackett fell between the cracks of the two acceptable Democratic positions on veterans.

He should have had more flashbacks and grown his hair longer. Then Tom Cruise could have played him in the movie version of his life.

[Gary Maxwell]

Understand this was a concentrated effort bu the Dem party. These convinced themselves in the wake of Hackett's loss mind you, in a special election with low turnout and a lackluster opponent, that recruiting agry veterans was the yellow brick road back to majority status. So they have lots of Paul Hacketts recruited to run, and then they knived Paul Hackett. And most of these guys wont be any better candidates than was Hacxkett. They went looking for Murthas, and they found some. How will that work, well the future is yet to be told but I am going to stick my neck out and say the far majority of them will go down in flames and we wont hear again about vets and Dems.

[Rick Ballard]

SR,

He couldn't raise the necessary dough, he was a loose cannon and he got tossed under the bus. The "whispering campaign" was purest BS. Schumer, Emmanuel and Reid are telling the nitrooters to put up or shut up - they didn't put up for Hackett and they're not putting up for Dean.

The only pro in the entire netroots fantasy was Joe Trippi - and he cashed in and got out without affecting the outcome of a single contest. That's the true value of the "netroots" - zero.

[Sue]

He excited them because of his trash talking of the president. If he had been your typical vet, but a democrat, he wouldn't have even gotten an honorable mention.

[kim]

On the other hand, Iraqi vets will be a rich source of candidates for the Republicans for three or four decades. The resentment about their underappreciation has radicalized the most natural leaders among them.
========================================

[clarice]

Shut up, Rick..*wink*

I loved the part of today's Steyn's column where he suggests the white house press corps are Rove plants..Our kinda guy.

Can't wait till next Friday. We can have a whole chapter on the Dems bet (not) on vets.

[Sue]

If they have pictures, why aren't we having an investigation? They want an investigation for anything that would make the military look bad. They have nothing.

[MayBee]

Hackett's mouth was his problem. Perhaps his inability to accept responsibility for the loss of party support points to an even larger problem. Hotheaded egoists never want to listen to someone else's criticsm of them, even while they make a name for themselves doling out criticism of others.
If the party was using pictures against him, I'd suggest it was just an extra push out the door when he wasn't getting their message any other way.

[MayBee]

Chickens coming home to roost?
From MotherJones:

“I heard it more than once that someone was distributing photos of Paul in Iraq with Iraqi war casualties with captions or suggestions that Paul had committed some sort of atrocities."....
-snip-
“The ones I saw were part of a diary he kept while serving in Iraq and were in no way compromising. The one picture in question depicted Marines doing their work on what looked like a scorching day in Iraq,” said the aide.

Hmm...pictures of unloading dead bodies that have been subjected to the effects of scorching heat. Carmelized skin, anyone?

[richard mcenroe]

So the left has gone from calling for a "million Mogadishus" to praying for a milion McClellans...?

[topsecretk9]

Has anyone actually heard of, let alone verified, "war atrocities" committed in Iraq or Afghanistan?

Yes, I too was scratching my head over this nonsense. So if "war atrocities" occurred, Harry Reid wanted to to go on record, pointing out a member of his party participated in it?

Schumer, Emmanuel and Reid are telling the nitrooters to put up or shut up

Yep, I agree Rick. Hackett was Hackett and not going to win, but some members are starting to flip old Howie a big old bird. Sort of you suck but we don't need the bad of ousting you...so we're taking matters in our own hands?

[topsecretk9]

"bad +PR"

jimminy crickets

[topsecretk9]

flip old Howie a big old bird.

Speaking off...Terry McAuliffe has been rearing his head a lot more lately and has Howie commented on the Hackett sit or is he just busy doing OP-O research on his own party (because they haven't been "respecting his A-THOR-IT-EYE" lately)

[larwyn]

POWERLINE ISN'T GOING TO LET THIS GO AWAY
Listen to Col. Stephenson and Judge for Yourself
February 19, 2006
Yesterday, we interviewed Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson on the Northern Alliance Radio Network. You can listen to the interview here.The Democratic Party has undertaken an organized campaign to drive Col. Stephenson, two fellow servicemen and the families of servicemen who were killed in Iraq off the airways. The Democratic Party has officially pronounced that Col. Stephenson and his ads are "un-American." That such a thing could happen is almost beyond belief--a Marine officer with more than ten years of active duty labeled "un-American" for supporting America's foreign policy--but it is nevertheless true. Listen to Col. Stephenson and the two ads and judge for yourself whether they are "un-American."
Posted by John at 07:38 PM

Hope those with capable computers will view the ADS and hear
this VET.
Yeah, we know You Are Patriotic.

Click here: Power Line: Listen to Col. Stephenson and Judge for Yourself

[Specter]

Gentle Giant,

Don't even suggest pictures like that. Chances are that the AP, NYT and Code Pink will conspire to photoshop just such a thing....

[TM]

A vet not mentioned - back in Barack Obama country, a son of Daley (Patrick) joined the military back in 2004.

Now, he was making Republican mutterings at the time. But one presumes that, like Michael Corleone, he will return to take his place in he machine.

[larwyn]

Hackett to appear on Hardball
tomorrow

"tell how American Heroes are

being used to get votes"

Just caught a promo for the show
surfing thru MSNBC

PoliPundit may have to revise his
latest estimates for the House in
2006.

Posted by: larwyn | February 19, 2006 at 08:05 PM

[Rick Ballard]

What? A vet vetted by Mowlitt's Ass himself is going after Dirty Harry? Or is Howie the target?

[Harry Arthur]

Gentle Giant, couldn't agree more with your comments. Webb is an honorable and principled man and a true moderate. We Virginians love George Allen and I for one will vote for him to return to the Senate and I hope at some point for president.

However, I also believe Webb could give Allen a run for his money and that he would represent Virginia well as a senator, though I, too believe he is wrong on Iraq. He's also probably far too conservative for the current democrat party which is also likely why they will soon abandon this current fascination with veterans.

[topsecretk9]

I'm not real good at reading polls, but am I right to conclude in this Joe Liebermanpoll, he would actually stand to do better if he ran as an Independent?

I know he wouldn't do tit, but am I reading this right (because he would pinch more repubs as an Independent)?

If this is true (and like I said I can't tell) this is pretty huge.

[topsecretk9]

wow, how Freudian of me

"I know he wouldn't do tit"

while this is probably a true statement...I meant "it"

[clarice]

He shouldn't switch parties until after he;s elected--just to drive the party really nuts and to let us laugh as we compare what they call him and what they said of Jeffords' jump.

[Lew Clark]

The Democrats running vets is about as genuine as Hamas putting a couple of Jews in their cabinet in Gaza. Not going to fool many people into believing they now love Jews.

The anti-war bunch aren't going to be convinced that "Yeah they used to kill and eat Iraqi babies, but they've been through therapy and they're much better now". And the pro-war types who would like to vote Democrat, aren't going to be fooled into believing that the party leadership is now ready to do the national defense thing because they have a few candidates that know which end of a rifle the projectile exits from.
I think they need to stick with far left candidates with marginal support and hope they can do enough voter fraud to pull off an Iran style election.

[Gary Maxwell]

They are not going to be running Pro war vets. Get that out of your head. Webb is the best you will see from them. Many of them will be Larry Johnson types, they see shadows everywhere. Trust me on this part. They did not recruit DINOs. The Party is not movbing rightward, not even an inch.

[maryrose]

The person who looks moderate and electable right now is Evan Bayh. Chris Wallace pointed out to him on Sunday that only 3% see him as a viable presidential candidate, but he reminds of the ". Tale of the Tortoise and Hare". Slow and steady wins the race. He is a dark horse,but believable on national security matters.

[Neo]

Paul Hackett represents the "not-a-dime's-worth-of-different" part of the Democratic Party. In their effort to purge (not diversify) the Democratic Party in their effort to show a clear difference, they can't have any loose canons of the ilk of Bob Casey (Sr.), someone who lives in, or near anything remotely looking like the (almost completely purged) Scoop Jackson wing of the party. Reid pushed Hackett out because he doesn't want anyone who could possibly have a "mind" of his own representing the Democratic Party.

So far Bob Casey Jr. lives on because, in large part, he polls well against arch nemesis Rick Santorum, which many Dems see as "pure evil." If Bob Casey Jr. loses in a miracle Santorum comeback, he will go the way of Paul Hackett, as the Dem prognosticators will say they knew he would fail all along.

[Cecil Turner]

Ah, what can I add to this: "Democrats may unite on plan"?

[Specter]

If you haven't seen the ads in Minnesota that Powerline has been talking about - you should go see them here. If these people are "un-american" I really wonder what the leftist Dems are....

[maryrose]

" Democrats May Unite On a Plan"
This was an excellent post CT and explains thedilemma the dems find themselves in right now. They just don't get the war on terror.

[Sue]

Cecil,

What constitutes an emergency? Who decides if something reaches the level of an emergency? What country(ies) do we redeploy to? What if those countries don't want us there? What if AQ follows us to those countries (they will, you know)? Do we redploy to the next country? And the next? Sounds like cut and run to me. And didn't Murtha take credit for this idea? Now they claim Korb came up with it?

[Cecil Turner]

What country(ies) do we redeploy to?

There's the rub. If you posit an "over-the-horizon" redeployment as Murtha suggested, it's tantamount to cut-and-run. But the only suitable land base is Kuwait, and I doubt they'd be too happy with a large permanent presence. (And I certainly agree it wouldn't stop the attacks.)

[larwyn]

Hackett to be on Hardball MSNBC
"American heroes political pawns to
get votes"

(but probably not those pesky
Absentee Ballots from active duty
military)

Excerpts from today's PowerLine.
Subtitle might read:
We support the Troops.
We are Patriotic.
We are NOT UNPATRIOTIC!
YOU ARE UN-AMERICAN!!!!!

(Yeah, Nancy & Harry, that'll work.)

<
The Compleat Democrats' Disgrace

In Minnesota we are in the middle of a story that has dropped from view in the media, but it is a story that should attain national prominence. The Democratic Party has undertaken a campaign to suppress two advertisements giving voice to the sentiments of Iraq war veterans and Gold Star Families who support the war......

........In Minnesota the mask has fallen from the Democratic Party. It has condemned the message of Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson and the other veterans supporting the mission in Iraq as "un-American." Yet it has gone beyond its outrageous condemnation of the ads. It has actually sought to suppress the message of the featured war veterans and Gold Star Families, emailing Party members and urging them to contact television stations demanding "the removal of the ads."..........

.......The Democratic Party has officially pronounced that Col. Stephenson and his ads are "un-American." That such a thing could happen is almost beyond belief -- a Marine officer with more than ten years of active duty labeled "un-American" for supporting America's foreign policy -- but it is nevertheless true. And attention must be paid.

JOHN adds: To my knowledge, not a single Democratic office-holder, in Minnesota or elsewhere, has disassociated himself from the Minnesota Democratic Party's position that it is "un-American" to support our government's policies in Iraq, and that expressions of such support should be banned from the airways.

Posted by Scott at 08:06 AM

[kim]

The sun never sets over the horizon.
=======================================

[kim]

Murtha's funny; he's so..... oh Howard Hughesie about war, so antiseptic. Here give me a tissue, I just touched a combat boot.

Born to command. Yeah, but what?
===================================

[kim]

Out of sight. Over the horizon. Don't touch it.

The Antiseptic Baby and the Prophlyactic Pup.
Were set upon by pitbulls, and almost eaten up.
Their cries for Mama Murtha were answered "Oh, shut up.
Papa's over yonder, a workin' for your sup".
=============================================

[larwyn]

Can't wait for Bush to agree to
pullback:

"Tonight, I will speak directly to
the American people and to the Congress of the United States.

I have failed. I came here as a
"uniter" and not a "divider", but
we are more divided now, than when
I got here.

So, to pull us together, I am going to agree with the great Democrat Military Strategist John
Murtha, I am going to pull our
forces back from Iraq.

Today, as Commander-in-Chief, I
order the Secretary of Defense to
immediately plan a pull back from
Iraq, a redeployment to Iran and
Syria.

Hope this will reunite the country.

Good night and God Bless America!"

[Sue]

Larwyn,

I love it...

[JM Hanes]

From the article posted by Cecil:

"The generally hawkish Vietnam veteran also called for quick strike forces to remain close to Iraq -- similar to the Korb plan -- but that was largely overlooked in the barrage from Republicans."

Hardly overlooked, try ridiculed, if not beneath intellectual contempt. Do Democrats even realize that the "withdraw and call it victory" plan (made user friendly as "withdraw and call it redeployment") is, in fact, a joke?

[Rick Ballard]

"What constitutes an emergency?"

Shame on you, Sue! An emergency is determined by the application of the appropriate global test.

Geesh! Weren't you listening in '04? The Dems position was perfectly articulated by their candidate, good old ... John something, wasn't it?

[Sue]

hanging head in shame

::grin::

[Extraneus]

I thought the Boston Globe thing read like something from The Onion. Somebody should do a skit of Murtha or Reid or Dean or any of them as a Sheriff in the wild west, holed up in a fortified shack just outside'a town, waiting to ride in and save the good folk in case of an emergency.

[larwyn]

HACKETT'S ON HARDBALL

RIGHT NOW - MSNBC!

Bet it will be priceless!

[larwyn]

HARDBALL WITH HACKETT:

MATTHEWS: "Did they recruit you?"

Hackett said "Schumer and Reid
called me. They called my wife."......"They said "Your country needs you!"

M:"Did they promise to support you?"

H: "YES"

M: "Why did you quit?"

H: "3 million dollars"

M: asking about the pictures supposedly showing Hackett "handling body parts"
...."Where is that comming from?"
"Sherod Brown?"

H: "the people telling me...all telling me the same thing....it
is coming from Sherod Brown's
campaign."

M: You're telling me that...

H: "many people have come to me and
said that."

H: I joined the IAVA. I believe
"military mistreated in Iraq"
"

[maryrose]

Larwyn;
That was an unbelievable interview and the best part was Matthews talking to howard Fineman afterword.
Matthews;" they stopped supporting him {hackett} because he was kind of a loose cannon"
Fineman:
"Well look at what he did on this show today- He just said Sherrod Brown the democratic candidate sor the Senate in Ohio is responsible for these accusations and smear campaign him in Ohio"
Dems eating their own right here on Hardball!

[Gary Maxwell]

Fineman thinks its wrong for Hackett to "Speak Truth to Power." Keep this in mind the next wild horse of a story he rides in. The irony will be worth the wait.

[larwyn]

Maryrose,
That darn Philosophy 101 haunts me and must be reason I get this "head exploding" feeling whenever I stay with Matthews or Woooooof for too many minutes.

So perhaps someone will help me out here.

Does all of this re: Hackett mean that the DLC and the LSM neglected to use all their "fact checkers" before they put him up last year?
Of course that was for a House seat
in a republican district and they
really didn't expect him to win.
So didn't Dean get the word to Schumer and Reid in time. Dean laying his own traps??
(head spins here)

2) Port takeover story:

Haven't the Dems and their minions
been pouting the "religion of peace", the Arab victims, very few
terrorists, NOT THE THREAT that
Bushhilter promotes with "Politics
of Fear" etc???
Almost forgot Carter in the "Day
Room" - "pay Hamas, and talk to Iran"

Now they are shouting
"The Arabs are Coming, the Arabs
are Coming"

Help me understand - tell me how to wipe my mind clean of Logic, so
I may romp and happily hang with
the charming moonbats.

[Gary Maxwell]

Jimmy Carter = Major League Fool

[larwyn]

Gary,
You are too kind.
More apt IMHO:

1st syllable:
Another name for their mascot?

2nd syllable:
What the Left continues digging?

Oh and you could preceed it with
-What are Christian Churches doing
in Alabama and Nigeria?

[Rick Ballard]

Larwyn,

Hackett was a Koslandian hero.

Philosophy does not funtion in Koslandia.
Logic does not funtion in Koslandia.
Politics do not function in Koslandia.

In fact, the only higher intellectual attribute that functions in Koslandia is fantasy - which uses up all the intellectual space available.

On that basis, Hacketts candidacy "makes as much sense" as any other "idea" generated there. Btw - Brown's money is what counted to Reid, Schumer, Emmanuel and Pelosi - anything else is just BS. If Hackett could have raised (and hung on to) $4 mil or so, they would be beaming ear to ear. As it is, they've given up a sure hold on Brown's House seat for a less than 50% shot at taking out DeWine. They've doubled down on a pair of deuces. Again.

[larwyn]

Rick B,
OneCosmos put into words for me,
his example was that the recent spouting "by the intellectual giant
Alec Baldwin"

This is an example of almost "pure" unconscious logic, identical in tone to the kind of insane rhetoric that comes out of the Arab world. Although the statement appears completely illogical, it actually obeys the strict logic of the unconscious. It's just a different kind of logic. As in the recent discoveries of chaos and complexity theories, Freud's discovery was that apparent irrationality is not arbitrary but ordered: it is patterned irrationality.

That is, according to Freud, unconscious logic obeys five main principles: timelessness, placelessness, non-contradiction, displacement and condensation, and inability to distinguish between imagination and reality.

Now all we need is an acronym!

[maryrose]

Sorry Larwyn, I left this thread and did not return until now. Dean supported Hackett all the way and wanted him to stay in the race. This is a money and power play within the top leadership of the dems and as,usual everybody is not on the same page. They essentially, did as TM suggested in this post; they threw Hackett under the bus.

[Crank]

Hey, it worked when they nominated Kerry in lieu of coming up with a comprehensible position on the war.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

[Crank II]

Do you know the website "www.baseballcrank.com" writes about the loss of liberty in the United States and somehow tries to tie it into little league baseball? Maybe I should relate adult sterility to poor potty training. Crank I can be written at : Mike Todd, Friendswood Texas. Address is at www.whitepages.com.