The Liberal Patriot Blog
 The Liberal Patriot Blog is dedicated to collecting and sharing information about National and State [New Hampshire] Political Action, News, and Events.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

House Judiciary Votes to ITL CACR-34

The Judiciary Committee of the NH House of Representatives voted 14 to 7, "Inexpedient to Legislate", the bill now moves to the full House of Representatives for a vote.

Committee members credited constituent calls and the overwhelming opposition at the public hearing for their vote to oppose the Constitutional Amendment. The majority of the committee will recommend to the full house that they vote NO ON CACR-34.

Call your reps and urge them to vote NO on this shameful attempt to use the NH state constitution as a way to punish a minority group, and manipulate voters in an election year. The NH Freedom to Marry website: nhftm.org has talking points. There are similar amendments proposed in 10 other states this year. We cannot allow NH to become ruled by bigots.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Political Party Primaries.....

1.) The establishment dragged Hackett out of the race

It's true that the establishment lined up behind Sherrod Brown -- he has spent years building up his networks and has a proven record people can embrace. Hackett didn't.

But this isn't the only race in which outsider candidates are running. In Rhode Island, the establishment has rallied around Sheldon Whitehouse. Yet Matt Brown hasn't bowed to pressures to clear the field. In fact, he's fought harder.

In Montana, the DC establishment has rallied around John Morrison, seen as a "more electable" because he has won statewide twice. Still, Jon Tester is refusing to bow to to any such pressures.

In Connecticut, a sitting US Senator, Joe Lieberman, is facing a primary challenge. The establishment would love nothing more than to direct the type of energy and funds we'll be directing at Ned Lamont and use that against endangered Republicans. But is that stopping Ned Lamont?

And what about primary challengers to annointed nominees Maria Cantwell, Bob Casey, and Harold Ford? They haven't quit. [update: nor has Mfume in Maryland.]

In the Republican side, Katherine Harris gave Karl frickin' Rove the middle finger and cleared out the field herself, despite efforts of both the state and national Republican parties to push her out. In 2004 in Oklahoma, Tom Coburn was the bane of the GOP establishment and they fought him tooth and nail in the primary. He didn't quit, and in fact went on to defeat both the establishment favorite in the primary, as well as the general election.

And do we need to talk about Obama? Barrack terrified establishment Democrats because 1) he was black (which could've been an electoral liability in downstate Illinois), 2) he had no money, and 3) his name was easily confused with some other person's. At one point he had 2% in the polls, yet somehow he managed to turn things around and defeat his cash-flushed opponents. he didn't quit when the odds were stacked up against him.

So it can be done, and it has been done. The party is not all powerful. In fact, it's pretty weak. That's been sort of the problem for a long time.

2.) Primaries are bad

This is something akin to gospel in the Democratic Party and I used to buy it. Until 2004. In that cycle, competitive Republican primaries in Oklahoma, Alaska, South Carolina, and Florida allowed those Republicans to use the momentum boost and media coverage to eventually win their seats. Democrats cleared their primary fields up and down the map for all the good it did (absolutely none).

This obsession with clearing fields really is counterproductive, generating a great deal of hostility and ill-will. And really, what better place to work on message and build the campaign machinery than in a primary? The primary election, at worse, becomes a test run to make sure the machine is firing on all cylinders. And the money used on media and whatnot during a primary is not wasted money -- it's a way to build up early name recognition to the electorate. It worked wonders for Republicans in 2004.

Now, insurgent candidates don't have a god-given right to respect or support. But if they want to run, then the party should stay the frack out of it. There is no legitimate justification for the price the party pays in meddling in such affairs.

from daily kos

I used to believe the 2nd point. I no longer do. I also used to be a member of the democratic party. I no longer am.


White House Cover-Up: McClellan Conceals Heart Attack From Press

For 22 hours, the White House concealed the fact that Vice President Cheney had inadvertantly shot a 78-year old man, Harry Whittington.

The White House continues to withhold critical information from the press. In a press conference today, hospital administrator Peter Banko said that the White House had been informed that Mr. Whittington suffered a heart attack between 9:30-10AM this morning. Watch it:

(QuickTime Streaming)

But at today’s White House Press Briefing, which started after 12PM, Scott McClellan didn’t tell the press. CNN confirmed that McClellan “was notified [about the heart attack] just before the briefing.” But McClellan suggested to reporters that he had no new information:

I don’t want to make this about anything other than what it is. It is what it is. I was very respectful and responsive to your questions yesterday. I provided you the information I knew based on the facts that were available… I’m just not going to go back through it again.

McClellan concluded “You’re welcome to continue to focus on these issues. I’m moving on.” Too bad Mr. Whittington can’t do the same. He’ll be in the hospital for at least another week.

Banko press conference transcript:

QUESTION: What time did you notify the White House this morning and did you tell them, when you notified them, that he had a minor heart attack?

ADMINISTRATOR: Our cardiologists probably talked to him shortly after the cardiac cath was done, between 9:30 and 10:00 am this morning.

QUESTION: And you did tell them he had a minor heart attack?

ADMINISTRATOR: I did not hear the conversation that the cardiologists had amongst themselves, so I can’t tell you what – And heart attack is a layman’s term, so they went into a little more clinical detail.


from think progress


I don't really like this story.

When there is a genocide happening the press doesn't cover it. When we have a hunting accident or a blow job it's wall to wall coverage. Some are taking advantage of this event and are trying to cast it into a political light.

What progressives miss is that these sensational stories are consumed passively. News of genocide, torture, or other horrors emotionally demand that we do something, feel horrible about doing nothing, or just try to not think about them. But they demand that we address them which might be one of the reasons the average public shys away from real issues.

Sensational stories get lots of attention but they are generally dismissible. So even though this story may actually get paid attention to by the Main stream media and by the public it will not generate the kind of political action and awareness that many are hoping. The republicans made [chose to make] this mistake when they thought that just because the public was interested in the sexual misadventures of bill and monica that they actually wanted something done about it.

Sensational stories are so popular in part because they demand nothing of us. The public may not be excited by an outed CIA agent or bribery of public officials but at least those issues demand action. Sensational issues do not.

Inside of reveling in this misadventure or trying to make more out if it progressives should be using the platform of this media attention to bring light to the vice presidents far more serious crimes. The public already hates dick cheney bringing him down with this story will not make the case for progressive political policies or politicians. And I don’t think this point is any less relevant whether this was a complete innocent accident or a drunk botched execution.


Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Hackett is out of the race...

Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran and popular Democratic candidate in Ohio's closely watched Senate contest, said yesterday that he was dropping out of the race and leaving politics altogether as a result of pressure from party leaders.

Mr. Hackett said Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada, the same party leaders who he said persuaded him last August to enter the Senate race, had pushed him to step aside so that Representative Sherrod Brown, a longtime member of Congress, could take on Senator Mike DeWine, the Republican incumbent.

Mr. Hackett staged a surprisingly strong Congressional run last year in an overwhelmingly Republican district and gained national prominence for his scathing criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq War. It was his performance in the Congressional race that led party leaders to recruit him for the Senate race.

But for the last two weeks, he said, state and national Democratic Party leaders have urged him to drop his Senate campaign and again run for Congress.

"This is an extremely disappointing decision that I feel has been forced on me," said Mr. Hackett, whose announcement comes two days before the state's filing deadline for candidates. He said he was outraged to learn that party leaders were calling his donors and asking them to stop giving and said he would not enter the Second District Congressional race.

"For me, this is a second betrayal," Mr. Hackett said. "First, my government misused and mismanaged the military in Iraq, and now my own party is afraid to support candidates like me."

from daily kos

Not sure if I completely agree with Hackett's portrayal of this situation. Check out the updates on this post at daily kos for another side of this story. Either way this was grossly mismanaged.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Cheney shoots 78-year-old man.

Harry Whittington is “alert and doing fine” after Cheney sprayed Whittington with shotgun pellets on Saturday at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas during a quail hunting trip.

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