Little Joe


I haven't posted at all, I'm pretty sure, about the Lamont-Lieberman primary election...not that I haven't been watching, but there are plenty of bigger, better bloggers out there, and even MORE bloggers and other websites they link to. But yeah, I've kept an eye out, and it's damn refreshing to see Lamont win.

Of course, I'm guessing Lamont will now receive the Howard Dean treatment--regardless of his actual positions on the issues, there will be a non-stop offensive to firmly affix all sorts of "extremist" labels on the candidate...Holy Joe himself took up a bit of Swift Boat duty, both in his very Nixonian "concession" address (except that we WILL have Joe to kick around) and in statements made today as he filed for an "independent" run.

Watch for the usual buzzwords, designed to elicit sort of a sub-logical reaction/revulsion: references have already been made to Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Michael Moore, bloggers, whatever...and I'm betting this sort of attack will continue, at least from the right. Today I've already seen, and apologies for not remembering where, a wingnut assertion that the Lamont victory demonstrates how the extremists of the Democrat[ic] left have taken over the party, or words to that effect, while, over in wingnuttia, they've managed to keep THEIR extremists "at bay."

Really? Well, thank heavens--because otherwise said 'nuts might just GO NUTS and demand we invade Iraq for no reason...oh, wait a minute...

But...I really think Joenertia is oddly symbolic, and as such his refusal to accept reality (hmmm...sort of like a certain cretin from Crawford) is, well, as fitting a putting a baby rattle in his grubby little fingers. Watertiger got it dead-on accurate, and I was thinking much the same last night while watching the returns and listening to the reactions:

...this is about Lieberman's ego, his unwillingness to let go of all the lovely perks of his office, not the least of which, apparently, is the right to ignore the wants and needs of his constituents who pay his salary and who held him accountable for his decisions last night, and the extent to which 18 years inside the Beltway have clouded his "judgment" and made him fat, rich, and lazy.

Bulls-eye.

Joe Lieberman, the DLC, the wingnut, neocon GOP, and their assorted supporters are actually a most peculiar case: they claim to be about "freedom," when, in actuality, they couldn't be more AGAINST the concept. No, it's NOT freedom that defines them--it's PRIVILEGE. And there's your problem right there.

In a broader sense, "privilege" also defines a segment of the public that insists upon national policy as a reflection of their particularly narrowminded point of view--and watching THEIR reaction to Lamont's victory is a bit troubling, particularly given their propensity towards violence as a "solution" to pretty much everything. It'll be interesting to see what happens come November.

After all, they seethed over eight years of centrist government Bill Clinton, then let loose a very ugly tantrum in Florida 2000, THEN cynically seized upon a national tragedy to ramrod through a pre-existing war agenda...and last night, at least on C-Span, they seethed a little more.

They--AND public officials like Holy Joe--consider governance THEIR right. They are willing to go to great lengths to preserve their right...like painting A MAJORITY of the public as "extremist," if necessary (and their pals in the media are MORE than willing to play along). To them, we're no longer even "people," but "consumers." They expect consumers, if they bother to vote, to go along without question.

But perhaps the public has seen enough: Iraq was a lie, the response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita a textbook example of pathetic, criminal incompetence. We've seen potential intrusions upon basic expectations of privacy...and ACTUAL, unbelievable intrusions as in the case of Terry Schiavo's final days and hours.

Finally, when told we've had quite enough, thank you, their reaction is pout, throw more tantrums, fling blame about like monkeys flinging feces...in short, to do just about anything except look in a mirror. Typical privileged brats who don't understand.

Yeah, it could get extremely interesting come November...