Red State Rebels

Lieberman lives to see another day

Is Lieberman to progressive Democrats what Bush's immigration policy is to hard-line conservatives? It certainly feels like Senator Lieberman is a thorn in our side.

After a 42-13 vote (including the newly elected Senate Democrats), the Democratic Caucus has voted to not only keep Joe Lieberman in the caucus, but to allow him to retain his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

This decision is irresponsible. Last night as Arianna Huffington sat in for Rachel Maddow, she asked a guest whether Lieberman's track record as chairman would play a significant role in the Democrats decision today. The guest's answer? Absolutely not.

For more on the decision to let Joe Lieberman live to see another day as a member of the Democratic Caucus, please visit any of the following sites:

• DailyKos: Lieberman's "Mea Culpa"
• WaPo: Democrats let Lieberman keep committee chair
• Huffington Post: Lieberman keeps committee chair
• 43rd State Blues: Who to call about Lieberman?

It obviously doesn't matter if Joe Lieberman is competent as chairman of his committee. It also doesn't seem to matter if he is even a Democrat.

Celebrate Drinking Liberally's 50th Meetup and Debate Watching Party!

Hard to believe, isn't it?  Drinking Liberally isn't technically old enough to drink (we're just over 4 years old), and we're about to meet for the 50th time.  To celebrate, we have a host of exciting news and events you can't live winout: 

1. Announcing the Drinking Liberally SLOGAN CONTEST!  Listen, people, we need your help.  Every great organization has its byline, and Drinking Liberally is no different.  But what should our byline be?  Samples: Hash House Harriers, a Drinking Club With a Running Problem; The GOP, Helping the Rich Get Richer Since 1854.  Email your suggestions to [email protected].  We'll vote on the top three at our gathering on Wednesday, and the winner will get a FABULOUS PRIZE!
2. You can now eat liberally, too!  We've moved the City Grill, 199 8th Street, in downtown Boise.
3. Watch the last presidential debate with us!
4. Come early (6 PM) and stay late (?) for a rousing good partay with your fellow Red State Rebels and Liberal Drinkers.

Again, sign up for alerts here.  Cheers!

Can't get enough of that good, good debating stuff?

Drinking Liberally can't get enough of the political fun either!  Want to feel like a majority?  Join us to watch the second presidential debate TONIGHT at 6:30 at the City Grill (199 8th Street) in downtown Boise. 

If you're not on Drinking Liberally's email list, well, you should be.  Get busy.  Sign up here for laughs, meetup reminders, and the occasional reference to Idaho politics, campains, or ukuleles: drinkingliberally.org.

The campaign's best ad yet

It's two minutes long - unusual for an advertisement of any sort. But in it, Barack Obama spells out a coherent, concrete, and can-do vision of how we can get America back on track, and asks people to read more specifics at his website. Good stuff. Read the script in the comments.

McCain invented ... the Blackberry?

Remember eight years ago, when we let Republicans get away with saying that Al Gore claimed to personally invent the Internet? Well, John McCain is now claiming that he paved the way for cell phones, wi-fi, even the Blackberry! Who knew?

Read this diary at Daily Kos, which explains how McCain (unlike Gore) has actually stood in the way of many technological advances we now use daily. A snip:

Of pending legislation, McCain is not a sponsor of the "Connect the Nation Act" – though Senator Obama is. McCain is not a sponsor of Senator Rockefeller's call for a universal next generation broadband by 2015 – though Senator Obama is. And of course, McCain isn't a sponsor of the "Internet Freedom Act" that would ensure net neutrality – though Senator Obama is. ...

So,  McCain's "guiding hand" seems to consist of opposing the legislation that laid the groundwork for the communications we have today, and authoring failed legislation designed to benefit big carriers. Of course, we should probably be glad that John McCain really didn't invent the cell phone or wifi, otherwise we'd all be getting our wireless services from one monolithic company free to restrict our access to only the pages that pay for the privilege. And we'd all be using "Jitterbugs."

We have a lot of swing voters here in Idaho who are (still) employed in the tech and telecommunications industries. They need to read this and show it to their colleagues, too. John McCain is so thoroughly 20th century, it hurts to think about it.

Pro-, anti-Palin forces turn out in Alaska

Two rallies were held in Anchorage on Saturday: one featuring Sarah Palin and another protesting her nomination as vice president. The Anchorage Daily News reported about 1,500 people at each event, including about 100 pro-Palin people at the protest, many egged on by a hate radio  show host who called the organizers "socialist baby-killing maggots." Who knew that Zeb Bell has a twin in the far North?

Here's a photo of the Palin protest from Mudflats, the go-to source for progressive Alaskan coverage of the Sarah Palin saga. Read a report on both events and see more photos here. In addition, here's the Anchorage Daily News' coverage of the anti-Palin rally and the VP nominee's appearance.

It's certainly interesting that in Alaska, where Palin is supposedly wildly popular, a rally protesting her position on the VP ticket drew at least as many people as a rally featuring Palin herself. But then, as one Alaskan told the Anchorage newspaper, "This election is too important be left to the smears, trivial issues and lies McCain and Palin are trying to make it into. The myth (that) either McCain or Palin are mavericks, bringing reform and fresh air into Washington, it's nonsense."

Weekend edition: spreading truth over manure

Nothing I can add to this, other than be sure that it's seen by your friends, family, and colleagues who are considering a vote for McCain.

I've also added a new blogroll at right: Sites for Skeptics. It includes Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films, which made this video and many other good ones; FactCheck.org and PolitiFact/Truth-o-Meter, which offer nonpartisan assessments of campaign ads and claims; News Hounds (motto: "We watch Fox News so you don't have to"); Media Matters for America, a progressive group keeping tabs on media coverage; and The Ed Schultz Show, the best common-sense, mainstream Democratic talk radio show out there. (Schultz airs from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays on AM 630 in Boise and noon to 3 Pacific on KPTQ AM 1230 out of Spokane. Or listen online at any of dozens of stations listed on his website.)

Obama's new ads: change is more than a slogan

Barack Obama has hit the airwaves with two new ads: one on how "change" isn't just a slogan, but a deep commitment to solving real problems, and another on just how stuck in the past John McCain really is. Enjoy 'em and share 'em!

A day of remembering

As Americans, we will never forget the bright September morning seven years ago when nearly 3,000 people died in New York City, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

But nor will we allow free-floating fear over terrorism to cloud our judgment at the ballot box. We will not forget how the Bush-Cheney administration used 9/11 as a cynical excuse to launch an unfounded war in Iraq, a war that has now claimed 1,180 more American lives than we lost on 9/11, a war that Sen. Barack Obama opposed from the beginning, a war that has left the mastermind responsible for 9/11 at large seven years later.

The campaigns say they're taking a day off politics today, and that is fitting. Given the toxic remarks made at last week's Republican Convention, however, it's ironic that John McCain will join Obama at a celebration of community service in New York later today.

Perhaps today will be a turning point in the campaign. Perhaps for the next 55 days, the candidates will stick to the issues, tell us how they plan to govern, avoid unfounded attacks, and inspire us to a more perfect union. That would be the most fitting tribute to everyone who has died in the name of America, whether on the streets of Lower Manhattan or the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mid-week comic relief - except for Dirk

I heard about this Sunday (at church, as a matter of fact), and 43rd State Blues had it days ago, but I just now watched Idaho state Sen. Michael Jorgenson attempt to explain "small-town values" to a Comedy Central "reporter" at last week's Republican National Convention. Check it out at New West.

Meanwhile, a year after Larry Craig's career was reduced to a punchline, his attorney today suggested in court "that his foot tapping in an airport men's room may have been protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of speech." There's more at CNN and the AP.

Also from the Republican culture of corruption department, get a load of this breaking report of sex, drugs, and other bad behavior at the federal agency that's supposed to be regulating the oil industry. I'll wait for your jokes in the comments ... they're so obvious ...

To be fair, we'll note here that the period covered in the report is from 2002 to 2006, so Dirk Kempthorne had just arrived on the scene at Interior. Still, this is certain to create headaches for our former gov. According to The New York Times, "The reports portray a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration’s watch." More here. And rec this diary at Kos. (And this one, too.)