Wednesday, August 09, 2006

The Revenge of the Irate Moderates

I normally don't pay much attention to politics, but I think everybody was watching the Connecticut primaries to see how the voters would deal with Joe Lieberman. The big question is whether there will be an opposition party in America.

I liked the New York Times phrasing of the situation this morning:
Mr. Lieberman’s supporters have tried to depict Mr. Lamont and his backers as wild-eyed radicals who want to punish the senator for working with Republicans and to force the Democratic Party into a disastrous turn toward extremism. It’s hard to imagine Connecticut, which likes to be called the Land of Steady Habits, as an encampment of left-wing isolationists, and it’s hard to imagine Mr. Lamont, who worked happily with the Republicans in Greenwich politics, leading that kind of revolution.

The rebellion against Mr. Lieberman was actually an uprising by that rare phenomenon, irate moderates. They are the voters who have been unnerved over the last few years as the country has seemed to be galloping in a deeply unmoderate direction. A war that began at the president’s choosing has degenerated into a desperate, bloody mess that has turned much of the world against the United States. The administration’s contempt for international agreements, Congressional prerogatives and the authority of the courts has undermined the rule of law abroad and at home.

Yet while all this has been happening, the political discussion in Washington has become a captive of the Bush agenda. Traditional beliefs like every person’s right to a day in court, or the conviction that America should not start wars it does not know how to win, wind up being portrayed as extreme. The middle becomes a place where senators struggle to get the president to volunteer to obey the law when the mood strikes him. Attempting to regain the real center becomes a radical alternative.

When Mr. Lieberman told The Washington Post, “I haven’t changed. Events around me have changed,” he actually put his finger on his political problem. His constituents felt that when the White House led the country into a disastrous international crisis and started subverting the nation’s basic traditions, Joe Lieberman should have changed enough to take a lead in fighting back. Revenge of the Irate Moderates

I remember the first time I saw the sex-education curriculum that had been proposed and unanimously adopted for 8th and 10th grade Montgomery County public school students. I'd heard about the controversy, so I downloaded the document and looked it over. Read through it once, wondered, what's the problem? Read through it again. Tried to read between the lines. Looked for a "gay agenda." Looked for the part that encouraged children to experiment with sex. Looked for the part that promoted promiscuity.

What I saw was a moderate, well-reasoned, objective curriculum.

After the 2004 elections, the Recall Group organized to recall the entire school board for adopting the curriculum. It wasn't a matter of changing the content of the classes, it was about extremists taking over the school system. Failing that, they backed off and tried to badmouth the curriculum with ridiculous distortions, and ended up delaying it by confusing a judge about some background materials. This had the intended effect of destroying the district's work. It didn't fix anything, it just set everybody back a year. And cost the taxpayers a bunch of money.

Teach the Facts formed to support the school board's decision when they were under attack. We weren't asking for anything extreme, just a commonsense curriculum that presented the facts as they are understood by medicine and science. We don't have any special need to change the world, we just want to see some stability, some fairness, some truth.

Ordinary, normal, decent people are shocked by the corruption, immorality, and outright un-Americanism that has taken over our public discussions. Joe Lieberman made the mistake of going along with it, and the voters have shown that they are not willing to accept the status quo. The group that is in power now is radical, but because they are the ones in office they get to pick the topic, they establish the frame for the discussion. The effect has been mob rule, like a riot where one person smashes a window and so everybody starts smashing windows. The press has gone along with the rhetoric, and now it is common to attack moderate common sense as extreme.

No, The Times has it right. We are seeing The Revenge of the Irate Moderates. Hopefully, ordinary people will start taking their country back this year.

18 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's funny that you think of yourself as a moderate and that you belive that mr. Lamont is a moderate. You may convince yoursef of this and you may belive it. tell yourself a lie often enought and it becomes the truth.

August 09, 2006 11:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"I normally don't pay much attention to politics,"

oh yeah, we've all noticed that

August 09, 2006 11:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The big question is whether there will be an opposition party in America."

and the big answer is yes.

Liebo will start it this fall when he wins this fall as an independent.

By the time the next prez election comes around, it'll be in full swing.

the liberal looney left will still have the Dems to represent them but it will be a very minor party.

August 09, 2006 11:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"and ended up delaying it"

yeah

like, permanently

August 09, 2006 11:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Ordinary, normal, decent people are shocked"

well, they would be if they read this blog

August 10, 2006 12:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Does anyone know what happened to all them hurricanes that global warming was gonna make this year?

August 10, 2006 12:12 AM  
Blogger Orin Ryssman said...

Jim writes,

Ordinary, normal, decent people are shocked by the corruption, immorality, and outright un-Americanism that has taken over our public discussions.

Huh? Ok, you have me on corruption...that is, I understand where this charge comes from and I can understand why some believe it to be true. But "immorality"??? Please define...oh, yeah, that's right I remember, you think the war in Iraq is immoral, but not showing school children how to put a condom on. Probably an easy sell along the East-West Porn Belt, but in fly-over country we understand immoral to mean the micro issues, like legitimizing pre-marital sex (one time called fornication, a word so rarely used now that most probably don't know what it means), as well as macro issues, like starting and fighting a war in another country.

Joe Lieberman made the mistake of going along with it, and the voters have shown that they are not willing to accept the status quo.

My impression of Lieberman is that he likes to be liked, much like Bill Clinton, and will go to great lengths to get others to like him. This, IMO, is not a good quality to have in a leader...reminds me of the parents that crave to be their children's best friend and bosom buddy...big mistake, not to mention foolish.

The group that is in power now is radical, but because they are the ones in office they get to pick the topic, they establish the frame for the discussion.

Jim, Jim, Jim...remember: elections are about WHO governs...they are about WINNERS and LOSERS. Ned Lamont was the WINNER, and Lieberman the LOSER. And now Lamont gets to frame the discussion within the State of Connecticut. That is the way it should be...

The effect has been mob rule, like a riot where one person smashes a window and so everybody starts smashing windows.

Jim, if you and I were in an election I would make sure to have you hung out to dry for such an irresponsible comment as the one above. And don't think for a moment that I did not pick up on the allusion (intended or not) to Kristallnacht and the attempt to link that to Republicans.

The press has gone along with the rhetoric, and now it is common to attack moderate common sense as extreme.

Ah, yes, the Eric Alterman line of reasoning. Just because fewer people read The Nation than read Time does not mean that the press has gone along for a ride.

No, The Times has it right. We are seeing The Revenge of the Irate Moderates.

And that is why I saw a picture of Ned Lamont with the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson? Now that is funny and cynical...the Democratic nominee with a hussler (can anyone remember Tawana Brawley? Wikipedia has a decent primer on that chapter from a Sharpton past-life) and a shake down artist.

Lamont moderate? Please, don't insult my intelligence...Lamont is a businessman for sure, but in this instance he is being used by the Angry Left in attempt to re-orient the Democratic Party more along the line of the McGovernite wing. Hardly moderate...

Hopefully, ordinary people will start taking their country back this year.

More "regime change" rhetoric from a political group that is more united in its hatred of one person than in any sort of cohesive unity of a positive direction. Only two more years and the Angry Left will have another opportunity to retake America. I only hope that whoever their candidate is, that he/she will take their duty to protect this country more seriously than did Clinton.

August 10, 2006 3:31 AM  
Anonymous Dixie said...

You've got to be kidding. Corruption is not immoral? The voters in Georgia let Ralph Reed know what they think of the morality of taking money from one set of gamblers to defeat another. The fact that some people don't see the immorality in this type of behavior speaks volumes.

Preemptive war for false reasons is immoral.

Teaching teens how to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancy and STDs is moral, however, teaching teens lies about contraception, as 11 of 13 abstinence programs supported by federal funding did is immoral.

Joe Lieberman will not be the only incumbent to feel voters' displeasure with the status quo. Delay and Ney refuse to stand up and run to maintain the status quo they helped create. Let's see what American voters tell the rest of them.

I agree with Jim. It has been mob rule since Bush became President, neotheocon mob rule. You can keep defending the party that fights the Taliban yet tries to turn our schools into madrassas and our country into a theocracy all you want. I believe our democracy will withstand this assault on our values and Americans will continue to uphold liberty and justice for all.

August 10, 2006 7:39 AM  
Blogger Orin Ryssman said...

Dixie writes,

You've got to be kidding. Corruption is not immoral? The voters in Georgia let Ralph Reed know what they think of the morality of taking money from one set of gamblers to defeat another. The fact that some people don't see the immorality in this type of behavior speaks volumes.

I too was delighted to see voters turn down Reed's bid for public office...you see, voters are able to see thru a fraud (most of the time, at least).

Gambling corrupts everything it touches, and it does this because it violates a basic rule: that you can get something for nothing. That is admittedly a moral judgement. It corrupts the person who gambles, as well as the politician that facilitates that gambling by accomodating gambling interests. Is the solution to ban ALL gambling? No. But furthering its spread only makes the problem worse.

I agree with Jim. It has been mob rule since Bush became President, neotheocon mob rule.

Enough of the name-calling...if Democrats want to be trusted to govern the United States they will need to do two things. First, they will need to show folks like myself that they can be respectful of the values I hold dear (Colorado candidate for Governor Bill Ritter, a Democrat, may yet prove this to enough voters like myself with his pro-life stance). And second, they will need to do more than the Clinton-Gore Admin did for 8 years to protect this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Regretably, should the Democratic Party get pulled in the direction of the McGovern wing (aka, The Angry Left - holdovers...leftovers?...from the 60's), they will again get sent packing.

August 10, 2006 8:56 AM  
Anonymous Dixie said...

Orin said:

"the East-West Porn Belt, but in fly-over country we understand "

"a hussler ... and a shake down artist"

"the Angry Left "

"the McGovernite wing"

And then Orin said

"Enough of the name-calling"

followed by "the Angry Left" and "the McGovern wing"

Are you done with the name-calling yet?

August 10, 2006 9:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

no we are just waiting for JimK to let us take off the gloves.

August 10, 2006 5:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Does anyone know what happened to all them hurricanes that global warming was gonna make this year?

August 10, 2006 12:12 AM


Yes. I guess you didn't get past the "cemical wepons huge stockpiles of them" tale to read this story in the news today:

Strongest Typhoon in 50 Years Hits China
Super Storm Prompts Evacuation of 1.5 Million People
By JOE McDONALD, AP

BEIJING (Aug. 10) - The death toll in coastal China from Typhoon Saomai jumped to at least 73 on Friday, with three others missing, as the most powerful storm to strike the country in five decades churned across the southeast, state media reported.

Authorities had evacuated more than 1.5 million people from flood-prone areas before storm hit land Thursday evening, wrecking houses and capsizing ships.

Most of the deaths occurred in Zhejiang province, where Saomai made landfall, the Xinhua News Agency said.

The bodies of 43 people, including eight children, were discovered in Zhejiang's Cangnan county amid the debris of collapsed houses on Friday morning, Xinhua said.

Another 28 people were killed and three were missing in other parts of Zhejiang, Xinhua said, but did not give details.

The government earlier reported two deaths in Fuding, a city in neighboring Fujian province. Xinhua didn't say how the latest deaths occurred, but said 7,300 homes were destroyed.

Damage was expected to be widespread in areas that were still recovering from Tropical Storm Bilis, which claimed more than 600 lives last month.

Saomai had winds of up to 135 mph, according to Chinese forecasters. The Zhejiang provincial weather bureau said it was the most powerful storm to hit China since at least 1949.

Saomai, dubbed a "super typhoon" by Chinese forecasters due to its huge size and high wind speeds, was the eighth major storm of this year's unusually violent typhoon season.

It killed at least two people in the Philippines earlier in the week and dumped rain on Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights.

Eight Taiwanese sailors were missing late Thursday after two ships capsized in a harbor in Fujian, while four Chinese were missing after their ship struck a reef, according to Xinhua.

Saomai is the Vietnamese name for the planet Venus.

China's weather bureau forecast a summer of powerful typhoons, saying a warm Pacific current would create bigger storms and weather patterns over Tibet would draw them farther inland.

August 10, 2006 10:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Don't you see? Global warming eggsperts cleary foresaw through scientific analysis that intense Atlantic hurricanes were proof positive that we need to stop using cars.

What happened? It must be that nefarious Karl Rove again. How does he do it?

August 11, 2006 3:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, I don't know about that, Anon, but here's what real leaders are doing about global warming.

"Cities, States Aren't Waiting For U.S. Action on Climate

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 11, 2006; Page A01

With Washington lawmakers deadlocked on how best to curb global warming, state and local officials across the country are adopting ambitious policies and forming international alliances aimed at reducing greenhouse gases.

The initiatives, which include demands that utilities generate some of their energy using renewable sources and mandates for a reduction in emissions from motor vehicles, have emboldened clean-air advocates who hope they will form the basis for broader national action. But in the meantime, some businesses say the local and state actions are creating a patchwork of regulations that they must contend with.

This flurry of action is part of a growing movement among state and local leaders who have given up hope that Congress and the administration will tackle major issues, and are launching their own initiatives on immigration, stem cell research and energy policy. Last week alone, former president Bill Clinton launched an effort with 22 of the world's largest cities to cut their emissions, while California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said they will explore trading carbon dioxide pollution credits across the Atlantic."


Continues at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/10/AR2006081001492.html

And then you might want to read this one:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/10/AR2006081001557.html

August 11, 2006 8:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Well, I don't know about that, Anon, but here's what real leaders are doing about global warming."

Well, it's getting close to election time and the global catastrophe bandwagon has sold the public a bill of goods. The "leaders"- or should we say politicians- are trying to make it look like they're acting on this urgent issue.

Truth is scientists haven't concluded or found any evidence supporting the idea that the global warming phenomena is caused by human activity. Furthermore, recent analysis suggests that the warming we've seen may be part of a natural cycle and is not really extraordinary by historical standards.

Still, your "leaders" might wind getting a few hillbilly votes.

August 11, 2006 9:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Feeling confident with your crystal ball are you? Do you predict outcomes of critter races too?

I'm no gambler. I'll just wait until November to see how the votes add up from hillbillies, city slickers, and everybody else.

August 11, 2006 6:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am so confident global warming in crap. and know one is buying who has any understanding of scianc

August 12, 2006 12:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you would think the sun had something to do with it.

August 15, 2006 8:53 PM  

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