Oliver links to a Joe Klein piece in which an anonymous San Francisco woman at a Dean rally (party activist per chance?) states the following:
Several weeks ago, at a Dean speech in San Francisco, a woman approached me and said, “I’ve been a moderate, Clinton-Gore Democrat, but no more.” I asked her why. She said, “Grover Norquist,” referring to the Republican taxophobe lobbyist who helped forge the President’s tax cuts. “He said, Bipartisanship is date rape.’ Well, I don’t like being raped.”
The fact that Klein had to explain who Norquist is should be telling enough- there will be no Grover Norquist backlash in 2004. Amusing the stretch these guys go to, though. I like Dean’s attitude on bipartisanship- remember that the next time the Democrats try to launch a salvo about Bush not being a ‘uniter.’ You can not unite the unwilling, as we have learned from day one o this administration.
One of these days people are really going to understand the rage of the left- THEY are supposed to be in power in Washington- not this right wing maniac Bush.
BTW- Abortion, as I write this, is STILL LEGAL in all 50 states.
mark
I sort of like the term “taxophobe.” If being incensed at higher taxes makes one a taxophobe, then I consider myself one.
Terry
I think that the Klein story ultimately reinforces the stories out there about how the Dean momentum is driven by fanaticism and hate not seen in this country since the 1968 George Wallace campaign.
Kimmitt
Yes, the fanatacism and hatred of American values shown by the Republican Party. Dean’s campaign is about standing up for this country’s founding ideals — it’s about fighting for hope.
The Democrats in Congress passed Bush’s tax cut plans, gave him a blank check to invade Iraq whenever he felt like it, tossed all of our civil liberties out the window when Ashcroft asked nicely, and approved 98% of Bush’s court nominees. You think that bipartisanship means saying “how high?” when the President says jump. And Mr. Norquist is quite correct; it’s ideological date-rape.
RW
“Tossed all of our civil liberties out the window”, Kimmitt?
I see you’ve decided to remove any question as to whether you’d like to have any credibility.
David Perron
Feel that, Kimmitt? I’m crushing your dissent.
Terry
I do believe Mark Steyn was on to something when he characterized what’s happening to the left wing of the Democratic Party as a descent into maddness. One sees signs of it in Kimmit’s comments, as well as the posts on Oliver’s blog and that of others. With even a modest improvement in key economic indicators, Bush and other Republicans running in 2004 should have a field day, especially if someone like Dean is at the head of the Dem’s ticket.
David Perron
I don’t think it’s a safe generalization to say that guys like Kimmitt and Foresta are representative of the entire Left. I think all that says is they have the lion’s share of the mentally ill vote. For now, at least.
Chris
The problem is, it’s the Forestas and Kimmitts who vote in the primaries.
That may be good if the Democrats are to be defeated in 04 but it really blows to watch this very active process of self-destruction. As much as I’d like to see Dean (or some other candidate of that ilk) go down in flames, it’s depressing that such over-activism could run a whole party into the ground.
Kimmitt
I see you’ve decided to remove any question as to whether you’d like to have any credibility.
Please. Jose Padilla has been detained without charges or access to counsel for over a year on the mere accusation of terrorist activities. The Justice Department’s own probe of USA PATRIOT found 45 serious violations of the civil liberties we retain.
I understand that you agree with the President — and have no Arab ancestry — and therefore feel essentially free. But don’t print out this response and read it in public; you might get a visit from the FBI. link.
Kimmitt
Apologies; Padilla did get access to counsel — the Justice Department did, however, argue that he had no such right.
Charges have not been filed.
Ricky
How could he get access to counsel?
All our civil liberties have been tossed out the window, right?
BTW, we’re secretly tracing your route & address….pretty soon, Ashcroft and his (white hooded) storm troopers will be knocking on your door.
The end is nigh.
Francis W. Porretto
I have this vision of a huge dispatch room, filled with operators wearing headsets, crouched over glowing CRTs, all talking fast in hushed tones. The entrance to the room is flanked by two grim-faced, heavily armed guards. Over the entrance is a large sign:
LEFTIST TROLL CENTRAL
— No Smoking —
If you cant your head toward any of the operators, you can hear the assignments being made:
“Foresta, you’ve got to get back to DailyPundit right away. Young Goodman Brown is spluttering. Andy Freeman hit him with a Den Beste quote, and he’s slipped his cams. Lay some of your ‘fundamentalist Republican’ screed on them, pronto….Kimmitt, Right Wing News has come uncovered. Tano went down with carpal tunnel. No, it’s not permanent, he just needs some time off the front lines. But get over there right away. What?… yes, Force Four is about right. Hawkins and his commenters are a tough bunch.”
C’mon, tell me you’ve never imagined something just like that.
David Perron
Lemme see who actually authored the USA PATRIOT ACT….hmmm…Bob Graham, among others? Wow, some Republican totalitarianist state we have here, when the Democrats are pitching in to help.
Kimmitt
All our civil liberties have been tossed out the window, right?
I said that Congress did; fortunately, there are still a few judges who think that the Constitution applies. The President’s working on that, though, so your vision for the country may yet be realized.
Well, that’s it for me here. Thanks for listening (or not, as was your wont), and it is my sincere hope that you will enjoy the freedoms which I and those like me on the Left will fight to protect from the guys you vote for. Remember: when in doubt, cut taxes for the wealthy and mortgage your children’s futures.
John Ashcroft
(continuing from Kimmitt’s comment thread)…and lock up fools such as Kimmitt in order to protect them from themselves.
Donnah
I’m a taxophobe too. :)
David Perron
Or, alternatively, not cut taxes and find that your children’s futures are equally mortgaged. Whatever floats your boat, Kimmitt. Next time, do a little homework and discover, to your dismay, that Social Security is bankrupt with or without a tax cut.
It’s hard to tell what Kimmitt’s so mad about; it appears to change depending on which of his strawmen you have just knocked down.
Dean Esmay
45 serious civil rights violations since 9/11, eh?
45. Two or three a month, in a country of 300 million people.
Also, in a time of war, one guy’s being held without charge.
Even though we investigate these things and take them seriously, and answer press questions about them, and provide people with legal councel, they all prove we’re descending into a police state that only Governor Dean can rescue us from.
Well, that and he’ll raise our taxes, because that’s just what our children need.
By the way, any and all sarcastic comments in response to this are probably proof that you’re closed-minded.
Sebastian Holsclaw
I don’t know if I made it up, or saw it so long ao that I’ve forgotten where it was from, but I believe the word you are looking for regarding Democratic planning is STRAGEDY.