Does the Lieberman campaign prove Chomsky's argument?

[Protagoras]

That we've really just been reduced to a single party in this country? As I see republicans ignore their own loser to rush to Lieberman's aid at the same time that DLC leaders start arguing FOR him to run as an independent it sure seems like the labels really don't matter.

There is one political party...the party of the Rich and Powerful...and the rest of us are not part of it...we are just jumping at the shadow parties they prop up to distract and amuse us.

I've tried to disagree with Chomsky on this point...but when I see Bill and Hillary and so many others actively support someone who OPENLY DOESN"T LISTEN TO HIS CONSITITUENTS and who OPENLY ADMITS HE WILL ABANDON HIS PARTY...I just begin drooling and pounding my head on my desk hoping to kill the pain.

Lamont has to win because I desperately need to be wrong. (I mean in the general election)

That's my cynical thought for the day.

[Swamp Rat]

1. Probably Spencer and Darwin's too

:D

[itzamirakul]

2. K & R I believe you have hit the nail on the head! nt

[Eric J in MN]

3. David Sirota has said that the US will always have...

...a money party. The problem is that right now, we have 1 1/2 money parties.

Hopefully, if Lamont becomes a Senator, he'll put people above corporations.

[laura888]

4. I agree with Chomsky, mostly.

But not sure about the other parties just being there as props.

I think there is room for a little optimism.

[Ian David]

8. Comes down to The Silly Party or The Slightly Silly Party. n/t

[izzie]

9. Maybe a non-war party? Dems. have made me mad but

where do you go? I am on the books as a Green and I think Nader is a better Dem. than most in Congress. I just can not face giving up my vote for some one who can not win so I vote 'the party we have.'

[Protagoras]

10. I fear that if we only vote for those who can "win"

we guarantee the exact system we want to avoid.

Maybe we do have to dream bigger and risk more if we ever want to win.

But if we want to do it with the existing party we will have to challenge and defeat the current party structure/system.

I don't think we have to leave the Democratic Party...I do think we have to grab it and remold it. And that isn't going to happen with most of the incumbents we currently have.

[izzie]

20. I know you are right and I am wrong but I really have trouble

with this. I get into vote and I think better Gore than Bush so I vote Gore. When I wanted Nader.I also think every vote counts. It is hard to fight the power elite that is for sure. Nader would not have us in a war but I am not so sure what Gore would do. I do not think he would have but he is for a lot of the stuff that is tearing this country apart. No power for the people and deals to big business and the military

[patrice]

5. It's all about the partys and the partys are all about power.

Until you make up your own mind what to do and go out into the streets and do it.

[Reckon]

6. republican or republican lite?...

yeah right, that's what the wingnuts want!

[Nikki Stone 1]

7. I've been wondering about this myself; I am reminded of Hillary Clinton on

CNN's old "Crossfire" show. The ever useless Tucker Carlson had bet tht he would eat his shoe if Senator Clinton's book sold over a million copies. It did, and Clinton showed up in a surprise visit (engineered by James Carville) and brought Carlson a shoe cake. She made a comment whose exact words I forget, but the jist of it was that behind all the partisan fighting in Washington, both parties were actually rather friendly and got along rather well.

It's one thing to get along well, and it is another thing to support the opposition candidate. I think Joe Lieberman is reliable on issues that matter to the powers that be: national security, foreign policy, in other words, the creeping domestic repression and the global "smash and grab" for countries with resources. Lamont must be really scaring the crap out of the entrenched powers that be. First is the attempt to bully Democrats into voting for Lieberman, both by the Democrats and Republicans. Then, there is the smearing of Lamont (the hacker) and his supporters (left wing pajama-clad bloggers and insurgents). This is all to set the stage for the general election. Lieberman will stay as an independent, as the spoiler. The Republican candidate will sail to victory over a besieged Lamont campaign.

Someone mentioned that CT did not have Diebolt. This explains why this primary is so "in your face" in terms of its dirty tactics. Count on CT being fined for being behind on HAVA and being forced to swallow Diebolt voting. God forbid a state like CT disrupts the plans of the smash and grabbers.

[Kurovski]

22. She should have made Carlson eat his damn shoe already.

If it's good enough for Charlie Chaplin, it's good enough for Tucker.

[Selatius]

11. Democrats and Republicans are virtually the same on certain issues

If you want an example where they're virtually identical, just look at US foreign policy between, say, 1945 and now.

How many democratic nations has this government destroyed, in our name, for the wealthy interests of bankers and industrialists? How many more nations must we bomb and dismember and eviscerate to satisfy the war lust and greed lust of the corporatists?

This is not just a fight about the Iraq War. This is a fight over foreign policy, and the corporatists have won the majority of battles in this arena to the detriment of us poor souls who have to fight their fucking wars.

To be sure, there are anti-war Democrats, but they are too few in Congress, and they are not heard in the corporate news media, and too many who hold power offer only weak or marginal criticism of the pure injustice of what our foreign policy has wrought.

[Protagoras]

12. I really hope this win for Lamont reframes the whole 06/08 race

because our party isn't going to accomplish much if we don't define ourselves as radically different not just on a few issues but on the CORE Philosophy that guides this nation.

Anti-Corporatist, Anti-Empire, Pro Individual Human Rights...

Progressive, Liberal, and Populist.

These are the ideas we need to pound on.

I'm Pro-Peace but I think it is time for some Class Warfare.

[MrBenchley]

13. Oh, Unknown Millionaire, save us from the rich!

This might be the funniest thread I've seen on DU in a long long time.

[Protagoras]

15. Thanks for the confirmation

sometimes you gotta wait for the right bird to chirp to know it's spring.

[MrBenchley]

16. Always happy to show how ridiculous the far left is

"Affluent = Lamont, blue collar = Lieberman. "

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/08/turnout-may-be-favoring-lamont-vs.html

[WCGreen]

14. And you were thinking what.....

Of course it is...

At least the dems play lip service to the needs of the common folk...

Why do you think the Estate Tax went over so big....

Cause all those bastards in Washington want to preserve the nest egg for their kiddies so they too can grow up and run for office....

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Chomsky is stating the obvious about our oligarchy.

[sweetheart]

18. it proves entropy

Rigid structures break down with time.

Rules connived in a paradigm of neoliberal consensus are still valid however, and neoliberalism continues
as the driving pacifier in the baby's mouth.

[Raydawg1234]

19. Bingo

[paparush]

21. Only two kinds of pols: Incumbents and Challengers..on Democracy Now

this evening on the drive home..

[mhatrw]

23. The Party's Over, Joe!

We are crashing this bash!