Howard Zinn on the nearsightedness of looping the loop when it comes to political manoeuvring: leave the politics to the politicians and act based on principles.

There's more...

If you are beginning to kick your Obama habit, a dose of news of real progressive action might help:

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), the most liberal of the Democratic presidential candidates in the primary field, declared in a letter sent to his Democratic House colleagues this morning that he plans to file articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.

On the right, a candidate that corresponds to values this well would be celebrated. But not if our greatest "value" is "electability".

There's more...

Democrat Nita Lowey, chair of House panel overseeing foreign aid spending, has announced that she is holding up $86 million in aid to Palestine. She has, we are told, "serious questions".

There's more...

Chris Bowers writes, under the title On Increased Entry Costs In The Progressive Blogosphere on the growth of the "blogosphere" and where it stands today. His analysis I believe is quite incomplete and in some ways fundamentally flawed.

There's more...

AP says Tester wins:

Democrats erased the Republican Senate majority Wednesday with a cliffhanger victory in Montana, hours after taking control of the House in an election that delivered a rebuke of GOP scandal, the Iraq war and the course of a nation. [...] In Montana, Democrat Jon Tester, a organic grain farmer who lost three fingers in a meat grinder, prevailed in a protracted contest with three-term Sen. Conrad Burns, who was weakened politically by his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Does anyone know how to get a real link for one of those AP links that wraps the article into a newspaper site of their choice? FWIW, here is a link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/E LN_ELECTION_RDP?SITE=NCMOR&SECTION=H OME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Via Leiter Reports, an article from SFGate:

An editorial scheduled to appear on Monday in Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times and Marine Corps Times, calls for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Follow the SFGate link for text from the editorial.

Didn't see any mention of this:

WNBC: Lamont Narrows Gap In Connecticut Senate Race

There's more...

New York Times endorses Menendez for NJ Senate:

New Jersey voters have a choice between a lawmaker who has done a good job of representing the state's concerns and the nation's interests in the House and the Senate and a state legislator with a shallow grasp of the issues and a famous name. Our unqualified endorsement goes to Robert Menendez.

There's more...

In a heartfelt post, Matt Stoller rails against the DC Democrats, for their positions on the Lamont-Lieberman race:

Make no mistake, these DC Democrats are only our temporary allies. They have total contempt for the rules of the party, and they cheered Joe after he faced us in the primary. It is no longer reasonable for them to call for party unity, because they no longer have any legitimate claim to call themselves leaders of the party. They may be leaders for the next few decades simply due to inertia, but it's very clear that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are liars who think nothing of insulting Democratic primary voters who play by the rules.

This is commendable honest analysis. What, however, can we say of the new group of Democratic challengers for the House and Senate? The above criticism seems equally true of many of them, who hold positions counter to liberal/progressive ideals and goals, and arguably are in the running due to this "centrism". From the New York Times, an article that brings up this disturbing question:

In their push to win back control of the House, Democrats have turned to conservative and moderate candidates who fit the profiles of their districts more closely than the profile of the national party. [...] But if candidates like Mr. Shuler do help the Democrats gain majority control of Congress, it could come at a political price, which may include tensions in the party between its new centrists and its more liberal political base. While Democratic leaders have gone to great lengths to promote the moderate views of these candidates, some, like Mr. Shuler, have views on issues like gun control and abortion that are far out of step with the prevailing views of the Democrats who control the party. On some issues, they may even be expected to side with Republicans and the Bush White House.

There's more...

New York Times endorses Lamont for CT Senate:

The fatal problem with Mr. Lieberman's candidacy is not that he was wrong about the invasion, but that he has not shown any capacity to grow and change. Suggesting that getting rid of Donald Rumsfeld might be a good idea is hardly a breakthrough at a time when the secretary of defense's supporters are pretty much limited to the president and members of the Rumsfeld family.

Mr. Lieberman has changed his tone but not his underlying conviction that he has been right all along. He and Mr. Bush are still on the very same page, encouraging the American people to believe that there is a happy ending for American involvement in Iraq, and that all it takes is the perseverance to keep marching toward the end of the rainbow.

Ned Lamont has run a far less polished campaign than Mr. Lieberman, but the more we see of him, the more impressed we are by his intelligence and his growing sophistication about the issues facing the nation. He is very much in the Connecticut mold of basically moderate, principled politicians, and his willingness to take on Mr. Lieberman when no one else dared to do it showed real courage and conviction. He would make a good senator. More important, he has the capacity to continually become a better one. We endorse Ned Lamont for Senate.