There were numerous reasons for Tuesday's once seemingly impossible victory by Ned Lamont in Connecticut. There was George W. Bush's infamous slurp of Joe Lieberman's cheek, and all the other times they have figuratively made sweet music together on everything from a sham energy bill to Samuel Alito (voting for cloture was the real vote). There is the fact that Joe Lieberman has been more comfortable tending to the tastes of Connecticut Avenue than the needs of Connecticut. And there is an anti-incumbent mood swirling around this nation, which also helped bring down an incumbent Democratic Congresswoman and incumbent Republican Congressman in party primaries.
But no matter how much Ken Mehlman laughably flaps his gums about Democrats being "anti-national security," due to the sane Democratic voters of Connecticut deciding to oust Lieberman, it's obvious that Republicans are wetting themselves at their weenie-roasts in their McLean, VA mansions because they finally realize something very important: Democrats are now united in their opposition to the Bush strategy of "staying the course." In a war where we are suffering from some serious Joementum.
And more importantly 60% of the country agrees, with only 36% supporting the Republican position of sending their kids to college while shipping other people's kids off to fight unnecessary, America-weakening wars. Most of this 60%, like myself I assume, are not anti-war when the cause is justified (see Afghanistan) and there is a real plan (see Bosnia), but anti-stupid wars started by ill-informed Republican miscreants. Were there enough small words for you to understand that Cokie, or shall I repeat?
And if the GOP thinks this is just a Connecticut phenomenon, they may want to look at the polling around the state where Mehlman gave his 2004-retro speech. That would be Ohio. Where Senator Mike DeWine tried to use doctored photos of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in a commercial to falsely portray Democratic nominee Sherrod Brown is weak on defense, because he was, um, smart and opposed the Iraq War and has consistently been clear about his position.
Well in the latest poll, it seems he is being rewarded for that stance (among other courageous positions like his opposition to equally stupid trade deals), much like Ned Lamont was Tuesday, with a somewhat shocking 49% to 41% lead over an incumbent. See a pattern here?
Maybe DeWine can try to one-up 2004 and put an anti-gay club-hopping measure on the Ohio ballot for some needed distraction from his Bush-hugging. Oh, no wait, they have something else figured out of course.
Since I began writing this piece last night, the airlines have been put on CODE RED for the first time ever because of a plot to take down planes flying from England to the United States (New York and Washington included, the places that got their DHS funding cut to protect real targets like pig farms in Kentucky). And it happened right after Lieberman lost. And Ken Mehlman made his speech. After not having their ridiculous color-coded warning system change since about the last election if memory serves. What a coincidence!
I am sorry to have to be so skeptical, but the timing is just too perfect. See Keith Olbermann's analysis of these "coincidences" in the past. Or former DHS Secretary Tom Ridge's statement that "...there were times when some people were really aggressive about raising it, and we said 'for that?'" I'm not saying there was no plot. Just wondering about the timing of our notification and the decision to raise the threat level.
The Bush Administration knows that Lamont's victory sends a strong signal. People have figured out that Republicans are the ones who have placed us in peril with their inane, neoconservative policy of acting as judiciously on the world stage as Dick Cheney does with a shotgun. So let the attempted manipulation begin.