Democracy for Vancouver

7 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

1. I’ve been shaky on Baird for awhile, but this really seals the deal for me. He won’t get my vote next time around, regardless who is running against him. I promise.

   What a sell out.

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   1. Above comment written by greenm1981 on August 23rd, 2007 at 2:26 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

2. Rep. Baird needs to start listening to his Republican colleagues:

   Virginia Sen. John Warner said Bush should “announce on the 15th that in consultation with our senior military commanders he has decided to initiate the first step in a withdrawal of our forces.”

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   2. Above comment written by bushtool on August 23rd, 2007 at 3:01 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

3. He’s everywhere, and not in a good light.

   http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/08/23/bush-dog-brian-baird/#comments

   http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=922

   http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/8/22/94647/5187

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   3. Above comment written by arturo on August 24th, 2007 at 5:29 am (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

4. Oh, forgot one,

   http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/08/23/dodd-nails-it-bush-dog-democrats-updated/#more-20607

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   4. Above comment written by arturo on August 24th, 2007 at 5:32 am (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

5. Don’t forget this one (close to home) among many others:
   
   http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3341/9434/

   Be careful what you say.

   I like this comment over at the Kos:

   Apologies to Those Who’ve Heard This Rant Before (0 / 0)

   We have to put our time and money where our mouth is. We do that by replacing these lame excuses for politicians with ones that actually have spine.

   Join me in promoting liberal candidates by building our Liberal 50-State Strategy. You can do this by recruiting a candidate that is noticeably more liberal than the current office holder and running them in the next Democratic primary. This builds liberal muscle in the Democratic Party by focusing money and attention on candidates who will move the stake in the right direction. Candidates can be registered on Dkosopedia for any Congressional election in the Contenders Registry.

   By running our own set of candidates in the Democratic primaries, we put pressure on the current bunch to get with the program. They only thing they will respond to is the threat of being turned out of office in the next cycle if they don’t get moving. Let’s give them that option.

   Think, liberally.

   by Liberal Thinking on Wed Aug 22, 2007 at 09:14:56 PM PDT

   Chad Lupkes is also doing some great stuff:

   http://left.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
   
   http://campaigns.wikia.com/wiki/Campaigns_Wikia

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   5. Above comment written by bushtool on August 24th, 2007 at 8:46 am (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

6. Left wikia is a promising template resource, thanks for the link. Too bad there is no one in the Vs category yet. I saw mentioned the Skamania Dems (I think it was in a Kos thread) are spending some energy looking for a challenger. It is amazing what a small local grassroots team can do to change things. One of the most exciting blogs I followed last election was the Say No to Pombo! et al crowd. Here was a guy well entrenched, Richard Pombo, unseated by team work.

   I reread a labor blog post this am, where Baird discusses his “Healthy Americans” bill. I recognized a meme he uses frequently. In this context it was being used in reference to the uninsured, but I have seen him use it many times before, “personal responsibility.” He also used it in his explanation as to why he voted for the bankruptcy bill.

   I think it is important to parse this out, after all who isn’t for personal responsibility. Just what is responsibility? It is a tacit contract, an ethical obligation, a condition of being answerable for one’s own conduct. Sounds good. But it can also be fallacious. The assumption is the entity to which you are responsible is benevolent. So Rep. Baird is telling us we must answer to the banking/credit industries and the insurance industry for our naughty behavior.

   He wants people who are sooooo frivolous as to declare bankruptcy OR sooooo irresponsible to have no health insurance to pay the piper. Is it just me, or is he only focusing on half the equation. I would like to say that an American value is to reform Goliath before you reform David.

   If Rep Baird would have quickly followed up his bankruptcy vote with legislation demanding an end to predatory lending for instance he might have redeemed himself. If he turned his clout on reforming the goliath medical insurance industry before he took it out on us, perhaps I could extend a modicum of respect. Baird makes no reference or demands no reform from the medical industry, the pharmaceutical industry or the credit-lending industry. You see, it is all OUR fault. I find his approach disturbing, and deeply unsettling.

   Near as I can tell all the meme personal responsibility’ is the prelude phrase to the subsequent bend over’ clause.

   What do you want to bet he uses it with Iraq.

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   6. Above comment written by arturo on August 24th, 2007 at 11:00 am (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

7. [quote post="780"]Near as I can tell all the meme personal responsibility’ is the prelude phrase to the subsequent bend over’ clause.[/quote]

   Great post, Arturo. It seems Baird has the attention of everyone today, liberals and conservatives alike. Hope he is enjoying the attention because he is most certainly losing some support in the process.

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   7. Above comment written by bushtool on August 24th, 2007 at 11:55 am (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).