Hey Joe, Where You Gonna Go?

Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) that is. Where you gonna go after really stinking up the joint with your speech? Maybe you'll go south, Mexico-way; ain't nobody gone find you there. But wherever you go, take Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with you.

Vinegar Joe just gave one of the most poorly received speeches in modern political history. Lieberman GAGs (guaranteed-applause getters) included huzzahs for the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the pivotal Democratic role in creating the Department of Homeland Security. By the end of the speech, Lieberman's turkey neck was the only thing clapping in the hall. The final indignity: The convention dj played "Shout" once he got off the stage.

Pelosi is working through a labored comparison/contrast essay ("Democrats have it right…") that makes the Goofus and Gallant dualism in Highlights For Children seem positively brilliant.

Is it just me, or is the DNC starting to resemble the bleary-eyed tail end of a crank binge? Here's hoping (for their sake, not the country's) that they can rouse themselves for one final hurrah for the Bay State Bloviator, who rumor has it arrived in Boston Harbor yesterday by walking on water.

Comments

[The Lonewacko Blog]

The loony left doesn't like Lieberman. That doesn't mean others should join with them.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm listening to Pelosi's speech on the radio. There's something about the tone of her voice that's both grating and sleep inducing at the same time.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the people who've given the best speeches this week are the people who either were preachers or who appear to have spent a good deal of time listening to preachers. Really, all you politicians out there, if you want to energize people with your scary speaking skills, don't hire a better speech writer, rather, go to your local church and pick up some style. What they taught you in law school may sound good to judges and law professors, but most people aren't judges or law professors.

...now Pelosi's telling us that she's been a victim of both the Nazis and the Communists, but, somehow, the story of her escape is about as interesting as listening to my girlfriend talk about what happened at work today...which means it's not very interesting.

[Chris]

Given Lieberman's penchant for decrying the state of the culture and using government to "jawbone" entertainment enterprises into self-censorship, I think he is one subject where libertarians can safely agree with the "loony left."

I thought the Democrats had a strong, disciplined convention going the first two nights. Lots of focus on the war on terror and Kerry's qualifications to be Commander in Chief.

Unfortunately for the Democratic Party, where their convention started to go off the rails was when their vice-presidential nominee spoke.

The most effective speakers may have been preachers, but the least effective speaker (Edwards) both looked and sounded like a TV evangelist, promising us heaven on earth paid for by eliminating waste and red tape (does any politician really think we buy the "red tape" thing any more?).

The Democrats looked like a party moving to the center and emphasizing security til last night. After Edwards' recitation of a minimum wage hike, a tax credit for this, and a tax credit for that; they look like the same ol' Dems again.

[Will]

I've been fan of the convention so far... but yeah... Lieberman & Pelosi killed me. Bleck.

Now those Kerry daughers... meow!

[The Lonewacko Blog]

You know what I'd like to see right now? A yahoo news photo of the two Kerry daughters. It was a profile with them smiling at a campaign stop in IL or MO, perhaps at a 7/4 celebration. If I'd been there I would have offered them an apple or a sugarcube.

[SR]

Dan, Rick, don't fight, you can both be correct! Lieberman is a crypto-fascist, combining the worst of Left and Right, which also explains why he gets along so well with out-of-the-closet fascists like John McCain.

[JAG]

KentInDC

Grew up in Georgia, watched the preachers on tv from time to time. It didn't take long to figure out that they weren't selling salvation as much as selling themselves.
Saw through Clinton day one on exactly the basis you note. Maybe my new northern neighbors don't understand this shtick having no perspective on these con men.

[Dan]

On domestic concerns, Lieberman IS part of the loony left

Reality check: Lieberman was a strong supporter of the 1996 welfare reform act, which the left HATED. He also favors:

- capital gains tax cuts for small businesses
- "Individual Development Accounts" as a replacement for the current system of handouts
- partial privatization of Social Security
- building more prisons
- the death penalty (for adults AND minors)
- limits on death penalty appeals
- mandatory minimum prison sentences
- limits on punitive damages in product liability suits
- limits on class-action lawsuits
- increased penalties for drug offenses
- some school vouchers
- a "moment of silence" in public schools

These are all major domestic concerns on which he has taken regularly taken right-wing positions. That's a pretty strange member of the Loony Left!

Certainly Lieberman has many left-wing positions; if he didn't, he'd belong to the Republican Party instead of the Democrats. But it's plain wrong to paint him as a member of the loony left. Yeah, he favors lots of spending, paid for by further soaking the rich, but so does the entire Democratic Party. He differs in that he favors increased military and law-enforcement spending, too -- hardly a left-wing position to take.

[Rick Barton]

Dan, SR

In my post, I should have added that, if true, Liebermans positions favoring capital gains tax cuts for small businesses, partial privatization of Social Security and some school vouchers (but the Feds shouldn't have anything to do with K-12 education) are laudable ones.

But, some of the other positions that Dan listed are symptomatic of a big government mentality consistent with the hard left. Note that Katrina vanden Heuvel, the editor of The Nation, said that a positive result of 9/11 was that government would be cast in a more favorable light!

[KentInDC]

Ken Shultz,
You are so right. I went to Washington & Lee's mock convention in 2000 and J.C. Watts was a speaker. I have no idea what the point of his speech was except that it had something to do with a dead kid. However, the mostly Northern & urban undergrads thought it was the greatest speech ever and were overcome with emotion. It was obvious that none had ever been to a revival.

I had an acquaintance who said he watched televangelists with the sound turned off to improve his presentation skills. I think one reason Clinton and Edwards fare better with Northerners is that most Southerners have been exposed to their brand of hucksterism all their lives.

[Rick Barton]

Dan,

Lieberman's voting record on government spending is quite a bit worse than simply "favoring lots of spending", which would be bad enough.

[Rick Barton]

"The loony left doesn't like Lieberman."

On domestic concerns, Lieberman IS part of the loony left. The idiot almost never misses an opportunity to vote for throwing tax dollars into government projects.

On international issues, he's into Heavy Meddle. The guy is the worst of both worlds as is evidenced by the "F"s he receives from the NTU for his big spending ways:

http://www.ntu.org/main/components/ratescongress/details_all_years.php3?senate_id=21