[Back to Columns & Stories]

Democratic process an annoyance to Lieberman
ANDY THIBAULT

Norwich Bulletin
Published August 20, 2006

Some people like democracy -- except when it actually happens. When they are challenged, they say things like, "Let's not get partisan" or "Let's not make this political." This is a sure sign something is up. Hold on to your wallet. Turn on the baloney detector.

What they are really saying is, don't challenge me. Leave me alone; I'll take care of you.

This brings to mind the giant sucking-up sound of Phony Joe Lieber-Rove Loserman saying, "We undermine the president's credibility at our nation's peril."

Think about it. Is this not one of the all-time greatest anti-democratic statements ever made? In time of war, we need more free speech -- not less. Citizens need to exercise citizenship and not tolerate wasteful spending of dollars and lives or illegal spying by big government.

And how could anyone undermine the president's credibility?

The message from Phony Loserman was to march in line quietly and let big government take care of you, whether by bankrupting the nation and destroying lives unnecessarily with the Iraq diversion or deciding when a family should pull the plug on a hopelessly debilitated loved one.

Then, to the infantile: "I think Big Bad Ned broke my toy" was the cry from Phony Loserman when his Web site went bonkers and splat. Boo hoo. Poor baby. Never mind the evidence or lack thereof.

Finally, to the ludicrous: Ned Lamont's victory in Connecticut's Democratic Senate primary will be celebrated "by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England," Phony Loserman asserted. More great hits emanate from the Rove-Cheney-Bush playbook as they try to cover up their own mess with whatever might stick. Do they really think the people of Connecticut are that stupid?

A more honest refrain for Lieber-Rove to sing would be, "My party left me and there's gonna be trouble. ..."

Ned Lamont stood up to power and gave the voiceless a voice. He said, "Stop, let's think about what is a phony war on terror and what is real security. What are good decisions and what are bad decisions on health care, education and infrastructure?"

Because of this, he is a "very dangerous" person.

As Phony Loserman does the funky chicken, convulsing on the facts and choking on his own bile, get ready for more wild punches out of nowhere. For the self-proclaimed Mr. Morality and the truth are strangers. It will only get worse as Lamont maintains grace under pressure and demonstrates himself to be a statesman in venues including Fox News Sunday.

Republicans like Lieber-Rove are good fighters. Lieber-Rove is nothing if not a good tactician. He ran rings around U.S. Sen. Lowell Weicker on the right and left simultaneously. Keep in mind these types of fights have nothing to do with reality, but everything to do with who can punch. In street fights like this, the James Bakers of the world flatten the Al Gores. Thankfully for Lamont, his campaign manager, Tom Swan, is a good puncher and perhaps a good multi-tasker.

Setting Lamont apart from many politicians is his ability to actually listen to people, whether it's a cop on the street trying to keep rally-goers out of traffic or a fair organizer compelled to tell the candidate more than he needs to know about an event as supporters stand by.

"My party" has been hijacked by extremists, the sorry, pompous old fool said. But, who is the real extremist? The fiscal conservative and accomplished businessman who won the primary or the hack who caters to the fascist impulses of the sanctimonious and the power elite?

Sadly, Phony Loserman has become what he painted Lowell Weicker as in 1988: Nobody's Man But His Own.


Thibault, author of "Law & Justice In Everyday Life" and a private investigator, is a mentor in the Master of Fine Arts writing program at Western Connecticut State University, consulting editor for the literary journal Connecticut Review and adjunct professor at the University of Hartford's Hillyer College. His column appears Sundays. Web site: www.andythibault.com
. Blog: http://cooljustice.blogspot.com


LINK:
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060820/OPINION/608200320&SearchID=73254331318167

Back to Top