Please, don't make me choose....again....

Actually life can be pretty simple.

If we do our jobs, collect our paycheck, pay our bills, buy that extra special "thing" we've always wanted, (or maybe just fantasize about buying it), turn off the TV news, let the newspapers and magazines pile up on the scrap paper rack...well, life can be pretty easy.

If that's all we do, then we won't have to inconvenience ourselves with tough moral decisons; we won't have to inconvenience ourselves by doing "doors" or making phone calls; we won't have to spend any of that money we were putting away for that special "thing" by giving it to a candidate or cause. We will only be forced to leave this comfortable, almost blissful environment, if we choose to....and that's a tough choice.

as fellow blogger "kpete" has to say:

On edit: actually, kpete was quoting from a Washington Post editorial, it appears here

The time has passed for what a New York Times editorial aptly characterized as Sen. Joseph Lieberman's "warped version of bipartisanship, in which the never-ending war on terror becomes an excuse for silence and inaction." People don't want Democratic politicians whose grotesquely nuanced positions on issues make their utterances incomprehensible or meaningless or both.

They want a new direction.The pendulum is swinging, driven by the all-too-apparent shortcomings of the Bush administration. To paraphrase a great Democrat, the only thing Democratic leaders have to fear is timidity in the face of opportunity.

There is that awful, nagging feeling that kpete is right. This is a time for opportunity and the time to choose. We can remain comfortable or we can rise to the opportunity. We can be bold or we can be comfortable.

What happened Tuesday in Connecticut was a watershed moment for the Democratic Party. Ned Lamont's victory over Lieberman was NOT the work of left-wing radicals and wild-eyed bloggers (yo...that would be....me?) kicking a "centrist" out of the party. It was the voice of the rank-and-file Democrats saying precisely what the NY Times and kpete said above.

I am struck by the comments made by nationally known Democrats on the Lamont victory....and my political senses tell me that something is changing.

Russ Feingold didn't hesitate to endorse Lamont, and, in fact, sent him $5,000 from his PAC.

And take a look at this quote from the normally centrist and cautious Rahm Emmanual. :

“This shows what blind loyalty to George Bush and being his love child means,” said Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the leader of the Democratic House Congressional campaign. “This is not about the war. It’s blind loyalty to Bush.”

My gut reaction to this is that the "finger-in-the-air" politicians have picked up on the change in the political winds and will soon be joining the chorus of those who have been considered "outside the mainstream" for so long.

We, the rank-and-file of our local party organization, will soon be asked to choose which course we want to take.

Dammit...............

Just when I was getting comfortable again.

another edit note: I've "uploaded" two images so far this morning and blogger won't print either of them...

grrrrrrr....................