Josh Marshall. has some great words too.

For every Democrat -- probably as much for those who didn't share his politics as for those who did -- Wellstone was a special treasure: a sort of genuinely progressive, utterly engaged and sincere politician who somehow captured what was essential in the aspirations of his party, even if supported policies that others didn't. ("I'm from the Democratic party-wing of the Democratic party," he got fond of saying in the late 1990s ...) One thinks of his vote against welfare reform in 1996, on the eve of his first run for re-election. Whatever you think of the merits of that vote -- and history has been kinder to the supporters of the bill than the opponents, on balance -- no other Senate Democrat who was up for re-election that year had the nerve to make the vote that he did -- though many of them thought the way that he did. He did something very similar this year on Iraq. And in recent days it seemed conviction was making for good politics.

This just puts it beautifully.

I've spent the last hour trying to find a way to fill this space. There are few times in my life where I am rendered speechless, and this is one of them.

My heart is heavy, not just for Wellstone, or his family, but for our nation. Hate him or love him, Wellstone was the conscience of the Senate. At a time when Senators from both parties use "morality" to grandstand on pet issues, Wellstone was unapologetic in his compassion, was unabashedly progressive, and true to his ideals in the face of intense political pressures. His opponents accused him of having a short list of accomplishments, but that's because he wouldn't compromise on his ideals. Perhaps that made him weak as a politician, but as a human being he had few parallels.

I'm really don't know what to .

Wednesday, October 23, 2002

This looks promising. I wish something would pan out.

What Is a Liberal?

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

Dowd 100; Bushies 0.

"I am the chairman of your Defense Policy Board," an amused Richard Perle replied. "I am an adviser to Rumsfeld, a friend of Wolfowitz's and a thorn in Powell's medals. Je suis un gourmand, Monsieur le President. I have always dreamed of opening a chain of fast-food soufflé shops based on a machine that would automatically separate eggs, beat the yolks and combine them with hot milk and sugar, add the desired flavorings, whip the whites until stiff, fold them into the mixture and bake in individual pots without human intervention. Then conveyor belts would bring the glass-enclosed ovens to the table and patrons would get to see their meals rise. I've never found investors smart enough to realize the dazzling ingenuity of the Perle Soufflé Doctrine. Meanwhile, I'm killing time trying to get your foreign policy to rise. I'm known as the Prince of Darkness."

Moveon.org gets some publicity.

MoveOnPAC.org, an Internet site, raised more than $1 million this week for four members of Congress that the group calls "heroes."

The biggest recipient is Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., who hauled in nearly $600,000 after the MoveOn Web site started soliciting donations on Monday, said Wes Boyd, who co-founded the San Francisco-based site and serves as treasurer of its political action committee.

Democratic Rep Rush Holt of New Jersey received more than $170,000, Boyd said, while Reps. Rick Larsen and Jay Inslee of Washington state each received more than $150,000.

Question: Given this story, how bad can it be if the Democrats officially become the anti-war party? I don't believe it's going to happen, but it seems to me that this war can only go badly, and at the risk of politicizing the war, it should be pretty good for Democrats to ratchet up their opposition. Of course this is all assuming that logic rules here, which it sadly does not.