It says that the Right's message was correct: Dems are spineless wimps who don't stand for anything, and can't be trusted with having the balls to fight for what is right.

Peter Dauo was right: we're on our own.

The Dems voting for closure are crazy like foxes. If Roe is overturned by 2008, maybe the majority Democratic base will get off their asses and go vote for once.

They're not seen as representative of any sizeable group of voters.

Having a blogosphere is nice, but it doesn't replace winning Presidential elections?

It says it's "Lefty."

It says that the Democrats, unlike the Republicans, are not in the pocket of activists.

It sounds like a bad thing, until you look at who's winning. But hey, I'm sure the Dems know best.

That they don't have superpowers? Christ, what a phenominally loaded question.

6 words: Unfortunately, they do have some influence.

(Well, they wouldn't do too bad listening to some of Kevin's advice as opposed to Kos.)

Hillary hurt herself badly for 2008. Kerry was pretty smart to smoke her out like this but it will do them no good in the general election. The lefty blogs are dragging the party left and it will make the 2008 decision much more clear if you succeed. I think it's a loser but clarity is good.

It sounds like a bad thing, until you look at who's winning. But hey, I'm sure the Dems know best.

Self-identified liberals are outnumbered by self-identified conservatives by 3-2 in the US. Do the math and you can figure out why a party that caters to the latter starts out in better shape than a party that caters to the former.

That they're so gullible, even someone as politically incompetent as kerry can play 'em for fools with a transparently ersatz martyr filibuster attempt.

KEVIN - Tee only reason a filibuster even happened is because of the "lefty blogosphere." The leaders planned nothing, the Senators didn't want to do it - we FORCED it.

I think that's pretty good. So go ahead and wallow in your smug cynacism. You did nothing.

I think the fact that the left wing blogosphere has put more energy into getting Chris Matthews to apologize to Michael Moore than building grassroots support for the filibuster tells you all you need to know about the misspent angry energy of the medium.

Read more at:
Rolling Stone : National Affairs Daily:

I'm sorry. I love progressive blogs. But this campaign to boycott MSNBC advertisers until Chris Matthews apologizes for rhetorically linking Osama bin Laden and Michael Moore is utter horseshit...

This whole episode is tempest in a teapot. Which, in part, is what makes it so disappointing. If these bloggers, as members of the new Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy, want to flex their collective muscle, why not direct that strength at something that matters?

Like ... encouraging their readers to call their Democratic Senators to bolster support for a filibuster of Sam Alito. Surely that would be a more noble cause than making angry calls to TurboTax ad execs.

I have great respect for the citizen pundits who run these blogs. I just wish they would recognize their true strength, and stop thinking so small.

The defeat means that the democratic Senators still didn't take us seriously. We're not organized, not in lockstep, but we're pretty big and growing. They'll be a bit more nervous next time.

I hope.

In 5,000 words or less, what does this say about the influence of the lefty blogosphere?

Long live King George!

Exactly, Troy. Too bad Kevin is too blind to see it.

Prince Richard: He's here. He'll get no satisfaction out of me. He isn't going to see me beg.
Prince Geoffrey: My you chivalric fool... as if the way one fell down mattered.
Prince Richard: When the fall is all there is, it matters.

It matters how we lose, Kevin. Better to put up a fight, any kind of fight, than just show our belly like a dog.

The influence question is debatable. More interesting and to the point, maybe: Why does the SCLMSM hate them so much?

I'm with Troy. It showed that from Thursday to Monday, the "lefty blogosphere" could move the vote count from 0 to 25, and that's excluding the "no on cloture if we have the votes". I'm guessing the "real" number was in the high thirties. That's frankly impressive.

And yeah, if you look strictly at results, Dems have been pretty pathetic. But I think the base has been galvanized. And not the just base -- hell, I'm no Democrat. 15 years ago, I was a republican. Now I'm left of most the Dems.

Point is, the Republicans have moved *way* to the right, and the ordinary people are starting to notice it.

And we're pissed.

It says less about the leftblog than it does
the dems. The opposition to Alito seemed to
lack a direction and focus. The hope was,
that during the hearings there would be some
"smoking gun" ferreted out by the glib and
clever lawyers asking probing questions.

Since Bork, that has not worked. If an appointee
has an agenda, it can be whittled and evasionary.

In essence, taking the 5th is a winning strategy,
and the dems should have known this, and planned
accordingly. I salute the courage of Kennedy and
Kerry, but 'guts ain't enough".

Alito was lost weeks ago. Poor framing aimed at rewarding specific big donor groups set the Alito opponents up for failure. The Senators knew it going in. That is why they didn't fight very hard or very well. The simply knelt before their donor groups and paid the obligatory homage. I am sure they will all collect their money.

Wasn't it Harry Reid that said, its hopelessness three days ago, "there is isn't enough votes" - they should they would filibuster Alito before now. But the Dems didn't - Harry Reid is no leader and congressional Dems are not listening to us and HAVEN'T BEEN FOR A VERY LONG TIME.

There is very little Howard Dean can do with a loser group like this - they prefer being the losers, playing the victims, but they clearly didn't have to be the victims in this case.

NOBODY should care what congressional Democrats think - who cares what Obama said or that he thinks - I don't want a lecture from my congress member - if there is any lecturing to be done - it should come from us and NOT our elected official. If Obama can't manage to represent us - perhaps he should NOT be in congress and that goes for other Dems too, those whom would tell us how to behavior.

Our congress members are there to represent us - not to belly ach to us about how they just can't manage anything. We elect them to do what we want, what we say, not what they want. GOP supports get tough with their Representative - it's time for us to get tough with ours, since they just can't follow simply directions. What Kos is doing to Lieberman the right way to go - we need more of that fine tuning. Our representaives are NOT royality - they are suppose to serve us - not themselves and they get paid darn good money to do it too.

Did I say "collect their money." I meant to say "collect their donations."

It says the lefty blogosphere has arrived, will be heard, and will continue to have an impact.

The lopseidedness only occurred as a CYA maneuver once they knew the cloture vote would fail.

The lefty blogosphere isn't K Street and shouldn't aim for that. What we do best is dig out the truth and push the MSM to cover the truth and we're good at raising campaign funds for progressives.

We remain a populist movement. I can predict how the GOP reps will act and Dems will act. But we are the X factor, the greatest unknown with the greatest potential to obtain real change.

The pro-filibuster Senator count was probably higher than 25, but it was clearly lower than 40.

As usual with politicians taking votes, once it's clear what is going to happen, they switch to the "winning" side.

I'm assuming the redstate Ds all dropped their filibusters at the last minute.

"In 5,000 words or less, what does this say about the influence of the lefty blogosphere?"

We're more than halfway there!

It shows that the Democrats are as useless in Congress now as I was when I was in the White House in the late '70s.

I'm pretty conceited, so I'm happy to take credit for my party sliding steadily downwards since my election.

I love taking the anti-American side on issues, and it doesn't play real well in Peoria, but the New York Times sure does love me. Congressional Dems are the same: they say things that will lose them votes, but will win the invitations to fancy cocktail parties hosted by the Washington Post editors.

I think is shows that we managed to get at least some of these Senators to listen. And, as time passes, we'll get more. This is a fight for the heart of the party. GOP-lite is no longer safe for these people. And it's no longer good enough for us.

It says that it's pointless to try and convince spineless Dems who continue to listen to consultants and advisors who have engineered loss after loss for Democrats with the same spineless tactics all the time?

Oh wait, I guess the answer the trolls are looking for are because we're just too damn lefty or something.

So here's today's assignment: In 5,000 words or less, what does this say about the influence of the lefty blogosphere?

Nothing. I mean, I suspect more people were aware of it from lefty talk radio than the blogs.

It does say that the activist wing is still less powerful than the surrendrist wing of the party -- but that's about political factions not particular media. Though that the attempt occurred at all is a fairly significant indicator of growing strength in the activist wing of the party.

Better question: What does this say about America?

Well, the heartfelt objections to Alito are certainly understandable... what's not understandable is the utter contempt by some netroots for any center left position... Any word of caution, however civil, that the votes weren't there and that there would likely be a backlash to what would be perceived as a last second political stunt was met with a venomous outcry. One site went so far as to respond to such cautionary comments, with a message from the "webmaster" that no further posting from such memeber would be allowed. Sorry there was no room for any contrary and more moderate view...

A bit more successful than pork busters, at least.

It says:

I wonder why Kevin waited until after the vote to write his first piece.

Was he hedging his bets?

Now, if it was following the old rule, if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all, good for Kevin. But this post doesn't leave me with that impression.

Inquiring minds want to know?

We knew the odds were against us but it got us in the game and we are going to stay in the game.

Says next to nothing about the blogosphere. Says everthing about "moderate" Dems and their absurdly overpaid consulatants.

Take Maria Cantwell. How does this help her? How many of her supporters would back Alito? How many woul not vote for her bcause Tim Russert called her "obstructionist?"

I do think it's interesting that some Dems might want Roe overturned - witness how Prohibition crushed evangelical political activists for half a century.

It was too little too late. The Dems played it politically, following not leading, and it cost them.

Failed? No way. Does anyone expect pamphleteers to have success in power politics? This is rare. What blogs and the internet have provided is alternative viewpoints and outside information. At the very moment when public media has converged on a monolithic narrative.

I have a South African friend whose family was deeply involved in the anti-apartheid campaign. He told me that you are not really involved in politics until someone wants to censor you or take your life. If the blogosphere has any real political power than someone will try to limit it, regulate it or intimidate the participants.

>and that there would likely be a backlash to what would be perceived as a last second political stunt

This backlash would take what form and happen where and affect what?

Give me a break. Stop thinking that the trick is to please the Washington Media. Hell, even Kerry's figured that one out.

wow...I've always found a lot of the criticism of Kevin from the left to be unfair, but this post makes me think they were right all along. What an incredibly smug and obnoxious post. What's the underlying message here? You seem to be saying that Kos et al were wasting their time, and that you're smarter because you did nothing.

What's the point of this blog, anyway? Are you actually trying to make a difference? You pontificate about this or that issue -- I don't have an opinion about this...just throwing it out there, etc. -- but don't actually make any effort to contribute something positive.

What a waste.

Kevin:

Not so lopsided really. 16 votes short on a free vote is not embarrassing to the blogs.

It is embarrassing to the Dems who voted Yes on cloture.

But you thought there were 25 votes for filibuster on thursday?

Rather an ginoroant post from you here KEvin. shows you were a bit late in following it. so was I, but still.

I feel like this came too late in the game, and after most of the media had stopped giving it much attention, to be very significant. I think the poor performance of Joe Biden and others in committee was much more damaging to the Democrats than losing a last-minute filibuster.

Further evidence of a cardinal rule of politics: Senators of long standing are almost uniformly screwed if they want to be President. Not that Kerry had any chance anyway, but Hillary is going to be subjected to more and more of these Hobson's choices over the next two years.

If the Democrats want to win the White House, they're advised to run somebody other than a sitting senator. On a related note, Barack Obama should run for governor of Illinois in 2008 rather than re-election if he ever intends to be president. More than one term will doom him, especially once his candidacy becomes more imminent and his rivals within the party start scheming against him.

Shinypenny,

Nice sort-of obscure reference. I love those lines from the Lion in Winter.

Completely apt.

The usual institutions were inexplicably awol on Alito. Most of the DC-based Dems would have been happy to lie down and let Bush and Alito walk over their necks.

Some of the filibuster effort was just an attempt by 2008 wannabes to gesture to the base -- but even so, without the net-based outcry there would have been no sense that this was an important way of appealing to the base.

So we lost this one. The netroots are young. So we'll keep them growing, and eventually we may be able to wrest control of the party from the quislings in Georgetown.

The lefty net is the best tool we have for widescale organizing of liberal money and advocacy actions. What's the alternative? Hope that Howard Dean can singlehandedly bring the party back to life? Hope that the psuedo-pros running the big shops will grow some spine? I'll put my money on the nascent netroots.

As someone who only started paying attention to politics after George Bush's Axis of Evil speech, I would say that the clock is ticking on the lefty blogosphere's chances at building up a real grassroots movement.

If George Bush leaves office with a sliver of his dangerous ideology intact, many people driven into politics by their hate for what he has done to the country we love will throw up their hands and go back to watching reality shows and Monday Night Football.

I put up with the shrillness of the likes of Kos and Atrios because I hold out the hope that they can actually make a big enough of a stink to help Americans wake up. If McCain is sitting in the oval office in '09, I doubt very much that I would bother ever again.

That being said, I would still read fafblog, Political Animal and Digby, because they hold their own regardless.

Sen. DeMint spent the time after nearly half of the Democratic caucus voted for cloture to give the President a big gift for the SOTU (RSVP Ms Alito!) bashing the Dems as too partisan.

Oh, nice job Barack. Bash the filibuster over the weekend and then vote against cloture when you knew it didn't matter. Half ass shit like that killed the Kerry campaign, so for now, a big NO to the first comments' proposed ticket.

1) I'm guessing they had a lot more votes (35+?) but after completing a count and coming up short they decided to let the senators go their own ways.

2) Kerry was the wrong man to step out in front. It became more about him and less about Alito. Any serious effort would have had to revolve around Reid or dems on the judicial committee. This looked too much like Kerry 2004 rehash or Kerry 2008 water testing.

3) Democrats would have looked more impotent and gutless if they stayed sitting.

4) The filibuster attempt probably brought out more no votes for tomorrow (Chaffee, Feingold, Leiberman, etc.) because voting no on Alito and yes on cloture is now the moderate position.

Exactly, NOT Troy.

There is little meaning of the words "a government of the people, for the people and by the people" if our congress fail to respond to our request.

That would amount to NO representation at all.

It matters very little that there maybe more conservatives out there. Republicans represent their own constituency, voted for by their own consitiuency and sometimes those rightwing Christain ideologues have even threaten Bush himself if he doesn’t do what they say.

I don't know why MoveOn.org hasn't started backing their own representive and threaten the ones that don't do what they want - they are certainly large enough to boycote any Democrate election instead just taking this constant criticism from their own Party representives in Washington.

If you find a lawyer that will not zealously represent you – you would not hesitate to fire the SOB.

Your congressman is NO different. If Washington Dems don’t want to represent us or if they simply are too afraid to do this – then we should fire them (not vote for them - and let them know this in know uncertain terms) and look for a congress members who will represent our views and our needs, like it or not. Washington Dems are not supposed to be getting paid to anything else BUT represent their elected voters.

Why have they gotten this basic idea, as Obama did, that they don't think have to do this?

Centrist Dems gave them that idea, I guess.

It's not alright for the guys to be cowards. If congressional cowards like Harry Reid can't even try to represent us - than he shouldn't be there in Washington at all.

Al From was afraid he'd lose his corporate campaign contributers because Howard Dean wasn't using funding via corporations and lobbiest - and there is alot to be said for that kind of government - Howard was "for the people" - Al From was for lobbiest.

Gee, global warming may be past the point of no return, Bush is gobbling up our civil liberties, Alito is a tool of the worst kind of GOP policy-cum-win-at-all-costs philosophy, there's genocide in Africa, war in Iraq, our jobs are on their way to China, real healthcare will soon be a memory -- and the posters on this comment thread are arguing over whether lefty bloggers or centrist democrats comprise the bigger bunch of pricks.

Is this really how we want to spend America's declining years, rearranging the deck chairs?

Atrios, at least, seems to have a firm grasp of how much power blogs have. It's just that blogs are all we've got. What do you suggest a liberal campaign start? Cable? Network? Print? Radio? Blogs are only part of the triangle. And their power will increase as they fill the vacuum left by the MSM. But an echochamber doesn't work if there's nothing to amplify the sound.

It says more about the aimless, unfocused aura of the Democratic Party than it does about the left blogosphere. This was the single most important issue of this term and they blew it. Alito and the court his vote will redirect is a horrific loss for the country and those people knew it and were intimidated. They are going to have trouble raising money and workers and they should.

In 5,000 words or less, what does this say about the influence of the lefty blogosphere?

If the lefty blogosphere wants the Democrats to stand in front of an onrushing train, half of them will do it. And the lefty blogosphere does want the Democrats to stand in front of an onrushing train.

The Democrats will survive as the lemmings survive; most will not follow this generation of leadership.

"what does this say about the influence of the lefty blogosphere?"

That so far, we make noise more than a difference.

FOCUS.

It says three things: (1) Fax machines don't have enough RAM, (2) Senators don't read e-mail, (3) Dem Senators are out of touch with the grass-roots.

This shows once again that elections have consequences.

You want different SCOTUS nominees. Win some elections.

Until then, stop whining.

First, when was the last time Limbaugh or Dodson were called to account for a campaign that didn't work out? Oh, that's right: never. Only the "left", for some reason, must take the blame for every twist and turn of DC politics and backstabbing.

Second - Kevin - you do understand that Neimoller's poem applies here in the US too? That after they come for the "commies", and the "socialists", and the "lefties", and the "lefty bloggers", they WILL come for the handwringing centrists too? And with Alito's accession, perhaps sooner than you might imagine.

In fact, IIRC in the Soviet Union handwringing centrists were given the worst treatment of all, usually being tortured to death rather than given a quick bullet in the neck, since NO ONE respected them.

Cranky

When we needed leaders to summon up the courage to lead the MAJORITY of Americans who want to protect a woman's reproductive rights and civil rights, they instead did the easy thing and hid behind the cringing media. What can we expect for legislators when it comes to making hard choices such as pulling out of Iraq, stopping environmental degradation before its too late, pressing for alternative fuels before its too late, curbing deficits, providing for the general welfare, finding medecine for everyone who needs it, etc., etc., But they are small people with large egos all. They find excuses before looking for answers. This mediocre representative democracy is what we deserve, the Franklins, the Roosevelts, the Adams' are long since displaced by Cornyns and Brownbacks.

It says that the lefty blogosphere still has much less influence than whatever is in the DC drinking water that makes Dems ashamed to stand for their principles.

It says Evan Bayh is running for president.

One word: inconsequential

Cheryl,
American political parties are not like European political parties; they are coalitions of diverse opinions and agendas. It is the enemy’s business to create dissent within the party, to get everyone to call the other heretic and failure. Generally speaking the activist part of the Democratic party, the anti-nationalist left, should have its independence.

I share Paul Krugman’s fatalistic view toward the Republican revolution. The electorate is misinformed or tuned out. By inclination and by design, it is the fate of prosperity and mass politics recognized long age during our first Gilded Age of swindle, scandal and bought office by Mark Twain who lamented the passing of the Founding Fathers and their civic virtue. Only out of disgust with the tide turn. I assure you that the Repubicans will not preside over a golden age.

Our problems are systemic. There should be no K Street, there should be proportional representation and no gerrymandering, transparent elections not overseen by interested parties. The Senate, the most undemocratic body in all the old democracies now that the House of Lords is on ice, should be reformed. We should have election day off. We should have a new constitution. This is all flatly mad. But it is where our problems can be found.

It says nothing about the blogosphere, and everything about the Boomer and Silent Generation Democrats still in charge in Washington.

They are failed elites, and must be replaced expeditiously.

It did remind me of why I rarely bother reading your blog, Kevin.

Reheated DC-wisdom with a dash of DLC-spin. It's loserriffic!

The way you put the question says a lot about you Kevin. You are just a provocateur, not ready to spend your "mainstream" credit on anything valuable to the country. Or maybe you believe that having Alito on the bench is a good thing ? Tell us the last cause that you embraced ? And what have you done for it ? Other than placing the fake "Al" and "tbrosz" on the comments to stimulate the conversation ?

The lefty blogosphere has more power than ever and is a huge problem for democrats. It allows the media theme to continuously be the democrat battle between blog extremists and "moderates," which will only exacerbate the battle and engrain the dreaded liberal label further on the democrats.

The only one I read occasionally is Kos and I am always stuck by how naive and/or juvenile the posts are -- including those by Kos. It is like reading high school stuff or writings by people who seem to have no realistic view of politics. It is a great example of an echo chamber as people fall all over themselves to praise one another and mostly agree with each other, without offering much in original thought.

The fillibuster appeared to be mostly a Kerry play to the far left. He posted on Kos and the response was people falling all other themselves stating how great Kerry was -- like they could not believe that such a famous person was actually posting on their blog.

It says that lefty bloggers underestimated the degree to which Democratic Senators are willing to give up our liberties to protect their jobs.

It Says: Your average Democratic Senator is smarter (politcaly) then your average leftist.

It's about the same impact all the righty bloggers that have begun their campaign for Shadegg to become Majority Leader are going to have.

Dear Kevin: The problem in this case has existed long before the blogosphere, or indeed before the Internet. The Democrats in Congress have been losers screwing the party they represent all my adult voting life.
1972: They stabbed McGovern in the back
1976-80: They fought Carter at every opportunity.
1993-1998: Did the same with Clinton until impeachment put their yellow, jealous, selfish backs to the wall.
2000: Couldn't wait to tell Gore, "so they stole an election, get over it."
2002: The Iraq vote.
2006: Alito. And you know and I know that most of the Dem votes to end cloture were out of personal bitterness at Kerry and no other reason.
The mid-term elections mean nothing. A majority composed of self-absorbed preening gutless pukes will accomplish no more than a minority of same. Until the party is purged of the careerist swine, it can do nothing.

The whole filibuster idea was dumb. Now Dems just look like idiots who couldn't get their opposition together straight. Oh well.

what does this lame post tell us about Kevin Drum?
----
absolutely worthless. you cheered the NY times call for a filibuster and then went quiet, while others made it happen. Then you pop up and carp about an "embarrassingly lopsided" loss. we went from 0 to 25 over a weekend.
F-you Kevin Drum. bookmark deleted.

I think it points out that the Dem's have issues, and they need to resolve those issues before the next election.

PLEASE, OH G-D, FOR THE LOVE OF COUNRTY AND HUMANITY PLEASE GET THOSE ISSUES STRAIGHTENED OUT!

The political choice isn't between liberals and conservatives. It's between progressives and conservatives.
Roosevelt, Kennedy and Clinton were progressives. Carter was the only real liberal and he was blowback from Nixon.
This is nothing against liberalism, it's just that government is inherently conservative.
Liberals like to ask questions. They make good teachers and reporters and scientists. Government, like religion, is about providing answers and conservatives are more structured.
Liberalism is social growth. Conservatism is civil consolidation.
There will be a reaction to Bush, but if it's just a mindless swing to the left(nothing against Carter, but remember the Boston Globe internal headline to an editorial, "More Mush from the Wimp", which was accidently run?), then it will swing back just as quickly. Remember Ronald Reagan?

I tell you guys....
The influence of you petty small timers in trying to drum up a filibuster was laughable (as results prove)

Compared to our SUCCESSFULL attemt to get Scalito
to replace Hariet Miers

I'm struck by how dreadful the performance of liberal issue groups was. We know that the party infrastructure is rotten, and that the media is hopeless. But I expected more from the various special-interest (NARAL, ACLU, PFtAW, etc.) groups. I mean, this was for control of the FRIGGIN' SUPREME COURT, the culmination of a 25-year effort by the Federalist Society to undo a century of liberalism. It's Armageddon, Gotterdammerung, and the final episode of "Cop Rock" all mixed together, and they pretty much just slept through it. Just what the fuck does NARAL *do* with all their contributions?

"in 5,000 words or less, what does this say about the influence of the lefty blogosphere?"

its says that 25% of the US Sneate is paying attention up from 0% 2 years ago. Next it will be 40%, and 65% after that. And since 35% of Americans are brain dead, bedwetting, little dick bush sycophant card carrying members of the cult of republicanism, that's about as good as yer ever gonna do.

It says that if you wait until the weekend before a vote to try to mau-mau elected officials into supporting your cause, you will certainly lose.

Still, lefty bloggers can always go back and start bullying the Post again.

SCALITO

I should also like to point out that the current bunch in charge are not conservatives, they are con artists.

Look, the bottom line is that everybody knew that guys like Sam Alito were the sort of judges President Bush liked... and 52% of the country voted for the guy anyway. The Senate's Republican. Realistically, the best you can expect is a holding action until some elections get won by candidates with (D) after the name. It's not a good place to be waging political warfare from, and you shouldn't expect to win a lot of these.

You want better judges, get the American people to vote for better Presidents and Senators. Until then, people will get what they vote for.

It says that the Democratic Party is gutless.

"""I'm glad the filibuster took place, because even in failure it puts a marker down for future court fights""

I AGREE, WITH 55 REPUBLICANS, THEY SHOULD JUST VOTE DOWN IN COMMITTEE EVERY DEMOCRAT PRESIDENTS NOMINEE. JUST CALL THEM EXTREME AND VOTE THEM DOWN, AND MAKE THEIR SPOUSE CRY FIRST.

The big question is why did the Democrats allow this rascist, biogotted, anti-constitutionalist sit on the appelate court for 15 years? Why didn't they impeach him? Why did they point out all of his Nazi-like ruling during the hearings.
Why didn't the show the pictures of him at Klan rallies (next to Bob Byrd), or beating prostutitues for fun on the weekends.

Why have they shared so little of the damning information with the public!!

I even hear Alito drowned a girl on an Island in the 60s and then ran home to set up his own alibi. Apparently his family connections covered it up..and he cheated in law school and got kicked out.

4 down, 5 to go...

I had a lot I wanted to say, but brian @7:18 pretty much nails it. I would add that cheryl, who I don't mean to pick on, comments above that "there is very little Howard Dean can do with a loser group like this--they prefer being the victims, playing the losers" Cheryl-having read your comments here for a long time, I think your heart is in the right place, but your assessment of the current political reality, and politics in general, is askew. For all the talk from Dean supporters, the reality is he has been an abject failure as a fundraiser(something like 5.5 million to 34. 5 million for the Republicans), his appearances in the national media usually result in "clarifications" and Democratic backpedalling, and I hold my breath fearing his next misstep. I know what it is like to be passionate about political principles and ideas, but politics is as much about perseverance and mathematics as it is about lofty flights of fancy. As a longtime liberal, I wish more people in the lefty blogosphere understood that truth.

Hail, Caesar Georgius!

One lefty blogosphere tactic that migh work some is their attackes on the MSM as right wing or conservative. The attacks are ridiculous (i.e., calling Matthews, Couric and the NYT right wing), but they may provide needed cover to the MSM. Liberal media for years have defended themselves by claiming both sides complained about them, so they must be objective. This permits them to point to lefty attacks.

I guess, according to this blog and its readers, that "left-wing" causes include being pro-choice, supporting the separation of church & state, being against torture, and for restricting the imperial power of the presidency.

Mainstream moderates, on the other hand, are pro-torture, anti-woman's rights and for an end to the right of privacy.

Thank God we shot down those commie lefties! Onward to Syria and Iran -- yippee!

Lefty Blogosphere 25, Vichy Democrats 20. That's how *I* see it.

But at least the lefty blogosphere *WANTS* Democrats to win (fights, battles, wars). I'm not confident one can say the same about (1) Vichy Democrats, (2) the Washington political/media establishment (not that they should root for anyone, but the way they enjoy specifically rooting against Democrats is particularly loathsome; why are they surprised when the LB tells them they suck?), and (3) snotty pseudo-independent establishment bloggers.

If anyone would prefer to believe a shoe doesn't fit them, they don't have to try it on.

You want better judges, get the American people to vote for better Presidents and Senators. Until then, people will get what they vote for.

BTW-They also voted for a Republican led house and Senate, so there isn't a lot to quibble with here....

Dicksknee
Maybe all you "mainstream moderates" will finally get a chance to vote your "pro-choice" values at the voting booth (you know- like they do in a democracy)

I'M CONFUSED, WAS WALMART BAD,
THE WORST,
TERRIBLE
OR JUST PLAIN NAZI-LIKE

WHEN HILLIARY CLINTON WAS ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS??

Dicksnee:
"""Mainstream moderates, on the other hand, are pro-torture""""

NOW THIS IS ENTIRELY UNFAIR AND MEAN SPIRITED.

WE ARE NOT PRO-TORTURE. WE ARE PRO-CHOICE. WE PREFER TO LEAVE THE DECISION UP TO THE INDIVIDUAL SOLDIER/CIA OPERATIVE, SINCE, LIKE A PREGNANT WOMEN, WE CAN'T POSSIBLY PUT OURSELVES
IN THEIR SHOES AND UNDERSTAND ALL THE THINGS THEY ARE GOING THROUGH.

I personnaly oppose torture, but my personal beliefs should not interfere in a soldier getting his mission accomplished.

If you can be pro-choice about killing an innocent baby, you can certainly be pro-choice about playing music too loud, or turning off the AC on a terrorist killer.

"In 5,000 words or less, what does this say about the influence of the lefty blogosphere?"

A lot. In the absence of the lefty blogosphere, this vote would have been 97 to 3 or thereabouts.

I think there's a big difference between influence and value. The various important people love to point out how few people are aware of bloggers. To large extent they're right. There's a certain vaulable political impunity in that. The lefty blogs can exert all sorts of pressure with no real consequence. Let's review what happened today: In a bit of news that very few people beyond the lefty and righty activists noticed, the Democrats failed to halt the Alito nomination prior to its final vote. That failure is personified in John Kerry, who re-establishes himself as a loser. That, if anything, is what the world at large takes from what happened today. Do you really think the public at large will be swayed in any direction by Hillary Clinton's call on a cloture vote? Do you think either Hillary or Kerry vote for filibuster if there is no lefty blogosphere? Are we somehow under the impression that a bunch of Kossians turned the Democratic senators into unattractive bloviators and that freed from such gnats they might have stopped Alito? Please. And how do the Republicans use this procedural matter to their advantage in 2006? What ad do you run if you're Karl Rove to exploit this? The lefty blogosphere made life miserable for a number of Democratic senators this week. And John Kerry takes the public fall for it. Politically, there are worse things. The benefit to Republicans is the happiness of the legal right wing, the size of which I'm still not certain. But the absence of the lefty blogosphere would not have changed that. In fact, it would have just been easier for Dem. senators to wuss out. The real loser here is the country. Not the lefty blogosphere. The religious/movement conservative right built its power through the largely invisible exercise of power over the people it considered its allies. It took years and years. The lefty blogosphere is basically two years old. The fact that Kevin even asks this question is a reflection on its current value and growing influence.

The power of the lefty blogosphere? All sound and fury. You know the rest.

billy
Why do you think the lefty bogoshere has anything to do with it.
No- "le-blogosphere , during the Bork or Thomas hearings (and they seemed to have gone for the jugular)

No... People for the unAmerican way, Emilies list, Planned Parenthood,
They are the ones forcing No votes on Alito.
(and there not as good as they used to be)

power -- blogosphere -- hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehheheheheheheheheheheheheh

The men of the Democratic Party are a bunch of toothless old spinsters who are worried about what their neighbors at 5 star resorts are wearing. If they had any real courage this speechifying would have been done before the hearings. This so-called filibuster or calling for a filibuster was just an attempt to appeal to the Democrats of the Democratic Party, who know Alito is the last straw on the camel's back of our liberal heritage. It is all going backward from here, and the fat faced fucks of the Democratic Party were only putting up a facade, not real opposition.

It shows that unfortunately the liberal blogosphere is rather powerless, and many Democrat politicians are too smart to listen to them. I'm a conservative Republican.

Le Fitz:

In both cases you mentioned, the Democrats had a majority of senators. They controlled the Senate. (Also, it's not clear to me that Planned Parenthood is influencing anybody. You don't often hear, "Powerful influence group Planned Parenthood.") And, in case you haven't checked the Supremes roster recently, Thomas got through. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure of your point. But if you're some trolling right wing think-tanker I'm flattered you settled on me.

The blogosphere is theraputic. That is its influence.

In 5,000 words or less? It says that the lefty blogosphere is in the initial stages of becoming a significant force in the future. Don't eat your young, Kevin, you'll get indigestion.

At least the guys here are (barely) sane - here's the latest from the Kossacks:

"What I want is a complete list of every scumsucking f--kstick Democratic a--hole senator who voted for cloture. That's what I want.
I don't know what to DO with that list, not yet -- but I know for G--DAMNED sure I won't be VOTING for any of them, let alone sending them any g--damned MONEY.

Frankly, right now I'd like nothing better than to torpedo the entire lot of them. Just dump them like so much worthless, leaden, VICHY MOTHERF--KING BALLAST.

I got nothin', folks. Don't look over here if you want comfort or a nice, uplifting LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY speech.

I'M DONE WITH THEM. They are DEAD to me.

Yeah. CANTWELL and BYRD and LANDRIEU and BINGAMAN and every last motherf--king one of them, I'm DONE with them.

I'm registering Independent tomorrow. You're welcome to join me."
_________

Ah, the fury of the impotent.

Now that we know we're on our own, we'll start sooner and rely on ourselves.

Kevin, were you keeping your powder dry by not writing about the filibuster attempt till now?

If so, what the hell are you waiting for?

oooo nooo, now they're cancelling commander in chief too... does this mean hillary can't be prez after all?

....................

COMMANDER IN CHIEF TAKES A BREAK
US presidential drama COMMANDER IN CHIEF has been temporarily pulled from the ABC TV schedule because network executives are unhappy with the show's low ratings.

billy

My only point is that the Liberal interest groups with real $$$$ (as oposed to the blogosphere that can generate grassroots buzz ) are really the influence peddlers (Same goes for the right)

Fitz : $$$$

Has it pegged,
They don't care bout' no stinking blog...
as they know who butters the bread.

This says less about the Lefty Blogosphere than it does about the inept, impotent, absurdity that is the DNC.

What this means is that in today's 24-hour news cycle world, if you are not willing to toe the pro-fascist line, your message will not be heard and your movement will be marginalized.

Although American often gives itself tall billing as a "marketplace of ideas", the cold truth is that if you are not willing to capitulate to the powerful corporate interests responsible for purchasing the advertising which keeps the corporate media as we know it afloat, then your message will not be heard.

We have entered a new Gilded Age in which the concentration of wealth at the upper-end of the socio-economic spectrum is so absolute that it has captured near complete control of all of the mainstream organs of information dissemination: the weekly news magazines, the major daily newspapers, the cable news networks, and clearly the network channels.

Each of these forms of media has been granted extraordinary influence and power primarily as the result of President Reagan retracting the Fairness Doctrine in 1988 and President Clinton signing the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

By retracting the Fairness Doctrine, President Reagan saw to it that news organizations were no longer legally obligated to provide objective analysis of issues of importance. It used to be that in exchange for the privilege of broadcasting over the nation's airwaves, news providers were required to objectively analyze the days events: think Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow.

Once Reagan opened the floodgates of sensationalist news coverage, look at what happened. The corporations that controlled the medium realized that they could keep viewers glued to their sets AND profit handsomely if they substituted low-grade porn (think: O.J. trial, Natalee Holloway, Tracy Peterson, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, and Brad and Angelina) in place of actual information.

A fringe benefit, or perhaps the actual goal, of this tactic is that these very same corporations were able to dramatically increase their profits by restricting the free flow of information and advancing an agenda that is decidedly anti-democratic, and in more ways than one.

By capitulating to corporate power, the media has voluntarily placed itself on the front line of the coming second American revolution. The power-craven elite who make the programming and editorial decisions within the corporate media establishment have persistently and deliberately pushed the pro-GOP line for more than ten years now, and the evidence is overwhelming.

We know who you are. We know what you've done. You will pay for your crimes against America.

The Dems voting for closure are crazy like foxes. If Roe is overturned by 2008, maybe the majority Democratic base will get off their asses and go vote for once.
Posted by: JamesP on January 30, 2006 at 5:55 PM | PERMALINK

Let's shoot for Nov 2006.

Now that we know we're on our own, we'll start sooner and rely on ourselves.
Posted by: Peg Terry on January 30, 2006 at 8:29 PM | PERMALINK

. . . or vote for a party who WILL represent our interests; the Green Party. (like we did in '00, and have been continually bashed for it since then. Maybe the Left's problem isn't that the Greens are stealing the Democrats' votes. Maybe the problem is that the Democrats are stealing the Greens' vote.)

I don't know what it says about lefty bloggers.

But I'm the same age as Alito. He and George Bush remind me of how split my generation still is. Some of us liked civil rights and hated the Vietnam war. Others of us loved the war and hated civil rights. You can easily look at the career of a Sam Alito and know which side of these issues he was on. And you don't doubt that he carried a chip on his sholder for a long time. Let's just hope he is fianlly getting over it somewhat. I wouldn't bet on it, but it would be nice.

And it was a mistake not to fight his nomination harder.

... but my personal beliefs should not interfere in a soldier getting his mission accomplished.
Posted by: Patton on January 30, 2006 at 8:07 PM | PERMALINK

Patton. It's my fond wish that one day, you will be on the receiving end of a soldier who needs to get his or her mission accomplished. And I hope that nobody wrings their hands over your rights - because not even you give a crap about them.

It was about principal.Alito doesn't belong on the Supreme Court. The rest of you have no guts, no soul. You do nothing while they burn down the house.

It was about principal.Alito doesn't belong on the Supreme Court. The rest of you have no guts, no soul. You do nothing while they burn down the house.
Posted by: KL on January 30, 2006 at 9:24 PM | PERMALINK

If you can't convince people to pull themselves away from FauxNews long enough to smell the smoke, and notice that the house is on fire, then what can you do?

Let the fuckers burn, I say.

It says that blogworld is like the blacks in America. Something that can be mobilized; can be a source of cash and can be safely ignored because just like blacks - where are you going to go?

The DLC and entrenched democratic consultants are still leading the parade.

I am afraid the non-right has not hit bottom yet. There is no rallying the base in the leadership because it is still triangulation that rules the day. In fact, the triangulation has been running away form the base for over a decade.

That is because when you are running to the middle (a middle that the right is only too happy to let you target as they move it evermore rightward) the base just doesn't matter.

Remember that when the movement conservatives took over the Republican party, they did it by commandeering the policy argument but they did it from the top. Think tanks, money raising machines,
influence PACs, and not least the campaign consultants. It was in short a well planned and even elegant takeover of the GOP.

For left blogworld as constituted to have an equivalent influence it would have to create a movement of its own and I doubt it could include this Democratic party as we know it. Even Obama joined the kewl-kidz DLC-style "blame Democrats first" crowd when he said that Dems had to do a better job of getting its message out without once mentioning WTF that message was.

It is much easier for the dog's head to wag the tail than for the tail to wag the dog. And Blogworld, we are the tail.

I think Jane says it best.

A note:

Rove-a-dope:

It may be, that Alito *IS* what he seems on the surface; a reasonable, moderate-conservative judge. It may be that the big clam-up on Alito was driven by a desire to force the Left into a rampage to act to stop Alito. By not handing out all the availible information on Alito - by possibly seeding the media with inflammatory rumor about Alito's past, this could be a classic Rove-a-dope to get the left to over-react (again) and thus discredit the left in the eyes of the MSM.

While this may be the case - I certainly don't think that it's worth it (for Democratic Politicians) to wuss-out like they did. They should have gone balls-to-the-wall. And they didn't. Whether this was a Rove-a-dope or not, the Dems are now going to suffer the consequences. The only think they proved, is that they are utterly irrelevant as a political party.

They had two options:
1. They could have shown some cujones, and in anticipation of this as a Rove plot, wisely, accepted Alito's nomination. or
2. They could have shown some cujones, and stood their ground, and fought for their constituents.

Instead, they chose a wishy-washy middle-ground. He who hesitates is lost.

They

Michael Kinsley gets it right. The Republicans just play the game better. Read him here:

http://www.slate.com/id/2134929/nav/tap1/

Kevin:

It means that we took a cause that was beyond hopeless when we started and brought it to respectable final count in about one week.

A better question is: what would the 97-3 vote that might have occured without our efforts in the last week have meant?

Here, I'll ring the bell. I'd like to see one conservative, indepedent, or DLC water-carrier explain to me *exactly* what a 97-3 vote would have said about our party? About our vitality? About our **relevance**? It would have sent the following message: "Democrats are helpless, paralyzed, subservient and afraid - they have no room to oppose a President with even a %42 approval rating. They are too stupid to understand that voters will not reward them for cooperating with George Bush."

what part of the message would have helped us? What part of it wasn't bullshit?

There's an argument to be made that Alito isn't actually superimportant - the NEXT judge is superimportant. 5 is the magic number. The angry right still has an edge on us in media access, intimidation abilities and among the sheep who run in the direction the wind is blowing. The undecided voters and centrists don't give a damn about Alito either way - they'll just go with the winner. It can be argued that it was smart to duck this filibuster until the angry left has a few more years to sharpen its teeth.

But the angry left is sharpening its teeth, make no mistake. and it will take this country back from the cynical, compromised, disconnected and power-drunk elite republicans - the remnants of the angry right that took this country back in 1980 from a similarly addlepated group of democrats.

The angry left is the fountainhead of political renewal in a system groaning with disrepair. The angry right still seems formidable now, but it hollows every day from the inside. There will come a day of reckoning where, in an instant, the mask is torn aside. And all the professional sheep will be shocked.

But you should be smarter than that, Kevin.
Wake the fuck up. But down the kool-aid of the disinterested observer. Start talking to the drooling idiots you bump into on the Washington scene, the ones who know the ones who keep sliming Dean in the papers. They will laugh at you when you pass this message...
but they will remember it.

What does it say about the influence of the blogosphere? That 25 senators who should have known better felt compelled to put on an amateur act for the entire nation to see.

It says that most bloggers are part of a generation that is still a good 10-15 years away from the height of its influence on politics, and most senators are from an older generation that doesn't really understand the internets and doesn't consider bloggers to be a big part of their constituency.

Bloggers' influence will continue to grow as the younger generation continues to mature. But remember that the same dynamic is happening on the right.

I didn't read all comments as I'm hitting this quick before going to work. Apologies to anyone who's thoughts I've repeated.

Anthrax and blackmail.

Where have you been, Kevin? Every time I check this blog for news about Alito, it's been clear that you just don't want to talk about it. As a woman, there is no issue more important than the right to choose. Without choice, our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness is in jeopardy. Without those inalienable rights, what else matters? So chatter away about everything else, and confine the matter most sacred to most women to an afterthought swipe at the "lefty blogosphere". But don't be surprised when women stay home on election day, unable to tell the difference between a Democratic or Republican candidate.

The influence lefty bloggers are getting noticed is in media reporting. The effect will have eventual impact on the political process.

Its hard to have an influence when ones message doesnt resonate with the majority of voters. But then echo chambers do make ones own voice sound so vibrant and compelling...

It says that if the Democratic members of the "Gang (Rape) of 14" get pregnant from the assault they suffered at the "hands" of their Republican counterparts, they likely will have to go to Canada if they don't want to carry the reminder of the violation for nine months...

"ones message doesnt resonate with the majority of voters."

Sick of reading this tripe.

It's clear: since right-wing "working the refs" did so well on the MSM, the next logical place is the blogosphere. Work the e-intellegensia into a spin. Just like high school.

Yeah sure, doesn't resonate. Whatever you say.

Like I said above; clarity is good. I hope you like the results.

As for me, it sounds like 1937 in the USSR. Why don't you hold show trials ? It doesn't matter if you are not Stalin, it would be clarifying.

Glasnost Nothought asks:

I'd like to see one conservative, indepedent, or DLC water-carrier explain to me *exactly* what a 97-3 vote would have said about our party? About our vitality? About our **relevance**? It would have sent the following message: "Democrats are helpless, paralyzed, subservient and afraid - they have no room to oppose a President with even a %42 approval rating. They are too stupid to understand that voters will not reward them for cooperating with George Bush."

A 97-3 vote would have indicated that the Democrats looked at the Alito nomination and made a principled decision that despite the fact that they disagree with him he is still a legitimate jurist and that the President therefore gets to put him on the Court.

A 75-2