Lamont Has Truly Arrived -- American Conservative Union Hates Him

The American Conservative Union (ACU) is such a relic of political days gone by, that Progressive candidates for national office should covet their condemnation in much the same way that we in the media yearn to be on Bill O'Reilly's enemies list.

After all, groups like the ACU are so far outside the mainstream of American opinion that having them come after you is very much a badge of honor.

Such is the case with the ACU taking all of a nanosecond after Ned Lamont's victory as Connecticut's Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, to begin coming after him with guns blazing.

"Lamont’s victory was a triumph for the left and a defeat for the United States because it may mean that future elections will be run between candidates of a pro-US party and nominees of an anti-US party," said ACU chairman, David Keene, in an August 8 e-mail dispatch to his followers. "Ned Lamont is a nobody with money who became the tool of the MoveOn.org crowd and has managed to demonstrate to the world that there is no room in the Democratic Party for candidates or office holders who disagree with the far left belief that our country is the source of all evil in the world."

I'm sure that comments like that would sting Ned Lamont considerably were Lamont not a respected man and his party's nominee for a U.S. Senate seat and Keene not, well, just another right-wing nutcase with a history of being wrong and making bizarre statements.

Here's more from Keene, a man clearly off his medication, as he describes Lamont and the 52 percent of Connecticut Democrats who chose him as their standard bearer on Tuesday:

"The Lamont victory over a former vice presidential candidate of the party means one thing and one thing only. The wealthy but crazed inhabitants of the left wing fever swamps are taking over a party that has been trying to reidentify with the voters that allowed it to dominate American politics for most of the last century. The purge that began with the McGovernite seizure of the party in the early seventies has been reinvigorated.

"The boys and girls who lionized Che, Mao and Fidel in the 60s and 70s have grown up and are now championing suicide bombers and telling us that the rulers of nations like Iran and North Korea are really just misunderstood. Their own country appalls them and they are convinced that if it weren’t for the United States, the world would be a far safer and more pleasant place."

Wow, I was too busy playing in Little League baseball to study Mao and I can't say I recall the last fundraiser I attended for suicide bombers either…. Keene's charges would sound pretty damning coming from a more mentally-balanced person wouldn’t they?

He must be talking about Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean who, speaking of the current security environment and the Democratic plan to protect Americans, said that the events in the United Kingdom yesterday "…are a troubling reminder that we are living in dangerous and trying times. These are times that call for real leadership. Not posturing, or name calling."

Said Dean:

"As Americans we must be unwavering in our commitment to fighting and winning the war on terror. We need a new direction in our national defense policies that's tough and smart. That means tracking down terrorists and providing our troops and agencies with the tools they need to stop future attacks, implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations to close the gaps in our security, securing our ports and borders, chemical and nuclear power plants and properly equipping our first responders and our national guard.

"It also means we have to be honest about the failures of our current foreign policies, which have let Iraq slip into civil war, enabled Iran to increase its nuclear capabilities, failed to address the growing threat posed by North Korea, and Afghanistan has seen a resurgence of the Taliban. Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda's mastermind, is still on the loose, and the Middle East is deep in crisis."

Yeah, those must be the kind of wild-eyed, radical thoughts that Keene is talking about.

And let's hear from Lamont himself, the subject of the ACU's silly missive:

"We need to focus on our security, on apprehending Osama Bin Laden and other terrorist leaders and on building a credible, effective foreign policy with our allies. In the United States Senate, I will support policies to make us safer and stronger, and attentive to our true priorities," said the Democratic Senate nominee yesterday. "We need to change course, and that means standing up to this administration and fighting for our security in a rational, serious way rather than being bogged down in a war than is harmful to our security."

As a reminder, this is the candidate who legitimately won his party's Senate nomination and who the majority of Connecticut voters clearly did not feel considers America itself the enemy, as the delusional Keene says.



But Keene has a history of being embarrassingly wrong. It was him, along with Tony Perkins of the ultraconservative Family Research Council, who launched a campaign to defend that stand-up guy, Tom DeLay, against corruption charges -- including a dandy little fundraising scheme to pay for DeLay's mounting legal bills.

"A literal cabal of left wing groups -- in concert with the liberal media -- have initiated a multi-million dollar smear campaign of ABSURD lies and distortion at House Majority Leader Tom DeLay," yelped Keene in 2005.

"It's unbelievable!" he continued hysterically. "The left is actually trying to paint DeLay -- a man who celebrity Ben Stein described as, 'a man with more moral decency in his little finger than his detractors have in their whole bodies' -- as corrupt and ethically challenged. And what is probably more distressing is that THEY ARE SUCCEEDING!"

Of course, Keene leaves out the fact that the real people who succeeded were the people of Texas, who hit Tommy Boy with criminal charges of conspiracy to violate election laws and money laundering.

"But for now -- rest assured that these attacks are nothing more than a combination of lies and trumped-up charges designed to smear the reputation of a man who is well-known for his honest and moral integrity," wrote Keene in 2005, I'm sure somehow managing to keep a straight face. "When I hear the attacks against Tom DeLay, I am reminded of the slogan from George Orwell's novel 1984: "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. I tremble when I realize just how far astray things have gone. But I also know that we can beat them at their own game."

So when Keene calls Ned Lamont, his supporters and Connecticut voters "crazed," it kind of makes it hard to do anything but snicker.

What I want to know is, what am I doing wrong that the ACU isn't coming after me?

You can reach Bob Geiger at geiger.bob@gmail.com.

Our future Senator Lamont did not get where he is today by being out of the Dem mainstream. And he did not win the primary on money alone.

If America is so safe under BushCo, why does only 10% of checked luggage in airplane cargo holds undergo security checks? :puke:

When people attending stadium events have for years not been allowed to bring liquids into those events, why have people been allowed to bring liquids onto planes since 911? :crazy:

Why are the trains and ports not protected? :puke:

Yeah, BushCo has done a great job of protecting America by diverting most of our security resources to Iraq. :sarcasm: :puke:

"Democrats and Liberals" think the U.S. is "the source of all evil"?

Whereas "Republicans and Neocons" think the U.S. is "the source of all that is Holy" (my appologies to The Pope).

Isn't that an oxymoron?

:rofl:

please don't call me dummy.

Didn't mean any offence, it was just schtick, like an old-timey vaudeville double-act.

"Ned Lamont is a nobody with money who became the tool of the MoveOn.org crowd and has managed to demonstrate to the world that there is no room in the Democratic Party for candidates or office holders who disagree with the far left belief that our country is the source of all evil in the world."


As if - "How dare regular vote for people who represent them? - Don't people know that they are supposed to vote for the Corporate Tools who run this country?" :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

:hippie:

Unbelievable commentary, unbelievable. This from a party of crooks, hypocrites, liars, and charlatans who exist only to create a more unstable, hate-filled, dangerous world so as to entrench their own power and wealth.

I can't believe I used to be a Conservative.

And, in spite of the resemblance, they aren't fascists, either.
They're corporate lapdogs, Chihuahuas in ugly suits.
I wouldn't believe these curs if they said the sky was blue.

we're back to, "you'd better watch what you say", time again. Under THEIR "leadership" this country has declined in economic, political and world opinion stature. Hell, this country has declined in EVERY facet with the exception of "most hated country in the world". Making political hay from tragedy has become the Conservative trademark. These vile, despicable swine will stop at nothing to retain power........along with money the ONLY things they care about. Screw them and the swiftboat they rode in on. :grr:

Isn,t he the guy that had his picture on my rolling papers or something? Fidel? Didn't he steal Cuba from the mob and give it back to the Cuban people? Mao? I've got a little red book that he wrote around here someplace?