I have great respect for anyone who sticks to his guns when the easiest route is to turn tail—like so many of the Democrats have done in the past 8 years. But you, sir, have not! But your tribulations are just beginning. Dirty politics will continue, hitting you with every thing they have; right, left and below the belt. I have placed faith on many politicians, especially, the Democrats. They have betrayed their duties and the promises they made to reverse the criminal acts and actions of the Bush administration. This included President Obama. But you are different. You stood your ground while other Democrats would have found an excuse to quit, to get paid off or hop over to the other side. Your long battle is not over, sir. It’s just beginning. To come to the aid of the common man, the ordinary guy and gal, who work hard for their daily bread, means you’ll be giving rub burns to the corporate/industrial/financial monsters , the pro conservative power structure of this nation. They don’t give up, they don’t play fair and they don’t forget or forgive. Be prepare, Mr. Franken. The most dangerous opponents you will be facing will be your “liberal” cohorts, beginning with the President. They will try to discredit you for your “attempt” to right the wrongs what this Congress have visited upon this nation. In other words, trying to upset their ill-gotten apple carts.
Again, my whole hardiness and congratulation on your senatorial success.

Forever your follower,
Armando Gomez

The needs of business stand like a rock; all else is convenience, opportunism, a bit of bushwah generated by some focus group session and forgotten the instant it is no longer convincing. Fundamentally amoral, capitalism is loyal to no people, no region, no heroes, really, once they have exhausted their usefulness–not even to the nation whose flag the wingers pretend to worship.

Hence the eternal frustration of the conservative rank and file with their leaders. Unless you are solely interested in the welfare of business, Washington conservatives will all turn out to be “impostors” to you, always ready to compromise on family values or their adherence to the Founders’ “original intent.” Every ally is an ally of convenience for them, every ironclad principle subject to revocation without notice, every noble ideal advanced merely to shore up popular support. Although there is no central command barking out the talking points, the movement nevertheless seems almost naturally to behave like an agitprop bureau.

This is why, I think, one of the most telling illustrations of the right’s malleability–its fundamental loyalty to business, its opportunism in all other matters, and its essential kinship to propaganda–can be found in the career of an obscure but well-connected Washington think tank, the International Freedom Foundation, or IFF, which campaigned vigorously on behalf of South Africa from 1986 to 1993. … Its story is not that of an ideological exotic but of the movement’s very essence.

–

We do know the most fundamental facts. According to volume 2 of the official report of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the duties of the IFF included supporting Savimbi and fighting trade sanctions against South Africa. The IFF’s head office was in Washington, where Jack Abramoff served as executive director. But the shots were actually called by the organization’s South African branch, headed by Russel Crystal. There was an office in London and, eventually, one in West Germany.

We also know that the IFF was an expensive proposition and that the apartheid government spent millions of dollars propping it up. The group hosted speakers, conferences, and presentations; it published several magazines and a flock of newsletters; its principals constantly traveled the globe, spreading their toxic trinity of “Liberty, Prosperity, Security.”

The Washington branch of the IFF, it seems was particularly successful at courting politicians. The group’s “advisory board” included Senator Jesse Helms; Representative Phil Crane; “B-1 Bob” Dornan; James Inhofe, a stout family-values supporter; and “Buzz” Lukens, an egregious family-values violator. Charles Lichenstein, who had been present at the creation, was the board’s chairman and, according to one writer I talked to, the guiding hand behind the foundation’s American magazine.

–

[p. 112] Charles Lichenstein had once edited the CIA’s classified, in-house magazine and continued to write on intelligence issues all through the eighties. [20]

[p. 113] The odor of spookery clung to the IFF throughout its life. Its magazines ran articles by former CIA officials and contemplated the role of intelligence agencies in the post-cold-war world. In 1992 the IFF’s principals met with the top brass of the FBI.*

[p. 120] And then they disappeared. The crumbling South African regime cut off the IFF’s subsidies in 1992, and, like most libertarian groups, the organization was unable to get by on its own.

Clown? Only if you’re in to dark humor.

Do you mean to tell us that George W. Bush was elected to the Senate?

Remember when Bush was cracking jokes about nonexistant WMDs in Iraq during the White House Correspondents Dinner? All the journalists laughed even though 6,000 American troops have died so far for Bush’s lies.

Doc Rock, although Inhofe often does appear to be an ass, he is primarily an ass kisser of the oil, gas and utility lobbys. And the Jesus lobby too, I suppose. Thats good for a lot of votes in OK. And most all, Inhofe’s lips have been locked on Bush’s butt since before the OKC bombing.

Oklahoma has been the cornerstone for oil and gas corporate corruption for a century. Inhofe is just doing what he gets paid to do.

upright left Says:
Exactly, that’s why Franken was the better choice.

DUH! He’s a DEMOCRAT, that by DEFAULT MAKES HIM THE BETTER CHOICE! ;)

Of course you would believe a criminal Dem is better than a non-criminal Repub. You are the lib equivalent of Coleman’s supporters. ;)
****

As opposed to your GOP HISTORY of RAPING PRISONERS and making *JOKES* about *SCIENCE*? ;)

Nice, bud. First you oppose support for torture victims and now you equate rape jokes with jokes about science and excuse Franken’s rape joke because McCain is guilty of the same thing. You’re on a roll today. ;)
******

republicans hate facts Says:

Downright TARDED has been DOWNRIGHT PWNED!

It’s tough living with the fact that a social conservative supported Obama while you were carrying on your little hopium screeds, eh bud? Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it. You eventually came around to the right candidate. Just forget all about the hopium. (”Mizz J, rhf has always been a nutcase. He’s just always been on our side, so he was tolerable. Now he’s a Clinton ass sucker, and he can’t contain himself against the “hopium” smokers. What an idiot.”)

You have yourself a great evening, now bud. ;)

That would be Oklahoma.The state could earn Millions a year, with a little bit of Capital Investment.

Let me take a wild guess, and predict that Inhofe will vote against Cap and Trade.

That’s why I voted for John Kerry in 2004.

So what were the reasons you voted for McCain?

blacks—because he’s black, muthafuka
teens— fuk the usa, and he’s on twitter.
women—-big ears, big ^&%$#
dems —-he ain’t bush, we can’t beat mccain w/hrc
mexicans—he’ll make me legal and give me welfare

nuf said.