Check out my new blog on life in Germany!

As I have been abroad since early July, I have not been able to post here as often as before. Not to mention that I'm quite out of the loop when it comes to American politics! In the mean-time, please check out American Ex-Pat, my new blog:

http://american-ex-pat.blogspot.com/

Thanks,
Ben

A Succint Summary of European Feelings Towards America

That pretty much sums it up. And that is in tiny Schwabisch Hall, population 30,000! If you think that's bad, you should see the graffiti in "Red Berlin"

Lamont:1 Neo-Conservative Jerks: 0

I was ridiculously excited to hear about Ned Lamont's victory over Joe Lieberman(Neo-Conservative faux Democrat, CT). First of all, his foreign policy is horrendous. The iraq war was a mistake and is an utter failure. It is dissolving into civil war-even republicans admit this now! People like me who were marching against this war 3+ years ago were right. I hate to be self righteous, but it is true. Lieberman is in israel and AIPAC's pockets pretty blatantly, not to mention his views on religion and censorship.

Lamont is not a great candidate, but as far as i am concerned, the Democrats will never win if they are Republican lite. This is what Howard Dean was saying all along, and why I loved him. And he is right, if you look at polls. People want the parties to STAND FOR SOMETHING. It is a fact! I worked canvassing last summer and have done so much phone banking and door-to-door work that I can say quite confidently that I have a decent sense of the average voter's sentiments, at least over much of the Northeast U.S.

The reason Democrats get beaten so badly is that they have no spine. That is what people say on the street, and it is largely true. Turn-out is low because of this. We do not get out our base( i.e. the poor and urban voters, minorities, etc.) because we do not give them a a reason to vote!

I do not 100% agree with lamont, but his victory is very important symbolically. i think you are other dlc type people are making a big mistake by misinterpreting it. what it shows is that the base, the activists, the people like me who bust their asses for the party, are sick and tired of busting our asses and then being betrayed by ignorant Dems who stand for nothing.

If the U.S. electoral system were not so utterly corrupt and poorly designed, it would be like Germany, where there are 5 or 6 parties to accomodate people with different views. The two party system is corrupt and terrible in every way. Voters know this. Party affiliation has declined dramtically in the past several decades. I will dig up some stats to prove this, but I read it over and over in my poli-sci textbooks.

In an ideal world, people like Lieberman would be in some centrist party, most in the GOP would be in a conservative party, and people like me in a far left party.That is how it works in Germany, and it is much better. It is true that the Dems
lose due to lack of loyalty, but it is also true that Lieberman is terrible and does not get out the base. Lieberman is doing the party a disservice if he runs as an independent. I do not see how lamont helps the Rethugs. They may laugh because we are fighting amongst ourselves, but as long as Lieberman steps aside, it does not matter.

Personally, i am laughing at the GOP now because they have shot themselves in the foot. People have finally woken up to the hypocrisy and are sick of it. My prediction is that Dems take back one, if not two houses, and have a good chance at the presidency in 08, as long as they do not run someone terrible.

All i know is that I want to take back the Senate and House and get the Republicans out of the White House. That, and we need to start bringing our troops home immediately. And Joe Lieberman does nothing to achieve either of those goals.

I'm On Vacation

To my regular readers: Thanks a lot for your support! Just wanted to let you know that I am flying to Germany on Friday, July 7th and will be traveling and visiting friends over the summer. Therefore, I will rarely get a chance to update this site. I plan to put up the Parenti interview once I get the chance to finish transcribing it. As soon as I have a travel blog up, I'll be sure to link to it here.

Peace,
Ben

Media Start to "Get" Global Warming(Finally)

I had to do a double-take this morning when I saw that Parade magazine, normally a quasi-tabloid that comes with the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer, actually did a thoughtful piece on global warming. Between the numerous media stories covering the oil crisis and global warming, not to mention Al Gore's new film, it seems the public is finally waking up to what environmentalists and others on the Left have been warning us about for years.

Why is this? I would say largely due to Katrina, the current high oil prices, the Iraq war, and the latest floods that have hit the east coasts. People are starting to make the connections here. It isn't just chance that we have continuously had years with average temperatures that are in the top 10 in history. It isn't just chance that we have had huge floods and hurricanes. HUMANS ARE CAUSING THESE EVENTS!

Yesterday I went to a Move-On.org rally. Called "The Campaign For an Oil-Free Congress," it was a pretty good idea. Basically, people stood outside 300 gas stations outside the country and held signs and passed out fliers. Our fliers encouraged Philadelphians and residents of Lower Merion Township(where I live) to call their Congressman, who took OVER $10,000 in contributions from oil companies. It's worth noting that over 80% of oil company campaign dollars go the Republicans. Remember that when you will up next time! This is why I largely bike and use public transit.

Only time will tell if we actually come up with solutions to get out of this mess. Lord knows this administration won't do it on its own. But the public outcry is finally starting to get loud enough to affect poll numbers. It's about time.