We are under no obligation to take this shit:
Sen. Rick Santorum’s leading Democratic challenger, Pennsylvania Treasurer Bob Casey, announced Tuesday that he endorses Judge Samuel Alito’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
For weeks, Republicans have called Casey “Silent Bob” and pressed him to say whether he supports Alito’s confirmation. Casey and Alito have a family connection because Alito, who serves on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Philadelphia, sided with Casey’s father, the late Gov. Bob Casey, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The case challenged a state law requiring women seeking abortions to notify their spouses.
“I do not agree with everything that Judge Samuel Alito has done or said – particularly many of his rulings which too often result in corporate power prevailing over the interests of consumers and workers,” Casey said in a statement. “However, I agree with The Philadelphia Inquirer and Washington Post editorial boards that the arguments against Judge Alito do not rise to the level that would require a vote denying him a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Santorum’s campaign manager responded with a statement accusing Casey of ducking the issue and then following the lead of Santorum, the No. 3 Senate Republican. Both candidates are generally against abortion. Santorum came out strong in support of Alito at a conservative rally Jan. 8.
Casey is stepping on the Democratic message and giving political cover to Arlen Specter. Fuck this. Bob Casey, Jr. does not represent us. Chuck Pennacchio represents us. Even Delaware Dem told me he has had it with Casey tonight. Put your money where your mouth is and give Pennacchio some financial assistance. Tell Chuck Schumer that you don’t appreciate having Bob Casey thrust upon the good people of Pennsylvania.
The Republicans are bad enough. Lieberman is bad enough. We need Bob Casey, Jr. like we need a hole in our collective heads.
Right on!
I have no problem with Democrats who are opposed to abortion but who will not take away a woman’s right to choose. Casey has broken that standard to which I will hold a candidate.
What bugs me as much as anything is that the primary process has been superceded by Rendell in order to anoint Casey.
If we had a legitimate primary, with all candidates supported equally by the party structure and Casey won, I would feel a lot better. As it is, I am going to hate voting for him in the fall, and not just because of his idiotic anti-women views and support of the fourth-worst (after Bork, Scalia, and Thomas) Supreme Court nominee in years. He also represents exactly what is wrong with the Democratic Party.
I love Chuck Pennacchio, and will vote for him in the primary, but the party has made the primary something of a joke by convincing others not to run and putting its weight behind Casey.
Casey will never be “our” choice–he was picked in a top-down process that, as I said, is making the primary a joke. That infuriates me.
It infuriates me more that Casey does not represent the views of the majority of us in Pennsylvania, but that we will vote for him only because Rick Santorum is worse!
There are plenty of candidates in Pennsylvania who, given the right support from the party, could beat Santorum–and Chuck Pennacchio is one–but we get stuck with the worst of the bunch by a governor who decides what we need instead of listening to us when we tell him what we want.
That has got to change!
Hopefully this will serve to gain additional support for Chuck.
F*** Casey.
This ass hole (Casey) supported Congressional intervention in the Schaivo case, supports the overturning of Roe v Wade, supports capital punishment, supports the war, opposes stem cell research, etc. etc.
His campaign contributors are largely drawn from the same folks who bankroll Santorum and the rest of the Republican right, e.g. Koch Industries, Raytheon, GE, Bacardi (big Tom Delay contributor), Clear Channel, NewsAmerica (FOX), Walmart, Boeing, et al.
I will not vote for Casey. If Santorum gets re-elected blame the Democrats for forcing this neanderthal upon us.
the dealbreaker for me is that he opposes letting gay couples adopt. I can’t get past that.
I did not know that. So just what is there about this creep that the Democratic leadership thinks is deserving of our votes? He seems like a Santorum clone to me.
Call Casey and tell him we don’t need Democrats like him any more:
Phone numbers:
1-888-355-3588
or
1-888-818-6641
Use the same numbers to call Senators leaning toward filibuster, and urge them on:
Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas
Mark Pryor, Arkansas
Diane Feinstein, California
Joe Lieberman, Connecticut
Joe Biden, Delaware
Barack Obama, Illinois
Mary Landrieu, Louisiana
Susan Collins, Maine
Olympia Snowe, Maine
Ben Nelson, Nebraska
Kent Conrad, North Dakota
Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania
Lincoln Chaffee, Rhode Island
Tim Johnson, South Dakota
While we have to generate the pressure on all Senators, the decision to filibuster (or not) will also be a leadership decision.
Call the Leadership Offices!
Harry Reid, NV Democratic Leader (202) 224-3542
Dick Durbin, IL Assistant Democratic Leader (202) 224-2152
Patrick Leahy, VT Ranking Member Judiciary Committee (202) 224-4242
Also:CALL YOUR OWN SENATORS!
If Repug, tell them “No” to Alito; if Democrat: FILIBUSTER!
CONTACT YOUR SENATORS (Click here)
Frist is denying Democrats time to speak on the floor. We need to get the word out about why Alito needs to be filibustered:
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. (Click here)
People for the American Way has collected nearly 65,000 signatures to send to the Senate, please add yours: Save the Court Petition
John Kerry has endorsed this anti-Alito petition, signers’ names will be read into the Congressional Record:
http://www.johnkerry.com/action/alito/
And as thanks, some Alito jokes:
“Supreme Court confirmation hearings are under way for Judge Samuel Alito. It’s pretty interesting. Democrats want to know his position on privacy, while Republicans want to know his position on prison terms for bribery.” –Jay Leno
“The American Bar Association gave Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito their highest rating. President Bush gave Alito his highest rating, too, because he called him ‘Super’ and ‘Duper.'” –Conan O’Brien
“President Bush was asked how he came up with a conservative like Alito, and he said he got the idea over the weekend while turning the clocks back.” –Jay Leno
“Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito says he’s embarrassed by some of the things he wrote in the 1980’s. Yeah, apparently Alito wrote the song ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.'” –Conan O’Brien
but….but….
he’s pro labor!!!!!!
my union brothers can kiss my ass on this one.
rendell wont get my support for governor…i hope swan beats him.
and every gay leader in philly (marsico, segal, listen up) who supports casey OR rendell will completely lose my respect….
i remember reading an essay a while back written by a lesbian activist commenting on how gay men never did a thing to support women and breast cancer or ovarian cancer….but when AIDS came along we were all expected to throw ourselves into every fundraiser and activist project ever known….i didnt really get it back then….but now i am getting it….im feeling it….and im not even a lesbian….mens issues take precedence over womens issues at every level of our society….is it my imagination or what? they hand out viagra samples like candy in doctors offices but try and get some free birth control pills if you dont have the right kind of insurance….this doesnt mean i hate men…i like men….i like pie too….and porn….and there are plenty of stupid hateful moralist females out there too…and i will never vote for hilary….but jeez it hurts when the people whose back you have had for so many years turn around and tell you to sit down and shut up cause we just want to win this one even if its at your expense…..well im just not very good at sitting down and shutting up.
go chuck….more dollars for you my friend.
ps – howard deans silence on this race is still pissing me off.
don’t blame Howard. His job description precludes him from making the types of comments you’d like to see.
im blaming him
he may not be able to make a comment….although he could have tried to stop rendell and schumer’s meddling in the primary…something…..were you at the dfa meeting last may i believe when brother dean said they werent going to get involved in the pa or ct primaries? what the fuck!!!….if the so called progressives wont stand up for progressive candidates why am i sending them money?
Jim Dean [on behalf of DFA] and The Nation have both come out saying that they will not endorse/support any candidate who will not advocate troop withdrawal with a timetable. My local DFA is voting to endorse on Feb 1st and I’m going to do my best to open their halfway closed eyes.
I never liked sardines anyway.
I hope you crosspost this at DKos. Casey managed to piss me off from across the country.
Oh, please do. I spend a lot of time at dKos – I’d read Hunter’s grocery list – but the blind support for the “electable” Casey and the nasty trashing and ridicule of Pennachio over there just makes me foam at the mouth.
Fuck Casey! He is scum. He is so low that the Republicans probably wouldn’t take him if we tried to give him to them.
People are asking Democrats to vote for him?!! That asshole is on his way to getting Santorum re-elected.* When voters can’t see any difference between Asshole A and Asshole B, what’s to prevent them for voting for the devil that they know?
*Yeah, I know Casey’s ahead of Santorum in the polls, but once the voters get to know Casey better, that may well change.
Casey’s lead dropped from 18 points in October to 12 points in November (Quinnipiac), and 22% of pro-choicers changed their minds about voting for Casey when informed that his position on abortion rights was indistinguishable from Santorum’s.
We really need to get the word out about how bad Casey is, because that is the only way Pennacchio will have any chance of winning the primary.
Let’s all get in line behind the DLC while they show us how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory one more time.
the blind support for the “electable” Casey and the nasty trashing and ridicule of Pennachio over there just makes me foam at the mouth.
Casey’s down 10 points in the polls before this sad and utterly predictable announcement. The folks at DK have been arguing in a muscular fashion that electing him would assure that judges like Alito would never be confirmed. Now no one is admitting they’re full of shit, they’re just going on about how ‘moderate’ the people of PA are. (and if the people of PA weren’t 56 against and 36 for overturning Roe and if Casey weren’t a rabid culture warrior on the wrong side of that debate, they might have a point.)
This guy is a friggin disaster, strategically and if he actually is elected he will rival Zell Miller as the worst ‘Democrat’ of the decade (although Harold Ford might offer up some competition too). The deal is, because he was elevated to front runner and inevitable winner 2 weeks after the last election, folks all over the nation have been paying close attention and, man, are they pissed off. Trying to do the same with Langevin in RI just confirmed the betrayal. Rhode Island, good lord.
Women, Democratic women, not religious right-lite Amy Sullivan types, need to save the Democratic party from it’s strategists.
The DK reaction to this would be laughable, if it wasn’t so predictable and ridiculous.
And of course, none of the Casey supporters ever want to address the fact that, in the PA state legislature, the anti-choicers vote together as a block on issues of choice, regardless of party affiliation. Their garbage about “but Casey’ll vote with the rest of the Dems on all the issues” is simply that, garbage. And anyone who buys into that garbage is woefully naive, or willfully misinformed.
blech, i haven’t even bothered to see if any of them came to their senses. one. ha.
blech, i haven’t even bothered to see if any of them came to their senses
You know I’m pleased to report that one ….lando….just did. I think a lot of people don’t recognise that religious right culture warriors hold (and conservative Catholics are indisputably religious right) that set of social priorities above anything else. In that world view, concern for the poor and for any progressive values takes the back seat in a 16 passenger van to the priorities of the heirarchy and particularly those they’re in agreement with the Protestant religious right on.
I think a lot of politically inclined people who consider themselves strategists believe that it’s possible to triangulate the culture wars and this is, I believe, a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the nature of the political movement we call the religious right. Very dangerous blind spot, imho.
i just took a trip over there through the various diaries. the casey trolls are out in full force defending this. and yes, i did see lando’s comment.
the casey trolls are out in full force defending this.
Yes, lando was the one bright spot. But the defenses were weak and not reality based. What are they going to say, that he’s going to be ‘good on healthcare and labor rights’ by endorsing Alito?
I never underestimate the capacity of the ‘relity based’ strategists to totally fuck up and then blame their strategic errors on the voters and ‘liberal activists’.
can you lay out some of your concerns with Harold Ford?
I have heard rumblings about him, but I haven’t been paying attention. I know he has been fairly hawkish on Iraq, but what other issues are bothering you?
can you lay out some of your concerns with Harold Ford?
I would be more than pleased to do so sometime today. I’ll need to spend about half an hour finding links to material I’ve read at The Black Commentator over the past two years. Right now I need to have a shower and do a few things for a couple of hours.
And thank you so much for asking, Booman.
can you lay out some of your concerns with Harold Ford?
Sure. The editors at The Black Commentator have been talking about Harold Ford for a good long while. They point out that his three coalitions are the CBC where he is the most conservative member, the Blue Dogs and the DLC.
And he votes and politics like it too.
Here’s Harold Ford in a social security privitization lovefest with Lindsey Graham and here is the CBC report card on the Congressional Black Caucus’s votes on the votes they determined “directly have egregious effects on the African-American communities and the districts the Congressional members represent”
These bills were:
Bankruptcy Bill
Estate Tax Bill
Gang Deterrence Bill
REAL ID Act
Iraq Authorization (2004)
(only four CBC members voted for war: Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee, William Jefferson of Louisiana, Albert Wynn of Maryland, and Sanford Bishop of Georgia.)
Watt Amendment (Federal Budget)
Class Action Bill
Energy Bill & Capps Amendment
CAFTA
Note Harold Ford’s standing there. So any folks wanting to vote for Harold Ford because he will improve the lot of African Americans and/or the poor (Not to mention women or gays) had best put that hope to rest early.
I also found this article quite informative and found this article
and the poll it links to to be a careful and intelligent analysis of black voters and voting patterns. I include this last because I’m tired of white folks (not here and certainly not you) telling me I am a.) racist and b.) waxing lyrical about how black folk are in discussions about Harold Ford.
What’s wrong with Harold Ford? I sort of like him but really am not very familiar with him on the issues. Can you elaborate?
Would someone please tell me the dif between Casey and a Republican? I am so tired of the Dems accepting Wolfs in sheeps clothing. Although this asshole sounds like a Bear in Wolfs clothes. Fuck him. I know PA was blue the last presidental election by only 8 thousand votes…but this is Bullshit. Why won’t the Dems get behind Pennacchio? Last thing we need is another Lieberman or Nelson from Nebraska. Let’s flip PA royal blue and get someone who is a Progressive and cares about the future of the Democratic Party.
I’ve missed you Chamonix and I don’t just say that because I have abstained from drinking cocktails.
how kind of you. I have missed you and the gang too. I have been checking in and reading but haven’t posted in a while. I have been getting ready to leave for Chamonix (French Alps) this Thursday.
Not looking forward to the 13 hour flight, but it will be well worth it once I get THERE I will be checking in from Winterwonderland as my computer will be making the trip too.
Last year while I was there, SusanG and the gang broke the Gannon/Guckert Story. It was the end of Jan, and I remember checking into Dkos and there were recommended diaries everyday with like 350 comments..that I dare not open as the only connection is dial up…(I mean come on..I see Mont Blanc out my window..I’m way the hell up in the alps and the closest DSL is probably in Geneva.) I will be about 1 1/2 hours from Turino (Mont Blanc Tunnel-France to Italy) so I may check out some Olympic games while I’m there. Anything besides donations to help Penn out let us know. CASEY is EVIL. Thanks again for the hat tip Booman. Sending lots of love to Susan and the Tribbers.
Say it ain’t so!
Hardly.
i can personally visually vouch for Boo not being near any damn dry wagons.
Thank God. I was worried! ; )
:::snicker:::
what good is a Democrat in the seat when they’re going to cross the aisle and vote with the Republicans on issues affecting a woman’s right to choose? Or environmental issues? Or whether poor people can get health care or food stamps?
And it’s not going to stop with Roe — the next target in the sights is going to be contraception. Look at the problems with getting Plan B as an OTC drug, and the Religious Reich backing pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control pills.
I’ve got to give a single-hand applause to California’s Governator; when asked his opinion of assisted suicide, considering he’s Catholic, he refused to state it, saying that the people of California should decide at the voting booth and that his opinion didn’t mean squat. Would that the Religious Reich held the same view…
MY biggest concern is that after they overturn Roe nationwide, they’ll attempt to go the next step to impose anti-abortion laws on states where there aren’t any abortion restrictions yet.
Pennsylvania needs Casey in the Senate like they need a Republican in the head… he’s clearly got a warped notion of what party loyalty means. (Rule one: Don’t annoy the party’s senior senator by disagreeing with him publically before you’re even elected….)
It’s a lot worse than most people realize. The laws to ban abortion are already on the books in many states and more lined up. They’re just waiting to pull the trigger if Alito is confirmed. From the LATimes:
That crap really gets my dander up. Fortunately, my wife has yet to encounter one of those asshole self-rightous pharmacists. I hope to God we never have to encounter one like that, as I consider refusal to fill prescriptions to be an act of aggression – and I honestly can no longer say that my response would be exactly “peaceful.”
One consequence of candidates like Casey is that to the extent that the Democratic Party forks over any funds to his campaign, I won’t be contributing any of my hard-earned money to the party. I’ll gladly contribute what I can to individual candidates as finances permit. Unless or until the Dems make it abundantly clear that goons like Casey are on their own, that’s just the way it has to be. I’d invite fellow left-leaning progressives to do likewise – if you aren’t doing so already.
oh, big fucking suprise.
My take on this: Okay, Can We Dump the Faux-Democrat Now?.
Rendell supports Alito too? WTF?
Are you sure? Shocking if true.
It’s in Madman’s link.
I hadn’t opened Booman’s link before. Apparently it is true. What is the matter with these people? Alito is going to make Scalia look like a progressive. We need to remember this and hold these sell-out Democrats accountable. If that means voting Green, so be it.
I’d also like to bring everyone’s attention to FURTHER slipping poll numbers in this new Strategic Vision Poll:
15. If the election for United States Senate were held today, and the choice was between Robert Casey, Jr., the Democrat and Rick Santorum, the Republican, whom would you vote for?
Robert Casey 50%
Rick Santorum 40%
Other 1%
Undecided 9%
His edge over Sen $antorum has now shrunk to 10% and $antorum has barely even opened his mouth while every time Casey opens his mouth, he loses voters.
We can do this.
For those in the Philadelphia area, there is a Candidate Forum sponsored by Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks and the African American Heritage Coalition this Saturday the 28th at the First Baptist Church [17/Sansom Sts] from Noon to 3p. Chuck Pennacchio and Alan Sandals will be there.
FYI, Strategic Visions is a right-wing GOP PR and polling outfit. Their polls almost always are more favorable to Republicans than other polls are.
That said, Quinnipiac only gives Casey a 12-point edge. Given the fact that Casey is a notoriously boring speaker who stumbles when he is not working off of a script, Santorum could easily overtake him. In 2002 Casey had a 15-point lead over Rendell in the governors race, and Rendell ended up winning the primary by 12 points. With a track record like that maybe Pennacchio can pull of an upset in the primary. I do not know a single Democrat here in Lancaster, Pa. who is happy about Casey.
And this news comes out after the last polls. The numbers can only plummett.
Schumer and his hypocritical pals in the DLC engineered this emerging catastrophe.
Our own leaders are doing us more damage than the Repubs are.
They can all go fuck themselves. We need a new party.
Right on!
I know no end of formerly die-hard Ds who are thinking just that.
Posted that too late at night, of course those aren’t the numbers for Casey, but the Senate.
My apologies. (Is there anyway to delete one of your own comments? Or rewrite?)
I don’t know of any means of revising comments, unfortunately. I suppose a couple people troll-rating the comment in question would suffice to at least get it hidden; but I really hate to mess with your mojo. Best to chalk it up to one of those minor mistakes.
Maybe we “women’s studies majors” actually know what we’re talking about- that slippery slope.
I’m disgusted.
I believe the term you are looking for is actually: sanctamonious women’s studies set
Third parties work. They are the only way to keep the ‘ruling’ parties honest and accountable. One of these days Americans will finally realize that their vote doesn’t matter as everything is predetermined in the new corporate state of America. Dems, Repubs, no difference, it’s all about the money and power baby. Fuck women. Fuck the poor. Fuck the immigrants. Fuck the environment… unless any of them can get me more money or power that is.
I’m beyond disgusted. I’m enraged. And after seeing my friend just go through her abortion in canada where she was treated as a human being who had rights and deserved respect and care, I can’t stress enough how damn important it is for you guys to keep fighting and to never give up on your rights. No matter the odds, no matter the risk. It’s worth it.
Peace
That’s exactly the phrase! Although it seemed to stretch to include molecular biologists with an opinion.
I look at my daughter and grow more steadfast in my anger.
This is a confession: I am a recovering Casey-ite. I was temporarily intoxicated by his poll numbers. No longer– backing Chuck all the way. Actually no surprise on Rendell; his wife served with Alito on the 3rd Circuit so I’m sure they’re friends. Don’t forget it was Rendell who tried to clear the field for Casey in the first place, and who is fucking all of us in public education with Act 72 (back-end referendum).
Santorum – frothy mixture of lube and anal juices that leak out of your ass after anal sex.
Rendell – the lingering sting you feel after a non consensual lubeless assfucking by someone you thought was your friend.
you got that right Anna. I worked my ass off to get him elected, and he has been a disappointment since day 1, honestly. brutal dry sodomy.
funny you mention that because a very good friend of mine, fellow blogger, and lifetime PA resident initially described Casey Jr’s personality to me as “a warm ziploc bag full of vasoline” which i still don’t fully understand, but i laugh every time he says it. the message is loud and clear.
vasoline + [formerly dry] sodomy = yay for PA!
thats making me gag
that is a weird metaphor. I have no idea what it means.
But the proper acronym for Casey is indeed BDS. As pateacher pointed out.
Also apparently has no intention of participating in the democratic (lower-case “d”) process. Prick.
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/state/all-a6_debatejan24,0,4956997.story
While Jr won’t be there, Chuck Pennacchio and Alan Sandals will partake in a second debate.
For those in the Philadelphia area, there is a Candidate Forum sponsored by Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks and the African American Heritage Coalition this Saturday the 28th at the First Baptist Church [17/Sansom Sts] from Noon to 3p.