Bart STUPID. I am so tired of White conservative men telling woman what they can or can’t do with their bodies.

thanks David. I too was encouraged by Saltonstall’s electoral experience – but this is one mutha of a district (31 counties ?!?!?)

Michigander and Firedog Extraordinaire Rayne profiles the district in this fabulous Seminal diary

If “The Left” wants to really go after someone who’s done more than anybody to stop health care reform from passage, they’d start working for Connie Saltonstall

Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and Emily’s List – are ya listenin’ ??

She may not have much of a chance, but it’s better than tilting at windmills in races where there cannot possibly be a primary opponent.

I don’t disagree with you. just thought it so totally kewl that we had a decent profile of a truly bizarro district right here at home.

It’s the “ownership” society.

What more can the left do David? This has been THE most talked about legislation in decades. Obviously the left is the only ones who really care about any of this. The big healthcare march in Washington to express anger at the insurance industry only drew 10000 people. Not many when you consider that is less than one half percent of all Americans. Antiwar protests before the Iraq fiasco were in the millions and completely ignored, so this will be too. They’ll pass the crap they want to and that’ll be it.

And so it goes… this is the day health insurance reform passes the House… and Dems (both blue dogs and progressives) once and for all own the fascist private mandate platform.

My interpretation of “the Left” in this case is Kos, who proposed a primary for Kucinich.

Broadly speaking the approach of less support from Obama and D leadership for the Blue Dogs and other conservadems like Stupak and Specter and Lincoln And Lieberman makes logical sense. Build up your flank and press your middling allies to deepen their support. This logic of course is lost on folks like Rahm and Obama who seem to feel that he playing field is a preexisting constant with which one must compromise rather than a variable to be actively changed.

If “The Left” wants to really go after someone who’s done more than anybody to stop health care reform from passage, they’d start working for Connie Saltonstall.

All I’ve found so far at ActBlue is this: Connie Saltonstall by Republican for Health Reform.

Will FDL Action create a fundraising page at ActBlue?

I have no brief for Stupak or “pro-lifers”, but I think you are talking past them, I think they would dispute the definition of a woman’s body including the zygotes in question. Understanding isn’t agreement, but that’s the argument.

…and proponents of that position extend well beyond white men.

But it seems that it is white men who have the power to dictate what woman can and cannot decide about their own bodies. Like the bumper sticker says: No Sex With Pro-Lifers.

Rachel Maddow, also, has been doing yeoman work unmasking his connections to “The Family” which appear to go far beyond his claim of simply being a tenant at the “C Street House” den of Jesus-craziness in DC. Anything that helps discredit this guy as a kook and/or sleazeball will benefit the cause.

fyi – FDL has Blue America for fundraising.

loosely related note. there’s a Tuscon City Councilman mulling a Senate run against McCain/Other Crazy Guy in AZ. said he was motivated by Bill Halter’s success to date – am lovin it !

edit note: she literally just popped up yesterday, even if there is to be endorsements from progressives, there has to be some vetting first :D

It may not matter that she may not have much of a chance. The mere prospect of a primary challenge (i.e. career mortality) is likely to focus his mind, so to speak.

It also makes Stupak have to spend money and time to campaign and to talk about the issues.

This is more of Kabuki Theatre.

A lot of House Dems want Bart Stupak to kill the Obama Health Care Scam.

Rachel Maddow and others so call progressives MSM news people are trying to make a case against Bart Stupak, so that their corporate overlords can reap the benefits of the latest rob the middle class blind scheme Health Care.

Rachel, Ed, Kos, etc. never discuss how House Dems, Senate Dems are going to defend forcing people to buy health care during a depression?

This is why the MSM is becoming a joke, telling americans they are going to have buy Blue Cross Blue Sheild Health Insurance at market rates is not going to make anyone LAUGH,

DK told Ed the truth last night, Health Insurance Companies make money denying people Health Care, why would any House Dems, Senate Dems want to become the SPOKE PEOPLE for the REAL EVIL Health Insurance companies.

How many Dems can win an election talking about how they love making people buy Health Insurance?

David Gergen on CNN says the GOP is going to run a repeal Health Care campaign in 2010, what are Dems going to run? are dems going to run around the nation talking about repealing a Health Care bill they voted for? or are they going to tell voters I voted for you to make Insurance Companies Rich during a Depression?

this is INSANE

Agree with you: this is insane.

I don’t know if House Dems wanted Stupack to kill the bill or not. Maybe, but I question that, esp at the time that he pushed his venal anti-abortion stipulation.

The whole HCR has been incredibly depressing, and I can definitely see Republics running on a repeal Health Care campaign and saying: nyah nyah I told you so. And frankly, disgusting as it is, I’d find it hard to disagree with them.

That said, Bart Stupack is a liar. He’s been receiving money from some religious organization to live in C Street, and then he denies it and claims he doesn’t even know who “The Family” is. That’s enough for me.

Trow da bum out! I’m sick and tired of WHITE MEN telling women what they can and cannot do with their bodies, and I’m sick and tired of hearing their mealy-mouthed allegedly “passionate” (cough cough) “good christianist” arguments in favor of so-called “pro-life.”

For whatever reason Stupack is pushing this, I stand firmly against him and his ilk. This is NOT what so-called “Democrats” have been hired to do, so if Stupack is unwilling or unable to do the job he was hired for, then he needs to get out. Now.

this is INSANE and corrupt.

It must be that the payoff for the dems is better through the corporate giants and through the votes of the people. Simple really.

I thought norbizness was the Left.

I expect I’ll be sending Ms. Saltonstall a campaign contribution once I find out a little bit more about her. Stupak deserves to be removed from office and I’m glad to hear that he now has a primary challenger. It’s not that I support the Senate’s HCR bill, unless they get rid of the individual mandate and add some kind of public option, but I definitely don’t support Stupak’s reason for killing it. I believe that I could support the House version of HCR without the Stupak ammendment, but I’m not willing to settle for what amounts to a huge government subsidy of the private health insurance industry. Letting the inmates run the asylum is not a solution!

C Street Brothel… it had to be near cause Viagra let’s them squeeze it in between votes

Jon Walker has a fresh cross-post already in progress: On Bipartisan Health Care Reform, It’s Time for Lindsey Graham to Put Up or Shut Up

A subset of white men may *currently* have that power.

Point is that it needs work to change that situation electorally. Primary for Stupak is a start.

It’s also the case, though, that this small subset of people have their bases of support. And those bases include women, white and -of color.

Making white men the enemy is needlessly broad and incendiary.

Sometimes, anybody with a “D” after their name won’t do….

Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas warned on Tuesday night that if Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) plays a role in killing health care reform, a Democratic primary challenger would almost certainly await him in the next election.

CAREER OPPORTUNITY FOR BLUE DOG

Daily Kos Inc. seeks Republican party switcher or conservative CorporaDem (past contributors, positions, and votes not important) to challenge notoriously liberal representative who was right about Iraq, never stood with Bush, and consistently votes in the interests of ordinary people. Contact MM.

White conservative men telling disproportionately Black liberal women what they can or can’t do with their bodies.

Whoo Hooo!! I live in Michigan and this is great news. Kildee even has a challenger.

Who do I see that has the power in the Senate? Incendiary? Board, yes. Incendiary? I see older white man yammering on in front of tv cameras telling the rest of the country how it is going to be. Sure, there are a few minorities and women salted in there. Perhaps my memories of Henry Hyde and his ilk are just too vivid.

None of you understand Stupak.

He’s like many other reps who are bargaining hard for their pet idea and will fold in the end. He is only playing some poker. So, don’t sweat it.

He may gain something from his leverage. But, in the end, he will vote for it like all the other lemmings going over the cliff.

It is amazing how Democrats have worked themselves into a damned if you do and damned if you don’t position. A modern political wonder not seen in the last 100 years.

I am looking forward to Speaker Boehner. Either way it goes.

Well, this particular ally gets tagged with your overly broad brush…Picking a fight with a lot of people that actually aren’t part of the problem you wish to solve is, I think, incendiary.

And needlessly so.

Saying you have a problem with white men isn’t going to get you all that far; and won’t gain you much sympathy in that quarter. Especially when it would appear that the crux of the problem is with the dogma of evangelical christians. (Hasn’t C Street been a part of this discussion elsewhere on FDL?)

My point is that you are equating people with labels and descriptors. People are individuals.

The first line of that Freep story jumped out at me:

Michigan’s Bart Stupak, a Democratic congressman who could help bring down health care reform over an abortion provision,

“Help” bring down healthcare? Not “bring down healthcare” but “help” bring it down?

Tell me I am just imagining things, OK, but doesn’t that seem like loaded language?

Oh, and, can someone show me where the line is on being a “reasonable” vs “tantrum throwing” blogger these days?

-Wanting to primary Bernie Sanders: Bad

-Wanting to primary Dennis Kucinich: Good

How the hell did we get to that spot?

O masswater, this is fabulous! Totally right to the point. Markos My-elite-ass is sooooo annoying most days but this comment and his hatred of Nader shows him for who he is: need I say latte drinking volvo driving etc? These two men (Kucinitch and Nader) may not be the favorites of the corporate and sold out Dems, but to me they are heros. They have stood for values that no one else would risk standing for during the Bush Facist take-over, when My-elite-ass was noplace to be found. Moreover, I like their tactics. SOMEBODY in the Democratic Party has to show some backbone–god knows Obusha isn’t. (Or is that ORahma?)

It is amazing how Democrats have worked themselves into a damned if you do and damned if you don’t position. A modern political wonder not seen in the last 100 years.

Have to agree with you there, and yes “Speaker Boehner” does sort of have an inevitable ring to it. We’ll see if Stupak caves or not. I hope you’re wrong and he doesn’t. I respect a man who follows a Kayser Soze-style (“and then he showed these men of will what will truly was”) negotiating strategy. Its so shockingly out of phase with how the White House and Senator Reid ‘negotiate’ (if that’s the word), the other Dems on the Hill must think he was raised by wolves. :o)

In response to David and Rayne
As a resident of the 1st and one who has many years of political experience I thank Rayne on his wonderful analysis of the district. It is very conservative and one only needs to look at all of the elected officials in the district to realize that. This district has only been represented by a Democratic once before until Stupak. His first race was not an easy one, he won it by his own political instincts, as he did not have a lot of Democratic support. He has increased his numbers every election cycle by spending hundreds of hours on the road (not sure how many others would) and getting to know voters in all areas of the district. It is a safe bet that if he looses the primary we will have a Republican Congressman.

I congratulate Connie for stepping forward to offer people a choice but we need to look at the candidate. She first ran in a special election as an independent and won (extremely low voter turnout.) She did not do doors and sent out a mailing and had callers. She ran in the regular election as an independent and could not win. Again she did not do doors and lost by a large margin. She next ran as a democrat against a sitting rep and lost by a large majority.

People need a choice and Connie is to be congratulated for her dedication but we need a candidate who can win in the general election.

We need to look at the overall record of the person and not just one issue. Do we want to give up a safe Democratic Seat to the Republicans?

I totally agree! Leave it to white conservative men to tell women what they can and cannot do with their bodies. Stupid Stupak indeed!!!