Email from Mike of Mike’s Blog Roundup at CrooksandLiars. He’s been working on Lamont’s campaign and says netroots is just a small part of what’s happening in Connecticut.

I’ve spent a good deal of time working in CT over the past six weeks. The guys I work with are old time, blue collar democrats. They don’t know from the blogosphere, much less Kos. Holy Joe’s trouble is that he’s taken positions on many major issuees which are unpopular with his constituents. The notion that netroots is a driving force in this race is kinda silly. Sure, blogs are a new and important voice in political discourse, and can have some impact on fundraising, but the CT race shouldn’t be viewed by anyone as a test of the blogosphere’s strength…or weakness.

I was in Willamantic, CT on the 4th of July with a buddy for the boombox parade. Willy is a blue collar, union town, on the skids, losing jobs, the middle class disappearing, public services eroding along with thee landscaape. Both Joe and Ned were in the parade. My pal said, “when I see Joe marching in the boombox parade in Willy, I know he’s in serious trouble!” And yes, it is starting to feel more like the 60s. If we had a draft, the Bushistas and the rest of the war floggers would’ve been voted out in 04.

I grew up in Connecticut. My parents still live there. My father says that while he and my stepmother (both in their late 80’s) have been long-time Lieberman supporters, they will be voting for Lamont instead - a small but I think significant tell.

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Link via Life of Riley, who has a slideshow.

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Hillary Clinton calls for Rumsfeld’s resignation

And it sure looks like Holy Joe Lieberman will be defeated this Tuesday in the Connecticut primary. For an incumbent to be defeated in a primary is unusual, for it to be because of an unpopular war, well, all I can say is - Good Morning Vietnam!

I’ve bashed the Kosniks here before (and no doubt will again.) However, it was DailyKos et al that led the charge against Lieberman. Come Tuesday, when Lieberman loses, they will absolutely deserve huge credit.

That Lamont is antiwar lite and no different from Lieberman on Lebanon will be something progressive Dems will be dealing with soon enough. Hey, Hillary’s slamming Rummy was because he botched the war, not because the US should never have invaded in the first place.

All that will come later. For now, it’s obvious that serious dissent is alive and kicking in the country, welling up from the roots, and now even the Democratic hierarchy is forced to listen and respond.

I came of age during the late 60’s. That was an era of major radicalization. We are entering another such era now. Some progressive blogs are pessimistic, others have almost given up, thinking the cause is hopeless. Not so. The darkest hour really is just before dawn.

“We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world. We will see it when we believe it.”
– Saul Alinsky

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How many times does Israel have to apologize for massacring civilians in the same town before the apology rings hollow? For the second time in ten years, the Israeli military has carried out a horrific massacre in the southern Lebanon town of Qana. The second mass killing was no more of accident than the first. Both, like the 1982 massacres in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps of West Beirut, were conducted with cool deliberation. All had clear and decipherable tactical objectives.

The 2006 Qana massacre was intended to force an exodus of the remaining population from southern Lebanon in order to clear the way for an offensive by 10,000 Israeli troops, tanks and Caterpillar armored bulldozers, backed by aerial and artillery bombardment.

The toll of death and destruction and the looming danger of a wider war underline the critical importance of the Aug. 12 mass demonstrations in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities.

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Enter now!

Here’s the offical website

And here’s the awe-inspiring video that started it all.

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