Time Out for Hank Johnson
Time out for a few minutes from the war in Lebanon.
For some time I've been quite appalled by Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. She's frankly a discredit to the very notion of a progressive politician.
She got a surprise wake up call last week when she was forced into an August 8th run-off
by an opponent in the primary. Local county politician Hank Johnson came within a few points of her total and now is an even-money coin flip to win the run-off.
I'm not in the business of endorsing candidates. And I don't know that much about Johnson. Only what I read about him and by him on the Winds of Change site (after you read what he has to say consider making a donation to his campaign with the button on the linked page). While I'd vote for almost anybody against McKinney, Johnson seems like a pretty good guy. He deserves some recognition and I think some concerete support. If the liberal blogosphere can get so heated up over Ned Lamont can't it also show some love to a very decent outsider and reform candidate like Johnson?
All those Democrats so busy taking back the party ought to at least take it back with some good and honorable candidates. Not with a charlatan like McKinney.
Good luck to Hank Johnson.
July 25th, 2006 at 2:04 am
Nice break from War War War.
Good Luck to most challengers of incumbents, especially in the primaries. Too bad there aren’t more Rep challengers in primaries to the big spending Rep incumbents — like Jerry Lewis in CA-41.
Those who think “third party” should realize that anything resembling a viable, election winning third party for Congress could more easily have its candidates win in primaries, especially against non-incumbents.
Any third party will mostly take from one of the two main ones; meaning the other main one probably wins the election. Maybe Nader made Bush win (twice?); Perot certainly made Clinton win in 92; Wallace in 68 made Nixon win.
July 25th, 2006 at 4:48 am
Most observers are predicting a Johnson win. He has the momentum and the support of the major progressive blogs. He just needs to pick up most of the 8% that went to the third candidate. This he’ll probably do, since these votes would probably have gone to McKinney in the first round if they were ever going to go to her.
This could be a watershed year with regard to putting a chink in the power of incumbency in the primaries.
July 25th, 2006 at 5:45 am
McKinney lost her seat once and got it back only when Denise Majette gave it up to run for Senate. McKinney’s an embarassment.
All voters in her district really need is a reasonable alternative and Hank looks like one. I’d bet on Hank Johnson in this one.
July 25th, 2006 at 8:30 am
Marc, though I’m not a “progressive” and though I’m sure not a Democrat, good for you for supporting Hank Johnson.
McKinney really is an abomination IMHO and since the Georgia 4th is a fairly safe Democratic seat, I hope he wins.
July 25th, 2006 at 9:12 am
Marc…I’m elated to see you helping to raise money for good center-left Dems. Johnson is an excellent candidate (other than his having a few of the typical flaws that apparently most irritate you about the current crop of Dems, i.e. not breaking with conventional wisdom regarding near-unanimous support for whatever Israel decides to do on any given day (unlike McKinney, incidentally, although that doesn’t outweigh her manifest minuses as a major and unusually obnoxious flake) and Johnson’s taking an it-was-stupid-and wrong-but-we’re-there-and-can’t-just-leave fairly moderate line on Iraq. Not much diff between Hank and Hillary on those two so far as I’ve seen.
My assumption is that you are lowering yourself from your usual high standards to support a merely decent Dem, with most of the usual pluses and minuses of center-left pragmatists, against a flaming embarrassment because Righteous Ralph, Perfect Pete or Fabulous Fanny failed to materialize as candidates in this race to offer voters a Holy Grail.
In any event, it’s a good start. Keep up the good work. Personally, I’m sending my modest donations to candidates with more daunting struggles than Hank’s, on the assumption that because of the particularities and the personalities involved in this race, he’ll be getting plenty of outside money from “DLC and AIPAC territory”. Which, in this instance, is a very good use for their resources (as long as they do it subtley and don’t hand Crazy Cyn a stick with which to beat on Johnson.)
July 25th, 2006 at 10:07 am
Reg, if Marc wants to engage in the kind of political give-and-take that many of us take for granted and, for once, not throw grenades at every soul who dares to step into the political ring, why throw him an anvil with this bit of sarcasm?
July 25th, 2006 at 10:09 am
I strongly suspect McKinney shares your views on the Hezbollah/Israel conflict (she was out of town the day of the House resolution, so she couldn’t join the 12 lunatics who voted no or “present”)
You might want to think about that for a while.
July 25th, 2006 at 10:47 am
HHmm… Reg, how easy it is for you to tar a black congresswoman insane. Meanwhile, your buddy Cooper links to Roger L. Simon, who’s still claiming there were WMD, and that fifty percent of Americans agree with him! (God knows, anything’s possible). As the true lunatic above notes, McKinney has taken stances against Bush that would make most of the smart ass white boys round these parts wet their pants. Pals of David Horowitz should not throw crazy stones, given who they let it to their own asylums during visiting hours.
July 25th, 2006 at 11:43 am
It is easy to tar a black congresswoman insane, when they SAY CRAZY THINGS, as do McKinney and Maxine Waters. I would also throw Conyers and Paul on the crazy list (Paul being a different strain of crazy) but I was wrong to call the others lunatics. A few are Lebanese-Americans, Dingell represents a largely Arab district, and a couple more are just common joooo-haters. By the way “Wall”, funny how your bash-list consisted of Cooper, Simon and Horowitz
July 25th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
Here’s the latest from the AJC, just down the road a bit from me:
http://tinyurl.com/m8yz4
July 25th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Who is Fabulous Fanny?
July 25th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
“why throw him an anvil with this bit of sarcasm?”
I think Marc is grown-up and can grasp irony - even at his own expense. Wasn’t intended as an “anvil”, just a ribbing.
And I didn’t tag - or “tar” - McKinney as insane. I called her an obnoxious flake and a flaming embarrassment. I don’t think she’s close to being insane - just a person with spectacularly poor judgement and a penchant for wild overstatement. (There are a couple of people in Congress who might actually be crazy - I’d have say that Sam Brownback is a candidate for a mental exam, based on his recent performance with talking frozen embryo cartoons and Katherine Harris appears to need some counseling.)
The reason I’d like to see McKinny replaced is precisely because she takes a lot of positions that I agree with, while also saying and doing other things that are obnoxious or stupid with some consistency. Not much of a help to have her as convenient target for the right. I’d have no particular objection to her if she were just someone who spent most of their time holding a sign outside the Crawford ranch. And if she were an equally obnoxious right-winger - like Jean Smith - in a safe Republican district, I’d probably want to see her win the primary, just to give a Democrat a shot. For the record, I don’t think Simon and Horowitz are insane either. I think Simon is a guy who is very limited but doesn’t know it and Horowitz is a consummate opportunist who’s turned his own lack of judgement and a humdinger of a guilt-complex (that he probably should have consulted a mental health professional about) into a marketing opportunity. Neither one is any more analytically competent or politically sophisticated now than they were when they were running around touting Mao or the Panthers. It’s no crime to have been less than wise in one’s youth, but to shift gears politically as you get older or attempt to reflect on events and still manage to lack any discernible judgement or growth in wisdom - and still consistently hang your hat with the pettiest and shallowest of ideologues - is pretty pathetic.
Also, since a charge of jooo-hate has now been made against some unnamed congressfolk for not signing on to a pro-Israel carte blanche (and who aren’t either the coincidentally black and female lunatics or those performing the ritual task of representing Arabs), I’d be interested in a list identifying them and at least a shred of evidence.
July 25th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
I’m with Marc Davidson. Why the sudden pragmatism? Johnson seems like a fine candidate (I ain’t voting in Georgia so my research is shallow), but no better than a lot of people you passionately disdain. Why the change of heart? And can we count on you to support flawed creatures like Johnson when battling looney conservatives and not just looney democrats? (Yes, Wall, my use of the word looney indicated that I don’t like black people. Sharp race-baiting - er - I mean- analysis.)
July 25th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
Everyone that I know is pulling for McKinney. She’s the perfect face of the Democratic Party and offers great entertainment value. I particularly liked her celebration dance on primary night and her boozin’ it up with Cindy Sheehan. If that district is going to have a liberal black Democrat representing them, it might as well be her.
If any of you liberals want a reason to support Al-McKinney, consider the large numbers of contributions that she gets from people with Arab names. You, not me, just have to like someone who is on the side of Islamic fundamentalists and opposes Israel.
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/687739/posts
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/290
http://boortz.com/nuze/200407/07212004.html#cynthia
July 25th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
McKinney, of course, is a crackpot. And a race-card player. If she loses, good riddance.
“Progressive,” as a political characterization, I assume, is intended as a joke.
“Everyone wants Wallace,
Friendly Henry Wallace,
In the White House . . . “
July 25th, 2006 at 4:47 pm
Reg, I’ll let the comments from the stay the course wingnuts speak for themselves.
Beyond that, there does seem to be a BIT of a pattern when it comes to any black woman who gets an office or job in a Democratic Administration. They are tagged as nuts, until the political pressure gets intense enough that they get fired, then they become martyers cast aside by the evil Clinton.
What, will you accept nothing but a political Bill Cosby? (He’s SO nice, He never brings RACE into it; we’d almost have him as a guest in our own home!) Is this the kind of crazy that was willing to stand up to Bush during the post 9-11 years of our national, self inflicted labotomy? That’s a crazy we could have used more of.
July 25th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
Oh, and if your worried about Mckinney’s hold on sanity, take a look at what pulls down face time over at Bush’s Pravda?
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/07/25/dick-morris-iraq-civil-war/
July 25th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
Wall, you continue to be a rather pathetic element. You have no theory to advance on McKinney other than a crude race-based notion that there’s some conspiracy out there to “get” back women. Maybe you should apply for a job on her staff if by some miracle she wins re-election. If you think “standing up” to the Bush admin after 9/11 meant suggesting the US government helped stage or sanction the attack as McKinney did, then you are really, really a goner.
Reg, I second ur words on her. She must go PRECISELY because her “positions” overlap with some of ours (though I dont share her propensity to use public funding to lavish favors on Scientologist Isaac Hayes).
Woody, you little sneak, you! So you’re spending weekends working on the McKinney campaign, eh? I can see why!
Mavis, no you cant count on me for anything. Unlike KOS, I’m not a political consultant. Instead, Im a cranky old man who reserves the right to be inconsistent, irrational and contadictory. I’m sure I will disdain Johnson after he’s election. Right now, I disdain McKinney more.
July 25th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
Wall - I realized after my earlier response to you that I did, in fact, use the tag “Crazy Cyn” in reference to McKinney. But glib references aside, my attitude toward her is as I described. I think she has a tendency to “act” crazy, not that she “is” crazy. Sam Brownback, however, I’m not so sure about.
July 26th, 2006 at 9:32 am
Reg,
Jon Stewart made a compelling argument that Brownback is a vagina.
July 26th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
“If any of you liberals want a reason to support Al-McKinney, consider the large numbers of contributions that she gets from people with Arab names”
Hey Woody I’m one of those sneeky American citizens with an Arab name. Does that mean that I shouldnt be allowed be to involved in the political process? Should we be as suspicious of candiates with contributions coming from people with Jewish, Chinese, African American or European names? And I’ve never known James Zogby to be an “islamic fundementalist? perhaps you could elaborate
July 27th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Ahmed, when you look at the huge numbers of contributors to Rep. Mckinney with Arab names and who are out-of-state and have ties to groups that support terrorists, you have to raise a question about them and about McKinney. For instance:
McKinney accepted a $2000 contribution from American Muslim Council founder Abdurahman Alamoudi…. (who said in a 2000 pro-Palestinian rally): “I have been labeled by the media in New York as being a supporter of Hamas. …I wish they added that I am also a supporter of Hezbollah.”
Around the same time, McKinney also criticized then–New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani for refusing to accept a $10 million donation to the city from Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal. (For the donation)…the prince wanted the US to acknowledge some responsibility — in part for its support of Israel — for the September 11 attacks. …Soon afterward, McKinney wrote a letter to the prince criticizing Giuliani and expressing agreement with Alwaleed’s observations. (She asked him to give her the $10 million.) Al-McKinney
Ahmed, I think that plenty of people with Arab names are quite involved in the political process in America. Some good and some not. But, we’re currently fighting a war on terror led against us by Islamic terrorists–not James Zogby and his friends, and we should be aware of their attempts to buy influence. Perhaps, you should be more concerned about their intentions and what they say rather than what I simply reported as fact. Your claim to beng offended doesn’t cause me to drop my guard.
July 27th, 2006 at 10:56 pm
I see that you convenienty dodged my points as expected. As for Zogby i brought him up becuase he is on that list of people wit those wacky arab names who donated to Mckinney. You implied that they were “islamic fundementalist” or something of the sort so maybe you could substancaite your claim. Noiticed, too, that you linked the excretable Daniel Pipes who once stated that the very enfranchisement of Muslims American citizens posed a threat to America. One person, one vote except for those who were born with Arab names I guess. I would think that youd find that idea not only anti democratic but also anti american but ive read enough of your nonsense to know better.
July 28th, 2006 at 6:23 am
Sorry Cooper, McKinney said not such thing and the very way you use your weasel words shows it . “Staged” or “Santioned” which is it? Let’s see the statements She made. Until you produce something, your just playing the Joe McCarthy/ Christopher Hitchens game you are all too prone to when excited.
Maybe, seeing the results of the Bush White House, your just projecting a bit of guilt against somebody who did more than register polite dissents. At the same time, of course, most of your writing flatens everything by singling out the Dem’s cental sin: no balls. You can go off and congradulate yourself on how “complex” your views are. But you can’t chew the radical gum and walk at the same time; and you’ve long since even tried getting out of your chair.
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