Reply #16: Look like a case for Media Matters to me [View All]

[TayTay]

Riddle me this kiddies: When is a Senator a brave "maverick" willing to take on the entrenched power structure of his own party especially over Iraq? Answer: When that Senator is a Republican, like Chuck Hagel.

When is a Senator a "loner," shunned by his own part leadership and told to stop rocking the boat by the ruthless cabal in his own Party? Why when that Senator is a Democrat, of course.

The narrative of Hagel and Kerry couldn't be more different or more illustrative of how the press views Republicans versus Democrats.

Ah, they are doing the same thing. Kerry is probably experiencing some blowback for what he did last year in forcing the filibuster on Alito, forcing the vote on a withdrawal of American forces in Iraq (with Sen. Feingold) and on his very public criticism of DC Dem favorite, Joe Lieberman. (Remember, Kerry and Clark were the only two Dems to really come out and campaign for Lamont and were very vocal in calling Lieberman on his bullshit on Iraq. There were dozens of DC Dem Senators who either tepidly endorsed Lamont and did the least amount possible to help him or endorsed non-Democratic nominee for the CT Senate, Lieberman.)

This is payback for bucking the power structure. There were a lot of Dems who were furious with Kerry for making them take stands they would rather not have taken last year. The Dems wanted to run on domestic issues and on corruption. Kerry was warned in Jan 06 and in June 06 that he was really starting to piss off the other Dems who didn't want to tackle these issues because they were divisive and controversial. This is payback.