Hi Liberals . . . POLL . . .

[defendandprotect]

How do you view Jane Hamsher of Fire Dog Lake ?



-----------------------

Since I posted an article by Jane Hamsher --

Just want to check with you all on your feelings about Jane Hamsher and FDL --

IMO, her honesty about the administration has moved her onto the "enemies" list

of some at DU --

What are the feelings of liberals here about her --

[last1standing]

1. I've never gone to th esite.

Usually the best (and worst) of FDL ends up elsewhere and I read it there.

[defendandprotect]

2. Hamsher had a really good article on MA fiasco today . . . posted it here somewhere .....

Here's Hamsher's article today --

I didn't have time to read all of it myself yet!

Dear President Obama: Time to Stop Letting Corporations Write the Health Care Bill
by Jane Hamsher
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/dear-preside...


There is a working link . . . Huffington must have moved it -- I'll be back --

[jgraz]

3. I think she's a great, hard-ass progressive

I'm using her as my avatar just to piss off the Centrobots, but I'm also a pretty big fan.

[defendandprotect]

10. Btw . . . is there any meaningful difference between liberal and progressive ?

I'd look it up but have a virus on my computer so problem with searches right now!

[last1standing]

11. That's always a tricky one.

I've always thought of "liberal" being more tied down to the left/right scale whereas "progressive" seems to be more focused on whatever advances the liberties and condition of people regardless of where it falls on the scale.

I've always said that in binary liberal/conservative terms I'm a fiscal conservative in the sense that I believe in balancing the budget whenever possible. On the other hand I feel this is a progressive value as in the long term the lack of interest payments could allow for more social services, education, medical care, etc... I also think its progressive to balance the budget by cutting military spending instead of programs like social security like Obama's considering.

Of course, I'm sure others will have other definitions.

[defendandprotect]

12. Guess we'll have to work on that one . . .

However, I consider myself a radical liberal ---
and a progressive --

I'm completely anti war and MIC -- more corporations making our decisions based on profit!!

I'm sick to think of the SURPLUS that Clinton permitted W to throw away --
it should have been applied to debt or returned to Social Security or whatever --
something positive - rather than left for W.

What is the daily bill on debt now? it's absolutely huge!!! Is it a billion a day?
I've forgotten.

If I were Queen, the Military would have 1/4 of the budget they have now -- !!

[last1standing]

13. Funny fact.

If the US military were cut by 3/4 it would still be over twice as large as any other military budget in the world. We aren't the world's police, we're their overlord.

[defendandprotect]

16. And evidently, if we simply joined our forces, eliminating distinctions... we'd save 28% of

the military budget!!

Seems we're the only ones with AF, Army etal anymore!!

And how many countries are troops still stationed in!!!


Wow!!

[No Elephants]

21. I've been urging that for years for the military, and now I urge the same

for the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and Secret Service, too. The money and efficiency we lose in matters of national security is mind boggling. Guess we'd rather die than admit the original reasons for the distinctions no longer exist.

[No Elephants]

20. Maybe the rest of the world doesn't let military contractors charge $1000 per plastic toilet seat.

(and that was in 1980's dollars).

Or pay Halliburton and Bechtel to keep building the same roads and bridges in Iraq over and over.

Or hire Blackwater bc our "volunteer" military is not sufficient for our global activities, despite one stop loss after another. And besides, we don't want to pay veterans' benefits.

And so on.

I have a feeling more of the money goes into private pockets than we can imagine.

[jgraz]

14. I use "progressive" because I grew up in Wisconsin.

Most of the lefties I know from back home refer to themselves as "progressives". Probably because of this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Lafollette

[defendandprotect]

18. Went thru quickly . . . but interesting . .. don't recall having heard of him before ..!!

[No Elephants]

19. I've heard Hillary refer favorably to progressive ideals and progressives many times. Offhand,

I don't recall her doing the same with "liberal." However, I always thought use of "progressive" was a reaction to the Republicans having worked so hard to make "liberal" an epithet of contempt, a kiss of death.

[Mithreal]

4. Love her, she is a model aggressive progressive to me

[Jefferson23]

5. If we could only clone Jane!

[Sebastian Doyle]

6. Honestly, I don't follow the site

I read what's posted here, and I've heard Jane on various radio appearances, and like what I've heard from her there.

But anyone who pisses off the Message Discipline LLC team is OK with me. :evilgrin:

[defendandprotect]

9. Presume you've noticed that many at DU are attacking her as viciously as

they've attacked Nader?

That's why I put up the poll here to find out what her reception is among liberals/

progressives.

[No Elephants]

7. Not sure how to distinguish between the poll categories of "other" and "and other", but

he only times I've read FDL is when I've been linked to it from some DU post. It seems a little too something or other (how's that for inarticulate?)

[EmeraldCityGrl]

8. I haven't been over there reading for a while

but use to all the time and really like her. I'm use to people being critical of Obama, much of it justified, so it doesn't phase me,

I can still appreciate her position on a number of positions.

[Capn Sunshine]

15. we've had a falling out

I think her attempts to ally with Grover fucking Norquist will end badly. She seems to think they are trustworthy because some of our populist objectives overlap.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.
NEVER trust Norquist.
Never.

[TheKentuckian]

17. I really like(d) her but dealing with the devil ain't really kosher with me

I'm not a apeshit hater on it but that's some dangerously bad judgment in my eyes. Norquist is pretty much a maximum level dumpsterfuck.
I hate the bill too but I think an unholy alliance with ole Grover is probably a bridge too far or at the least will have negative ramifications down the line.