Sometimes people commit suicide.  Sometimes they do it passively.   Sometimes they do it deliberately.   Sometimes it is over in an instant.   Sometimes it takes years.  Sometimes it is done out of anger, or desperation, or madness, or ignorance.   Sometimes it is a final defiant act in the face of untenable choices.   But one thing never changes.   It always hurts the people left behind.

When I think about the Hezbollah rockets and the Israel's recent decision to expand the fighting, they both strike me as suicidal, but in very different ways.  This brings to mind a third example very different from both of those two. 

Toward the tail-end of Joe Lieberman's concession speech on Tuesday evening, Lieberman makes this assertion, "I will keep fighting for the same progressive new ideas and for security. That's who I am." [BTW: the text is a summary not an exact transcript - you have to watch the entire speech]

The context is that he's running as an independent.

But as a Liberal there's something disconcerting and all too recognizable by this political rhetoric. He claims that he has been the voice and standard-bearer of progressive new ideas!

"This is looking really good", says Karl Rove in regards to Joe Lieberman independent run


Washington, DC (APE) - White House aide Karl Rove announced today that he would be taking personal responsibility for the fledgling independent run of Joe Lieberman for Connecticut state senate. He has labeled the race and all its implications as potential "Republican Dynamite".

Lieberman, refusing to accept the will of the Connecticut Democratic party in his loss to Ned Lamont yesterday, announced his candidacy for the same position as an independent in the fall election. The White House later sent a message to Lieberman campaign headquarters stating that 'the boss is concerned with the results and will pledge whatever it takes'.

All day long, the internets have been roasting under the load.  Lieberman's site has been down more than 18 hours.  The State of Connecticut's official site for results is down.  Even Kos was temporarily knocked off the air.

So, because it's as required for a political site today as breathing, here are the current results.

U.S. Senate - - Dem Primary
733 of 748 Precincts Reporting - 97.99%

Name	Party	Votes	Pct
Lamont, Ned	DEM	144,005	51.79
Lieberman, Joe (i)	CFL	134,026	48.21

 
Lamont widening the gap as the last precincts report. It appears he even took Hartford. So long, Joe! All the majors are now reporting Joe's concession speech and Joe's home town paper has called it for Lamont.
CNN now reporting that Joe has surrendered.

Sen. Joe Lieberman has conceded to upstart challenger Ned Lamont in Connecticut's Democratic primary.

Unfortunately, Lieberman proved to be just as egotistical as he had indicated earlier and immediately launched into his indy campaign.

Lieberman and O Dell claim victory in a stunning come from behind effort the day before the Connecticut Senatorial primary


Hartford, CT (Rotters) - On the eve of one of the most controversial electoral primaries in America, Ward O Dell the former CEO for Diebold, stepped forward to declare victory for incumbent Senator Joseph Lieberman. He stated that he was proud to be able to pledge his former company's vast resources to secure a victory for Lieberman over his dogged challenger, Connecticut businessman Ned Lamont.

CLICK TO ENLARGE...

This is dedicated to one of my favorite authors, Douglas Adams, may he rest in peace... He was a true comedic genius, IMHO... This one was scary the way that it pretty well wrote itself... sorry about the margins, and don't forget your towel...

Today's Washington Post editorial by E.J. Dionne correctly identifies the reason Lieberman is being successfully challenged for his Senate seat.

"The opposition to Lieberman is motivated by an effort to reverse the trend to the right. It's true that Lamont's campaign has been energized by widespread opposition to the Iraq war and the fact that Lieberman has been one of the most loyal Democratic defenders of President Bush's Middle East policies.

But Lieberman's troubles are, even more, about a new aggressiveness in the Democratic Party called forth by disgust with the Bush presidency -- an energy comparable to the vigor that a loathing for liberalism brought to the Republican right in the 1970s and '80s.

Like the earlier generation of conservatives, today's Democratic activists are impatient with accommodating the powers that be. They demand that Democrats stop trying to chase a "center" that has veered ever rightward since 1980. Instead, they want to haul that center back to more progressive terrain. That's why so much of the political energy in Connecticut seems to be with Lamont."

Senators Santorum and Lieberman displaying deadly Iraqi mustard cannister


Washington, DC (Rotters) - After being rebuffed by the press yesterday for disclosing a two-month old report on the Army's continued destruction of deteriorated pre-1991 munitions containing evidence of mustard gas and sarin, Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum accompanied by Connecticut Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman, as a sign of bipartisan support, produced one of the actual recovered canisters at a follow up press conference this morning. Santorum and Lieberman went on to reiterate that this was clearly evidence of the existence of weapons of mass destruction prior to the invasion of Iraq, therefore justifying the Bush administration's actions.

"We have also clearly been able to discern that there was indeed a French connection involved in Saddam Hussein's WMD development program after all." stated Santorum. "We must support the president and our troops on the ground until their original mission is fulfilled and all of Iraq is free from the threat of mustard gas and saffron."

"Every senator in this chamber is partly responsible for sending 50,000 young Americans to an early grave. This chamber reeks of blood...It does not take any courage at all for a congressman, or a senator, or a president to wrap himself in the flag and say we are staying in Vietnam, because it is not our blood that is being shed. But we are responsible for those young men and their lives and their hopes."~~Senator George McGovern, Sept 1, 1970

(Crossposted elsewhere.)

Ordinarily, putting up a diary about a for-profit political enterprise is a no-no in these parts.  But I think this one is different from the average company-whoring piece in two ways: one, I'm not the person operating the company, and two, buying merchandise from this organization actually is a concrete step toward making a blog cause celebre a reality.

The site is Weicker for Senate 2006 Merchandise, and its purpose is to get out into the community material endorsing the draft candidacy of Lowell Weicker, Jr. against the most odious figure still in the Democratic Party: Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman.  The site operator, a friend of mine who goes by the nom de blog strandsofpearl, wishes both to make a little money off her beautiful designs (exhibited below) and to place so many bumper stickers, buttons, and shirts in the Connecticut community that Weicker will see them and realize the popular support for his candidacy is there.