Connie Saltonstall has her web page up.
Here is her twitter feed.
And here is our very own ActBlue thermometer to, if nothing else, feel good for a brief moment as you donate to someone who will at the very least irritate Bart Stupak:
Stupak irritates me more than Lieberman, and that is saying something.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Fuck Bart Stupidpak with Jowl Liebermans dick.
Mark S.
LEAVE BARTNEY ALONE!!!!
sfp
Donated last night.
If it has any effect on Stupak’s behavior whatsoever, it will have been $100 well spent–whatever happens in the upcoming elections.
The Bearded Blogger
Bart Stupak is an extremist, not a moderate democrat. Public legislation us being held hostage by extremists, in this case by a democrat, in most cases by republicans.
David in NY
Saltonstall hit exactly the right tone for me in her opening statement — “Don’t use your religious beliefs to deprive people of health care.” Hope it works up there. I know my brother, who lives in that district, would be glad to get rid of Stupak.
geg6
Done. And emailed to a bunch of my friends.
Litlebritdifrnt
Question. Following a link from John’s twitter to Jake Tapper’s page about where POTUS is donating his 1.4 million Nobel money there is a comment
“Now he just needs to get permission from Congress, given that it’s not legally his money to spend.”
Can someone please explain this to me, I am obviously feeling my age today.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@David in NY: and he’s Michael Moore’s congressman, and the unions are vowing to go after anyone who stands in the way of HCR? I think Bartelby the Sniveller has bitten off more than he can chew.
Martin
@Litlebritdifrnt: The explanation is that people, particularly those on the interons, are idiots.
Makewi
I think it’s sweet that she is going for the dumb as dirt constituency, that part that is distracted by shiny objects and cannot tell the difference between a desire to not have federal funds pay for abortions and an assault on “reproductive rights” coached in terms of oppressive religious beliefs.
Mark S.
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Because of Art I Sect 9:
geg6
@Makewi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x3TMBeX-ws
Litlebritdifrnt
@Mark S.:
Gotcha thank you. Lets hope all the republicans vote against it!
wasabi gasp
That’s nice. But Red State would’ve helped Stupak organize his closet.
Ana Gama
@The Bearded Blogger: That might be a little harsh. Stupak voted against NAFTA and the Iraq war.
arguingwithsignposts
@Mark S.: Is the nobel committee a foreign state? I seem to remember this dust-up when the prize was awarded.
maybe congress should launch an investigation, because they have nothing better to do. /snark
SIA
I’m definitely in for 50. I want that slimy creep bastard out of congress AND my lady parts.
BubbaDave
I chipped in, and given that the primary is in August I may be able to do a little canvassing for her too (assuming the campaign doesn’t think a Texas accent will frighten the Yoopers).
binzinerator
Done.
Fuck you Stupak.
geg6
@Mark S.:
Well, since the Norwegian Nobel Committee is not a foreign state but a committee that is simply chosen by the Norwegian Parliament (as instructed by Alfred Nobel in setting up the Nobel Institute) and which awards the prize for a private foundation, I’m not sure what you’re getting at here.
gwangung
@arguingwithsignposts: Let’s give it to the minority Senators to investigate. May it keep them out of trouble.
Mark S.
@arguingwithsignposts:
It’s awarded by a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament, so yeah it’s a foreign government.
For anyone interested, here’s one of the Volokh guys going into great detail on this.
geg6
@Mark S.:
Mark S.
@geg6:
I would consider a committee appointed by a parliament to be part of the government; i.e. an agent of the government.
arguingwithsignposts
@Mark S.: Thanks for that link, which concludes:
Hmmm. I like the charity idea better.
geg6
@Mark S.:
You might, but the Nobel Foundation does not.
Mark S.
Also, from the Volokh link, 5 USC 7342 states that “foreign government” means:
mcc
@Mark S.: What geg6 is saying is that the money does not itself belong to the parliament’s committee; the parliament’s committee simply selects someone who will be the beneficiary of privately held money coming from a private foundation, as dictated by the terms of Alfred Nobel’s will. Basically, the nobel committee shouldn’t be considered for these purposes to be the one who awards the prize.
arguingwithsignposts
All,
I would have to think WH Counsel would have cleared this donation thing, wouldn’t you?
Mark S.
@mcc:
I admit it’s not crystal clear. I would argue that it is an agency of the Norwegian parliament, but I can see where you guys are coming from.
As they say on cable news, we’ll have to leave it at that.
Fern
Irritating Bart Stupak is indeed a noble aspiration.
geg6
@Mark S.:
The Nobel Foundation is NOT a part of the Norwegian government. Period.
By your logic, the fact that a few congressmen and senators sit on the boards of American foundations and charities makes them ipso facto government entities.
The Bearded Blogger
@Ana Gama: Yeah… he’s definately taking an extremist position on HCR, I didn’t mean to say every position he has taken is extremist.
Mark S.
@geg6:
Are these Congressmen appointed by Congress to sit on these boards?
geg6
@The Bearded Blogger:
Well, depends on how you define extremist.
Wanting to control my uterus and being a member of the C Street Family is more than enough to label him extremist in my book, regardless of whatever else he does so as to not piss off the auto unions on whom he is dependent for his campaign chest. And I think he can kiss that chest goodbye if he keeps holding up HCR in his mad quest to force me and my sisters to give birth against our wills.
kay
If Bart Stupak’s goal was to show women where anti-abortion lobbyists rank “women’s health” aside from their reproductive capacity, he met, and exceeded, that goal.
NOT a big priority for them, the life and health of the presumptive mother. We know that now. Probably don’t want them in a position to make any judgment calls.
Got it, Bart. Loud and clear. So, thanks for that.
geg6
@Mark S.:
Don’t know. But they could. I don’t see why not. Still wouldn’t make them a government entity. The government would have to fund it to make it one.
SIA
@35 geg6
“Wanting to control my uterus and being a member of the C Street Family is more than enough to label him extremist in my book, regardless of whatever else he does so as to not piss off the auto unions on whom he is dependent for his campaign chest. And I think he can kiss that chest goodbye if he keeps holding up HCR in his mad quest to force me and my sisters to give birth against our wills”
THIS.
Mnemosyne
@Makewi:
If we’re going to get into medical procedures that we don’t want our tax money going to, I want the healthcare bill to ban the government from paying for liver transplants. Most of the people who get liver transplants did it to themselves by drinking too much alcohol, so why should my tax dollars go to fix someone else’s mistake?
I’m sure Bart Stupak, being the moral giant that he is, will add that to his amendment as well, right?
Makewi
@Mnemosyne:
Probably not. I really think you should run with that comparison though. If we can’t have federally funded abortions you can’t have liver transplants sounds like a real winner.
On a serious note, aren’t heavy drinkers and drug users usually excluded from receiving livers?
Seth
If he gets primaried Dems lose the seat, give it a shot.
DougMN
Me thinks Seth doesn’t quite know how the northern parts of MN, WI and MI roll….
gbear
I hear that Obama’s already introduced legislation to give tax breaks to the lutefisk industry. This is an outrage.
Seth
Well, that may be so DougMN, but I do know that McCain got 48% of the vote in 2008, with the winds blowing against him. If the familiar name of ‘Stupak’ isn’t on that ballot, Republicans will pick up the seat. This is not going to be a year to take any seat for granted.
gbear
This is good news for John McCain.
El Cid
@gbear: More soshulist support for Big Lutefisk? Why, those Democrats!
Seth
gbear: I assume your being mocking and that’s fine, the point I’m making is that it’s obviously not a seat to take for granted, if you fail to see that, or choose not to see that then oh well.
Mnemosyne
@Makewi:
Why not? After all, the reason people say they don’t want federally funded abortions because those sluts should have kept their legs closed and the unwanted pregnancy is all their own fault, so why should we have to pay to fix other damage that people did to themselves?
And, no, they don’t give a shit about “the babies.” If they did, we would have universal prenatal care instead of the highest infant mortality rate of any industrialized country. If they talk about saving “the babies” without actually doing anything to alleviate our infant mortality problem, then clearly they aren’t actually thinking about “the babies” when they rail against abortion.
No, drug addicts and alcoholics are not automatically denied liver transplants, though they do go lower on the priority list and have to abstain for six months before they can be put on the list.
DaNineOhSix
My father is a hard-core conservative, has been forever, and for years has been trashing good ol’ Bart Stupid. Finally, we have an issue we both agree on. Several years ago, Bart was supposed to have been on hand to dedicate the Vietnam Veterans museum in my small town, and he decided to blow it off. That was the start of my re-thinking of Stupak’s incumbency, and now this nonsense about HCR seals the deal. Everyone, please do what you can to support Connie Saltonstall’s primary challenge this August. It’s high time to retire this asinine grandstander.
Mnemosyne
@kay:
Check my link above for our infant mortality rate. They don’t care about the life and health of the babies they claim they’re trying to save, either. It’s all about getting a power rush from bossing women around.
But, hey, Slovakia’s infant mortality rate is slightly higher than ours, so we’re not actually the absolute worst, only the second worst. USA! USA! USA!
Comrade Kevin
@Makewi:
She should have your vote sewn up, then, you stupid ass.
deadrody
Hey, I’m going to run a crazy idea past you guys. Try it on for size and see what you think…
Maybe, just maybe, Bart Stupak represents a district that is, well, conservative. And that, on the whole they might lean towards the pro-life side. And so, maybe he is just representing the people that elected him.
You know, like the majority of people that oppose this nonsense.
deadrody
Hey, I’m going to run a crazy idea past you guys. Try it on for size and see what you think…
Maybe, just maybe, Bart Stupak represents a district that is, well, conservative. And that, on the whole they might lean towards the pro-life side. And so, maybe he is just representing the people that elected him.
You know, like the majority of people that oppose this nonsense.
And it is good to know where to go to find the most liberal, most extreme, most partisan whackos in the political spectrum.
A whopping 26 people are down for this little show. And sf, wow, the biggest dope of them all, dropping $100 on this idiotic nonsense ? Now I know the true definition of LOL.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@deadrody:
Though I am on record as supporting getting rid of Stupak for his leading a charge to screw up HCR and interject odious language that subverts Roe V Wade, on most other issues, he is a fairly solid yes vote supporting dem and even liberal/prog issues. And that belies your wanking of him being from a conservative district, which while that may be true, they are obviously comfortable with his liberal voting record. He is a fanatic on abortion however.
kid bitzer
i just dropped $100.00 on saltonstall myself.
one hundred “fuck you’s” to bart stupak, and i enjoyed every one of them.
will she win? who knows. but it was totally worth it.
SIA
@deadrody: Make that 27.
brantl
hey deadrody: blow me! If I had any money left over after Bush screwed us all, I’d contribute against dumb as dirt Stupak.
sfp
@deadrody:
Hey, it’s my hundred dollars, and as far as I’m concerned the sheer satisfaction gained from making Stupak squirm a little is well worth the price. Disposible income: ain’t it grand.
As for your slightly more substantive point: you may well be right. I don’t know a hell of a lot about UP politics, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if being pro-life is a net positive for Stupak. Even granting that, though, I very much doubt his district is so conservative that he can simply blow off a credible, well funded primary challenge.
I tend to be on the pragmatic side of these purity contests, and I don’t really have a problem with him being pro-life on that account. Not only that, it’s been obvious for a long time that abortion was going to be a bargaining chip, and I always figured that anything that passes will have restrictions.
That said, Stupak crossed the line. He got everything he wanted in the House version and damn near all of what he wanted in the Senate version. The latest round of posturing won’t get him anything concrete, and may well sink HCR for a generation. If he’s sincere, then fuck him–he needs to go down hard. If this is a bargaining ploy, then it’s worth it to me to give the House Leadership a little more leverage.
My order of preferences goes something like (1) Saltonstall wins the primary, goes on to win the general, (2) Stupak has a true and sincere change of heart, votes for HCR and stops being such a dick, (3) Stupak keeps being a dick, Saltonstall wins the primary, loses the general, (4) Stupak is a dick, Saltonstall loses the primary, the Republican wins the seat.
My calculation is that (1) would be nice but I’m not that optimistic, and (2) is the most likely by a good margin, and that either one is sufficiently worthwhile to make me willing to risk (3) or (4). I suppose that if MI-1st ends up being the 418th Republican seat because of Saltonstall, then, well, I’ll feel pretty stupid, but again, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.
slag
Done. I’m down with sfp because deadrody’s a jackass.
(I’m sure there’s some logic in there somewhere.)
sfp
Let me just add that if the MI-1st district really does end up being the 418th Republican win (you know, the deciding seat in America’s 835-member House of representatives), I will feel very stupid indeed.
On the upside, feeling stupid would be the least of my problems.