Why Political Heretics Are Worse Than Infidels

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http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=081106F

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And now, back to the 2006 Democrats. Angry donkeys in Connecticut have purged one of their most popular leaders in a blogosphere-led campaign; the proverbial Army of Democratic Davids have knocked off a Democratic Goliath.

And while Lieberman is notoriously restrained and polite, his own strong feelings about his fellow Dems were visible in the wake of his defeat, as when he said on CNN that Lamont's wing of the Democratic party could "not give assurance to America that we will do what has to be done to protect us from terrorists." Republicans are lapping up such rhetoric, of course, but it's Democrats who are carrying on the fiercest fight -- against each other.

Here's a typical headline bespeaking internecine intensity: "The Sweetness of Lieberman's Defeat." And reacting to the candidate's announced decision to run as an independent, the blog Daily Kos sniped, "Now, Lieberman wants to stab his allies and his party in the back. It won't be the first time." And Arianna Huffington joined in the blog-slaught on Wednesday, decrying "Joe Lieberman's selfish, self-serving, spoiled-rotten attempt to undercut Ned Lamont's historic victory." Then she added, twisting the knife, that Lieberman's third-party run will further undercut the Democrats' chances of retaking Congress in November. Them's fightin'words.

And here's another heretic-burner, Michael Moore, waving around his torch, casting fiery light into the future: "To every Democratic Senator and Congressman who continues to back Bush's War, allow me to inform you that your days in elective office are now numbered. Myself and tens of millions of citizens are going to work hard to actively remove you from any position of power." Once again, we know that Michael Moore-types dislike the Republicans across the aisle, but they reserve a special ferocity for those on their side of the aisle.

And the beat -- make that the beating -- goes on. Looking ahead to the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, pollster Dick Bennett recently shared with The Boston Herald some of the "verbatim" comments he had heard about Hillary Clinton: "lying bitch . . . shrew . . . Machiavellian . . . evil, power-mad witch . . . the ultimate self-serving politician." And here's the kicker: All these comments were from Democrats, most of them angry about the New York Senator's nuanced support for the Iraq war. "I thought there might be some negatives, but I didn't know it would be as strong as this. It's stunning," summed up Bennett.

So far, at least, the "infidels" in this particular Demo-drama, aka the Republicans, can sit back and enjoy the heretic-burning show.......more