I couldnt believe that five Democratic senators all decided to retire at the same time. Of course, they have private lives which they are entitled to run as they see fit, and I especially understand Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) who apparently was pretty close to death a few years ago. Also Sen. Carl Levin (D-M), who cast one of the more shocking votes for a Democratic senator in recent years (against the Nuclear Option) at least is in a pretty blue state that Democrats are likely to hold on to. But Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) AND Tom Harken (D-IA) AND Max Baucus (D-MT), all of them in purple (Harken) or red (Rockefeller and Baucus) states in a midterm election with the entire senate at stake and the specter of the smirking, reptilian Minority Leader becoming Majority Leader? The one I am most curious about is the great Tom Harken, one of a breed of old style populists that seems headed for extinction. Since, if polls are to be believed, Joni Ernst Blofeld, the Sarah Palin of the continental United States, seems headed for victory in that election, I wonder how Sen. Harken feels about the prospect of being replaced by her. Probably something like the brilliant Thurgood Marshall must have felt when he was succeeded by right wing rubber stamp, Clarence the Silent. Or the way Ted Kennedy would have felt had he lived to learn who his successor in the senate would be: Scott Brown. Ugh. But, from what I heard today, it sounds very much like Sen. Harkin will in fact be succeeded by a senator who believes that the minimum wage should be gutted; Social Security privatized; and President Obama impeached. Ive also heard that her Democratic opponent, Bruce Braley, has been criticized for not doing enough to peel back her sane costume that camouflages what lies beneath: More mean spirited, right wing dysfunctional extremism. However, this is one time Im hesitant to criticize a Democrat for not being sufficiently aggressive to lift the veil and expose all the underlying lunacy of a bat shit crazy, extreme right wing opponent to the electorate. After all, this is Iowa, and it is beyond question that there is at least one pocket of sheer madness that has already infected that state: Whichever district sent Steve King and his cantaloupes to Congress.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 07:03:27 +0000