MoveOn.org targets Dingell

planetgore.nationalreview.com ^ | June 28, 2007 | Henry Payne

[neverdem]

MoveOn.org has taken out radio ads here in Michigan to attack octogenarian – and fellow Democrat - John Dingell as a dinosaur for blocking new Washington fuel economy rules (activists are also donning dinosaur costumes and picketing the congressman’s office with “Dingellsaurus” signs – and I thought lefties were opposed to ageism).

Here’s an excerpt from the ad featuring a father and son discussing a dinosaur picture book:

Father: And this one?

Billy: I don’t know.

Father: It’s a Dingell-saurus.

Billy: A what?

Father: A Dingellsaurus. Someone who’s been in Congress so long, he forgets about the people who sent him there.

Billy: Are there any around today?

Father: Our own Congressman John Dingell. He’s standing in the way of the first energy bill ever that would really combat global warming. It would also help the auto companies in the long run and that means more jobs.

Billy: Is a Dingellsaurus dangerous? Father: Very. Because if the Dingellsaurus gets his way, we could all be extinct.

Those stupid auto companies. Don’t they understand that the fuel economy regulations they are currently lobbying against are designed to make them rich?

[neverdem]

"The Dean of the House" has been there from 1955. It was a legacy seat from his father.

[rabscuttle385]

Mmm...the liberals eating their own. The next elections are going to be very interesting indeed!

[P-40]

A Dingellsaurus. Someone who’s been in Congress so long, he forgets about the people who sent him there.

That description fits a good many people in both houses.

[elizabetty]

What complete idiots.

Attacking a little old man? What's next, taking candy from babies?

[ken5050]

Whatever happened to Dingell-Norwood?

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Damn, I was going to use that line! “What about dingell-Norwood, what about Dingell-Norwood?” ROFL

[CSM]

“Someone who’s been in Congress so long, he forgets about the people who sent him there.”

Except of course by this vote (and this vote only) he actually is representing his constituents. His district is almost 100% tied to the US auto industry. Move on moveon!

[ken5050]

I hereby give you permission to use it..Send the royalty check to Al Gore..

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Thanks Ken. I think of that stupid line about once a month, usually when I want to recall some of the reasons that al Gore snatched defeat from the jaws of victory back in 2000. It causes me to laugh hysterically.

[sgtbono2002]

Very selective about who they call a dinosaur.

Thay havent attacked old Byrd yet have they? Now there is a dinosaur if there ever was one.

Must have something to do with someone not kissing their butts or voting with the pack.

[neverdem]

That description fits a good many people in both houses.

Do you believe in term limits for Congress?

Talk radio is now threatened by the resurrection of the Fairness Doctrine. With the near evisceration of McCain - Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act by the Supreme Court and the failure of the comprehensive "Shamnesty" in the Senate, the neoCOMs will be pushing harder for the Fairness Doctrine. Call talk radio. Use that as an opening to push for a Constitutional Amendment to give Congress term limits.

[kidd]

Yet they overlook the Byrdasaurus and the Swimasaurus.

One of them feeds on black people and the other kills its victims by drowning them.

[Mikey_1962]

The Soviet Politburo had a higher turn-over rate, seriously.

[VeniVidiVici]

He’s standing in the way of the first energy bill ever that would really combat global warming. It would also help the auto companies in the long run and that means more jobs.

Oh brother. This needed a Barf Alert.

[P-40]

Normally I would be against term limits as the stay in office of the congressman should be a decision that is left to the voters. But given how carefully carved up each district is to practically favor the incumbent, maybe it is time.

As an alternative, I'd rather see ballots that list only the candidates name and the office sought. Mention of party affiliation would be prohibited. There could still be a button to push to vote 'straight ticket' but the only thing it would do is fire a taser or release the hounds.

[PetroniusMaximus]

ping

[Kieri]

WTH??!!!

I don’t like Dingell, but this plan by MoveOn is just plain NUTS!!! What are they smoking over there?

They’re going after a LONG-time Democrat in Michigan (hello, Motor City, anyone???), the heart of the UAW and the union movements, and are attacking a state economy that’s barely on life support because Big Three business is going down the tubes!

This strategy makes NO SENSE at all. They’re not appealing to anybody with this kind of rhetoric, let alone the rank and file dem/libs in Michigan. People are down to their last pennies, their houses are in foreclosure, taxes are going up (THANK you, Jenny...NOT), and they’re supposed to feel hatred against Dingell for trying to preserve their jobs??

Honestly, it’s bizarre. But then again, it IS coming from MoveOn.

[neverdem]

Yet they overlook the Byrdasaurus and the Swimasaurus.

They are both mentioned at the link in comment# 11.

[neverdem]

Oh brother. This needed a Barf Alert.

If you check the link in comment# 11, then you'll see that I had another purpose in mind.

[ilsalund]

Know a close friend who’s acquainted with John Dingell. Taking on John Dingell, moveon.org better start digging a hole.

[DesScorp]

“Mmm...the liberals eating their own. The next elections are going to be very interesting indeed!

I don’t know about the Senate, but it looks like there could be some real bloodletting among Democrats in House elections next year.

[neverdem]

Normally I would be against term limits as the stay in office of the congressman should be a decision that is left to the voters. But given how carefully carved up each district is to practically favor the incumbent, maybe it is time.

I used to think that way too. But about 8 out of 9 House seats are safe for the incumbent due to the voter registration in each Congressional District, IIRC.

The Senate is getting almost as bad as the House as far as recruiting challengers. The GOP did not oppose the Swimmer in MA the last time. The neoCOMs didn't oppose RINO John Warner for his last election. Sheets Byrd had a nobody from the GOP oppose him for his last election. A GOP babe named Caputo bowed out of opposing Sheets almost at the last minute, IIRC. I've had enough.

[rabscuttle385]

More like bloodletting in the establishment, Democrat and Republican.

[rabscuttle385]

Attacking a little old man? What's next, taking candy from babies?

Remember, Waxman is just an innocent little yard gnome.

Well, he looks like one, at least. Not innocent, though.

[P-40]

But what would happen if the voter was not told the candidate’s party on the ballot? What if they had to know *who* they were voting for and not what *party* they were voting for?

[elizabetty]

Remember, Waxman is just an innocent little yard gnome. Well, he looks like one, at least. Not innocent, though

Dingle is not even in the same universe of crazy as Waxman.

[neverdem]

But what would happen if the voter was not told the candidate’s party on the ballot? What if they had to know *who* they were voting for and not what *party* they were voting for?

It's not a bad idea, but it has two things going against it. The GOP and neoCOMs would never give up their voting columns. Most folks wouldn't have a clue about voting for minor elective offices without party ID.

[P-40]

Most folks wouldn't have a clue about voting for minor elective offices without party ID.

And that is the beauty of it. If they can't be bothered to at least look up the names in advance, they should not be voting at all. In the worst case, they would pick names in a pattern that worked out close to random. The Democrats and the Republicans would not have a lock on the election as one or the other would not be guaranteed a win. Educated voters would have their votes count for a least a little bit more than what they do now. And they tasers and hounds would provide lots of entertainment.

[GreyFriar]

No, modern communists (aka “progressives”) who control the Dems eating the old line liberal Democrats.

[avacado]

"He’s standing in the way of the first energy bill ever that would really combat global warming."

Notice how these yellow-bellied liberals use words like "fight" and "combat" when referring to doing something about global warming? Real tuff guys, huh!? They are getting tough with plant food!

[Yo-Yo]

I’ve never been a huge Dingell fan, but he’s always been on the right side of Second Amendment issues.

[neverdem]

I’ve never been a huge Dingell fan, but he’s always been on the right side of Second Amendment issues.

That's usually true, but as I wrote on another thread:

"Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) has been in Congress since 1955. He and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) apparently used the suspension calendar to get H.R. 2640 bill passed by a voice vote. H.R. 2640 is a massive expansion of the Brady Gun Control law, according to the GOA. I don't want lunatics with firearms as much as the next person, but turning over a fundamental right and personal information to error prone computer systems deserves debate and a recorded vote, IMHO. (Anything that makes Chuck Schumer enthusiastic, should make anyone who loves liberty suspicious. The provisions in the final bill need close examination.)"

[Clam Digger]

Oh brother. This needed a Barf Alert.

The Dingell in the title wasn't enough?

[Tijeras_Slim]

Thay havent attacked old Byrd yet have they? Now there is a dinosaur if there ever was one.

Bird is much older, a fiesty trilobite at least.

[Ouderkirk]

No, to term limits. The best way to get turn over is to eliminate the congressional pensions and a lifetime ban on lobbying by former conrgresscritters and their staffers.

[AuH2ORepublican]

“His district is almost 100% tied to the US auto industry.”

---

Well, not so much anymore. 2002 redistricting gave him the college town of Ann Arbor, where its hippie aasistant professors don’t even know that they build cars in Michigan. But you’re right, no way that the blue-collar Democrats in Dearborn, Downriver and Ypsilanti will sell him out for an environmentalist extremist.

[PhilCollins]

Dingell has been a U.S. rep. since 1955, and Byrd has been a U.S. senator since 1959. Moveon.org probably doesn’t want to target any liberals until the liberal has been in his current office for at least 50 years.

[PhilCollins]

There should also be a ban on relatives of congressmen from lobbying. Now, the U.S. Senate or House is considering bills that were lobbied by spouses or children of 20 U.S. senators.

[Tarpon]

Pass the popcorn — Yummy, fun to watch.

[AFPhys]

They’re just having yet another BMovement.

[zot]

modern communists (aka “progressives”) who control the Dems eating the old line liberal Democrats.

Yes, I agree.

[do the dhue]

The next elections are going to be very interesting indeed!

Get your popcorn ready, it is going to be a show.

[rudy45]

Yes, what was that line all about? I just remember Al Gore kept interrupting George W. Bush with it at least three or four times.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

It was supposed to be a patient bill of rights but has become the butt of many jokes.