The Empire 253

'Blogosphere Fury at Dems on Iraq Vote
By Jonathan E. Kaplan
The Hill
Wednesday 30 May 2007

Furious that congressional Democratic leaders did not fight harder to pass a supplemental spending bill with a timeline to end the war in Iraq and tougher benchmarks, liberal online activists have ripped party leaders and threatened to halt contributions to Democratic lawmakers.
The power of the so-called netroots - liberal activists who rally likeminded supporters on the Internet - is not clear. They have a loud voice and they have the capacity to raise money quickly for a candidate they favor, but they so far have been unable to push House and Senate Democratic leaders on a range of issues, including ending the war in Iraq.
"They let us down this time," Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, the founder of the site DailyKos, wrote. "But the opportunities for them to make amends still exist. And if they don't? Well, no one, not even the most rabid partisans, have an endless supply of patience."
Liberal bloggers even criticized House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), who helped recapture the House last year as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), for saying that the deal was "the beginning of the end of the president's policy in Iraq."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) and other senior Democrats have promised to use the regular defense appropriations process and other legislative vehicles to end the war in Iraq. In addition, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has guaranteed centrist Democrats a vote on a measure this fall to de-authorize the use of force.
But nothing that Democrats have said seemed to placate the party's left wing. Most galling to some activists was a DCCC letter that tried to claim credit for forcing President Bush to agree to "accountability and reporting provisions" and "cancel[ing] the President's blank check in Iraq."
David Sirota, a prominent blogger and former congressional aide, wrote that the letter was "utterly Orwellian."
Readers at the DailyKos website were furious about the letter, while other readers were angry that the DCCC used James Carville, a Democratic political consultant, in a separate fundraising pitch. Many said they would not donate to DCCC any more.
"You insult me, sir. And I will not be insulted. Go to hell," wrote Bill from Portland, Maine.
"PIGS will fly before I will contribute a penny to this s- ... where is our spine, backbone, morals and ethics," wrote Left My Heart.
"Unlike our Democratic leaders, I am a Democrat who has backbone and conviction. I am hereby defunding YOU!" wrote Jayden.'

Lees verder:
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/blogosphere-fury-at-dems-on-iraq-vote-2007-05-30.html Of:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/053007E.shtml