My definition of a "real" Democrat, as opposed to a DINO:

[pnwmom]

A real Democratic politician is anyone Democrats have voted for.

Lieberman is not a real Democrat, because Democrats chose his opponent in the primary.

Harold Ford is a real Democrat, because the Democrats in Tennessee chose him in their primary.

I think there are conservative Democrats, and moderate Democrats, and liberal Democrats, and we should all be working together to defeat the REAL OPPONENTS in this coming election.

Anyone who doubts how different ANY Democrat is from the thugs now running the country should read carefully this article in Rolling Stone: The Worst Congress Ever

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12055360/cover_story_time_to_go_inside_the_worst_congress_ever/1

"But the 109th Congress is no mild departure from the norm, no slight deviation in an already-underwhelming history. No, this is nothing less than a historic shift in how our democracy is run. The Republicans who control this Congress are revolutionaries, and they have brought their revolutionary vision for the House and Senate quite unpleasantly to fruition. In the past six years they have castrated the political minority, abdicated their oversight responsibilities mandated by the Constitution, enacted a conscious policy of massive borrowing and unrestrained spending, and installed a host of semipermanent mechanisms for transferring legislative power to commercial interests. They aimed far lower than any other Congress has ever aimed, and they nailed their target.

"The 109th Congress is so bad that it makes you wonder if democracy is a failed experiment," says Jonathan Turley, a noted constitutional scholar and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington Law School. "I think that if the Framers went to Capitol Hill today, it would shake their confidence in the system they created. Congress has become an exercise of raw power with no principles -- and in that environment corruption has flourished. The Republicans in Congress decided from the outset that their future would be inextricably tied to George Bush and his policies. It has become this sad session of members sitting down and drinking Kool-Aid delivered by Karl Rove. Congress became a mere extension of the White House."

The end result is a Congress that has hijacked the national treasury, frantically ceded power to the executive, and sold off the federal government in a private auction. It all happened before our very eyes. In case you missed it, here's how they did it -- in five easy steps:

SNIP

[WI_DEM]

1. then we shouldn't really call anybody (other than Lieberman) a dino

because probably 99.99% of them were selected by a democratic primary.

[pnwmom]

2. That is what I'm saying.

Twenty years ago, no one EVER talked about DINO's. I think we were better off then, by far.

[BeFree]

3. Why so bad?

Gee, do you think its because some of the Publicans were never really elected in the first place? Ya think? Sure looks that way to me.

[pnwmom]

4. I think it's because of the rot at the core --

where Rove and Bush lie together.

[BeFree]

5. Well of course

No one with a sense of democracy and what the flag stands for would ever go about stealing elections like they have.

[bluedogyellowdog]

6. Hear Hear!

Lieberman is a DINO and became one the moment he refused to accept the Dem primary results and ran as an independent.

Zell Miller is a DINO and became one the moment he spoke at the Repug convention endorsing *

That jerk in Louisiana who switched parties 2 years ago and became a Repug before the primary but after the filing deadline had passed is a DINO.

That's just three. There are no other DINOs that I can think of off the top of my head. If they have the good sense to proudly declare themselves a Democrat and run on the Democratic ticket they're Democrats. The way I see it, we're the party representing the broad spectrum of mainstream American thought. The Repugs are the wacky far-right ideological party limited only to neocons and the religious right. Let the Repugs tear themselves apart declaring each other RINOs while we become *the* major party.

[ZombieGak]

7. principles matter

Ford and Lamont are very different. I believe what matters is adherance to some core Party principles. Sadly the Dems seem pretty devoid of them as of late.

[pnwmom]

10. How's this for a core party principle:

Protect the Constitution.
Protect the Bill of Rights.
Act as a check on Executive power.

All of that separates us from the Rethugs. And on all of that we can be united.

[ZombieGak]

11. the Constitution is anti-democratic

It's the EC not Florida or the USSC that gave us Bush in 2000. I'd go as far a to say it's our system that prevents us from having a vibrant democracy such as those in Europe. Under our system we have no right to representation for our beliefs. As a Progressive I can vote forever and never get ANY representation.

And it's about time Democrats stopped defending this dysfunctional system. But then Dems have no respect for democracy. If they did, they'd at least try to define it.

As for the Bill of Rights... ever hear any Dems defend the 9th amendment?

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

No, all they do is defend enumerated rights.

[Solon]

12. Uh, according to your own definition, Ford isn't a real Democrat...

at least on Protecting the Bill of Rights, specifically Amendments 4, 5, 6 and Amendment 8. But hey, 2 out of 3 ain't bad! :sarcasm:

ON EDIT: Changed Title.

[Bill McBlueState]

8. Lieberman's not a DINO

To say he's a DINO is to say that he's at least a Democrat In Name. But he's not even that.

[pnwmom]

9. That's true. He WAS a DINO. Now he's not even that.

Perhaps a DINO is something you can only identify retroactively.