Why we're angry...

From Mike the Mad Biologist comes this pointer to an excellent summary of why Joe lost and why others better take heed: It's the Treason, Stupid by Anonymous Liberal Staffer at MyDD.com.

The whole article is excellent, and I recommend you read it. But here's the main thing - the thing I whole-heartedly agree with:

Since 9/11, Republicans from the White House to backbenchers like Jean Schmidt have mercilessly implied that Democrats are traitors who are undermining their country every time they question the President -- and it was in joining them that Joe Lieberman lost it all...

"We undermine the President's credibility at our nation's peril," Lieberman said last year of war critics.

To point out that it is not too many questions that have imperiled our nation, but rather far too few, is almost besides the point. And to be sure, "the point" has been made before. But perhaps the most glaring omission from the "inside the beltway bubble" mentality that Josh Marshall and so many others discuss is this: for years, from late 2001, straight through 2005, virtually the entire Democratic base -- the very same Democrats who show up for primaries -- were tarred and feathered as traitors in every corner of their country and daily lives. Turn on CNN, and there it is. Read the editorial page of the local paper, there it is. Listen to the President of the United States give the State of the Union address, there it is:

You are a traitor.

Now this talking point has certainly been given plenty of ink and pixels, but for myself and, I believe, many other primary voters, there is no single issue with more emotional impact. To hear one's own government accusing you of treason, to sense that the President and his party are infecting one's entire society with that accusation, simply because one truly believes what the president says he believes himself -- "war should always be a last resort" -- is one of the most visceral experiences one can have in the political arena.

...

All of those day-to-day experiences from ordinary Americans came down from the top, the result of an all-consuming political media blitz meant to make Americans hate each other courtesy of the Republican Party, their conservative echo chamber, and yes... Joe Lieberman. For pundits who ask what the difference between Lieberman, red state Dems, or even Hillary Clinton is, well, this is the difference. Never once did any of them actively partake in pushing this fundamental shift in the very fabric of our society.

But while that is a vast difference, it does not mean that Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, or any number of other Democrats and Democratic presidential contenders can ignore this issue. While they did not actively promote this climate of hate, nor did they stand up to stop it. The Democratic base, the primary voters, were utterly hung out to dry. And while this culture has dissipated somewhat as President Bush's deceit and incompetence have been exposed, there can be no question that the refusal to fight back on behalf of their base against these most despicable of charges haunts the entire Democratic party politically to this day, and likely will for years to come.

I am not a traitor. And I resent being called one.

And I won't support anyone who did that. Ever again.