I'm responding because I'm bothered by postings on blogs that imply that I am somehow disrespecting John Orman (the original, sole member of the CFL) by running for U.S. Senate. I worked closely with John, and I have nothing but the highest respect for him and his memory. Last night I was able to dig up this email exchange with John, that shows he supported me running for U.S. Senate in 2010 (see below).
I also respectfully submit that I have accomplished more in regards to Joe Lieberman with my hard work as chair of the CFL for the last two years than any of the original members of the party could have hoped for.
I welcome civil engagement with anyone who wishes to communicate with me. I am not running for U.S. Senate for selfish reasons. I'm trying to bring calm, intelligent, non-partisan problem-solving to government. If people go to my website, www.Mertens2010.com, they will see the hard work I am putting in, and they can read my 30 position statements and solutions to long term problems. Instead of calling me names, people should read my positions and give me their opinions about them. Let's educate people about the huge, long-term problems that none of the Republicans or Democrats even talk about.
The CFL Party was started by Sen. Lieberman after he lost the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont. The Senator neglected to join his party, and the wiley Prof. John Orman took it over. I was elected Secretary, and with our other members, we used the party as a vehicle to hold Joe accountable.
The Connecticut for Lieberman Party is holding a statewide party meeting to nominate candidates for office on March 6, 2008 at 6:30 PM at 243 Zion Street in Hartford, Connecticut.
hat tip to Maura, for pointing me to these Stamford Advocate letters to the editor.
Remember Stuart Korchin? (seen here on the right, with John Orman at CFL's first meeting).
He just can't get over the fact that Prof. Orman took over the Connecticut for Lieberman party and has gotten so much publicity.
Poor, poor Stuart. First it was this from Wikipedia administrators:
User talk:Skorchin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Please stop. If you continue to vandalize pages, as you did to John Orman, you will be blocked from editing Wikipedia. Brian | (Talk) 04:08, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
User talk:Stuart Korchin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anyone can vandalize a Wikipedia article. It becomes tiresome to keep having to fix.
If you have some facts to add to an article, please cite the source. If you want to editorialize, stick to blogging...
It took a Patronus spell and a several emails to Wikipedia to stifle Mr. Korchin's dementor-like tendencies. So he tried again.
"The Connecticut for Lieberman Party Censures Senator Lieberman"
The executive officers of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party announced today that its glorious namesake Senator Joseph Lieberman has been acclaimed censured by the party for upholding its ideals .
Chair John Orman, Vice-Chair Jonathan Kantrowitz and Secretary Sue Henshaw voted unanimously to acclaim
censure Lieberman for his actions. The party leaders said,
Whereas Senator Lieberman promised during the fall election that he supported efforts to bring the troops home and that no one in Connecticut wanted to bring home the troops more than Senator Lieberman, but then changed his position to supporting a troop surge after winning the election;
Whereas Senator Lieberman promised the Secretary of State that he would form a new third party called Connecticut for Lieberman so he could run after losing the Democratic nomination in 2006, and then he did not form such a party and he has no intention of forming such a party;
Whereas Senator Lieberman promised to provide oversight hearings during the election about President Bush's lack of response to Hurricane Katrina , and then failed to do so after winning the election;
Whereas Senator Lieberman has failed to account for the $387,000 miscellaneous expenditure during the last election;
Whereas Senator Lieberman continues to vote against the extraordinary majority of Connecticut citizens who want to get out of the war in Iraq;
Be it resolved that the Executive Committee of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party does hereby acclaimcensure Senator Joseph Lieberman for his actions.
The motion passed 3-0 and Senator Lieberman was acclaimed.
Chairman Orman declared that if Senator Lieberman continues to embody the party's ideals in such a spectacular manner there is no question but that he will be the Connecticut for Lieberman Party's candidate for President in 2008 censured.
The top three officers of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party have sent their namesake an open letter.
Senator Joseph Lieberman
One Constitution Plaza
7th Floor
Hartford, CT 06103
Senator Lieberman,
We, the members of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party, have passed the following goals and resolutions for our party at our meeting held on Thursday, January 18, 2007.
We call for you to:
1. Stop misleading Connecticut voters.
You stated one month before the last election that no one wants to bring the troops home more than Joe Lieberman, and then you called for a robust (at last count 35,000), substantial and sustained troop increase in Iraq.
Please refer to your own Wall Street Journal Op-Ed of November 29, 2005:
"If all goes well, I believe we can have a much smaller American military presence there by the end of 2006 or in 2007, but it is also likely that our presence will need to be significant in Iraq or nearby for years to come."
In your own '10 point plan' unveiled at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in East Hampton on September 25, 2006 your own Point Six, called for continuing the strategy (instituted more than a year before) of embedding U.S. troops in Iraqi military units as a means of both facilitating the training and effectiveness of the Iraqis and permitting a drawdown of U.S. troop levels in Iraq. Point Six stated that increased embedding "should be done by redeploying existing troops, not adding new troops to the region."
• In your first television ad following the August primary, you stated that you were staying in the race "because I want to help end the war in Iraq."
• An October 11 press release from your campaign described the argument that you were "continuing to back President Bush's stay the course policy" in Iraq as "an out and out lie."
• In an October 16 debate, you claimed, "No one wants to end the war in Iraq more than I do."
• In a November 3 press conference, you stated, "None of us wants more war; certainly not me. ... I want to bring our troops home."
Senator Lieberman, CNN exit polls conducted in Connecticut after the election suggest that the Iraq was were not popular, and finding that 63 percent of voters support some form of withdrawal from Iraq.
Melissa Bailey files her report on the CFL get-together, with the full platform and some details of the pre-meeting Orman / Korchin showdown. (Not to fuss, but Jon withdrew his alternate platform.)
CT News Junkie reports on the results the state is not getting for all their Medicaid spending. This is the key wedge issue for single-payer, stripping MCOs of their lucrative contracts to provide government-funded services.
Blog for choice tomorrow. Godammit, we're going to get MLN on the Family Institute Enemies List one of these days! I'll be on the lookout for good pro-choice / reproductive freedom posts tomorrow.
CTBlue catches Lanny Davis confusing "bipartisanship" with "halfway between mediocre and insane." And an old link from Colin in case you forgot all about Lanny's style. "Bill O'Reilly in a donkey mask" still seems apt.
UPDATE 8:45pm The real legislation to redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq, sponsored by the Out of Iraq Caucus. Larson is the only one I could find as a member, does anyone know about Courtney or Murphy? Either way, H.R. 508 is the bill to watch.
Also, a poll over the fold: I don't run the joint, but I'm interested in what MLN readers are thinking on this.
The aboriginal organizers of the Connecticut for Lieberman party seem to be rising, zombie-like, from the dustbin of history to challenge John Orman's ascendency to the chairmanship of their erstwhile vehicle for Joe Lieberman's political salvation.
Orman says he has received a "cease and desist" letter from one Stuart Korchin, who claims to be the true head of the Connecticut for Lieberman party. Orman's response: "Prove it."
Who is Korchin? Got me. From a Google search, he appears to be an AIPAC stalwart and a medical physicist who owns Radiation Protection Services. Of course, it's possible that those references are to a different Stuart Korchin and, if so, my apologies.
In any event, Orman simply asks Korchin, or any other pretender to the throne, to produce evidence of a change of party registration to CFL, the minutes of the last meeting of CFL that they chaired, and a copy of the party rules they filed with the Secretary of State.
Orman says he can produce all of the above and has been told by the Secretary of State's office that he is the sole registered member of the party.
Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz has certified both Orman and the party's new by laws, which limit party membership to "critics of the Senator and anyone named Lieberman".
"If someone wanted to challenge it, they'd have to go to court," said Ted Bromley, a state elections attorney for Bysiewicz's office. . . .
Bromley said the secretary of the state's office has determined it is not responsible for ruling whether Orman is the party's legitimate chairman. Bromley said Connecticut for Lieberman is a minor party, by virtue of Lieberman's November victory, and the secretary of the state will keep Orman's rules on file.
Orman said he plans to use his position as party chairman to hold Lieberman accountable.
"It's a watchdog, accountability party with a line guaranteed in the next Senate race," Orman said.
Typically, Lieberman ran from press questions about the issue.
John Orman, esrtwhile Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, has bolted the party and joined the Connecticut for Lieberman party. Then, since he is the only member of the party (he checked with the Secretary of State), he called a meeting of himself at which he was democratically elected to be the Chairman of the party.
It''s not just the peaceniks. Now erstwhile Senate candidate and poli-sci prof John Orman is after Lieberman.
John Orman, a Fairfield University political science professor and a former Democratic candidate in the Senate race, filed complaints with the Secretary of the State's Office and the State Elections Enforcement Commission accusing Lieberman of creating "a fake political party" to resuscitate his re-election bid.
"He's doing anything he can to get his name on the ballot," Orman said.
Lieberman campaign spokesman Dan Gerstein said Lieberman has followed the law in his re-election campaign. "This is dirty politics at its worst," Gerstein said of Orman's complaint.
By filing a formal complaint, Orman leaves himself the option of pursuing the matter in the courts. No wonder Danger Stein is so upset. Imagine! Someone having the audacity to exercise his legal rights!
A full transcript of Michael Brown's perfunctory confirmation hearing as head of FEMA shows Joe Lieberman at his go along to get along best.
I am glad the President has nominated someone already familiar with FEMA's mission ... Before joining the Bush
Administration, I note from his resume, he served as executive director of the Independent Electrical Contractors in Denver. ... Mr. Brown, you have extensive management experience.
Good grief!
And now that John Orman has dropped out of the race, who will rid us of this meddlesome DINO?
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