To begin with, I don't believe I mentioned Bill Nelson, but since you did, he gets credit for the positions he takes on issues of importance to the American people. He is a moderate democrat and if I lived in his district, would probably vote for him unless there was a more progressive primary challenger with a chance to defeat the Republican.
I can point out why I disagree and back it up with facts rather than wishing he would just 'shut up' or, the predictable response from Kucinich/Real Progressive haters, call him a 'tea-bagger' etc.
As for this:
And if being "DLC" means believing that change involves actual legislation rather than angry words and TV appearances, well then call me a DLCer.Nelson hasn't accomplished all that much in the way of 'actual legislation' considering his two terms as both a Congressman and a Senator, a total of about 17 years, with the party machine behind him and his willingness to 'cross the aisle' in a 'bi-partisan' effort. But then, NO Representative has. That is a specious argument that the DLC threw out hoping no doubt, that no one would check the records of all Reps.
Here is your Senator's record after 17 years, for the record:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=300078Bill Nelson has sponsored 163 bills since Jan 22, 2001 of which 139 haven't made it out of committee and 10 were successfully enacted. Nelson has co-sponsored 758 bills during the same time period. (The count of enacted bills considers only bills actually sponsored by Nelson and companion bills identified by CRS that were themselves enacted, but not if they were incorporated into other bills, as that information is not readily available.)
If I were to be disingenuous I could slam him for that 'failed record' of 'getting anything done'. But, I know that his record is about average for any Rep. and have no interest in slamming anyone, just an interest in facts.
Kucinich's record is also about average for most members of Congress, as far as 'getting things done' for a Congressman who has been in office for 13 years. He has managed to get three of his sponsored bills passed.
So much for that talking point, which was completely debunked btw, during the HC debate. You need to keep up more.
And this:
And on the oil spill, my senator, Bill Nelson, is someone you'd proudly call a DLCer and let us all know how inferior he is to the one and only little man with the boulder size chip on his shoulder, Dennis Kucinich. But I've voted for him because he has long spoken about needing an Apollo Program for energy in this country.Wrong again. Unlike you, I give credit where it is due. And if Bill Nelson were to change his mind on some of the issues I disagree with him on, I would be delighted and give him credit for that.
Just as I was delighted when Kucinich changed his mind on a woman's right to choose, or when Byrd changed his mind on his past association with the KKK or when the Republican Rep.'freedom fries' Jones, changed his mind about the war and crossed the aisle to join Kucinich in his oppostion to continued funding for it.
I find it to be an admirable courageous trait to be able to admit when you are wrong and am all for supporting people when they see the light. I suppose you'd rather they continued to be wrong, which of course makes zero sense.
So, was Kucinich wrong about the wars? Was he wrong about torture? Was he wrong about opposing privatization of Health Care, Social Security, Education? Other than the one issue you mentioned which he conceded he was wrong about, what other issues has he been wrong about?
You are a typical 'party loyalist' the kind the founding fathers warned against. It's your party, right or wrong, regardless of how wrong they are. And you simply cannot bring yourself to give credit to someone like Kucinich, no matter how right he is, because he shows up the hypocrisy of the rightwing of the democratic party, reminding people always of what a real Democrat looks like.
I guess since you have no time for people who change their minds on issues, you must be devastated by Obama's change of mind on Mandated Health Care, on Offshore Drilling, on Education, on Assassinations ordered by U.S. presidents, on FISA, on Torture, on Military Commissions Trials especially for tortured child soldiers. On refusing to hold war criminals accountable etc. etc.?
But I doubt it. You are the carbon copy of those on the right who blindly supported Bush no matter what he did and rushed to his defense whenever someone criticized him. I guess it comes down to not being sure that the leaders you support are right, and that they let you down making it hard to defend them, so rather than just admit this, it is easier to lash out at those who remain true to their values, like Kucinich.
One more thing. Singling out ONE issue and beating it to death, without any nuance, just rage and anger, is typical of what DLC and Rovian rightwing operatives do. And it doesn't work. It wins no one over. My advice, if you want to support Obama would be to drop those tactics and try being less angry when people point out indisputable facts because facts cannot be changed by rhetoric. They can sometimes be explained, I would try doing that more often if I were you.