Progressive political action group MoveOn is raising massive funds to run ads against conservative independent senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut for his opposition to health care reform. From an initial goal of $400,000 on Dec. 15, MoveOn has at time of this writing raised more than $900,000 toward a new goal of one million dollars, and the contributions keep rolling in. Says MoveOn:

"First, Joe Lieberman helped President Bush invade Iraq. Then he endorsed John McCain and attacked Barack Obama at the Republican National Convention. Now he's single-handedly gutting health care reform. It's time to hold him accountable. Senator Lieberman must go.... So we're going to make sure every voter in Connecticut knows what he's doing. And then, when he comes up for re-election, we'll make sure we send him home for good. Can you chip in to make Joe pay? "

Although Lieberman won't be up for re-election until 2012, it's never too early to start working toward getting rid of him once and for all. Recent polls in Connecticut have consistently shown low approval and high disapproval ratings for Lieberman, and indicate that if the election were held today he would likely lose.

In the meantime, Harry Reid and other Senate Democrats can and should be pressed to strip Lieberman of his seniority, his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, and his other committee memberships for his opposition to health care reform. Polls on health care reform indicate that a majority in Connecticut and across America want robust reform including a public option now. A recent Research 2000 poll commissioned by Daily Kos found that 68 percent of likely voters in Connecticut support a public option, while only 21 percent oppose. National polls likewise show that a clear majority support the public option (Boston Globe, Reuters, Washington Post). Lieberman clearly has his own agenda, however, serving not only his own obvious arrogance and vindictiveness but also the for-profit health and insurance industries that have given him millions of dollars in campaign contributions while residents of his state have suffered due to lack of health insurance (See also Rachel Maddow, Salon).

MoveOn's gallant and stunningly successful fundraising efforts against Lieberman on behalf of health care reform deserve the support of progressives everywhere. Donate now.

Joe Lieberman's time has come.

If Lieberman joins Senate Republicans in opposing health care reform, he should be immediately stripped of his seniority, his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, and his other committee memberships. If he threatens to leave the Democratic Caucus and join the GOP, call his bluff, and if he chooses to leave, let him go. It means nothing to have Lieberman's name on a list as Senate Democrat #60 if he is only going to oppose his fellow Democrats and defy his own constituents on every important issue. Health care advocates should contact their Democratic senators now and demand action against Lieberman, and advocacy groups should begin running ads against him in his home state of Connecticut, highlighting the millions of dollars in campaign contributions he has received from the for-profit health and insurance industries while residents of his state have suffered due to lack of health insurance.

While he is not up for re-election until 2012, recent polls in Connecticut have consistently shown low approval and high disapproval ratings for Lieberman, and indicate that if the election were held today he would likely lose. Polls on health care reform meanwhile show that a majority in Connecticut and across America want robust reform including a public option now. A recent Research 2000 poll commissioned by Daily Kos found that 68 percent of likely voters in Connecticut support a public option, while only 21 percent oppose. National polls likewise show that a clear majority support the public option (Boston Globe, Reuters, Washington Post).

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow discussed Lieberman's reasons for defying his constituents and fellow Democrats this week on her show, including not only Lieberman's millions in contributions from the health and insurance industries but also his wife's work for a health care lobbying firm whose clients benefitted from Lieberman's legislation (see also Salon).

Time and time again we have heard from Democrats in Washington: "Joe is with us on everything but the war.... Joe's a good guy.... Good old Joe...." Clearly, good old Joe is with no one but himself and his friends in the health and insurance industries. The fact that Lieberman was willing to tell outright lies about the public option to explain his actions shows the depths of self-serving opportunism to which he has sunk.

Democrats must stop rewarding Lieberman for his treachery, must stop making excuses for him, and must make it clear to him that there will be a high price to pay for standing in the way of health care reform.

Watching the 2010 US midterm election season open from my vantage-point far across the Pacific in China, I can barely contain my glee at the latest news from New York's 23rd congressional district as its Nov. 3 special election approaches. Due to the growing rift between the GOP establishment and its frothing-at-the-mouth conservative base, Democrat Bill Owens (pictured here, see campaign website) appears increasingly likely to capture what until now has been considered a safe Republican seat. With strong support from the right-wingnut faction of the Republican Party - including endorsements from leading wingnuts such as Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Michele Bachmann - Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman has drawn enough conservative support away from moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava to give the Democrat a clear lead in both poll numbers and fundraising.

Despite endorsements and support from establishment Republicans like Newt Gingrich, Scozzafava has fallen to second place in two recent polls, the most recent showing her carrying 30% of likely voters to Owens' 35% and Hoffman's 23% (see CQ Politics, Daily Kos). Meanwhile, campaign fundraising figures released Oct. 22 show that Owens raised more than his two rivals combined between July 1 and Oct. 14: Fundraising totals for the three are $502,197 for Owens, $233,583 for Scozzafava, and $205,139 for Hoffman (see Swing State Project, NY Daily News). This is not not good news for the GOP, but of course it is wonderful news for Democrats. A conservative-leaning Democrat and therefore not an especially exciting candidate for progressives in and of himself, Owens' surge nonetheless represents an opportunity for Democrats across the United States and abroad to take one more seat in Congress away from the Republicans and grab some early momentum as we head into 2010.

It would also be a lot of fun meanwhile to watch the GOP slide into even deeper disarray. I for one relish the prospect of the NY-23 special election signalling all-out war nationwide between a pragmatic but impotent GOP establishment led by Gingrich and a tea-party faction led by the likes of Limbaugh, Palin, Beck, and Bachmann. Boy howdy, what a show! Should wingnuts turn against the Republican establishment and split the conservative vote nationwide, what looked like a less-than-promising midterm election year for Democrats could turn into a far better year than any expected. 

In addition to Owens' campaign website, support may be directed his way via Act Blue and/or via the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

SHANGHAI, CHINA-US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman visited the USA Pavilion under construction at the 2010 World Expo site in Shanghai this week, and said that President Barack Obama is "very excited" about his upcoming trip to China. Huntsman's visit Oct. 14, his first to Shanghai since his ambassadorial appointment by Obama in August, comes just one month away from the president's first Asian tour, which will include stops in Shanghai and Beijing. The president's excitement at his visit will be more than evenly matched by that both of the Chinese people and of Americans living and working in China.

Huntsman visited the World Expo site for a "topping-off" ceremony marking completion of major structural work on the USA Pavilion following an aggressive 89-day building effort. At the ceremony Huntsman and Shanghai Expo Bureau director general Hong Hao signed their names in Chinese characters on the final steel beam to be put into place on the pavilion structure. Long delayed due to funding difficulties, the USA Pavilion is now among the first dozen national pavilions to have finished major structural work. When completed, the 5600-square-meter pavilion will be among the largest at the expo site. With an estimated budget of $61 million - more than $40 million of which has already been raised from private sponsors - it is certain also to be among the most expensive.

The US ambassador told reporters that the rapid progress on the construction of the USA pavilion was due to the "outstanding and patient" collaboration among the Shanghai government, the expo bureau, and the non-profit USA Pavilion team as well as support from the US government and sponsor companies, according to Shanghai Daily. "Our national pavilion will showcase American business and technology, as well as culture and values, to foster stronger friendship between the American and Chinese peoples as it also demonstrates America's commitment to a forward-looking, positive relationship with China," Huntsman quoted aptly from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Like other national pavilions at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, the USA Pavilion will provide jobs not only for local Chinese staff but also for US citizens residing in Shanghai (the number of which has grown of late owing to unemployment in the US). Together with President Obama's visit next month and the World Expo beginning in May, the coming months look to be exciting and promising ones for Americans in China. Despite recent trade disagreements between the US and China, Obama remains popular here, and is certain to receive a welcome from the Chinese people that will put smiles on the faces of expats. In Shanghai already, Chinese young people can be seen sporting Obama t-shirts, street vendors sell pirate DVD editions of Obama's speeches and pirate print editions of his books, and universities are planning special lectures coinciding with Obama's visit.

Obama will visit Shanghai and Beijing Nov. 15-18 during a four-nation tour that will also take him to Japan and South Korea in addition to his appearance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore. While in China he will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao on issues including trade, energy, climate change, and security. There is no word as yet whether the president's Shanghai stop will include a look at the USA Pavilion site.

Photo: US Consulate General, Shanghai (See also Expo 2010)

GRUEL: 1) A thin porridge. 2) Chiefly British: Punishment [from to get one's gruel, to accept punishment]. 3) Something that lacks substance or significance ["The argument was thin gruel"]. -- Merriam-Webster Dictionary

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Near Zhongshan Park today I happened upon this lovely little food stand offering steaming hot bowls of Delicious Gruel. This was my first time ever seeing the words "delicious" and "gruel" used together, the latter being something English-speakers would generally associate with some dank, dark, Dickensian setting such as an orphanage or workhouse of the Victorian era. In such a context one might expect to see "loathsome, watery gruel" or "foul, oily gruel" or "horrid gruel full of worms and maggots"; never "delicious gruel."

Delicious Gruel it is, however, that the two young Shanghainese ladies pictured above are about to enjoy. Bon appetit, ladies! 

(Mmmm.... Gruel....) 

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...And here at the Bud Music Kingdom in Xujiahui is a rock & roll band made entirely of Budweiser cans. 'Cuz after a steaming hot bowl of Delicious Gruel there's nothing like an ice-cold Bud and some good old, down-home Shanghai rock & roll.