It reminds me of the Lancet medical journal report (which isn’t American, but the principle is the same) about deaths in Iraq. The leftist activists who thought they could use the prestige of the Lancet to put across their politicized opinion about the number of deaths in Iraq and the war in general didn’t seem to realize that instead of coasting on the reputation of the Lancet, they were destroying it instead. That’s what they do. They don’t build on the inheritance given to them, they just suck the marrow to use for their own ends and then discard the dessicated bones.

You’re one of those Stopped Clocks, Lefty Loon.

I’ll have to consider Wyden; I don’t know anything about him (except his name sounds suspiciously like “Biden” — I’ll just have to get myself past that [smile]).

But Pat Moynihan and Scoop Jackson are gone, as was Paul Tsongas, another Democrat with whom I could deal intellectually and emotionally.

The intent of my challenge to Bellarion was to name someone (or someoneS) in the *present*, not in the past, when there were identifiable members of the Democrat Party who did in general evidence integrity and could be conversed with / dealt with honestly.

Okay, as I said, I’ll have to have a look at Ron Wyden. Thanks for the tip.

Ron Wyden dem senator from Oregon seems to have many of the qualities of the type of democrats of the past who were easy to admire even when one disagreed with their position on a given issue, people like Pat Moynihan and Scoop Jackson. Those two in particulr were intelligent, well meaning, and loved America and its founding values. Granted this type of democrat is like a hen’s tooth these days, but I think there are still a few of them on the state and national scenes.

Could I trouble you to name a couple?

At this late date, and from what I’ve seen of that crew for the past decade and a half, I don’t know of any, any more. There used to be grownups over there, people with whom I might honestly and honorably disagree — there are indeed still such dinosaurs among my friends/acquaintances — but Bellarion, could you name any, of any note, who are readily identifiable as members of the national Democrat Party?

I added a “NOTE” to my post. This is what I wrote:
I agree with many commenters on the comment thread here who point out that Chait, like Axelrod before him, is afraid of backlash to the Perry indictment, especially considering Lehmberg’s bad behavior on the police video. However, note that Axelrod’s criticism of the Perry indictment was pretty thin gruel: it “seems pretty sketchy.” Compare that to Chait’s full-throated, over-the-top criticism, which in terms of enthusiastic creativity is up there with his previous “I hate Bush” column.

In short, Chait didn’t have to hurl himself into it with such vigor. That’s what made me write this post, and it indicates to me that, in addition to his strategic reasons, Chait actually doesn’t like this indictment on the face of it.

As a Governor, Perry has actual executive experience, and has had a chance to demonstrate that he knows how to run something. In addition, Texas has the best economic story to tell of just about any state. That’s going to look good in 2016. After eight years of Obama, executive competence and economic success will be at a premium.

So if this indictment blows up in the Democrats face, the resulting backlash could have the effect of propelling the strongest available GOP candidate to the nomination. This was not what was intended. And, as Avi and others rightly point out, the effect of this could well be to insulate him from further outrageous charges, which the Democrats can be counted upon to throw. The grownups in the Democratic party, and there are st least a few left, are getting a bit nervous. They should be.

I considered him a weak candidate all along and with him out, then money can go to better candidates like Cruz.

I also would like to think he could strike a private deal with Cruz. Rick’s support for Ted and when Ted wins, appointment as SecState or Homeland Security (Border and ICE).