Had a chance to speak with Ned Lamont last Friday, in advance of his announcement Monday that he was officially jumping into the Democratic primary race against incumbent Republocrat senator Joe Lieberman. Before getting into some of the issues we talked about, it’s important to report that the Baby Boomer Lamont says he’s a Rolling Stones man to the core. (He also likes Kanye “Bush don’t like black people” West.) Better still, he’s definitely not one of those fans living in some “Satisfaction”-saturated reverie, where the band is still some vital, dangerous phenomenon. “They have been getting a little creaky,” says Lamont of his beloved band. “Even I have to say they were a disaster at the Super Bowl.”
Such refreshing candor. Let's hope it lasts.
Lamont's the real deal, so far at least, and he's the perfect foil to Sen. Fuddy Duddy, who just recently was the subject of a well-traveled blog report from former Reprise Records president Howie Klein, who reminded voters that the censorious Fud's the least rock'n'roll senator going. Note to Ned: Seize the culture war by the Brokeback reins, and secure the Bono vote, ASAP.
The Lamont moment has arrived, brought to you courtesy of George Bush's Iraq War and of Fuddy Duddy's ongoing support for it. And the heat is getting turned up on those who would continue to "stay the course" until a mighty wind of democracy mellows the mess in Mesopotamia. Connecticut's senior senator, Chris Dodd, has called for immediate troop withdrawals if the Shias, Sunnis and Kurds can't pull together a coalition goverment in the coming weeks. Lamont has already called for an immediate withdrawal, civil war or no civil war. Lieberman is staying the course, of course he is.
...* adding, as Misha noted in comments, it's pretty wankerific to misquote a prominent African-American by making it stereotypically gramatically incorrect.