Predictably, the mainstream media is focusing on the effect of the netroots. From Time Magazine:

Now that it has played a major role in helping to defeat Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Senate primary Tuesday, the Netroots' moment has finally arrived.....in Tuesday's Democratic primary, the bloggers didn't just get a win, but a victory no one could have expected even four months ago.

What the magazine is missing:

The netroots is much larger than bloggers. It includes grass roots activists, organizations like MoveOn and more. The reporter kind of gets it a few paragraphs down:

For Ned Lamont and the voters of Connecticut tonight, here's a very spirited and happy "Give Them What They Want" performed by Michael Stipe of REM and Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs (who looks goregeous) at the 1993 MTV Inaugural Ball for Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Turn the volume way up on your speakers so you get the full effect.

Last night it took me six hours to go from VHS to You Tube, tonight it only took me an hour. (There's a lot of steps, from processing to dubbing to finalizing and then to converting, editing and uploading.) I haven't figured out how to enhance the sound, so you will have to turn the volume way up on your computers, but it's a great song, it's worth it.

Lieberman is on tv now giving his concession speech. He's mad. He's going to run as an independent.

Reversing the thread, newer results on top:

All that's left is Joe's concession speech. Congratulations, Ned Lamont.

11:02 pm. It's over. Lamont has a 10,000 vote lead with only 35 precincts out. It's too late Joe. As to why the MSM isn't reporting it, I was just told by someone who knows these things, "The MSM has been very timid about calling races since 2000, but it's tradition to wait for the loser to concede ... We may have a sore loser on our hands."

713 of 748 Precincts Reporting - 95.32%
Lamont, Ned Dem 138,836 51.92
Lieberman, Joe Dem 128,566 48.08

10:56 pm : No way can Lieberman win now, why won't the media say so? I'm ready for the Lieberman concession speech. Greta breaks her promise, she went the whole hour without declaring a winner in the race. Lieberman needs 79% of the remaining precincts to win, just about impossible.

706 of 748 Precincts Reporting - 94.39%
Lamont, Ned Dem 136,353 51.73
Lieberman, Joe Dem 127,249 48.27

Update 4:15 pm MT: Huffpo says the results will come at 8:35 pm ET. Daily Kos and Firedoglake have the real scoop on Lieberman's site going down. He paid for a cheap hosting service and it overloaded. Lamont offered him tech advisors to help. But Joe went with another cheap host, so don't be surprised if it happens again.

I'm out at the jail and won't be back until just about 6:30 (8:30 ET) when I'll begin live blogging the results, updating with news as it comes out and what other blogs are saying. So check back in if you can.

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Original Post:

It's going to be a long day. Firedoglake and their commenters are reporting live.

This thread is for all topics related to Lieberman and Lamont, but I'll start with addressing the fallacy that the media is spinning that if Lamont wins, it's due to bloggers.

Chris Bowers at MyDD, still live-blogging from Lamont headquarters at 2:30 a.m. last night, says whether Lamont wins or loses, Wednesday will be a bad press day for bloggers and the netroots:

by TChris

Among the (sometimes former) police officers recently arrested or sentenced for possessing child pornography (or worse):

• Kenneth Haga from Huntsville and Ken Stanley from Florence, Alabama. A third Alabama officer, Former Somerville Police Chief Chris Landers, is charged with sexually abusing a child.

• Lee William Giles Jr., also charged with various counts relating to the sexual abuse of children.

• Justin Broussard from New Braunfels, Texas.

It's primary day. In Connecticut, in Colorado and elsewhere. If you're registered to vote, you have the power. Please use it.

We've had high hopes before. Let's hope democracy prevails today. Here's a video I found on a VHS tape stashed in my closet, of the 1993 MTV Inaugural Ball for Bill Clinton and Al Gore. This segment is Don Henley performing Leonard Cohen's "Democracy." Not being a video maestro, it took me almost 6 hours tonight to convert the tape to a format my computer would recognize and then that You Tube would accept. You will likely have to turn your volume up, it's best played loud. I hope you like it. If you do, give it a rating.

Good luck, Ned Lamont. If the voters of Connecticut turn out in force, you should be the state's next Democratic nominee for the United States Senate. And that's quite a feat.

Via Brains Over Bombs, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made Vanity Fair's Best Dressed List.

She was cited for being "immaculately groomed and formidably dignified but with an audacious renegade streak".

But, Condi's accolades may be wearing thin.

by TChris

Note: Jeralyn also posts about this here.

If we can launch a preemptive strike against a country that has no weapons of mass destruction simply because (thanks to the administration's propaganda) we feel threatened, why shouldn't we be able to preemptively kill neighbors who seem like they might be threatening? A growing number of states are enacting self-defense laws that eliminate an already eroding common law principle that the use of deadly force in self-defense is permitted only after attempts to retreat from the dangerous situation have failed.

Supporters call them "stand your ground" laws. Opponents call them "shoot first" laws.

Many states have copied a Florida law that permits the use of deadly force, with no duty to retreat, by a person who reasonably believes the force is necessary to prevent great bodily harm or "the commission of a forcible felony." A fear of imminent harm is presumptively reasonable if deadly force is used against a person who forcefully enters the defending person's residence or car. Persons who use deadly force under those circumstances are immune from arrest and prosecution (and from civil liability).

Note: TChris also posts about this here.

I'm gonna stand my ground, I won't back down....Tom Petty

The New York Times reports today that states are increasingly enacting "Stand My Ground" laws that allow an individual to shoot to kill in self-defense without first having to "retreat to the wall."

The first of the new laws took effect in Florida in October, and cases under it are now reaching prosecutors and juries there. The other laws, mostly in Southern and Midwestern states, were enacted this year, according to the National Rifle Association, which has enthusiastically promoted them.

15 states have now enacted such laws, and Florida's is serving as a model. I support these laws, but think they should go further and cover businesses not just residences and vehicles. The basics of the Florida law are:

by TChris

Despite winning the Republican primary in May, despite enjoying the endorsement of the Ohio Republican Party and more than 100 Republican officials in Ohio, despite his vow to stay in the race for reelection, Rep. Bob Ney has flip-flopped. Ney -- otherwise known as "Representative No. 1" in one of the Abramoff indictments -- announced his decision to drop out of the race.

Like every other disgraced politician or political operative who leaves his position voluntarily, Ney said he wants to spend more time with his family. The more likely reason: Ney has exhausted his ability to exploit his office.

Contributions to Ney's legal-defense fund dried up over the summer. He raised no money for the fund over the last three months after picking up $65,000 in the year's first quarter, according to financial disclosure records.

Ney, like his buddy Tom DeLay, will likely use funds he's raised to finance his reelection campaign to pay legal expenses associated with ongoing investigations of his corrupt behavior.

As Ned Lamont and Joe Lieberman make their final push to CT voters today, let's take a look at the numbers. Newsday reports:

• 2.1 million voters in CT
• 942,000 or 45% are unaffiliated
• 702,000 are Democrats
• 456,000 aree Republicans

A new Quinnipiac poll released today still has Lamont winning, but not by as much:

A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday showed Lamont with a slight lead over Lieberman, 51 percent to 45 percent, among likely Democratic voters. The telephone poll, conducted from July 31 to Sunday, was of 784 likely Democratic primary voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Reuters reports Lieberman has lost the trust of many voters, particularly because of his relationship with Bush and his stand on the war. His announcement he would run as an Independent if he lost the primary also alienated many voters.

Josh Nichols of the Nation who is on the ground in CT takes a look at Lieberman's Desperate Measures. Katrina Vanderheuval notes that Lamont's great-great uncle helped keep The Nation alive years ago.

Elian Gonzales, now 12 years old, has written a letter to Fidel Castro.

Elian Gonzalez sent a note Sunday wishing a speedy recovery to "my dear grandpa Fidel," and Cuba's vice president said the world's longest-serving leader is recuperating well after surgery..... Gonzalez, the Cuban boy at the center of an international custody battle with family members in Miami six years ago, published a letter in the Communist Youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde signed with "little kisses" from him and his half-siblings and cousins.

"We send you this letter to let you know that we are worried about your health," Elian, now 12, wrote. "We hope for your speedy recovery and take the opportunity to wish you a happy birthday, may you have many more."

In other Castro news, August 13 is the Cuba leader's 80th birthday and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage denies Fidel has stomach cancer.