The East Bay Express, which is generally one of the better free weeklies in the Bay Area has a piece about Ellen Tauscher, They work for us, and a lot of folks who write and read this site.

Ever since the November elections, progressive activists have been focusing on their next goal: to purge some of the more moderate Democratic congress members, especially those who live in reliably liberal districts. No one has taken more heat than East Bay Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, whom a US News and World Report correspondent recently dubbed the “second most-disliked Democrat.” Last week, these forces took their first serious stab at intimidating her – and it was an awkward flop.

Now, you can call it whatever you like, Thompson definitely seem to be stepping in as Ellen’s defender. Personally I would be fine with this little campaign being “an awkward flop” if meant ET were spending more time representing her constituents and less taking checks from big corporations and sabotaging Pelosi and the party’s agenda.

If even the thought of a primary did that, hey… great by me. Label me unconvinced though.

But that’s not why I wrote the express… I wrote them over the term “moderate”
here’s the letter I wrote back:

Chris, your recent article about Tauscher is an interesting one, however, i’d like to take issue with your nomenclature. Specifically you call Ellen Tauscher a “moderate” and imply that it is her “moderation” that causes her to be a target from those nefarious fiends of the ever
angry left. In reality it doesn’t have a thing to do with “moderation”, it has everything to do with her constant and consistant cozying up to big business at the expense of her constituents and her undermining of the leadership of the Democratic party. You would be wise to not make
the same mistake again, and fall into an all too easy and misleading style of language.

Language is important, it doesn’t make me mad that she’s a moderate. Heck, living in the bay area, there are times that my uber progressive self can be considered “moderate”.

What makes me crazy is that “moderate” has become a synonym for “pro-corporate”. And that, my friends, will not stand.

Jim Webb is a Moderate… Ellen Tauscher tends towards corporatism.

In his defense, Thompson e-mailed me back quickly, and suggested that it be put in as a Letter to the Editor, which I agreed.

Perhaps you have thoughts on this as well, and would like to write a LTE to the East Bay Express too?

-C.