How many ‘deeply’ held beliefs do the Democrats need to cave in on, for there to be no more Democrats left in the world? ‘Cause that train left town for me ages ago. When its apparent that a party reviles its base, the ‘life’s blood’ of the party, it’s apparent to me that we’re talking about a moribund political party. When the ‘party of the people’ puts Wall Street ahead of every other major concern in the country, its apparent to me that we’re talking about a moribund political party. When a party advances no liberal or progressive ideas, and that party is ostensibly a liberal political party, it’s apparent to me that we’re talking about a moribund political party.
When a political party is still taking the words and plans of a thoroughly discredited and serial Constitution violating president seriously (and giving them some merit), it’s apparent to me that we’re talking about a moribund political party. When a national economic crisis erupts (in which $700 billion of the taxpayers dollars are called for to ostensibly get us out of the crisis), and no discussion is raised (by the ‘liberal’ political party) of all the other needs that $700 billion dollars could meet, it’s apparent to me that we’re talking about a moribund political party. When a political party won’t stand up and defend the Constitution (a document its elected members have taken an oath to defend), it’s apparent to me that we’re talking about a moribund political party. This could go on ad infinitum, but I won’t bother boring anyone into a coma.
The Democratic Party is the party of the corporatist agenda with a human face (the Republicans are the unabashedly corporatist party, pick your poison). It is not the party of workers, minority groups, environmentalists, civil rights and liberties, organized labor, and a myriad of other concerns that it is ostensibly representing. We certainly need a party to stand up for these groups (and to stand up for democracy), but the Democratic Party isn’t it, and the sooner that folks who are entertaining the idea that the Democratic Party might still be a vehicle for change, disavow themselves of that notion; the closer we’ll be to having a legitimate third progressive party to work for significant change.
The change that we’re hearing so much about from Barack Obama and his surrogates will leave much to be desired. I happened to watch the documentary War Room, for the first time recently. Bill Clinton also ran on change versus more of the same back in 1992, and in his presidency he gave us NAFTA, welfare ‘reform’, an exploding prison population, and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (all solidly regressive legislation/initiatives). I fear what’s on the Obama agenda come 2009. Will he be yet another soft Republican, conservative Democrat president? We already know he will increase the (already extortionary) military budget, and escalate the war on terror, what other Clinton-esque policies might he pursue?
