Perhaps worst of all, the Democrats themselves muddy the issues. While CLAIMING to stand for Social Security, it wasn't the Democratic leadership who won (this phase) of the "privatization fight" - it was grassroots campaigns which did the heavy lifting. You will search long and hard before you find a Democratic "leader" who states the obvious, that Mr. Bush's "Privatization scheme" is nothing more nor less than a plan to DESTROY social security (witness GM and IMB joining Enron and other corporations in DEFUNDING those celebrated "private" retirement plans).
But we Democratic voters, too, must bear some responsibility.
Just by making a few appeals on the religious circuit, Republican-Right leaders were able to CRUSH the Harriet Miers' nomination. We Democratic voters, on the other hand, despite having 44 senators from "our" party and nearly a 49% popular vote in the past presidential election, despite legions of voting problems in that election, can't even get one Senator to make a token effort by falling on his sword (as if filibustering Alito would be a career-ending gesture), much less demand that ALL Democratic Senators engage in or support a filibuster - or else!
Our Senators, insulated by the Senate's exclusive sense of collegial deference and propriety, don't recall that part of the founder's intentions in making the Senate so exclusive, was to give senators SIX YEAR TERMS so as to enable them to RESIST the dictatorial or tyrannical mood of the mob, without facing immediate retribution at the polls. In this, the founders designed the senate to be not only stately and reserved, but more importantly, on occasion to be RADICAL: to resist the impulse of mob rule, to resist popular whim in short-term support of charismatic demagogues. There is a similar function in the military: officers enjoy a degree of respect and freedom from many of the chores and toils of enlisted men, but in battle, those privileges must be repaid, junior officers are meant to LEAD in the face of hostile fire. An author who survived some of the hazardous paradrops behind German lines in WWII noted that squad leader and platon leader are the only two positions in the US Army denoted by the term "leader" - all others are denoted "commander." Clearly, US Senators have both a "leader" and a "commander" function, to marshal the troops and command them in battle, and, when necessary, to get out front and LEAD.
Lawrence BrohKahn The author's youthful fascination with the triumph and glory of war - America's fighter aces protecting their "Big Friends" bombers and home-base aircraft carriers - evolved, over the years, into a perhaps morbid fascination with all aspects of modern warfare, from small unit resistance behind enemy lines to the grand sweep of industry, economy, fleets, armies, and even death camp administration to the cause of modern war and international strategy. A quarter century after graduating from high school, the author finally received an undergraduate degree in political science, with a concentration on ethnic conflict in international relations.
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