Democrats, as my crusty old country uncle used to say, “don't know whether to shit or go blind -- so they walk around all day with one-eye closed farting.”
Hell, 23 of Dems actually voted with the Republican Senators yesterday to condemn the MoveOn.org ad. Prez candidates, Obama and Biden went into hiding, not voting at all. Hillary voted “No,” another attempt to fade the blood stains on her hands from her vote authorizing the war four years ago. (Seemed like the smart political thing to do at the time.)
Now establishment Democrats are furious with MoveOn for running that ad. Not because they disagree with the sentiment or message, but because it deflated the tidy little cloakroom soufle' they were cooking up with “moderate” Republicans. (You know, the same “moderate” Republicans who've been filibustering every effort to wind down Bush's war in Iraq.)
The MoveOn.org ad hit like a bunker-buster, collapsing those “bipartisan” efforts – which, had they succeeded would not have ended the war anyway. What they would have done, had they succeeded, is provide incumbent hacks in both parties an all-purpose legislative doodad to dangle in front of voters back home.
Dems would claim their success proved they were doing something to end the war.
Repubs would use the same legislation to prove they were not in lockstep with the most unpopular President since Nixon.
It would have been another of Washington's version of a “win-win.”
And, as viewed from the nitrous oxide-filled halls of Congress, the whole thing seemed to be going along swimmingly before the MoveOn ad ruined everything. Hell, even Republican voters were warming up to this ineffective Democrat-controlled Congress:
Republicans approve of a Democratic controlled Congress significantly more than do either Democrats or Independents. (Full Story)
But the MoveOn.org ad screwed up their plan. To which I say, so what?
And that's exactly what every Democrat in Congress should have said as well -- so what? Dicking with troop rotations was not what we sent to Washington to do when we voted them in last November, now was it? No. We sent them there to end this abortion of a war, and sooner rather than later.
But the MoveOn.org flap did much more than just expose a phony, baloney legislative three-card monty routine. That ad, and the commotion it caused, exposed nothing less than a political tectonic split on the left.
Like pack ice breaking up, it broke off a section carrying establishment Democrats, leaving the rest of us on a separate sheet. And the two seem to have begun floating further and further apart with increasing speed. With each passing day communication between the two sheets become harder and harder. We now no longer can talk to each other. Now we shout.
Where they are going I cannot say. All I know is that it's not the same direction our sheet is heading. And where might that be? Don't know.
All I can way with certainty is that common sense tells us one of them headed for oblivion.
http://www.newsforreal.com
Stephen Pizzo has been published everywhere from The New York Times to Mother Jones magazine. His book, Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans, was nominated for a Pulitzer.
You are right on the money here. Maybe the time has come to just jettison the E.D. group. Nitrous Oxcide is killing them and they still can't get it up. Maybe it's time for another party for the rest of us.
by
Timothy V. Gatto (348 articles, 177 quicklinks, 38 diaries, 575 comments)
on Monday, September 24, 2007 at 11:53:02 AM
Agreed, it is time the Dems started chasing the progressive vote instead of being complacent about it.
Currently the Dems are really the only game in town, and the GOP is puffing the political winds in their favor. They don't need MoveOn, which is being cast as extremist by the media propagandists. In their bid for the disaffected right the Dems might elect to attack MoveOn on the premise that, in this case, it is much easier to attack it than defend it, and they stand to gain more than they lose. For politicians this is really a no-brainer.
MoveOn really needs an alternative to the Dems. Until it has one there is no incentive to court or support it.
If Al Gore would only step up to the line...
by
cam (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 54 comments)
on Monday, September 24, 2007 at 5:37:15 PM
Firstly, Gore is soooo seven years ago. He is doing fine work right where he is now, I say leave him to it.
The Democratic Party is so much worse than the GOP (wait a hold it) in that one knows what to expect from the latter yet so many still have such expectations of liberalism from the former. Those who hold such ideas are simply out of touch with the realities.
The Democrats have always been the "big tent" party, supposedly a home for liberal and conservative alike, something for all tastes. Not in years and years now, sorry to say. The Black Caucus has been silenced, the liberal wing of the party has been neutered and the neocons like Rhamm Emmanuel and Chuck Schumer are running the place. So OK maybe Schumer isnt quite one of those, Im sticking with Emmanuel though.
I have a dream, as the Green Party gains (albeit slowly) a following and elects more and more, eventually leading to national office holders of that stripe, we will see the Democrats forced to cede power back to the liberal wing to stop the bleeding. We will further see a desertion of the most liberal democrats to the Green Party, and , in an orgy of dreamitude, some moderate Repugs move to the Democrats...What a dreamer I am, but not as much of one as those who still find hope within the current Democratic Party.
by
ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2388 comments)
on Monday, September 24, 2007 at 6:05:10 PM
But then the rules of engagement were pretty darned rigged against the fledgling American colonial army too, and look how that little fracas turned out!
Because something may be difficult doesnt rule out the need to do it. This system is definitely rigged to maintain the power of the duopoly and exclude all others. However one thing trumps all that, the will of the people. In saying that you wont support the efforts of the Green Party because it is too hard to elect them nationally you actually give support to the current status quo. We can promote third party politics in this nation, we need to do so and we will ultimately succeed, because we really have no choice.
by
ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2388 comments)
on Saturday, September 29, 2007 at 9:46:05 AM
like this always leaves me frustrated and discouraged.
Liberals, progressives, socialists, leftists, environmentalists, etc really want what is best for this country and have much in common. So why do they spend their time throwing darts at each other, finding fault with each other and behaving like a group of children when if things are not going exactly their way, they pick up their marbles and go home, leaving the field to the opposition.
The 2000 election proved beyond a doubt that if we do not get our troops together and fight the real opposition (the Republicans) than the whole country loses. Having third and fourth political parties is not the answer at this time.
If all those who hate the path that this country is on would forget their differences and fight together we could see a real change.
BY following the maxim, "United we stand, divided we fall", the Republicans are able to stand together no matter what, and they allow the opposition to destroy each other before every election.
If we would make a stand with what units us, overlook what divides uss, we just might be able to take our country back.
Athena
by
Athena88 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 22 comments)
on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at 8:51:35 AM
I think a lot of us are concerned that we are allowing ourselves to be defined by our common enemy more than by our common values. If we allow Republicans to herd us into the DLC camp then we are stuck with the same underlying reality - that corporate entities enjoy more political access and influence than real people do.
I sympathize with your frustration and I understand your logic, but where you perceive salvation I perceive same-old, same-old.
by
cam (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 54 comments)
on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at 10:29:36 AM
Athena, when you comment on the divisive nature of the left in politics you accurately assess the situation. Unlike the right, which has agreed to put its differences aside, for now, in order to gain and keep power, the left refuses to do so.
I am troubled by your intimation ( perhaps imagined by me) that we on the left should accept such as Hillary Clinton in order to "win". What indeed will we have won?
by
ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2388 comments)
on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 9:29:06 AM
It seems blatantly obvious, and why dont you notice, that democrats have sold us out as much as have republicans. This is not a black and white world and I wish you would spend some research time understanding the nuances. To say that voting against republicans will solve all our problems only shows that you do not understand fully exactly what those problems really are, and it is past time for all of us to understand them fully.
by
ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2388 comments)
on Saturday, October 6, 2007 at 6:53:09 PM
