Letters to the Editor
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re: filibuster or die (metaphorically)
the dems had an opportunity, even if it would be temporary, to stand together in a filibuster that would have put the skids on W's little debutant ball on Tuesday. call me old fashion, but I'm waiting for the day when someone has the cajones to wipe that "you can't touch me" smirk off of rat-boy's face.
this administration has built a kingdom based on fear, how can the people seek truth when their leadership succombs to the same fate.
where is Patrick Henry's reincarn'ed spirit...
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Rank and file democrats looking for heroes
What the democrats think is that there are low returns in fighting the Alito nomination. I think they see more of an opportunity to nail Bush and the Republicans if they put their attention elsewhere. Why should they fight what would likely be a losing battle if they can be nailing Bush on more winnable ones. I think that is the basically Macchiavellian strategy. Even if they were to block Alito, who knows if whoever would be chosen would be much better? But that thinking may miss the point. Alito could do serious harm to the democracy. And rank and file democrats right now are looking for heroes. They do not necessarily want the most savvy politician. They want a hero.
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Democrats who won't filibuster?
I would not worry about Dems being even more spineless if they lose this filibuster. Until they show any spine exists first, by voting to filibuster, they impress me as being almost irrelevant.
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Absolutely
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this point!
I live in a liberal town and deal with a lot of lefties complaining that Dem elected don't walk the plank for their issues. The thing is, we're all in this together and we all need to pull some weight to create the environment for winning on the issues.
That was done well on Social Security. Alito was such a snore and a borew, however, it wasn't done well. And he was not pinned down on kitchen table issues or basic questions of American governance. Once again, libs are not doing a good job of communicating! (And, please, Senators, get over yourselves!)
Thanks for drawing attention to this!
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John Aravosis's observation
Aravosis is making an observation many liberals have understood since Michael Dukakis got pistol-whipped by Lee Atwater in 1988: the singular failing of Democratic leaders and strategists is to understand their audience. This has been compounded by the legacy of Clintonism which holds up poll-driven politics as something not just merit-worthy but something to be strived for. (Aka, "Don't change, I love you just the way you are" politics.) No, the average American is not stupid (an all-too often errant conclusion of liberal elites). But neither, in their overworked daily lives, do they have the time or interest to go off into the blogosphere for endless hours or to find out who really is Jack Abrahamoff? (Most Americans I'm sure still don't even know he's a Republican.) However, Karl Rove - understudy to Lee Atwater - knows that boiling issues down to simple emotion-tugging sentences and then constantly repeating them, is the secret to penetrating thru to the American political mind. In fact, it's the well-known secret of every student of demagogery from Joseph Goebbels to Kim Jong Il. The difference is that such tactics have never been so effectively employed in a modern "democracy" before - absolute control of government and the media were always assumed to be a prerequisite. But such is the current sorry state of America's press and the all-too "loyal opposition" in Congress, that Rove can feel confident of calling black, white and almost getting away with it (to wit, the whole "it's NOT domestic spying!" nonsense). The liberal wing of the Democratic party has to wake up and stop talking to itself and instead start focusing on educating and organizing it's political counterpart in Congress (well over a 100 members) into an effective communications weapon that could then bring pressure to bear on its even more visible leadership. John Conyers and Cindy Sheehan have already shown how this could be done last summer. Let's build on that example before it's too late...
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Who's to blame for Samuel Alito
It's much worse than the inability to sustain a filibuster. And Kerry is part of the problem, not the solution. This game was lost in 2004. When Bush was reelected with a Republican Senate, the country was lost. That was the ballgame. Bush gets to shape the Supreme Court, the Constitution and the future. This is what our kids inherit.
The Democrats wanted to get cute and nominate someone with a war record to run against Bush in '04. So, they picked a guy spoke against the war but voted to entrust Bush with the decision to invade. The nominee, Kerry, was asked by Bush if he would vote the same way again, knowing in '04, what he didn't know in '02. There was only one possible answer and Kerry blew it! He says he would do it again! The Democrat's nominee didn't want to win badly enough. We needed someone who understood the stakes: that our traditions, our future, our environment, our freedom and, perhaps, our survival were on the line.
I don't know how we get out of this, but the reality is that we only have congressional elections every 2 years and presidential elections every four. If the other side controls Congress and the Executive, when multiple Supreme Court seats become vacant, that's it. Tilt. Game over.
How many times do progressives/liberals/independents have to get their hearts broken before they get it? The Democrats don't stand for anything. They are not an opposition party. They are not prepared to fight. They have no program to offer. The voters are not going give them power because it's their turn or because they seem inoffensive.
The Democrats are going to continue to do what their consultants tell them. They are going to continue to nominate "players" that their special interest groups will throw money at and they will continue to fail to generate passion among the electorate.
Gebhardt, Daschle, Lieberman, Edwards and Kerry all contributed to this mess and all lost in their quest to be President. Now, while they're getting their tails kicked by an unpopular President, they are preparing to give us Hillary Clinton, or Kerry again. How long, oh Lord?!
We need to admit that the two party system, never envisioned by the Founding Fathers, is killing us. Let's vote for Greens, independents or Democrats who demonstrate that they believe the country is at stake. In the meantime, we remember there was a reason we were so sorry in November 2004.