Train Wreck
I have been warning about the drift to the left that the Democrats have been engaging in for a while now. The rush to embrace the fringe of the party is politically dangerous for the two-party system. For all it's weaknesses - and there are a lot of weaknesses - the two party system we have evolved in the US is a system that has been fairly reliable over the years. But if one party effectively neuters itself and makes itself unelectable, the system collapses.
While I have been warning of this problem, so have many others on the so-called right. I use the term so-called for a reason. The left attacks anyone who disagrees with them as "rightwingers". It matters not one whit if those who disagree are reliable Democratic party supporters, like Joe Lieberman. Democratic party leaders who have been rushing to embrace the left because of their supposed money and supposed ability to turn out the vote have made a serious mistake.
Don't believe me? Then go read this. More importantly, go read the comments that follow the post.
Don't Vote Democrat
I'm not kidding. If the last week is any indicator of what we've got to look forward to in a Democratic Congress, then don't bother. The last time they were in charge we got the Patriot Act, the Iraq War resolution, and the Medicare drug bill. Now with every poll supporting the Democrats and the Republicans on the ropes, these cowards are still afraid to throw the first punch.
Instead, we see the torture issue (yeah, that's how far we've sunk) being co-opted by a group the media have dubbed the Republican "Rebels" whose grand act of rebellion consisted of giving the President the right to do whatever he wants. Charles Peirce has it exactly right :
And the Democratic Party was nowhere in this debate. It contributed nothing. On the question of whether or not the United States will reconfigure itself as a nation which tortures its purported enemies and then grants itself absolution through adjectives — "Aggressive interrogation techniques" — the Democratic Party had…no opinion. On the issue of allowing a demonstrably incompetent president as many of the de facto powers of a despot that you could wedge into a bill without having the Constitution spontaneously combust in the Archives, well, the Democratic Party was more pissed off at Hugo Chavez.
The comments go downhill from there. Rapidly. I won't pull any out because if I do, the lefty commenters here will say I'm cherry picking. Besides, they are better absorbed as a massive wave of vitriolic shortsightedness than in a condensed version.
The Democrats have made themselves a slow motion train wreck here. The left will leave them hanging in a massive wave of politicus interuptus that will make the party's collective head spin. They're already pulling out, so to speak.
Other Links to this Post
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Alabama Liberation Front — Sunday, 24 September , 2006 @ 2:20 am
By Ron Chusid, Saturday, 23 September , 2006 @ 10:07 pm
If you come away from Huffington Post with the impression that Democrats are a bunch of left wing loonies, I guess fair enough. I can’t totally blame you. Please just keep in mind that many Democrats also see the Huffington Post, among other sites, as a bunch of left wing loonies who do not represent our views. There’s a huge variation in sites on the left (as well as on the right) and it is very easy to find off the wall posts and comments.
Of course Huffington Post has a large number of people posting, so my view on them does vary, but the comments there on the average do tend to be the off the wall people as you characterize them. Their moderation system also leads to strange results. Sometimes when some of us have tried to instill some reason into their discussions we find that the comments from their regulars get on immediately, whilel other comments take forever, preventing them from impacting the current discussion.
By TC@LeatherPenguin, Saturday, 23 September , 2006 @ 11:31 pm
Well, “TravisLA” (Hate Jews, much?) sure sounded like someone in desperate need of a bat upside his head…
By Geek, Esq., Sunday, 24 September , 2006 @ 12:20 am
Your party has wackos, and my party has wackos.
Unfortunately, my party has STUPID IDIOTIC WACKOS who would forget to breathe if they had any choice in the matter.
Blech.
By Gaius, Sunday, 24 September , 2006 @ 5:26 am
Actually, Ron, my point is that the rush to embrace the left is what is dangerous for the Dems. The HuffPo folks and the Koz Kidz think they are the wave of the future. God help the Democrats if they are.
By Ron Chusid, Sunday, 24 September , 2006 @ 12:59 pm
Gaius,
I think the problem is reversed. Democratic politicians will court the Huffington and Kos crowds for votes, but at the end of the day they are kept on the outside. In contrast, the kooks on the right have taken control of the Republican Party.