The lesser of evils . . . still evil
Am I the only one revolted by voter suppression in the Arkansas Democratic primary? Whose victorious winner is that supreme hack Blanche Lincoln? On top of which, the profane Rahmbo has presented a platter of raspberries to the Democratic Party's most loyal constituents in the labor movement? 14-year-old soccer leaguers show more class.
In my foolishness, I fantasized that the Obama campaign had built a new political movement, independent of the old-line, Clinton Democratic apparatus. What it has turned out to be is a marketing machine dedicated to the same old DP practices. It's not a movement; it's a one-way Internet money-vacuum cleaner, a new adjunct for a corporatist party.
One such practice, also embraced by the House and Senate DP leadership, is incumbent protection. The Lincoln scam is Exhibit A. The national party was fully complicit, as evidenced by ExPresident Poontang's vigorous, labor-baiting campaigning for Lincoln.
The Specter deal, by contrast, was defensible. If you are going to get Repubs to switch, you have to come through with support after the move. Nobody should fault the White House for that. Of course, there is no obligation on anybody else to support these cheeseballs. Some bring more virtues than others. Lincoln Chaffee and Jim Jeffords come to mind. Arlen Specter does not.
With the indulgence of voter suppression, the national Democrats forfeit any moral authority to criticize Republican practices leveled against them. Perhaps there is a good reason. In corporatist-dominated politics, popular sovereignty is not a high ideal. The people, after all, present the risk of escaping control. Better to confine competition to the craven machinations of moneyed interests.
The moral of the story is for honest citizens to channel political energies into independent formations and initiatives. Support for politicians should be conditional, in clear and simple terms that a child can understand. Criticism for the same reason should carry the rhetorical force of a two-by-four, in terms that a mule can understand.












