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good year for partisan manipulation
Because the Democratic presidential candidate is so clearly on our side; because the Democratic Congress has made such great strides in only two meager years of control against a massively popular executive -- indeed to the point where Congress' own popularity is at a level never seen before; because the Democratic Party itself is such a reliable custodian of the American dream and protector of the working man, his pocketbook and his freedoms.
Because the Democrats have proven over and over again that they are willing to stand up and take courageous stands on the issues of climate change, because they have supported nothing but smart and effective national security, officially codified torture, because they have refused to fund a counterproductive, stupid, and feckless war, and plutocracy; because they so clearly have demonstrated their four-square and stalwart determination that the Constitution shall not be breached for the sake of political expediency or financial gain.
Let us be certain that we put no pressure on our Democratic candidates. Let us join the right wing in exalting the Unitary Executive, the dismantling of checks and balances. Let us fund all their campaigns so that they know we are 100% behind them, regardless of how many promises they break, how many new loopholes they find or create in the Bill of Rights, regardless of how many times they fold when threatened by political pop-guns. Let us vote the straight ticket and empty our wallets to fund their propaganda of hope, even when we know that it's all empty rhetoric.
What's the worst that could happen?
Comments (10)
Turn it around.
"What's the best that could happen?"
A return to the international community--no more "my way or the highway" talk.
That's no small thing.
With McCain it will be Gunboat Diplomacy: the Sequel.
July 16, 2008 11:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was turning it around.
July 17, 2008 7:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sadly, that about sums it up. I wish their list of accomplishments was a little bit shorter. Damn those overachievers!
Of course, no one here would ever considering voting for McCain. It's just that the Democrats in Congress sure make it difficult to vote FOR them rather than AGAINST the Republicans.
July 16, 2008 11:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
On the presidential race, which is the most important issue, the choice is between Obama and McCain. It's good to keep pressure on Obama, so that he will be a better president -- so long as what we do doesn't reduce the chances of his being elected. It doesn't matter if we pressure him to be a purer, but losing, candidate.
I have no problem with criticizing Obama within those bounds. I don't like cult of personality, and I think we're citizens, not cogs in a PR machine. It's a question of balance and judgment, and it seems to me that some folks around here seem to have lost sight of the overriding fact that we need Obama to be president.
As for Congress: God knows we have some lousy Dems. The biggest opportunity to get better ones -- and to improve the ones we've got -- is with primary challenges.
July 17, 2008 7:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
It doesn't matter if we pressure him to be a purer, but losing, candidate.
It also doesn't matter if we support him in becoming a winning but authoritarian president.
July 17, 2008 8:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Unless you're using "authoritarian" pretty lightly, it is quite unlikely that Obama -- even absent any pressure at all from the left -- would be an authoritarian president.
But even taking your improbable premise, supporting him in becoming a winning but authoritarian president would still matter if he would be less authoritarian than the alternative.
Again assuming your premise (which I think is way off), I know some folks find it tempting to say that the difference between more and less authoritarian is not meaningful to them. I had hoped that Nader's refrain that there was no meaningful difference between Gore and Bush, and the later history, would have diminished the appetite for such proclamations.
July 17, 2008 10:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Are you saying Gore might have been worse? Certainly, we can only guess what a Gore Presidency might have been like. No?
July 17, 2008 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
some folks find it tempting to say that the difference between more and less authoritarian is not meaningful to them.
Not I.
But I do find it meaningful that with each election cycle, the Democratic Party becomes more conservative. Electing the wrong Democrat to Chief Executive could cement that trend. Defeating the wrong Democrat might slow the trend. I have no evidence that makes me think that trend can be stopped in my lifetime.
We've been over this stuff ad nauseum, but:
In my opinion, Sen. Obama has already participated in damage to the Constitution and has expressed positions that I find unconstitutional and/or questionable WRT human rights. My use of the word "authoritarian" was meant to be shorthand for this phenomenon.
July 17, 2008 11:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think a big part of the reason for the rightward drift of the Dems is just that they keep losing. Over the last 20 years or so, most of the DC Dems seem to have become convinced that the only way to win is to move to the right. I think that if McCain wins this election, that will dramatically increase the belief among Dems that unless they are to the right of Rush Limbaugh on national security matters, they will never regain the presidency and that their hold on Congress will be tenuous. Beating bad Dems in primaries (or just scaring them with strong challengers) is one thing. Losing a general election (especially this one) is quite another.
I'm to the left of Obama on a number of points, but for many reasons I think it is urgently necessary that he, not McCain, become the next president. I think that if McCain wins, then in many ways we are fucked.
Repeating myself, I think that a healthy amount of criticism of Obama is good. I just think that we should keep in mind the broader context and the full set of priorities, and modulate the tone and volume of criticism accordingly.
July 17, 2008 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think a big part of the reason for the rightward drift of the Dems is just that they keep losing.
I think a big part of the reason for the fact that they keep losing is the rightward drift of the Dems. As many have said , given a choice between a real Republican and an imitation, voters will choose the real one every time.
July 17, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
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