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THE DEMOCRATS' DISASTER
Sam Smith
Regardless of what one thinks of the Republican Party's policies, it
must be admitted that as a political organization it has operated with
frightening efficiency over the past quarter century.
And regardless of what one thinks of the Democratic Party's policies -
or lack thereof - it must be admitted that as political organization it
has operated with depressing incompetence and inefficiency over the part
quarter century.
This is not something that is publicly admitted or discussed, but it
nonetheless is true.
One need only look at the record of the current Congress - elected
because of GOP entropy rather than its own virtues - to see the problem.
Here we have one of the most disliked presidents in history, one of the
most disliked wars as well as a bunch of Democratic issues like the
environment piling up in the living room and the Democrats in Congress
are unable to take effective advantage of any of it. In fact, Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid has an approval rating below that of either
Bush or Cheney.
The Democratic Party doesn't really exist as a coherent movement
anymore. It has no clear agenda, its grassroots look as though sprayed
by a herbicide, and its leaders - to use an antiquated and inapplicable
term - have little interest in anything beyond their own election.
This is not really an ideological matter; it is more the result of
incompetence, corruption and organizational chaos all happily denied by
unfettered egos fed by lobbyists rather than their own accomplishments.
Even the people who used to keep the party honest - the liberals - now
only serve as elite enablers of the party's desertion of its popular
base.
The results include not only an absurdly ineffective Congress but a
presidential campaign offering a choice between the corrupt and the
vacuous in first and second place.
If you strip away the politics from it all and you look at the two
parties as competing Mafia mobs, you've got to hand it to the GOP. They
really know how to control the 'hood.
The metaphor is not an unfair one. After all, a member of the Bush or
Clinton Family will have been in the White House as president or Vice
president for 28 years if Hillary Clinton wins, and it was almost that
long ago that Bill Clinton started helping Vice President Bush's Contra
operations out of Arkansas.
As for Harvard suit and establishment toy boy Obama, just remember that
this is a guy who is such a coward that he was afraid to vote for a
limit of 30% on credit card usury.
The solution for the Democrats' decay is not easy to come by. Worse, our
laws make it virtually impossible for a new party to take its place. The
Greens might have changed the politics of the country had they had spent
more time on backyard politics and less on the presidential race. The
liberals seem forever condemned to life as names on the databases of
groups like Move On or Emily's List that promise salvation for a $25
contribution.
The only thing that might really change matters would be a movement that
the establishment - including the liberal establishment - can't control.
It must be decentralized, viral and have dreams rather than strategic
visions. It happened with the civil rights, women's and peace movement,
so presumably it can happen again.
In the meantime, it would help to recognize honestly and publicly the
pathetic, corrupt and ineffective mess that Democratic Party has become.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE DEMOCRATS' DISASTER
Sam Smith
Regardless of what one thinks of the Republican Party's policies, it
must be admitted that as a political organization it has operated with
frightening efficiency over the past quarter century.
And regardless of what one thinks of the Democratic Party's policies -
or lack thereof - it must be admitted that as political organization it
has operated with depressing incompetence and inefficiency over the part
quarter century.
This is not something that is publicly admitted or discussed, but it
nonetheless is true.
One need only look at the record of the current Congress - elected
because of GOP entropy rather than its own virtues - to see the problem.
Here we have one of the most disliked presidents in history, one of the
most disliked wars as well as a bunch of Democratic issues like the
environment piling up in the living room and the Democrats in Congress
are unable to take effective advantage of any of it. In fact, Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid has an approval rating below that of either
Bush or Cheney.
The Democratic Party doesn't really exist as a coherent movement
anymore. It has no clear agenda, its grassroots look as though sprayed
by a herbicide, and its leaders - to use an antiquated and inapplicable
term - have little interest in anything beyond their own election.
This is not really an ideological matter; it is more the result of
incompetence, corruption and organizational chaos all happily denied by
unfettered egos fed by lobbyists rather than their own accomplishments.
Even the people who used to keep the party honest - the liberals - now
only serve as elite enablers of the party's desertion of its popular
base.
The results include not only an absurdly ineffective Congress but a
presidential campaign offering a choice between the corrupt and the
vacuous in first and second place.
If you strip away the politics from it all and you look at the two
parties as competing Mafia mobs, you've got to hand it to the GOP. They
really know how to control the 'hood.
The metaphor is not an unfair one. After all, a member of the Bush or
Clinton Family will have been in the White House as president or Vice
president for 28 years if Hillary Clinton wins, and it was almost that
long ago that Bill Clinton started helping Vice President Bush's Contra
operations out of Arkansas.
As for Harvard suit and establishment toy boy Obama, just remember that
this is a guy who is such a coward that he was afraid to vote for a
limit of 30% on credit card usury.
The solution for the Democrats' decay is not easy to come by. Worse, our
laws make it virtually impossible for a new party to take its place. The
Greens might have changed the politics of the country had they had spent
more time on backyard politics and less on the presidential race. The
liberals seem forever condemned to life as names on the databases of
groups like Move On or Emily's List that promise salvation for a $25
contribution.
The only thing that might really change matters would be a movement that
the establishment - including the liberal establishment - can't control.
It must be decentralized, viral and have dreams rather than strategic
visions. It happened with the civil rights, women's and peace movement,
so presumably it can happen again.
In the meantime, it would help to recognize honestly and publicly the
pathetic, corrupt and ineffective mess that Democratic Party has become.
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