With Friends Like Democratic Congresspeople

by: Ian Welsh

Thu Dec 24, 2009 at 13:24


As with David, I'd like to take a moment away from the holiday to highlight a story which I don't want buried.

The NYTimes reported yesterday that Acorn broke no laws.  None.  In the last five years.

But the Democratic Congress still threw them under the bus, with an illegal bill of attainder, banning them from receiving any government money before waiting to see if they really had done anything wrong.  Very similar to how they censured MoveOn for daring to challenge Petraeus.

Can you imagine the Republicans doing the same?  When the Swift Boat Vets lied repeatedly about John Kerry, did the Republicans vote to censure them?

And for that matter, did Dems try and censure the Swift Boat Vets?

Democrats constantly throw their own supporters to the wolves.  It’s one of the reasons there is little real loyalty on the left.  On the right, someone may occasionally have to take a bullet for the team, but afterwards they’re well taken care of and even rehabilitated if possible.  And major conservative organizations aren’t repudiated, nor do Republican leaders generally speak of “conservatives” with the sort of contempt that Democratic leaders reserve for liberals and progressives.

Democratic Congresspeople, as a group are weak people without strategic sense or the ability to bargain.  The exceptions, the strong ones, are unfortunately mostly conservadems - Republicans in drag like Ben Nelson.

If 40% of Dems are thinking of not voting in 2010 it’s exactly because Democrats won’t stand up for their own base.  For their own people and what those people believe in and need.  They only stand up for Pharma, banks, insurance companies and other entrenched powers.

Loyalty.  It’s a two way street.  And neither the White House, nor Congress, have shown any.

 

Ian Welsh :: With Friends Like Democratic Congresspeople

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Well stated (4.00 / 2)
The lie of the "third way" and "center America" are the vehicles that are used to keep progressives quiet, passive, and in line.

Thanks for clearly expressing.  There is no reason that the progressive bloggosphere should support "that's f@ckin' stupid" rahm.

But remember, rahm was obama's pick and is doing that corporate shill's dirty work.


What's your point (0.00 / 0)
obama picked him specifically to pave the way to sell out progressives.

[ Parent ]
My point is that (0.00 / 0)
every Progressive I have read for the last two years is aware the Rahm is one of the quintessential Third Way/DLC/Clinton re-heats driving Obama's politics.

Your post made it seem like this was a lesson members of the Progressive blogosphere needed to learn, as though there are Progressives that support Rahm.

Maybe I read your posts here the last few days as though you are pretty keyed up and pissed.  It's OK to be pissed.  I just encourage you to channel your venom at the right, real, targets.

Seriously, if there are any Progressive apologists for Rahm I'd like to know who they are, cause they are fakes.



USA: 1950 to 2010


[ Parent ]
obama/rahm and dem leaders are the right targets (0.00 / 0)
Which is why I, like 40 percent of dems, plan on staying out next time around.

There are plenty of apologists for obama/rahm - including in this thread and every other one

(hint:  folks don't have to praise him or even use his name to be an apologist for him or the rest of the corporate dems, which include the dude in the white house)


[ Parent ]
They love your too (0.00 / 0)
After all - its the dems that you support that are creating the spit.

Don't blame us - your "VOTE FOR US OR WE WILL KILL THIS DOG" tactics aren't going to work this time.

And the tea-baggers/repugs love you and your dems because they successfully undermine the will of the majority of Americans, giving the wackos a platform.

Look in mirror, buddy!


[ Parent ]
Is dailykos a progressive blog? (0.00 / 0)
I can't tell anymore.  

[ Parent ]
Exceptions (4.00 / 4)
Progressive Democrats with backbone are routinely labelled as crazy.  See Dennis Kucinich.  See the "my congressman is nuts" attack on Grayson.

The moral of Cassandra is that being correct in advance buys little street credibility in ancient Troy or anywhere else.  A second moral though can be discerned from the story of Grant and Sherman in the Civil War.  One was labelled a drunk and the other crazy.  They perservered and won.

Warning lights should go off in the progressive community whenever we see a politician casually throw people under the bus.  Avoid him/her like the plague.


I'm Going To Weigh In On This As Well (4.00 / 1)
But I think I'll wait until the New Year, when folks will be better prepared to focus.

I've written about this stuff before & this is just the latest reminder that conservative hissy fits are almost always almost entirely about conservatives, not about what's purportedly gotten them all riled up. (Remember the hissy fit over John Edwards mentioning that Dick Cheney's daughter was gay?  In the same debate where Cheney LIED about having ever met Edwards in the Senate?)

What difference is there between the attacks on ACORN and "climategate"?  Very little, in the end.  They just keep running the same play over and over and over again.  If it doesn't make you wonder about OUR coaching staff, then you really aren't paying attention.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3


a new Realism (0.00 / 0)
what progressives need at this point is a new Realism which does not so much temper or "compromise" our activism but instead spurs it! Obama and the Dems will not save us!    

[ Parent ]
I know this is OT ... (0.00 / 0)
but I don't think Darth Cheney ever served in the Senate .. but you are right .. they did meet before .. I just forget under what conditions they were

[ Parent ]
rename them (0.00 / 0)
it's really the Other Party. elections have come down to "Crazy? [] Yes! [] Ugh."

not everything worth doing is profitable. not everything profitable is worth doing.

Ask siegelman about loyalty... (4.00 / 1)
Snared by a bogus witch hunt by dur chimpfurher's gang of thugs and left abandoned in the breeze.

They are doing it to progressives/liberals on ALL issues too, including HCR.


dividing line (4.00 / 1)
The division does not seem to be dem-rep, lib-con, pragmatic-purest, or any other philosophical name tag pairing. It appears to be authoritan, money worshipers-representative democracy advocates.

If we accept that either money or people is what each elected person represents, then we can effectively work at solutions to our continual problem of candidate promises opposed to office holder actions.

I like the idea of signed contracts (court enforceable?) (contained in the IVCS ?) being required prior to our support. Also the "full court press", and efforts to reduce money in politics. Reclaiming the peoples airways for cost free informed democracy has a nice ring to it too, but requires some success before it can be attempted.

We don't really have any idea how many elected office holders currently would support us on financial issues. Each time the issue passes or (more likely) fails by one or a few votes. Allowing most representatives to hide their true allegance, and a "traitor Joe" to take the heat. I am not convinced that the senate would pass real healthcare reform even with only majority required.

These people have real fears of representing their constituants. Not only loosing political contributions, or raising contributions for their opposition, but loss of gravey train retirement positions. And maby fear of actuall violence a.k.a. all of the progressives to died violently in the last few decades.

As someone else said on another thread, we need to create fear of us, to have a chance in this failed, distorted political system. After all, our position on the healthcare issue (and most others) is the majority position of the people.

Government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob..... FDR


Spot on - but as you can see in other threads (0.00 / 0)
some will shout you down, dishonestly misrepresent and ridicule, and post endless essays (posts) that rationalize their world view as some inevitable result of all things natural and good.

More and more, people are seeing through this type of framing here, but your last point is my favorite:

After all, our position on the healthcare issue (and most others) is the majority position of the people.

And we cannot let those that seek to undermine progressive action (that doesn't support obama/rahm) as somehow "risky", "angry", and "useless".


[ Parent ]
Supporting Democrats is a serious political disorder (4.00 / 1)
Supporting Democrats is a serious political disorder, like alcoholism or returning again & again to an abusive spouse who repeatedly lies to you. It's easy to fall off the wagon, to make excuses & rationalizations for it.

Even many whose views are developed enough to recognize such truths as the fundamental rottenness of the 2-party system & the complicity of Democrats in all of the Republicans' major crimes, are still unable to draw the logical consequences of these insights. (Those so naive that they still conceive of Democrats as being the "opponents" of Republicans are another case altogether.)

The central point is this: capitalist society permits the Democrats to be one of the 2 allowed parties for a very definite reason. It's not because the Democrats "serve the people." It's because in a subtle but effective way, they help the capitalists keep the populace under control by providing them with the illusion of possible change. TPTB don't want the people "served." They want them managed, or controlled.

It is the job, the central social function of the Democrats to always be dangling before the people's noses vague pseudo-hints of possible change, so as to keep them from bolting from bourgeois politics altogether. It is the Democrats' intention to never deliver meaningful change, but rather to keep dangling hints of it alluringly forever. This produces control -- a populace habituated to remain safely within the lines required by ruling class interests.


As you can see from this thread, a vocal minority use the meme: (0.00 / 0)
Vote dem or we will kill this puppy!

Increasingly, it is clear that this is BS.  If you want the wars to end, meaningful healthcare, help for mainstreet instead of wall street - you can't vote for Ds anymore.


[ Parent ]
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