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Thursday, January 19, 2006

"The lyin-ass boyfriend party"
Posted by Jill | 9:22 AM

GREAT, must-read article by Nancy Goldstein at Raw Story today, one which encapuslates the disgust many of us progressives feel about the party which used to represent us:

Effective immediately, the Democrats will be known as the lyin'-ass boyfriend party - the perfect date for progressive voters looking to be stood up, bullshitted blind, or left holding the tab.

For five years now it's been "Please baby, baby, baby, please! I'm sorry I was a no-show last time, but hey, that was because I was working overtime to save up to do something extra special for next time, which is the really big event - right, baby?"

Last April, when the Democrats backed away from filibustering extremist appeals court nominees, it was, "Don't you fret, baby. We're not going to go to the mat over small fry like Owen, Pryor, and Brown because we're saving the filibuster for the big one - you know, the Supreme Court, baby." Months later, Democrats folded rather than fight John Roberts, the young-ish yes man with a penchant for executive privilege and a wife who used to head an anti-choice organization. After all, they said, they needed to save their energy, and the filibuster, for the next Supreme Court nominee, who would undoubtedly be worse.

Well, baby, the moment of truth has arrived. It's Alito-time, and the lyin'-ass boyfriends are backpedaling again. Why aren't they going to raise a ruckus this time? Aw, baby... the filibuster is just so darned hard to use with only 45 senators! And what's the point of trying to do anything until we've recaptured the Senate or the White House?

I have terrible news for the Democrats: being the minority party is not their real problem.

After all, the Republicans were the minority party just 12 years ago. But a bright, power-hungry representative named Newt Gingrich stepped forward with a plan to end "business as usual" in DC. It promised voters term limits for the speaker of the House and powerful committee chairs, an end to gifts from lobbyists and paid travel from outside groups, and a balanced federal budget.

And it worked.

[snip]

Gingrich and his crew had an eye to the next generation, and were willing to bypass seniority in favor of hunger and talent when appointing committee chairs. By contrast, political ascendancy in the Democratic Party still operates like the succession of kings. Howard Dean and Barack Obama, who would be treated as rising stars in any functional organization, are kept under lock and key. Dean's only allowed out to raise money and take flack from the same Democrats who have been steering the party into a ditch for nearly a decade, and Obama's only allowed out to criticize Dean.

But finally, it's not going to work because the Democrats really can't differentiate themselves from the Republicans. As the Alito hearings have shown, they all get along like a bunch of dorm mates, with occasional spats that can easily be resolved over a pitcher at the pub or a few reps at the gym.

And why not? They have as lot in common, these rich, white, middle-aged and older guys who want to keep their cushy jobs and reward their wealthy supporters. Both sides supported the Bankruptcy Bill; neither side supports effective campaign finance reform.

Their kids will never be drafted; their daughters and wives will always enjoy access to contraception and abortions; their queer kids will live well within the long shadow of their protection (and payroll, as Mary Cheney and John Schlafly will attest).


And therein lies the problem with the Democratic Party: Mr. Brilliant was right after all -- they really ARE only there to make you think you have a choice. The Washington Democrats are feeding at the same trough as the Republicans, only they're content to settle for scraps.

I love the "lyin'-ass boyfriend" analogy. It's so apt, and so perfectly encapsulates how many of us felt after agreeing to try yet again last year with John Kerry, only to have our hopes dashed when he caved after not even demanding that all the votes be counted.

For years, Roe v. Wade was THE issue to keep us going to the polls. After all, only Democrats could stop the appointment of more Scalias to the court. But as Goldstein notes, the Democrats caved on John Roberts, and they are caving on Alito. Our newly-minted Democratic Senator from New Jersey, Bob Menendez, is already wobbly on the Alito nomination -- presumably since Alito is from NJ, Menendez is considering giving him a free pass.

So what is the big battle that the Democrats are saving it up for? Answer: There isn't one. The Democratic Party is a slow, antiquated, dying beast, and frankly, it deserves to die a quick and merciful death -- so that people who want to offer a real alternative have a chance. In 2004, the Kerry and Gephardt camps banded together to run attack ads in Iowa that torpedoed the Howard Dean bandwagon -- because "outsiders" will not be tolerated. Now, the Democratic Party is pushing Sherrod Brown in Ohio "because it's his turn", instead of the far more reform-minded, gutsier Paul Hackett. Dean is now head of the DNC, but he's been marginalized by the real power brokers.

Pols like Joe Biden and Dianne Feinstein are perfectly OK with being a minority party. They get to keep their jobs, they get to rake in the cash from corporate contributors, and they think that we will stay with them and keep them in office because we have noplace else to go. Well, we do have someplace else to go: We can stay home. And frankly, until this party is beaten to death, that's what I'm inclined to do.

And if it means the United States turns into a theofascist dictatorship sooner rather than later, well so be it. It isn't like the Democrats are doing a whole lot to stop it.
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