Grow A Pair or Lose Your Job
A commenter over at Firedoglake dissed my earlier post saying comparing the censure vote and the President’s approval ratings is like “comparing apples and oranges”. Fair enough, I suppose, but that was the best data we had to work with. Now that there’s been some actual polling on the censure issue, here’s further proof that the Democrats in D.C. are completely out of touch with the American people and their own base (via Kevin Drum) :
I’m increasingly frustrated by the fact that the vast majority of what we liberal bloggers write is written off by the Dem establishment. These guys probably haven’t even seen a blog except for the rare occasion when one of their aides prints out a post and attaches a Post-It with the warning “The plebs are getting restless, sir”, yet every word we write seems to be disregarded as uninformed and naive missives from the outer fringes of the far-left. As blog readers you probably agree with me that this simpleminded confusion of the medium with the message is much more idiotic than the stereotype that applies to us, but I can’t help but think that there’s a willfull ignorance among many in the Democratic establishment about our true gripes.
What they don’t seem to get is that the vast majority of campaigns undertaken by the liberal blogosphere aren’t intended to change the minds of Democratic leaders, but to encourage action on ideals we think they have, but don’t have the political will to actually do anything about. For the most part I could care less about where most Democrats fall on the moderate/liberal spectrum, I just want them to stand up for what they believe in. For lack of an equally-powerful, gender-neutral term, here’s my message to Democrats :
Don’t be a fucking pussy, just say what you believe in.
Do you honestly think the President’s lawbreaking isn’t as big a deal as Clinton’s perjury? Then stop dicking us around and actually say it. I might not agree with you, but I’d at least respect you for taking a stand. The way things stand right now, the Democratic party is so emasculated and so well-trained by the Republican majority that they’re terrified of siding with a plurality of Americans on a clear-issue.
There’s no ambiguity here. The President eschewed Congressional overtures to amend FISA and promised Americans that we don’t spy without a court order, while blatantly ignoring the law. The President committed crimes, continues to commit those crimes, and has admitted to all fo this. This is clearly wrong and the vast majority of your base agrees. If you’re afraid of taking a popular stand on an important issue, why the hell should anyone vote for you? If this is a preview of what a Democratic majority in the Senate will look like (and 2001-2002 was a similarly embarassing indicator), then we aren’t that much worse off with the status quo.
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Howard Dean’s popularity should have been a wake up call for the Democrats. Let’s face it, the Democrats have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Since we have been losing since 1994 it should be clear to them that the strategy of not hurting anyone’s feelings isn’t working. Bush is an incompetent ideologue but he got votes for standing for what he believes even when it is not in the best interest of the American people. The Democrats also need to find a Karl Rove type who can craft a message.
Comment by Becky — March 17, 2006 @ 6:21 am
since Watergate, the DEMs in Congress have
preferred a Constitutional Cruise to a
Constitutional Crisis
Comment by Lieutenant Breakfast — March 17, 2006 @ 6:48 am
I oppose censure because it is absolutely not enough. The President has willfully ignored the law and the Constitution, and is - by his own admission - guilty of crimes which, if our laws were honestly applied, land him in jail for 5, 10, 15 thousand years. If that’s not high crimes, I don’t know what is. Censure is 268 people saying they don’t like you. It is not a punishment. Anything less than impeachment in this issue is saying the President does not need to abide by law and Constitution. Anything less than impeachment is a coronation.
Comment by David Thomas — March 17, 2006 @ 10:07 am
Do you honestly think the President’s lawbreaking isn’t as big a deal as Clinton’s perjury? Then stop dicking us around and actually say it. I might not agree with you, but I’d at least respect you for taking a stand.
Great point, Greg. All this week I have been replaying Alec Baldwin’s scene in Glengarry Glen Ross in my mind and thinking that our congressional leadership could really do with some tough love:
“As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anyone want to see second prize? Second prize’s a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired. You get the picture?”
Comment by Fledermaus — March 18, 2006 @ 3:21 pm
Gosh, you’ll be voting Green next! Such a negative attitude, not a team-player, unconcerened about abortion, unrealistic, mumble, mumble…
Comment by Joe — March 21, 2006 @ 4:12 pm