a version of this frontpaged at My Left Wing
I have to say I like DHinMI much more than many people do because I appreciate his wit and obvious intelligence, even when it's used to express opinions I disagree with.
But the logical contortions of his frontpage post today were insane and made me at last seriously question the validity of the DK site. If that's the kind of pretzel reasoning that the site endorses, I have to wonder if it's lost all its positive usage and has become nothing more than a place to make dyed-in-the-wool Democrats (something I used to be, admittedly) feel better about themselves and the general ineptness of the party. I still love DHinMI as much as I ever did, I just think he did himself a disservice by writing something that was clearly whistling past the graveyard. The time has come for all Democrats and those who aren't Democrats but mostly vote that way to stop being the Black Knight of the political world and admit that, indeed, our arm is off and it's not just a flesh wound.
I keep on a ramblin' and a rantin' after the jump.
Yes, this is another one of "those" diaries that have been so popular the past few days. If you don't like it or are weary of it, just simply keep movin' on and ignore this. And take this raspberry with you: Thpbtpbtpbtpbtpbtpbtpbt.
First, I think Democrats need to stop looking to Dean for now as a leader. I yield to none in my admiration for him, but he has clearly set as his primary task the rebuilding of the hideously decayed state party infrastructure. It's a noble task and one I think needs done in the worst way. But it's also a job that's necessarily below the radar. Don't look for Dean to re-emerge into the bright spotlight bigtime until this fall at soonest, if not 2008.
In the meantime, the Democrats will need another strong, powerful voice or several. But where is that to come from? Again, I've praised Harry Reid as highly as anyone in the past year and a bit. I even wrote a diary praising one of his more brilliant moves of political jiu-jitsu. But this failure to do anything but keep up appearances on Alito is shameful.
I railed as hard if not harder than most against John Roberts. Since then I've become reconciled to his appointment and am now rather curious to see what sort of justice he'll be. I realize my anger and frantic rage back then were with the same attitude I see now among many Dems: we're in the minority, he won't be that bad, here have an absurd rationalization for why Roberts is maybe an okay guy.
Roberts was a cipher, so perhaps there was some (very) small justification for that line of reasoning. But Alito is clearly a Very Dangerous Man. Not only is he extremely right wing, but he has little if any independence of mind. Essentially we'll be getting a slightly more intelligent Clarence Thomas. I'd rather have Michael fucking Luttig on the SC because while he's nearly as nuts as Alito on some things, he's at least displayed the independent spirit critical to any judge, no matter their political persuasion.
The fact is, my anger has risen and made me turn away from being a hardcore Dem. Why? Because I was lied to. In 2000 and 2004 I was told "It's the Supreme Court, stupid. The president between 2000 and 2008 will get to appoint 3 or 4 justices, enough to tip the court balance for an entire generation to come."
I believed it, because it was true. But now that the chips are down--one Bush justice already through, an even worse one about to be, and rumors of the great John Stevens about to retire in the fall meaning a third within a year--nothing is being done. They've wilted like a flower in a Pepe LePeu cartoon. Forget having no plan on Alito when adjourning for Christmas, they should have had a fucking plan in place for 5 goddamn years now.
So I was betrayed on that and I was betrayed on the nuclear compromise. I was royally fucking pissed about that when it happened, eager for the fight, but once again gritted my teeth and suspended judgment to see what would happen when the time came. And when the time came, I see....Republicans win again. Hell, given Lindsay Graham's performance in the Alito hearings, the tinfoil part of my head wonders if he wasn't some kind of mole in the "Gang of 14" all along. But that's another rant.
It's clear that I've been fed empty rhetoric for 7 years now . And I'm tired of it. There has got to be another way. As a great sailor once said, "I've had all I can stands and I can't stands no more." The Democratic Party refused to fight in Florida 2000, rolled over on the Iraq War Resolution, torpedoed the Dean campaign, let the swiftboating nonsense take hold in '04, and lied to me about the Supreme Court fight.
I. Have. Had. Enough. Don't dryfuck my ass and tell me I'm not bleeding, guys 'n dolls.
I believed in you. You have repayed me with nothing. What loyalty do I owe you? You're the only things standing between Bush and ruining the country?
Hang on, I'm getting a telegram:
NEWSFLASH. STOP.
THE COUNTRY STOP.
IS BEING STOP.
DISMANTLED AT STOP.
A RATE WHICH MAKES CLEAR STOP.
NOTHING IS BEING DONE TO CONTROL IT STOP.
Really, I'm sick of the apologists. Social Security? A combination of Bush's own base ineptitude and a madder-than-hell-over-being-bamboozled-on-Medicare AARP took care of that one. The Dems were instrumental in stopping ANWR, I will give them that much.
But what else of real significance? The Medicare bill? The bankruptcy atrocity? The transportation bill of last year? Those were passed with significant Democratic assistance!
We all have our breaking point. I've reached mine. If you still have your faith, more power to you. But I wish to be understood respectfully, but firmly, that as I see things, I've no more wished to be toyed with like catnip. My feelings and hopes have been built up one too many times only to be dashed like a dingy on rocks to admit of further passion for a party that is clearly broken and resistant of all attempts to fix it.
What to do? I don't know. That's the next part of my thought process. Something has to be done. Time to do some deep thinking.
And no, this isn't a GBCK diary. I couldn't top the first one I wrote and you can see how well I stuck to that anyway. I'll still be coming here for the people and the silliness that abounds as long as I'm welcome and wanted. I have no wish to remain a day longer than I'm welcome, of course.
But as for the Democratic politics, policy, and passion? Eh. That's now your problem.