RMD: Why 'STFU' or 'Clap Louder' is Bad for Dems

We have just come back from a real life demonstration of why 'Shut the Fark Up' and/or 'Clap Louder' is bad for a political organization. We have just seen the sad effect on the country of twelve years of unremitting defense of Republican greed, stupidity and cupidity.

One of the winning messages for Dems in this election cycle was 'We need to restore OVERSIGHT to the government!' And it is indisputably true.

But let's not forget that the Dems were driven from power by what exactly? Well, it was ignoring and covering for Democratic greed, stupidity and cupidity. Oh, yes, and a large dose of lazy incompetent consultants and leaders.

With this in mind, let's ask a few questions, shall we?

A) Should the Dems renounce the 'ethics truce'?

B) What were the primary sources of corruption in the Republican leadership?

C) Does the announcement and what we have heard so far restricting gifts and trips financed by lobbyists actually solve Question B?

D) Do we want to see the replacement of the corrupt DeLay K Street strip mining operation with more discreetly-run one by the Democrats? If the answer is 'No', then do we want a Dem leadership with close ties to the open pit on K Street? Or do we want a Dem leadership with close ties to their employers, the owners of our country (that includes us)?

E) Are we getting what we 'paid for' in terms of our effort and dollars in the last election when we consider the direction of the Pelosi 'first 100 hours' program? If it is not enough, but could fall under the heading of a 'nice start' or 'window dressing', how do we provide feedback?

F) Very Important... what happens after the 'first 100 hours'?

The answer to these questions should determine the level of 'oversight' we as part owners of our country, and as netroots activists should provide as feedback to the Democratic leadership.

If the net/grassroots just revert to being a cheerleading squad for 'our team' or 'absentee owners' of the USA, then the Democratic renaisance will be short-lived.

That is why I intend to continue to provide 'oversight' to the current employees in the House and Senate. And I don't intend to wait for a long period of time before I begin 'oversight hearings' in the blogs. As a result of these oversight hearings we should consider our methods of providing feedback to the current crop of representatives. Since we now have a considerable majority in the house we might want to consider which representatives need 'party discipline' in the form of primary challengers for corruption, or greed, stupidity and cupidity.

I hope you join me. It will be fun, and it will ensure that 'we get what we paid for' in the two-year and six-year contracts we just handed out to the new Dem House and Senate members.

RMD

•  Good points.

  You should take a look at this diary too:

  http://www.dailykos.com/...

  by vivacia on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 07:09:50 AM PDT

  •  Thanks!!! I mean it...

    Until the comments on my Diary, I did not know this was going on.

    I am looking over the dkosopedia entry to see what is going on.

    Thanks for the synergistic boost.

    RMD

    by RedMeatDem on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 07:24:41 AM PDT

•  Every now and again..

  STFU works nice for a troll. Right?

  Yes, we do need to provide oversight as best as we possibly can. I think this community, as a whole, has been great at providing oversight.

  by WI Dem on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 07:10:37 AM PDT

  •  Yes, DKos and Blogs DO provide 'Oversight' if...

    we let them.

    And now that we are in the majority, we need to NOT fall into the trap of 'carrying water for those who do not deserve to have their water carried.'

    One of the reasons the righty blogs have so little effect is because it is all top down, clap louder and demean the other guy.

    We have an opportunity to do it differently...

    RMD

    by RedMeatDem on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 07:16:14 AM PDT

    •  I completely agree with you.....n/t

      by WI Dem on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 08:06:45 AM PDT

•  Absolutely. No mindless cheerleading.

  I'm an American first, and a Democrat second.

  I've been mostly heartened by the apparent rhetorical direction of the incoming Dem majority, but we must make sure that the rubber hits the road.

  Keeping them honest is a service to them... and most importantly, to the country.

  by chumley on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 07:34:20 AM PDT

  •  Every once in a while, DKos makes me nervous

    on this account. The support for Lamont and other pet candidates occasionally borders on mindless cheerleading. We're even more guilty around here of mindless jeerleading. I dare you to say something nice about Joe Lieberman. I got troll-rated on election night for saying that, as much as I dislike the guy, maybe it was time to put aside our differences and learn to work with him for the next six years.

    by dead letter office on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 08:13:16 AM PDT

    •  I've Got Nothing Nice to Say About Lieberman

      He is a Faux News troll as far as I am concerned.

      I contributed to 'DumpJoe' and I am damn proud of it.

      Oversight means calling a spade a spade, not going vichy on Joe Lieberman.

      RMD

      by RedMeatDem on Thu Nov 23, 2006 at 05:58:09 AM PDT

•  Dems should not hesitate to

  investigate/punish their own if they are involved in illegal activities. The Washington atmosphere has become so politically polarized that every investigation, reasonable or not, is perceived as a "witch-hunt" or spun as a "witch-hunt" depending on which party is doing the investigating and which party is being investigated. This is wrong.

  The people in Congress PROBABLY KNOW which of their members "cross the line" in their financial dealings. My guess (only a guess) is that Tom Delay was admonished four times by the ethics committee because everybody knew what a huckster he was.

  If we have any "Tom Delays" on our side, we should treat them just as we would a Republican who committed the same violations.

  The Dems could build a lot of credibility in Americans could clearly see that this is NOT "politics as usual" but rather a "new day of government accountability"

  by libertyisliberal on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 07:39:27 AM PDT

  •  Frankly... When It Comes to Corruption...

    I think decent Dems should want a corrupt Dems head on a pike even more than the head of a corrupt Rethug.

    Otherwise, we are little better than the Rethugs who looked the other way along with some Dems and called it an 'ethics truce'.

    RMD

    by RedMeatDem on Thu Nov 23, 2006 at 06:01:23 AM PDT

•  First Hundred Hours

  Nancy Pelosi has pledged that the first item in the First Hundred Hours will be to disconnect the House from lobbyists.

  We should make sure that she delivers on this.  This requires that we deal with Steny Hoyer and let him know in no uncertain terms that loopholes will not be tolerated.

  by TarheelDem on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 07:55:25 AM PDT

  •  Pimping: Tips'n'Tricks to get support for Pelosi

    I'm new to dKos and not sure that it's proper to pimp if a diary is directly related to a post topic, but I'm getting such terrible readership that I thought I'd take a chance with my latest diary, Tips'n'Tricks to get Republicans to support Pelosi's First 100 Hours. I have a few suggestions on how to get Lobbyist Reform passed. I hope you'll drop in.

    by Ken Comer on Fri Dec 01, 2006 at 01:08:02 AM PDT

•  Is it bad for dkos? n/t

  by ticket punch on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 08:08:54 AM PDT