Atrios links to a
post by Digby that makes perfect sense to me. Spurred by Gary Hart's call to Democratic leadership to stand up for US withdrawal from Iraq, Digby writes
I'm not a naive person and I know that centers of power always feature this sort of thing to one extent or another. Elites tend to gather. But the thing about democracy is that it's supposed to keep a lid on the worst impulses of the ruling class by allowing the hoi polloi to be involved in the process. I think that things have gotten seriously out of balance in recent years.
Amen brother. The Democratic establishment has a vested interest in not rattling the cage too much. Make peripheral noises around the edges, but not too strident, because to do so would endanger the very system that will someday return them to power. Thus no embrace of Cindy Sheehan by Democratic leadership.
Digby cites from the
Tiny Revolution:
I grew up in the Washington area and went to school with lots of children of government and media types. Then I went to Yale, which is also full of such offspring. What I saw was that the corporate media--places like the New York Times, Washington Post, the networks, etc.--and government figures are blatantly, brazenly in bed with each other. And not just metaphorically; it's often literally true. There's Andrea Mitchell & Alan Greenspan; James Rubin & Christiane Amanpour; Judith Miller & a cast of thousands; and so on.
In any case, whoever they're shtupping, they share a mindset: the government and corporate media self-consciously see themselves as a governing elite that runs things hand in hand. That's why Nicholas Kristof is anxious that if the hoi polloi keep calling George Bush a liar, it may make America "increasingly difficult to govern."
Thus, the fabulous flameout of Howard Dean and the decline of Wes Clark's presidential aspirations. Not being Washington insiders, not being members of the incestous gang of media and political establishment elites, they were doomed from the get go. We must acknowledge that there is an elite political class in the United States and its branches, in government and the media, work hand in glove to ensure their mutual survival.