This is not a post aimed at all Democrats.
Far too often, I am saddened by posts which tarnish "Democrats" as a whole for not ending the war in Iraq, or not standing up to Republicans enough. The truth--and one that is not repeated as much as it should be--is that there are many Democrats in the House and Senate who, in simple terms, "get it." They get how much is at stake, how much damage has been done, and they get that today's toxic and destructive political climate calls for much more than politics as normal.
This post isn't aimed at them.
It is aimed at those who fail to listen to those smart and rational Democrats. It is aimed at those fail to listen to that which is all too uncommon in our party: common sense.
We've been through hell as a party over the last several months. The euphoric high of November 2006 has given way to a seething cloud of frustration. And while there have been so many great exhibits of Democratic governance--the steady stream of hearings, the raising of the minimum wage, etc.--these have been bright and shiny pinpoints of progress against an otherwise dark political landscape.
For here we are, with more troops than ever in Iraq. Here we are, with a domestic spying program which will likely continue, possibly with telecom immunity to boot. Here we are, with an election system still filled with holes, with an appropriations process still mirred in scandal, with more signing statements than ever and without that promised Phase II report (remember that?).
Indeed, it seems as if for every step forward taken by Democrats on one front, they take two steps back on another.
It is natural, under such circumstances, to be angry. It is natural to feel betrayed. It is natural to wonder how a party with so many great ideas can fail to execute them.
We are not naive. We realize that Democrats do not control the executive branch, and that they hold the slimmest of majorities in the Senate, and a slightly larger majority in the House. But all blame cannot be sifted onto the "numbers," as ugly as they may be. And not all blame can be shoved onto the press, as hostile as the media may be.
When Reid-Feingold gets only 28 votes on the Senate floor, when a telecom immunity bill passes out of committee with just two lone voices of dissent, it is clear that there is much work to be done on party, which is unfortunately controlled by the gutless and gullible, and not by the voices of reason and progress.
The Gutless
"Cowards" and "spineless" is a phrase that's hurled daily at Democrats. There are many instances where it is unwarranted, where a negative result truly is beyond Democratic control. But there are also many instances where the label is fitting, such as when it comes to defunding or passing the hurried FISA "fix" this summer.
Their actions speak louder than their words: Democrats are afraid. Are they terrified of a man who is so despised that the only reason most Americans would want to "have a beer" with George W. Bush today is to be able to throw it in his face? I don't think so, even though that's the common refrain on this and other sites in the blogosphere.
No, I suspect that it's not the president they fear, but his posse. That Republican noise machine and the incompetent press which coddles it which together never miss an opportunity to claim that Democrats will "look weak on terror" or are "overreaching" or are "playing politics."
Here on the blogs, we realize that which the gutless have not accepted: that there is absolutely no correlation between a given Democratic action and the onslaught of attacks.
What these politicians fail to realize is that the attacks will come no matter what. No matter which vote is cast, no matter how tightly one embraces this war or how far away from the party they run, the attacks will always come. Because the only thing that matters to the Republicans during election time is that there is a "D" after their opponent's name.
It is that "D" which ensures the inevitable flow of lies. It is that "D"--no matter how faded--which is blood in the water for the campaign sharks. Voting against Feingold-Reid did not and will not save the gutless from these attacks. Voting for telecom immunity will not make the Republicans suddenly raise their hands and admit that Democrat X is "really strong on terror!" In compromising then to try and avoid these attacks, Democrats are only compromising their principles.
The Gullible
Were it only the gutless who were hindering real reform, we would have a much simpler issue on our hands. However, it is the gullible which present a much thornier problem. The gutless can always find courage, as we have seen with many Democrats who have thrown caution to the wind and have refused to waiver in the face of lies and smears. But the gullible?
It is, to be blunt, a lack of a brain and not lack of a spine, which typifies this group. As an extreme example, take Representative Baird, who is enamored with the war. Take the Democrats who voted for the atrocious FISA bill because they genuinely believed it was the right thing to do.
In this category falls every Democrat who takes any word uttered by this administration at face value. Tht includes those idiots who voted for FISA because they were told of al Qaeda was going to strike Congress before September 11th. That includes the naive who think that a sternly worded letter will actually get more than a chuckle out of this administration. That includes the suckers who think putting administration officials under oath isn't necessary.
The gullible are those who fail to appreciate the extent of the damage done to this country by the Republican Party. They are the ones who earnestly reach out to Republicans with open hand and are blind to the knives hovering over their backs.
These Democrats, more than the gutless ones, are the ones hindering progress. They prattle on in Capitol Hill as if the Republican Party weren't controlled by neocons and the radical right. They trust those who have evidenced through their wars and through their words that they should not be trusted. And they, in all their dense glory, believe that they are doing what is in the best interest of this nation.
God help us all.
So, here we are. At this all-too familiar precipice, so frustrated with so much and yearning for change. We see before us the ranks of the gutless and gullible. For the large part, they control our party, and while they've shrunken in ranks over the last couple of years, they far outnumber the good Democrats mentioned at the outset of my post.
And what are we to do?
The Democrats may well cave again. Politicians are creatures of habit, and concession is apparently such a comfortable place for too many of our elected officials.
We will lose many battles as party over the next year, several probably without putting up much of a fight. It will be disheartening. It will be infuriating. And it will be sad, because the tragic truth is that so much bad legislation could be avoided if only the gutless and gullible were the brave and practical.
And many of us may get that feeling again, that urge to just give in and give up and resign ourselves to the seemingly irrefutable fact of failure.
But let us not be like our Democratic "leaders." Let’s not let the fear of failure paralyze us. Let’s not let complacence and pessimism write the course of history here. Let us set the example for them.
At his YearlyKos address, Markos spoke of how, before this movement started, he was a nobody. Just another faceless voter without a real voice. It is this medium, this movement, which has made all of us "somebody," Markos said.
Somebody needs to end this war. Somebody needs to wake the gutless and gullible up and force them to lead on this and other issues.
There are good Democrats in Congress.
And there are good Democrats here, in our community, in our movement.
Our task, as I see it over the next year, is two-fold. We must continue to call for courage on the part of the gutless, and we must continue trying to wake the gullible. We do so by joining with those in Congress, with the Russ Feingolds in the Senate and the Barbara Lees in the House, to show the gutless and gullible the error of their ways.
It's not an easy task. To be frank, I'm not sure if it's even a possible task. But I will never hold back from writing a letter or making a call because I think it may be futile, and neither should you. Because as impossible as true change may seem, inaction solidifies failure's fate.
So we'll keep harping on red-state and blue state Democrats alike, and we'll keep pressure on even the most stubborn in our party.
Why? Because we've given too much over the last six years to give up now. Because we know our party, what it has done in the past for this great nation and all that it can become. Because, simply put, we will not let go of the fate of our party and our nation so lightly.
Hanging on the beige walls and basking in the florescent light of my office are two large, dark frames, and inside them are the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence. I put them up the day I put up my law school diploma. They go hand-in-hand, you see, for when you take an oath to uphold the Constitution, it helps to be constantly reminded of that which you have sworn to protect. And nestled across from them is the following quote from Teddy Roosevelt:
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
Democrats appear to be attracted to that "gray twilight" of compromise concession like moths to a flame. Let us draw them out of that gray twilight, the gutless and the gullible alike. Let us drag them out if we have to, one by one. Let us help them reach for those glorious triumphs, and let us understand their failures along the way.
Our nation is in dire need of mighty things. Its people are in need of bold action. The Democratic Party can rise up to the challenge. And so can we.
* On a more personal note, this will be last post on Daily Kos for, well, an indefinite amount of time. Thank you all for listening. And behave yourselves during the primary wars. Or at least try to.