First time diary - on the GBCW issue
Sun Jan 27, 2008 at 10:56:14 AM PDT
Many ideas for diaries have come and gone, or come and still linger, waiting for my brain to form proper articulation or a way to make the thoughts more original or profound. You see, I'm not the type that likes to raise old material and claim it as my own, and I'm not the type that is into stream of consciousness thought. But here I go, posting on a topic that's been beat to death, and typing pretty much from the hip.
Recently I was going to type up my first diary on the topic of 'keep reading DK, but stop posting in candidate diaries.' The reason is not because we are tearing apart the party in doing so. The reason was an observation that the baseball message board I read is dominated by right wingers. It's my experience that virtually every message board and blog on non-political subject matter also has political discussion, and the vast majority is dominated by hateful rednecks. Thus, I thought a better outlet for all our angst is to go to the other communities we frequent and fight the good fight there, where it is desperately needed.
Still a good thought, but with the bevy of GBCW diaries based on candidate commentary lately, I feel the need to interject my observations on that subject matter.
Now I realize that some of what I am about to say is strawman arguments, but I think they do reflect on the reality of what is going on here. It seems the vast majority of the GBCW diaries are Clinton supporters who have become dismayed at the sentiment of 'I won't vote for Clinton if she wins the nomination' and/or other attacks on Hillary.
First, on the Clinton supporters who leave. You support the candidate that alleges she is the best candidate because 'she is the one who is tough enough to stand up against the Republicans in the general election.' You see the problem here? You're not tough enough to hang with the silenced voices of progressives as they try to rise up, while claiming your candidate is the only one tough enough to stand up to the Republicans. C'mon. If you can't stomach attacks from Obama and Edwards supporters, how quickly are you going to run and cower in a corner once the Swift Boating and Willie Hortoning and FlipFlopping begins?
Second, on those who won't vote for Clinton if she wins the nomination, haven't you learned your lessons? Did your vote for Ralph Nader not teach you how wrong you are? I have been fighting with Progressives who say "there is no difference between the Democrats and Republicans" for about a decade and a half now. There is a difference. While the difference may be subtle, there is a difference.
The difference is the Republicans are actively screwing the American people and shredding the Constitution, while the established Democrats tend to stand by and passively allow the screwing of the American people and the shredding of the Constitution.
That right there should be difference enough to vote for Hillary. While a DLC President may not fight the fights you would like them to fight, at least they will slow this madness down. We are looking at the probability of McCain as the Republican candidate. His platform is "expand the Iraq War while making the tax cuts permanent." Do you not see how vastly different Hillary's positions are?
But there is also another difference in that a DLC candidate is much more likely to be persuaded by progressive arguments. I want a progressive President more than anyone. I am not ashamed whatsoever to say that I think Kucinich would make the best President of anyone who ran. But the shift to progressive policy will not happen overnight. If you are given a choice between cutting off your own tongue and eatting an entire salami, you don't try to shove the entire thing down your throat all at once. You cut it into tiny slices and eat them one by one. You certainly don't choose to cut off your own tongue, which is exactly what a non-vote for Hillary amounts to in this metaphor.
So I'm not sure if this is a STFU diary or a 'we need to unite' diary. Probably a little of both. My suggestion, if you are all pent up with angst at the prospect of Hillary at the candidate, or if you become dismayed that the Hillary trashing is tearing the party apart, read some substantive diaries, then go off to a blog/board on a non-political topics and fight your fight there.
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