I've been noticing two distinct camps over at dKos and I've been struggling to come up with what to call them. The only thing I could think of is "Liberal Elitists" vs "The Rabble". I hate to use a term culled from Republican Propaganda but it fits like a glove. If anyone can come up with something better let me know.
The recent discussions about Senator Obama's post about John Roberts and debate over the Anti-War Protests brought this into focus for me. RenaRF's post today in response to Obama was brilliant and passionate. But she's catching some flak from the Liberal Elitists.
The Beltway Democrats
In his post, Barack Obama made obvious he has internalized many of the principles espoused by Beltway Democrats:
Elect Us Now, We'll Stand up for You Later
The Shrillness of the Rabble Frightens the Skittish Nebulous Beings of Centerland whose Non-Positions (which only coincidentally coincide with the least-risky choices we could make) We Must Represent Above All Others
Taking a Stand for what is Moral and Necessary is Political Suicide
Criticising Beltway Democrats is Giving Aid and Comfort to our Enemy
Our Principles and Our Policies are too Complicated to Explain to the American People
[Did I mention how much I enjoy Selective Capitalization? Maybe it's my partially German blood or maybe I'm reaincarnated from an English speaker who lived in the 18th century.]
The Liberal Elitists
Dear Rabble,
You don't talk nice (bloggers that curse), you don't look nice (antiwar protesters) and your views are not nice (the current GOP are nothing but Fascists). Please be quiet, please don't show yourselves in public. You're annoying us and scaring the Skittish Nebulous Beings of Centerland.
You're not as smart as we are. And the Beltway Democrats are even smarter than us. They have a plan for retaking the US Government that even we can't fully understand. But whatever it is, the Beltway Democrats definitely know best.
When you make a fuss and criticise the Beltway Democrats about your personal pet issues like say, you rabid activist women out there who don't want the US Government having control of your uterus, you're messing everything up.
Don't you understand that Beltway Democrats have no more power than the Senate Janitor? They can do nothing! They can't even speak out for fear, rightly, of what Fox News and the Wall Street Journal editorial page might say about them.
So their inaction in the face of, and occasional participation in Republican Abuses of Power must be excused. We might not like it, but it's the only path to Victory! The Beltway Dems' clever ability to camouflage themselves against the conservative background only highlights every massive disaster caused by the Republicans.
Every Republican Outrage is our Victory! The dead, disabled and traumatized US soldiers involved in the poorly managed but not necessarily immoral and counter-productive War in Iraq; the dead, ruined and humiliated victims of Hurricane Katrina; the women, minorities and non-corporate entities whose rights will be destroyed by an ideologically conservative Supreme Court for the next 30 years all add up to one thing: success at the ballot box for Democrats in 2006 and 2008. Any horrors that are bound to occur in the intervening years only help our cause.
In anycase, we don't plan on joining the Army to pay for college, suddenly becoming brown and poor, or having an abortion any time soon. So we're good for right now.
Love,
The Liberal Elitists
The Rabble
Dear Beltway Democrats,
Why is it crazy to demand that our Representatives represent us? Our heart-felt beliefs are based on our immediate needs, our sense of morality and our reality-based assessment of the world around us.
Why should we not express our opinions on the internet and in public? If our positions and our proposed solutions are wrong, why can't you explain to us, in clear language, what your positions are and what plans you propose to solve the problems we face?
We believe there is such a thing as right and wrong as far as the actions of the US Government are concerned. And that, if the choices are properly presented to the Skittish Nebulous Beings of Centerland by authority figures such as yourselves, they will see the difference.
Maybe Independents and especially Non-Voters (that's an untapped market consisting of close to half of the US voting-elegible population) are not disgusted at US politics because of "partisan rancor" and "negative campaigning". Maybe they are disgusted because politicians like yourselves can't give them truthful, straight talk about issues that directly affect their daily lives. Maybe they are disgusted at US politics because despite all the talk from Republicans AND Democrats they have not seen any improvement in their immediate environment and society they live in.
Rabidly partisan actions that deliver real, positive results for lower and middle-class Americans will not be held against you, we can almost guarantee it. We can deliver more votes than the Corporations: there are more of us than there are of them.
Your exuses and enabling of the Republican Agenda smack of self-serving cowardice. We know enough of human nature to know that people will always take the easiest route, especially if it benefits them personally. Please prove us wrong.
Betraying through inaction the very groups of Americans you claim to champion (Women, Minorities, Soldiers, the Poor and/or Unlucky, Americans who do not believe in unnecessary and immoral wars) and then demanding their vote is unacceptable.
Fuckin A,
The Rabble
[Crossposted to the New Corrente Building. It might be blog-hoing, but I thought since I was talking about dKos I should repost here.]