Although I don't know where the saying originates, I do know that it can be heard in locker rooms across America with reference to closing out games and finishing opponents. "Step on their necks." It would be poetic if it had come from someone like Vince Lombardi, but it hardly matters. The sentiment is enough. "Step on their necks."
What we have now in this country, after successive elections in which the ruling Republican Party was virtually done in, is a large and diverse Democratic majority opposed by a cornered and increasingly regional group of Republicans. Those Republicans are largely from Southern and rural parts of the country that will never vote for a Democrat under any circumstances, save some kind of unknowable future event. They represent the right wing of the Right Wing, watch and love Fox News, listen to Rush Limbaugh, and quite often are not shy about spewing their hatred for non-white people. These people hate feminists, gays, African-Americans, Latinos and Asians of all stripes, and generally put church ahead of state. Their church, that is.
We all know this. Presumably the president and his people know this. The idea appears in blogs, articles, tweets, and books. It's occasionally on television. This brings me to one of two important points.
- Why do we even listen to the Republicans any more? Or rather, why don't Dems openly and unmistakably lash out against Republicans whenever they come up? Call them what they are, obstructionist, regressive dinosaurs of the political wilderness. Call Fox News the great propaganda machine of the lunatic fringe. Say it from the Oval Office and say it from the floor of Congress. What could possibly happen?
What I'm talking about is the polar opposite of what the mealy-mouthed majority and the White House are doing in trying to govern from the center. The joke is on them, however, because the center only exists in their own party. Democrats, thanks to effective election strategies have built a party of liberals, centrists, and conservatives in every corner of the nation. The Republicans, with very few exceptions, are ultra-conservative and/or wingnut. The range goes from John McCain on the ultra-conservative end to Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin on the wingnut edge.
If we're interested in governing, and doing it as Democrats, it's time to step on the necks of the remaining Republicans in the government. Don't include them, end them. When I say that, I'm also acknowledging that true moderates and moderate conservatives will thank you in the long run. They can't fight from within the party at this point, because the primaries have been surrendered to the birthers, Birchers, Deathers, and anti-abortion friend of political terror. If we step on their necks, those moderates who once actually worked on compromise and bi-partisan legislation would have a place at the table again. This is important because....
- We have too many un-Democrats in the Democratic Caucus. People like Ben Nelson don't belong in the Democratic Party. People like Max Baucus. You know the names. They are Republicans in the sense of Republican politics that used to frame the national debate. The problem now is that we've become so enamored and preoccupied with the politics of re-electing Democrats to keep our large majority that we've lost sight of the fact that we're compromising the roots of our own political heritage. When people like Ralph Nader complain that there's little substantial difference between the parties, he's right. The parties are political clubs rather than representative advocacy groups for a particular political vision.
It's true that having a majority is a good way to effectively pass some types of legislation, but honestly we have to ask ourselves why a group of Democrats with a super-majority are unlikely to break a healthcare filibuster. The reason is, we're still governing the same way we always have. The names and party affiliations are different, but the re-election concerns are the same. People in office are paralyzed to vote with their party, the party that supported them with moneys collected from all corners of the ideological spectrum, because all politics are local. If a Republican were elected in a particular district, rather than a Blue Dog Democrat would we not be having the same debate?
Our problem is that our money and labor are going to building a party that won't follow us. If those Blue Dogs won't follow the will of the majority of the party and side with the Republicans, why would we want them re-elected in the first place? I don't get it. Step on their necks. I would rather have a smaller majority with a more unified voice and pass great legislation by narrower margins than try to placate a bunch of people who aren't interested in our traditional Democratic values.
Nader is right. There is no difference between the parties even though their must be for effective governance. Let the debate reflect the real polarization of the nation instead of trying to play cumbaya and watering down everything we do to satisfy conservatives. Let the fight happen in all its contentious glory. Bi-partisanship is fine, but we're playing bi-partisanship inside our own party.
The way this really needs to go down, the House sticks to its guns on a public option and passes it. The Senate comes out with a similar plan against the objections of the Blue Dogs. The Republicans filibuster and we force a vote on cloture. If Dems defect to support the filibuster, we see the wolves in sheeps' clothing and target them mercilessly. Let's lay out the cards on the table and have this thing out.
If Dems in our caucus want to stand with the birthers, Birchers, Deathers, and racists in opposing a Democratic plan with a healthy public option, we club them with it. We also know where things stand. The Republicans and their friends win every time the collegial atmosphere of the Senate protects one of its own, and a filibuster is quietly sidestepped by compromise. We give up our power as a caucus everytime that happens and they know it. Why do you think the Republicans keep using the filibuster. They know that our people are too weak and wishy-washy to fight the fight and step on their necks.
So, Mr. President, Majority Leader Reid, take off your Buster Brown shorts, get the lollipops out of your mouths, strap on some brass knuckles and combat boots and fight the way we want you to fight. We are the boots on the ground and voices on the phone that put you where you are. Step on their necks.