The DLC Doesn't Get It
Right now, the 'reformist' shouts emanating from the centrist Democratic Leadership Council's get-together in Columbus, Ohio, range from the call for a larger armed forces, the absolute need the Democrats display more military muscularity, kicking the butts of terrorists and that Hillary Clinton is the energizer bunny of the Democratic Party.
Let's work backwards.
Hillary is the energizer bunny for the REPUBLICAN PARTY. Sure, I'm being a bit facetious here but she is bogeywoman numero uno for the Republican base and certainly no beatific figure for the disaffected Democrats and independents who have voted for the GOP of late. I keep asking this question: what state can Hillary Clinton win that John Kerry couldn't? Ohio? I want some of what you've been ingesting. Florida? Possibly, but doubtful. Forget any state in the Midwest, the Mountain West and the Southwest. Forget winning.
And yes, the Democrats are for massaging the butts of terrorists. I knew it all along. The DLC has traitorously borrowed this abomination from the Republicans. Name one prominent Democrat whose expressed pledge is to kowtow to terrorists? I'm waiting. I'm still waiting. John Edwards demeaning campaign pledge to exterminate the terrorists was painful to watch and utterly unconvincing to the electorate. People can smell pandering when it is being purveyed.
Ah yes, the display and use of military muscle was the hallmark of the Bill Clinton administration, the last DLC golden boy. I have fond memories of such. So do many in Rwanda.
Anyone can issue a clarion call for more enlistments in the armed forces. There are two problems with that. One, It's not that we need a bigger military, it's that the forces need to be deployed wisely and honorably, with clearcut entrance and exit strategies PRIOR TO DEPLOYMENT. Two, the numbers of those joining up are going to continue going south, as they have been, until there is resolution in Iraq. Until then, a call for more to join up is an empty, disingenuous one exploiting the sacrifices of our lower economic class citizens while the rest of us go on uninterrupted with our merry status quo lives.
And in Ohio of all places, a state currently experiencing Coin-gate and multiple GOP ethical lapses, no word emerged from the DLC convention about the need for honorable and principled political decision-making. Such is a missed opportunity.
Plus, NAFTA and globalization have played havoc with Ohio's industrial workers. The DLC has been a prominent booster of the latest boondoggle, CAFTA, Just what ray of hope did the DLC offer Ohio's unemployed? Again, I'm waiting.
No, the Democrats need to display the ideas, the integrity and the independence that highlight the differences between themselves and the GOP.
But how can that be accomplished when the Demos and Republicans have basically divided up feasance to the corporate pimps that have purchased American politics?
You want someone who will solve most of these problems for the Democrats?
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is a political newcomer but he is the person most responsible for turning Montana, a Republican majority state, blue. He didn't sit idly by when the GOP tried to "swiftboat' him in the last campaign--he fought back and kicked butt. He accepted NO political action committee campaign funding. He is smart AND tough. He's a rancher who has worked in Saudi Arabia. The NRA loves him. He 'frames' better than George Lakoff. In his gubernatorial victory, he demonstrated crossover and independent voter appeal.
Now is not the time for timidity. It is the time for someone who knows what he believes in and can express it. It is time for Democrats to coalesce around a figure who can not only activate the party base but open the doors to so many who are looking for someone to believe in. It is time to re-honor social and economic fairness.
It is time for Brian Schweitzer.
Let's work backwards.
Hillary is the energizer bunny for the REPUBLICAN PARTY. Sure, I'm being a bit facetious here but she is bogeywoman numero uno for the Republican base and certainly no beatific figure for the disaffected Democrats and independents who have voted for the GOP of late. I keep asking this question: what state can Hillary Clinton win that John Kerry couldn't? Ohio? I want some of what you've been ingesting. Florida? Possibly, but doubtful. Forget any state in the Midwest, the Mountain West and the Southwest. Forget winning.
And yes, the Democrats are for massaging the butts of terrorists. I knew it all along. The DLC has traitorously borrowed this abomination from the Republicans. Name one prominent Democrat whose expressed pledge is to kowtow to terrorists? I'm waiting. I'm still waiting. John Edwards demeaning campaign pledge to exterminate the terrorists was painful to watch and utterly unconvincing to the electorate. People can smell pandering when it is being purveyed.
Ah yes, the display and use of military muscle was the hallmark of the Bill Clinton administration, the last DLC golden boy. I have fond memories of such. So do many in Rwanda.
Anyone can issue a clarion call for more enlistments in the armed forces. There are two problems with that. One, It's not that we need a bigger military, it's that the forces need to be deployed wisely and honorably, with clearcut entrance and exit strategies PRIOR TO DEPLOYMENT. Two, the numbers of those joining up are going to continue going south, as they have been, until there is resolution in Iraq. Until then, a call for more to join up is an empty, disingenuous one exploiting the sacrifices of our lower economic class citizens while the rest of us go on uninterrupted with our merry status quo lives.
And in Ohio of all places, a state currently experiencing Coin-gate and multiple GOP ethical lapses, no word emerged from the DLC convention about the need for honorable and principled political decision-making. Such is a missed opportunity.
Plus, NAFTA and globalization have played havoc with Ohio's industrial workers. The DLC has been a prominent booster of the latest boondoggle, CAFTA, Just what ray of hope did the DLC offer Ohio's unemployed? Again, I'm waiting.
No, the Democrats need to display the ideas, the integrity and the independence that highlight the differences between themselves and the GOP.
But how can that be accomplished when the Demos and Republicans have basically divided up feasance to the corporate pimps that have purchased American politics?
You want someone who will solve most of these problems for the Democrats?
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is a political newcomer but he is the person most responsible for turning Montana, a Republican majority state, blue. He didn't sit idly by when the GOP tried to "swiftboat' him in the last campaign--he fought back and kicked butt. He accepted NO political action committee campaign funding. He is smart AND tough. He's a rancher who has worked in Saudi Arabia. The NRA loves him. He 'frames' better than George Lakoff. In his gubernatorial victory, he demonstrated crossover and independent voter appeal.
Now is not the time for timidity. It is the time for someone who knows what he believes in and can express it. It is time for Democrats to coalesce around a figure who can not only activate the party base but open the doors to so many who are looking for someone to believe in. It is time to re-honor social and economic fairness.
It is time for Brian Schweitzer.
posted by Kevin McCarthy at 5:20 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment