Why I don’t trust “centrist” Democrats
Look, it's pretty simple. The bagman of the day thinks that women are simply mobile uterus warmers who don't have the rights that humans (you know, the ones with white penises) have, believes in the divine right of kings (as long as they are members of the Evil Party), oh, and has repeatedly lied to congress, the press, and basically everyone outside of the dominionist circles that are trying to get him onto the supreme court. And what do the centrists say? "Oh, no use fighting him, we need to save our energy for something more important."
And in this case, more important is, apparently, not opposing the appointment of this bagman so that more Democrats can be elected, and as soon as the Democrats control both houses of congress and the white house, then everything will be different™. Of course, if the Democrats are perceived as just rolling over on everything that the Evil Party proposes (and this is exactly why the Evil Party keeps trying to single out stupid Democrats to go along with their malign plans), then they aren't going to be considered a good alternative to the Evil Party, and people who would otherwise vote for them will just stay home and hope that the police state won't sweep them up and toss them into the deathcamps.
If the plan is to elect progressive Democrats, be progressive. Part of being progressive is to stand up, take the goddamn doormat off your back, and tell the Evil Party to stuff their unqualified appointees and stupid laws.
Comments
Cool post! Thanks.
The comment above made me think of a bumper sticker I love. “Under Republicans, man exploits man. Under Democrats, it’s exactly the opposite.”
I don’t know if it’s as simple as that, because I’d like to believe that there are some American politicians who aren’t totally corrupt. I think it’s more a class thing; that being in Washington leads people to believe that since they’re in the capitol, They Know Better than hoi polloi out in the sticks. And because they know better, they believe their fellow government officials when they’re poo-pooing the effects of some legislation, instead of paying attention to the howls of outrage from their constituents (Hillary Rodham-Clinton and John Kerry, I’m looking at you.)
At least that’s what I think about the Democratic Party. I am unwilling to give the Evil Party the benefit of the doubt.
I agree it is a class thing, but when you look at the overwhelming majority of both Democrats and Republicans in the Congress you’ll see that they are millionaires… they are all members of the upper class. There are a few in Congress who aren’t… Paul Wellstone (before his accident), Bernie Sanders, Dennis Kucinich, etc), but these are the exception.
I believe that the Dems who run the party have no desire to fundamentally change capitalism and the inequities that it creates. At best they only desire to take some of the harder edges off of capitalism. The Republicans, in contrast, are all too happy to let the “iron law of wages” prevail.
I always hate to say the two parties are the same, since whatever differences exist do make a huge difference in real people’s lives. I was a pro-choice activist in the US, so there’s no getting around that for me. There’s no doubt that the Evil Party is worse.
Yet we all know the Democrats are not the party of the working person, that they’re not working for real change and social justice. The ones who are(Wellstone, Russ Feingold, Maxine Waters - a handful of people) are on the fringes and will never be powerful in the party.
Then there are people like Leiberman who are indistinguishable from the more moderate Evils.
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I once heard this analogy to describe the Democrats and the Republicans.
Imagine that there are two slave owners in the old South. They both own large plantations and each have hundreds of slaves. One slave owner believes in treating his slaves with some kindness, he avoids the whip if at all possible, he gives his slaves some small rewards for their hard work and loyalty, his slave quarters are the nicest shacks around, he sometimes shares the scraps from his table with his slaves. The second slave owner is ruthless, he whips his slaves at the smallest provocation, he rules over them with an iron fist, he feeds and clothes them in the barest minimum way. Both slave owners are prosperous and content with being a slave owner. And while they may disagree over how to treat slaves they are good friends.
The first slave owner represents the Democrats, the second the Republicans.