While there are substantial, important differences between Republicans and Democrats, critical political debates are at least as often driven not by the GOP/Democrat dichotomy, but by the split between the Beltway political establishment and the rest of the country. As the above-chronicled events demonstrate, all of these assaults on our core civil liberties and the rule of law are not Republican attacks with Democrats fighting against them. They are attacks launched by the political establishment against the citizenry, and they ought to be responded to as such.
He's talkin sense, Merle.
But what it is this "accountability" of which you speak?
LUKASIAK PROPHYLACTIC I won't say get over it, Paul, because if you want to apply some analytical power to what Greenwald is saying, I'd be happy to read it, whether you agree or not. Personally, I'm glad to see an A lister saying we're dealing with one systemic problem here, and not "Rs bad, Ds good." Not everyone could have the genius and foresight to call the right shots on Obama that, er, some of us had [lambert blushes modestly, as may Paul]. Now, I think that any strategy that doesn't include Obama as part of the problem is doomed to fail, but that's a separate issue.
UPDATE I just added the "Strange Bedfellows" badge to the sidebar. If anyone has a thumbs -up or -down reaction, please comment...
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very related analysis --
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harold-l-w... -- "...whether the Democrats can cut through five misleading myths prominent among media pundits: (1) the myth of "the middle class;" (2) the myth of "the independent voter;" (3 the myth of "the suburban voter;" (4) the myth of "moderation," a rightward shift of American public opinion in the affluent, high-tech society; and (5) the myth that American voters want "bipartisanship." All of these myths blind Democrats to the main lessons of recent elections. ..."
All of Which
have been adopted by the Democratic standard bearer in this election and that's not by coincidence, it's by design. Not just Obama's design, but the party's design.
adopted by almost all candidates they pick--
and Senate and House candidates too-- it's absolutely wrong, but it's because the DC Dems, and Media, and Consultants, etc, only listen to each other---and they all mutually reinforce all those lies and myths--even when we the voters are screaming otherwise.
There are not two sacks of pus...
... one bigger than the other.
There is one sack of pus.
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
You may find
yourself living in a shotgun shack (given the subprime crisis). You may find yourself (or your job, at least) in another part of the world. You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile (if you can afford $5/gal to fill the tank).
You may ask yourself, "Well ... How did I get here?"
There is no metaphorical sac of pus that can be lanced to relieve the infection, pain and the pressure. There's just the ruling class - the GOP, the media, the lobbyists, the CEOs ... and the Democrats.
Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.
Same as it ever was.
What Glenn Says
From the link in the post:
Conveying to Democrats that you will support all of them no matter what they do, no matter how egregiously they trample on your values, only ensures that they will ignore your political priorities and values even more. Working to expand the margin of control Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emmanuel and Harry Reid already enjoy -- further entrenching them in power -- only ensures that they will be less responsive and accountable. Only by attaching a serious price to their enabling of these extremist, destructive policies will their behavior change. If they are rewarded with greater control and greater comfort for doing what they've been doing, then it's just guaranteed that they'll continue to do the same thing. Only if they suffer losses and have their power threatened from this behavior will the behavior change.
That's why we need to keep criticizing them and withholding donations and writing about them and TO them and complaining about their behavior.
Greenwald=Ineffective whining....
Greenwald talks a good game, but when push comes to shove, he's just another villager... from the same post...
But it's also true that actions which result in handing Republicans control over any branches of the Government -- including supporting third-party candidates or abstaining from the process altogether -- makes matters worse still. Nobody who finds the above-documented events objectionable can rationally embrace a course of action that directly or indirectly empowers those who are the prime forces behind these events: namely, the mainstream GOP in its current incarnation.
In other words, Greenwald talks a good game when it comes to accountability, but his 'solution' is merely to maintain the status quo, while nibbling at the edges. (Here's a clue -- he's 'in bed' with "Color of Change", one of the most insane pro-Obama sites around.)
There is a reason why the 'Overton window' is constantly shifting rightward.... its because the GOP is scared to death that its base will desert the party unless it panders to that base.
You don't see McCain saying "where else are they gonna go" in reference to the GOP base, because that base is willing to go elsewhere or stay home. Obama, and the Dem leadership, take us for granted, because the Glenn Greenwalds of the world will always insist that the GOP is "2% more evil than the Democratic alternative."
(Here's a clue -- you don't see Greenwald talking about sending money to Cindy Sheehan and her challenge of Pelosi's seat.... or sending money to Dr. Steve Porter, who was the losing Democratic nominee in PA's 3rd District in 2006, but chose to run as an independent this year specifically because of the betrayal of Congressional Democrats once they got the majority.)
So (and despite Lambert's best efforts to prevent me from going off on Greenwald again) the simple fact is that Greenwald is full of shit --- he's part of the Village even if he does reside in one of its less tony enclaves, and his ego is now so out of control that he's decided that he is gonna be the person who tells us who the 'bad Democrats' are....
Paul!!
I don't mind you going off on anything -- just evidence and reasoning (or snark) please! (And invective has to be creative, otherwise it doesn't propagate and isn't fun to read and doesn't help the blog.)
Good data on Steve Porter, for example!
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Where are the options?
You're bang on, Lambert. So who do you vote for? I desparately hope for change,but its one brand of pus-sack against the other. Once we realise that the war on terror is a war on the poor,and the whole election thing is a poorly orchestrated joke/distraction,where is democracy really? What about those strange bedfellows-maybe the Paulites, they seem a little upset about the state of current affairs-if there was enough Paulites and PUMAs and other disenfranchised voters there could be a mega-coalition to unravel this whole farce and restore power to the people-either that or we just get Mcbama for another four.Divided we're falling....
What Hecate Said
via Avedon, Hecate asks
Hecate focuses on Bush, but it was really a Village victory in 2000 and has only emboldened the worst instincts in that entire class, including the worst parts of the Democratic Party. Granted a Gore victory would've propelled Donna Brazile to greater heights, but we're getting that anyway. And it would be a small price to pay to have him leading the party and the country and the world. We got a lot stolen from us in that election and by "we" I mean the American people, not the Democratic Party.
I'm sure Hecate isn't the only person asking herself this question. Forget Denver this year, it should've been Florida in 2000.
So good it has to be repeated
As the above-chronicled events demonstrate, all of these assaults on our core civil liberties and the rule of law are not Republican attacks with Democrats fighting against them. They are attacks launched by the political establishment against the citizenry, and they ought to be responded to as such.
That's Greenwald.
What Greenwald won't say but Lambert will: Cynthia McKinney.
Why the hell not, people? Vote for the PERSON, not the PARTY. Vote on the RECORD, not the RHETORIC.
We can admit that we're killers ... but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes! Knowing that we're not going to kill today! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! Knowing that we’re not going to kill today! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
1 John 4:18
Again
It's not Democrats vs. Republicans, or conservatives vs. liberals any more. It's the Beltway vs. the rest of America. We reached this point because our leaders on both sides of the aisle have reached the conclusion that average Americans don't have the stomach to fight the war for global domination they feel is necessary in order to maintain the American standard of living.
Why? Why? Why Didn’t I Riot In The Streets in 2000? Why?
Because it was 20 years too late. Progressives should have taken to the streets in droves when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. Instead, we trusted the Democratic Party to take care of business for us; you can see where that led us to.
But what it is this “accountability” of which you speak?
Well, the Founders laid their lives on the line in order to secure our Constitutional protections. Can we expect to restore those rights with any less commitment?
...for the rest of us
...for the rest of us
I'm not sure how we differ from the Dem committees
who spend their time blustering about Bush's abuses, draft supenas and write sternly written letters when they are ignored. No reason what so ever for anyone to comply with the requests since there are never any consequences for ignoring them.
There is no reason for the Democratic party to listen to our blustering as long as we are willing to vote for them no matter what actions they take. They can and will do whatever they want no matter regardless of our protests as long as there are no consequences.