On Liberals And Democrats....... [View All]

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And what of the Democrats? you might well ask. There are two things to be said about them in this context. First, they've forgotten, for the most part, how to play political hardball. With apologies to James Carville, the last truly effective political infighter in Democratic politics was Bobby Kennedy -- the "bad" Bobby of pre-1963, who orchestrated his brother's ascension to the White House and then guarded his back like a pit bull on steroids. Until modern times, the Democrats always had someone like that; FDR, for all his charm, needed a Jim Farley working the back rooms, making the deals, and rabbitpunching the opposition when the ref wasn't looking. Somewhere along the line, Democrats simply lost their taste for the jugular.

The second unvarnished truth about the Democrats is that, being liberals for the most part, they are not naturally nasty and confrontational; they have to work at it. Most liberals are idealists at heart, and hitting below the belt violates their sense of themselves. Deep down, they tend to view human nature in optimistic, uplifting terms; like Jefferson, they trust in earthly progress and the goodness of man. Conservative Republicans, on the other hand, have a mostly negative -- they would say realistic -- view of human nature; they believe the worst of people, suspect their motives, and act accordingly. This mindset gives them an immense shortrun advantage when things get down and dirty.

Don't misunderstand. This is not a brief calling upon the Democratic left to adopt wholesale the thought processes and tactics of its opposition. It's possible to counter neofascist politics -- the sort of politics that took down Max Cleland in Georgia last fall -- without descending into the depths. It's a matter of knowing where to draw the line on decency, something the Republicans, increasingly dependent on a hardcore antidemocratic cadre of bullies, fanatics, and extremists, no longer grasp. In the end, that could well be their fatal Achilles heel.

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Link: http://www.populist.com/03.18.oleary.html

I agree that it's difficult for, many of us lefties to jump in the sewer with our rePuke foes, but I also agree that we must sharpen our responses to their ignorant, misleading, and biggoted positions!


BTW - I know this article is in Editorials, just thought that these last few paragraphs needed wider distribution. Hope that's OK.

:shrug: