Recently, I noted this:
This morning, I discover at Hullaballoo that:
The goal, however, has to be to change the composition of the Democratic Party. There is no alternative that has a better chance of success. The only other choice is to give up. Why do that?And thence onward Donkle soldiers to a post entitled (I wouldn't kid!):
We need better Democrats. There are too many right now who are totally worthless.
More and Better DemocratsEmphasis not ours.
I love the smell of sunk costs in the morning. It smells like victory.
Lazy writing has at least this much to commend it: it reveals lazy thinking. So consider:
The goal . . . has to be to change the composition of the Democratic party.That's the goal, you see.
There is no alternative that has a better chance of success.Success at what? Why, success at achieving the goal! Which is changing the composition of the Democratic Party. And so we discover ourselves at the center of a tawdry little tautology, whereby the only means of changing the composition of the Democratic Party are to change the composition of the Democratic Party.
Of course, that's not what she means by success. What she means by success is something like, "Roll back expansions executive power; roll back the power of the Executive to wage wars; mitigate damage to civil liberties caused by expanded surveillance; establish rule of law; withdraw as quickly as possible from Iraq."
These are admirable goals, but her category confusion speaks poorly of her committment. The admirable, external goals are subsumed by the goal of electing more Democrats. After all, that's the ongoing endeavor. After all, they've already given so much time, money, and effort. After all they've sunk into it . . . Why, to do otherwise would be to "give up."
How child-like. How naive. Consider instead the sentence: "To do otherwise would be to cut our losses and preserve what capital remains."
Don't tinker with the menu. Don't hire a new chef. Don't mess with the advertising campaign. CLOSE THE RESTAURANT. Sell off the stock. Auction off the hardware. Put the building on the market. Liquidate, and move on.
11 comments:
Oh you're just being a negative nellie! Boo! Hiss!
Congress is the goddamn WWF. Cap'n Lou Albano smashing chairs on Hulkster's teeth while the Hart Foundation distracts the Referee. Colmes tries desperately to warn the poor innocent combatants, and Sean Hannity (only in his prissier, frat-brother-that-everyone-hated voice) barks, "that's just the name of the game, McMahon!"
i'm sick of this metaphor.
let's just go get some fucking popcorn and enjoy the show. maybe if we're lucky someone will fall out of the rafters and break their neck.
We have to elect better Democrats...
To pursue better policies...
To elect more Democrats...
To pursue better policies...
To work more...
To buy more coke...
One of the things that struck me about the last election was there was a certain them in the left-o-sphere. Someone would do a diary about say Salazar. Go one for three paragraphs about what a vile loser he was. Then they would close with "but VOTE him this one last time and we'll deal with him in 6 years".
I hope they can keep the progressive movement going strong till 2020 when they get their next shot at some of these people.
now that there's a visual.
It never really occurred to me when I listened to the song and saw the movie that the people that Arlo was sitting on the bench with, playing with pencils and filling out the forms, were the policy makers of the Democratic party...the deranged, crazed, criminal and bizarre.
Here's a thought. The progressives ought to take over the Republican Party. Seriously -- let the party of Lincoln and TR lead the charge to bust trusts, establish justice and promote the general welfare. I would twitch uncontrollably at entering a mark in the Republican column, but since they can win elections and the Dems are confused on that score, why not? Take over the party and subvert it...
I've got this visual of Hillary in a Cruella De Ville outfit with cleavage to the waist, and Barack Obama in a Organ Grinder's Monkey Suit going up against Rudi Guiliani doing his best De Niro impersonation (which sucks, but so does Rudy) with Kay Bailey Hutchinson as his VP, with the big Texas Hair, a fringed University of Texas Yeehow shirt, worn open over a bustier and some bitchin' roach-killer cowboy boots. That's a visual...guess who wins?
A clue. Not us.
Digby's great contributions have been to sew together obscure event in recent history to tell a story that nobody else is telling.
She's never been very good at figuring out what to do about it.
CLOSE THE RESTAURANT.
It's not ours to close.
What story, pray tell, is that? Because as far as I can tell, her epiphanic heights are the sorts of revelations most of us found over Early Hitchens and Middle Chomsky and swag weed in the freshman dorm.
It's not ours to close.
Then find somewhere else to eat. Or just stay home.
Gevalt.
Digby's doing the best she can with what she's got to work with. Frankly, there's enough bloggers like IOZ who take the "abandon all hope" tack, why does everyone have to get on board with it? Unless someone's just a little envious over hit counts, it just seems pointless to keep sniping at her.
I am seeing some small progressive successes with local politics in places like Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Muskegon, Michigan. A group of liberal-to-moderate church congregations, homeless shelters and community NPOs called the Michigan Organizing Project are networking "to assist in the development of strong, congregation-based, grassroots community organizations committed to democratic principles and values of justice and fairness". They've been careful to define themselves as "non-partisan" while leaning left.
One key element seems to be choosing three (3) specific legislative changes every six months or so to avoid the scattershot laundry list of issues I see at most demonstrations. These are little things like chaging local dental care rules for the poor, changing new development projects to include 1/3 low income housing, etc. They then pester hell out of our local politicos (Republicans have a tendency not to show up, sensing an unsympathetic audience) and every three months or so, the congregations get the warm bodies in the seats for a public declaration of intent ("will you vote yes or no?") from our representatives. This end run is making progressive changes while ignoring the Democratic party, still trying to get its thumb out of its ass for the past 20 years. Michigan Republicans are too busy honking "no taxes! taxes no!" (in a state with an infrastructure already on life support) to pay any attention. If the next national election is stolen, or if it makes no difference who's in charge at the top (though I think ordinary people have it a tiny bit better under the Democrats) this kind of grassroots attention to details might be a successful adaptation to an unfriendly environment.
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