This is the reward for 25 years of capitulation

[PlanetBev]

I've always felt that the Democrats never completely recovered from the 1980 Reagan landslide. Besides Reagan getting in, the Democrats lost a lot of great senators; ones like Bayh and McGovern. They did put up some good fights, like the fight against Robert Bork going to the Supreme Court, but they let assholes like Scalia and Thomas in. I feel that the Dems were in control so long, they forgot how to fight. The Republicans have been heartened again and again, knowing how easy it is to intimidate Democrats. They know we are different from them, we are decent and reasonable and they laugh at us for it. Now these piranahas are eyeing some of our most loyal voters.
I can only hope that the Democratic leadership will finally wake up and realize that they dug this hole that we're all in.

Appeasement and accomodation is a dead-end road.

[Obviousman]

1. I agree

Their next tactic will be to court minority voters. Democrats have been pathetic when it comes to minority issues and take these loyalist of voters for granted. The day we lose the african american vote is the day we cease to be a party.

[gordianot]

2. Yep

If Neville Chamberlain were alive today he could tell how well appeasement works.

[saracat]

3. Amen. Thank God, a sensible post.

I keep being told I am an idiot for thinking appeasement doesn't work!

[southpaw]

4. It's time for the Dems to fight!

Dean may yet be just what the party needs

[Selatius]

5. The Democrats in Congress were simply asleep

(Begin cynical rant)

In the 1970s ultra-conservatives established the network of rightwing think tanks and foundations and institutes that pretty much helped them to get to where they are today 30 years on. They developed a holistic strategy that encompassed not only economic issues but also moral issues and have even extended their campaign onto college campuses across America to indoctrinate a new generation of conservatives.

It's basically a government outside a government and has been labeled by some as the "apparat" or the "labyrinth" because it's so multi-layered and complicated, not to mention enormously well-funded by corporate interests.

The Democrats simply didn't have anything like this, and they failed or never really bothered to construct an opposing system comparable to the Republican apparat to keep them in check. Coupled with Ronald Reagan's charisma and the apparat's machinations as well as a pliant, uncritical corporate news media, the Republicans simply slammed the Democratic leadership almost into the ground and have all but taken control of all three branches of government.

Why did this happen? Well, there are several reasons. Perhaps the biggest two, at least in my mind, are corporate contributions muddling the Democratic message and careerism overtaking the leadership. Then you have the corporate media kow-towing to corporate interests and whitewashing the progressive message until its unintelligible.

Politicians in general have a nasty habit of paying back their biggest financial contributors. In the last 30 years, big business and big pharma have consistently been the biggest, not labor unions and certainly not various citizens groups such as environmentalists. You think the Sierra Club has the financial resources of ExxonMobil?

Careerists are simply in it for the paycheck essentially. They won't rock the boat when it's time to rock. They're cowards who simply won't fight unless it's their own seat they're fighting for. In any other case, they'll tow the line or try not to make waves. When people like Boxer and Kucinich are considered fringe, you have a serious problem.

The Democratic Party is a shell of its former self. I'm so disgusted with the backroom dealing that goes on and the whores who live on corporate cash. Gone are the days of JFK and FDR. That party is dead. That party has been murdered. It's corpse lies in front of you rotting as the vultures pick it clean. Someone was asleep at the wheel in the 1970s when the Republicans started moving, and now there's a bitter price to pay for that mistake. Time to pay for past mistakes. Payment will be in blood.

The only question is if the price is too high for you.

(End rant)

[Disturbed]

6. Bill Clinton's move to the right.

Isn't that relevant to this discussion.

[Selatius]

7. I mentioned Bill Clinton where?