Arianna Nails it about Hillary .........and gives hope to us "Lefties!"

[KoKo]

Hillary’s ‘American Dream’: Stuck in the Middle With You

Remember, Hillary is the one who, before the 2004 election, cited the president as someone “we owe a debt of gratitude” to for capturing Saddam. Which is playing right into the GOP’s hands. The Democrats will never return to power so long as they allow Republicans to present themselves as the party best suited to keep us safe from terror, instead of exposing all the ways in which they have actually left us much more vulnerable and unsafe than before.

The good news is that the DLC’s disingenuous call for unity was a bust… except in the way it united the progressive blogosphere. Because if there's one thing that can bring progressive bloggers together, it's another clueless call by the DLC for capitulation "unity."

Long gone are the days when the DLC was the only game in town. Now the pushback was instant, with bloggers tearing into the DLC, each sounding different notes but together creating a clear chorus of dissent.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/arianna-huffington/hillaryas-aamerican-d_4738.html

[eleny]

1. She must read DU!

:headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

[IndianaGreen]

2. Recommended for Greatest Page

Enough of DLC Vichy appeasement!

[senseandsensibility]

3. Arianna sure has changed from

when she used to follow her repug husband, Michael Huffington, around like a stepford wife. I admire people who can change, and admit they were wrong. She seems to be sincere in her beliefs, and improving more and more as time goes on.

[ironman202]

7. thats the kernel to this

Ideas and concepts are the means by which we hold knowledge—but the knowledge expressed in terms of ideas must always refer back to specifics in reality. If the ideas don’t ultimately refer back to reality in this manner, they are literally meaningless. They refer to nothing. Everything that exists is something particular. Ideas as such don’t exist at all, except as symbols and summations of the particulars in a certain category to which they refer.
But conservatives lionize a President who speaks of “freedom,” as he enacts a program which threatens civil liberties here at home on the most fundamental level, and who speaks of “progress” in Iraq as that country descends further into bloody chaos with each day that passes. Bush is a man for whom concepts mean precisely nothing. The phrases he employs to justify his actions are devoid of content, and they refer to no specifics at all. And almost all his actions lead to results in reality which contradict the “ideas” he says he supports in utterly disastrous ways.
This is much deeper, and much worse, than mere hypocrisy, which is almost clean in intellectual terms by comparison. When someone is hypocritical, there is at least the hope of reaching him if we are able to make him see and acknowledge how his words are contradicted by his actions (and/or by other words). If someone alters his behavior after understanding his error, it is because he acknowledges at least to some extent the connection between words and particulars.
But if someone uses words and concepts in a manner which consistently reveals that those words mean absolutely nothing to him, it is not possible to reach him at all. There is nothing to reach—in the sense that there is no mind there capable of understanding what you are saying. On the most basic level, such people do not know how to think. When someone functions in this way—that is, when he is not capable of thinking in the most rudimentary manner—there is one method of survival that tends to overshadow all the others: membership in a group, or tribe, which he hopes will protect him.
It is this kind of tribalism that conservatives exhibit today in a very extreme form. (Many liberals are guilty of it, too, but they’re not in power now and therefore less of a danger.) We see this tribalism in Bush, who speaks of “loyalty” to his friends as one of his supreme values, and we see it in conservatives generally. This is why they defend Rove so desperately: the attacks on Rove are perceived as attacks on their tribe, and it is the tribe that must always be protected against outsiders. In this case, the law, the press, and those who criticize Rove and the Bush administration are all outsiders. Outsiders are the enemy, and they must be destroyed.

[senseandsensibility]

10. You have put into words something

that I have sensed about * since he stole it in 2000. He has no center, no core beliefs, no values and no conscience. I got criticized on another thread for saying he is stupid. I still say he is stupid. There is a gaping hole where his intellect and curiosity should be. I wish that more people understood this about him, but many of this board, even, are in denial. Perhaps it is just too frightening.

[Jacobin]

18. I would nominate your post if I could

Very perceptive.

Thanks for that.

:hi:

[Eloriel]

23. Why not start a separate thread with this post?

But more paragraphs, please. :D

[bread_and_roses]

27. I've bookmarked this thread to save your post

Very insightful and concise summation.

[montanacowboy]

4. EXCELLENT!!

right on the money - the blogs will now respond instantaneously to the DLC bullshit and give them a real wake up call

Remember, there is
nothing in the middle of the road but dead armadillos and a yellow stripe (Hightower)

[NoPasaran]

5. I'm not that much of a "lefty" but Arianna nails it

I really think that the DLC is politically kaput and they're just making a lot of noise and bother these days to conceal the fact that they have no future. Meanwhile the real show---the grassroots at the base and Howard Dean & Co at the top are moving on.

[HockeyMom]

6. I am really starting to dislike my Senator

and regret the day I voted for her. I wrote to her once. She sent me 5 emails. Does she realize that MAYBE she is in TROUBLE???? Even with the people in her own state who voted FOR HER?

[Nite Owl]

11. That would be me too

HockeyMom. I don't know if I can vote for the woman in '06 forgetabout a run in '08. I keep giving her the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe she is just trying to appease those in the middle and still basically be a liberal (if she ever was really a liberal!) but I'm not proud to have her for our Senator. She's no Barbara Boxer for sure.

[Nightjock]

13. Do you remember the other choice?

Rick Lazio.

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He was a true effed up repug.

But on that note, I agree with you. I am really starting to dislike her. Last week when Hillary said we should send more troops to Iraq I shocked my friends when I started verbally tearing her apart.

I pray she does not run for President.

[Cha]

19. I was just thinking that she beats

rick lazio but she's changed ever since that IWR vote.

I still vote for her over lazio but I hope she is not the nominee..I can't stand where this is going.

[ixion]

8. woohoo!! you go Arianna!

:woohoo: :applause: :woohoo:

[ooglymoogly]

9. once again ariana knows where the nail heads are

and yes she sure is reading DU and yes we are ready to rumble...we have been rumbling like a thunder cloud for the last 5 years...now we are ready for some lightning.

[Frederik]

12. Hillary is a Republican mole in the Democratic party

I'm sure she takes her orders directly from her new friend, Newt Gingrich.

[Rainscents]

14. DLC is going down!

Hiliary knows that, that's why she came out the other day asking DNC to unite with her(DNC).

Hiliary... Dean speak for me, NOT you!

[Booster]

15. I love Ariana and always find her articles enlightening. I really do

hope that Dean consults with her on occassion cause she's like a light at the end of the tunnel. Keep up the good work, Ariana.

[peacetalksforall]

16. This is absolutely amazing for me personally as I hold bottomless

contempt for Huffington and her operative efforts against the Clintons in the 90's. She was on tv about five times a week ranting against the Clintons. Miss Morality along with Rev. Bennett and the preachers and Fed Society members.

I was able to catch the latest talking points spilling out of her mouth first (since she was a little easier to listen to, her appearances were a little more timely for my chedule, and since she wasn't as whiney and didn't spit as much as some of the others).

[Eloriel]

24. She transformed completely a number of years ago

I used to hold her in pretty great contempt myself, but I have nothing but admiration and respect for her since she saw the Light. She's a GREAT spokesperson for liberal political thought.

[Trish1168]

17. I was a republican until the shrub was elected

And even I hate the DLC. I was a 'fiscal conservative' social liberal. I never voted for shrub, but I didn't realize how screwed up the GOP was until he was elected in 2000. Now I get it. I may be slow, but I'm not stupid. I can see how we've been screwed.

The DLC seems to me to be like a guy who would ask a girl out whose just been date raped. Its like a less intense version of the same victimization. I almost hate the DLC more than the GOP, because it seems so fake (at least the GOP seem to believe in their warped ideology).

DLC are assholes. That includes swillary (as long as she's a sell out).

[Cha]

20. That's what I was thinking today

about the dlc calling for "unity"..

"The good news is that the DLC’s disingenuous call for unity was a bust… except in the way it united the progressive blogosphere. Because if there's one thing that can bring progressive bloggers together, it's another clueless call by the DLC for capitulation "unity."

[Gloria]

21. I'm not so sure the DLC is going down, as much as I want it to....

In this interesting NJ poll, you will see that Hillary tops the list of Presidential names at 40%!

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/8234

If the average voter doesn't know about the DLC or how it differs from other Democrats and just goes for the "name" candidate...if that candidate is DLC, then DLC wins!

Right now, she has the name and is raising money. I just got a "2005 Critical National Survey" mailing from Hillary. Where would that money go? Well, the address on the back says "Friends of Hillary"....(aghhh! FOB, remember?)

The mailing is like one of the national surveys the party sends out...but it's from Hillary...

I fear the worst!!

[Eloriel]

25. Oh, please, not this again.

Unless such polls are carefully targeted at real political junkies, all you're getting is name recognition, NOT real presidential preferences.

[karynnj]

37. Also, Hilllary is the one with all the press

It is amazing that she got 40% - but I remember late 2003 polls (after Al Gore pulled out) showing Lieberman as the big favorite. So, I agree it's the idea that she can win plus name recognition.

If they are randomly surveying all Democrats, they are ignoring that the percent who vote in primaries is much less and probably more liberal. This is the highest that I've ever seen Clark. Once we get to primary season, the fact that must of the listed candidates are with Bush on Iraq may be better known. I would exect this would help Clark (I think he's for no permanent bases) and Kerry, who has consistantly laid out a plan which is consistent with the goal of getting out while stabalizing the country.

[OneTwentyoNine]

22. Hell,stay tuned...Hillary will say or do ANYTHING to get elected...

Think of the historic value of her getting elected President,the wife of a two term President. This is her one shot and she'll move mountains to kowtow to swing Repuke voters. She's said enough already,hell wait till 07.

[quiet.american]

26. Excellent post by Arianna

and seriously, even though I envy those who have a Barbara Boxer or Jan Schankowsky for their senator, I'll still take Sen. Clinton over the Norm Coleman clone Sen. Lazio any day, and I'll still take another President Clinton in the WH over, say the possibility of a:

pResident Gingrich
pResident McCain
pResident Santorum
pResident Pataki

[LibertyorDeath]

28. She's good but I prefer Melodybe's

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4200830

[faithnotgreed]

29. another kick for arianna~ and another thank you for the truth

when is she going to appear again on the bill maher show

[sagesnow]

30. Can't wait to see Arianna on the Nation Cruise

next November. Saving my pennies to go.

[cmkramer]

31. Leftists need to grow the hell up

Why does the Left insist on behaving like a bunch of twelve year old girls all the time? You know how girls that age can be so cliquish and if one decides to be friends with someone the others don't like, they're all like "Well, if you're going to hang out with her, you can't be my friend anymore"? That's what the liberals and Left remind me of.

Seriously. Let a Democrat say maybe we should do some outreach to people of faith or pro-lifers and the Chicken Littles start squawking.

[rman]

32. How many right-wing democrats do you think there are on DU?

And no, we're not all middle-of-the-road now, not by a long shot.

[Nikki Stone 1]

33. You either have principles or you don't.

It's not about cliques or junior high girls. It's about believing something strongly enough to believe it's worth fighting for.

And if Arianna reads DU, maybe she can find out what David Horowitz did at Georgia Tech

[cmkramer]

35. Baloney

First of all, no one in a leadership position among the DLC is calling for anyone to "out-Republican the Republicans". What they're telling Democrats is that they need to find a way to convince voters who might ordinarily be expected to vote Democratic but don't because of an issue or two that the Democratic Party as a whole is a better fit for them than the GOP.

For instance, if someone votes GOP because of abortion, what's wrong with showing them how Democrats are actually better on children's issues than Republicans if their take is that the pro-choice stance of Democrats shows that they don't like kids?

As for Arianna, she was an elitist dilettante snob as a conservative and she's still an elitist dilettante snob as a progressive. She's intelligent and articulate so I'm glad she's on our side now though.

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

36. ummmm, wouldn't it be easier to court the hard left, since

those voters are predisposed to vote D? And isn't the one thing we can take from 04 that you can run two might liberal people on one ticket, forsake the South, and almost take the White House? Isn't it possible that crafting messages for the stay-at-home-on-Election-Day Left itself would be enough to get the few thousand votes needed for an electoral victory? And isn't it possible that cowtowing to the middle and middle right actually is a turn off to voters who see those disingenuous efforts for what they are, and that dropping that pretense, and acting like an opposition party, will naturally attract the disaffected from the middle, too? Isn't it possible that a solid, consistent opposition and a progressive message will resonate with mainstream voters, who increasingly are becoming more sick of *? And isn't it likely that if voters are again faced with Republicans and Republican-pretenders in many House and Senate races those voters will prefer the real thing?

[cmkramer]

38. Don't think that's true

It's been my experience that Left/liberal voters are the most likely to do really stupid things like vote for a third party candidate even though they know it means that the Democrat in the race will probably end up losing. Or they're the most likely to just decide not to vote or to even vote for the Republican because "there's really no difference anyway". The moderate Democrats I've known tend to be pretty faithful to the party although they're not always happy about it. But they tend to take the view that even if they disagree with the candidate on some issues, he or she is more likely to reflect their point of view than the Republican is. Or if they actually agree more with the third party candidate, they'll only consider voting for him if it's a "harmless" vote -- that is, it won't make any difference one way or the other. But obviously YMMV.

Also, I tend to find that people who don't vote aren't necessarily not voting because the candidate isn't "liberal" enough for them. It's more because they can't find a candidate who they agree with more than maybe 50%. They may have conservative views on some things and liberal views on others. For example, one of my best college friends was very progressive on social issues, but for some reason, she was completely against government funding of social programs which she thought should be done privately. So she never voted because she said that if she voted for the Republicans they'd be better on the social programs thing but not so good on a progressive agenda. And, of course, the reverse might be true of the Democrats.

If you check it out, you'll find that the DLC actually opposes very vigorously just about everything that Bush does. And even the things they do agree with him on -- the war on "terra" being the biggest example -- they generally disagree with his handling of it. But don't tell that to liberals. They'd rather believe the propaganda from leftist sites.

[Raksha]

34. As far as I'm concerned, Hillary is the worst of all possible worlds.

She has name recognition, sure, but that's absolutely ALL she's got! She has all the negatives associated with being a "liberal," but without the reality. I've always been a liberal and proud of it, and I'm all for rehabilitating the word "liberal." But NOT for somebody who is no liberal at all! If I'm gonna have the name, then I'm by God gonna have the game too!

When the Plame story finally started getting some serious coverage, did Hillary make ANY public statements about it at all? No, she was talking about stupid VIDEO GAMES in a bid to "move to the right" or "move to the center" or some damn thing. She played right into the hands of the Bush mafia, and I can't believe she didn't know she was doing it either.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

39. You BET...

I'm going to squawk -- and fucking LOUD -- when I hear Dems talking about "reaching out" to the folks who want to take away the basic civil rights of some 50% of the American population!

My rights are NON-NEGOTIABLE, so sue me if I start to behave like a "twelve year old girl" and get a little pissy when someone starts suggesting otherwise.

I'm hear. I'm squawking. Get used to it.