Why Democrats cower: the good news.

[bleever]

The great dustup among Democrats over the wisdom and tactical sense of Russ Feingold's censure resolution illustrates, I believe, a great creative foment among us as the roiling energies to engage and politically defeat the Republican junta's grasp on all branches of government try to find the best possible outlet.

Feingold, defending his censure plan today on Fox News, said: “I’m amazed at Democrats, cowering with this president’s numbers so low. The administration just has to raise the specter of the war and the Democrats run and hide…too many Democrats are going to do the same thing they did in 2000 and 2004. In the face of this, they’ll say we’d better just focus on domestic issues… cower to the argument, that whatever you do, if you question administration, you’re helping the terrorists.”

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Democrats_slash_Feingold_...

Yet as we all know, the opposing instinct is to caution that now is the time to be cagey, to harbor our every advantage until the time is right to strike, and not to prematurely assert ourselves for fear of misfiring.

This is the reaction that Feingold might characterize (broadly) as cowering, and I think he describes the syndrome very well. I also think the reason that Democratic congresspeople and senators are of this opinion that we have to conserve our energy, and not provoke the Republican junta's media machine, is very simple...


They really have no idea:

How angry we are, and how ready to do something about it.

How rotted and worm-eaten is the lofty scaffolding on which this administration is perched.

How we in the progressive blogosphere and our "extreme" positions are really more an expression of the mainstream than they realize. Certainly more than the corporate media might convey.


The good news is:

We just have to tell them. Of course, we've been exerting ourselves and informing and inspiring each other into action, creating cascades of phone calls, emails, and faxes to elected representatives and media outlets, and making the will of the people actually heard for many months now, and it's had many effects.

The fact is that those of us engaged here are far out ahead of anyone else when it comes to knowing the temperature of the electoral seas. Ahead of traditional media like newspapers, newsweeklies, and cable news, and also ahead of our leaders.

So it seems to me that at this moment in time, the progressive blogosphere is a unique and tremendously powerful resource. We have the power to let the leadership know that there is no wrong or premature time to push back, because our energy is not a limited resource to be stingy with, or worry about running out of. People want them to push back and fight at every opportunity, without getting sucked in to whether or not Karl Rove will make a PR win out of it. We're past that, and they need to know it. It's time to push, and fight and win, and we can let them know it.


In fact, we might be the only ones who can.

[gordianot]

1. Tell me why do Democrats never seem to plan or coordinate anything?

Our Democratic leaders may be cautious but it makes us appear weak.


The GOP is breaking the law, who is going to hold them accountable?

[rwenos]

3. Will Rogers Said It Best

"I belong to no organized political party. I am a Democrat."

On the other hand, isn't our party more INTERESTING than the command-and-control, faceless, white-guy-in-a-blue-suit Republican Party? (I'm a white guy who wears blue suits, but I don't let it CONTROL me, know what I mean?)

[bleever]

8. And we shouldn't be afraid to be interesting,

or afraid of disagreeing, or afraid of all the things that the Republican noise machine might tease us about.

That's so yesterday, and so are they.

[alittlelark]

12. It IS a more interesting and diverse party! Get a star!

We can chat about it when you do!

[Mythsaje]

14. That's a beautiful quote!

:rofl:

And so fitting.

[bleever]

4. Democrats need to act on the knowledge of the difference between

caution and fear.

Always be careful, but never be afraid.


And it's our job to hold them accountable. That's what Feingold is standing up for, and why I support him.

[gordianot]

7. I agree Finegold is definitely my choice on the basis of several actions.

My fear is he has already put himself in the cross hairs for a smear job by hacks and media. If he catches on he needs to stay out of small aircraft.

[alittlelark]

10. Get a star and I will discuss the issue with you.

W/O a star..... uhhhh....

[jaxx]

2. I think you're right that they have no idea how pissed we are,

and what we would like them to do about it. Looking partisan has gotten us nowhere. It's time to get off the pot about the mess this adm has created.

[RagingInMiami]

5. If they don't know how pissed off we are

Then they need to get their heads out of their asses. Or at least out of Bush's ass.

[hlthe2b]

6. K&R... I hope you are right...

Grass roots efforts were required to build up the head of steam that ultimately resulted in Nixon's threatened impeachment and subsequent resignation.


At any rate, I really, really needed to read some positive take on the whole debacle So, kick and recommended...

[bleever]

9. Remember that the grass roots efforts that brought down Nixon

blossomed in a very short period of time, after building up out of mainstream sight over a long period of time.

:thumbsup:

[Patsy Stone]

11. Proud to be #5

Amen. This is a vital and integral part of democracy. Happy to share it with all of you. We are the ones who can encourage and educate, make things happen and keep watch while some sleep.

Thanks! :yourock:

[ClassWarrior]

13. You beat me to it Sweetie...

The screwy kid's pretty good, isn't he?

To my kid brother bleev... :patriot:

NNNGU.

[Patsy Stone]

15. Yeah

Let's keep him around for a while. :hi:

NGU

[autorank]

16. Feingold fights alone: NO "bench clearing brawl," just one man standing.

"It's time to push, and fight and win, and we can let them know it.
In fact, we might be the only ones who can."

Feingold stood tall, he told the truth, he laid the foundation.

While he took on the entirety of the other team, his team mates sat it
out on the bench.

In baseball, you know what happens to a player or players who sit out a
"bench clearing brawl?" They get booed and traded.

The excuse of the war for not supporting Feingold is no better than the
excuse of the Democrats for not filibustering Alito...THERE IS NO EXCUSE!

It really doesn't matter why many on our team "sat this one out" on the bench.
All that matters is that they did so.

It's time for a new team, new captains, new strategy, and, a new front office.

I say, put Dean in sole charge of DNC and tell him to "down size" and "re-staff"

Put Feingold in as majority leader and lets get cooking. Anyone who sits on the
bench next time gets a good scolding from the coach

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

[crispini]

17. Bleever, you need to go ahead and set up your blog.

I am looking forward to reading this post and many of your other wonderful writings there!

[bvar22]

18. The "Do-Nothing" Democrats arte NOT afraid of us.

The "Do-Nothing" Democrats arte NOT afraid of the Republicans.
The "Do-Nothing" Democrats arte NOT afraid of Bush*.

The "Do-Nothing" Dems ARE afraid of losing the Big Dollars from the Corporate backers (DLC) who tell them to leave bush* alone or lose the easy money.

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.


In recent polls by the Pew Research Group, the Opinion Research Corporation, the Wall Street Journal, and CBS News, the American majority has made clear how it feels. Look at how the majority feels about some of the issues that you'd think would be gospel to a REAL Democratic party:

1. 65 percent say the government should guarantee health insurance for everyone -- even if it means raising taxes.

2. 86 percent favor raising the minimum wage (including 79 percent of selfdescribed "social conservatives").

3. 60 percent favor repealing either all of Bush's tax cuts or at least those cuts that went to the rich.

4. 66 percent would reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

5. 77 percent believe the country should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment.

6. 87 percent think big oil corporations are gouging consumers, and 80 percent (including 76 percent of Republicans) would support a windfall profits tax on the oil giants if the revenues went for more research on alternative fuels.

7. 69 percent agree that corporate offshoring of jobs is bad for the U.S. economy (78 percent of "disaffected" voters think this), and only 22% believe offshoring is good because "it keeps costs down."

8. Over 64% of ALL Americans agree that the Invasion of Iraq was a mistake, and out troops should be recalled ASAP!!!


The Democratic Party IS a BIG Tent, and there is absolutely no reason why EVERY Democrat in the Tent shouldn't support the above issues.

[ClassWarrior]

19. Ask your Senators the Magic Question...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2512789&mesg_id=2512789

Frames 'em every time.

(Lakoff goggles ------> B-) )

NGU.

[fearnobush]

20. Most elected Dems are afraid of DU and pretend forums like this

don't exist as a political movement. I don't think they are informed that well and live mostly under a false sense of reality that's beltway driven, poll driven and M$M driven. Do they ever consider ideas of polling there voters on questions like - when did you stop watching the news? because TV news viewership is way down from what it was a few decades ago. And yes, many but not most are in collusion with the Republicans.

[understandinglife]

21. "In fact, we might be the only ones who can." It appears so.

Recommended.

Thank you.


Be The Bu$h Opposition - 24/7

[slipslidingaway]

22. Glen Greenwald has some good articles on the NSA

spying and now the censure resolution, but this from another person on the site, Anonymous Liberal.

snip

"What Democratic politicians fail to understand--and this is particularly ironic given the Democratic party's historical association with the labor movement--is that this is fundamentally a collective action problem. The term "reasonable" has no objective meaning, at least in the realm of politics. Whether an idea is deemed "reasonable" has little to do with the merits of the idea and everything to do with the prevailing political climate as interpreted by our national media. GOP strategists like Karl Rove long ago realized that the national media will treat any talking point that is repeated by enough people as ipso facto "reasonable," and conversely, will treat any idea that is not repeated by a sufficient number of people as "unreasonable" or "extreme," no matter what its objective merits. It's a very crude calculus and one that is easily manipulated by shrewd partisans.

snip

Democrats, however, cannot seem to internalize this idea. They approach politics as if the rules of reasonability and civil discourse are immutable or have been set by some neutral referee. When someone like Howard Dean steps over this arbitrary line, Democrats join the GOP in immediately calling "foul." When a Republican steps over the line, however, more often than not his Republican colleagues act collectively to move the line. Suddenly we find ourselves in a debate over whether outing a CIA agent is actually a good thing, or whether a law that has been on the books for three decades and repeatedly reaffirmed by this President should be violated. It doesn't matter what the consensus was five minutes ago. Talking points that would have seemed totally absurd days earlier suddenly become credible and reasonable, and for no other reason than they are being repeated by a chorus of Republican politicians, pundits, and bloggers. In this way, the definition of "reasonable" can be changed dramatically overnight."

http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com

[bleever]

25. That is incredibly well said, and goes to the heart of the difference

between how Democrats and Republicans look at asserting themselves.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[slipslidingaway]

26. I thought so as well as used this when calling my senators and

Reid's office on the Feingold resolution, if they wait too long the media will portray the Dems as being weak, the time is now.

Nice post.

[slipslidingaway]

23. Why did Senator Reid move to a closed session and now look

at the news tonight, we cannot play nice and we cannot be so divided.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060315/pl_nm/iraq_usa_senate_dc_1

Senate intelligence chief urges end to Iraq probe

"The chairman of the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday urged lawmakers to begin wrapping up the second phase of its investigation into U.S. intelligence on prewar Iraq, despite fresh demands from Democrats for further scrutiny.

snip

But a Democratic aide familiar with Phase 2 said the letter asked the committee to interview about 20 senior administration officials, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and sought access to President George W. Bush's daily intelligence briefings on Iraq.

"Nowhere is there any suggestion we need to go into areas of investigation that we haven't already started," he said."

[Time for change]

24. I sure hope you are right Bleever

But what I don't understand (among many other things) is how they can not understand "How rotted and worm-eaten is the lofty scaffolding on which this administration is perched", as you say. I mean, if they don't understand that, then where have they been for the past 5 years, and what is wrong with them?

[Imagevision]

27. LIke Feingold says: Censure when * numbers are this low!!!

the timing is excellant!