New Year’s Resolution: Don't defend Democrats when they don't deserve defending

[Better Believe It]

New Year’s Resolution: Don’t Apologize for Democrats
by Jeff Cohen
Jeff Cohen is an associate professor of journalism and the director of the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College, founder of the media watch group FAIR, and former board member of Progressive Democrats of America. In 2002, he was a producer and pundit at MSNBC (overseen by NBC News). His latest book is Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media.

December 30, 2009

For the new year, let's resolve: Don't defend Democrats when they don't deserve defending. And that certainly includes President Obama.

Let's further resolve: Put principles above party and never lose our voice on human rights and social justice.

When we mute ourselves as a Democratic president pursues corporatist or militarist policies, we only encourage such policies.

If it was wrong for Bush to bail out Wall Street with virtually no controls, then it's wrong for Obama. If indefinite "preventative detention" was wrong under Bush, then it's wrong under Obama. If military occupation and deepening troop deployments were wrong under Bush, then they're wrong under Obama.

By going soft on the White House or Democratic Congressional leaders, most netroots groups have undermined genuine progressives in Congress -- on issues from Iraq and Afghanistan to Wall Street and health care.

Instead of launching their health care reform efforts behind an easily-explained, cost-effective "Enhanced Medicare for All" bill co-sponsored by dozens of progressive Congress members, netroots leaders meekly made a "public option" their starting demand and pretended not to notice when Rahm Emanuel began signaling last spring that the White House had no intention of pushing for it.

Predictably, we've ended up with corporate-enrichment legislation that forcibly delivers tens of millions of customers to big insurers and big pharma -- with almost no cost controls because of private deals cut in the White House . In the New York Times before Christmas, beneath an accurate header "Corporate Glee," a news article asserted: "The insurance companies were probably among the merriest of industries last week . . . But the drug companies were certainly joyful, too." Insurance stocks are soaring on Wall Street.

Read the full article at:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/12/30-1

[Moochy]

1. K&R

:kick: Cohen's FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting) is a great organization. The weekly show Counterspin should be on everyone's mp3 player.

http://www.fair.org/index.php

I'd be interested to know if anyone has read his new book, looks right up DU's alley.

[FLAprogressive]

2. K&R

[sabrina 1]

3. Good article.

Apparently someone didn't like being told not to go soft on Dems when they don't stand up for human rights and other issues that used to be important to the Democratic Party. I am over defending them anyhow when they support war and do not nothing about torture. It was hard at first as I was such an ardent defender, thinking they were always the 'good guys'. But since they don't seem to need their base anymore, as we've told, I'm sure the Party doesn't much care whether we support them them or not. As Rahm said 'ignore the left'. I doubt they will even notice.

K&R to offset whoever believes in the philosphy of 'my party right or wrong'.

[electropop]

4. I'm what used to be mainstream in this country

but these days I'm considered far left. There are about 5 or 6 Dems worthy of the name now. The rest can burn in karmic hell with the 'pukes for all I care.

I think the corporate takeover is going to get worse for about another 10 years, followed (finally) by the inevitable backlash, 1789-style.

[Better Believe It]

5. Both political parties have moved to the right. Of course, the Republicans must always be to ....

to the right of Democrats while Democrats always seem to be scrambling to play catch up!

I think most of us understand how this works.

If the Democratic Party ran someone like Joseph Leiberman for President or Vice-President the Republicans would run someone like Richard Cheney for President or Vice-President.

Oh .... they already did that.

Never mind.