Bob Herbert: "The Democrats are in disarray because it’s a party that lacks a spine."

[Better Believe It]

Tone-Deaf in D.C.
By BOB HERBERT
November 5, 2010

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are offering voters the kind of change that they seem so desperately to want. We’re getting mind-numbing chatter about balanced budgets and smaller government and whether Mitch McConnell and his gang can chase President Obama out of the White House in 2012.

What voters want is leadership that will help them through an economic nightmare and fix a country that has been pitched into a state of sharp decline. They long for leaders with a clear and compelling vision of a better America and a road map for getting there. That leadership has long been AWOL. The hope in the tumultuous elections of 2008 was that it would come from Mr. Obama and the Democrats, but that hope, after just two years, is on life support.

The Democrats are in disarray because it’s a party that lacks a spine. The Republicans, conversely, fight like wild people whether they’re in the majority or not. What neither party is doing is offering a bold, coherent plan to get the nation’s economy in good shape and create jobs, to bring our young men and women home from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to rebuild the education system in a way that will prepare the next generation for the great challenges of the 21st century, and to reinvigorate the can-do spirit of America in a way that makes people believe that they are working together toward grand and constructive goals.

Our leaders in Washington seem entirely out of touch with the needs, the hopes, the fears and the anxieties of the millions of Americans who are out of work, who are struggling with their mortgages or home foreclosures, who are skimping on needed medication in order to keep food on the table, and who lie awake at night worrying about what the morning will bring. No one even dares mention the poor.

Read the full article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/06/opinion/06herbert.html?ref=bobherbert

[SidDithers]

1. Unrec...nt

Sid

[jaxx]

6. Make that 2.

:thumbsup:

[AtomicKitten]

9. make that 3

:hi:

[girl gone mad]

18. You're losing the rec war.

:hi:

[AtomicKitten]

22. Ahhh, that's cute. You thought an opinion piece was news.

[girl gone mad]

29. I thought an opinion piece was news?

Looks like you're not any more successful at reading minds than you are at silencing criticism.

[AtomicKitten]

31. Unrec'ing a thread = silencing criticism? LOL.

Oh the drama.

[Hawkowl]

43. Obama turns his back

That is what I get from your sig line. Very appropriate!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. They triagulated their spine into corporate campaign contributions.

[Individualist]

15. Correct!

[QC]

24. True. n/t

[villager]

3. definite rec... nt

[katandmoon]

4. BINGO. K&R

[Better Believe It]

5. OOOPPSSSS! This had already been posted. Go to the following link to post comments:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9497968&mesg_id=9497968

Thanks

[Better Today]

7. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

So I'll be happy to rec yours.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Better Today]

11. It's a shame that Obama's presidency has been so divisive, I agree.

So has the Democrats control of both Houses, though I still give the House of Reps and Nancy Pelosi great kudos for doing their best to stand firm when both the Senate and the WH caved.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Better Today]

13. I'm so sorry you have so much hate in your life. I hope you feel better soon.

I find though that hate doesn't resolve much, so I don't embrace it the way you seem to do.

[David__77]

8. Many do have a spine in defending the big bankers. Some have a spine for good things.

It's not like all Democrats are the same. Progressives have a long fight ahead. The Democrats had a spine in not bringing a lot of progressive legislation up for a vote.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. Yep - Democrats have made a heroic stand against ending DADT

(it is supported by 60% of the population) and the public option (supported by 85% of Dems). It takes a lot of spine to stand against what the people who voted you in want.

[David__77]

21. It's true, and I'm completely serious.

They would not even reinstate Glass-Steagall, which even McCain was on board with. The financial gurus at treasury would have none of it. What could have been a simple case for public option was turned into a terrible mess trying to push for a Romney-esque plan that is based on fiscal austerity and cost control. ENDA was never pushed, even though it's almost certain the votes WERE there in the senate - which makes me infinitely more dissatisfied as a gay person than anything to do with DADT. The point is that the problem was not lack of spine, but rather the problem was a neoliberal economic agenda coupled with "social centrism." That is not what progressives wanted, or independent populists who strongly supported Democrats two years ago.

[laughingliberal]

14. K & R nt

[DoBotherMe]

17. So true ...

No one even dares mention the poor.

Dana ; )

[MerryBlooms]

28. No they sure don't

The poor are considered the fringe these days, especially if they're pissed off poor.

I can count on one hand the people I know who are the darlings of every political campaign. The vast majority I know have fallen well below that standard, but the politicians still think that's where their base is. Deadly idiots.

No mention during this election of affordable housing, hunger, homeless, etc ... Heck, posts here on DU of KO suspended get mass threads of concern - the homeless, the poor, the drowning of under/un employment debt ... not so much.

Priorities yanno.

[xchrom]

19. Recommend

[treestar]

20. this is starting to get boring

If it lacks a spine due to some inherent defect, it will always lack a spine and you'll have to live with it. that is, if you are a Democrat.

[The Uncola]

34. When the folks n the Obama Administration have finally..

... learned the necessary lessons and grown a spine to stand up for those of us that put his ass in the White House, we promise to stop "boring" you. Till then, deal with it, 'cuz we're just gettin' warmed up.

[treestar]

37. Why don't you just find a leader who has a spine?

You think you can give Obama one?

If he does not have one, find a leader who does and follow him.

I'm sure you and your new leader will be very successful.

If that's all it takes, then do it!

[The Uncola]

39. Careful what you ask for bud,

...you just might get it.

[treestar]

40. OK.

No problem. If you need a bold leader to follow, find one instead of complaining Obama is not it.

[The Uncola]

41. Exactly who put..

.. you in charge of who I criticize and how I do it?

I'll speak my mind when, where, and how I please and you DAMN SURE aren't going to stop me.

[frylock]

50. the election is in 2012..

obama will continue to receive criticism when warranted, no matter how much that may bore you.

[VMI Dem]

23. Rec. Make that 28.

[cordelia]

25. Rec. Make that 30 nt

[beforeyoureyes]

26. K & R

[abq e streeter]

27. Bob Herbert tells it like it is. Always. Proud to K&R

[ibegurpard]

30. I think this was a very good assessment

[Rex]

32. It doesn't lack spine, it lacks solidarity.

[jimlup]

33. Thank you Bob Herbert!

It needs to be said and loudly. I only hope to God that they actually hear it!

Help us Obama-Wan Kenobi! You're our only hope!

[inna]

35. K&R+62

[disillusioned73]

36. Reccing for some much needed spine..

:dem:

[City Lights]

38. R&K. nt

[Poboy]

42. k&r

[Edweird]

44. I disagree. I don't see the problem as a lack of spine but as a lack of shared political ideology.

We wanted and needed FDR but got something more like Reagan instead. Our party is in disarray because it ha been infiltrated and co-opted by republicans (DLC/New Dems/third way/what the fuck ever)

[Better Believe It]

45. So you're saying that President Obama is not even a liberal on many issues much less a socialist.

OK

I can accept that.

[Bluenorthwest]

46. Rec-o-rama

All those no comment un'recs just make me rec away. They have nothing to say at all. Herbert is spot on of course. No one dares mention the poor.

[fascisthunter]

47. "spine".... ? I think it's a matter of Conflict of Interests

I don't buy the "spine" spiel anymore.

[BlueJac]

48. K&R

:hi::thumbsup:

[truedelphi]

49. And the spinelessness, if that is what it really is,

Starts with the top down. Though to more and more of us, it looks like collusion.

When the Republicans win, they announce their win like this: "We won a great many seats in the House last week, and this fact will have consequences."

When the Dems run a man as our Leader, and he secures the office with a 62%
MANDATE of the people, he steps forward to say: "I want to be conciliatory with the party that lost, and I want to be bipartisan." And then you watch his appointments, all of which are about his ties to Big Industry, Financial People, Big Pharma and Health Insurers and then you realize we were scammed.

[lob1]

51. The democrats are too smart to be this stupid this long.

I'm one of those that think collusion is the word we're looking for.

[Peregrine Took]

52. Its a party that doesn't believe in itself. Who and where are our leaders?

Who is the captain of our ship?

We have had no one but one corporate shill after another for decades. Howard Dean was our one bright light in the last 25 years and he was brought low by establishment eastern Dems and some of their media allies.

We are adrift in the ocean with no rudder and "manabs" is overseas saying that outsourcing isn't such a bad thing. Microsoft and Google must be proud of him.

[Mimosa]

53. He never really loved him....

Back in the early days, Herbert was Obama's biggest supporter...second to me. ;)

[hulka38]

57. Herbert's another racist lefty

who doesn't want to see Obama succeed.

[closeupready]

54. It's not that they have no spine, Mr. Herbert; it's that they have been bought.

They mince no words when it comes to disrespecting progressives and liberals.

But when it comes to conservatives, they 'reach across the aisle', 'find common ground', 'move to the middle' (when they are already on the right).

Spine has nothing to do with Democrats today.

But I'm going to rec anyway, because Herbert is a truth-teller, every time. It's just that once in a while, he's wrong, as here.

[hulka38]

55. Of course. Thank you, Bob.

[Kalyke]

56. Umm... Amen?

Or shall I just say, "Duh!"?

[davidwparker]

58. When directed to the leadership, this is largely true, yes.