“Liberals are only happy when we’re agonizing”

[babylonsister]

Chris Dodd and the Politics of Joy
Posted on Aug 9, 2010
By E.J. Dionne, Jr.

snip//


When I sat down last week at the Capitol with Dodd to talk about his 36 years in Congress, he didn’t change my attitude toward the longest-winded legislative body in the world. But he reminded me of something missing in our public life: an ebullient joy about what democratic politics can accomplish.

Far better are the happy warriors than the sour politicians who whine about the indignities democracy inflicts upon the high-minded. Along with his friend, the late Ted Kennedy, Dodd has always been one of the happiest warriors of them all. Both could savor victory and muster humor to stave off the pain of defeat.

“Liberals are only happy when we’re agonizing,” Dodd says, disarmingly including himself in the category he’s criticizing. “But if you’re preaching gloom and doom, you’re making it easy for the other side. They’re preaching gloom and doom, too.”

Democrats, he says, make a mistake by complaining constantly about Republican obstruction. “Mitch McConnell is very smart politically,” Dodd says, referring to the Senate Republican leader, “but we’re giving him credit for what he didn’t achieve. ... In the midst of it all, there have been some remarkable successes. ... We’re arguing against ourselves when we say we can’t get anything done.”

And then he ticks off his party’s many accomplishments, including the health care bill, the financial reform bill he championed, and a slew of other measures (on employment discrimination, children’s health care, an expansion of national service, student loan reform) that have been largely forgotten.


more...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/chris_dodd_and_the_politics_of_joy_20100809/

[zipplewrath]

1. That's not exactly fair

In one sense I'd agree with Dodd, but not in the sense that he means. We give the GOP too much credit. The obstruction comes as much from conservative democrats as it does the GOP. The only thing we're getting done is what the conservative democrats want. That's hardly a "liberal" success. It may be a congressional democratic majority success, but that is hardly representative of either "liberals" or really the population at large.

[babylonsister]

4. So conservative dems were the only ones who wanted

the accomplishments we've seen? I think you're wrong.

And then he ticks off his party’s many accomplishments, including the health care bill, the financial reform bill he championed, and a slew of other measures (on employment discrimination, children’s health care, an expansion of national service, student loan reform) that have been largely forgotten.

[zipplewrath]

13. They were conservadem written bills

HCR hasn't been forgotten by any stretch. But it is hard for anyone who participated in the game to forget that the conservative democrats dictated what would get passed. And the finacial reform bill is still a work in progress because it is mostly a regulatory bill and the regulations haven't been written yet.

Dodd is a pretty centrist democrat and what he's saying is that he is surprised that liberals aren't happier about having the specifics of these bills crammed down their throats by the conservatives. They remember that there's no public option, and a mandate, and a cadillac tax. And they're still waiting for the other shoe to drop on finacial reform, waiting to see if Warren gets appointed or not. And their core issues, DADT, NAFTA, DOMA, universal health CARE, torture prosecutions, card check and carbon legislation, not to mention the wars, are still in flux, or being ignored completely. Yes, the game has changed, but the liberals still feel on the outside and the conservative democrats are running the show. But apparently it's "retarted" to point that out.

[nightrain]

2. spoken like a true rich corporate-protecting jerk who seems to have

no idea how regular people live and struggle NOW.

[babylonsister]

5. Huh? I think he's spot on. You can get all the gloom and doom

right here at DU. What did he say that was so offensive? Truth?

[nightrain]

7. of course you think he's spot on! People are struggling as Dodd

blames them for complaining about the lack of meaningful progress. Slick Dodd. Who does his wife work/volunteer for again??

[KoKo]

23. Have you read the Financial Sites who talk about how Dodd watered down Tough Legislation on the Bank

Banks/Hedge Funds?

It's all over the place if you are a Dem who owns stocks and has a 401-K and are worried about your SS being stolen.

DODD SOLD US OUT when he ANNOUNCED RETIREMENT.

Why is it that you don't know this? Even DU's own Ozymandius and Demeter have been posting the "blow by blow" over there in "Editorials Forum" here on DU for Months! All about what Dodd has been about have been posted day by day!

Dodd Sold us OUT!

[Radical Activist]

33. "a Dem who owns stocks and has a 401-K"

Those must be the poor, downtrodden Dems that nightrain is referring to who hate the elitist Dodd. heh

[KoKo]

39. Dems come in all Stripes and Colors..and yet you think all Dems and Dems who have money are

in conflict. What you miss is that some of us Dems who might be older and did what Dems Do which is save and not get caught up in Repug Shenanigans...are going against our fellow Dems who were TRIANGULATED INTO POVERTY UNDER CLINTON and NOW OBAMA!

You have a very limited view of the Democratic Party...IMHO!

[SoxFan]

6. Well, that took a whole eight minutes

Thank you for proving Babylonsister's point.

[paulk]

8. Dodd is hardly the person to be judging "liberals"

he can include himself in that number, but I doubt that many others would...

It just seems another backhanded attack on "liberal" from a conservadem to me.

[SoxFan]

12. So, who would you include?

I think we're down to Kucinich, Barbara Lee, and Russ Feingold (but only on days when the moon is waxing crescent).

[paulk]

15. yup, that's the new tactic in a nutshell

paint the farthest left of our Democrats as "liberal"

wash rinse repeat


of all the tactics in use by the conservadems this is the most despicable - this organized attack on the liberal wing of the Democratic Party

[babylonsister]

9. The irony is probably lost.

:hi:

[nightrain]

10. do you expect bs to go unresponded to? Crap will be responded to.

Classic blame the victim. If Republicans were doing this bs, there would be more outrage fom Dems, but since a Dem is doing it, we can't comment/complain/want more? bs

[bluethruandthru]

17. +1000

[Clio the Leo]

3. Heh. nt

[crikkett]

11. I thought that we also took great delight in ridiculing teabaggers' misspellings

but what do I know.

[still_one]

14. So if I understand the implication it is the "liberals" why the Democrats are not polling so well?

Those "damn" liberals, who voted against the patriot act or invading Iraq based on a lie, why are they preaching gloom and doom? Even today those "damn" liberals saying the reason we went into Afghanistan no longer exists so why are we there?

Let me tell Senator Dodd, what I feel.

The liberals aren't preaching doom and gloom, they are preaching disgust and dismay because so many Democrats in Congress are advocating positions that were republican positions previously. There are Democrats even jumping on board the social security wagon with the republicans in regard to increasing the age to 70, or other ways to whittle it down, all on the basis of we can't afford it. Funny that those same Democrats do not say we cannot afford the wars we are involved in.

If we lose the midterms it won't be because of the "liberals"

[spoony]

16. Physician, heal thyself

and I ain't talking about Dodd:

"Democrats, he says, make a mistake by complaining constantly about Republican obstruction"

Hear that? Stop whining that our majorities are holding Obama back.

[scheming daemons]

19. ... then stop arguing that he's gotten nothing done

...when he's actually gotten a fairly long laundry list done.

[spoony]

25. Oh he's gotten plenty done.

Not much of it has been good, though. And now I can point to this thread to halt the excuses.

[30rock]

18. Isn't Dodd the guy who is against efforts to end the filibuster rule?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/04/dodd-presses-senate-fresh_n_670433.html

[ibegurpard]

20. he's calling himself a liberal?

[KoKo]

21. "Retiring Chris Dodd, SUCKS UP to his CORPORATE MASTERS! WHINING about

how MUCH he has ACCOMPLISHED.

SELL IT TO ME AGAIN AND AGAIN, BABE!

[BeyondGeography]

22. Not untrue...my friends and I are great at painting dark pictures together

then we go back to our little lives and we're happy for the most part. It's weird.

[rasputin1952]

24. It'll be a cold day in hell...

when I turn into a Flagellant! Damned if I'm gonna moan and wail...I'd rather be doing something to ensure we don't lose out on the next election.

Now, on the other hand, it appears to me the GOP "leadership" are about to become Flagellants, and that suits me fine, about time they felt some pain...:D

[bornskeptic]

26. There's certainly no shortage of DUers rushing to illustrate Dodd's point. n/t

[hulka38]

27. Dodd sucks. n/t

[donheld]

28. Liberals are only happy when things are getting done.

[donheld]

29. in a progressive manner that is

[Hekate]

30. Hubert Humphrey was known as The Happy Warrior, remember? I thought they were all gone now

From the looks of the replies, they've certainly all disappeared from DU. :eyes:

Thanks for posting this. :hi:

[still_one]

31. I wonder if I can get the same rate Dodd got from Countrywide? /nt

[Radical Activist]

32. It's true for many.

We've had 30 years of conservative Presidents to complain about and I think we've forgotten how to do anything else. ACORN was one of the few groups who seemed to remember how to really organize and we let it die alone.

[laughingliberal]

35. As I recall, though, there were many here on DU who were bashing ACORN with the best of them.

I recall some serious bashing of DU members who tried to come to ACORN's defense when O'Keefe pulled his stunt with the edited video.

[Radical Activist]

37. Yes, that's what I meant by writing

that we let it die alone. That's what happens when all we know how to do is attack and cannibalize each other.

Of course, there were exceptions.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3923417&mesg_id=3924075

[laughingliberal]

38. Good job! Far too many here (and in Congress) piled on right along with the RW noise machine. nt

[4lbs]

34. You'd think by the constant complaining by some here on DU, that there are only what, 3 or 4 "true"

progressive Democrats in Congress, and all others are just DINOs.

Wow, 3 or 4 "True" Progressive Democrats, out of about 300 total Democrats in both the House and Senate?

That's what? ONE PERCENT.

I'm thinking that by the whining on DU, a "true" Progressive Democrat would be sickened by the HCR legislation, the financial reform legislation, the stimulus bill, the credit card reform bill.

So, any Democrat in Congress that voted for any of those bills isn't a "true" Progressive then right? After all, why would they vote for something that Progressives don't like. Shouldn't they be voting NO along with the Republicans because in this case they share a common goal: kill legislation they don't like. Repukes hate it because it's Democratic legislation. "True" Progressives would hate it because it's Democratic legislation that doesn't go far enough or do enough. So, vote against it. Kill it. Wait until something you like does come up for a vote, and then you can vote YES. Stick to your "True" Progressive principles. Tell that to your constituents when they ask you why you voted against something that would help most or some of them, but maybe not all of them.

The Progressive Democratic Caucus in the House number 83 members. So, which 3 members are "true" Progressives, meaning the other 80 or so are DINOs?

[laughingliberal]

36. I'm OK with party discipline. I just wish it involved telling the Blue Dogs and New Democrats to get

...in line and play nice with the progressives. It generally goes the other way.