I Officially Give up On the Democrats

It's going to take a generation to move these spineless Democrats out of office. Unfortunately, that is our only alternative. You can't vote for a Republican these days and the Democrats make you embarrassed to ever be associated with them.

Jack Goldsmith is one of the most conservative lawyers in the country. He was the head of the Office of Legal Counsel for George W. Bush. He is telling you that what the Bush administration did for years in its first term was definitely illegal (that's why he demanded changes in their practices when he was at OLC) and strongly suggesting that what they are doing now might also be illegal.

So, what is the Democratic response? They are considering changing the law to make it legal in hindsight. The equivalent would be if the Republicans tried to pass a law saying it was acceptable to lie under oath after they saw Clinton perjure himself in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Could you imagine?

Of course not. Because the Republicans are fighters. As loathsome as their policies have been for these last six years, at least I respect their willingness to fight for their side. I also respected President Clinton when he fought back against them, whether it was when Newt Gingrich shut down the government or when they tried to remove him from office.

Read this New York Times article. The Democrats are going to help Bush break the FISA law. They are going to change the law so that he doesn't have to get a warrant. They are going to ignore the Fourth Amendment and current federal laws. Why would you help the least popular president in history? Why would you allow him to keep breaking the law?

The answer is at the end of the article. Interest groups that are working closely with the Democrats explain their primary concern -- being called weak on terror. But don't you see, you are weak! Miserably weak. Not because of any actions you might or might not have taken on the war on terror, but because you keep caving into an administration that has no political capital because you don't have the nerve to fight for your principles.

How is it possible to have any respect for these Democrats? Every day, I struggle not to call them cowards and weaklings. And every day they make it harder. They are truly pathetic. I'm so tired of encouraging them to grow a backbone. It's a hopeless struggle. I give up.

So, we have to pursue a new tack. The long road of primary fights for the next decade or two until we clear out the losers out of this party. The people trained and encouraged to lose by their consultants.

Let me tell you a quick story told to me by a former staffer of one of the Democratic leaders. He said a consultant told this senator that the only way he could lose his senate seat is if he was challenged the Republicans in any meaningful way. His advice was to give in to them on every occasion, and specifically at the time, on the Alito nomination.

This particular senator did not give in on the Alito nomination (nor did he put up any kind of effective fight, either). But the message from the "Democratic" consultant was clear -- you will never be challenged from the left, so always give into the right.

There is only one way to change that way of thinking. Challenge them from the left. Because this group of Democrats are hopeless. We need a whole new class of leaders.

The Young Turks

Comments

[itmaybetoolate]

Cenk, I feel as you do. So, what do we do in the 2008 election (if there is one)? I can't vote for Clinton or Obama. Do I sit it out if one of these two are chosen as the nominee?

[Listen2me]

Ex-Republican-Congressman C. A. Lindbergh, Minnesota, became an early leader of the Farmer-Labor Party. His own words (1917):

"Of all the cowards, no other is so cowardly as the average politician."

We need to write personal letters to the feckless, spineless, gutless Dem leaders---not to abuse them, but, as you have done in this article, to DISABUSE them of the notion that caving in to the rogue regime is perceived as "toughness."

It's just the opposite. By not fighting against our domestic enemies who subvert the constitution, spread crime and corruption, bankrupt the treasury, rig elections, and pack the courts, the sorry bastards have demonstrated that they aren't tough enough to fight for the very people who elected them.

Senators Betray-Us. Congressmen and Congresswomen Betray-Us. SEND NO MONEY TO DNC OR ANY OTHER PARTY PITCHMEN. Tell them why.

And be ready to collaborate even with Ron Paul, who's showing some guts!

[robinlynne]

Cenk, when you're right you're right.

[milo9]

If nothing else we must not forget the betrayal of the 21st Century Dems.

[ejbr]

Unfortunately, Dems easily fall for lip service. How many Dems voted for Lieberman against Lamont only to see him campaign for a Republican, prolong the war, advocate a war in Iran, refuse to investigate Katrina and now Blackwater? As much as those of us who knew the deal screamed and hollared, too many Dems refused to get a clue.

[bertisbert]

Thanks for, apparently, being the only one around here to actually have the spine to point out the glaring shortcomings of "our" party. This endless bending over to the Bush administration is absolutely embarassing.
All the so-called strategic political pandering and the idea of not "wasting" votes on alternative candidates has brought us to this point. We need alternatives. Any member of Congress, regardless of party, that has voted to allow the president to wage unilateral wars of choice, or to amass power in the hands of authority while completely ignoring the constitution DOES NOT DESERVE ONE VOTE from an informed populace.
Thanks for keeping the lights on in an increasingly dark place. Come on HuffPosters!! What do you think we will get with a Hillary or Obama, or any other "mainstream" candidate? I'm sorry, but I *want* to believe them. I really do. But let's look at the facts, the voting records, and use our ever-increasing influence to make a difference.

[RobertPaul]

Cenk-
I love your work, but I gotta tell you, you're tilting at windmills.

As long as it takes millions and millions of dollars to get elected to ANY office, you will ALWAYS have the people who have millions of dollars selecting the candidates.

That is the sad truth and possibly the end of our Democracy as we know (knew!) it.

Until we have changes in the way we elect people to represent US we will continue to get candidates who represent THEM.

And to get the laws changed so that we can get 100% public campaign financing, we have to get people who were elected with private financing to change those laws.

What are the chances of that?

Our choice come Nov. 8th will be Clinton vs. Guliani.

Is this really the BEST we can come up with?

As usual it will be a choice between the lesser of two evils.

And with either choice "We the people" lose.

You do realize, I hope, that BushCo doesn't look at the Iraqi Private Security Guards as mercenaries.

What THEY see is that they have "Created" 180,000 new jobs in the private sector.

Just think about that...

[AustinCynic]

It's worth noting that the Republican Party arose from the ashes of the Whig Party after a series of disasterous presidential defeats in the mid-19th century. Lincoln and others were tired of compromising with the narrow interests of the southern elite--thus, the Republican Party was born and gained the White House in just its second national election.

It won't be that easy now, but my only real question is--how long is it going to be, and what will it take, for the Democratic Party to go the way of the Whigs?

[DanielNewsome]

This is the reason why Dems need to stop thinking about who is electable and start supporting the people who have the right ideas and policies. We already have those who are electable. They mostly suck.
I can only think of three good reps off the top of my head: Kucinich and Feingold and Sanders... but I imagine there are a few more.
With some support, the good could also become electable.

[Listen2me]

Sanders isn't a Democrat.

[itmaybetoolate]

Right on! We have to sort the good and the bad. There are some good democratic senators and reps. whose voices are not heard. But, the leaders in both houses have got to go. Imagine if Feingold was the leader in the Senate and Kucinich were leader in the House. Then we might see some action taken - impeachment, for example. DanielNewsome, do you have a brother who plays the oboe?

[pocketnunu]

That's funny. As a Republican, I've already given up on the Republican party. Not going to switch, though, since I made one switch already. Yes, I switched from Democrat to Republican when my husband started his own business back in the 80s. I'm not sorry I switched, though.

Anyway, there's something wrong with both parties as well as the media. It isn't just regular Democrats who feel sold out, but regular Republicans as well, each by their respective parties. The parties have strayed, and frankly, it is time for new parties, folks, or the reform of the existing ones. Just saying...

[MrLion]

Simply put, the Democratic Party is a loser organization, even worse than KMart, Amtrak, or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. What the party needs is a total change in personnel from the "leadership" on Capitol Hill down to the guy who brings in the bagels in the morning.

[Listen2me]

Amtrak was going great until Bush fired their competent chief official and replaced him with another unqualified political crony--about a year and a half ago.

[Kansas Evans]

If the problem's more or less the consultants, why not get rid of them? Apparently, if we get some progressive consultants, the Dems will do anything THEY say.

[thicky]

Since neither Democrats nor Republicans care about America, they only care about their plutocratic corporate masters, it is a case of killing the American experiment quickly or slowly. The Republicans are trying to kill America quick while Democrats are killing America sloooooowly.

At least the Republicans are merciful in that they are trying to finish us off quickly while the Democrats are cruelly torturing America slowly to death. The Democrats pretend to give us hope that they will do the right thing and save America from the selfish interests of the corporate elites but when it comes time to do the right thing they always stab us in the back destroying our hopes and dreams.

Oh, how these sadistic Democrats must laugh at the way they dangle the restoration of American democracy before their supporters eyes only to viciously yank it away at the crucial last minute.

The Democrats are killing America with a slow death:
http://zippythepinhead.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=sd1&Category_Code=ugcomix&Product_Count=26

[SamThornton]

With the revelation that the current crop of Democratic politicians seem surprisingly like the current crop of Republican politicians, I've been looking beyond politics for an explanation.

I've come to a surprising conclusion.

Is it a coincidence that when our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, most of them were probably drunk? (The *average* consumption of alcohol in those times was at least a pint a day. Bills for wine and spirits at the Convention were far in excess of this.)

And is it a coincidence that the greatest economic crises in our history -- the Great Depression -- followed the banning of alcohol and only eased after tippling was once again legalized?

If my theory is correct, we must immediately start electing only those to public office who can demonstrate a satisfactory degree of inebriation. No ex-drunks or blue-nosed teetotalers need apply.

[nypoet22]

ummm.... teddy kennedy for president, then?

[lruettimann]

Amen, Cenk.

A-f*ing-men.