Reply #36: a foolish halftruth [View All]

[Lexingtonian]

And halftruths are far more insidious than falsehoods or inconvenient truths.

Yes, some, maybe even most, of the old establishment has to go. But there is evident throwing out of the baby with the bathwater to this crude anti-establishment view. In choosing between the Clinton people, the Dean people, and the DLC as the least principled and most power-greedy faction, it's a neck-to-neck for me between the Dean and the DLC crowds. The Clinton people can easily be tarred with the brush because- unlike the others- they've actually had both real power and real Democratic support, but that during a time in which they governed with an electoral plurality, forcing them to compromise, rather than a majority. (True, they probably aren't up to speed yet that Democrats are now within reach of proving to have a true majority, and they will disappoint until they understand that.) The Dean faction has the shortest record, that's why it's easy to believe that they're least corrupted by a conviction of righteous dominion. A hard look at the evidence is not that kind.

As for Kos and other bloggers such as Jerome Armstrong, it's beens sad to watch their clarity and insight slip as their antagonism of the candidates competing with Dean has grown. It bugs me that their convictions and desires outrun their rationales and the totality of the evidence. And the desire of TNR to instigate selfinflicted destruction of the Democratic Party (look, they champion Lieberman as nominee) isn't exactly hidden either.