Frank Rich's hit piece on cowardly Democrats (NYTimes)

[yellowjacket7]

But don't expect any of Mr. Feingold's peers to join him or Mr. Hagel in fashioning an exit strategy that might work. If there's a moment that could stand for the Democrats' irrelevance it came on July 14, the day Americans woke up to learn of the suicide bomber in Baghdad who killed as many as 27 people, nearly all of them children gathered around American troops. In Washington that day, the presumptive presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held a press conference vowing to protect American children from the fantasy violence of video games.

snip----

The Democrats are hoping that if they do nothing, they might inherit the earth as the Bush administration goes down the tubes. Whatever the dubious merits of this Kerryesque course as a political strategy, as a moral strategy it's unpatriotic. The earth may not be worth inheriting if Iraq continues to sabotage America's ability to take on Iran and North Korea, let alone Al Qaeda.

snip----

Dems taking the moral ground on Iraq? Is there any hope?

Full articale below
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/opinion/28rich.html

[welshTerrier2]

1. dupe ...

please use this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2040952

welcome to DU, yellowjacket7 !!!

and to answer your question, i'm not sure ... i haven't given up trying ...

[madrchsod]

2. absolutely correct

one of the best opinions i`ve read in awhile.

[billbuckhead]

4. There's still less upside for being against the war than for the war

It's Trotsky bullshit to trash Dems over this war.

[Hardrada]

5. Dam communsts

oppose our libral leaders. Lock all in dog pound.

[Eloriel]

19. Depends -- on what your values are:

a. Winning is the ONLY thing

b. Doing what's right for the country and the world is sometimes way more important than concerns about what a certain position will do to your political career.

[blm]

9. Both Kerry and Clark have offered strategies. NYT printed Kerry's June 28.

Rich must have missed it.

[OzarkDem]

17. Things have changed

Iraq is in much worse shape today than before. What may have been relevant before may not be possible today.

We're still not seeing Dems developing any kind of media strategy. Everyone seems bent on promoting their own campaign instead of working together with a unified message - a strategy more likely to succeed than the occasional pre-campaign speech.

If they're able to make the news on other issues, they can do the same with Iraq. What we're seeing is a deliberate strategy to do and say nothing.

[blm]

20. Dean's DNC position has him right in line with Kerry and Clark. The others

should coalesce around it, and offer refining details where they can, like Feingold.

Things are always changing in Iraq and getting worse by the week, but certain officials have great access to the UN and NATO allies and they know what those two organizations require before they agree to takeover any peacemaking mission.

Those are the voices we should support more.

[OzarkDem]

26. Agree

Dems should be working together to craft an alternative for getting out. Reaching out to NATO , UN and other allies to craft an alternate policy would be brilliant.

BLM, do you think the media is ignoring Kerry because they see him as just campaigning? Is it possible that working on a team with Dean, Hart, Feingold and others would make them take him seriously?

[blm]

27. I really think they're just trying to do to him what they did to Gore,

make him into an UNserious voice in any way they can. Since he's still in the Senate, the only way they can do it is by ignoring him.

They really want a McCain- Hillary race in 2008 so they can hype it bigger than any SuperBowl while they push for a McCain landslide.

[wtmusic]

3. Um, Frank Rich for Senate? nt

[LittleClarkie]

6. I resent the term "Kerry-esque"

He certainly hasn't sounded like Hillary these past months, and he's certainly been focused on more than damn video games.

Sometimes I think that Rich has a point about things political. But sometimes I think he's drawn conclusions and stopped thinking. A bit intellectually lazy, that is.

That extra jab was fairly unnecessary, and turned me off.

[blm]

10. Rich missed Kerry's Iraq strategy printed in his own paper on June 28?

Guess Kerry is going to have to do it again and maybe Rich and other detractors will notice for a change.

[TankLV]

23. I used to be one of the biggest complainers until someone pointed this

out to me.

Kerry has evidentally spoken unequivocally about his disgust and complained bitterly about bunkerboy's LIES.

But if nobody is there to report it, or if there is a concerted effort by the whore repuke media to ignore anything critical about bunkerboy or the repukes, how would anybody know it?

I used to pride myself on being kept informed on most issues, but even I didn't know all this.

If a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it, does it make a noise?

[LittleClarkie]

29. Darling, he could set himself on fire and Rich wouldn't see

As the saying says, a conclusion is where you got tired of thinking. And it looks like Rich has found his conclusion, set up his lawn chair, got himself a cool drink, and that's where he's going to stay.

This is why Kos and others I've seen bug me. It's like they've got a world view, a model they've built in their minds, and once built, they don't tweek it much. They don't even notice things that don't fit the view. Or if they do notice, they warp it so that it fits into the view. Rather like when Kos found an article about Sweitzer (I just mucked up that spelling) and Kerry where the two seemed to be having a decent time bantering, and morphed into Kerry trying to rub off some of Sweiter's magic.

Some call us Kerrybots. I present to you -- the Un-Kerrybot.

[siztnarf]

30. Re: Kerry-esque

I think the label is spot on. A presidential candidate that chooses to follow his/her political compass and ignores his moral and analytical compass fits the bill.

[leetrisck]

7. Fall right into the republican trap and blame Democrats

for the war. Enjoy his articles but all this Democrat bashing over the war is getting to me. bush started this war - PERIOD. bush is getting our people killed and the Iraqi people killed. PUt the blame where it belongs and continue to hammer away at it.

[NYCGirl]

8. Certainly this administration should be held wholly responsible for this,

but there's plenty of blame for this fiasco to go around. That includes many Democrats who either were duped by the WH (for which they should be ashamed) or voted for the IWR for political expediency (for which they should be ashamed). Now's the time for a little introspection for BOTH parties.

[leetrisck]

11. Many Democrats in Iraq fighting bush's so-called war

The only coward is in the White House.

[NYCGirl]

16. I wasn't referring to the rank and file. I was referring to our so-called

leaders.

[OzarkDem]

13. Dems aren't to blame

its the group of do-nothing Dems in Congress who deserve criticism. I'm tired of defending them.

[leetrisck]

15. Don't defend them - trash the republicans like

we should be doing - THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE

[OzarkDem]

18. Trashing Republicans isn't enough

Their low approval ratings show Americans are starting to put the blame where it belongs.

Dems in Congress, however, haven't picked up the ball. They're sitting on their hands trying to raise money for 2008.

[Eloriel]

22. And the "Yes" votes meant nothing?

Or what? I don't understand your position on this.

Yeah, it's Bush's war. But he had a whole helluva lot of complicit help from spineless Dems in Washington. And that's a fact. I don't think there's anything to be gained by being in denial on that issue. YMMV.

[leetrisck]

24. I'm hardly in denial with a whole

*load of family over there and I wish to hell the Dems would not have voted with him on this but they did - still beside the point - bush did this - the Dems can speak out and scream and yell to hell freezes over and it won't mean a damned thing because they can't do anything - THE DICTATOR IS IN CONTROL AND THE REPUKES HAVE TO HAVE THEIR DICTATOR - THEY MUST HAVE THEIR KING AND THEY'VE GOT HIM AND THEY ARE GOING TO STICK WITH HIM. Democrats are a very diverse group - republicans are not - do as I say----

[OzarkDem]

25. Public opinion is turned against the War

Dems have the opportunity to accomplish something now if they will step forward with a plan.

Even if they voted "yes" before, they now have the opportunity to redeem themselves and take action to force R's to get us out.

True leadership is being able to say "I was wrong, but I understand now and I'm going to fix the problem".

As a nation and as a party we've forgotten what real leadership is. That I blame on Republicans.

[leetrisck]

28. bush needs to say that he was wrong,wrong,wrong

and I will not be happy until he does that. He's "failed upward" his entire life and he needs & must be held accountable for the destruction of our country, our military, Iraq and many other countries and issues.

[OzarkDem]

12. Congressional Dems are showing no leadership

That's why their approval ratings are no better than Republicans in Congress.

We're facing very serious problems here and abroad and to remain silent in hopes the Republicans will "go down the tubes" isn't a good strategy. It isn't leadership.

I'm beginning to think many if not most of these Dems won't have a political future. Dems will become the majority in Congress again, but those sitting silently in Congress won't be part of it.

I've said this before and its worth repeating - any Dem out there who wants to run for Congress and feels they have a good chance of winning should start planning now.

[leetrisck]

14. Half of the country doesn't realize the republicans

control everything in this country including the judiciary that they keep screaming about.

[KoKo]

21. Biden refused to support Feingold when asked by Stephanopolis this

morning on ABC. He also refused to support Gary Hart. Instead he said that David Brooks has some interesting views on Iraq. :eyes:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

31. I do like Rich, but having said that

I have to chuckle when the journalists and the reporters sit in their chairs and throw darts at the people who put their butts on the line and tried to make changes. Where were all of these loud voices when the huge corporate money was supporting the destruction of Gore and Kerry and Dean?
As I remember it, the sound of silence was deafening.