Dave Lindorff: The Difference Between Democrats and Republicans

[lateo]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/10543

It isn't much and he gets it.

The party leadership, with the backing of most of the rank-and-file members, has decided in its "wisdom" that the only important thing is winning in 2008. Pious rhetoric aside, they could care less about the lives of American men and women trapped in the bloody quagmire of Iraq. They could care less about the children of the uninsured poor and middle class. They could care less about the privacy of Americans' phone and computers. All they care about is the November '08 election. And they have decided that the best way to win that election is to do as little controversial as possible, and to keep the war perking along. They also want to try to pass as much nice sounding progressive legislation as possible. If those bills are killed by Republican maneuvering, fine. They'll blame the Republicans and say we need to elect more Democrats. If some of those bills pass, and then get vetoed by the increasingly unpopular President Bush, fine, too. They'll blame the Republicans and their president for intransigence.

But it's all a lie, because, in the majority, they have the power to stop the war, to stop the Constitutional violations, to win health insurance for kids who don't have it, and to impeach the president.

They just won't use it. And no amount of phone calling, letter writing and protesting is going to make them do it. They lie and claim they need 60 votes in the Senate, or even 67 votes, but look what the Republicans can do with just 49.

[SteveM]

1. The Democrats have learned a bad habit well: cowing down to tough talk.