You gotta see the vid. Very appropriate.

The only reason the Ds have any support at all is that they have fooled a large number of people into thinking that they actually favor progressive policies and would implement them if only they could take power. They (their leadership, which still leads the party) actually favor pretty much the same policies as the Rs. They support the bare minimum of progressive figleafs in order to maintain that illusion. The real function of the party is to prevent a real opposition party from forming (with a huge assist from a severely anti-democratic electoral system).

The Democrats have showed great courage and cleverness in standing up for their principles in the face of massive opposition from the base of their party. This time is very dangerous for them because the Rs have alienated so much of the electorate that the Ds may be put in power with nothing to hide behind. Look forward to more massive “blunders” and “betrayals”. The latest Gallup poll has Congress far less popular than Bush.

Principled Congressional insiders: We need your help! Without accurate information about the actors involved, our aim will necessarily be wild (meaning you’ll likely get caught in the cross-fire, Senator Whitehouse, et al…).

amen.

Though the leadership — and at least 29% or so of the membership — of the Republic Party is amoral, predatory, rapacious, and utterly reprehensible, it has become starkly and tragically obvious [that] the Democratic political elite have no superior claim to virtue and principle.

[snip]

I noticed that the loyalists, consistent with their mantra of Not Letting the Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good [Rep. Artur Davis of AL just the other day about FISA - Ed.], take for granted that the Democratic political elite wish and intend to do good, and (compared to the alternative) will do good once they acquire the necessary power.

[snip]

My point is that the Democrats’ pathological performance this year, trenchantly summarized as usual by Glenn, reveals to Your Humble Narrator that it’s all about the political process and the acquisition of power as an end in itself. Whatever good intentions Democratic incumbents and/or candidates may have, their foremost priority is doing business as usual. It’s all about the legislative agenda, such as it is.

It can’t be proved, of course, but my sentimental belief is that although the Founders were also disposed to go about the routine business of government, the sausage-making of compromises and deals, they also took seriously their responsibilities as stewards and guardians of the Constitution upon which government itself is founded. Unlike today, I doubt that they would view, say, impeachment as exclusively a troublesome question of political expediency; I believe that they would soberly and correctly see it as a necessity, not something to decide to do only if the political winds and climate made it a foregone conclusion!

After reading Barney Frank’s dismissive comments about the necessity for impeachment, and the usual intimation that it would be a pernicious and perilous task that would divert attention and the accomplishment of vital and constructive legislation, it hit me with a jolt that even the good guys seem to regard high principle — e.g., Constitutional duties — as quaint, ceremonial, superfluous, and effectively obsolete.

To me, since the 2006 election, the overall conduct of the Democratic Party is exactly like the classic paranoid spy thriller or science-fiction plot device: a Hitchcock film or “Twilight Zone” episode in which a desperate and endangered protagonist is apparently rescued by an ally — who turns out to be one of Them.

- Little Brother, commenting on Glenn Greenwald’s post.

http://letters.salon.com/opini…..l?show=all

I am begining to think that some Democrats are growing weary of the Democrat leadership and as a result may well sit home and not go out and vote in ‘08. I also believe that the leadership see progressives just as “worker bees”….only job is to get Democrats elected and that’s it, but not as people who should be listened to.

You are right. I know several DEMs that are so fed up they have completely tuned out. I don’t know whether they will vote or not.

I do not view Hillary Clinton as the candidate for peace. Am I wrong on this?

I think you are absolutely right on this. I see her as a corporatist and a manipulator who will continue the policies that screw the middle class. I pray she is not the nominee. The GOP is salivating waiting to begin the smear campaign that in my opionion will be very successful. I simply cannot understand her place in the polls. It has to be media hype.

…the blowback won’t just be from the “terrorists” who have been terrorized by our military. We, the people will not give up our inalienable rights without a fight – and there are a lot more of us out here than there are of you, federal “representatives.”

Nicely put. The ‘Political Aristocracy’ is in for a real big surprise ’cause they truly do not understand what the blogosphere is all about….

Millions of citizens ruthlessly winnowing the ‘turkey herd’ of Levins, Pelosis, Emmanuels, Schumers et. al. We will not be going away and we will be electing folks who will not just ‘fight for our rights…’ but who will protect them against all comers. ReThug or Bush Dog you moral cowards had better look out!

‘Cause we are comin’ for ya.

Visit yer nearest ActBlue page and give ‘For a Blue Majority Now!’

From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
The Edwards campaign issued a statement attacking Clinton for comments on the surge at the VFW convention yesterday. “Senator Hillary Clinton’s view that the president’s Iraq policy is ‘working’ is another instance of a Washington politician trying to have it both ways,” said Rep. David Bonior, Edwards’ campaign manager. “You cannot be for the President’s strategy in Iraq but against the war. The American people deserve straight talk and real answers on Iraq, not double-speak, triangulation, or political positioning.”

Buh…Buh…buh…that’s what The Hill DOES. That’s what SHE IS ALL ABOUT. Triangulating, short term, tactical attempts ot GET ELECTED. That policy stuff…that’s fer BLOGGERS ‘N SUCH.