WHY THE DEMOCRATS SUCK
Two from ZNet

First, an essay on how the Democrats appear to be trying, yet again, to combat the Republicans by moving to the right:

Democrats Commit Suicide

The saga began to unfold following Democratic Senate minority leader Tom Daschle’s horrific defeat to Republican John Thume in the South Dakotan Senate race on November 2. After Daschle’s loss, Democratic National Committee chair, Terry McAuliffe, was on the phone rallying support behind one of his favorite Senators -- Nevada’s own, Harry Reid.

Reid, an admitted friend of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, was being tapped for the position well before Daschle’s defeat, and quickly gained enough support to assure his appointment and upcoming confirmation. A conservative Mormon, Reid, who was born and raised in Nevada, could just as well have ran as a Republican when he chose to do so in 1982.

His positions on trade, abortion, war, civil liberties, and health-care mirror the Republicans almost identically.

In fact, his adversaries adore him for his conservative propensities. Fellow Mormon and right-wing Senator Orrin Hatch, a high-ranking Republican from Utah, says, “We all respect Senator Reid. He is one of the moderate voices around here who tries to get things to work.”

Reid’s politics, like that of George W. Bush, are greatly influenced by his religious philosophy. His opposition to gay-marriage and abortion are certainly prejudiced by his rigid Mormon principles. Reid, a gospel teacher at his local church-ward in Washington DC, will become the highest elected Mormon in US history. And he is sure to make the Latter Day Saints’ community quite proud.

Click here for the rest.

A close friend of mine, very intelligent and almost as far to the left as I am, has strongly urged me to stick with the Democrats because, unlike the Green Party, they actually have enough political power to get important legislation passed, or to soften conservative legislation. That's all well and good, but this latest donkey turn toward the right kind of makes that point moot. Democrats do, indeed, have a great deal of power relative to the Greens: it now appears, however, that they are unwilling to support liberal causes. Liberal Americans may still be welcome in the Democratic Party; their ideas, on the other hand, are not.

And just to drive that home, here's an essay on what the Democrats should be doing, but aren't:

Stand Up For Moral Value Of Economic Justice

When issues of economic justice disappear from moral consideration, what's left of "values" is personal behavior alone. The religious right has played its role in the class wars of the last 30 years by giving the corporate agenda what passes for moral cover while reinforcing its extreme individualism. The values debate, defined by the right, has aided the rise of corporate power and the decline of labor's strength.

Reviving workers' living standards requires direct challenges to out-of-control corporate greed and unrestricted market power. To be effective, these challenges must involve a resurrection of the language of economic justice and mutual responsibility for our human community and natural environment. All progressive policy reforms and limits to corporate power flow from these essential values.

Democrats make a mistake to couch their programs solely in terms of the immediate interests of voters without placing those interests in their moral context. People rightly wish to advocate moral values and can be willing to sacrifice some material comfort for them. Polls have repeatedly shown that most Americans say they are willing to pay somewhat higher taxes if they can be sure the money will be put to social good. When Democrats speak only of "interests," they play into the corporate ethos of stark individualism, reinforce the agenda of the right and cede the moral high ground to the Republican agenda.

Click here for more.

Why, the Democrats play the class card so ineptly, it almost seems as if their power structure doesn't want there to be any economic justice for working Americans. And, whadayaknow, the Democratic power structure, in fact, is dominated by corporate and wealthy interests who, it just so happens, do not want there to be any economic justice for working Americans. Democratic progressivism ultimately amounts to simple rhetoric, designed to attract liberal voters, but little more. Face it, these guys are either total losers or stealth Republicans. Either way, liberals are fools to continue supporting them.

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