“Prohibition is better than no liquor at all.” – Will Rogers

“I’m not discounting his effort to pull “the center” back toward the center…”

It just seems to me that “we” can’t criticize “Democrats” for “being ineffectual” and simultaneously engage in hero-worship of a do-nothing like Kucinich.

At some point reality intrudes.

Does it ever occur to anyone that maybe some of those “compromises” are distasteful to the people who are making them? Is it EVER “OK” to accept “something” rather than “nothing”?

“In the actions of all men, and especially those of Princes… one looks at the result.” – Niccoló Machiavelli, The Prince. 1537

–Malcolm X

I posted this for 2 reasons, both of which are based on my perception that “the left” has no sense of reality. We can’t duplicate what Bush and the GOP did, jamming bad (or good) legislation up America’s ass for the next few years.

1) Bush (and Reagan) steered us into an iceberg field in the North Atlantic while simultaneously weakening the hull.

I’m not all that fond of Kucinich taking the helm, as his “solution” is “close your eyes, yank the wheel as hard as you can to the left, and hit the throttle.” We’re in the MIDDLE Of that iceberg field, not on the edge of it. I’d sort of like the captain to steer between the icebergs, for a while. Maybe play some soothing music while he reassures us over the intercom that we’re gonna be alright, eventually.

That LAST thing I want to feel is the ship lurching or listing.

If you don’t get the analogy, let me boil it. We’re in a heap of shit. Getting out of it’s going to take some work. There will be nail biting moments. “Course adjustment”, if you will, is going to be necessary if we don’t want to sink to the bottom.

2) Try electing a Kucinich in a blue dog’s district. Much less a “red state”.

I’m getting “outrage fatigue” and more than a little tired of “I want it now!”

We’ve got to win the “war on words” before we’ll ever win the war on liberals. Right now, the very LANGUAGE is working against us. “Liberal” is to “socialist” as “Republican” is to “patriot”.

We’ve got to give those “red staters” a way to tell their neighbors “yeah, I voted for the liberal, and I’m proud of it” before we’ll make any gains in some areas.

In the mean time, we’re stuck with the population break down. Red states have inordinate control of the Senate. It’s not “fair”, but it’s “constitutional”. So the key isn’t stomping them, it’s winning them over from “the dark side”.

And trust me, buddy, I’m not thrilled with the Democrats’ performance, or the health care reform bill as it stands, my self.

But, and this comes from personal experience, it’s not reasonable to expect to undo 8 16 30 years of bad management in a year or two.

Here’s the way I see it. The Democrats are going to lose seats in 2010. Most of them will be in “blue dog” districts. It’s honestly hard to see beyond that, but if the Democrats prove they can EFFECTIVELY govern we could see some of those “blue dog” districts swing to “blue”, and elect actual “liberals”/”progressives” in a few years.

What we see as a “sell out”, now could be a game of chess with a LONG TERM strategy.

Or, we could be well and truly fucked. If we can’t swing the Democrats further left, the only alternative is to let the right wing win by joining the “government is dysfunctional” crowd.

Tell it to the Democrat-orchestrated smear campaign against Kucinich.

C’mon, Icy.

His record is what he’s ACCOMPLISHED, not what he wishes for.

I’m not discounting his effort to pull “the center” back toward the center, but is proposing legislation that no one believes will pass a “record of success”? Does it make him an “effective legislator”?

“I’m right and everyone else is wrong” doesn’t work when you need (at least) a majority to get anything done in this country.