Raising the Gates

Big Tent Democrat over at Talk Left spreads it thick and well-deserved on Kos and his krew, using a poster's analysis of the current "approved truth" about Iraq to point out the self-defeating nonsense they're spewing at the mega-site. "You say, at one point: Just the numbers aren't on the side of those who wish to end the war. That's your problem right there. You see that as a conclusion instead of as a starting point. You see it as an answer, not a question.That the votes aren't there right now is not relevant to the conversation. What matters is how we get those votes." And this: "That is what is so utterly maddening about the approach you and a small minority take here - you're not engaging in smart politics. You need to be seeking how to make people change their mind. The conversation must be about "what should be done" - because really, anything can be done. It's wrong to start from a premise that is inherently self-limiting. Whatever comes out of the House, and what is looking like will come out is simply awful even if untouched afterwards, will be watered down even more. This is the beginning of the compromises, NOT the end."

Exactly right. Leadership and progress depend on clear and resolutely pursued vision toward better conditions for more people, not starting your politics and negotiations already giving away what you’re willing to as if that doesn’t become the starting point for the real game. The Dems want to be the party of “where people are and can see right now,” hoping not to offend or challenge in order to squeak out votes to keep them and their largess in office. What do you think Bobby Kennedy would think right now about a party so determined to ignore his quote of Shaw: “Some see things as they are and ask ‘why?’ I see things that never were and ask ‘Why not?’”

You can count the heirs to RFK on one hand these days. What a moronic and corrupt political party. Congrats, Kos and Armstrong and your tech savvy and politics stupid Kommandante Korps. Forget crashing the gate. You are the gate.