Wednesday, November 03, 2021

Too Selfish And Too Stupid

Will Rogers once famously declared, "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat." Last night, the Democrats proved that they are still no organized political party. Dana Milbank writes:

Democrats in Congress had months to prove that they could legislate, to demonstrate that a government of the people, by the people and for the people could still function despite the creeping authoritarianism, the daily assaults on truth and the conspiracy-minded paranoia.

They let President Biden down. They let the country down. And on Tuesday night, Terry McAuliffe paid the price.

Virginia voters decided not to return him for a second nonconsecutive term as governor, instead electing Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin, who ran a Trump-inspired campaign of disinformation, conspiracy theories and race-baiting. It wasn’t terribly close. Republicans were leading the the lieutenant governor and attorney general races, too, and were within sight of a majority in the House of Delegates.

The Manchins and the Sinemas on the right side of the Democratic caucus and the Jayapals on the left must recognize that their carping over relative trifles has imperiled an agenda they (and their constituents) overwhelmingly support, and increased the likelihood that the people who brought us the Jan. 6 insurrection will be returned to power in next year’s midterms. The Manchins and the Sinemas and the Jayapals, by making the perfect the enemy of the (very) good, have handed an advantage to an illiberal faction that is stoking White nationalism.

There were other factors that determined the outcome:

This is not to deny other causes of McAuliffe’s defeat. It’s common for there to be a backlash against the party in power in off-year elections. The delta variant held back the economic rebound. Pandemic-induced disruptions have fueled inflation.

But Americans are beginning to see the Democrats as a do-nothing party. The problem is that they are willing to replace that party with an organized tyranny.

I went into teaching as an idealist. But, after seventy-four years, I've come to believe that we're too selfish and too stupid to save ourselves.

Image: AZ Quotes


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

One would think that politics 101 is to keep the bickering behind closed doors, work it out amongst themselves. We saw that here with the very public Wilson-Raybould Trudeau fight. Instead, they take it very public and show voters that they can't get anything done. Not to say that the Manchin/Synema gong show isn't deliberate sabotage, still someone in power, I don't maybe Chuck Schumer, needs to reel all of the folks in. Otherwise, a blood bath will ensue next November and then, all bets are off. I still say Trump will be completely unfit by 2024 by any measure, but if nothing else he's shown much smarter people how to win, ie tap into the most stupid of the stupid. BC Waterboy

Owen Gray said...

The road to power runs right through the stupid, waterboy.

Anonymous said...

Not sure I follow Milbank's argument here. The Democratic candidate for Virginia governor lost and somehow Dems in Congress are to blame? That's like blaming Wynne's loss on the federal Liberals!

Cap

The Disaffected Lib said...

Does the world really have to worry about the Americans again? When, how, does this nonsense end?

Yesterday's elections seem to portend real trouble for the Dems in next year's mid-terms. If the Republicans reclaim the Senate and tie up the House, Joe Biden will be a hostage in the White House while the Repugs paint Pennsylvania gold to prepare for the return of the Mango Mussolini in 2024.

These Democrat setbacks will only empower Trump's government in exile. With Merrick Garland on what resembles a work-to-rule pace at the DoJ, Trump's band of thieves could be able to run out the clock before they ever see the Greybar Hotel.

What I fear most is Trump mounting the steps of the White House, sharpie in hand, and dismantling every legislative initiative introduced by Biden, especially in the fight to avert climate catastrophe. His base are certainly stupid enough to back him on that.

Owen Gray said...

It appears that the Democrats are their own worst enemy, Mound.

Owen Gray said...

The problem is that, in the United States, all local politics has become national, Cap.

thwap said...

Dana Milbank is an establishment hack who works for multi-billionaire insane oligarch Jeff Bezos. This dreck is the sort of garbage he exists to produce.

For once, for the first time, "progressive" democrats are standing their ground and the Democratic leadership (Biden, Pelosi, Schumer) are HIDING BEHIND Manchin and Sinema, allowing them to obstruct Biden's supposed agenda, so that they can continue pretending they will serve the people instead of the oligarchs.

Milbank's role is to ensure that the blame for this is shared equally by the obstructionists Manchin and Sinema when it should be borne by that pair and Biden and the rest of the party leadership.

If Milbank could find some way to not blame Manchin and Sinema he would. Because he likes them. They're doing their job anyway. And they'll be taken care of. Their job is to be the bad guys. Just like once, long ago, right-wing Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln was the villain against Obama's "public option" and Obama and all the usual suspects cried crocodile tears about how if it wasn't for the nasty Blanche Lincoln the Whitehouse would be able to do all sorts of wonderful things for the US-American people.

But when progressives united around a primary alternative to Lincoln, the Obama Whitehouse put its support behind Lincoln. Schumer could threaten Manchin with losing his committee positions. They could threaten to primary the both of them. Biden could use the bully pulpit against them. They could hold a vote immediately and dare them to defy their president. But they haven't and they won't.

Biden Democrats are like Blairite Labour Party UK members. They would rather lose than betray their paymasters. This is a $1.5 trillion dollar bill, that will be paid for with tax increases on the super-rich. It's $1.5 trillion over TEN YEARS. They routinely spend $750 billion a year on "defense" without batting an eye.

Owen Gray said...

The progressives gave up a lot in the bill, thwap. And people like Manchin and Sinema have betrayed them. But they've also betrayed the voters who put them in office.

zoombats said...

"Stupid is as stupid does",to quote Forrest Gump. This is a rampant sickness with society and we have seen it all to often in this country, How did Trump ever get elected in the first place? How did we elect Ford despite all the warnings? The questionable reasoning of the masses are responsible here. How did the folks of Maine along with the coal and oil sector vote to squash a Hydro Quebec corridor with the promise of jobs and alternative energy on the the eve of of a global summit on climate crisis? The mind just boggles. "You can't fix stupid".

Owen Gray said...

I used to think you could fix stupid, zoombats. I was misinformed.

Trailblazer said...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/03/republicans-critical-race-theory-winning-electoral-issue

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/02/christ-church-idaho-theocracy-us-america

We have a plethora of information appertaining to the demise of the USA, some of it with glee but devoid of consequence.
Since the end of British imperialism no other country has earned the title, and scorn, of imperialist than the USA.

That said history dislikes a void!
The concept of a new China centred world does not look appealing, so what are the alternatives in a world where politics defy science/nature?

We cannot change nature therefore we must change politics as they are currently been practised.

TB


Trailblazer said...

You cannot fix stupid or nationalism!

TB

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/maine-vote-hydro-quebec-1.6233569

Owen Gray said...

I agree, TB. But despite the promises, I see no evidence of that happening.

Owen Gray said...

We seem to habitually choose the wrong path, TB.