[Mb-civic] Democratic Offerings

[Michael Butler]

    Democratic Offerings
    By Marc Ash
    t r u t h o u t | Perspective

    Tuesday 25 January 2005

    Newly arrived in this morning's mail we see a laundry list of
legislative proposals by Senate Democrats that they would like the public to
get behind. In fairness, they address squarely the public interest through
attention to preserving and improving programs such as Social Security,
Medicare, and Voting Reform, while their Republican counterparts either
ignore - or worse, attempt to ravage - these programs. So some support for
these Democratic efforts is in order.

    However, for an American public with its back against the wall, glancing
over one's shoulder might prove disconcerting, because the handwriting is
clearly there. While the Republicans are in possession of a stranglehold on
the legislative process, legislation crafted by Democratic lawmakers has
about as much chance of passing as the proverbial snowball in hell. In fact,
this writer has to wonder what purpose the authors of this legislation have
in mind other than a vain attempt at public relations.

    There are two main reasons that the Republican Party controls the entire
federal legislative process - war and a fundamental understanding of human
nature. The connection between war and Republican political fortunes looks
like an Olympic segment on synchronized swimming - they're joined not at the
hip but at the forehead. However, it's their understanding of human nature
that holds the whole thing together.

    Strong Stands

    The Republicans understand that if they stand shoulder-to-shoulder on
any issue defined in black-and-white terms, regardless of its merits, the
American people will support them. Conversely, the Democrats appear to have
ruled out both unity and clarity entirely. The Democrats must unify and
establish strong, clear positions to regain equal footing with the
Republicans. As the Bush administration has clearly demonstrated, a strong
stand on anything can go a long way, even a bad strong stand. Yes, the
Democrats could resort to the same base demagoguery and regain some
political currency, but lasting success at the grass-roots level, and more
importantly with the key independent voters, demands acts of conscience -
those wear like iron.

    Potent Ammunition

    The Democrats are scrambling for a way to engage their base. Yet they
turn their back on making principled stands on issues of great interest to
the public, seemingly as a matter of course. One recent example is the
nomination of Alberto Gonzalez to be Attorney General. Americans of all
political persuasions desperately need a voice in the Capitol on this
nomination. Gonzalez's only qualification is that he is George W. Bush's
personal attorney - in case any one had not noticed. However, far more
importantly, he drafted positions at Mr. Bush's behest in official support
of torture. His positions advocated breaking both international law and the
Geneva Conventions, resulting in Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, and the Navy SEAL
home invasions, just to name a few travesties that we know of.

    Naming a man with that track record to be the top Law Enforcer in
America is nothing short of Stalinesque. What is needed on this issue is a
strong stand. The Republicans have one (regardless of its merits); the
Democrats remain mute; the public chooses the only strong stand it sees.

    From the USA Patriot Act to the war in Iraq, from tax cuts to federally
sanctioned environmental profiteering, the Democrats refuse to engage their
base, while the Republicans play to their base on a primal fear level. The
list of issues the Democratic Party could make hay on is to drool over. They
have a stockpile of ammunition at hand that could allow them to run the
Republicans out of Washington entirely. They choose not to.

    I had a little league coach a long time ago who had more confidence in
me than I had in myself. He told me this: "You can't win the game if you
don't get in it."

 

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