April 30, 2007
Clarity
In his piece entitled "The Worst Op-ed I've Read in a Long Time, Ezra Klein describes the stance of its author, Doug Shoen :
It's almost a parody of the pernicious Democratic consultant. There's no core convictions, no policy preferences, no belief in Democratic ideas, no thoughts about how to lead public opinion, a fetish for bipartisanship, a willingness to ignore the ongoing sins of the Republicans and abandon popular progressive legislation, and an attempt to convince the Democratic Party that it's actual position is weaker than it is and compromise must start now. That he's not backed up by the facts of the poll nor the facts of Medicare Part D don't stop him in the least. This is very genuinely one of the worst opinion pieces I've ever encountered.
It's beginning to sink in over here at Dakota. The problem is not simply the criminal behavior of the neoconservative administration. "Democrats" have a problem too, and it's not the problem described by Republicans either. Rather than compromising, aquiescing and pleasing, liberals need to take a stand, develop a vision, and follow the truth. It is unwise to compromise with criminals. We must confess, all of us here at Dakota succumbed to Bill Clinton's charm. He is so smart and so nice and so committed to dialectical thinking . Trouble is that he's been busy finding ways to integrate neoconservative crap into his world and gets coopted rather badly. The democratic "perniciousness" is better seen in Hillary, who, in our book, lacks warmth and exudes political ambition.
Speaking of which, the author of the article on healthcare that Ezra Klein reviewed was traced back by commenter Tony V.- "Doug Schoen: The Schoen in 'Penn, Schoen & Berland', where Penn is Mark Penn, HRC's leading public opinion adviser." Hmmm
I just hope everyone is busy getting their ducks in a row. Remember if Bush and Cheney go, Nancy P. as Speaker of the House is next in line-- then she'd be the incumbent in 2008.
Photo note: In line, out of focus
Posted by Dakota at April 30, 2007 07:02 AM