There Is No "Anti-War Left" By: Mark W Adams

There is only a fringe Pro-War Right.

• 70% disapprove of Bush's handling of the war in Iraq.
• 57% are unhappy with Congress's impotent attempts to change the course in Iraq.
• 53% believe we never should have been there in the first place.
• 72% want us out within two years, with 49% unwilling to wait even a year.
• 68% think we should decrease troop numbers or remove all our troops.
• 50% want troop levels to be less than pre-surge levels by next summer, only 7% think we need more.

The numbers, obviously, are on our side. So why the spinelessness? I heard progressive talker Ed Schultz say that Tom Daschle wouldn't have allowed the democrats to be pushed around like Harry Reid does. I don't buy that for a minute. Reid has been tougher on a lot of things than Daschle ever dreamed.

One of the reasons MoveOn.org was singled out for special tut-tuting by the Senate last week is because they, as well as the rest of the progressive netroots, are perceived as no where near as powerful and influential as the likes of Rush Limbaugh, or even Ann Coulter. MoveOn made a choice to throw poo rather than act like the establishment and try to represent all liberal/democrats. That, after all is your elected representative's job. You can vote your agreement or displeasure with your wallet.

Congressional Democrats may be seen as wimps, and go out of their way to perpetuate this myth. But what does it add to the narrative when the wimps aren't afraid of us online activists? Indeed, they seem more afraid of conservatives accusing them of being beholden or intimidated by us than exposing their cowardice for all to see when intimidated by the right. They don't really care what we think and want us to just shut up, vote for them and send an occasional check. One thing they don't want is our advice.

Simple-minded and stupid sells, at least to those who don't, won't or can't pay attention. Sound-byte politics is all they get, all they can really stomach, and it's all the better when it's funny. Say what you want, but Limbaugh and Coulter are entertainers first. They don't really try to hide their sick ideology, but they do try to make it clever. They go for the cheap laugh and it works. It stays in your head. Comedy endures.

Going for Teh Funny is why Hillary calling Dick Cheney, Darth Vader is more effective a weeks worth of full page ads in the Times. In that spirit, I'd like to see more of this, please:

"You don’t fatten a pig by weighing it more often."
John Edwards on NCLB

Democrats. We're smarter, better looking, and doggone it, people like us. At least they want to.