They Think We're Stupid By: Mark W Adams

Thursday: 2 US Soldiers, 47 Iraqis Killed; 33 Iraqis Wounded

Okay, I'll try to "Respect the Dodd," but Greenwald has a point.

Every time Congressional Democrats failed this year to stop the Bush administration (i.e., every time they "tried"), the excuse they gave was that they "need 60 votes in the Senate" in order to get anything done. Each time Senate Republicans blocked Democratic legislation, the media helpfully explained not that Republicans were obstructing via filibuster, but rather that, in the Senate, there is a general "60-vote requirement" for everything.

It isn't just the Mukasey nomination, but damn near everything.

Okay, Congress finally overturned a Bush veto -- saving precious pork projects for the home team. But this isn't a matter of ignoring versus pandering to the "base" of the Democratic party. 95% of people who call themselves Democrats and a 60% majority of Republicans, along with 68% of Independents have absolutely HAD IT with this spoiled brat of a President in my all important Swing State of Ohio. Those numbers track nationally and Ohio traditionally polls more conservative than average.

You don't indulge a spoiled child when they throw a tantrum -- you ignore it, send him to his room or give him a time-out. If they're really out of control, you spank them. You certainly don't make excuses for him.

But that's what the Democrats, at least enough of them to make a mockery of the word discipline, always seem to do when going up against George W. Bush.

And what do they tell us, what excuses do they make? "The alternative is worse." Or, "The timing isn't right." Or most cowardly of all, "the GOP will use this against us in the next election."

I don't buy this whatsoever. We hate what Bush is doing, hate Congress even more for not stopping him, and yet they fear opposing him because, what? We'll hate them even more? Is that even possible? Could they be more cowardly?

I think the Democratic Party, at least the leadership, is suffering from decades of abuse at the hands of the GOP, who've made sport of abusing them. They're acting irrational, and against the public will (which will get them unelected faster than anything) because they're suffering from a collective post traumatic stress disorder.

Shake it off! Quit running scared. And just stop thinking that you can fool us. We're Democrats because we aren't dumb enough to believe what the GOP has been trying to bamboozle the public with for the last 40 years -- so we aren't buying your bullshit either.

But even more distressing is being smart enough to really know the Democrats are not cowards, and fully understand their motivation for risking the perpetuation of this myth:

The answer is simple: they're not poll-driven cowards; they're cynical electioneering manipulators. -- Spoons

Of all the ranting and raving I've seen on the Intertoobz, from the snarky to the in depth policy analysis -- and even the psycho/sociological examinations of right versus left, nobody has hit it out of the park with a out-of-the-box perception like ThereIsNoSpoon's take on the current political dynamics inside the Capital Building.

In fact, to act at all in such a way that would demonstrate they have real power, would be to take responsibility for the absolute mess this country is currently in--from housing troubles to currency collapses to global warming issues to foreign policy disasters to a host of other troubles.

On the other hand, to fan the flames of public resentment against the current holders of power for perceived wrongs is nothing short of electoral gold. Republicans were brilliant about doing this for years in their role as a minority opposition party: they would successfully trash Democrats while offering no coherent solutions of their own beyond a culture of "I've got mine; screw you." It was only when forced to actually attempt to govern that Republicans ended up sowing the seeds of their own demise.

An important and utterly perverse corollary of these two premises is that, so long as we have an unpopular Republican president and a Democratic legislature, the Executive must be seen as overwhelmingly powerful compared to the Legislative for Democrats to win. So long as the public believes that Bush is driving the train and the Democrats are itching but unable to get into the driver's seat, the public will be so angry by November 2008 that they will toss Bush and anyone associated with him out of the driver's seat and put Democrats in charge. Thus, so long as Democrats keep their eye on electoral victory rather than on their oath of office, Article I of the Constitution is doomed to near irrelevance if not extinction.

Hopefully, that's just in the short term. Frankly, it makes me want to start from scratch. But if it works -- and the reelection of Bush in '04 suggests it is -- then the Republicans are right: We are stupid.

And as long as the Versailles Press goes along with the program, most of America will be none the wiser.