Sirota: Bowing down to those who undermine (DLC)

[Larkspur]

http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=53A402B3-BF3A-DC0C-98BEE51AC3AC76DB

More food for thought about the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and the future of the Democratic Party...Can you imagine if an organization existed that purported to speak for Republicans, yet whose entire premise undermining the conservative base of the Republican Party? Do you think GOP presidential candidates would be flocking to address that organization's meetings? The answer, of course, is no, they wouldn't - and you can bet the GOP leadership would crush that organization before it ever got off the ground. But on the Democratic side, the story is far different.

Democratic presidential contenders go suck up to the DLC, an organization whose for the last two decades has done everything it can to undermine the Democratic Party - even going to great lengths to attack Democratic presidential candidates it doesn't like. Then, hilariously, these same Democratic politicians who genuflect to the DLC claim to be shocked - shocked! - that the public has no idea what the Democratic Party stands for anymore.

Just look at this Knight-Ridder story detailing the agenda the DLC rolled out yesterday - it reads like Republican talking points:


- Topping the agenda wrote with former Clinton White House adviser Bruce Reed were several proposals on national security. "It's a toughness issue. We have to prove we're willing to pull the trigger," From said. In other words, the DLC argues that Democrats must show they are willing to indiscriminately bomb, kill and maim people in order to win elections, even though the public now fully opposes what we're doing in Iraq.

- The DLC wants to "allow military recruiters unrestricted access to college campuses." Again, the American people oppose what we are doing in Iraq, and the DLC's response is to push for more militarization and to push for more recruitment of young people to send them off to fight overseas in wars based on lies that the DLC helped justify.

- The DLC wants "to cut the federal budget deficit, they proposed cutting congressional and nondefense government staff by 10 percent." Cutting "nondefense" is a nice way of saying cutting things like health care, labor rights enforcement, housing, etc - cuts the GOP is already proposing. In other words, instead of talking about wasteful spending in Iraq, the DLC wants the budget debate to focus on plans to hack into the social progress that Democrats have fought for over the last fifty years.


And remember, this says nothing about the DLC's willingness to continually undermine every Democratic Party effort to make sure trade policy starts working for ordinary Americans.
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[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Excellent point there

"Can you imagine if an organization existed that purported to speak for Republicans, yet whose entire premise undermining the conservative base of the Republican Party? Do you think GOP presidential candidates would be flocking to address that organization's meetings? The answer, of course, is no, they wouldn't - and you can bet the GOP leadership would crush that organization before it ever got off the ground. But on the Democratic side, the story is far different."

The Republicanites are proud to be conservatives.

Why did the Democrats ever run away from the term "liberal"? It used to be a term of honor, and they allowed the Republicanites to turn it into an insult.

[Mass]

2. Thanks for posting that.

[xxqqqzme]

3. great post.

Lakoff pointed out in 'Elephant' you'll never see the rethug right moving 2 the left so why is the DLC recommending it?

The DLC's Progressive Policy Institute is what did it for me (tho it wasn't much of a push). The love affair w/ corporate America is disgusting.

Why did I not see any headlines about Howard Dean contributing 2 the DLC 'conversation'? Yea, that's what I thought.

[bvar22]

4. If FDR, JFK, and LBJ returned tomorrow....

They would RUN THE DLC out of the Democratic Party faster than Jesus ran the money changers out of the Temple!