David Gergen thinks the country is adrift -- not so, it's being pushed

[donsu]

and shoved into destruction by the bushmilhousegang.

this was the opening question on Wash. Journal this a.m. Gergen's today article saying the country is adrift and dems. don't know what to do about it.

guess that's the theme this wk. dems. don't know what to do.

did someone pay Gergen to write the drivel?

[gratuitous]

1. Dems don't know what to do about it?

Did Gergen have some suggestions, or have the Democrats suddenly seized power in Washington and nobody told the rest of the country?

Wanker.

[BlueJazz]

7. Yep..How true....I ripped my neighbor one day when he was bitching..

..about how the Democrats have not tried to "Set the country straight"

I told him: "Christ..Paul..You and people like you, have elected all Republicans,
taken away ALL the power from the Dem's and now you whine because the same Democrats
can't DO anything??" ..Give me a Break..

[saltpoint]

2. Gergen has never been accused of pro-Democratic sympathies.

He sounds "moderate" next to the mouthfoamers on the Far Right, but his Beltway polish masks a deep Reagan conservative.

We'll see if voters nationwide aren't a bit more open-minded about Democratic candidates in November.

[MADem]

12. He's a republican, but he's more mushy-middle than the

true believers. He's almost like a New England Republican in his views. In other words, he's generally tolerable, compared to the nuts in charge nowadays.

But he isn't stupid, either--he probably wants to make a few bucks doing campaign work in the run-up to 08, and the Democrats aren't gonna hire him. So he has to do the "reasonable middle" act on TV, so he can get on the staff of McCain, Allen, Romney, who the hell knows, and make himself some triangulating cash.

[saltpoint]

14. That sounds like a terrific analysis, MADem. Spot-on.

I could definitely see Gergen signing on with one of the big-name GOP contenders.

[MADem]

16. Well, we sometimes look at these clowns like they are larger than they

actually are. But the truth of it all is, they smell after long plane flights, they get tired and cranky and sometimes say dumb things, they can get spinach caught in their teeth or drink too much, they fart like the rest of us, and they are always looking for payday, like everyone. They just have a little corner of the national stage, unlike us, and they use it not only to press their views, but also to line their pockets!

[Zen Democrat]

3. The messages are confusing here ....

Most of us in blogworld are very aware that the national Democrats are fuzzy, timid, and make every effort to march with the administration in a "Bush Light" position.

Our heroes -- Murtha, Feingold, Conyers, Boxer, et al., are not embraced by the Democratic leadership. There is sniping at Howard Dean from congressional Democrats.

How then, can you not accept that the Democrats don't know what to do? It's all in the definition of "Democrats". If he's talking in terms of the bulk of congressional Democrats and the DLC infrastructure, I think he's exactly right.

Lieberman's predicament in Connecticut may make the way forward a bit more clear for some of these establishment Democrats. Let's hope so.

[AX10]

8. Rumor has it that establishment mule Rahm Emanuel wants to be speaker.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2637832

God forbid that happens.

[MADem]

13. Too NEW, imo

Not enough history in the trenches. I'd rather see Steny Hoyer in the job than him. But I like Pelosi, because she's waited for it, or if she goes home or steps aside, John Conyers, who has also earned a shot at it--it's past time that bullshit glass ceiling was cracked, anyhow.

[AX10]

15. I hope you are right. I prefer to see Pelosi as speaker.

I do NOT want an estabishment mule in charge of the party. If not Pelosi for Speaker, I'd like to see John Murtha.

[MADem]

20. Murtha is way too old, plus, he enjoys his role in his committee

assignments. The sheer administrative duties of a Speaker aren't for him, even though the staff and perks are pretty good. He wouldn't be able to amble over to the Pentagon, or over to the assorted Flag/General quarters for quiet little dinners and frank discussion. It's a job you have to get into while you are still fairly vigorous...you can 'age' into it, like McCormack and O'Neill, because your staff is always good and gets better with time, but to come in at Murtha's age, and with his blunt temperament, it wouldn't fly. He'd be miserable, the rank and file might get shirty, the whip would have to be working like a dog.

He's hugely respected, a superb representative in every respect, but he doesn't have the necessary combination of tact and charm to go with his open and direct nature. He's also a bit of a conservative, and he is a bit set in his ways. Brave fellah, though. No question.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Gergen Is One Of The Few Accurate Pundits

He's the rare Repugnican who still has credibility and for that sin, he's been banished to Harvard and the GOOP wilderness. This man has gone against the CW and he's right in saying the Democrats are adrift...because they are. Time to get heads out of the sand here. Just look at all the flaming on this site and the constant labeling of whose a "DINO" since they said something that pooped in someone's cornflakes.

There still is no national Democratic party platform...all candidates remain on their own. There's Begala taking shots at Dean whose not playing nice with Emanuel who is trying to one-up Schummer and the "net roots" who have their own world now. There are circular firing squads that Gergen points to that are not made up by the corporate media...they're real and if Democrats do win seats in the House this fall...at this point...it will be in spite of itself, not because the party united and stood together. The biggest salvation at this point is the Repugnicans have even bigger circular firing squads and have lots of old scores to settle.

[donsu]

9. he didn't say dems were adrift, he said the country was adrift

that's a big difference.

[KharmaTrain]

10. It Refers To Both

Read closely. The country is split...and its cutting across party lines and each party is hunkering down trying to keep up with rapidly changing situations. Both parties are very much in reaction as opposed to action mode...reacting to events rather than leading. This is what Gergen's refering to...and the fact the Democrats are weak...with no real power inside Washington and has put up such a poor opposition is being recognized as a problem.

I recently did a canvas in a "purple" area and I'm hearing and seeing this. People are upset at a myriad of issues and they blame "government"...they don't differentiate party. In many cases when you try to point to it as being a "Republican" problem, even the moderate Democrats and Independents I run into feel Democrats are just as culpable...Repugnicans are still in denial-land...adrift it their own incestual game of whose a "true conservative" and who isn't.

There's a general disgust with all things Washington out there...Democrats expecting to win because they're not Repugnicans and not showing a plan...some type of leadership...an ability to at least stop the bleeding...is doing so at one's peril.

Peace...

[pretzel4gore]

17. america is so severely damaged

maybe the dems see no great impetus to step up to the plate: the pigmedia still repaints everything before it's shown to the cud chewers - who sense the trouble but just can't finger it.
Maybe this is going on: Public service is the ideal, in the case of the Democrats heartfelt but in the gopig's case, probably just sham behind which to ripoff the very public served! lol. The problem is the pigmedia demonises and mocks the Democrats so much it's expected normal, all while abetting the repub thieves and liars! No matter how angry Democrats feel, no matter how driven to serve the public, the public's complacency about the bald faced lies and naked contempt for them by the gopigs and their mediawhore media says the public just aint worth ruining a career for; just aint worth dying for, or even killing for....iow the republican'ts have taken an entity loved and worth any misery to be a service to (america) and have somehow turned it into a really lazy stupid overfed bullyboy who probably deserves everything it's going to get(?)
especially since the public isn't exerting the least effort to defend itself beyond cheering on its enemy....
The democrats are down the list of parties whose motives should be looked hard at.
1) the bush admin, especially bush himself and the bush family eating empire
2) the republican'ts aka the gopigs
3) and most pertinent regards the democratic opposition party: the pigmedia aka the 'msm' ...these guys dictate not only what the mass of people think, but they tell them what they think they think they think they think, regardless of what the public really thinks! proof? exit polls said gore won in 2k, and kerry was ahead in 2k4 - but pigmedia only utilises poll results when they serve bush and his criminal administration

[Captain Hilts]

5. Reps control all branches of govt. what are Dems to do until Nov.? nt

[Toots]

6. If Dems did know what to do they would be in Power and it wouldn't be

:shrug: Maybe they will get lucky and the people will be so unhappy they will vote for them as last resort. I am not confident even with the ill will being expressed against the Republicans that Democrats will win any seats. What is that percentage again of how many incumbents get "re-elected"? Especially after ten years of GOP Gerrymandering. I hope but have no confidence.

[grasswire]

11. you are perpetuating the RNC's propaganda

Howard Dean has been very clear in articulating the priorities of the Democratic Party.

It's just that the press likes to talk about Howard Dean and whether or not he is spending too much money rather than talk about the very specific goals the party has.

And so the Republican National Committee has deployed a strategy of talking down the Democratic Party. It's "without a plan" and "doesn't know what to do" and on and on and on.

Stop helping Republicans defeat Dems. Educate yourself on the five specific goals of the Democratic Party so that you can articulate them in every situation.

Help Democrats by a mouth-to-mouth campaign of knocking down the "adrift" propaganda.

[Toots]

19. I agree with you but I was just stating what I consider to be a fact

Not a pleasent fact but a fact just the same. If Democrats knew what to do they would not have been losing seats for the last decade. They have been overwhelmed by propaganda and do not know how to cope effectivly. Any bets on whether Reid apologizes to Republicans for his recent remark about their pushing English being official language as being based on racism? When "Christians" preach the exact opposite of what Christ preaches and no one asks for explanations shows me they don't know how to cope. There are literally hundreds of examples of hypocrisy available to be used against the GOP but little or no effort is made to find and exploit those examples. Like I say I have great hope but no confidence at all.

[grasswire]

21. okay, that's two different things

1. Democrats have no plan (generally perceived as a failure of policy).

2. Democrats have no plan to effectively oppose Republicans (a political failing).

I agree with the second. I do not agree with the first.

Unfortunately, the phrase "Democrats have no plan" is used by the Republicans AND the MSM to mean that Democrats are unable to solve the problems the country faces.

I'm glad you raised the opportunity to recognize this distinction.

[Dudley_DUright]

18. Here is Gergen's article from USNews

The Danger of Drift by David Gergen

As Hurricane Katrina built up in the Atlantic last year, swept across Florida, then gathered force in the Gulf, many realized that this was the big one they had expected for years--yet when the storm struck, the country wasn't ready. Our political leadership had failed us. Even now, with a new storm season approaching, the Gulf region is still not ready.

Sadly, Katrina has become a metaphor for the nation, a symbol of what can happen when challenges to our well-being gain force, and we fail to address them. At few times in our history has that metaphor been more important than today, because a series of gathering storms--different from Katrina, yet more menacing--is now heading our way.

Washington once again is more obsessed with the politics of the moment than the long term. The decline and fall of the Bush administration is the topic du jour. Around the president, aides are diving into history books to see what lessons they can learn and scrambling to come up with stopgap measures to revive his fortunes. But the overriding issue isn't whether George W. Bush can climb back 5 or 10 points or who will win more congressional seats this fall. The real issue is whether we will drift through nearly three years with a president wounded, a Congress divided, and a public disillusioned. A thousand days as a leaderless nation would leave us almost defenseless against dangers bearing down upon us.

Most Americans know this in their bones. Traveling the country, one meets growing numbers deeply anxious about the future. And it's not just Iraq, gas prices, and immigration. What it is is the yawning gap between the many long-term problems we face and the inability of our leadership class to fix them. Just what are these "gathering storms"? Everyone has a different list. But there are five big ones on nearly all--storms that have been building for years.

more...

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060529/29gergen.htm

Personally David, I would say we not drifting, but are on greased skids to Hell thanks to republican ideology and incompetence.

[faithnotgreed]

23. thank you for posting the actual article

thats the only way to get the real story (no matter the topic)

drifting is a ridiculous understatement but at least he started off with a bit of truth about katrina

[mmonk]

22. Not adrift, calculatedly changed.