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August 28, 2005
I'm on a hunt for the courage of their convictions
When the war's die-hard cheerleaders attacked the Middle East policy of a mother from Vacaville, Calif., instead of defending the president's policy in Iraq, it was definitive proof that there is little cogent defense left to be made. When the Democrats offered no alternative to either Mr. Bush's policy or Ms. Sheehan's plea for an immediate withdrawal, it was proof that they have no standing in the debate.Instead, two conservative Republicans - actually talking about Iraq instead of Ms. Sheehan, unlike the rest of their breed - stepped up to fill this enormous vacuum: Chuck Hagel and Henry Kissinger. Both pointedly invoked Vietnam, the war that forged their political careers. Their timing, like Ms. Sheehan's, was impeccable. Last week Mr. Bush started saying that the best way to honor the dead would be to "finish the task they gave their lives for" - a dangerous rationale that, as David Halberstam points out, was heard as early as 1963 in Vietnam, when American casualties in that fiasco were still inching toward 100.
To be fair, Wes Clark has offered a plan that's a reasonable start. But he's outside the power circle.
The Democrats alledged power brokers are twiddling their thumbs. There are only so many ways to finger point at the President without offering up a way to fix the mess.
I wish I knew how the Democrats devolved into such a rudderless heap of blathering goo. I don't know if it's the lack of cultivating the best and the brightest..or too many entrenched lazies. Maybe it's some of both.
The courage of conviction is sorely lacking in the party I usually vote for.
While the other side completely screws my beloved country sideways...they sit idly by. When one of them does finally have the courage to speak up (Howard Dean, I love you man) they are roundly criticized by the power brokers and punditocracy who are afraid of losing their grip on what they have left.
Liberals are not sheep. They don't walk in lock step and they can't be expected to stay on some sort of unified message. It really is antithetical to liberalism to do that, as far as I'm concerned. But our leaders on the left have to stop pussyfooting around. Stop worrying about what Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter and the Wall Street Journal will say. Nobody elected them and nobody wants them to lead this country.
Russ Feingold attempted a weak whisper of a stand earlier in the month. But he seems to have gone back into his hole.
The Democrats won't succeed until they stand for something more than just "Bush is wrong". Bush being wrong doesn't fix the power vacuum left in his wake.
Posted by Carla at August 28, 2005 08:20 AM