Don’t look down, Dems, but there’s blood on your hands, too
Published by punkass marc September 28th, 2006 in Politics, TortureScott Lefarkins posted a list of Senators voting for torture legalization and the end of our right to the Writ of Habeas Corpus. Only one Dem Senator voted for the bill*, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t sell us out.
Alternet has a great round-up of reactions to the news. My favorite comes from Booman:
The Dems have already agreed not to filibuster, hoping the Specter amendment might pass. This shameful cave-in will never be forgotten. Ever. We haven’t forgotten other blemishes on our history, like the Japanese internments, the Dred Scott case, or the resolution authorizing force in Iraq.
[...]
The Democrats didn’t prove they are strong on terrorism. They proved they are weak on human rights and defending the Constitution.
Someone in Scott’s comment’s pointed out that the Democrats are “Republicans Lite,” and I can’t disagree. Oh, sure, John Kerry and a few others lamented the passing of a few hundred years of rights protections with solemn speeches, but what did they do? Nothing. The fear of looking soft of terror has driven the party into total paralysis, and until we break them of it, things will not stop getting worse.
As I wrote Monday, no one will vote for the Democrats because of their foreign policy stances, and certainly not on terrorism. They have no hope of winning the bloodthirsty crowd. Yet Howard Dean and other party leaders continue to talk about one subject only: the War on Terror. Democrats are obsessed with pointing out how much the administration spends on the WoT/Iraq and how little they’ve accomplished. Even new Democratic challengers can’t seem to spew anything else. They offer no alternatives but feel tougher having said that they could’ve kicked more ass for a litle less scratch somehow, someway.
Unfortunately, all Republicans hear is someone trying to sound Republican, but with that twinge of insincerity in one’s voice that comes from not actually wanting to own Muslim oil slaves. There are no votes to be had from that crowd.
All the millions of disenchanted, non-voting, liberal-minded citizens hear are Charlie Brown teacher noises from a group no more likely to represent their real interests than the Republicans. As long as the Dems continue to suck in their guts and talk bully talk, none of those people will rush to the polls, either.
That leaves the Dems with what they already have, which is the group of pissed off people like me, who realize they’re our best available option in a bad situation, and their apologists who continue to enable the disintegration of their identity. And that hasn’t been good enough for some time.
Unless they rise up and provide genuine opposition, there will be no new votes to be had. That makes it nearly impossible to take back Congress or the White House. And that means the police state we just enabled will continue into the indeterminate future.
If you’re one of the Democrat apologists who says we shouldn’t disparage them before the midterms, or that they’re only dealing with the realities of the post 9/11 world, shame on you. You’re playing the same game they are. By trying to make short-term gains and avoid criticism from the right, you’re sacrificing your principles. By sacrificing yours, you make it easier for elected Democrats to sacrifice theirs. And that has led to the police state.
John Kerry struggled in large part because he voted for the war in Iraq. If he hadn’t, he could’ve gone on the offensive without compromise because he’d stuck to his principles. Instead he was forced to call it “the right war the wrong way,” and the flipflopper tag was applied. He deserved the scarlet ‘F,’ too, because he took the path of least resistance in the short term, only to have it backfire on him over the long haul. It’s a microcosm of the betrayal perpetrated by the entire party.
Apologists assume that Democratic criticisms from the left are defeatist or intended to push third party politics, but the sellouts have it backwards. We’re insisting that the party return to its recent roots of humanism and liberal social activism because it’s the party’s only hope of long term success. Those of you who make excuses for the present bed-wetting mentality are the ones sinking the ship, and I’m goddamned ready to throw you overboard.
*Update: In the final tally, 12 Dems wound up voting for this bill. Nice work, y’all.
13 Responses to “Don’t look down, Dems, but there’s blood on your hands, too”
- 1 Pingback on Sep 29th, 2006 at 7:31 am
Hear, hear!
Fuck.
There’s another issue at hand with the Democrats that bears mentioning, which explains the refusal to filibuster more than any desire to look “tough on terrorism”. After all, blocking this bill would feed into the “doing it the right way” narrative, so there’s something else going on here.
I think what’s going on is that if Congress does not pass this bill, Bush will continue his policies of secret prisons, suspension of habeaus corpus, and torture anyway.
This will cause a Constitutional crisis. Bush will be directing the military to action in complete disregard of the courts and Congress. It will be a military coup. If Bush disregards all rule of law and all checks on his power and basically overthrows the Congress, then what?
I think the Democrats in Congress are afraid to provoke a seize of power that is essentially a military coup, with alarming but real possibilities of Bush declaring himself a dictator, etc. I understand that fear. If I were them, I would be scared out of my mind to press a Constitutional crisis that could result in Bush seizing power.
That said, I think they need to push it. If not now, when? Better sooner than later.
jesus. i guess it’s possible, and i certainly wouldn’t put it past Bush in terms of intention; but does he really have the power to pull this sort of thing off at this point?
I don’t know if it makes me more cynical or more naive or both, but I’m inclined to chalk most of it up to, once again, path of least resistance.
anyway, yeah, every time they wait till next time to push it, it becomes increasingly difficult to do it “next time” or even ensure that there’ll -be- a “next time.”
the real problem isn’t so much what they’re doing now; it’s what they didn’t do last time and the time before and this time two years ago and that one four years ago and the other six years ago (and all the occasions in between) and oh, yeah: all the times they rolled over during the past administrations as well.
Amanda,
Yeah, I read that somewhere, too, but I think it’s too generous, sorry. Look at Kerry’s actions in 2003/4 and the actions of the entire party since 9/11 and you’ll see a consistent pattern. This current behavior fits the bill. The idea that they think they’re averting a Consitutional crisis doesn’t pass Occam’s razor and distracts us from the real work of changing the party NOW.
See a tongue-in-cheek visual of the Grand Opening of “Tortureland”…here:
http://www.thoughttheater.com
These are my options in November? The Fascist Party and the Milquetoast Party?
With all the bullshit that’s been going on for the last 6-years, I don’t know why, but this one is really killing me. I can’t believe these people are this craven and spineless.
I am the only one who is sickened?
Sorry, I’m so pissed I can’t type straight….
MikeEss,
It’s probably killing you because now they can suspend your rights and torture you until you kill yourself.
Marc, the problem is after I kill myself they’ll claim I was still fighting them using “asymmetric warfare”. No way to win…
I’m just sitting here trying to drink enough on an empty stomach to sleep through the night. I am still in shock…
Anyway, if anything this passing makes it MORE likely we’ll have a Constitutional Crisis somewhere down the road here. what happens when this goes to court?
unless of course the plan is never to challenge anything at all. hey, it’s worked out real well so far! we could TOTALLY avoid any Constitutional Crisis, like, ever, if we just all agree to ditch the stupid piece of crap altogether! ‘k?
the sad part is i bet i’m not even exaggerating.