Woke up with a MAJOR hangover this morning. Was sitting in front of my computer last night till the wee hours, swilling vodka, and spewing rant all over the Alito threads.
I mean, let’s be clear. This was a BIG one, and we lost. And frankly, all the talk about well, we put up a good fight, it was a longshot anyway, hey we got 25 Senators to vote for a filibuster — it doesn’t get it for me. I long ago gave up on “moral” victories; there are no moral victories, only moral defeats.
And there is no satisfaction to be gained from them.
The even sadder thing about all this is that this was a winnable fight. With planning, with coordination, with discipline, with focus, with LEADERSHIP, we could have sent this right-wing radical back where he came from. A President who is recognized by the majority of the people of this country as an abject failure, nominates a judge whose views are soundly rejected by the majority of the people of this country, a judge who lied and obfuscated his way through his confirmation hearings, who will now proceed along with his radical right-wing cohorts on the bench to roll back decades of settled law and social justice, who will slap down ordinary citizens who have been wronged or hurt by corporations, who will provide any legal fig leaf to cover this administration’s totalitarian gonads, and our “leaders” in Washington failed — FAILED — to stop him.
Yeah, I have long since given up on expecting anything more from them, although I participated in the futility of phoning and emailing my Senators (at least MY two — Leahy and Jeffords — were among the 25). Yeah, I knew it was futile, but a part of me tried to believe — WANTED to believe — that maybe because this was so important, we might just pull off the miracle. No such luck. Knowing the outcome beforehand didn’t make the letdown when it happened any easier.
Hence the vodka-swilling.
But that was last night. Today comes the question of what do we do now. MSOC is fed up with the Dems and is planning to become an Independent. Boston Joe wants to start a third party.
Me?
I’m doing two things.
First, I plan to stay in the Democratic party. This is not MY party any more; hasn’t been for years in fact. It belongs right now to those jerks in DC. I’m gonna work to take it back from them. I’ve never in the past defined my political activism in strictly “party” or electoral terms. I still don’t, but the total failure of Dem establishment to put up even a minimum of a fight on something as important, as crucial as we have just been through, tells me I need to pay more attention.
Dean’s got it right; rebuild the party from the grassroots. Reshape the party into what it needs to be: a voice for the common people against the onslaught of corporate greed, a defender of social justice and a citizen’s right to be safe and secure in his or her home and possessions from the prying eyes of Big Brother government, an advocate for fiscal responsibility that fairly balances the spending priorities of the government and fairly apportions the burden for paying them, a strong defender of the security of our country and its citizens that recognizes that national security is more than macho posturing and military hardware.
I’m tired of those who keep trying to tell me that I have to dilute my principles to create a big tent. I’m all for a big tent, but you gotta pay the entry fee. I don’t need or want Ben Nelsons and Robert Byrds in MY Democratic Party.
That brings me to the second thing I plan to do. The thing I begrudgingly admire about the Repugs is that they enforce discipline on their members. Toe the line or there’s retribution. It’s time the Democrats did the same. I will remember yesterday’s vote. Every DINO who sold out their party, who sold out their country will be targeted. I will work my ass off to see every one of those traitors politically defeated. Maybe it won’t be this election cycle, but, as they say, revenge tastes best when served cold.
Payback’s a bitch. I’m gonna pay those traitors back, and take back MY party in the bargain.
I hope you’ll join me.