This story (via Raw Story) is an icon for everything that is bad about the Democratic Party’s pampered, out of touch, DC based consultant class. It’s a modern version of Guess Whose Coming to Dinner without any of that film’s redeeming features:
Reception to be held at home of Democratic strategist
Conservative political strategist Mary Matalin will host a reception Tuesday night at her home in Alexandria to help augment the defense fund of indicted Cheney aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby according to an invitation read to RAW STORY.
[snip]
Matalin is married to Democratic strategist James Carville and formerly worked in the Office of the Vice President. It is not known whether Carville will be present at the event. Matalin was also a member of the White House Iraq Group.
Carville apparently has no issue with having his home used to help the man who outed CIA covert operative Valerie Wilson as retaliation for her husband’s expose of one of the many falsehoods employed by the Bush administration to invade Iraq. Why, Scooter’s just an old friend of the family, I can imagine him thinking. Why not let Mary help him out by throwing a Republican fundraiser for his defense fund at my home?
This is at the heart of my problem with the DLC crowd that currently holds sway over the Democratic Party. To them, politics is just a game to play, and win or lose, you still try to keep on good terms with your opponent. To the Republicans, politics is no game. It’s a fight to the death, and they’re willing to do anything it takes to kill off Democrats. Anything.
It’s time to stop playing nice. Time to stop being the kid who’s so scared of the playground bully he turns over all his lunch money each morning without even a fight. Time for the James Carvilles of the world to tell their wives “Not in my house. Take your begging bowl for your criminal friends someplace else.”
Or maybe it’s time for James Carville and company to stop making all the decisions for Democrats about their campaign strategy, what positions to take on the issues, and how to suck up to the corporate teat for fund raising. Time, in short, to kick the DLC consultant class to the curb.
Carville is occasionally amusing, but we’ll never see a sign on his wall that says “It’s the integrity, stupid.”
Also posted in ORANGE.
I got threatened with a recipe over there. And now I’m depressed. No one has ever come so close to calling me a troll until today.
This is sad. Carville reminds me of Guido the pimp’s advice to Joel in Risky Business – “Never, ever, fuck with another man’s livelihood.”
All of official Washington is making their living off of milking the rest of us. The entertainment value is outweighed by the dawning realization of taxation without representation.
Get Carville out of my life. Is he crazy?
pretty much my sentiments as well.
I mean, there’s tolerance of debate, a respect for both points of view – but if I were in such a position, I’d definitely draw the line at bringing the enemy camp into my home.
Yes – I think they do see it as a game. And it’s so not a game.
Well, don’t get so exercised about all of this. It’s just Mr. Carville’s ‘stock in trade’, politics and influence, you know, not to mention money. After all, that’s what his wife said about Ann Coulter’s bad-mouthing of the Jersey 9/11 widows, that’s her ‘stock in trade’, that is, what she does to rack in the bucks. Imagine the pillow talk between the Carvilles, all party gossip from both sides, but I have the impression that Mrs. Carville is a bit more determined to fight for her side than Mr. Carville is. A Democratic strategist: rather a mole in the Democratic Party. ‘Oh, Mrs. Carville’, Mr. Carville says, ‘you can tell your administration friends that the Democrats are not going to push the issue after I defended your point of view.’ What crap! Have Mr. and Mrs. Clinton been invited too? Mrs. Carville pushed a lot of PR to promote the Iraq invasion and occupation from the office of Mr. Cheney. She chose to go on TV to defend Ann Coulter and her grungy remarks.
I don’t necessarily like Carville especially, but you have to give him a bit of leeway on this one. It’s her house too.
That was my thought, too. When I saw –
Time for the James Carvilles of the world to tell their wives “Not in my house…
– I immediately thought “Oh, lordy, here come some pie…”
I guess I view things differently. If either my wife or I wanted to use our home for something the other one disagreed with we’d tell the other person “No way!”
My reaction was to “not in my house” which perhaps I misread as “not in MY house,” as opposed to “not in OUR house.
Sure, don’t throw him an anvil, throw him a party.
Maybe we need to redirect our attention. Maybe we should ask George Allen if he thinks it is OK for his campaign treasurer to defend a perjurer in a national security case.
I haven’t decided yet about how I feel about the Carville residence being used for the fundraiser. Hey, maybe it’s a subtle ninja move to bleed a few Republicans of their cash.
But I do know one thing. It is indeed long past time to kick the DLC and all like them to the curb. Until we can make their money irrelevant, either by removing the money from politics or coming up with some of our own, we are fighting an uphill battle at best but it’s a lot more likely that we’re just performing the labors of Sisyphus, pushing our candidates up the hill only to see them roll back down again as we watch, sigh, and go back to start pushing them back up again.