Liberal Street Fighter

Oh, those nasty voters … how dare they question their betters?

The Democratic majority was only three weeks old, but by Jan. 26, the grass-roots and Net-roots activists of the party’s left wing had already settled on their new enemy: Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.), the outspoken chair of the centrist New Democrat Coalition.

Progressive blogs — including two new ones, Ellen Tauscher Weekly and Dump Ellen Tauscher — were bashing her as a traitor to her party. A new liberal political action committee had just named her its “Worst Offender.” And in Tauscher’s East Bay district office that day in January, eight MoveOn.org activists were accusing her of helping President Bush send more troops to Iraq.

Tauscher is a serious corporate toady, a militarist, a Vichy Dem of the first order. Believe me, I find it strange to find myself agreeing with that fraud Kos on anything, (his and his allies’ feeble attempts to become the new power brokers are doomed to failure), even he is right about this particular target:

The anti-Tauscher backlash illustrates how the Democratic takeover has energized and emboldened the party’s liberal base, ratcheting up the pressure on the party’s moderates. That pressure is also reaching House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a San Francisco liberal who recognizes that moderate voters helped sweep Democrats into the majority. Pelosi has clashed with Tauscher in the past, but she’s now eager to hold together her diverse caucus and to avoid the mistakes of GOP leaders who routinely ignored their moderates.

So far, Pelosi and her leadership team seem determined to protect Tauscher and her 60 New Democrats — up from 47 before the election. In fact, the day after Working for Us, the new progressive political action committee, targeted Tauscher, Pelosi sought her out at a caucus meeting and assured her: “I’m not going to let this happen.” House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) spent 20 minutes complaining to Working for Us founder Steve Rosenthal, who swiftly removed the hit list of “Worst Offenders” from the group’s Web site.

Said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly: “We want to protect our incumbents. That’s what we’re about.”

Democratic leaders want their activists to focus on beating Republicans. But the grass roots and Net roots believe the political tide is shifting their way, and they can provide the money, ground troops and buzz to challenge Democratic incumbents they don’t like. MoveOn.org had two Bay Area chapters before the election; now it has 15, and they could all go to work against Tauscher in a primary. “Absolutely, we could take her out,” said Markos Moulitsas Zúniga — better known as Kos — the Bay Area blogger behind the influential Daily Kos site.

It’s politisches Beteiligtes über alles with the Donklephants … lets focus again on what matters to them:

“We want to protect our incumbents. That’s what we’re about.”

Do they care about an out-of-control Commander in Chief and a criminal war? How about the the increasing tensions in Afghanistan, Iran or the Persian Gulf … any chance Tauscher will do anything about them? Progressive/liberal values or the growing inequities in the US economy … are those priorities? How about social justice, our crumbling infrastructure, the threat of global warming, out-of-control corporations … do THOSE matter to the Donklephants who “represent” you? What IS important to them is protecting their corporate funders, NOT your concerns. Shame on you for thinking they should give a damn what you think.

Why are they going after Ellen Tauscher?

She has annoyed the left by supporting legislation to scale back the estate tax, tighten bankruptcy rules and promote free-trade agreements. She served as vice chair of the pro-business Democratic Leadership Council, which many liberal activists dismiss as a quasi-Republican K Street front group. And she voted to authorize the Iraq war, although she did so with caveats, and she was quick to express her displeasure with its execution.

But liberal groups such as the Children’s Defense Fund and the League of Conservation Voters give Tauscher impeccable report cards, while the National Rifle Association gives her straight F’s.

“It’s not just about her voting record,” said Bob Brigham of San Francisco, an activist who recently started the Ellen Tauscher Weekly.

The latest blog wars began simmering in December after Tauscher led a New Democrat delegation to meet with Bush about bipartisan cooperation, irritating the Net roots. They boiled after her former chief of staff, Katie Merrill, posted a scathing piece on a California Web site attacking the Net roots for attacking Tauscher. Outraged activists immediately began mobilizing for a fight in 2008. “I didn’t even know who Tauscher was 5 mins ago, but now I support a primary challenge against her,” one typical commenter replied.

Annoyed? ANNOYED?!!?!?!?!? Just her games on bankruptcy have earned her our scorn, here in a country where medical bills are one of the leading catalysts for declarations of bankruptcy, a legal remedy increasingly out-of-reach and more costly for struggling Americans, thanks to the corporate whoring of the likes of Rep. Tauscher. Protect the inheritances of the children of wealth, protect usurers, protect out-sourcing corporations, but screw the increasingly struggling middle class.

I’m not interested in the shilling by kos or his allied unions … and if you give a damn about changing the political direction of this country you MUST stay away from groups trying to replace the current corrupt and ineffective consultant and monied class with themselves. If folks like Tauscher fill you with disgust, give direct to truly independent challengers, not some amorphous “netroots” ponzi scheme. The important thing to oppose institutionalized cronyism is to break down those logjams, resist the demands to oppose one corruption with another. Real change comes from pressure, but pressure that comes only from a new corrupt influence group or groups will only continue the cycle. Perhaps pressure will force Tauscher and others like her to the left … but DON’T confine that pressure to corruptible institutions. Find some local independents, DON’T rely on the fake “netroots”.

Tauscher, Pelosi … the hacks running the party including Emmanuel and Hoyer … they don’t care about you. They like playing these games of tit-for-tat with the likes of Tauscher, where they can promise those with the most with some protection while promising “change” to the voters. Don’t fall for it … they don’t want change, they are cozy in the status quo, secure in their seat at the big shiny table. Change will only happen locally, and it will take time, and it will take focused outrage pushed over YEARS. Get used to that idea … that revolution and change will take years, and it won’t be delivered by scammers offering only a slight variation on the current schemes. Fight back, but fight local.