The DLC serpent takes another bite of its own tail
I haven't commented on Joe Lieberman's most recent incident of gleefully joining in a Fox-sponsored Democrat-bashing fiesta, but here's the essence of it. No less a venomous hack than Sean Hannity has Lieberman on his show, and they indulge themselves in a n cringe-inducing lovefest. Hannity offers his endorsement of Dopey Joe, and Lieberman again stresses the importance of not picking on Bush (after all, he's not running for president again) and coming up with some actual policy ideas.
Note to Joe: Bush will still be president for the next three years, so rolling over and showing our bellies isn't really an option when he's trying to demolish all social programs in favor of a massive military buildup. And there are plenty of Democrats with great ideas-- it's just hard to be heard when the GOP runs the whole damn show and forces your party to hold non-sanctioned hearings in musty basement rooms.
No, what I'm actually writing about on this post is a similar incident of Democrat-bashing from the pages of The New Republic, which had otherwise shown some recent signs of waking up to the nightmare of life under the neo-fascists. If you recall the dust-up over McCain's rather pissy letter to Barack Obama, it was noteworthy for its rudeness, arrogance, and insulting tone. TNR, on the other hand, buys the line that "liberal bloggers" (yes, every last one of us) are nothing more than ideology-driven drones. Now that's the sort of insightful commentary that's led me to read the magazine for the last seven years....
This week, the Arizona Republican lashed out at Democratic Senator Barack Obama. Obama had told McCain that he would join a bipartisan group working to come up with a lobbying reform plan, then decided instead to back a proposal crafted by Senate Democratic leaders. "I'm embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble," McCain wrote to Obama.
The Republican's letter may have been intemperate, but McCain's desire for a bipartisan bill is hardly nefarious--indeed, it's the best hope of getting serious reform passed. But this fact--and the history of how the Abramoff scandal gained national prominence--seems completely lost on the blogosphere. A regular writer at the flagship liberal blog Daily Kos, for instance, quickly declared that "the real purpose of McCain's 'bipartisan' task force ... is to whitewash a purely Republican scandal." Is it really? That's peculiar, given that McCain's hearings into the Abramoff scandal were--as Obama himself put it--"instrumental in promoting public awareness" of Washington corruption. One can argue whether McCain pressed hard enough to expose the wrongdoing of congressional Republicans and figures like Grover Norquist. But it's fair to say that no politician has done more to drive the Abramoff story than John McCain. Don't try explaining that to the liberal bloggers. For them, good and evil are always reducible to D and R.
Oooooh, aren't we clever? Aside from an ex cathedra argument that McCain is the 'great white hope,' the magazine ignores McCain's recent appearance with the Senate's K-Street chief, Rick Santorum, to talk about reform. Which is like announcing a new task force, headed by me and Sonny Corleone, to tackle organized crime. And the piece doesn't actually provide evidence that McCain is doing much to fight corruption.
But what really galls me is that to many of us, what was so curious about McCain's letter is that he called an untainted Democrat-- who volunteered to work with him in a bi-partisan effort to clean up the House and Senate-- a liar and a fraud. With no apparent provocation. But TNR is too busy distancing itself from the party it purports to represent to quibble over such insignificant details. Who needs investigation or analysis when you've got snarky quips? Apparently it's enough to wag your finger and scold just to demonstrate your own DLC ideology.
Note to Joe: Bush will still be president for the next three years, so rolling over and showing our bellies isn't really an option when he's trying to demolish all social programs in favor of a massive military buildup. And there are plenty of Democrats with great ideas-- it's just hard to be heard when the GOP runs the whole damn show and forces your party to hold non-sanctioned hearings in musty basement rooms.
No, what I'm actually writing about on this post is a similar incident of Democrat-bashing from the pages of The New Republic, which had otherwise shown some recent signs of waking up to the nightmare of life under the neo-fascists. If you recall the dust-up over McCain's rather pissy letter to Barack Obama, it was noteworthy for its rudeness, arrogance, and insulting tone. TNR, on the other hand, buys the line that "liberal bloggers" (yes, every last one of us) are nothing more than ideology-driven drones. Now that's the sort of insightful commentary that's led me to read the magazine for the last seven years....
This week, the Arizona Republican lashed out at Democratic Senator Barack Obama. Obama had told McCain that he would join a bipartisan group working to come up with a lobbying reform plan, then decided instead to back a proposal crafted by Senate Democratic leaders. "I'm embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble," McCain wrote to Obama.
The Republican's letter may have been intemperate, but McCain's desire for a bipartisan bill is hardly nefarious--indeed, it's the best hope of getting serious reform passed. But this fact--and the history of how the Abramoff scandal gained national prominence--seems completely lost on the blogosphere. A regular writer at the flagship liberal blog Daily Kos, for instance, quickly declared that "the real purpose of McCain's 'bipartisan' task force ... is to whitewash a purely Republican scandal." Is it really? That's peculiar, given that McCain's hearings into the Abramoff scandal were--as Obama himself put it--"instrumental in promoting public awareness" of Washington corruption. One can argue whether McCain pressed hard enough to expose the wrongdoing of congressional Republicans and figures like Grover Norquist. But it's fair to say that no politician has done more to drive the Abramoff story than John McCain. Don't try explaining that to the liberal bloggers. For them, good and evil are always reducible to D and R.
Oooooh, aren't we clever? Aside from an ex cathedra argument that McCain is the 'great white hope,' the magazine ignores McCain's recent appearance with the Senate's K-Street chief, Rick Santorum, to talk about reform. Which is like announcing a new task force, headed by me and Sonny Corleone, to tackle organized crime. And the piece doesn't actually provide evidence that McCain is doing much to fight corruption.
But what really galls me is that to many of us, what was so curious about McCain's letter is that he called an untainted Democrat-- who volunteered to work with him in a bi-partisan effort to clean up the House and Senate-- a liar and a fraud. With no apparent provocation. But TNR is too busy distancing itself from the party it purports to represent to quibble over such insignificant details. Who needs investigation or analysis when you've got snarky quips? Apparently it's enough to wag your finger and scold just to demonstrate your own DLC ideology.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 8:18 PM
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