More and more it seems like the Democratic Party is pushing itself closer to the edge. Sen. Dick Durbin’s comments on the Senate floor on Tuesday are just the latest example of this, and they are only symptomatic of the larger problem the Democrats have, which is their ridiculous penchant for spouting off ludicrous and offensive remarks. This problem isn’t a result of a lack of discipline either, but rather the public eruption of their own private feelings for this president and the Republican Party, which are feelings of unabashed and unapologetic hatred. The Democratic Party that once actually stood for something and pushed for what they believe in has now degenerated into a party motivated not by what they believe is best for the country but by how they can best stop and humiliate President Bush and Republicans. The fact that in their crusade to bring down the president and the GOP they are also bringing down the military and this country seems irrelevant to them, and they seem completely ignorant of the fact that the people they are hurting most are themselves. As President Richard Nixon said following his resignation, those you oppose or don’t like don’t win unless "you hate them, and then you destroy yourself." With each passing diatribe that a prominent Democrat undertakes the more they destroy their party and condemn it to only smaller minorities in the halls of congress and throughout the country. Unless someone emerges within the party to bring them back, back to the days where people like me could envision being a Democrat, they will destroy themselves.
Some Republicans might welcome this demise as well, for in their view the more the Democratic Party declines the more the Republican Party will grow. And in many ways they are correct. However this country is best served by having two viable political parties vying for public approval, providing competing ideas, visions, and alternatives. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out in today’s editorial, the Democratic Party’s decline has had adverse effects on Republicans as well, as evidenced by the lack of spending discipline by members in congress. Can anyone truly argue that if we Republicans had a viable competitor in the Democratic Party we would still indiscriminately spend the taxpayer’s money, especially if the Democrats were led by a Clinton-esque budget hawk who preaches the end of big government? Of course not. A weak and self-destructive Democratic Party might help us maintain and build our majorities in the halls of government, but it certainly doesn’t help our ability to govern effectively with those majorities.
In the end, the Democrats’ demise hurts everyone, and not just the Democrats themselves.
Hat Tip: From The Bleachers, WSJ Opinion Journal
UPDATE (12:55 P.M. 6/17/05): Tom Bevan of RealClearPolitics aptly addresses the absurdity and hypocrisy of Sen. Durbin's comments from earlier this week.
I agree with what you said.
ReplyDeleteIf you sincerely think that torturing suspected terrorists (before eventually setting them free because they aren't actually terrorists) is somehow going to rid the world of terrorism, you are sadly mistaken. That mentality is typical, and the ignorance of it has only served to create more terrorism and hatred for America around the world.
ReplyDeleteWhile we've been stuck in Iraq because of Bush's "misleading," Iran has become a real threat. The "mushroom cloud" rhetoric uselessly used to describe pre-war Iraq potentially applies to Iran. But alas, America's credibility is null in void and we will most likely have to go it alone should military action be required in Iran. A sad state.
And I see the Republican War on Nuance continues. Spare me the pathetic "He said Nazi" rhetoric. No one is talking about the actual servicemen at Gitmo. We're talking about the impervious Rumsfeld and Gonzales, who have sat by and watched American servicemen take the fall for the torture they instituted.
It is really sad that those of us who really care about the fact that young Americans are killed or injured everyday in Iraq have our efforts to get to the truth thwarted by pathetic semantics from conservatives who would defend Bush if he killed the family dog. Rather than focus on a serious question from Durbin taken completely out of context, why not ask some of your own representatives if disclosing the menu at Gitmo (two types of fruit!) somehow means there is no torture. Absurd. Just poor and absurd.
Talk about demise. You guys are in charge. The President's record-low approval rating and public disapproval of Congress has more to do with Republicans legislating against the middle class than anything Democrats have done. The only surprise has been the Democrats' inability to capitalize. But then, watching the Christian Right move your party to the edge of our flat earth doesn't require much of a counter-offensive.