It has been said that politicians will say anything to get elected. This is only partially true. Always an intellectual leap ahead, we Democratic voters know this and have the uncanny, almost innate, but certainly ingrained ability to know why our favored candidate or representative triangulates the straight and narrow, as we process-hip individuals are acutely aware of the strategy behind the language on an issue by issue basis.
Our self-confidence observes bittersweetly the naiveté of our disillusioned Democratic brothers & sisters who seem to forget the same hard-earned lessons - every single election cycle. And in spite of its being the most important we are likely to experience in our lifetimes, 2012 is no different in that sense.
Some of you feel betrayed by Bo Rama, while others of you blame an uncooperative Democratic congress for his inability to use what frustratingly little power he has to enact the change that we all believe in. Don't let your faith be shaken. And don't fall prey to the Republican dirty tricks which lead to this political infighting.
To take a recent example, the Senate seems hellbent on granting the American military the right to arrest and detain indefinitely and without due-process American citizens within the US whom they have reason to suspect might be members of a terrorist organization. I understand the unease this stirs within our ranks: It appears so extreme as to be some kind of Orwellian fever fantasy.
But one should not forget that the reasonable concerns about domestic tyranny during the last administration changed with the last election insofar as holding fast to those concerns post-2008 would seem to make you a paranoid extremist. And none of us wants to be one of those. So I urge calm. See this for what it really is: A process.
As 2012 approaches and the GOP primaries commence in earnest (as if that were even possible), it is paramount that we outflank them on issues of foreign policy and national security. So the Democratic sponsors of this bill are forced to appear all for its most draconian elements, while those working hard to amend it are able to do so because of their more consistently liberal constituencies. I know: it's so logical that you forget these things sometimes.
And just look a what an ingenious tactician Bo Rama is on this issue: His forceful veto threat conveys strength, but he bases it not on our shared progressive values perennially vulnerable to right-wing attacks; he doesn't root his opposition in his function as protector of the Bill of Rights or some other wing-nutter boilerplate, but instead in the reasoning that it would undermine his fight against terrorism, another neo-con talking point. This is his tongue-in-cheek wink to you who understand the context. How brilliant is that!?
That he's been able to maintain inherited policies, going so far as to couch his moves in their language, should serve as a signal that he is ensuring his victory by securing the votes of those too stupid to know the difference. Don't relent in your unfettered support, or his sagacious efforts on your behalf will have been in vain. And it'll be your fault.
Our self-confidence observes bittersweetly the naiveté of our disillusioned Democratic brothers & sisters who seem to forget the same hard-earned lessons - every single election cycle. And in spite of its being the most important we are likely to experience in our lifetimes, 2012 is no different in that sense.
Some of you feel betrayed by Bo Rama, while others of you blame an uncooperative Democratic congress for his inability to use what frustratingly little power he has to enact the change that we all believe in. Don't let your faith be shaken. And don't fall prey to the Republican dirty tricks which lead to this political infighting.
To take a recent example, the Senate seems hellbent on granting the American military the right to arrest and detain indefinitely and without due-process American citizens within the US whom they have reason to suspect might be members of a terrorist organization. I understand the unease this stirs within our ranks: It appears so extreme as to be some kind of Orwellian fever fantasy.
But one should not forget that the reasonable concerns about domestic tyranny during the last administration changed with the last election insofar as holding fast to those concerns post-2008 would seem to make you a paranoid extremist. And none of us wants to be one of those. So I urge calm. See this for what it really is: A process.
As 2012 approaches and the GOP primaries commence in earnest (as if that were even possible), it is paramount that we outflank them on issues of foreign policy and national security. So the Democratic sponsors of this bill are forced to appear all for its most draconian elements, while those working hard to amend it are able to do so because of their more consistently liberal constituencies. I know: it's so logical that you forget these things sometimes.
And just look a what an ingenious tactician Bo Rama is on this issue: His forceful veto threat conveys strength, but he bases it not on our shared progressive values perennially vulnerable to right-wing attacks; he doesn't root his opposition in his function as protector of the Bill of Rights or some other wing-nutter boilerplate, but instead in the reasoning that it would undermine his fight against terrorism, another neo-con talking point. This is his tongue-in-cheek wink to you who understand the context. How brilliant is that!?
That he's been able to maintain inherited policies, going so far as to couch his moves in their language, should serve as a signal that he is ensuring his victory by securing the votes of those too stupid to know the difference. Don't relent in your unfettered support, or his sagacious efforts on your behalf will have been in vain. And it'll be your fault.
Dem Serenity Pledge
Grant me serenity to bend to the things I cannot change, the courage to fine-tune the change that I used to believe in, and the wisdom to leave it up to those who know better than I do to get us to wherever the hell it is we're going.
