Bipartisanship. "DADT might be sacrificed". Democrats eating their own. A GOP teabagger congressman outraged over not having government healthcare coverage from day one.
I have just about had it. Done. Over. Basta. Genug.
What, in heaven's holy name is going on here?
I cannot make any sense out of this. I mean, intellectually, of course I can. In an old world. Like, say, the 1980's. But today, none of this makes any sense.
It is clear to me that Republican talking points, going back at least to the 1930's, have finally won. Democrats are repeating them. The President is taking them seriously. It's disappointing. And I'll tell you why.
The other day, I went to the LBJ library here in Austin. There is a large wall there which displays all of the bills that went into the "Great Society". Hundreds of them, from the Voting Rights Act to Public Broadcasting and Head Start, Clean Cities, and all the rest. I stood there and took it all in. I nearly wept. This, I thought to myself--myself a beneficiary of Head Start in the early '70's--this is the next cornerstone in the New Deal. This, I thought to myself, is what makes us a civilized country. Medicare. Medicaid. A good start, a push in the right direction.
It would seem, however, that many--including many Democrats--are prepared to bargain this all away. Dismantle it. Compromise with a GOP who is on the record as having one goal: bringing down the President. The President who, it would seem, thinks that taking the high road means cooperating in his own demise.
Now don't get me wrong--I support the President. I just wish I knew what he thinks he has to gain by aiding those who have made it clear that their goal is to destroy his Presidency, his legacy, his party.
Barack Obama is far more savvy than I am, and perhaps, a year down the road, folks like me will look like a bunch of Chicken Littles. I certainly hope so. But for now, I wish to God I had an idea as to what, in general, my party is trying to do. To me. To you. To the country.
UPDATE: I had no idea that this was going to end up on the Rec List. However, I want to thank all of you for keeping the discourse here civil, and productive, and honest, and having the kind of conversation we Democrats ought to be having. Minus the vitriol. I have never been more proud to be a Kossack.
UPDATE No. 2: Thank you all. Keep up the dialogue. Please excuse me if I cannot keep up myself, but I will be here.
UPDATE No. 3: The diarist is going to bed. I'll respond to what I can respond to in the morning. Thank you all for the great conversation.