SIROTA: Don't buy the "Democrats are powerless" myth

[yurbud]

Sirota mustered a tenth of the arguments he could have to support this, but he picked the strongest: Bush vigorously fought to change the debate, and even when he lost, he set the stage for later ''victories'' (for the wealthy not us).

The parallel example in the Senate is the Republicans willingness to use the filibuster continuously when they are in the minority, and the Democrats seeming unwillingness to use it EVER when they were in the same position. likewise, Senate Dems whining about being held hostage by the GOP also rings a little hollow since they refused to change the Senate rules on filibusters and holds when they had a chance.

They could have at least been more honest, done away with the filibuster, and then cast their ''me too'' votes with the GOP rather than pretend they disagree with them about anything other than cultural issues. Gay marriage and abortion rights will be cold comfort when they are enjoyed while living in a cardboard box.

According to the Washington Post, the president's advisors say the only "responsible" thing for the president to do is to "explore policies that have a chance of passage, rather than making a political statement." Translated into plain English from Washington-ese, this is the White House stating that the president will only consider job-related legislation that congressional Republicans already support, and that the president will not push a proposal that the GOP right now opposes. Hey, the administration is saying, the president is binded by the political reality of today's GOP intransigence -- and there's nothing he can do about that, other than work within that reality's confines.

Except, of course, there is something he can do. He can stop pretending to be an innocent bystander, and instead acknowledge what he really is -- an active participant, and likely the single most powerful one, in the political process. In Washington-ese, he can reject the notion that having "a chance of passage" is the opposite of "making a political statement" -- and realize that the two are complementary concepts. In short, like other legislatively successful presidents, he can use "political statements" as a means of changing the political reality, thus giving other legislative alternatives "a chance of passage."

What's that look like in practice? Well, something like George W. Bush -- one of the most legislatively successful presidents ever (this is a statement of truth: Bush did pass a boatload of legislation, even if I didn't agree with the substance of it). This was a president who, when faced with a political reality he didn't like, made "political statements" (that is, barnstormed the country making speeches, twisted congressional arms, exploited major news events, etc.) to change that reality.

The end result was the realization of events that weren't "politically possible" until his "political statements" made them so -- things like the Patriot Act, a preemptive war in Iraq, an unending occupation of Afghanistan, a massive bank bailout and insane budget-busting tax cuts for millionaires. Even Bush's initially failed effort to gut Social Security today looks like a key "political statement" that may have ultimately changed what has a "chance of passage," as both Democrats and Republicans now put Social Security cuts on the table.

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/democratic_party/index.html?story=/news/david_sirota/2011/08/15/powerless_democrats_fable">FULL TEXT

[Sherman A1]

1. What were the words of Will Rogers?

"I do not belong to an organized political party. I am a Democrat." Or something along those lines.

[The Wizard]

2. Elections don't matter

Everything that goes on in Congress is political theater. The wealthy elites have stacked the deck and are blatantly dealing from the bottom of that deck with a great big middle finger in our faces. Americans are too passive to effect the necessary change. Most are busy staring at big screen TVs, just like Orwell predicted in 1984. Welcome to America's zombification. Cheap labor conservatives have won their ultimate victory, slavery.

[jefferson_dem]

3. Much of what Sirota says is bullshit. Still, his overall message dovetails nicely...

with the coming White House strategy shift. http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/white-house-to-counter-leadership-drag-20110816?print=true

I wonder if Sirota will give credit when it's due or simply find something else to complain about.

[Pholus]

6. Yea it will be nice to see this guy actually FIGHT the 'thugs for once.

I would gladly welcome the President into the ranks of the Professional Left.

[Pholus]

7. Reading your article more

"If the president follows through on this new “get-tough” approach, it will be only after the pleadings of many outside Democratic strategists who have worried that repeated GOP attacks have combined with failed attempts at compromise to wound Obama politically."

And for which they were branded "the Professional Left," the irrelevant 15%'ers, and many other unhelpful names by some people posting to this very thread.

Oh well, better late to the party than never. Welcome aboard!

I'd hope for the "hippie punching" to stop, but I also see that the President still hopes to brand himself as the "only adult in the room" so I guess I'll keep a blocking arm in front of my face.

[yurbud]

8. progressives are waiting for things to cheer about with Obama

I was heartened by changes in the student loan program, and some aspects of health care reform.

Those good things though are often overshadowed by the bad, like STARTING with a deeply compromised position in negotiating with Republicans (and then giving most of that away) or worse, issues where he adopts GOP positions wholesale like the general shape of health care reform that was advocated by the Heritage Foundation, education reform that continues the emphasis on union busting, repetitive testing, and privatization, and a foreign policy that puts business interests ahead of democracy in the targeted countries or even the good of American workers here at home.

[Larkspur]

9. I listen to his radio show and yes, Sirota credits Obama when the

President does good things for those who are not Plutocrats or Plutocrat-a@@-kissers.

[xchrom]

4. recommend

[Kolesar]

5. unrec for paragraph 3 eom