There is another factor -- besides the Republican Party – seldom mentioned as being the murderer’s accomplice of American politics (resulting in the full row of dominoes tumbling down). It is the weakness of the Democratic Party’s upper structure. Yes, the “elite” at the top with its a revolting habit of turning a deaf ear to progressives, unions, and the common grass-roots of the party is as culpable as the oligarch class in polluting American politics to Beijing-smothering levels.
What should have been an overwhelming successful Obama administration has been beset by a rightwing coup. Barack Obama is a very remarkable, marketable “product” whose presidency should have resulted in historic gains for the Democratic Party – comparable to the FDR shift. In real terms, his presidency has been tarnished by false, manufactured scandals—resulting in marathon losses at midterms which severely weakened his ability to govern. The attacks from the right should have been easily deflected, but weren’t. Why?
Hillary Clinton’s book, It Takes a Village, could be modified to depict the answer: “It Takes a Salesman”. Republicans hire the best wordsmiths, advertisement agents, and salesmen to pull the rug over America’s eyes while Democrats don’t. Apparently the DNC feels its chosen field of candidates is good enough.
Before going into battle, generals assess the field using the best intelligence available at the time. Same for political battles. And since America has become a never-ending political battleground, thanks mostly to Karl Rove, the field has to be assessed accurately in order to know what forces and how many will be required to win.
The Democratic Party in 2010 supposedly knew what it was up against and failed. They knew also in 2014 and failed. The excuse: “Democrats don’t vote in midterms” just doesn’t pass the smell test. If the enemy is known, with its brutal determination to destroy all opponents, plans should be drawn and implemented to counter the threat. Soldiers are deployed, weaponry positioned, and strategies executed. No distractions are allowed; all are focused on winning the war over an enemy determined to annihilate at any cost, an enemy pledged to break all rules to achieve victory.
Over the years, I’ve just got the sense that Democratic leaders are not fighters. They don’t assess the field correctly, first of all, but misread the objectives of the modern Republican Party. The GOP is not simply a “friendly competitor” anymore like it might have been back in the day. The partisan contest is not a junior high student council election. The Republican Party is aggressive, un-compromising, combative, war-hungry, self-righteous, hateful, fearful, and dangerous. And it fights dirty. Cheats, but isn’t ashamed of it. If America is ever fully taken over by the Republican Party (as it nearly is in 2015), move over Third Reich.
The treaty between Iran and the world powers is at risk of being killed by the Republican Party. The rightwing in this country hates the current president to the point of damaging the country and world if it means taking down the president. Hate for president trumps love of country.
But this all could have been averted in 2010 and 2014 if the DNC would have read the field accurately and acted accordingly. The base could have been rallied to vote in those years but wasn’t. It would be a far different world had party leaders done their damned jobs in Washington.
But Democratic Party leaders have the determination of a wet noodle. That makes them an accomplice to the murder of the USA. If the Iranian deal goes down (thanks to the Republican Senate), war is inevitable. And if war is inevitable, the use of nukes is inevitable. Do you see the dominoes here? Now, look at the map surrounding Iran. How simple to connect the dots. Mother Russia, Israel, and all the Sunni Arab states stand out. No deal equals war; war equals regional war – first stage; regional conflict equals world powers involvement; end of story.
Of course, fundamentalist want this to have a “happy ending”. But their interpretation of a “happy ending” is the fulfillment of the Apocalypse – which is their way of saying to the world, “We told you so”. For that reason, Christian Zionists push their Republican representatives to crush any peace deal. But since the Democratic Party leaders treated this whole episode like a friendly political contest and lost badly as a result, the far right will probably succeed in slaughtering the peace agreement before it can even be signed, and thus they will have succeeded in starting another war – potentially killing millions or the other “b” word.
Counting on re-aligned demographics to save the Democratic Party is no strategy at all. I’d be willing to guess Karl Rove is decades ahead of them in planning for a permanent Republican majority. Who needs demographics when gerrymandering and voter suppression are fully codified by Republican legislators? A license to steal and cheat is a ticket to win.
Why can’t people see?