It's a grumpy day for the netroots. Nationally and locally. Seems the "McGovernites with modems" are some kind of pissed that the Democratic Congress had to cave on Iraq war funding.
While this latest twist in the Iraq debate gets a lot of headlines, it's hardly an isolated incident of netroots dreams not maturing into reality. The Democratic agenda is stalled; they can't even pass ethics reform, in the wake of the "corruption" issue some say helped vault them into the legislative majorities.
Some observers are again questioning whether the netroots are more bark than bite.
This reality is a far cry from what some local netrooters were touting after last November. In an "obvious post-election analysis" we were told:
The point is, voters recognized that there is no room in the Republican Party for any but wingnuts, the ideologues of questionable competence.
Another post crowing about Democratic gains described the scene thus:
Democrats have a plan to get this country back on track. The voters have trusted our party to govern, and that's exactly what Democrats intend to do. Govern wisely, fairly, carefully, and honestly.Today begins a new era in our country. Decades from now it will be remembered as a day when the cover of Republican darkness was broken.
Of course don't forget this supposed fact either:
The Democratic Party is the majority party now. The people have spoken. The voters have decided. Corrupt Republican one party rule of the United States is over. The conservative agenda is firmly repudiated. Voters have once again embraced progressive values - our finest traditional values.
Well then why can't you get anything done?
No need to answer that by the way. It's a rhetorical question. Republicans are all to familiar with the challenges posed by divided legislative and executive branches. Despite conservative gains in some respects from 1995-2000, those years of a Republican Congress battling Bill Clinton were littered with stymied legislative initiatives and a frustrated conservative base.
It's not clear the netroots as an entity really understand that basic level of civics. Take this example of Iraq-compromise venom from one of the heroes of the netroots movement, Keith Olbermann:
It's nearly eight minutes of high comedy to some viewers, probably best enjoyed with the beverage of one's choice in hand. If I was a Democratic Member of Congress I'd be exceptionally angry that this buffoon chooses to speak in such tones while displaying an almost comical lack of understanding of elections and government. But I'm not a Democratic Member of Congress so I found it really funny...and almost hoping this is the kind of communication the Democratic base wants to bring to the table in 2008.
UPDATE: 2nd to last paragraph edited for clarity.
UPDATE II: For what it's worth, Andrew over at NPI has a response. Not surprisingly, I don't find it convincing.
My biggest disagreement (among many) with the netroots on this issue is that many of them continue to confuse a Democratic majority with a progressive majority - while arguing against a hyperbolic version of the Republican party that exists more in their own minds than in reality. There's an obvious functional difference between "Democratic" and "progressive." They have the first but not the later. Moreover, even with if they hold that majority in 2008 and elect a Democratic President, it's difficult to envision an actual progressive majority like Andrew seems to crave.
On a related note, commenter "jimg" at #25 refers to this post at the Corner providing a revealing summation of the "accomplishments" of the Democratic Congress thus far.
Lastly, note to Andrew: when you post something commenting on content at another blog, try linking to the post you're discussing. It's good blogger etiquette. Don't tell me you don't know that.
Posted by Eric Earling at May 24, 2007 10:59 PM | Email ThisStill, I don't want to discourage Olbermann. The guy really is a sort of an idiot and most of what he says makes no logical sense, but that's a GOOD thing. The fractures in the Democrat (sic) Party run far deeper than those in the Republican Party, and only someone like Olbermann can really help make them as prominent as they can be. :-)
Posted by: pudge on May 24, 2007 11:47 PMPolitics is a complex blood sport in which losses are much more common then wins. Perhapse we should add up SP's wins and losses. My hunch is they are like every other stubborn, principled, and commited politico, mostly losses.
However that does not mean we should stop demanding our elected officials do what we want. That is the essence of representative democracy. You make your stand, take your lumps, and try again.
Posted by: Giffy on May 25, 2007 03:03 AMThe fact is, we were promised that the Democrats would "get things done"; they have so: Murtha has been given a pass for breaking House rules; Jefferson has been given a pass for corruption; Pelosi has gone to Syria to bow her knee. Yes, the Democrats have shown us how righteous they are.
But really, it's all about having lots of (D)s and not (R)s in Congress. That gives the leftists and nutroots lots of contentment, even if there's no one in charge.
And yes, the Democrats caved in. They picked a fight they couldn't win, and they had no backup plan.
Imagine a White House with John Kerry in charge and a Congress of Republicans. (Well, imagine a Congress of Republicans who are _Republicans_. I can dream.) John Kerry would have folded faster than a poker player with an 8-high mixed hand.
Unfortunately for the Democrats, Bush is still in office. I know this causes lots of emotional pain (and just for that, Bush should leave, because it's all about _FEELINGS_), but Bush will be around until January 2009. Maybe the Democrats need to learn that wishes aren't horses?
Posted by: steve miller on May 25, 2007 04:19 AMThey haven't defeated al quead and balanced the budget yet! Damn dems!!!
Posted by: observer on May 25, 2007 04:33 AMGosh I wish they could have already solved all the problems the lying chimp and the cons have created in the last 6 years. Them dems. Just can't get nuthin done!
America may never recover from Bush, and 6 years of con control.
Remember when we had a constitution?
I do.
Maybe you folks should watch some of those commercials all them generals have been making for the vets. You know, the ones where Bush actually uses something besides the military in iraq. Nawwww, that may lead to success or something, and his string of 1,000 wrong decisions in a row can not be broken!
Posted by: observer on May 25, 2007 04:52 AMAnd remember, the Constitution is just a G.D. piece of paper, according to Smirky McFlightsuit.
Posted by: Smudge on May 25, 2007 06:14 AMAccording to the leftists, the constitution is a living, breathing document. What the hell! That means that it can mean anything at anytime about whatever you want. That makes it just a piece of T.P.
Get your ignorant, sanctimonious, uneducated, self righteous, brain washed asses outa here.
Posted by: REBEL on May 25, 2007 06:30 AMReid and Pelosi even SAID this is what they were going to do: that they would pass a bill with benchmarks, and that in the end they would make sure the troops did not go unfunded. It was all for show, and everything happened exactly as the Dems planned it from the beginning.
But I am quite happy for the leftists to think the Dems caved!
Did you feel threatened?
Poor sissy man.
Note that most of this inaction has been entirely of their own making - vetoes not even needed!
Posted by: Edmonds Dan on May 25, 2007 08:18 AMWhy is it that there is a single-subject rule for things like our citizens' initiatives but bills get passed with all sorts of dissimilar items thrown in for the ride?
The way things are now, it encourages trading pork for votes and there's no way to hold your representatives accountable for their vote on a single issue.
Am I the only one crazy enough to be bothered by this?
The Congressional Ds were never elected according to any plan. They never had a plan. It was simply, "Hey. We're not the other guys."
Yet, the nutroots thought this was the dawn of a new day. Sorry, folks. Some of us remember the 40 years of control pre-1994, and none of this surprises us. If you're disappointed in how the Ds are acting, that's your own fault for thinking they'd be something other than what they've always been.
See, it's easy to stand on the sidelines and bitch about everything, but when you actually have to be responsible adults it's not so much fun now, is it.
I love it.
Posted by: jimg on May 25, 2007 09:29 AMI've always loved this. A partisan hack writing for Capitol Hill Blue makes something up out of whole cloth - oh, I'm sorry. An unnamed source in a private meeting that's never been confirmed, verified or anything remotely close to being an actual source - is printed and lapped up by those on the left as the Gospel Truth. Yet somehow the wingnuts are the sheeple.
Thing is, you sooooo want it to be true that you're willing to believe anything in order to make it so. Pathetic, really.
Posted by: jimg on May 25, 2007 09:35 AMBwahahahahah...the guy that wrote that is such a nobody that he had to post a piece telling everyone that he is actually somebody. This guy probably studied under Jason Blair.
Posted by: NW Denizen on May 25, 2007 09:53 AMI'm sure Pelosi and Co. had a list of what they could settle for. Bush matched those conditions so they passed the bill (much to the dismay of the far left). Tit for Tat...Bush gets to continue his war and teenagers and restaurant workers across the land get a pay raise.
is the moral of your story something along the lines of "you knew I was a snake when you picked me up?"...
spot on.
Posted by: John Galt on May 25, 2007 10:09 AMFrom the tax cuts, to Iraq and probably, soon, immigration -- Bush can move through DC like a genius. It makes the eggheads who criticize him look like dolts.
Posted by: John Bailo on May 25, 2007 10:21 AMThis is great if your in the minority can annoying if your in the majority. Thankfully we have had at least enough sense to realize that majorities are fleeting and have not sought to change this too much.
Posted by: Giffy on May 25, 2007 12:07 PMIt would be. If I were so willing to insult snakes. :)
Posted by: jimg on May 25, 2007 01:40 PMNow, I'm not one to think a D Congress doing nothing is a bad thing, but I find it highly entertaining that a lot of people were expecting the Second Coming and all they've gotten after five months is a big heaping pile of squadouche.
This is what they are trumpeting to the press today:
13 BILLS TO NAME FEDERAL PROPERTY & BUILD A ROAD
* H.R. 49 - To name the "Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Post Office Building"
* H.R. 335 - To name the "Gale W. McGee Post Office"
* H.R. 342 - To name the "Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr. United States Courthouse" [!!]
* H.R. 433 - To name the "Scipio A. Jones Post Office Building"
* H.R. 514 - To name the "Sergeant Lea Robert Mills Brooksville Aviation Branch Post Office"
* H.R. 521 - To name the "Lane Evans Post Office Building"
* H.R. 544 - To name the "Santiago E. Campos United States Courthouse"
* H.R. 577 - To name the "Sergeant Henry Ybarra III Post Office Building"
* H.R. 584 - To name the "Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building"
* H.R. 753 - To name the "Clifford Davis & Odell Horton Federal Building"
* H.R. 1129 - To build and maintain a road in St. Louis County, Missouri
* S.159 - To name the "Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area"
* S. 521 - To name the "Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building & United States Courthouse & Customhouse"
5 BILLS TO EXTEND PRE-EXISTING PUBLIC LAW OR PASSED LAST YEAR
* H.R. 137 - Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act (passed last year)
* H.R. 188 - To extend the Thomas Alva Edison Commemorative Coin Act
* H.R. 434 - To extend the Small Business Act and the Small business Investment Act of 1958
* H.R. 1003 - To extend the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy
* H.J. Res. 20 - Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution
8 BILLS CO-SPONSORED BY REPUBLICANS OR PASSED WITHOUT OPPOSITION
* H.R. 475 - House Page Board Revision Act
* H.R. 727 - Trauma Care Systems Planning & Development Act
* H.R. 742 - Antitrust Modernization Commission Extension Act
* H.R. 1130 - Judicial Disclosure Responsibility Act
* H.R. 1132 - National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act
* H.R. 1681 - American National Red Cross Governance Modernization Act
* S. 494 - NATO Freedom Consolidation Act
* S. 1002 - Older Americans Reauthorization Technical Corrections Act
Twenty six bills have been signed into law. The war funding bill that was carried by Republican votes will make 27.
Posted by: jimg on May 25, 2007 01:52 PM