Alito will be confirmed with barely a whimper of protest from the Democrats. You didn’t expect otherwise, did you? The disconnect between D.C. Democrats and the rank and file becomes more obvious every day.
The Daou Report blogged yesterday about this, calling it “The (Broken) Triangle: Progressive bloggers in the wilderness.”
This, then, is the reality: progressive bloggers and online activists – positioned on the front lines of a cold civil war – face a thankless and daunting task: battle the Bush administration and its legions of online and offline apologists, battle the so-called “liberal” media and its tireless weaving of pro-GOP narratives, battle the ineffectual Democratic leadership, and battle the demoralization and frustration that comes with a long, steep uphill struggle.Forming a triangle of blogs, media, and the political establishment is an essential step … Simply put, without the participation of the media and the political establishment, the netroots alone cannot generate the critical mass necessary to alter or create conventional wisdom.
This is an intelligent, thoughful piece, however I do not share his pessimism. That’s probably because I’m a ‘radical’ and long ago realized the country is run by a small elite who care little for anyone else. That many others now are also realizing this is real and genuine progress, signs of major change happening in the country. When enough people realize this, then act on it, the corrupt inbred power structure will collapse. It’s happened before in history, it will happen again.
Is it that D.C. Democrats are inept? Well, partly. But’s that hardly explains their craven refusal to confront the neocons. The truth is, they’re all part of the wealthy cabal that runs the country, and except for a few social issues, there’s little difference between the parties. They both supported the Iraq War, are actively trying to destroy the social safety net, and have presided over massive deficit spending. So, who’s geting rich off all this? Why they are, of course. It’s a class thing. They (and their corporate donors, etc.) become increasingly wealthy while the rest of the country gets poorer. The interests of the elite are directly opposed to the interests of the rest of us.
Radicals know this. We organize against it. And y’know what? We tend to be optimistic about the future (and wouldn’t be organizing if we weren’t!). Also, being on the front lines, as it were, you see the change happening in real time. People are becoming radicalized, our numbers are growing.
The Daou Report concludes:
Maybe the Democratic establishment wants it so, maybe they don’t know better, but progressive bloggers and activists are starting to see the bitter reality of their isolation: the triangle is broken and they’re on their own until further notice.
We have each other. Our message IS spreading through the land. This is the time to re-double efforts. The country is approaching a tipping point, let’s tip it our way. And we don’t need the Democratic establishment to do it either.