There, in the distance, it sounds like a gaggle of demented geese… Oh, of course. election season is almost upon upon us. Too soon now, politicians will be honking 24/7 telling us why the Other Guy is a weaseldick.
Doubtless the Dems will do their best to not actually oppose the Iraq war, even though the majority of the populace does. Rather, they will spin it as Dubya is responsible, he botched it, and we can do better. Really? By continuing to do the same thing he did? Because the Democrats have no new plan and are simply using the war as a weapon to attack Bush. Lebanon and all those dead bodies piled up in mounds? Nope, they don’t want to hear about that. They only (pretend to) oppose wars that are already being lost. Yuck.
On the home front, most of them voted for the onerous news bankruptcy laws which, coupled with the soon-to-come tsunami of mortgage foreclosures, will guarantee that way too many people will lose everything – and then be hounded for years afterwards for the money. But this is another non-campaign issue for the Democrats.
Do I hope the Dems take back the House? Sure. However, they are being forced to the left, kicking and screaming all the way, by the people. It’s hardly voluntary. The populace is ahead of the the politicians, and has been going leftwards while the ruling class tilts moves right. Obviously such a schism can not last. So the Democrats, in their traditional role, are now claiming to support that which they opposed. The danger here is that real and genuine protest will get shunted into the Democratic Party where it will be neutralized.
That’s why it’s important not to get sucked into the upcoming elections. The protests are having an effect, a major one. The majority now oppose the Iraq war. Let’s keep mobilizing and use the war dissent to build for other equally important issues.