National politics has flirtatiously coveted the 7th Circle drop-off of Dante’s nightmare for generations, but in the last decade or so we’ve seen politics take a downward spiral for the worse – primarily due to re-election desires coupled with back-room promises of future positions on corporate boards or lobbying groups… and such objects of desire have become more important to elected officials than the needs of the people they represent… that, and an increase of run-on sentences embedded in political commentary because Congress and the people surrounding it have become too muddied, shifty, and astonishingly obtuse to be described using well-groomed grammar and short sentences.
If anything in the history of civilization has earned the right to be portrayed by run-on sentences and bad grammar – it’s the United States Congress.
Can policy battles be won with honorable political brutality – not just political brutality?
Politics is brutal. Even local, small town politicians are behaving as if they have millions of dollars and the fate of the faith on the line. Recently during my local board of supervisors meeting, for example, a group of Agenda 21 conspiracy-lovers took a stand against a First 5 initiative, because… well, apparently wanting to have more resources to help young children, “…will lead to the government having surveillance cameras in all our homes!!!” (She did speak with multiple exclamation marks; no grammatical hyperbole.) The more brutal our politics, the more brain cells the far right seems to dedicate to conspiracy, paranoia, and logic blockage that even Jamie Lee Curtis can’t alleviate.
Political brutality, however, has been devastatingly effective for the extreme right-wing; sadly 2010 proved that it works for them. It naturally would be the case for a political faction whose primary goal is to rewind the clock, but nevertheless, it brings me to wonder where are the bold and brave democrats?
Not extreme liberals – I’m talking about brave and strong democrats who understand that you can fight passionately without your position being extreme – passionate left-leaning moderatism to counter the brute force passion that we only see exercised in the extremes of the political parties, and as such cause our never-ending political stalemate in Washington.
… Texas has one... and thank the Lone Star for her willingness to be ruthless and brutal in her defense of individual rights; a fierce defender or freedom, really. There’s a new place in my heart reserved for Texas democrats who fight the good fight.
We don’t need to seek extreme leftists… we need only seek people who are strong in their political belief, and who are willing to take a stand to defend it. It is possible to strongly believe without the belief being extreme (… but apparently aptly italicized). That only the extreme factions of political parties are strong (and the middle is pathetically mediocre) is why our government is in the sorry state we find it today… prone on the floor, bloated and atrophied, yet full of unbounded pride in its own importance and power. Washington, DC is an entire city full of fat emperors with no clothes.
Can Democrats Be Strong Defenders Of True Freedom?
Unfortunately for most democrats, the personal character and personality traits that make them prone to be a democrat also create a person who wants to be agreeable, rather than be a total dolt in the face of workable compromise like a certain tea gulping faction of the country. Occasionally we see democratic comets fly through the sky with great vigor, but even Clinton signed DOMA into law.
Politics is brutal. To survive in modern politics requires compromising on morals. In recent time’s past freshman in Congress were still bright-eyed and optimistic; ready to do good for the people they represent and the country as a whole – but now they have dark clouds raining gold coins in their eyes before they even get elected! (!!) Alas… it is what it is, and we ought not argue the reality. The Republican Party has become very good at accepting political brutality if it is a means winning and retaining power. Democrats, on the other hand, while strong on morality, generally lack the offensive political brutality gene that’s required to achieve in government… let alone to successfully prevent republicans in über-red states from forcing laws down the throat and up the vagina of Lady Liberty. ” WE ARE THE PARTY OF FREEDOM AND LIBERTY!” they proclaim while continuing to sweep those very two Ideals deeper into the white-mindset, patriarchal-blanketed cage of the Republican Party Policy Platform.
Where are the other fighters for the people like Texas state senator Wendy Davis? Those who stand up (well-prepared in comfortable shoes) and fight however they can to support what the majority of people want, not what the gerrymandered districts and lobbyists want.
There have been a few glimpses of how democrats can be strong without putting their moral compasses into the MRI machine. When state senators from Wisconsin and individuals like Wendy Davis stand up and finally say, “This is enough!” we see that those who side with empathy and inclusiveness can, in fact, be brutal not in their tactics, but in their passion for the cause: fiercely loyal to the people they represent, vigorously defending civil rights and liberties, standing like a damn wall to prevent people from building a higher, futile, and symbolically depressing fence.
If the way democrats think and operate prevents them from attacking… then at least they can brutishly defend what they believe. Defend real freedoms with just as much raw force and fierce passion as those who are trying to destroy and truncate the very values upon which this country was founded.
Let Democrats Be A Stronger Wall Than The Swords Of The Right
Why not? Can’t democrats be just as brutal in defending things like democracy and individual liberty as the extreme right-wing is in its attempt to destroy them? Maybe that’s all it really takes from democrats and independents in this country: realizing that we are the ones who are defending liberty and freedom, not the other way around. The right has annexed those words for decades. The vernacular of this country is that “Liberty” and “Freedom” are exclusively words of the republican base… but looking at the laws they pass, the practices they embrace… isn’t the truth the other way around? Aren’t democrats the ones who are fighting to defend freedom, liberty, and the real American Way, which is and always will be, doing everything we can to promote the most freedom and liberty for everyone… not just the status quo?
Democrats can be strong, but for the time being only when on the defensive (we’ll work on the offensive strategy later). Their beliefs ban them from being aggressive, but those beliefs can also make them amazingly effective defenders of freedom… if they can just remember that they are, in fact, the political party of individual freedom and liberties – not the Republican Party, as it so loves to paint on bumper stickers, flags, and flag pins.
We don’t need to build a wall… we need to defend the wall that protects our civil liberties. That’s up to you, democrats: go get your shields. It’s time to be brutal in our defense against the extremes controlling the Republican Party who, despite what all their bumper stickers and flags claim, are the ones who seek to destroy our liberties in the dark of night when they think no one is watching CSPAN.
