John Kerry is a disgrace. In furtherance of his own political goals (yes, he actually thinks that he can run again as the Dems' nominee in '08), he is willing to undermine our collective faith in American democracy. (Plus sound like a sore loser. I'm still waiting for him to protest what sounds like massive vote fraud in Washington State).
In many ways, a democracy can function only if the people participating in it have faith that their hands are being squarely dealt. Once that elusive faith is eroded, there is chaos -- a governmental version of Thomas Hobbes' "war of all against all." It was that sense that prompted Richard Nixon not to challenge JFK's presidential victory, even where there was excellent evidence of vote tampering in the city of Chicago -- and why I believe that, absent clear, compelling and readily provable evidence of wrongdoing, Dino Rossi (up in Washington) should concede defeat and then get ready to take out Senator Maria Cantwell in '06.
In contrast, Al Gore -- for his own selfish political ends -- broke this tradition and chose to make wildly unsubstantiated claims of voter suppression on racial grounds. Since '00, Democrats have tried to rally their base with these claims, heedless of how their untruths pollute the political atmosphere in a very deadly way that's not easily reversed. It could be argued that they were so effective at stoking this resentment that it's led to some very intemperate behavior within their ranks -- behavior that turned off a lot of middle of hte road voters this year.
Now John Kerry is making the same Faustian bargain. For short term gain, he's slinging allegations that corrode American political and civic life. But he doesn't care, because for him, it's all about John Kerry. Forget what this piece argues -- that Kerry lost because he tried to "edit" who he was.
Not so. The people knew too well who Kerry was -- a fellow who believed in "global tests" and who had slandered his comrades in arms -- and understood that he'd say anything that was to his short term political advantage. Chalk one more up for the American people; they were right again.
In many ways, a democracy can function only if the people participating in it have faith that their hands are being squarely dealt. Once that elusive faith is eroded, there is chaos -- a governmental version of Thomas Hobbes' "war of all against all." It was that sense that prompted Richard Nixon not to challenge JFK's presidential victory, even where there was excellent evidence of vote tampering in the city of Chicago -- and why I believe that, absent clear, compelling and readily provable evidence of wrongdoing, Dino Rossi (up in Washington) should concede defeat and then get ready to take out Senator Maria Cantwell in '06.
In contrast, Al Gore -- for his own selfish political ends -- broke this tradition and chose to make wildly unsubstantiated claims of voter suppression on racial grounds. Since '00, Democrats have tried to rally their base with these claims, heedless of how their untruths pollute the political atmosphere in a very deadly way that's not easily reversed. It could be argued that they were so effective at stoking this resentment that it's led to some very intemperate behavior within their ranks -- behavior that turned off a lot of middle of hte road voters this year.
Now John Kerry is making the same Faustian bargain. For short term gain, he's slinging allegations that corrode American political and civic life. But he doesn't care, because for him, it's all about John Kerry. Forget what this piece argues -- that Kerry lost because he tried to "edit" who he was.
Not so. The people knew too well who Kerry was -- a fellow who believed in "global tests" and who had slandered his comrades in arms -- and understood that he'd say anything that was to his short term political advantage. Chalk one more up for the American people; they were right again.
posted by LadybugUSA at 8:57 AM
1 Comments:
I tend to concur that Maria Cantwell is vulnerable in the Senate. If Rossi is gracious in the same way that Thune was in South Dakota prior to coming back to defeat Daschle in '04, I suspect he could do it.
Out of curiosity, though, who else would the Washington GOP have lined up for '06?
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