Several years ago, I wrote an article describing what I thought was the best possible description of our two main political parties. Little did I realize at the time that my satirical depiction would end up being so literally accurate. Obviously, with President Trump's intention to implement project 2025, even if our Democratic Republic survives, the once proud Republican Party is in danger of being completely destroyed. As it becomes more and more extreme, the average American voter, even as he or she becomes less and less educated, will recognize the Republican Party for what it has become, simply an excuse for justifying most of our worst moral inclinations. How else can one describe the party's blatant attempt to dismantle the work of what Tom Brokaw calls The Greatest Generation, men and women, soldiers and civilians who risked and gave their lives to create a world, that with all of its problems, is far better than the one into which they were born. Leaders like Donald Trump and members of the Freedom Caucus seem to take for granted that the accomplishments of that generation are personal gifts to them and that they have, somehow, been divinely chosen to squander those gifts at their discretion. Most of those who voted for Mr. Trump, who by constitutional law is a traitor to his country, and for his lap dogs are certainly not "evil", yet at some point the responsibility for ending what has been called "the great experiment" will be theirs, but not theirs alone.
For a number of years, the Democratic Party has advocated standing up for those people who have been treated grossly unfairly, not only by our largely white Anglo-Saxon/Christian society, but by the official U.S. federal and state governments. While our houses of Congress seem to be composed mostly of highly intelligent members, somehow both of the institutions to which they belong seem to perform at shockingly lower functional levels. Unfortunately, in an attempt to correct oppressive laws and conditions that had existed for over 200 years, many of the civil rights measures passed by Democrats were overreaching, lacking imagination and foresight, almost begging to be either overturned or at least modified in the years to come. Despite all warnings to go slowly, the most impatient liberals seem to have developed a new "identity," an apparent psychiatric term, calling themselves "Progressives". I have no idea how to differentiate a "Progressive" from an "ultra-liberal", except that I seldom seem to know from where a so-called "Progressive" idea has originated or where exactly it is going. In other words, many "Progressives" seem to treat "conservatives" exactly the same way that radical "conservatives" treat them, with utter disdain! Neither seems at all interested in the other's point of view. (Bernie Sanders being a possible exception with his popular town hall-type meetings, which may include all "comers".)
Now, in the past, with the likes of James Baker, Tip O'Neil and Bob Dole around, administrations like those of Reagan, Senior Bush, and Clinton actually achieved bipartisan economic, social, and international advances, including the tearing down of the Berlin wall. In fact, things looked pretty good until the arrival of Republican Newt Gingrich. With House leader Gingrich, all conscience and morality seemed to be left at the House chamber door. Despite Bob Dole, the Republican leader of the Senate and his heroic efforts to maintain his chamber's integrity by working with Democratic colleagues for the good of the country, gradually, more and more people like Gingrich began to fill the Republican House and Senate caucuses. Eventually, with Baker and Dole gone and Gingrich clones taking their places, the Republican Party seems to have finally been delivered, lock, stock, and barrel, to the "dark side".
Unfortunately, if the Republican Party seems to have been ceded to the "dark side", the Democratic Party seems to have been ceded to the "dumb side". This is not just a play on words. Whether we like to admit it or not, Mr. Biden picked a candidate for vice-president based mainly on race and gender. Somewhat lacking in statesman-like assets, she was far more qualified to be Attorney General than vice president. By the time the bumbling Democratic Party finally decided that President Biden was no longer fit to run again, it was too late to find a new nominee so Harris was drafted. Instead of choosing a qualified team to run her campaign, that is, people who have proven to be actual winners, she chose the head of her previous absolutely horrible campaign- for- president to run it. She then picked Donna Brazile, another past failure at the job, and David Plouffe, probably the least knowledgeable member of Obama's otherwise highly competent team. Under the "guidance" of ex-Attorney General Eric Holder, who sometimes seems to act like a closet Republican, who it seems, never prosecuted a guilty party and never defended an innocent one, Harris's cohorts convinced her to pick Tim Walz, a virtual "deer in the headlights", as her running mate. Apparently, as in 2004 when the party picked John Edwards for vice president, the closest thing Democrats had, at the time, to a Gingrich clone, over the vastly more qualified and more popular Bob Graham, were they simply afraid to pick someone more qualified than their presidential pick? Or, this time, was it simply the usual result for anyone who might be foolish enough to rely on Mr. Holder? **
Now, before we blame Harris and her team for their obvious incompetence, we must realize that this is only the proverbial "tip of the iceberg". To truly qualify as the "party of stupid" to the same extent that Republicans represent the "party of evil", not only demands a long trail of mistakes, but the same mistakes need to be repeated over and over again with really abject stupidity! Does the fact that the Palm Beach County Democratic Election Supervisor chose the (illegal) butterfly ballot in the 2000 presidential election because she thought it looked pretty, qualify as "stupid" or "abjectly stupid"? Is the fact that in 2018 the Broward County, Florida Democratic Election Supervisor ignored the federal government recommendation not to place a lone vote or two under a long column of instructions (incidentally, on a butterfly ballot!) because voters tend to ignore it, stupid or abjectly stupid? Whatever the answer might be, the fact is that in the end, the 2000 ballot led to thousands of people inadvertently voting for Pat Buchanan instead of Al Gore, resulting in the election of the disastrous Junior Bush. Meanwhile, the 2018 ballot, in Broward County, Florida, an overwhelmingly Democratic stronghold, led to tens of thousands of people, mostly Democrats, failing to vote for any senatorial candidate at all, handing the election to unindicted (incidentally, by AG Eric Holder) criminal and Gingrich clone, Rick Scott!
OK, admittedly, it can be argued that the two botched ballots were pretty much honest mistakes and perhaps a better Democratic presidential candidate with a better campaign team may still have lost the last presidential election. What's more, not one of the Democrats mentioned in this entire article, thus far, is actually stupid! But, the way the party is run is stupid, abjectly stupid!!! Ever since the Obama years, Democrats have raised ungodly amounts of money, far more than Republicans, yet we seem to have no idea what to do with it! Worse yet, nobody even seems to know where most of it has gone... How much would it cost to have someone review a damned ballot for goodness sake? When is the DNC going to officially recruit people like Carville, Bagala, Dean, Axelrod, and other proven winning campaign directors to form a legitimately qualified committee to oversee campaigns nationally? And, when will we stop depending on people like... Eric Holder???
Al Finkelstein (2/4/25)
** What do Rick Scott, Karl Rove, Ken Blackwell, Katherine Harris, certain members of the Sackler family, all have in common besides a range of activities including illegally suppressing the vote (Scott, Rove, Harris), promoting the unnecessary sale of dangerous narcotics (Scott, Sacklers) and perhaps even involvement in the convenient death of an IT expert? (Rove, Blackwell). The answer: None of them were apparently competently investigated, let alone prosecuted, by Eric Holder in his position as US Attorney General for two Democratic presidents. I ask again, when will Democrats stop depending on people like... Eric Holder???
Al Finkelstein (2/13/25)
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