I dunno why, I watched much of the Rules Committee meeting on C-SPAN today.
It’s strange — I haven’t been following the process in detail the whole time, and yet today I ended up watching most of the meeting.
And I also spent a lot of time reading comments at Daily Kos on open threads and diaries.
I feel like a virgin who just got laid — and it wasn’t terrible or anything, but it sure wasn’t very romantic.
Yeah it was that vulgar.
They say making laws is like making sausages, you don’t want to know too much about the details or it would nauseate you. I’d say the same for all of politics.
And I’m finally willing to be nauseated. Heh.
I would love to castigate the folks at Daily Kos who come off, in my mind, as stark raving lunatics who are mean, racist, sexist and just real creeps.
But then I’d have to visit other partisan sites and I know I would find the same thing.
Now the buzz is that Hillary is going to take the Michigan decision to the credentials committee.
Well, the rules committee was pretty impressive … I imagine they were rolling their eyes a lot, privately, because for so many years they’ve done their job and no one noticed. Now all of a sudden they’re superstars. And the co-chairpersons handled themselves very well.
This is so clearly no longer about Obama or Clinton. It is blazingly evident it is about the Democratic party and those who have chosen to get involved in the process, whether by shouting on the blogs or working on campaigns, or both.
Every horrible character flaw imaginable has been put out in writing for all of us to see. I believe that’s always been the case, but with the inception of the intertubez, we now have a written record.
I stated above all my disgusted feelings towards the commenters I’ve read on the blogs and yet I can’t really hold to any of them.
Easy to stand on the outside and criticize.
For I’ve also seen on those threads that relationships have formed, bonds have been made, and I have come to the conclusion that I can’t make much of a judgment of folks based on what they say in the heat of a political season.
Racist? Sexist? I’m still working on both those demons within myself and sense all too often my own intolerance. Yet it does, and no doubt always will, hurt when I read this kind of rhetoric. It just hurts. No big moral judgment, just an emotional reaction.
Politics hurts.
It is deceitful, immoral, obscene and disgusting.
It doesn’t bring out the best in most people.
Out of this filthy mud our Democracy will yet again arise.
Now I’m going to drink a fifth of vodka.
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… democracy in action.
Warts and all.
it makes your blood boil and others you and view it dispassionately or at least with some distance.
A lot of the DLCers and other Hillary folks have held the levers of power in the party for a long time now, and you can see why. They are tough fighters who are clearly used to getting their way.
But the old guard is simply not willing to give over control, and is fighting tooth and nail to beat back this serious challenge to their authority.
Old vs. new is a fight the Democratic Party’s been trying to avoid for a long time now.
After today, that fight is officially on.
Sometimes all the crap really gets to me too. It’s seeped into everything political. Maybe its always been this bad and we just didn’t know for sure.
Now drink up ye matey!
but I had a bit of a different reaction. Maybe because I wasn’t reading about it on teh blogs.
I was actually pretty impressed. Sure there were power plays, twisting events to suit your agenda, and enough grandstanding to fill most stadiums.
But I enjoyed watching the various parties make their arguments to the best of their ability in a controlled and (mostly) respectful way. It was kind of like watching a debate society.
And I felt that, in the end, they went with the compromises proposed and backed by the states involved.
So, other than the Ickes threat at the end, I was pretty impressed with the process.
…I’ve never felt more sure that I’m a libertarian.
What a bunch of absolute creeps, on all sides. I can’t fathom giving them the power to decide when I can see a doctor. I can’t believe they have the power to determine my tax rate. I’m disgusted at the moral turpitude of those who put literally millions of my fellow citizens in jail.
It is all too easy to say “this is democracy in action, warts and all” or to look at the irrational, rent-seeking behavior that goes on in Congress, and say that as sad as it is, this is an accurate reflection of who we are. What makes no sense to me is how, considering this is “who we are”, we rely upon so little more than the miracle of aggregation to protect ourselves from our collective stupidity. We could do something about this. But I’ve rarely been so certain we won’t.
I thought there was no way the Democratic party could out nutjob the LP. The sad thing is that unlike those nutjobs, a lot of these will have a serious role in how this government is run. I feel sick to my stomach, and like taking my ball, going home, and arming the fuck out of myself to make sure no one comes over to force me to play ball with them.
It is actually important to me that those who govern me deserve at least a fraction of the power over me they wield.
as a bird who flew just close enough to allow the sun’s outer rays to render her blind for a few years, i too came to the conclusion that a political season generates more heat than reason, and bonds formed during battle might, or might not, not have been made without the adrenaline ever present.
it is, bottom line, a quest for power. however sliced or diced. imo, of course. 🙂
good to know you watched c-span yesterday, NKP, so i didn’t have to. 🙂
i trust your objectivity and detachment.
We are in the Grinding and Mixing stage now.
The Stuffing will come with the TV ads ad nasuem.
And the Thermal Processing will be the month before the general with the swift-boating and attack ads.
Then we get to eat the results.
I want pigs in blankets for breakfast!!!
so i didn’t have to.
As a recovering DKos-aholic, I tend not to stray down the orange brick road very much these days. I find I cannot bring myself to hate with the conviction, truth and justice they seem to bring to the ‘discussion’ with such finality. At this point they feel they own the argument, and when that happens the conversation ceases to become a discussion and turns into a lecture. No give and take at all. It’s its own little slice of fascism, altogether.
But, as you have already said, DKos has no lock on partisanship. Any scream blog will shout down reason, acceptance and, to be honest, the entire content of your wonderful and insightful diary with nary the blink of an eye. If they disagree then you are wrong and everything you’ve ever thought or brought forth is wrong.
That may sound bitter, and quite possibly elitist, but there it is.
So all told…
Glad I found DD.
Good to be blue.
Glad I get to read your essays.
Cheers!
if you di drink even one stiff one I bet you’d have a pounder going on !
I agree that politics brings out a lot of evil statements!
I try to stay away from that & just lurk on those diaries
I think Thursday will be Unity Day
that’s been up for quite a while on the front page at dkos:
And Hunter adds:
ordered locked up in the tower, or given a date with a guillotine following the meeting. We have made some progress when the political infighting is limited to whining, hyperbole, and the occasional attempted destruction of opposition candidates’ reputations.
But, while watching the RBC meeting I had to keep reminding myself of the fact that the process of getting new leadership in this country could actually be worse. It could be better too, but I don’t think any of us should hold our breath waiting for that to take place.