Earth to Netroots, Move On, You Are Not Up For Reelection
Posted on Mon Mar 19, 2007 at 06:10:56 PM EST
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A reminder, on all my Iraq defunding posts, indeed all my posts, I speak ONLY for me
One of the most maddening things about the reaction of Move On and much of the Netroots to the disastrous House bill on Iraq funding is the newfound belief that it is now their role to be the "pragmatic conciliators" who need to cut deals.
What delusion. What hubris. A dkos commenter, Eugene, captures what is wrong with this mindset:
You say, at one point:Just the numbers aren't on the side of those who wish to end the war.That's your problem right there. You see that as a conclusion instead of as a starting point. You see it as an answer, not a question.
That the votes aren't there right now is not relevant to the conversation. What matters is how we get those votes. How do we twist arms to make these "Democrats" who have sabotaged even a proviso to stop an attack on Iran come around and change their minds?
When did activists and Netroots People Power come to believe that they will be portrayed as reasonable compromisers in this? Do they not realize their role in all this? And how they will be portrayed no matter what?
Eugene continues:
That is what is so utterly maddening about the approach you and a small minority take here - you're not engaging in smart politics. You need to be seeking how to make people change their mind. The conversation must be about "what should be done" - because really, anything can be done. It's wrong to start from a premise that is inherently self-limiting.
Whatever comes out of the House, and what is looking like will come out is simply awful even if untouched afterwards, will be watered down even more. This is the beginning of the compromises, NOT the end.
At TPM, a commenter thinks he makes a joke:
Ladies and gentlemen, start your stopwatches NOW! How long will it be before an "unnamed Congressional Republican aide" comments that it's just the crazy, radical left, like MoveOn, that is planning for defeat, rather than victory, in Iraq?
That is no joke. That is PRECISELY what is going to happen. The foolishness on this is astounding.
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