New Thoughts.

Right now the Democratic senators are pondering whether they should filibuster and it appears unlikely. The national press have given them a vote of 'no confidence' and expect them to cave, and so do I. With 45 senators they have a margin of 5 and two of them have already said they'll vote against Alito, but not for a fillibuster, so they're purposely fighting with the gloves on against corrupt counterparts who have cut them out of all the negotiating processes that used to be the standard of courtesy in congress.

I'm thinking one thing. 'Stockholm Syndrome'.
What do these senators think this sort of polite quasi-opposition gains them? These are the tactics of appeasement and failure. The Congress under the Bush GOP has devolved into a parliament with no substantive bipartisan tendencies and the democrats must vote together as a block or they are worse than useless. One can make a good argument that they're not a legitimate opposition party if they continue to splinter and allow themselves to be pushed around and marginalized this way.

Part of this might be that they're intimidated by the GOP, which talks right past them, puts words in their mouths and turns them into straw-men and monsters for the Rush Limbaugh crowd. They've been threatened with the Nuclear Option where the GOP would remove the filibuster. It's a major threat, but they're already losing on every vote. Alito will be on the court for decades, which is unacceptable. They have nothing real to lose and should make a stand.

As it is they've done a curious job of taking a congress with a <40% approval rating, with a huge Republican corruption scandal exploding across the aisle, and failed to exploit it. They're charisma as a group is so lukewarm that even their fervent supporters are continually looking around for new leaders.

I did not support Dean in 2004 as I thought he was too new to politics and possibly too abrasive, but I may have been wrong. Dean had fire in the belly and lacked the complacence of years working on the inside. Basically, the message of a politician isn't about the details, it's about hope, and to a lesser extent, fear. Kerry failed to articulate anything except that he wasn't Bush and thus imploded on the launchpad.

Until there is someone who can talk in the language of the South, who can figure out how to pin the Bush group down on their mealy-mouthed corruption and manipulation, we are lost. Many of the Democrats are either too independent-minded, or they're half-hearted in their opposition, that the party would be better off casting them loose. We Need New Blood. Now.