Doug, no advice to the enemy, please - let them wallow in their demoralization.
>Washington Post - March 11, 2001
>
>They Aren't 'Just Resting'
>The Democratic Party is Dead
>by Robert B. Reich
Hey, no kidding, Rob! Problem is, they're still a corpse _in power_ - power which they permanently share with the comatose Republicans in the bipartisan political regime that governs the USA. The task remains to drag the corpse out of the office, stick it in a coffin (and shove a stake through its heart for good measure), nail the coffin shut, dig a hole six feet deep, stick the coffin in the hole and cover it up with dirt.
In other words, a lot of work remains. I see campaigns such as Naders' as the necessary undertakers of this role, as carrying out this purely negative task.
-Brad Mayer
>And don't tell me the Democratic Leadership Council, with all that
>talk about being from the vital center -- why, even Hillary joined up
>- -- is going to revive this bird. The DLC stands for nothing, nada,
>zero, except it's anti-union. No grass roots. No troops. No one out
>in America cares about the DLC. The DLC says it's centrist, but
>centrism is wherever the polls say most Americans are. And most
>Americans drift wherever there's a lot of hullabaloo. Centrism is
>unprincipled. Centrism doesn't lead. It follows. Centrism is Dick
>Morris. Centrism is nowhere.
>
>If the Democratic Party's alive, why doesn't it insist that the
>budget surplus be spent on health care for the 44 million Americans
>without it? And child care for the millions who lack it? And good
>schools for all kids? Why doesn't the party say it's plain absurd to
>spend $300 billion on the military when the Cold War is over, and
>tens of billions more on a missile-defense shield that won't work?
>Why isn't it outraged that most of the benefits of President Bush's
>tax cut will go to people at the top? Why does it play dead on the
>environment? Why? Because it's not playing dead. It is dead!
>
>The Dems aren't even fighting for campaign finance reform. They got
>so much soft money last time that they've decided to hold on.
>
>This party is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to
>meet its maker. This is an ex-party!
>
>The writer was secretary of labor from 1993 to 1997 and is the author
>of "The Future of Success."