Posted on 06/26/2005 2:31:21 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
Those who are long of tooth recall Chevy Chase’s news routine on Saturday Night Live, especially his weekly riff, “Generalissimo Franco is still dead.” That was based on true stories of the removal of assorted organs from the dying General, with doctors’ assurances he was still alive.
That also led to Don Henley’s classic, “Dirty Laundry,” with the lines, “Is the head dead yet? Get the widow on the set....” This is ancient news, but it’s relevant to the Democrats. Like the Generalissimo, that Party has had major organs removed, but is allegedly still alive.
As a student of US history, I’ve researched the life and death of political parties. The Republican and Democrat Parties did not exist at the beginning. Neither is guaranteed by the Constitution. Both are subject to the same failures which put the Whigs, the Federalists, and the Republican-Democrats, among others, on the ash heap of history.
The Democrat Party has finally achieved brain death. For proof, see three points: Howard Dean, Dick Durbin, and the pending break-up of the AFL-CIO. For each, go beyond the speech or action and consider its entire context.
The height of power for labor was marked by the recombination of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955. The combined organization grew in power, in and out of government. The pinnacle may have been the Democrat Convention in 1980 which renominated President Carter, with carefully balanced delegates in all demographic categories except one – union membership. Half of all delegates were union members.
Today, union power has diminished in all ways, including within the Democrat Party. Union membership is at an all-time low in a century, 13% of all workers. Now, the “public service” unions are about to split from their dying cousins, the private sector unions. The eagle on the Seal of the United States clutches 13 arrows in his talon. The lesson is, in union there is strength, but in division there is weakness. The backbone of union power is now broken.
Second, we look at (Dr., Governor) Howard Dean, chosen as Chairman of the Democrat National Committee. His tactics are slash and burn. His comments are issue-free, being dedicated only to winning elections by any means possible, holding together the crumbling coalition of assorted groups who feel victimized by society.
The acceptance (so far) of Dean by some leaders and members of the Democrat Party ignores a simple truth about communications. Screaming is not a substitute for having something to say.
We turn then to Senator Dick Durbin. Last week we discussed his reprehensible remarks comparing American soldiers to Nazis. This week, look at his so-called apology for his remarks. He got all choked up on the Senate floor, like Red Sovine in a suit. (I saw 2% of you smile knowingly. You’ve heard Sovine classics like “Teddy Bear.”)
Anyway, Durbin said, "Some think my remarks crossed the line." He "apologized" to "those who were offended." But he never said that his remarks were wrong.
Hard-wired Democrat apologists, both in public office and in the press, referred to this as a “full apology” and said we should now “move on.” It was no apology whatsoever, much less a full one. He’s not sorry he was wrong; he’s sorry he got caught. And the fact that such behavior is acceptable among Democrats contributes to the diagnosis that the Democrat Party has died.
Only a minority of a minority in that Party has any ideology, the global socialism of the Soros-funded MoveOn organization and its like. Not even in the depths of the Great Depression did a majority of Americans accept ideas like those. Now, with the worldwide failure of those ideas well demonstrated, such niche ideology is a guarantee of elective failure (except in France), most of the time and in most jurisdictions. And that is the definition of death for a political party.
Does that mean that the brand name “Democrat Party” will cease to exist? No. For 200 years, when a party died its name died with it. Today, brand names are too valuable. Like the Ford Mustang, the Bank of America, and Time magazine, the brand marches on, regardless of its diminished current content.
Furthermore, like some ancient but obscure products, the Democrats will live on in isolated pockets like San Francisco, Baltimore, and New Jersey. In US history, the Grange and the Progressives remained locally powerful a generation after they had died and been replaced as national parties. It is national political death we’re talking about.
About the Author: John Armor is a First Amendment attorney and author who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
I think you are right. I actually hope that a reasonable, thinking party will replace it because I do believe that the country is served best when there are two viable parties.
Actually, Bush has had an energy plan awaiting Senate action for over three years. All a Republican has to do is point to the Democrat's obstructionism, the same Senate Democrats that include Hillary.
Please be sure and tell Kristinn how much we appreciate his leadership and his willingness to stand up for our military and the lunacy of the left.
I'm confident Kristinn will be a great representative of Free Republic.
If the 'rat party does die, the Republican Party will split.
An injured animal is most dangerous. No time to let up.
As it should.
I look for the DNC to come up with a new name in the next few years. Probably something with "workers," "children and families" or a combination of these words.
Fortunately, Baltimore County is purple. It might be red next election. Baltimore City is hopeless, though. Nice piece, Billybob!
The media may have tried but there ws no way the media could hang that group around President Bush's neck.
Whenever I begin to lose faith I think of how blessed we've been and I regain my trust that all will be well.
Never again will this country cut and run from any enemy as long as we have President Bush in the White House.
No doubt in my mind at all that Moveon writes Barbara Boxer's rants, and Harry Reid's too for that matter.
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
"The best part is that Moveon.org killed the demonrat party."
I believe it was ACT that killed the Democrat party. Hillary wanted the Dem party dead so she could rebuild it in her own image. Moveon.org are just more useful idiots and Soros is the biggest useful idiot of them all.
The minute Hillary gets rid of Dean and has her people take over the party and get Moveons money, Soros will suffer a nice fatal heart attack.
If I had to choose who would be most likely to have lunch at Ft. Marcy Park, I'd say it was the heinous one rather than Soros.
"Hillary wanted the Dem party dead so she could rebuild it in her own image."
My sentiments, exactly. She is ruthless, and it matters not who or what she destroys in her quest for The White House.
Look at her Path of Destruction to date!
I would not be too quick to pronounce the Democrats dead. With gas prices rising faster than the President's job approval numbers are sinking, with a majority of Americans thinking that Iraq was a mistake, with illegal immigration spinning out of control, and with 52% of your fellow citizens favorably disposed to Hillary Clinton, I would say that the Democrats (who, after all, have most of the mass media at their disposal) are quite capable of mounting a rapid comeback from the abyss.
The problem is liberals don't have to produce a plan to get out of a mess to get elected by Americans who want government to 'do something' about whatever the mess is. They just have to have a mess that starts under someone else and point fingers and act like they have a plan. FDR demonstrated pretty convincingly that producing one isn't necessary. That's the liberals' game plan now.
I agree. I had posted on another threat that basically the liberals sit back and criticize but don't offer any plans. Then when the President does something, they bitch and moan and say they could have done it better.
C'mon, don't buy everything the friggin' media and their biased polls tell you about how MOST Americans think things are terrible! Horseshit, most Americans (enough for the pubs to keep the WH and the congressional and gubernatorial gains anyway) are OK with the areas you mention.
IMHO, most Americans will be smart enough to sniff out Hillary's putrid vibes, despite constant media supplication.
I'm most concerned about what I am convinced will be the Clinton's "Ross Perot" strategy to siphon 5-8% of the vote away from the conservative candidate. That may be enough to put The Beast into the WH. I am expecting McCain to be the Ross Perot of 2008 and I believe they've already made the agreement in some way shape or form.
But I truly do believe that good triumphs over evil, and the Clintons and their issue--virtually all of the leaders of the democrat party--are evil, and will be defeated.
Phantom 309 rides again!
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