You gotta admit it. The Democrats know how to expose and coordinate embarrassing revelations about Republicans. Right now we have the Foley page e-mail scandal, the new Woodward book scandal, and the NIE leak on Iraq all going full bore and it is still four weeks till the election.
But even a good liberal wonders what it is all for.
In the Washington Post Sebastian Molloy wonders what happened to the Democrats’ principles.
Most Democrats in Congress seem bereft of ideas or the courage to stand up for them. They clearly want power, but they have no principles to guide their use of it.
They are opposed to the Bush Administration’s policies on terror but frightened to vote against them. And then there is Social Security.
A conservative group circulated a petition calling for bipartisan talks on Social Security, with all potential solutions to be part of the discussion. Rather than embracing this eminently sane idea, top Democrats in Congress loudly slammed the door on it.
I have a theory about this. Democrats really don’t want a solution on Social Security. If you privatize Social Security then Democratic voters don’t have to look to the political system for financial support. They will be able to support themselves.
For a cruder look at how this works, read Dick Morris and Eileen McGann on President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
Chavez understands that his power depends on keeping the poor grateful for his handouts.
He buys popularity in Venezuela by distributing massive amounts of oil revenues to the poor. While careful to keep them in poverty by repelling business and deterring foreign investment, he uses his petrol wealth to distribute free food and to pay for imported Cuban doctors in the barrios.
What would be the point of helping the poor become proud and self-sufficient? Much better keep them grateful and dependent.
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