Dog and pony show

A political analyst in Rolling Stone writes that the disappointing performance of Congressional Democrats since they took power isn't just a symptom of the unified Republican opposition, but the result of insincere dedication to the very issue that brought them into the majority:

In and around the halls of Congress, the notion that the Democrats made a sincere effort to end the war meets with, at best, derisive laughter. Though few congressional aides would think of saying so on the record, in private many dismiss their party's lame anti-war effort as an absurd dog-and-pony show, a calculated attempt to score political points without ever being serious about bringing the troops home.

It's certainly felt that way from the outside, but hearing it confirmed by insiders is still very disheartening. Perhaps Markos is right that the only way to make this party pay attention to the demands of their constituents is to hit them with viable primary challenges until they start to follow through on their promises. That's certainly a lot harder for everybody than just doing the right thing because you have the opportunity now . . .

Also disturbing is this charge:

Rather than use the vast power they had to end the war, Democrats devoted their energy to making sure that "anti-war activism" became synonymous with "electing Democrats." Capitalizing on America's desire to end the war, they hijacked the anti-war movement itself, filling the ranks of peace groups with loyal party hacks. Anti-war organizations essentially became a political tool for the Democrats — one operated from inside the Beltway and devoted primarily to targeting Republicans.

I think there are plenty of avenues of anti-war activism that are running full throttle, but if the media gets distracted by some high-profile sham efforts, it definitely makes everything harder there too. Bitey bite bite!!

(via local Drinking Liberally troublemakers)