Dem Candidates: Who Would Hand the Hemlock to Socrates?

[CorpGovActivist]

I favor open government. I favor vigorous questioning of the candidates, their ties to special interests, the degree to which each is beholden to corporatist influences, and any conduits via which backdoor quid pro quos can be negotiated on policy matters.

In the Socratic tradition, I do not think any individual or institution is above questioning or reproach.

So, one measure by which I yardstick the candidates is the degree to which each bristles at tough questioning, or suggests that certain data regarding their candidacy is off limits.

In short, I gauge each candidate by the likelihood that s/he would have tired of Socrates, and handed him the horn of hemlock to halt his haranguing.

And I've already ruled that candidate out, and was quite surprised by who it turned out to be.

Is America and/or the Democratic Party - like the wounded Athens that could no longer tolerate questioning dissent - becoming increasingly unable to bear the honest questions that demand answers? If the answer to either is yes, I suspect that we'll all lose in November 08.

- Dave