The Missing Spirit in the Democratic Soul

[NJmaverick]

They were tough, no-nonsense men, hardened by both a lifetime of hard work and the experience of war and who spoke with deep cynicism about aspect after aspect of their wartime experience.

The equipment -"The first thing we did when we hit the beach was bury most of it. It was too God-damn heavy and it got you killed. You buried it the minute you hit the beach, and then dug it up for inspection".

The officers - "They were all a bunch of rich boys who had never worked a day on an assembly line or climbed on high steel. They were as tough as rubber nails and a dumb as a newborn baby"

The Bazooka - "a real piece of s**T. If you got real close to a panzer tank, the best you could do was give the German tanker an earache when the shell bounced off the hull".

The U.S. Sherman Tank - "The armor was so thin, if you had to sneeze you could pull off one of the f***ing armor plates and blow your nose in it"

The strategy - "The Brass did everything by the book. The trouble was that the Germans had all read exactly the same god-damn f*** ing book and were ready for us every time."

The campaign - "If the country had been any narrower we would've had to walk sideways. The Germans didn't even have to aim their God-damn guns, they could just point anywhere south and fire."

And so it went for hours at a time. Surprisingly, they had little hatred for the ordinary Italian and German soldiers that they had fought. The enemy soldiers were just "dupes" who had been "suckered" by the "big lie" propaganda. Far more time was devoted to criticizing every single aspect of the how the "Brass" had conducted the war.

But at the end of every one of these sessions, they would always suddenly pause and say with a sharp, chilling intensity to the young people who were listening - "but, don't ever get me wrong. It was worth it and I'd do it all over again In a minute-- because those bastards had to be stopped"

That's the spirit that's painfully missing In the Democratic discussion today. That crystal clear, hard, fierce and ferocious sense of determination. That cold burning anger. That elemental sense of total commitment and passion. What's missing today is a clear understanding that - whatever opinion one may have of Obama, or his strategy, or the candidates, or the campaigns, or the issues, or the way things have gone, or how they could have gone better, or why things were done wrong or a thousand other matters - there remains one transcendent, overarching reality.

http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/strategist/2010/07/the_missing_spirit_in_the_demo.php

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. That ferocious sense of determination has been ground to dust...

The world has beaten us flat, and we no longer have the drive that those men had.

We thought we were getting it back with Obama in the White House, but many of us feel that things have not gone the way we'd hoped they would.

It is disheartening, to say the least.

Great article.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. What if the US generals had collaborated and compromised with the enemy?

Things might have been different.

[NJmaverick]

4. Did you read their comments, they had it much worse than we did

and they weren't beaten flat.

One man, even the President, can't do it alone. He needs (and the nation needs) people who are tough enough to deal with adversity and still keep on going. For the future we can not be soft and we can not give up.

[Name removed]

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[MannyGoldstein]

2. Spot On nt

[NoNothing]

5. It is a distressing lack of consensus

As to the moral underpinning of liberalism's goals.

It ends up making hash of any attempt to harmonize different policy goals.

What's more important? Freedom, or equality? Outcomes, or intentions? Individual rights or community welfare? I posit that there is far less consensus on these kinds of underlying moral questions than on the other side of the aisle, which tends to result in more internal friction.

[TheKentuckian]

7. There is grim determination to build a better future, that's the source of the friction.

Daily pleas and demands for unity of purpose while be asked to forget the purposes are repugnant and self defeating is not going to sell.

Common effort and unity of purpose means the corporate centrists must give considerably more than the near zero they have to this point or what they offer and demand we work to achieve is a more secular and inclusive version of the hell the other guys are selling.

One the point of tolerance has been past then "less bad" becomes flavorless salt. Telling me to focus on a better form of execution but that I have to give up fighting for my life is hollow.

The Republicans aren't our Nazis but rather are their servants and our guys tend to work for the same or a similar group of wealthy folks and powerful special interests.

The Republicans are complete pawns and we are pawn friendly and heading to pawn centric.

We also aren't fighting an real army and population but a system of beliefs, a set of policies, a world view, and an ideology and those can't be combated and accepted and even fought for at the same time.

[NJmaverick]

12. Has that grim determination manifest itself in active calling campaigns to

help the President pass his agenda, or just devolved into complaining on internet message boards?

[TheKentuckian]

22. Very much so but not when it became clear that his agenda and mine are not shared

I fought for that rotten piece of shit Wealthcare and Profit Protection Act and I apologize for each and every letter, email, and phone call because what I did is help to foist a poison pill onto the country.

So, I'm not going to work for any catfood commission but against it. I'm not going to push No Child Left but the Top but rather fight for free, accessible, and quality public education.
I'm not going to fight to maintain the worthless and failed wars but to end them and bring home every troop.
I'm going to continue to struggle for and demand real health care reform to insure all who need healing can receive it regardless of if they haven't a nickle, are billionaires, or everywhere between.

I'm going to seek economic justice and broad investment rather than depend on trickle down.

I'm going to put my efforts into why I am a Democrat and if those who are Democrats have another agenda then I'll hope they catch up and if they must be opposed then so be it.

Take that old simple huckster bullshit on down the road. There's plenty more options than help Obama carry the multi-national's water or bitch on the internet which apparently is cool for you because you are a footsoldier in the message discipline war or whatever you fancy that makes you productive.

I thought slavery was over but apparently some folks think we must our guts to build a world as they want it and that is completely outside our any sight or hope of our aspirations. You can't get everybody working for an agenda when you refuse to include, discuss, or even respect their's.

Dude, the "enemy" has more seats at the table than liberals and has certainly had more influence one the end result. That is unless you mean "liberals" like Conrad, Baucus, Summers, Bernake, Ike Shelton, Geithner, Stupak, and Di Fi.

[NJmaverick]

24. The republicans have a the media and wealth of people not limited by conscience

don't you think those opposing them could use the assistance of talented people?

[suzie]

25. We for sure need another 8 years of a Bush Cheney regime. Go for it!

[Name removed]

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[Greyhound]

9. LOL! while it lasts.

:thumbsup:

[leveymg]

10. May be funny, but I hate like Hell to say it.

To paraphrase another Second World War figure; "Never have so so few done so much to loot and destroy a nation as did the Bush-era Banksters and their cronies."

And, what did Obama do about it? Not only did he continue to give them billions in bail-outs, he appoints them to plan and continue running the country's economic policy! I suspect there would have been a revolution or a coup if FDR had done something similar.

Seventy years later, we are a beaten and pathetic people to tolerate this.

[NJmaverick]

11. Interesting scenario. Most likely the President would have worked with the Republicans

and declared war, while the President's left wing critics would refuse to help the war effort against the axis, because the President had compromised his principles.

[leveymg]

14. You have history ass backwards. It was the GOP who were the American Fascist Int'l, and the Lefties

were the ones pushing for the US to enter the war on the side of the Soviets and the British.

The Bush family personifies the American Fifth Column. There should be no working with and forgiving such traitors.

[NJmaverick]

15. Yet there are some that claim war isn't a liberal value

go figure

[leveymg]

17. Go tell that to the Truman and LBJ wing of the party. LOL.

[scarletwoman]

13. So, what IS the "one transcendent, overarching reality"?

What exactly is the cause, the principle for which one ought to have "...that crystal clear, hard, fierce and ferocious sense of determination. That cold burning anger. That elemental sense of total commitment and passion"?

What DOES the Democratic Party stand for that would rightly inspire this "total commitment and passion"?

sw

[NJmaverick]

16. Well if you had read the article, you would know it was referring to the Republicans

<<Democrats can complain and second guess and criticize as much as they want this year but the hard reality is that we do not have the luxury of indifference or discouragement.

For Democrats, there is no choice.

This Republican assault cannot be ignored, minimized or accommodated.

They have to be stopped.>>

[scarletwoman]

18. Sorry, I couldn't read the article, the link froze up my computer.

This Republican assault cannot be ignored, minimized or accommodated.

Ah well, I suspected this was probably the message. The usual: vote for Democrats because Republicans are so much worse -- apparently comparable to teh evil Axis Powers in WWII if the analogy in your OP is followed to its logical conclusion. (Isn't that a Godwin violation?)

Of course I'll faithfully show up at my polling place this November and vote for everyone with a "D" behind their name, as I have faithfully done for over 40 years since I was old enough to vote.

After all, this off-year election is all about local races in which I will actively campaign for, and donate to, the Dem candidates. I happen to mostly like my Congressman, and there's no Senate election this year in my state.

However, if the Democratic Party as a whole wants to inspire "passion and commitment" on the part of ordinary people, then elected Democratic politicians in DC are going to have to do a better job of demonstrating their OWN "passion and commitment" to the needs of ordinary people, and a good deal less deal-making and asskissing with Big Money and Big Business.

sw

[LoZoccolo]

19. K&R, and here's another aspect of it...

...those who do have that determination might just have to go on fighting despite the cowards, slackers, traitors, prima donnas, and ungrateful.

Here's to the fight, NJMaverick; you are a DU superstar. :toast:

[KonaKane]

20. Well stated. And I see the unreccing crew has been busy already.

We can't have any of this solidarity stuff interrupting the never ending self pity fest, now can we....

[LoZoccolo]

21. They can thank us later, though they probably won't. n/t

[whatchamacallit]

23. Yawn...

:boring:

[JHB]

26. A good and useful perspective. The thing is...

...did you read this and see something you need to apply to yourself?

Or is this a lecture for those people over there?