Shock And Awe, Democratic Style!

As November approaches, certain Democrats are getting antsy over possible losses in the upcoming midterm elections.  Some vociferous party line Democrats have already formed a circular firing squad and have stated that any Democratic losses in November will be caused by the Progressive Democrats and their dissent.   When things go wrong, it's always easier to find a convenient scapegoat than to look for the real cause of a problem.  This article should shake those people out of their blissful state of Democratic denial!

Let's tell it like it is:
If we were to have major reform, the kind that would have erased the massive damage done to the American way of life by the Bush administration,  it had to be done in the first three months following the President's inauguration.  The party had a clear majority and the President was at his maximum popularity after the win.  When the Republicans are in charge, they let you know that they are in charge, they take no prisoners, everything must be done their way.  When a Republican is in the White House, the Republican Party acts like America is a conquered nation and they are an occupying army.   When a Democrat is in the White House, the Democratic Party acts as if it lost the election and talks about bipartisanship a.k.a. compromise. This has been the case since the Reagan days.

We needed Democratic shock and awe in those first few months of the Obama presidency, instead we got:
- Day one calls for bipartisanship that were not reciprocated by the Republicans.
- Bailouts of Wall Street, banks and insurance interests that were "too big to fail" with little perceived help for the unemployed and people who were losing their homes to foreclosure.
- White House appointees that were closely tied to the financial interests they were attempting to regulate.
- Almost every promised bit of pro-consumer/pro-middle class legislation was watered down by internal blue dog bickering and compromise. The resulting laws had the names of the problems they were trying solve, but were only partial fixes.

Campaign promises are like I.O.U's, the public remembers and becomes disillusioned when they are not redeemed.   If the promised legislative initiatives were undiluted by compromise, the voting public would have been reaping the benefits of true change and would have become guaranteed Democratic votes in the upcoming mid-term elections.  The public perception is that true "New Deal" programs should have dealt with the needs of the real victims of the reces.... er, I mean depression, John and Jane Q. Public, BEFORE any help was given to the banks, Wall St and corporate interests.  My perception is that coprorations were given preferential access to our elected officials and basically got what they wanted.   Mere mortal ordinary voters were placated by watered down legislation and political rhetoric.  They got the bread, we got the crumbs. 

For America's sake, I hope that the Democrats can keep their legislative seats and fend off the Republican corporatists, but if that doesn't happen, just remember what I said about shock and awe.