We're All Outsiders Now - The Real Civil War

[arendt]

We're All Outsiders Now - The Real Civil War
by arendt

Some people say that it is merely technological maturity that has empowered
the massive Internet donations to both outsider organizations (MoveOn, TBTM)
and outsider candidates (Dean, Kucinich). This essay argues, instead, that the
US middle class, with its back to the financial and intellectual wall, has finally
decided to use its money or lose it.

They can see the handwriting on the outsourcing contracts. They can see the
vaporized tech and financial jobs. They can see the deliberate dual-level
consumer marketplace of Nieman-Marcus and WalMart with damn little
in between.

But, if it were just the economy, I don't think they would have been so energized.
It is the absolute destruction of the political and legal rule system that has frightened
them. It is the "don't prosecute" card given to Kenny Boy Lay, it is the arbitrary
detention of citizens and the one-sided prosecutions of "some" terrorists, it is
the deliberate lying about WMDs and the media kiss-off to that and to the
Plame Affair, and it is many other assaults on the Constitution and the traditional
politics of compromise - the sum total of all this presents a pattern that sets off
all the alarms among Robert Reich's class of "symbolic analysts".

After two decades of GOP/corporate downsizing, all that is left of the post-WW2
middle class is this educated, professional elite. The key word is educated. These
people think critically for a living. They find the "infotainment"-ized, post-Fairness
Doctrine, FCC-concentrated media to be nothing but a 24/7 propaganda machine
for the GOP. These people also invented the Internet (no slight to Al Gore who did
promote it) and use it in their work. They saw that there was a possibility for honest
discussion, honest reporting, and genuine political organizing on the Internet.
And, they saw every other traditional avenue of such organizing, including
the go-along-to-get-along punching bags in the Democratic National Committee,
had been bought, co-opted, intimidated, or put out of business by an increasingly
belligerent and openly right-wing corporate mafia. These are people that succeeded
by playing by the rules; and they are really pissed at the liars, cheats, mountebanks,
and ignorant zealots who have been let lose on us by Bush.

500,000 of those educated middle class people turned out in NYC in the February
cold to say they didn't want war. And you had better believe that those same
people went home and saw the absolute suppression of that demonstration by the
corporate media. They saw the corporate media war-cheerleader Clear Channel
labelling them traitors for exercising their rights. And what they saw convinced them
they were now outsiders in their own country.

Of course, when the media spins this, the middle class morphs into those
spoiled-rotten, ex-hippiie, boomers, who are all drug-using traitors (unlike
Rush Limbaugh and Neil Bush). The same spin labels the arguably conservative
Howard Dean to be a screaming 60s draft-dodging hippie while giving AWOL
shrub free publicity for GI Joe photo ops. But, while all successful caricatures have
a kernel of truth, the idea that only whining granola-eaters are affected by the
neocon looting and militarization of America simply does not resonate.

The Internet money is not just boomer money, it is money from the entire
educated class of this increasingly benighted country, which sees itself cast
in the totally shocking role of outsider. The money and the volunteers come
from teenage hackers and from retired Army brass. These resources go only to
the outsiders, not to everyone.

The idea that there is some technical or marketing magic needed to raise money
on the Internet from committed political contributors is yet another media smokescreen.
Hell, Jerry Falwell has been raising small contributions for decades, long before the
Internet. Today's outsider money comes from true believers in stodgy old middle-class
democracy. It goes to those genuinely fighting for middle class interests instead of
positioning themselves, like Joe Lieberman, to shaft the middle class in the name of
war and fundamentalism.

So, as in the Viet Nam debacle, the way to throw the bums out lies in the fight
among the hegemonic classes. The Bush Administration represents economic
Neanderthals in the extract and pollute industries. The professional middle class
resistance lies in the technologists who profited from the 90s bubble.

As in Viet Nam, whoever wins, don't expect the second coming of Franklin Roosevelt.
The best you can expect is to go back to an America where the laws have to be obeyed
by the GOP, just like everyone else, where the budget gets balanced by making
the corporations and the rich pay their fair share, where even GOP crooks get prosecuted,
where government money does not go directly to Churches, and where the Bill of
Rights remains the law of the land. Internationally, the best you can expect is that
the US turns Iraq over to the UN and stops destabilizing the entire world.

That's why the whole orchestrated firestorm over the "Civil War" inside the Democratic
Party is just another example of corporate media projection and divide-and-rule.
The real civil war is between people who respect our Constitution and those who
trample on it daily.

At this point, it will be a "hard slog" just to get back to those basic values;
fundamentalist political terrorists, funded by the shadowy "Our Guys Dough"
network will be sniping at our soldiers constantly. So, anyone looking for the
guillotine to be set up in the Place de la Concorde will have to go to Paris for
the forseeable future. But, don't throw away those knitting needles, there are
some neocons that need a sweater to keep their necks warm for the time being.

[darkstar]

1. Great piece, arendt!

Nice to read such chewy, well-written, drama-free insights.

Please keep it up.

:kick:

[arendt]

2. Yeah, after the last 2 days, I am sick of drama-queens

I wrote this to get people re-focused on the REAL enemy
and the REAL civil war.

It will be interesting to see if this is

A) ignored - because its not nasty enough to get "ratings" in GD
B) flamed - because it is perceived as pro-Dean
C) discussed and amplified - as it should be

Thanks for your kick.

arendt

[QC]

3. I'm sick of them, too.

It's a real pity about GD that intelligent discussions of real issues seldom take off, while candidate flame wars and Green/Dem Steel Cage Death Match threads go on and on and on and on.

Am I just getting nostalgic in my middle age, or wasn't there really a time when smart discussions were more common here?

[KoKo]

8. Yes, there was a time when smart discussions or even discussion took place

I remember it. Even during the Nader/Green Flame Wars. There was still smart discussion. One could learn so much from the diversity here and the links which were posted.

Now the "one line smart ass reply" is the norm. Unfortunately, I do it myself lately. The tone has been set and some of us get suckered in.

[QC]

9. Glad I'm not the only one who remembers it.

Unfortunately, DU has gone from being a discussion board to a chatroom.

[darkstar]

7. Right--

Torn by hijacking this thread, turning it into current state of DU and kicking it again. But things had settled down a bit, it seemed, prior to the Gore endorsement. Folks like yourself, PeteNYC, ophi, and others starting generative threads, Skinner's Dily Dem threads, etc.

But bang, did that endorsement change things. Deans on my short list, i.e. not the luv of my life, but the only problem I have w/ the Gore endorsement is the setback it's caused DU.

As for content and discussion of topic, middle section re: granola boomers ties in w/ my overarching theory that Bush played on the bommers' draft-dodging, free-love, partying down guilt over personal histories that flew in the face of their parent's--The Geatest Generation, mind you--values. Bush was the perfect conduit for that as he'd played the part of the prodigal.

Given the new emotionally fragile populace, we need an emotional narrative of equal strength to balance out the rational argument and the fundraising, IMO.

[arendt]

12. Your comment alone could get people into this thread

> Bush played on the bommers' draft-dodging, free-love, partying down guilt
> over personal histories that flew in the face of their parent's values. Bush
> was the perfect conduit for that as he'd played the part of the prodigal.

Egad, I don't know whether that is a really subtle psychological insight
or an absolutely mind-rotting psychological warfare meme!

As a boomer, I have never looked back. The Viet Nam war was a
big mistake, the Communist witch hunts inside this country were a
self-interested, hypocritical joke after Stalin died (JEHoover thought
MLK was a commie.) The government paid for a good education,
and I got out of a lower middle class family that thought I was
"weird".

Have the majority of boomers been brainwashed into self-hatred
for effectively resisting corporate domination when they were
young and idealistic? Maybe. That's why your idea is so scary.
Its one of those Madison Avenue subliminal mind-fucks.

Tell me you just made it up, please! I can't deal with being done
in by SELF-LOATHING boomers.

arendt

[Tigerlily]

48. Someone on DU labeled the phenomena "Yuppie Fascism"

but I can't remember who.

[Tansy_Gold]

59. no self-loathing here

If anything, I see * as the total antithesis of EVERYTHING the boomers were and are, whether right or left.

I was raised (b. 1948) in a working class Eisenhower Republican family. I married into a working class Eisenhower Republican family. I participated only marginally in much of the counter-culture, but a good portion of it kind of rubbed off on me, and I grew into being a very liberal/progressive/even marxist Democrat.

I see * as betraying both the right and the left that existed in the 60s and early 70s. I do not see him as in any way being a touchstone for them, either as a prodigal or a devoted son.

If you introduce the biblical story of the Prodigal Son to unindoctrinated children and ask for their response, many of them will feel outrage. The "good" son got nothing in return for his duty and loyalty; only the "bad" one. Some children will interpret it as a justification for going out and doing bad things, because if you get forgiven, it's okay, and you might as well do it because the good kids who stay at home never have any fun anyway.

I don't think * fits the model of the Prodigal anyway, and I don't think most boomer identify with that model either. Maybe some of the yuppie fascists, but I'm not sure they were ever really prodigals anyway.

I am going off on bizarre tangents. Sorry.

[darkstar]

16. One of my hobby horses for a while

Was during the 2000 election. W's acceptance speech was structured as such.

I've returned to it w/ the new cycle upon us, but in w/ a diffenent thrust:

Here's my post from a week ago:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=758432

Given the subject matter of that thread, I continue to try and foster thought on emotion laden narratives we can attach to this election.

Here's one from today:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=879821

edits: clarity and links

PS: Sorry don't know how to tiny url. Yet. Anyone?

[arendt]

17. Ouch, you have a point.

Organized Western religions are nothing but social control devices,
and I have never bought them.

The whole Prodigal Son story never made any sense to me.
I thought the Dad was a horse's ass and a sucker. I was
for the kid who did his job. Not that Mr. Prodigal could not
work his way back up from stableboy; but to just be given
everything - why the story is downright LIBERAL.

But, I can see how you can construct your argument from the
press reports of 2000.

Do you think we could start a meme that the Prodigal Son
is a Liberal story? :-)

arendt

[darkstar]

21. Personally, I think

the game is to come up w/ our own.

I added a second link, on edit, above to a possible patriotism angle. Of course it's just thinking aloud and nothing too profound, but I really feel that this emotion bizness is really important.

I did paid work for a gubernatorial candidate here in Louisana: mostly economic development policy research and analysis, editing position papers for the web, etc. Lots of dry "Here's how Georgia pulls TANF funding into its job training block grants" and the like.

But at the end of the day, despite excitement playing a *very* junior wonk, the reality of the roles of emotion and image and the "irrational" pscychology behind getting someone elected really was shoved in my face. Big time. By the end, it seemed that the hundreds of pages I produced would help the candidate govern, if elected, but barely help them get elected in the first place. I'm not one to call citizens sheeple, and please don't take that from this, but it was disheartening on both the personal and larger political levels to know that solid, rational and detailed plans can amount to so little.

[arendt]

23. Time to break out the Joseph Campbell

I have been down this whole track intellectually.

Its true, consciousness is highly over-rated. We are
often run by our emotions, especially when we think
we aren't.

But, somehow, going out and creating mythology to
manipulate people into doing what is right seems to
me to be the slippery slope.

I'm in a quandry, and I've just read "The DaVinci Code"
and "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", so I've got secret society
on the brain.

As long as we don't do an Illuminati hijacking of
Freemasonry, what are you thoughts along these
lines (i.e., come up with our own)?

arendt

P.S Will be offline for an hour or two. Please keep the
thread kicked. Thanx

[darkstar]

24. I agree

i.e., I don't think we have to adopt whole mythologies, despite my loose use of the term "narratives" above.

I do think we have to create emotional resonances. I think redifining patriotism and emphasising a sense of fairness, especially, generational fairness are 2 possibly worthy starting points. That is, as per taking the "I support the troops/where's my tax cut" line outward, stand the generational obligation of "boomers doing right by their parents" on its head," i.e. "boomers doing right by their kids."

In short, "If you support the US in its efforts to establish security, you should pay for it now and not pass the buck to your kids."

[janx]

30. I'm tired of drama queens too...

but you knew that. :hi:

Nice post, arendt.

[lapislzi]

4. Right on every point

This was great, although I don't understand your Vietnam analogies. Enlighten me as to your thinking?

[arendt]

5. Hegemony is an alternative political theory...

which posits that, in anything short of a Stalinist police state,
there are factions which are contending for power, and that
those factions limit the freedom of action of those actually
in office.

In Viet Nam, the historians see that the elite media jumped
on the war about the time the Guns-and-Butter inflation plus
the anti-war riots had started to really cut into business profits
and had led to nasty levels of worker social consciousness,
like what led to the Lordstown, OH strike.

So, the hegemony theory says that someone in power
(like, who the hell was deep throat) decided that we were
going down the wrong road and had the power to object
via the media. They wanted the war stopped before its
side effects really screwed up America.

Unfortunately for us, they got Nixon and the proto-neocons
behind Reagan got them. The only organized political force
left was the Reagan Right.

arendt

[KoKo]

6. Excellent post! I hope some of the more naive DU'ers read it! Those

who have become "tools" of the media propaganda reapeating everything they hear, and cautioning us about it.

[info being]

27. I agree. Too many TV watchers here

.

[KoKo]

10. The "Corporate Media" is our enemy. Good point about "Divide and Rule."

We bring their views into DU and then we become part of them. I don't know what to do about that. How does one not post something they saw on Matthews or heard on Imus? Especially since what we heard or saw might be a new "twist" on propaganda we need to know about.

It's those who blindly believe that Imus, Matthews, Coulter, O'Reilly, and the others like them, have the "Power" over us. As long as we have the internet we can make our own descisions by doing research by sharing ideas and talking about our feelings. This is not being done very much here lately.

[arendt]

15. I never watch or read any of the "Cult of the Soulless"

My stomach is too weak.

I am grateful to people who excerpt their venom and
simultaneously administer the anti-serum.

This time, I think its more like nerve gas than snake
venom - it just fills the air, and if you breath it, you die.

Here is your CBW suit:

Repeat after me:

The REAL Civil War is between those who uphold the
Constitution and those who trash it.

arendt

[proud patriot]

11. Wow ..I hope more people read this

Great work very thoughtful . :hi:

[Nadienne]

22. Here, here! (n/t)

[Iverson]

13. nicely put, arendt

I only wish that it were obvious to more.

[tom_paine]

14. Well said, arendt

:toast: :toast:

Very true.

[Jacobin]

18. Excellent thoughtful analysis of where the support for the

Dem revolution is coming from. Also, helps explain why the media portrays the Dem revolution as comprised of only "elitists". Its what remains of the middle class and is fighting to preserve what's left of it, and to keep this country from becoming another South American plutocracy. Since we are not obedient working class stiffs who "do what we are told" by the aristrocrats, we must be put in our place.

Thanks for posting that. It reminds me of why I come here.

[Iverson]

19. just one little detail

A thread about flag burning is getting three times the attention of this thread on the fundamental crisis of fascism versus democracy.

What can we do to help lefties and others become less distractible?

[arendt]

20. Nominate them for a Darwin Award

Distraction is programmed in from infancy - just
plant the kid in front of a TV. They can use a
remote before they can walk.

To me, its a pocketbook issue. Ask these guys
if they don't notice their pocket being picked
while all this trivial BS is distracting them.

All these phony issues, when there are so
many real issues, just about money:

Haliburton gouging for gas in Iraq
Medicare ripoff pays HMOs now, rest of us in 2006
Massive budget deficit
Unemployment going back up
Dollar sinking

If people can't respect their own pocketbook,
then they are Darwin Award candidates.

arendt

[tom_paine]

25. I'm afarid, collectively, the Imperial Subjects of Amerika are candidates

for the Darwin Award.

Although, in truth and for the moment, we are distant runners up to the 1930s Germans.

But give the Busheviks some time, I think we're going to give the Germans a run for their money before all is said and done...

[PissedOffPollyana]

39. It's all connected.

Once someone finally finds a way to prove how being informed and actually caring about other people's well being directly pays off, we'll be in business. It's frustrating to note how selfish our society has become in so many ways. Now, the tone is very aggressive. I think a lot of it has to do with being kept permanently on edge by the powers that be.

I am as much up for spirited debate and a little intellectual wrestling, even prone to make a provocative statement every now and again. But I would like to come here to think about important matters like this and get fired up about the process, not feel disappointed that the dumbing down of America is invading the political process.

Thanks for posting your thoughts, I enjoyed reading it.

[markus]

26. I think you underrate 1 critical point in the growing Middle Class revolt

It's not about the war per se, or about the ugly corporate media. It is purely economic.

These are families with two professional working 60 hour weeks, many of whose mothers stayed home while they grew up in a comfortable middle class.

They seen the continual squeeze they are under. They are smart enough to recognize how spiraling productivity and GDP growth without jobs comes from. It comes out of their hides. They are being driven to the limit, and they are scarred.

They can't do anything at work, but they sure as hell can support a candidate as angry as they are at the satus quo.

The GOP and Wall Street class have been waging class war against us for the past generation. It's time to return the favor (or at least return some balance).

Hell, I'm angry enough I'm not sure I'll settle for balance. I think I want to revenge. I think the repeal of the Bush Tax Cut for people earning more than $250,000 in their household should be retroactive.

For people above, say, $500,000, or maybe $1,000,000 it should include a tax hike big enough to pay for the war in Iraq. Hell, its there war, not ours. Why should we pay for it?

[arendt]

32. I made "backs to the economic and intellectual wall" the backbone of this

I don't disagree at all with the economic motivation.

But, with high school kids in Goose Creek being
faced with SWAT teams; citizens disappearing;
foreigners in transit being sent to Syria to be
tortured; crooks like Ken Lay walking scott free;
etc., don't you thiink even Joe Sixpack is beginning
to feel a little uneasy about what kind of a country
his kid is growing up in. The nasty videotape of
the Marines executing that guy ought to send
the "family values" crowd thru the ceiling; but
it won't because they're braindead hypoctrites.

Other than emphasis, I agree with everything you
say.

arendt

[BiggJawn]

35. So it's not just me? others see it too?

I grew up during the 60's and 70's. My dad was a skilled tradesman working in a factory, and he had a small business on the side. Mom stayed at home, we had a NICE home out in a rural area, and when the "burbs" started crowding in, we moved to property out in farm country. Dad always had nice cars (I was almost 10 years old before I realised not everybody's dad had a Caddy) and we had campers. first, a truck camper then the 24' trailer. Probably would have had a boat, too if dad had liked the water.

All this on factory pipefitter's pay.

I'm an "IT Professional" for a big University and I can barely keep my rent and truck payment current and buy my medicine at the same time...

[Tigerlily]

70. Yes, others see it too, BigJawn.

[rmond]

28. I am part of the educated middle class

Your essay really hit home with this 40 something. Thank you for expressing a lot of my current feelings. We are at war. All I have to do to get myself worked up is to look at my two sons, both of whom are intelligent and have a good shot at a college education. But what then? Will they be drafted into the army for a global empire? Will they have job aspirations beyond being a manager at Wal-Mart? I have so many friends who have been unemployed for two years or more with no hope of returning to the profession they were forced to leave. Many of their jobs are now done by third-world contracting firms for 1/10 of what they were paid.

Our local media (Dallas,TX) is laughable. Since the Gore endorsement, our local paper has run "Fear of Dean" editorials--one of which posited that the Democrats need to dump Dean to have any hope of winning. The other was from a right-winger who posited that the Repubs should be afraid of Dean. The news from Iraq is generally buried about page 20 so that only the true news junkies will find it. Occasionally, there is an Afghanistan piece.

I hope that my small contributions will play a part in this election. This is the first time that I have felt like I made a difference (no matter how small) in a candidate's campaign.

[arendt]

33. Thanks for the feedback

We all need each other to tell each other that we
are not individually and collectively out of touch.

With the constant bombardment of corporate propaganda,
it is most important to have a community of intelligent
non-conformists to support the truth against the
bombardment of lies.

Keep contributing. Keep telling the truth.
And get one of those "Kill your TV" bumperstickers.
War is a time of chaos, when seemingly trivial events
can have major consequences ("for want of a nail,
the shoe was lost...") Your contribution counts now
more than ever.

arendt

[October]

29. Intelligent Essay, Arendt......

Thank you for this post. Mind if I copy/paste and send to my friends?

I hope for more threads like this, as I've grown more than weary of the "My candidate is better than yours..." variety.

Funny aside...

After reading several threads this morning -- every one of which seemed to be flaming -- I turned to my husband in frustration and came out with this hilarious juxtaposition:

"God, ever since the Gore endorsement, the board is totally aflame with threads of CLEAN and DARK!!!!!"

Of course, I meant Dean and Clark. :)

It's difficult enough finding good news sources, so I hate to see the DUers here warring with one another, instead of discussing the issues. Thanks again, Arendt.

[arendt]

31. Feeel free to copy...

This happens every time an essay gets some traction.
I guess I'm going to put a general "publish with attribution"
disclaimer on my stuff.

Spread the meme

arendt

[BiggJawn]

34. This is excellent!

You really see it, especially in the 4th paragraph.
I AM pissed at the harpies that BushCo has set upon us!

[tom_paine]

36. I think, too, that prosperity breeds complacency

Think about it. How many of us dozed through the Clinton Years, convinced everything was ok because the economy was booming, jobs were plentiful, etc.

In many ways things WERE good, but the tree was rotting from the inside even then and we didn't notice Life was good.

Then came 1998, a jarring Roman-type spectacle. A completely fabricated circus than, due to the Soviet-style control of the media exercised by the Party-Loyal Right-Wing Sub-Media, we coudln't turn off. Strange, conflicting issues came up, seeming incompatible with a Free Nation...like how could the Busheviks continue with Impeachment, knowing it was immensely unpopular?

Answer (in retrospect): The Busheviks KNEW they didn't have to worry about "voting"--between propaganda, disenfranchsement and the fraud-practiced-shameelssly-in-the-open of Rove's "absentee ballot strategy" (which undoubtedly covertly included double-and-triple-voting from Bushevik vacation homeowners), they had the "election" won before the campaign started.

But the Clintonian Prosperity that fueled our economic lives, ironically created the complacency that allowed Totalitarianism to finally get it's boot on the neck of America after 225 years.

Funny old world, isn't it?

A KICK for this fine thread...

:kick: :kick:

[darkstar]

38. Hey tom,

you year-round soldier you. You were one of the first people who made my "try and always read" list when I first came to DU a couple of years back.

I don't post too much, obviously, and for the last five months or so wasn't around much to read even. But glad to see you are still here. For some reason wasn't seeing you much. (Another problem w/ prosperity, i.e. DU's increasing numbers make top post fall quickly and reduce the chances, in any given hour, of running past familiar names?)

Other than "long time, no see," I think BiggJawn is onto something re: middle class boomers understanding that they are not getting the deal their parents had.

More two income families.

Retirement? That's your responsibility.

And health care. Man, health care. I'm embarassed I don't recall who said it at the debate, but the point re: monthy health care costing more than the house payment really hits home, and my wife and I don't have any kids. There's currently an $80 gap. Next year it will likely be near even. The year after that, more. You would think that every 40 something with kids would have been watching those numbers converge over the past 20 years and, to a person, be *exceedingly* concerned, if not up in arms.

At any rate, I think the eventual nom would be insane not to hammer the "health care costs more than housing" theme home next year.

In addition, how can the elderly parents of the boomers take it, watching the New (Raw) Deal that their progeny is being subjected to?

Hate to beat my angle from up thread to death, but intergenerational responsibility in all directions--seniors to boomers (insurance costs), boomers to seniors (SS and medicare), boomers to kids (national debt)--seems like a *huge* winner that could be tapped.


:kick:

darkstar

[tom_paine]

47. Thanks, darkstar

You are right, there is a popular discontent that is growing, but can it outompete the many megaphones of Goebbels v2.0?

"Can you shout louder than the White Clown, Montag?"
--Professor Faber, "Farenheit 451"

Faber had it right. The Busheviks own most all the megaphones, the ones they don't they infiltrated and bent to their will from within, or from above through corporate consolidation and sea-changing media mores (I can't even call it 'journalism' with a straight face).

So here you have the ultimate divide and conquer. Millions with discontent drowned out by half their number or perhaps even less because they control the megapohones and have taken the dark sciences of advertising/public relations/psychomanipulation to levels of mass population control that would have made Hitler and Stalin green with envy.

Many people are tired, harried and hurried. It is these people who are easy prey for the Busheviks. Their lies, as Goebbels said, are short and sweet, requiring a much longer stament to "unpack" them. By the time you get halfway through people are tuned out. Goebbels knew this and so does Rove.

In addition, even where they are caught redhanded, as in the Plame Affair, forcing the EPA to lie to New Yorkers about air quality after 9/11, no-bid contracts and grotesque conflicts of interest and war profiteering like Ferdinand Marcos...their Party-Loyal Right-Wing Sub-Media can throw such a cloud of obfuscation into the air that many will also throw their hands up in confusion.

Plus, the Democrats overall are so used to begging for mercy in many ways they have forgotten how to do anything else. Finally, they themselves are trapped in the Bushevik fantasy Bubble woven so intesely by Goebbels v2.0.

Will we prevail? Can the Old American Republic be restored or is it destined for the ash heap of history? All i know is that I'm not giving up without a fight...

(also, not to be egotistical, but you can find myself and other posters you like to read by using the "search" function that your star confers)

[arendt]

50. You can't prevail if you don't try

> Many people are tired, harried and hurried. It is these people who are easy
> prey for the Busheviks. Their lies, as Goebbels said, are short and sweet,
> requiring a much longer stament to "unpack" them.

I agree with everything you said.

Still, my essay claims that the people who aren't overly tired, but are
hurried and hassled, have decided to speak. And they, collectively,
can buy a lot of microphones.

As someone else said, the Repugs have maxed out GOTV for any
fool who believes their propaganda. So, the Middle Class Party
has equal megaphones to compete for those who haven't sold
their souls to WalMart.

You want a short, simple, and hard to unpack?

WalMart is destroying three good jobs for every two bad ones it creates.
The richest 1% got a tax cut to ship our jobs overseas.
Bush was AWOL and he is shafting veterans and soldiers.
Ashcroft is shredding the Constitution.
Bush is deliberately bankrupting the country and lying about it.
Bush is the first president since Hoover to lose jobs.

Notice how most of these are about M-O-N-E-Y, the old
class warfare thing, as in:

We already had a class war, and the rich won.

Keep fighting

arendt

[starroute]

37. I see a need for middle class consciousness-raising

The middle class right now reminds me very much of women in the pre-feminist 1950's -- boiling over with anger and frustration beneath a facade of normality and privilege. They need somebody to tell them it's not their fault if they can't cope with the prevailing conditions. They need somebody to tell them it's okay to be outraged. They need somebody to tell them their problems are built into the system and can never be solved until the system is fundamentally altered.

Or, more to the point, they need to get together and tell one another these things until they've worked out the details and are ready for action.

If they do, we may be reminded that middle class rage can be amazingly potent. I learned in some college class or other that the French Revolution wasn't really the doing of peasants and urban laborers. It was the product of the French middle class, which had made considerable gains in the middle 1700's but then seen them eroded again in the 1780's through a combination of national economic difficulties (France had overextended itself in supporting the American War of Independence) and repressive government policies.

Beyond that, everybody knows how destabilizing a population of under-employed intellectuals can be. You may yet get your revolution . . .

[darkstar]

40. Hey starroute--

we cross posted, but your feelings are completely in line with mine. If you read the stuff above you know that I agree with you in terms of both your specifics and, more broadly, the notion of validating emotions.

The good thing about the anger you discuss is that t is not a rigid policy position, i.e., you can be angry and compassionate and righteous and grief stricken all at the same time. I think we need to call on all of these, with anger leading the people-energizing way.

BTW, not to continue w/ old home week, but it's nice to see you again as well. Having been away and only recently wanting to reconnect w/ DU, the current climate was making it hard. You probably don't recall, but once there was a 20-odd post thread that you, me and starpass were all over and a 4th party cracked some Star Trek joke.

Anyway, part of my new reconnection effort is to make some personal re-introductions on POSITIVE threads. Glad I ran into you here.

[arendt]

42. Interesting - the Middle Class Mystique, eh?

Everyone trying desperately to keep up the facade,
keep up with the Joneses, stay on that diet - when
they are really sick of the whole suburban bullshit
lifestyle: need a car for every adult, and now that
has to be an PanzerKinderWagon, need a home
theatre so you can be brainwashed in style...

What would the middle class equivalent of bra-burning be?
(seriously!)

arendt

[darkstar]

44. Burning

mutual fund prospecti, perhaps?

[arendt]

46. Environmental problem...

there's so much of that worthless crap you would pollute
the entire country. :-)

OTOH, its a way out of thee Energy Crisis ;-)

arendt

[randr]

41. You are absolutly right!

The majority of Americans are appauled by the current atmosphere in Washington. You are right that they are now ready to put their money where their mouths are.
We have won the last three presidential elections.
The present resident of the White House won less than a third of the possible voters in a year that his side really worked hard to get that many. I really don't think that many repugs ignore their voting rights.
I think this may be a year that the great non-voting mass of America wakes up and votes. Then we shall see once and for all who the real majority is.
Rather than fret over an imagined split in our party we should be celebrating our diversity and the grandness of all our ideals. Out of the slate of 9 will emerge a candidate that will carry the banner of unity.

[Arugula Latte]

43. Kick!

:kick:

[arendt]

45. How about asking DU for a "Thoughtful Essays" Forum?

Most responses here wish that DU hadn't turned so
dumb recently. This is an idea to help with that.

Thoughtful Essays would have to be exactly that.
No shoot from the hip flame-bait.

The forum would have strict rules about one line insult posts.

It would require a minimum length at least as long
as the typical newspaper editorial page article (about
500 words?).

And, the alert button could throw out disruptors much
easier.

Any takers?

arendt

P.S. Since the census of DU has only gone from about
20k to 35k over the last 18 months, how come things
have gotten so bad? DU isn't twice as big as a while
ago. Are all the newbies simple? Or are there many
more disruptors per thousand in this new bunch?

[xchrom]

49. corporatism isn't going away easily

the corporate slime are embedded{to use the new term} in both political parties, controlling the media, -- well so much it's amazing -- the internet{bill gates}.
the thing that gets me is how many americans go along with sending their jobs over seas, increasing wealth to the top but far less to the middle and poor. how many americans willingly go along with the trashing of their countries landscape, water, air -- i mean it boggles.
yes some of us have awakened, are awakening -- but i wonder if things haven't gone to far.

[arendt]

51. Only one way to find out. Fight your hardest in 2004...

and if Bush wins, leave the country because there is
going to be the biggest train wreck you have ever
seen.

The public has been so completely anesthetized, but
I think that between the absolute, lowest common denominator
sleazoid dreck on TV, and the ability to get real news
on the Internet, that we may begin to wake America up.

I mean, at this point, I am in agreement with the Far Right
that TV is a poisonous brew of sex, violence, disrespect
for all authority, the elevation of the gangster and the
class clown to positions of power, etc.

Everybody with a brain, right, left, and center, is fed up.
And the Internet is giving them meetups. Its like pulling
the control rods out of a nuclear reactor.

arendt

[sendero]

52. relevant ideas...

... and fine writing. I have a short attention span but I was still able to read the whole thing :)

All the subtle little changes in our society over the last couple years are really scary. I can't wait until the nomination is behind us and we can focus on the real problems.

[Jacobin]

53. kick for the night owls

[arendt]

54. Night owls? Its not even prime time yet! Where do you live? UK? n/t

n/t

[Jacobin]

65. I'm time challenged, I guess

:crazy:

I'm central standard time, but holed up and lost track of it I guess

[darkstar]

56. Hey Jacobin--

I forget, but I'm thinking you are a Louisiana resident too?

Lafaytte, here. New Years plans? I sure would like to do a LA DUers party/get together. New Orleans?

[Jacobin]

64. Great idea!! I'm up for it. Didn't know there were

that many DUers in Louisiana, but glad to know about it.

[Sterling]

55. Sorry dude its real alright

There is a power strugle going on right now and I doubt many of us even undertsand 25% of what is going on. It is important that we are aware of this no matter what your agenda is.

[arendt]

57. Whoa - this is THE Sterling? DU/media guru?

(bowing low, seriously).

If there really is a power struggle, then the election is over
before it has begun. If the Big Dog wants to hang on to power when
he hasn't done jackshit, except to make a joke excusing Bush's
WMD lies, then the Democratic Party is over.

Tell me that its just a pissing contest about who gets the
corner office at the DNC; but don't tell me that any serious
Democrat wants to alienate the Dean loyalists who have
forced the party to actually try to live up to its constituents'
desires.

Can the last chance for democracy in this great nation be
in the hands of such petty dickheads? Any details would
be appreciated (with warnings for those who vomit easily).

arendt

[darkstar]

58. Please expand

Are you saying that there is a schism in the Dem party? Or are you offering assent to arndt's original post re: what he views as the civil war.

If it is the former, please give us your understanding of ~25% of it, as you see it, and expand on who needs to understand it and why.

I don't see the inter party civil war. At least not on a structural level. There are at least three broad components, IMO: Old Time, Money Dems, DLC (Clinton's still the new guy, ain't he, now matter his fundraising prowess?), and the grassroots movement. Hence, even if Clinton and Gore are in a pissing contest, I don't see it cleaving the party into 2 distinct halves. It's way too big and messy a tent, as we know, to pack, say, the black vote and unions into either one of these camps in the next several months, IMO.

In otherwords, I don't understand how the "war" filters down to the Democratic voters. But I'm willing to learn about this theory and and open to it. Hence, my saying I don't see it is not to argue. As I said above, I am not 100% sure of your position. . .

[arendt]

60. just a kick to the first page - I want to hear more, Sterling, please.

[arendt]

61. Please, Sterling, everyone stop posting waiting for your reply

Have a heart, guy. You can't titilate us all like that and then
go away. At least, give us a link to something.

arendt

[arendt]

62. At least now I have 2 data points that it takes 10 mins to fall off page..

one in primetime.

arendt

[arendt]

63. First page free fall time now 15 mins. ; but I'm thru waiting n/t

[darkstar]

66. Post prandial,

don't leave us in the lurch. . .

:kick: !!!!!!

This is part of what I don't get about the "civil war in the party" story: How can a civil war be forming if the generals involved are keeping the battle plans to themselves? Because I don't see any call to arms so far. Soon, there will be 2 fallow, holiday weeks. Then, what, 40-50 days to wrap?

It has to involve rank and file dems, not just money, right, to be a civil war? I guess my point is that what I've heard about this sounds more like a palace intrigue playing out than a civil war brewing.

Assuming, for the moment, it is about the money attached to these power brokers, it seems, IMO, that it's too late for that w/r/t the primary. I don't see anybody, say, doubling their warchests between now and N.C. so they can strike a fatal blow. So then it has to be about the general.

What, the DLC wing and the Old Money wing are going refuse to give pony up to the plebe's if their guy wins? Flipped, the grassroots and Old Money won't kick to the DLC's horse?

Keeping this kicked, not to be abrasive, b/c I trust the Sterling I assume to have written this a good deal. But I really don't get it. Yet. And as per Sterling's advice, I feel I should understand it.

[arendt]

68. Palace intrigue is a good analogy, although a lot of people blow off...

Wes Clark's Clinton ties.

I do buy Will Pitt's explanation that Gore pulled a pre-emptive
strike, and it sure was great payback for Holy Joe.

But the counter-attack from the other Dems has been thermo-nuclear.
Why? Sure, the DLCers are pissed that Dean is kicking their ass;
but to trash Al Gore, the titular head of the party? That IS civil-warish.

So, in my opiniion, unless all the DLCers throw their support to
Clark and Clark gets good numbers, I agree with you. This is
a palace intrigue not a war. If Clark gets good numbers specifically
because of DLC scheming, I personally think that the DLC has
murdered our country.

The problem is, how do you distinguish DLC scheming from just another
cargo-cult ala Ross Perot?

What a mess. Where is Sterling?

arendt

[jbm]

67. just giving this a kick

because I really liked arendts essay,and I'm also curious about sterlings comment.

[tom_paine]

69. kick

[dusty64]

71. So true.

:kick:

[Polemonium]

72. Ahhhh Fresh Air, I needed that.

:kick: