Friday, April 14, 2006

I should have gone to bed by now, but....

I received word that a FLYER article was forthcoming about the Shelby County HQ opening of Harold Ford, so I waited up, and sure enough, there it was.

an excerpt:

”I’m not a Democrat,” he said at one point, ‘running up to Washington yelling ‘Democrat, Democrat, Democrat, Democrat.’ Somebody’s going to go, and I know I make some Democrats upset at times because I’m just a believer if it works, you have to support it.”

In fact, were it not for the multiple uses of the word “Democrat” in that one sentence, Ford would have used the word “Republican” at least as often, if not more so, in his ten minutes or so of speaking after being introduced to the crowd in the Park Place parking lot by former Georgia Senator Max Cleland.

And the congressman was careful to be as value-neutral as possible in his terminology. No GOP-bashing, a la Howard Dean. (Or, for that matter, Harry Truman.)

Great. Never mind that the GOP is going to try to make him look like Friedrich Engels as well as some one who enjoys the carnal knowledge of sows (as LBJ said, make him DENY he's a pig-fucker), but NO, GOD FORBID he should be PARTISAN.

Why not take the next logical step, Congressman, and adopt as your slogan the wording from the old Tom Lee statue: HAROLD FORD, A VERY WORTHY NEGRO.
Follow it up with a minstrel show before each appearance, and those Republicans in East and Middle Tennessee will just LOVE you.

Jesus H. Christ on an onion bagel! What in God's name is he thinking? Who are the idiots telling him to do this? (Wait, if he's actually PAYING for this advice, maybe they're not THAT dumb!)

The point of this mad rambling is this: if you're too ashamed to be a Democrat and take Democratic positions, then take your ass and leave this party. NOW.

Being non-partisan when the Republican Party is going to give you the Ned Beatty treatment every day from now until the November election is insanity, or stupidity, or both. The only way to fight werewolves is with silver bullets, pal, not by inviting them over for tea, crumpets and dialogue.

I leave with a quote from the late, lamented Dr. Hunter S. Thompson:

"Shit. Not even Spiro Agnew was that dumb."


14 comments:

polar donkey said...

This is my favorite quote from Ford. "I'm just a believer if it works, you have to support
it?" Tell me what works Congressman Ford? Privatization of Social Security. You were playing footsies with the Republicans about Privatization. In fact so much so, Bob Novak wrote about you possibly jump ship and supporting the republicans. Was Terri Schiavo something that worked? I guess having Bill Frist doing remote diagnoses and have Tom Delay stick his nose in peoples private business works well. The American people sure liked it. Is the war working? I don't even have to write anymore about that. How about the Patriot Act? Taking Americans' civil rights and giving them to an administration that pisses on your very own congress and feels no sense of accountability while being blatantly incompetent, corrupt, and abusive of power. That really doesn't reflect well on your judgment. Does the RNC work better than the Congressional Black Caucus. It sure does appear to you it does. But Congressman Ford, since you are the all wise bridge builder who likes to spend so much time with Don Imus, enlighten all of us doubters about what Democratic policies don't work? I don't want you tell me what doesn't work in the republican party. That's too easy. We can all do that in our sleep. But Tell us what Democratic policies don't work. And don't say we are too partisan. Let's get specific. Every democrat would really like to know what you are talking about.

PS-You sir, are a ball-licker.

Formerly Considered Moderate said...

Amen!!! I loved it.

Brassmask said...

So now that he's said in effect, "Hey, I'm not necessarily a Democrat," could some of the Ford lovers tell us why we should all come together as Democrats and support Ford?

Good gravy, the guy is running away from the word as hard as he can!

Steve Steffens said...

Exactly, B, and we're all tired of it.

polar donkey said...

Here's an idea, stop fishing in the republican pond and try to drive up democratic voter turn out. By Ford attacking his own party, he will not catch any republican fish or raise democratic voter turnout. In a year where republicans may have a problem turning out their voters, Ford is demoralizing his own side. Oh yeah, thanks for kissing Gibbon's and Luttrell's asses. The local democratic party is only running candidates against them.

Hey Upton, isn't he supposed to be helping Democrats down the ticket as well. Please tell Harold next time you see him he is a ball-licker that is going to lose.

Senacle said...

You're taking Ford out of context. He said he's not a certain kind of Democrat, the kind to go yelling and screaming while towing the party line. Lest you forget, those kind of Democrats are the reason why the Republicans have been kicking our ass.

And what Ford is doing is no different than the Republicans who choose to invite Laura Bush to their fundraisers instead of Georgie. They distance themselves from the potentially destructive.

Solet's be real. Every politician says what needs to be said in order to get elected. That's a fact of life. Get over it.

Steve Steffens said...

"Lest you forget, those kind of Democrats are the reason why the Republicans have been kicking our ass. "

That is DLC bullshit, and that is a lie; if anything, we have abandoned our core principles of economic justice for all.

Senacle said...

You assume that Democrats had sound ground to stand in the past few years. I'll point to Kerry as a prime example of the fallacy of that belief. If you want to be hard-core about the good old days, you'll miss how dramatically different the playing ground is today.

Steve Steffens said...

The point is to bring the debate back to our side, and Ford just keeps pushing to the right, and that is NOT acceptable.

I am an FDR Democrat; anything less is insufficent.

Senacle said...

I respect that. I'm young. I'm a Clinton Democrat. But no matter what era we cling to, we cannot win if people just see "the same old Democrats." Bush has muddied the water too much.

Steve Steffens said...

I can appreciate that. the 90s were a great time, but we paid a dear price.

I read a really good article at BOPNews recently regarding the last 30 years, economically speaking. here's the link:

http://www.bopnews.com/archives/006261.html#6261

It gave me a lot of perspective.

polar donkey said...

What a sorry state we are in. Leftwingcracker, imagine what Paul Wellstone would think if he heard what Senacle is saying. Implicitly acknowledging republican principals are correct. "The playing ground is dramatically different today."
Did republicans say that between 1974 and 1994? I don't think so they pushed constantly for their agenda. Now things are different. The poverty rate is up to 12.7%. The gap between the rich and poor is as wide as it has been in decades. Wages are stagnant, workers are on the ropes, pensions and healthcare being dropped. large corporations run amuck, the tax burden is shifted to the middle class. America has been led into a disasterous war and we are so impotent as a nation we can't even maintain our infrastructure, teach our children, or rebuild our most uniquely American city. 50% of our citizens don't even believe democracy works and 20% of population wants to create a facsist state. To even keep their heads above water, the middle class takes on more and more debt while we burn through resources that will be needed for future generations. Yes things have changed. The democratic party has lost its way and will to fight.

Senacle said...

There's a big difference between fighting smart and fighting stupid.

I think the Democrats are willing to fight, but we have to do so in a way that acknowledges the current field of battle and not relies on the good old days.

polar donkey said...

But Jr isn't fighting smart. He is deliberately antagonizing his base. No successful politican does that. The republicans almost always cater to their base. Even when they screw the base over, they still give lip services. Damn, Jr doesn't even do that. Posters on dailykos pointed out how Mark Warner in Virginia was able to run towards the right without engaging in republican talking points and stereotypes of democrats. Why can't Ford fucking to that?
What do Ford suppoters have to say about him being one of the four least loyal democrats in the house? It is particularly detestable since he lives in a district that's 70% democratic. I don't know of any instance in which a political movement has ever tolerated a member actively sabotaging the movement and being successful. Democrats are hurting their long term success by giving support to Ford in hopes of short term success. Plus what kind of success are you talking about? Ford supporters say he had to move to the right in his voting to prepare for the senate race. If he wins, what will keeping him him from keeply abadoning the party, because he now holds a seat that is so "red." You will elect this asshole and he will jump ship. He won't support investigating Bush because he doesn't want to anger republicans. Those mean republicans will take it out on him in the next election. But then Jr will say Democrats have to keep voting for him because we can't afford to lose that senate seat to the republicans. Ford will never be held accountable. Democrats, especially progressives, will not get the policies they want with Ford or a Republican. At least we don't have to endure the indignity of having a 'democrat' piss on us and tell us its just raining. Republicans are honest enough to say "yeah, we are pissing on you." Screw Ford.