Everyone claims to be bewildered by the behavior of the Democrats, who seem unable or unwilling to confront the Bush administration. Are they afraid of being unpopular? Are they just confused and disorganized? When will they "grow a spine"?
I have a different theory. I've never seen this idea suggested by any other writer or columnist, and frankly I hope I'm wrong. But it does explain the baffling behavior of the Democrats.
It's now clear to anyone with a room-temperature I.Q. that Bushco are attempting a Neocon takeover. And they're almost there--they're creating a "unitary Executive"; they've packed the courts, including the SCOTUS, with their minions; they've seeded every government office with obedient shills (Gonzales may be the finest example). And worst of all, they now control the elections, at least to an extent where a reasonably close election can be "turned their way" in key states. The 2006 elections are our only hope.
Fast forward to November. The 2006 elections were a failure. Sure, a few Republicans were kicked out, and a few new Democrats were elected, but the balance of power was unchanged. The weeks before the election saw yet another clever Rovian PR attack: phony "Democratic scandals," "possible terrorist attacks," and "we think we have Bin Laden." Of course, the public wasn't fooled this time, but it gives Bushco a cover story for why the election turned their way at the last minute, in spite of all the polls. Election 2008 will, of course, be a repeat of 2002, 2004, and 2006. At this point, the only thing between us and dictatorship is one frail 86-year-old man in a black robe. The appointment of yet another Federalist Society zealot to the Supreme Court is the last nail in the coffin of our republic.
The Neocon takeover is now complete. But the government will still need to look like a republic. There will still be "elections," there will still be a "congress" full of "democrats" and "republicans." Get it? They will still need "democrats" to fill one side of the aisle. The Neocon Leadership will, of course, largely control which democrats those are, and how they vote. They'll be mere puppets, pretending to be an opposition party, but never effectively opposing anything important.
Sound familiar? That's because it's already happening. I think the Neocons are already selecting "democrats" (and republicans, for that matter) to be allowed to stay in office. These lucky few are being offered a place at the table, so to speak. You either play the Neocon game, or get booted out. I believe that Hillary, McCain, and Lieberman are already onboard. I also believe that there are some republican members of congress who are NOT onboard.
If this is true, then party doesn't matter anymore. The crucial thing, the only thing that matters, is to elect people who are clearly outsiders, who are truly opposed to this administration. In other words, electing more democrats this fall won't make any difference if they're not the right kind of democrats.
So I must respectfully disagree with those who argue that we shouldn't attack democrats like Lieberman. We're doing exactly the right thing--throwing out an obvious administration tool, and replacing him with an outsider who hasn't gone over to the other side (we hope). Forget all those e-mails and phone calls to your democratic congressperson, begging him or her to stand up to the administration. People don't "grow a spine"; you either have one or you don't.