Getting Smarter About Politics

[Raine1967]

6. K&R!

I have a strong feeling this ail be met with much disapproval, but I happen to agree with all of it.

Instead, the PUBs and professional left instead targeted “Blue Dogs,” falsely claiming that they were responsible for the inaction of the Democratic Congress. It was complete crap on several levels. First of all, only one member of the Blue Dog caucus did not vote with Democrats at least 80% of the time. Most of them voted with Democrats more than 85% of the time and many of those targeted topped 90%. Even the one Blue Dog who didn’t vote with Democrats 80% of the time did so Democrats 68% of the time. At no time during the 111th Congress did any Blue Dog block a Democratic bill or vote against cloture. Never. Didn’t happen. But there is one other thing; no Blue Dog ever cast a deciding vote against a Democratic bill, including the Affordable Care Act. The fact is, Blue Dogs, who represent conservative districts, coordinated with Speaker Pelosi, so they could demonstrate a “no” vote at home while making sure the bill passed. And it did.

And before you scream at me and call me a liar, go look it up. I have. As bad as some Blue Dog rhetoric is at times, the people who replaced them are far more odious. Yet PUBs and pro lefties continue to brag that they have “purged” almost the entire Blue Dog Caucus from Congress. Strangely, the same people don’t take credit for helping create the Tea Party Caucus, despite the fact that every Blue Dog “purged” was replaced with a teabagger. How can a “progressive” brag about replacing Democrats who vote 80% of the time or more with teabaggers who vote with Democrats 0% of the time?

It’s just a fact. The worst Blue Dog in Congress was about 80X better than the person who replaced them when PUBs targeted them. The problem comes because too many progressives put far more value in rhetoric than results. They are so enamored with what politicians say, they refuse to consider what they do. They’re the very definition of gullible. If a politician tells you he’s going to bring peace, kill all defense programs, quadruple spending on programs for the poor and flip us over to a single player health plan, and you buy that bullshit and trash anyone who doesn’t say all that, you’re not politically savvy, you’re a gullible fool. Campaign promises are wish lists; they still need a majority in Congress to happen, and I guarantee that none of the above will happen when you target Blue Dogs and replace them with teabaggers.

I’m not talking about primaries. During primaries, support anyone you want, without trashing the other candidates, in case they win. And then, if your candidate loses in the primary, you don’t run off and sulk in the corner; you support the living shit out of the best candidate left, which right now will always be a Democrat. Always. Every time.