It's wrong to railroad a person. Any person. It must be said and repeated.

[appal_jack]

11. Not just ACORN, but a larger pattern:

Having been a political junkie since the 1980's, I've watched an eerily-similar sort of group think before among Democrats: the Reagan tax cuts of the 1980's that ballooned the deficit and provided the rationale for the shredding of the social safety net (Democrats fall in line), the 2nd-Amendment-violating and ineffective Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 (Democrats leading the charge), the early 2000's Iraq War Resolution (too many complicit Democrats, particularly those thinking it would make them look strong and "Presidential" ), then the Swiftboat nonsense against John Kerry (Democrats crumple like wet tissue), and then the meritless innuendo against ACORN (damn, the B*sh years sucked, didn't they?). With the election of Obama, the group-think became self-constructed weakness: Democrats had to push a Republican/Heritage Foundation private market health plan instead of a public option or Medicare for all. Democrats had to take the "high road" and honor Republican "blue slips" regarding judicial nominations... Are Republicans doing the same now?!? Nooooooo!

And now this Media Star Chamber trial of Franken (led by a Democrat!). I don't know and won't debate whether he was perfect or not, but he is a damned good Senator: on women's issues, on economic issues, on many civil liberties, and on government accountability. Franken is why we have tenuous (and ever fainter) hope that Robert Mueller's investigation might bring us back from the brink of authoritarianism.

On every one of these issues, Democrats started or pre-emptively folded on the wrong side of the matter and then suffered entirely predictable and avoidable (had they employed a lick of common sense) consequences. As far as I am concerned, Democrats just surrendered 2018 and 2020.

-app