When
Sen. Barack Obama won the 2008 Democratic primary, noted Clinton
supporter and CNN analyst Paul Begala says the first thing he did was
open his checkbook and “proudly sent him a check for the legal maximum.
On the memo line of the check I wrote, 'FOR NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING ONLY’”.
Begala’s no holds barred approach makes many if not most Democrats
clutch their pearls, but I’m with him. My beloved mother—who was
involved in politics at the grass roots level and beyond for decades—has
always said politics is a dirty thing, so the best you can do is not
defame or lie. But after that—you do what ya gotta do.
Democrats,
unfortunately, still haven’t gotten that memo, acting as if it’s
possible to shame the shameless into doing the right thing. That being
on the side of righteousness is enough to win elections. Or that somehow
full-on attacks when politically beneficial is crass or beneath us.
(Kudos to the Doug Jones camp for being smart in holding back—and
letting the GOPers in Alabama go on a rampage against each other—but
that should be an exception, not the rule.)
Guess what? When
you’re in politics, you’re by definition already in the gutter. And to
reach the moral high ground without climbing over those who impede your
way is simply not possible. That moral high ground is obtained, as mom
says, by not defaming or lying. But otherwise, whack ‘em over the head
with the kitchen sink—or the mop bucket, in the preferred Dominican
version.
Bottom line: The people we're up against don't see us as
being of a different ideology or philosophy, as we see them. No, we are
the enemy. And when you face an enemy you use every resource at your
disposal. That's why they have no qualms about supporting bigots,
otherwise incompetents, racists or even pedophiles; whatever it takes to
reach their nefarious goals.
Whether it’s populating the courts
with fundamentalist Christians in the hope that they will repeal
women’s rights to their bodies and in the workplace (so they can stay
home and become the baby makers the white supremacists want them to be),
as well as revoking the separation of church and state as a big step
towards turning this country into a theocracy; rolling back social
safety nets, environmental protections, student loans and other
assistance for higher education aspirants from the working class, and
further decimating the rights of the workforce in the name of Big Money;
these people are not messing around—they’re playing for keeps. (You
think the Koch brothers investing in the purchase of Time magazine is
portfolio diversification? Think again.) They've seen it done all over
the world—and in many instances by our own government—now it's time for
the bigger and better American version.
The very soul of our
beloved country lies in the balance, and time is most definitely of the
essence: much of the damage done by this administration and its
accomplices is likely irreparable. So, what are we gonna do? Continue to
act all prim and proper while the other side smears feces in our
collective faces and laughs about it? You tell me.
