Enemies within

Wolves in Democrats' clothing
VIEW FROM THE LEFT
Harley Sorensen, Special to SF Gate
Monday, January 5, 2004
©2004 SF Gate

I'll bet not one American in 200 knows, or cares, who Al From is. And (let's go double or nothing) I'll bet not one in 20 knows, or cares, what the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) is.

I know ... now ... because I looked it up last week. And both From and his council are powerful influences in this year's presidential campaigns.

Mr. From would argue with my description of him, but I'd describe him as a kind of agent provocateur, a plant inserted by the Republicans into the leadership of the Democrat Party. His goal: Wreck the party, turn it into the Republican Lite Party.

If that's his goal, he's doing a fine, fine job. And he's using the DLC to do it. He founded the DLC, a collection of Democrat politicians, in 1985, apparently out of fear that the Democrats were done as a political party. After all, they had not had a president for five full years.

In Al From's world, any Democrat who thinks like a Democrat is an extremist. A Democrat who thinks like a Republican is a centrist.

Posted by Prometheus 6 on January 8, 2004 - 5:50am :: Politics
 
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The Black Commentator does an outstanding job of exposing the DLC for what it is. Check it out. http://www.blackcommentator.com/51/51_dlc.html

Posted by  Kamau (not verified) on January 8, 2004 - 6:35pm.

First: I agree with you (Prometheus). Second: it's interesting to me, at any rate, to look at characters like Al From and analyse what they might want. The DLC, as I see it, consists of a group of professional politicians who are very cognitively focused on the enterprise of winning elections and passing legislation. They are basically ideas brokers (or perhaps you would prefer "ideology brokers"). An ideology broker is not vehemently attached to any particular idea. His job is to move ideas, and if the one he has doesn't move, he dumps it.Whereas I form my opinions based on what I think is necessary. E.g., I think the climate is warming, and I think this is happening because of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere by human activity. Ergo, I want policies that cut back greenhouse gas emissions. I don'want this because I'm a control freak, or because I "hate America," or because liberal economics professors indoctrinated me in an entirely different field. I do it because of the physics and the chemistry.From, et al. think the environment and foreign policy issues are a loser's game. You win elections by convincing voters that you're more "pro-them" than the other guy is. I don't know to persuade my coworkers that they should trade in their SUV for a hybrid. They already know what their own consumer preferences are, and they'll hang onto their preferences as long as there exists a shred of rationalization ("Scientists are always changing their minds. Ha ha, next month they'll probably prove cigarettes are good for you.")

Posted by  James R MacLean (not verified) on January 8, 2004 - 11:17pm.

Scientists are always changing their minds.

Yeah, that is pretty much the definition of a scientist. The ones who never change their minds should be called "priests." The priests are the ones pushing the "global warming caused by greenhouse gasses formed by human activity" meme.

Posted by  phelps (not verified) on January 9, 2004 - 6:48am.

The priests are the ones pushing the "global warming caused by greenhouse gasses formed by human activity" meme.

Don't forget the evolution meme and the gravity meme.

Posted by  P6 (not verified) on January 9, 2004 - 7:46am.