It seems to be time once again to play Kick the Democrats. Everyone can play, including Democrats. The rules are simple. When Republicans lose elections, it is because they didn't get enough votes. When Democrats lose elections, it is because they have lost their principles and lost their way. Or they have kept their principles, which is an even worse mistake.
Democrats represent no one who is not actually waiting in line for a latte at a Starbucks within 150 yards of the east or west coastline. They are mired in trivial lifestyle issues like, oh, abortion and gay rights and Americans killing and dying in Iraq, while the Republicans serve up meat and potatoes for real Americans, like privatizing Social Security and making damned sure the government knows who is Googling whom in this great country. Just repeat these formulas until a Democrat has been sent into frenzies of self-flagellation, or reduced to tears.
There is always a pick-up game of Kick the Democrats going on somewhere. But something about the Alito confirmation—the pathetic and apparently surprising inability of 45 Democratic senators to stop 55 Republicans from approving anyone they want—seems to have made the game suddenly a lot more popular.
Something good from Slate? Wow.
And even worse, he's right - we take this "we lost because we haven't changed" and "we lost because we don't appeal to the ignorant gap-toothed hillbilies" bullshit lying down. Conservatives never really change and get applauded. We keep on course and not only lose because of "fear, smears, and queers", but keep telling ourselves (right alongside conservatives) that since we haven't changed tone completely, we deserved to lose.
Odd thing is, if we change even the slightest part of our wording about anything we think, we get lambasted for "flip-flopping". It's a self-defeating attitude.
