As Usual, "Third Way" -ers Trying to Fuck It Up

If you really still don't know what the Occupiers want, go ask them. If you want to influence their actions, join them. If you want to co-opt them, give it up now - you're going to fail.

But if you're trying to spin the "meaning of it all" to sell your bogus "Third Way" faux-repug anti-democracy .... Fuck. Off. And. Die.

David Atkins "thereisnospoon" at Hullabaloo:

By now the script writes itself:

1) Good populist things happen to mobilize progressives.
2) Some Democrats start to realize that populism isn't so bad, after all.
3) One of the three major papers writes a "Democrats divided" story quoting an anonymous "senior official" and some hack from the Third Way.

SNIP

There's not much upside for the Third Way crowd because they're big fans of the status quo, economically speaking. The Third Way folks are the same ones heaping praise on Mayor Bloomberg. On policy, they are tools of plutocrats--and very often plutocrats themselves. On the politics, they're morons. The electorate in 2010, far from being turned off by the Tea Party, gave Democrats their most crushing defeat in decades, replacing Dems with rabidly far-right conservatives and taking the independent vote with them. If that's what failure looks like, it would be interesting to see what the Third Way crew thinks success would look like.

It is not an overstatement to say that the Third Way and their allies represent a greater threat to the promise of progressive policy than Republicans do. Republicans are who they are. In a binary election system, so long as they don't destroy the democratic process entirely, Democrats and Republicans will trade office. It's built into the American system. As demographic shifts take fuller effect, it will become more and more difficult for Republicans to maintain their extremist ground, which should leave the door wide open for progressive policymakers.

So the greatest danger to the progressive movement lies not from without, but from within. If the Third Way succeeds in winning the battle for the soul of the Democratic Party, it won't matter what Republicans do or don't do. Much of 60% of the public not beholden to the conservative cult will simply abandon electoral politics as a means of creating change.

As for myself, I became involved in the Democratic Party only partly to defeat Republicans. In my neck of the woods in Ventura County, defeating Republicans is simply a matter of when, not if. Demography is destiny, and there's no way Republicans survive in power here over the next ten years.

No, the biggest reason I'm involved in the Democratic Party is to eliminate the influence of Third Way types. I'm active in the Party mostly to ensure that when Democrats do take over, they're as far from the odious Third Way ideology as humanly possible.

I look forward to the day when popular progressive actions by Democrats aren't sullied in the press by the Third Way's political fecal matter. It would be a welcome change.

One more thing: Occupy is succeeding wildly because the Occupiers are reacting rationally and organically to current circumstances. They don't need anybody's advice or leadership.

If - like me - you're too old and decrepit to grab your sleeping bag and join them, then at least show up for a few hours to hold a sign in solidarity. Or contribute by making donations of winter coats or whatever else they need.

Otherwise, shut the fuck up.