Eschaton

I used to read this blog called Eschaton (atrios.blogspot.com), and it was alright for a while. Before the election, back when we thought we would win, back when people said, "Nobody is dumb enough to vote for that asshole twice," and "There aren't enough votes for Bush to get any more than he did last time," that's when I read this thing. Lots of people on there. Lots of lefties. Lots of disdain for the Right. Good times.
The problem was after the election, when it was apparent that we got beat on the most basic levels--Kerry conceded the only real issue, the war, to Bush; nobody bothered to organize the lower classes; the Democrats let the Repukes set the rules and then let them break them with impunity; the Left allowed the Right to literally count the votes--that was when I soured on Eschaton. There was a lot of crying and gnashing of teeth, as well as a little searching for a higher truth in the devastation. Mostly, though, there was a lot of talk about what to do as a reasonable minority in an insane nation.
That was precisely the problem, though. The next step when you have given it all away is to take back what you need. In other words, to start taking scalps. Oh no, said the eschatonians, we mustn't stoop to that level. Better to build up ties with other reasonable folk (a minority, especially by their own calculations, so where do the votes come from??). Still, and again, no suggestion whatsoever of reaching out to the poor, the working classes, the nominal Republicans who happened by accident to live in red states. Lots of scorn for them, though. The most common refrain, in itself a justification for the failure to connect with the southern poor, was "people (by which we understand that the common man, the public, is being talked about) are stupid." That's it. That is the height of Left political strategy. (Poor) people are stupid. They don't vote their interest (which, of course, no one remembered to tell them about) and so there you have it: they're just dumb. No one here but us trees, thank you.
Here's what's so frustrating about being the Last Registered Democrat: the party wants, wants to be the Loyal Opposition. CNN even labeled it as such in its inaugural coverage, and Joe Lieberman looked like he had jizzed his pants. Why not have a King, after all, if it means you get to politely make suggestions and receive, not the annihilation you would have gotten under the old politics, but instead a nice pat on the head and a promise that the Boy-King will take it into consideration? Who needs to fight in the trenches when the other side is offering starting positions as lapdogs?
The left won't get its hands dirty, and the high road, in this case, clearly leads to irrelevance. The Republicans are fat and happy, and they aren't watching for the long knives. They've gotten sloppy and left scandal after scandal lying around for anyone to pick up and run with. So fucking DO IT already! Did the fight go out of the democrats with Tip O'Neill? Not only can it not filibuster, it can't even make an anonymous phonecall. FUCK.