Ablogination

It’s sad, and could get even more so.
Barack Obama’s choice of Tim Kaine to replace the great Howard Dean as Democratic National Committee chairman is proving to be a colossal error.

As anticipated, Dean’s departure and the arrival of the weak-kneed Kaine is taking the teeth out of the Democratic leadership.

Tim Kaine is a self described “pragmatist". Another word for “coward with no principals".
His record as Governor of Virginia is evidence of that fact as Kaine failed to bolster the progressive movement in that state.
Too much time spent giving the Right Wing most everything they wanted.

Now granted, Kaine could never be the man Howard Dean is. Few could.
But there is no excuse for Kaine coming in and basically de-clawing the aggressive end of the party. But that is what he has done.
As is evident from the latest email I received asking for donations. This particular letter comes from someone named Jen O’Malley Dillon. Apparently the new Executive Director of the DNC.

The email starts out good. Talking about Limbaugh, Limbaugh and Steele… But at the end descends into something I find most disturbing indeed…

From the “new” DNC:

Kona –

I’m Jen O’Malley Dillon, the new Executive Director of the Democratic
National Committee.

If you’re anything like me, then you’ve had the urge to talk back to a
right-wing talk radio host more than a few times. Now you can.

Rush Limbaugh has made waves lately about his desire to see President
Obama fail. And he’s unapologetic, even though Americans voted in November
for the very kind of change the President is bringing to Washington. As
even Limbaugh must know, if the President fails, America fails.

Incredibly, Republican leaders have yet to condemn Limbaugh for his
destructive comments. In fact, Republicans like Congressman Eric Cantor, a
leader in the House, have adopted the Limbaugh strategy, telling the
Washington Post recently that their strategy on the President’s jobs plan
was “just saying no.”

The only Republican leader to challenge Limbaugh – the chairman of the
Republican National Committee – even called Rush to apologize just a few
days later.

But we have no apologies for Rush, just a message. We need you to come up
with a slogan, in ten words or less, that we’ll put on a billboard where
he can’t miss it – in his hometown of West Palm Beach, Florida.

Can you help us come up with a message for Rush that we’ll place on a
billboard right in his hometown?

http://www.democrats.org/rushbillboard

We’ll go through all the slogans we get, and the winner will have his or
her message appear on the billboard – and receive a free T-shirt
featuring the winning slogan.

If Republican leaders aren’t willing to tell Rush, then we will. Americans
want President Obama to succeed. Our country’s future depends on it.
Rooting for the President’s failure is rooting for our country to fail.

To get America back on a path to prosperity, we’ll need to leave behind
the failed partisan attack politics of the past. Americans voted for a new
direction in November. Choosing Rush Limbaugh to be the voice of their
party – as Republican leaders have done – is not the answer.

Send in your suggestion of ten words or less for a billboard and we’ll
choose the best one to put in Rush’s own “backyard":

http://www.democrats.org/rushbillboard

Thanks,

Jen

Jen O’Malley Dillon
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee

I was afraid of this. Howard Dean had things well in hand and Tim Kaine is a jelly spine that’s going to take the grit out of the DNC.
I fucking knew it.
Tim Kaine was a mistake, one that may well come back to haunt the Democratic party in the future.
There was once a guy who Democrats considered a “rising star” much like they do Kaine today.
His name was Terry McAuliffe.
Former chair of the DNC, Terry McAuliffe, is the one who led the Democratic party into defeat which resulted in the dismal years between 1999 and 2006.
It took Howard Dean to correct the damage McAuliffe caused us.

Tim Kaine is another McAuliffe. I hope not, but it seems so.

The part of the email from the DNC that bothered me the most was this…
“To get America back on a path to prosperity, we’ll need to leave behind the failed partisan attack politics of the past. Americans voted for a new direction in November. Choosing Rush Limbaugh to be the voice of their party – as Republican leaders have done – is not the answer.“

Right there, the DNC became lost.

“Partisan attack politics” is what won us the gov’t.
“Failed"? The only thing that has failed is Barack Obama for thinking Tim Kaine could fill Howard Dean’s shoes.
Americans did not “vote for a new direction", we voted to rid the gov’t of Republicans.
And yes, Rushtard being the face of the GOP IS THE FUCKING ANSWER.
What rock has Ms. Dillon and the DNC been hiding under? We, the Democratic Left chose Rush to be the face of the GOP, not them. He’s the face we want to paint on them.
How is it that the new “Director” of the DNC doesn’t know that the White House placed Limbaugh on the pedestal? How can this person possibly be this out to lunch on the most immediate happenings in the party? Not even connected to our most visible strategies.

I’m sad to see that the DNC has been weakened so by the new leadership.
Howard Dean would have told Rush Limbaugh to do some sit ups and a few shut ups.

The new “leadership” of the DNC has no idea what they’re doing. They have their heads in the sand and are backing away from the fight at the most crucial point. Obama’s first term.

Pragmatism is for the weak and testicularly challenged.
The great thing about Howard Dean was that he has never been afraid to take a principled stand when he knew we were right. With this “new leadership", it seems principal has been buried in favor of capitulation.

Placing Tim Kaine and this Dillon person in charge of our strongest committee was a foolish mistake. And we are that much weaker for it.