Predictable Punditry, And Why It Shouldn't Be Heeded

Every setback for the Democrats in the polls predictably leads to calls from various members of the talking-heads class what I call the "two Republican Parties" solution (with apologies to the late David Brinkley, from whom I have borrowed the phrase).  All the Democrats need to do is to become more "moderate" (translation:  more conservative), and all will be well with the two-party system and, therefore, with democracy itself.

The persistence of this line of argumentation is amazing, inasmuch as it amounts to saying (in the face of massive evidence to the contrary) that Republicans have such a monopoly on good ideas that we should take every possible step to ensure that there's no such thing as a national political debate.  Ever.

Of course, they have no such monopoly.  And the greatest proof of this is the fact that even they don't believe in their own alleged ideas.

For example, they oppose public health insurance for the American people, but want to make sure that they get it as quickly as possible for themselves.

Their supporters claim to be the voice of ordinary Americans, but are in fact financed by the super-rich--and oppose any effort to change that.

They pretend that President Obama and the Democrats are nothing but liars, while they systematically engage in spreading their own poisonous lies.

Perhaps worst of all, when it comes to criticizing specific laws, programs and policies, they openly admit to applying one standard for themselves, and another to their opponents.  It's bad enough to lose a civil liberties champion like Russ Feingold; it's even worse to lose him to a four-flushing hypocrite who uses the Patriot Act to effectively say that Republicans should have one set of laws, and Democrats should have another.  Such an individual has no real concept of the United States of America-- and is certainly under both a moral and intellectual disability when it comes to taking an oath to uphold the Constitution.

Somebody needs to ask the George Wills, Michael Goodwins and Mickey Kauses of the world:  which one of these perfidies do they want the Democrats to adopt first?