We are so screwed, Part whatever

The debate over the debt ceiling has revealed one very important point which has received little notice.

The GOPpers, as is well understood, are demanding "deficit reduction" be connected to any moves to raise the debt ceiling, essentially holding the economy hostage in the effort to enforce draconian budget cuts attacking the environment, education, aid to the poor, and the other usual targets of right-wing malevolence. "Screw the poor or the economy gets it!" is the message.

Well, as part of that, the GOPper leadership in the House brought up a "clean" bill - one that raised the debt ceiling without including budget cuts. The thing is, no one and I mean no one thought it had the slightest chance of passing, not with the GOPpers expected to vote unanimously against it and especially not with it being brought to the floor under a suspension of the rules, a procedure that means it required a two-thirds vote to pass and allowed for no amendments.

It was, in short, a thoroughly bogus vote, pure political theater. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer urged Dems to vote "no" or "present" to deny the measure any legitimacy and a majority of Dems did just that.

So what's my problem? It's this: In explaining his push for a vote against the resolution, Hoyer said

I'm going to advise my members that they should not subject themselves to the demagoguery that would surely follow [a "yes" vote].

That is, Hoyer said

he did not “intend to advise that my members subject themselves to a political 30 second ad.”

In other words, his push for a "no" vote was based on pure political cowardice, on a craven capitulation to merely the possibility of a right-wing attack ad. He was, that is, advising the Dems to vote against what they supposedly believe in out of some weepy and wobbly-kneed fear that someone might say something mean about them a year from now.

It seems to me that someone could have stood in the well of the House and said "I'm voting yes because that's what's right and that's what should be done and if you want to try to come after me with some attack ad because I wanted to protect the country from an economic implosion from the nation defaulting on its debts and wanted to do it without taking a meat ax to programs for the middle class and the poor, that I was more concerned with the benefit of the people of this country than with the advance of a narrow, selfish ideology like yours - well, you go right ahead. In fact, I dare you."

Someone could have said that. But of course no one did.

You do not get rid of bullies by appeasing them. That is common knowledge everywhere except, it seems, the higher reaches of the Democratic Party. Instead, we are treated to another episode of the Democrats, the ones we are supposed to want more of, being afraid of going after what they claim to believe in. And then saying that somehow proves that we should support them.

Yep, we are so screwed.