"Democrats at the Bat"

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CCCXXXV

Thanks to a fellow blogger for calling our attention to this Al Kamen report at WaPo, yesterday:

A colleague got a note the other day from Kerry campaign intern Karim Logue, who reports: "I (and others) have become increasingly frustrated by the disconnect between the candidate and his campaign." Logue said he is a staunch fan of Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), but "I feel that we are not playing to win, but are rather playing not to lose, and fear that this risk-averse approach and the 'vetting' bureaucracy severely limit our effectiveness."

So he put his concerns in the form of a poem, a follow-on to "Casey at the Bat." "Perhaps you would be able to publish it before the Democratic National Convention. Perhaps it might serve to wake us up a little." ....

Here is Logue's poem; italicized lines are from some version or other of the original poem.

Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
it rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
it pounded through the mountain and recoiled upon the flat;
for Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
and they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.
The sneer has fled from Casey's lip, the teeth are clenched in hate.
He pounds, with cruel violence, his bat upon the plate.

And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
and now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

***

We don't recall what happened next. Truth told: we do not care
Whether Casey hit a homer or slugged right on through the air.
For these are simple details which quickly escape our senses,
But in our mind lives Casey and he's pointing to the fences.

Yet what's happened to us lately: are we're playing not to lose?
Are we hiding in the dugout lest we get dirt upon our shoes?
And do the fathers and their sons whose optimists' demand for
Nothing more than our best swing now wonder what we stand for?

Whoever calls from the third row "Good eye, kid" is flat-lying
For he who watches balls go by is probably not trying.
And though a foul's a souvenir for kids on the first baseline
Nobody's ever won a game check-swinging from the waistline.

Yet while we grumble on about what Karl Rove has done
George Bush is busy claiming God, patriotism and the gun.
While we depend on polls to find out where the country's going
We, dizzy, follow the weather vane which the GOP is blowing.

They say we're flip-floppers. We say that we have better hair.
Bush has a room divided. We have one that doesn't care.
For every Monday morning we come out with a new slogan
And end up looking like Pee Wee Herman to their Hulk Hogan.

They say the road to hell is paved with bricks of good intention,
But frankly I'm more worried about our Democrats' Convention.
I fear that it will turn into a shiny happy hug-fest
While Republicans cork their bats and prepare for a slugfest.

Yet how is it that we aren't killing this Halliburton team,
Who thinks the EPA should fill in divots on the green?
Do these bow-tied country clubbers really represent this nation
Just because the President is good at mispronunciation?

It's the bottom of the ninth now; Casey's headed to the plate.
The score is tied at forty-six; the hour is getting late.
Silent, we stare at the man to whom our hopes our wedded
And wonder: will he swing the bat or must he get it vetted?

But this is too important not to step on a few toes.
If we want to rid the White House of its dirty CEOs
Then we'll have to kick some asses, ruffle feathers, realize that
It's not the taming of the shrew but the swinging of the bat.

***

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright.
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light.
And, somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout,

And what happened next in Mudville? That's for us to figure out.

— Karim Logue

The Blog from the Core asserts Fair Use for non-commercial, non-profit educational purposes.

If a campaign intern feels the need to write a poem, and hopes to get it published because it might wake somebody up a little — in the week before the convention — it's already too late.

Yes, I think Kedwards is already past the Point of No Return: the nation greeted the new Kerry-Edwards team — last week? the week before? who knows? who cares? — with a gigantic yawn. Even the Democratic Establishment — professional politicians & mainstream media — can hardly hide that they are pretending to be excited, if they are even bothering to pretend.

It's all over but the shouting. Of which there will probably be a lot next week. After that, a long, slow slide into home plate, where the umpire will whip his arm into the air, his thumb pointing back over his shoulder.

By then, even the runner will know he's been out by a mile.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 07/22/04 08:50:39 PM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode.

Hating + Waiting NOT = Winning

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CCCXXXIV

Tod Lindberg says just about all that needs to be said.

Where is the John Edwards surge in the polls for John Kerry? Democrats want to know. What happened? With a choice for veep as brilliant as Mr. Edwards, shouldn't Mr. Kerry have gotten a bigger bump than the small-to-nil effect the announcement actually produced?

People, people. You've got to get a grip. I realize it's difficult for Democrats to take my advice at face value, since I am not a member of the club. But seriously, I've been writing about Democrats (and Republicans, too) as disinterestedly as humanly possible for years now. Give me a chance.

Let's try to go over a few things as carefully as we can. First of all, you need to understand that Americans do not hate George W. Bush. You may hate George W. Bush, all your friends may hate George W. Bush, all of your friends may have written books about how fitting it is to hate George W. Bush and received handsome advances from their publishers for them. The bookstore shelves groan under them.

And yes, you are entirely within your rights to hate George W. Bush. No one will take that from you. Yes, Republicans hated Bill Clinton, and many still do. Yes, they also hate Hillary. If, on principle, you want to hate the Republican president just as much as Republicans hated the last Democratic president, no one will stop you.

But Americans in general do not hate George W. Bush. Moreover, they are not going to hate Mr. Bush. You might just win this election (don't count on it, though, because you might not). But if so, it will not be because Americans have suddenly wised up and realized they should hate Mr. Bush.

On the contrary. Most Americans like Mr. Bush and respect him for the way he has handled some very difficult challenges. My guess is that you would do better against him starting from that premise rather than starting from the premise that Mr. Bush is a thoroughly and irredeemably odious figure who could only be admired by a) people as odious as he and b) people who have been duped into a state of false consciousness by Mr. Bush's odious lies.

Don't get me wrong: You can run whatever kind of campaign you want, including one that drips contempt for everything having to do with the president of the United States. You can even demand of the American people, "Where's the outrage?" You have that right. I'm just saying that I have seen that sort of approach before, and I don't think it works very well.

Now, back to Mr. Edwards: You were expecting this to be the tipping point, weren't you? Well, hoping it would be, anyway: the moment that people would embrace Mr. Kerry as the only man who can save them from four more years of catastrophe.

In fact, you've been waiting for this tipping for more than a year now. And let's face it, this is hardly the first time you thought it had finally arrived. There was the economy and the loss of jobs, and you thought that would do it.

Then, there was the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and you thought that was it. Then, the occupation turned out to be a lot harder than the odious Bush people thought it was going to be, and that was supposed to turn the tide. Then, you guys united your party around Mr. Kerry as the man best qualified to beat Mr. Bush, and that was it. Now, Mr. Kerry brilliantly has selected the enormously popular, optimistic, smart, good-looking Mr. Edwards (whom I myself in this space last week said "may be the best politician of his generation," a statement that was frankly not popular with some of my Republican readers, I might add). And — no, not this time, either.

I know, every downturn in Mr. Bush's job-approval rating has brought new hope. But then the number has stopped going down, and sometimes has gone back up. The problem is that you are waiting for something that will not come. Mr. Bush is not going to collapse in the polls, not in the absence of some new (and I emphasize, non-pre-existing) catastrophe or blunder. No, the cumulative weight of the odiousness is not going to finally turn people against him. Forget it.

Mr. Edwards was a good choice for Mr. Kerry. He was also a safe and utterly conventional choice. Yes, I know, you love him. Especially the "Two Americas" speech. But Americans do not share your enthusiasm (though they seem fairly well disposed toward him). And no, he is not the tipping point.

Yes, there is a Bush fatigue out there, the result of three very intense years in our country's history. And you are right, even some Republicans are unhappy with Mr. Bush in one way or another. But if you think large numbers of Americans are on the verge of finally wising up and embracing Michael Moore's view of George W. Bush — and let's face it, your view — you really ought to think again.

The Blog from the Core asserts Fair Use for non-commercial, non-profit educational purposes.

In some respects, 2004 will be a repeat of 1996: conservatives thought then that their sheer, white-hot hatred of Bill Clinton would drive him & Al Gore from the White House — no matter that their proffered replacement was the dynamic duo of Bob Dole & Jack Kemp. Liberals think now that their sheer, white-hot hatred of George W. Bush is a lot more widespread than it is — a lot more widespread than conservatives' hatred of Clinton — but they are wrong: it is merely more visible on the radar screen because it is shared by so many in mainstream media. You would have had to scour obscure websites and subscribe to monthly newsletters eight years ago to find the unreasoning hatred of the president that you can find any day of the week in regular columns by regular columnists in big-city newspapers this year. Not to mention (though I shall) Broadway and Hollywood.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 07/22/04 07:10:37 PM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode.

The Real Presence Association

Vide.

(Thanks, G. Thomas.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 07/22/04 07:45:23 AM
Categorized as Religious.