[Dean's World] Aziz P: advice to John Cole

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Posted by Aziz P:
advice to John Cole
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1162391339.shtml


   John Cole really [1]bares his soul in a lamentation about the state of
   the Republican Party. His party loyalist bonafides are sterling, yet
   he feels profoundly betrayed. And in his summary of his feelings about
   where his party has gone, he says something very familiar to me,
   indeed:

     And it makes me mad. I still think of myself as a Republican- but I
     think the whole party has been hijacked by frauds and religionists
     and crooks and liars and corporate shills, and it frustrates me to
     no end to see my former friends enabling them, and I wonder âWhy
     canât they see what I see?â I donât think I am crazy, I donât think
     my beliefs have changed radically, and I donât think I have been
     (as suggested by others) brainwashed by my commentariat.

   Now, the analogy to extremist Islam simply leaps off the page here.
   And where I would take issue with John, in defense of his party, is
   the same way I defend Islam: by noting that there is actually very
   little evidence (and in fact plenty of counter-evidence) that by and
   large the rank and file of his party is as extremist as the ones
   driving it off the cliff.

   How do extremists gain control? Is it because of a failing of the
   mainstream? Is it because of a flaw in the underlying ideology? is it
   because the majority tacitly approves? I answer no. It is simply
   because extremists see that thing which we in the mainstream value, as
   a means to an end: power. Control. And therefore they are the ones who
   are most motivated to opportunistically game the system in their
   favor. We in the mainstream don't want to game the system, we just
   want the system to work. So we are at a fundamental disadvantage.

   What's the solution? Simply, localization. We must assert control at
   the local level of our institutions. Whether it be the party precinct
   or the local masjid, we must focus inwards and ensure that they meet
   the expectations and standards of our values. And we, who are
   articulate enough to write and argue and persuade, must be active in
   that local community as well, as guardians of those values. This
   applies to virtual commmunities as much as it does to physical ones.

   One reason I am optimistic about the future of the Democratic Party as
   both a wide tent and as being more immune to the corruption that both
   the GOP and the Dmeocratic party underwent during their respective
   periods of single-party rule is because of the 50-state strategy that
   Howard Dean is laying the ground work for. In essence, Dean has
   destroyed and upended the centralized structure of the Democratic
   National Committee. He has sent millions of dollars to local state
   organizers instead of to the central and nationalized party organs
   like the DCCC and the DSCC. He has paid for field activists and
   prganizers and district leaders to begin grassroots organizing in the
   reddest of red states, such as Utah. In ten years' time, should the
   Democrats find themselves in single-party rule again, they won't find
   these state organizations subservient to the diktats of Washington DC.
   This is a powerful shift in paradigm that I sincerely pray - for the
   good of our country and the sake of our nation - is mirrored by the
   GOP as well.

   John, your party is ultimately irrelevant. What matters is your
   community. You can put whatever label you want on it, but find it, or
   build it, and lead it. That's how we safeguard our democracy - next
   week, next year, and in the next decade to come.

References

   1. http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=7551