There has to be a better way to create an effective image for the (ongoing for some 70 years) current Republican critique of FDR's Social Security program by its defenders than likening the current Republican alternative to gambling.
First, privitization schemes may not pay off as well as a random game of chance. Things more random than a roulette wheel may not be on everyone's lips, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. The DCC is trading off education, and some pretty interesting educational challenges, like is the economic pie really static over your lifetime, or has it been growing, until recently, and is it now shrinking, and likeley to continue to do so for the rest of your lives. That's a reasonable challenge for a political education. Instead, the DCCC has substituted a values morality litmus test, which has an unintended side-effect of driviing Indian Gaming outside of Mainestream Demorcratic Political Morality.
Second, things as random as a roulette wheel are different from redistributive schemes (materialist political programs) and from concentrative schemes (pre-materialist political programs), that is, acts of god (for small values of god) are not politically equivalent to or interchangible with, the politics of socialists or capitalists.
Third, gaming is traditional in the area where the DCCC exists as an organ of the occupation, and non-Indians are pretty keen on bingo. Attempting to make a distinction between Class 1 gaming (social bingo) and Class III gaming (da woiks), and analogously negatively message on one, while not negatively messaging on the other, causing analogous collateral damage to coin a phrase, isn't a job for the average political moron.
Fourth, its silly not to compare defunding the Democrats via "tort reform" and befunding the Republicans via "social seccurity reform". There is a money arguement to make, so make both the defense and the offense and make it about process, money in or money out, independent of what superficial momentary circumstance makes the transfer of wealth and power salable. Robbing retirees or short-sheeting the troops in Iraq is pretty much a who cares, a choice of targets of opportunity, it might as well be Indians (again) or small businesses or mortgages. The money simply has to come to their Party. Period. I had to make up "befunding" to make that first sentance work.
Fifth, and not to be vulger or anything, but is the DCCC ready to talk crap? Not to mention scaring the bejezus out of the current crop of Chutes-and-Ladders-to-Monopoly players, who aren't yet aware that fondling dice can cause ... poverty or blindness or impoverished sightlessness or contagious snake-eyes. Crap is a serious subject.
The letter that Jim Bonham, Exec. Dir., DCCC, just happened to drop into my inbox today, to raise a BIG RED FLAG, did just that. I looked at the links to his ad network provider. Yup. A tracking gif. A 1x1, just like all the Kintera junk mail for the Kucinich Campaign. Stuff Lefties Simply Shouldn't Do.
Posted by EBW at December 16, 2004 05:22 PM | TrackBack