Last November, Democrats took back the White House and the Congress with a huge mandate from the American people. Ever since then, Democrats in Congress have been acting as if they actually lost the election instead.
Their latest act of spinelessness came yesterday when the Senate voted 83-7 to deny ACORN any federal funds. Apparently, Democrats have never met a right wing smear campaign they didn't like.
The Senate's move means that ACORN, the most effective organization for helping low income people avoid foreclosures, will not be able to receive grants for counseling low-income people on how to get mortgages and for fair housing education and outreach. That would be like the Census Bureau refusing to work with ACORN to count how many low income and minority Americans live in America. Which is what the wimpy Census Bureau actually did do last week, when they said they won't work with ACORN on the census.
Who cares about minority representation in this country anyway? Apparently not Republicans and right wing pundits. Because their obsession with ACORN stems from the simple fact that the minority communities ACORN works with tend to vote Democratic. So what better way to keep down voter registration in those areas than by constantly harassing the people trying to register them? Yes there were a few instances of workers writing fake names on petitions. (Although I suppose it's possible for your name to really be Donald Duck. But not likely.) And those workers were promptly fired. As were the workers who were duped by a conservative activist filmmaker in the recent entrapment scheme caught on tape.
But what really makes this standup comedian's hair stand up, is the way the Democrats have meekly given in to almost every right wing smear. When Van Jones was unfairly attacked and forced to resign, no one from the White House said a thing. Couldn't someone have just said, "Hey, Van Jones is the foremost authority on green jobs. He didn't say or do anything to disqualify him for that job." But they just let him go.
Then there was the communications director for the NEA who lost his job for making a conference call. When a guy in charge of communications can't make a phone call, you would think someone might have the courage to say, "Hey, what's wrong with that?" Instead, they hung up on him too.
Republicans, on the other hand, stand by their man. Congressman Wilson(the "you lie" guy)has been assured that his party will support him. They've even made him a cult hero. Governor Sanford mysteriously disappears, resurfaces with a mistress in Argentina, and guess what? He's still Governor.
This standup comedian will always stand up for the right of every American to stand up for their beliefs. It's time for Democrats to stand up and catch us if we fall. If they do that, they might actually realize they won the last election.
