The Democrats' albatross around their necks

Two columns, one by Leonard Pitts Jr. and another by Larry DeWitt, discuss different topics, but arrive at the same solution; namely, that the reasons that liberals and Democrats are not the influence these days on society as they'd like to be is because of the big, bad GOP and its shenanigans. Understand that I say that NOT as a member of the GOP – which I am not – but as someone who is a former Democratic supporter who is tired of seeing the Dems shoot themselves in the foot.

First, don’t get me wrong; both columns are excellent in their analysis of their respective topics. However, they make the same mistake that most left-wing types make when it comes to analyzing what they (that is, themselves) are doing wrong: They pick the wrong group to lay blame on.

Yes, the GOP is up to its usual shenanigans – but aren’t they always? Isn’t that the nature of politics to be up to shenanigans to mess things up for other parties? And aren’t the Dems also up to their own shenanigans to mess things up for the GOP? So what point is there to accuse the GOP of being up to something that we already know that they are doing, and that the Dems are guilty of doing to the GOP?

It’s human nature – both of humans and of political parties – to blame someone else for their own troubles. But a sign of growth and maturity is the ability to be able to see the man (or woman) in the mirror and know that one’s own troubles generally start with the person staring back at you.

Roe vs. Wade became the albatross that the Dems chose to hang around their neck long ago, and if they choose to keep wearing that damn bird, then that’s their own damn fault. Is it the fault of the GOP to keep calling the Dems on it? They keep calling them on it because it works! And the nature of politics is to go with what works. What’s surprising is that it has worked for so long, and that it’s taken this long for any of the Dems to see it.

Some Dems see it, but way, way too many still don’t see it. It’s almost enough to push one to despair for the poor clueless Dems. However, let me give the Dems some free advice: If you can let go of your love affair with Roe vs. Wade and with embryonic (as opposed to the other, non-controversial) stem cells, then you can go a long way to having your eyes opened and removing that stupid bird.

It won’t turn things around for the Dems right away, but it will be a big, important first step. But will it happen? Time will tell. Stranger things have happened, folks.