Power's Corrupting Influence

A long time ago, someone told me that he figured that anyone who could actually get close to having a chance to become President had already traded away morality in exchange for the chance to be elected.

After working on a 2006 Congressional campaign, I came to believe that there were, in fact, people who had values, weren't bought-and-paid for, and were willing to fight for what they believe in. But that isn't the whole picture. In the two intervening years, I've come to see that there are few absolutes in politics. There is no principle important enough for a politician to lose an election over.

More after the break...

In his campaign speeches, Mark Udall talks long and hard about the challenges set our nation by the abuses of the Bush administration. But when the rubber meets the road, he votes to give more power to the Bush autocrat, and to make sure no one is held accountable who broke the law to help the Bush administration do whatever it did (it's secret - executive privilege and all). Let's tear up the 4th Amendment, hell, the whole Constitution. Let's tear up the Magna Carta, too. Who cares about the President being subject to the law, too?

But, Udall's already got some significant power, so I suppose that my friend might have been right: he's got too much power to have principles (he has polls). If so, I'd hope that as you got smaller and smaller down the food chain of politicians that you would find more and more principles. You'd hope that when you get to a local political party, what you'll find is people who care about the reasons behind helping get people elected.

But, in today's Weld County Democratic Party, this is not the case. No one seems to care about who or why anyone is getting elected. The concern seems to be entirely on the end result of getting someone elected; forget what they stand for. And forget anyone who dissents.

I call Mark Udall an (expletive deleted) for his vote on FISA, an issue the party faithful seem to think is unimportant, and I get asked to leave. I get lectured about egos and how I am somehow a petulant child making an issue of this vote entirely to bring attention to myself. I get yelled at by Party Chair David Delgado for causing waves inside the party.

Here's where I think it sits. The Party seems able to fall for anything: any sad rationalization about a compromise on FISA, or any justification for why the Democratic House won't stop funding the war in Iraq. It seems to fall for things, primarily, for the cliched reason: that it doesn't stand for something.

It says it does, but I don't believe it.

So, here's where I think I'm going to go, since (name removed to protect the guilty) made such a compelling case last night as he accused me of everything from foul language to treason, and then stormed away from the table. Since, what I really want is to have attention drawn to the fact that Mark Udall supports George Bush, I think I'm going to push this as hard as I can. Maybe I'll even invite a reporter to attend the next Weld Dems Executive Committee meeting, when they impeach me for "supporting a candidate running against a Democratic Nominee." Then we can bring the issue up in the media again. If you think it's about me, fine.

So, to the crowd seeking to punish me (Mary Tse Tung, this means you): Do your worst!