The Happy Dance, or not so fast

It is quite appropriate to relish a few moments of glee, as the GOP legislative leaders are indicted and investigated and conservative pundits engage in self-immolation, and yes, we may even engage in flights of fancy:
The temptation to turn the happy dance into a full-fledged "They Shoot Horses, Don't They"-style marathon may become irresistable when the indictments come down soon from Pat Fitzgerald's office. And believe me, they are coming. For those of you unacquainted with him, Mr, Fitzgerald is fearless and relentless. Unlike so many other high-profile U.S. attorneys (insert "Giuliani" here), he is a prosecutor rather than a poltician. Here in Illinois, where there has been a familial relationship of graft and corruption between Chicago and Springfield (effectively one-party rule, the Corrupt-ocrat or Republi-scam party) for years, Fitzgerald has convicted several major players, has a former governor on trial and has gotten closer to Mayor Daley's office than anyone ever thought possible. Bush's gang who couldn't shoot straight wouldn't phase anyone who has stared down the Daley machine!

Even the long-term incarceration of Karl Rove and the naming of Darth Cheney and Mini-Me as unindicted co-conspirators won't do the trick, however. Remember, we start with a basic problem:












The problem is that those 59 million people who chose to vote for four more years of this disaster are still out there. I am reminded of a common phenomenon in 19th-century Russian history. Russian peasants lived in serfdom and grinding poverty, and were regularly abused by corrupt local bureaucrats. Despite their misery, however, the peasants loved their "little Father," the Tsar. They plaintively claimed their heartfelt belief that the Tsar would help them "if he only knew" of their lot, but alas the truth was kept from him by his corrupt ministers.

So, even if we haul the "corrupt ministers" off to jail, and even factoring in the president's tumbling poll numbers, we still have millions of people perversely loyal to their "little Father." We also have to recognize that the Republicans are in so many ways, from packaging their candidates to focusing the message to this little problem, better at this than we are:




















So yes, enjoy the guilty pleasure of watching the GOP implode, but please don't assume that voters will link the grotesque incompetence and shameless corruption they have displayed to their personal voting decisions. The Democrats face a huge challenge in the next two elections. They must clearly define what they stand for (Rep, Rahm Emanuel of Illinois made a good start last week on Meet the Press), and they must articulate a strong, decisive and positive view of America.

That being said, however, they have to be willing to fight back. No more of John Kerry windsurfing past the Swift Boat vets. As Sean Connery's Jimmy Malone said in The Untouchables, "you wanna know how you do it? Here's how, they pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get [substitute "the Republicans" for "Capone"]! Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that?"

Another key is to avoid the fear of the foolish consistency. Members of Congress and presidential contenders cannot be hamstrung by the fact that they may have voted early on for this miserable war. learn from your mistakes and move on! Implicit in that is also the importance of forcefully defending dissent as a patriotic American virtue.

The last obstacle I don't know how to address right now. This one will take some work: