'Their number is negligible and they are stupid.'

So wrote President Eisenhower in 1954, about a 'tiny splinter group' who believed it was possible to eliminate the social safety net provided by Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance. It was quoted by Mike Lofgren in his recent piece for TruthOut, which is well worth reading in its entirety. I particularly liked Lofgren's characterization of Democrats' political action as "feckless, craven incompetence." Democrats might as well take that as a motto--nicely alliterative, pretty catchy, and even has the added appeal of truthiness. Lofgren points out, as have ever so many other people, that Democrats just cannot seem to get their little kitty minds around the necessity for consistent, clear, and emotionally resonant messages, phrases, captions on LOLcats, anything at all that actually means something to anyone ever. The Democrats have a particular genius--if that is the right word--for being generic. They can take "You are being completely fucked by health insurance companies, and it's bullshit, and it is also bad for business" into the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." Not only is that unforgivably boring, but it is also, actually, a goddamn lie. The tragically deformed, stillborn creature that was the healthcare reform bill actually didn't protect patients OR make care any more affordable at all--no price caps, no collective bargaining on prescription drugs, not even guaranteed universal coverage for seriously ill children. So everyone knows on some level or another that the Democrats are both lying to them and boring them at the same time. And if we're going to be lied to, we want it to be entertaining, at least. Throw in some monkeys and fireworks and "death taxes" and whatnot. Democrats: neither bread nor circuses, that's the problem.