Meet the Old Dems

The centrist left ("progressives") that is the vanguard of the current Internet-based activism is no braver than when raining insults on those to their left. Mimicking their own treatment by the right, they resort to smear and false analysis when confronted by a more principled position. One of their magical beliefs is the idea that the Democrats (especially the new ones, the ones they supported) are not only a significant change in the right direction, but are the only vehicle for such a change. Matt Taibbi (AlterNet: Unhinged Republicans Can't Even Get Their Insults Straight) provides a bit of Dem history on Alternet that will no doubt fail to penetrate the echo chamber:

In the two years of the 109th congress, the Republicans allowed only one completely open rule. This was a reflection of a decades-long general evolution in congressional procedure away from bipartisanship and in the direction of unilateralism. The trend really began with the Democrats -- in 1977, when the Democrats were the majority party, eighty-five percent of all bills went to the floor as open rules. By 1994, when the Democrats were kicked out of power, that number had dropped to thirty percent. Particularly during the Reagan years, congressional Democrats had turned the House floor into something of a bully pulpit.