Another Democrat Dares Assert the Obvious

First, it was Jimmy Carter on Israel/Palestine: he dared say what everyone knows – that the occupation is an Apartheid regime. Then, before he was closed out of the debates, it was Mike Gravel. He put it more civilly than this, but his point was unmistakable: the Democrats generally and the Clintons especially are full of shit. Now, in defiance of the party’s Pelosiite leadership, George McGovern has come out for the impeachment of Cheney and Bush. Is there a pattern here? I think so. In a word, to be able to speak truths that are everywhere opposed, you have to be old. Not because age brings wisdom: there are lots of eleven year olds who understand Carter’s, Gravel’s and McGovern’s points, and lots of geezers who haven’t a clue. [Indeed, it’s those geezers who can’t write enough checks to Israel, the Clintons, and Pelosiite Democrats! Evidently, age can lower moral and intellectual levels too.] But, if you’re a Democrat, and if you are wise enough to know what’s what and courageous enough to say it, you have to be beyond caring about being a player; and beyond caring what the parameters of proper, mainstream opinion are. It isn’t necessary to be old for that, but it helps.