"They don't even know who we are."

I know we're all occupied with the holidays (the good) and the tragedy in Southeast Asia (oh so very bad) so the last thing any of us want to think about right now is more politics. And no, this isn't going to be a high-pitched rant about the Shrubbery's latest dickheadedness, of which there are multitudinous multitudes.

No, tonight, I'm (briefly) talking DNC reform. More specifically, a reform candidate for the DNC Chair because whether the DNC establishment knows it or not, they are speeding the Democratic Party toward utter extinction. No matter the lazy media, the right-wing spin machine, Bush and his evil cronies, the grinding pathology of corporate fascism...none of these things is any more to blame than the completely spineless Democratic Party as it exists today. The DNC establishment has gotten entirely too comfy and insulated in their political power games that matter not a whit to the 99% of the rest of the Party and have absolutely zero to do with representing us. They'll take our money and gladly benefit from our hours and hours of campaigning, dollars we can ill afford and time that none of us has.

But they aren't fighting for us, they appear to have very little interest in being a true opposition party, and though they seem genuinely disgusted by Bush et al, it's in a rather detached, aloof sort of way, the kind of perspective that's the luxury of those who aren't truly desperate and are the least likely to be affected by what the Republicans are about to wreak on our country and the world. Oh sure, they may be out of power, may find themselves without the control they're used to, but none of them worries about losing their home, paying for college, whether they'll have tiniest of Social Security nets to catch them in old age, going to the doctor, being able to breathe clean air, or being able to buy a fucking bag of groceries.

(Yes, I know some of them care very passionately about some or all of these causes. But I defy you to find one who will be the first to lose their home when the economy plummets after Bush's reckless stewardship or who will be sacrificing a son or daughter when the draft cranks up. I defy you because you won't be able to find one, I guarantee it.)

Kid Oakland over at Daily Kos has more: bloggers and citizens

Howard Dean gets this. He knows that the biggest obstacle to Democratic Party ascendancy in the years ahead is the Democratic Party establishment. Look, I don't care whether Howard Dean was your candidate in the primaries or not. I don't care if you thought he was too liberal or too conservative or too moderate, whether he was too angry or outspoken or whatever. The fact is, he's our best hope for rescuing the party from itself, for Democrats like you and me to take it back from the people who either have a vested interest in the status quo or who don't remember (or never knew) what it's like to be just a citizen.

Jerome over at MyDD has more on Dean's chances. (They're excellent, but click the link anyway.)