Congress, Politics

Biden Tells Democratic Voters to “Stop Whining” and “Buck Up”

We previously discussed the disconnect between Democratic leaders and liberal voters in the increasing complaints of leaders like Vice President Biden over Democratic “lethargy.” Democrats in Washington once again seemed shocked that voters are not eager to fight for their retention. Now, Biden has added the helpful advice to Democratic voters to “stop whining” about things that they did not get in Washington and to “buck up.”

The “buck up” comment was meant as an improvement over the “whining” comment. It turned out that “whining” was not greeted by voters as an improvement over “lethargy.”

Here is the latest statement:

“And so those who don’t get — didn’t get everything they wanted, it’s time to just buck up here, understand that we can make things better, continue to move forward and — but not yield the playing field to those folks who are against everything that we stand for in terms of the initiatives we put forward.”

By “everything [we] wanted,” I assume Biden is including the fulfillment of our treaty obligations to investigate and prosecute war crimes such as torture — which the Administration blocked.

I assume it includes removing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which the Administration is trying to preserve by asking a court not to impose a national injunction freezing the policy.

I assume it includes allowing dozens of privacy lawsuits to go forward against companies, which the Administration blocked despite evidence of unlawful surveillance by the Bush Administration.

I assume it includes allowing torture victims to seek review in federal court, which the Administration has successfully blocked.

I assume it includes protecting pristine areas along the East Coast from drilling, which the Administration has fought to open up for development even after the BP accident.

I assume it includes reducing the faith-based programs of the Bush Administration which raised concerns over the separation of church and state, which Obama expanded.

Well, it includes a lot of things that democratic and independent voters wanted. What they got was a Democratic majority saw power as the end to itself rather than the means to fight for principle. For civil libertarians, “those folks who are against everything that we stand” include the Obama Administration which has been a perfect nightmare in the adoption and expansion of Bush policies.

Yet, Biden wants civil libertarians, environmentalists, and liberals to stop whining and buck up. The Administration made a cynical calculation that liberals and civil libertarians and environmentalists have no where to go and that they have to support the Democrats regardless of these obnoxious policies. Now, they are simply shocked that voters are not enthusiastic about their continuing in power.

The Democratic leadership has conveyed that the only principle that they are committed to is their retention of power. All other principles — torture, the environment, privacy, free speech — are immaterial to that one overriding goal. They just do not understand why everyone does not see it that way.

Well, I am one of those whining, lethargic voters and I cannot get myself to buck up to support leaders who turned their back on such core values. Perhaps if enough Democrats are replaced, the party may rediscover the benefit of being principled and standing for something other than their own insular interests. They need to actually represent something other than “we are not as bad as those guys.” The problem for voters is that, by retaining these leaders, we reaffirm that they cynical calculation by the White House was correct. There is no reason why Democrats should fulfill their commitments in these areas if voters do not hold them accountable. I know some on this blog may disagree, but I personally think I will stick with the whining for now.

Source: Real Clear Politics

1,014 thoughts on “Biden Tells Democratic Voters to “Stop Whining” and “Buck Up””

  2. Tony C.

    You said: (BTW, love Taibbi, that guy is a genius. Seriously.)

    Finally, we agree on something! It must be time for the Rapture!

    😉

    BTW, Taibbi has a new book coming out in November titled “Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America.”

    I always buy issues of “Rolling Stone” that include articles he’s written.

    Have you read his books “Spanking the Donkey,” “Smells Like Dead Elephants,” and “The Great Derangement?”

    My husband and I heard Taibbi and Charles Pierce speak at “A Pen Warmed Up in Hell”–a program at the Mark Twain House in Connecticut earlier this year.

  3. Elaine:

    Expatriates in Paris:

    “Unlike more casual visitors, however, the expatriates came to stay, at least for a time (some for only a few months, others for many years). They were commonly self-exiles, who chose to leave a homeland they considered artistically, intellectually, politically, racially, or sexually limiting or even oppressive. They were drawn to Paris by the reputed vitality of its artistic and intellectual scene, by its apparent tolerance for innovation and experimentation, by the high respect accorded the artist by Parisians of all classes, and by the accompanying level of freedom allowed the individual in his or her search for identity and artistic voice.”

    They are talking about the early 20th century artists and intellectuals that took up residence in Paris before and between the wars.

  5. Tony C.

    You wrote: “Expatriate” is usually used in the sense of somebody having been expelled from their country, or in the sense of “non-patriot”, somebody that is rejecting their country.

    I think you prove my case. Matt “renounces the good life,” and/or is seeking “escape.” He did not WANT to live in America, isn’t that the impression you get?

    **********

    I think rejecting one’s country is different from renouncing the good life and seeking an escape for personal reasons. I don’t know if you’ve read the book–but Taibbi had a lot of personal demons. I don’t think he was rejecting his country. I think he was trying to get away from his life. That’s what I took away from reading the book.

    **********

    You wrote: I do not think Greenwald is either renouncing the good life or seeking escape from personal demons, and I think, based on his comments you have already quoted, he would PREFER to live in America with his partner but cannot, and is forced to live in Brazil as the only option that LETS him live with his partner.

    My response: Where in my comment did I suggest that Greenwald was “either renouncing the good life or seeking escape from personal demons?” I already provided you with the reason he gave for living in Brazil.

    **********
    And if you think Wikipedia is the ultimate authority on anything, well, you just keep on thinkin’ that.

    Did I say that Wikipedia was the ultimate authority on anything? That’s why I provided you with the link to the Wikipedia page. YOU’RE the “ultimate authority” on the the word “expatriate.” That’s why I suggested you edit the page.

    😉

  6. Byron,

    I think Tony has his knickers in a knot.

    Please don’t take the sentence literally!

    😉

    I haven’t seen you around much lately. Maybe we’ve been commenting on different threads.

  7. I think you prove my case. Matt “renounces the good life,” and/or is seeking “escape.” He did not WANT to live in America, isn’t that the impression you get?

    I do not think Greenwald is either renouncing the good life or seeking escape from personal demons, and I think, based on his comments you have already quoted, he would PREFER to live in America with his partner but cannot, and is forced to live in Brazil as the only option that LETS him live with his partner. And if you think Wikipedia is the ultimate authority on anything, well, you just keep on thinkin’ that.

    (BTW, love Taibbi, that guy is a genius. Seriously.)

  8. Elaine:

    I’m with you, it is a perfectly acceptable word. Shades of Hemingway in Paris. Very romantic. (Not the eros type.)

  9. Tony C.,

    You wrote: The word “expatriate” is almost never used in the modern world to just imply somebody is living abroad; that was the case when a citizen living outside of their own country was a very unusual circumstance. “Expatriate” is usually used in the sense of somebody having been expelled from their country, or in the sense of “non-patriot”, somebody that is rejecting their country.

    So YOU say.

    **********

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expatriate

    **********
    Matt Taibbi, a political writer and contributing editor for “Rolling Stone,” considered himself an expat (expatriate) when he lived in Russia and other countries for a number of years. I’ll provide you with a short quote from “The Exile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia”—a book Taibbi co-authored with Mark Ames. The book was published WAY back in the year 2000.

    From Chapter Two: Traitor for Hire (page 30) by Matt Taibbi…

    “The EXPATRIATE mentality is a tough thing to explain easily. Any affluent or middle-class American who renounces the good life of sushi delivery and 5—channel cable television to relocate permanently to some third-world hole usually has to be motivated by a highly destructive personality defect. Either that, or something about home creates psychological demons that in turn create the urge for radical escape.”

    **********
    Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi on life as an EXPAT
    by Aaron Hotfelder (RSS feed) on Apr 2nd 2008
    http://www.gadling.com/2008/04/02/rolling-stones-matt-taibbi-on-life-as-an-expat/

    Excerpt:
    Like so many EXPATS, Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi moved abroad right out of college. But since that time, he’s had about the most atypical expat experience you can imagine.

    He played baseball in Uzbekistan for their national team, and was kicked out of the country by the KGB for criticizing the government in an AP piece he wrote. He moved to Mongolia and became the leading rebounder in the Mongolian Basketball League, where he was nicknamed the “Mongolian Rodman.” He then lived in Russia for ten years, where he helped found the deviously entertaining EXPAT rag, the eXile, a bi-weekly which specializes in spewing vitriol at the deserving, and– take note– it is not for the faint of heart.

    **********

    Why don’t you write to Matt Taibbi and Aaron Hotfelder so you can give them a lesson on word usage??? And, by all means, do edit the Wikipedia page about the word “Expatriate.” I left you a link to the page above.

  10. @Elaine: Since you do seem to have trouble with words, what I was doing there was implying you were immature in relying upon a dictionary to provide the literal meaning of a word without considering how it is actually used. It seems the person that could explain that to you is no longer with us, I am not sure why you bring that up — Am I to think your friend’s understanding was somehow transferred to you? Do you get some kind of reflected glory for that?

    If that magic works, a friend of mine once shared a table (at a charity fundraiser) for about an hour with Olivia Newton John, and once, at a fine restaurant where I had brought my mother for dinner, guess who sat down for dinner at the neigboring table? Willie Nelson. Really. So that is why my friend and I can claim we know all there is to know about the music business.

  14. Byron Since many of his supporters are white people in carts on medicare, I don’t think that is who he was talking about

  15. Swarthmore Mom:

    since there are more white people on welfare than black people aren’t you jumping to a bit of a conclusion?

    “Welfare Queen” is a pejorative term and under some circumstances appropriate. Race has nothing to do with its application, it is racially neutral and designates a female addicted to other peoples money distributed by that big “sugar daddy” in Washington, DC.

  18. Joe’s just settin the table for the republican banquet in November. He dont want no blame and the easiest way to pass the buck is to tell the great “unwashed” masses they didn’t work hard enough.

  19. Elaine I see there are a lot of conservative Texas republicans on that list that will be back in power after they get rid of Pelosi. Maybe they will give Michelle Bachmann a choice subcommittee.

  20. Swarthmore mom,

    From Think Progress
    REPORT: Overview Of House Committee Chairmen In A GOP-Controlled 112th Congress
    http://thinkprogress.org/2010/09/10/committee-chair-report/

    Excerpt: With less than two months until the midterm elections, all eyes are on what a Speaker Boehner would look like if Republicans take back the House. Just as important, though, are those GOPers who would head the House committees. Republicans have vowed that House committee chairmen like these will see their power increase if their party returns to power. With that in mind, it’s worth asking: Who are the House Republicans who would control national legislation in the 112th Congress?

    **********
    Extreme Makeover—House Edition

    http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ExtremeMakeoverHouseEdition.pdf

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