Democrats, Complainers, and Ponies

[Requested by fiat lux.]

I'm not sure I have any good advice for dealing with people who think we're doomed, or who think the Democrats are no better than the Republicans. Whenever I deal with them myself, it always ends badly. Harsh language and all that. I just don't have a lot of patience.

All I can do is make the case. Which isn't enough for people who aren't willing to listen, but it's all any of us can do.

The thing you have to understand from the start is that for the nattering nabobs of negativisim, it's all about the ponies. More particularly, it's all about the ponies the Democrats fail to deliver. The oversight function of Congress restored...but no pony! Reactionary anti-environmental bills stopped dead...but no pony! A brake on lunatic fringe judicial nominations...but no pony!

None of which makes sense in this world, of course...but it all makes sense in the world the nattering nabobs inhabit, where by right and logic everybody gets a pony. That's the standard they apply, and by that standard everybody falls short--especially the Democrats.

It's easy to point out the shortcomings of any political program. What's a lot more difficult is governing. Anyone inclined to kvetch about the new Democratic majority--not moved by events to kvetch, that is, but inclined by nature to do so--should be challenged to develop a plausible, logisticially detailed scenario for how some better result could be achieved. We can't let them focus on the perceived missteps of the imperfect; the only way to deal with them is to make them defend their program for achieving perfection.

And if they can't do that, then I invite them to quaff a hearty pint or six of shut the fuck up.

I'm buying.

[That's all, folks]