Franco is Still Dead, So Are the Democrats

Those who are long of tooth recall Chevy Chase’s news routine on Saturday Night Live, especially his weekly riff, “Generalissimo Franco is still dead.” That was based on true stories of the removal of assorted organs from the dying General, with doctors’ assurances he was still alive.

That also led to Don Henley’s classic, “Dirty Laundry,” with the lines, “Is the head dead yet? Get the widow on the set....” This is ancient news, but it’s relevant to the Democrats. Like the Generalissimo, that Party has had major organs removed, but is allegedly still alive.

As a student of US history, I’ve researched the life and death of political parties. The Republican and Democrat Parties did not exist at the beginning. Neither is guaranteed by the Constitution. Both are subject to the same failures which put the Whigs, the Federalists, and the Republican-Democrats, among others, on the ash heap of history.

The Democrat Party has finally achieved brain death. For proof, see three points: Howard Dean, Dick Durbin, and the pending break-up of the AFL-CIO. For each, go beyond the speech or action and consider its entire context.

The height of power for labor was marked by the recombination of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955. The combined organization grew in power, in and out of government. The pinnacle may have been the Democrat Convention in 1980 which renominated President Carter, with carefully balanced delegates in all demographic categories except one – union membership. Half of all delegates were union members.

Today, union power has diminished in all ways, including within the Democrat Party. Union membership is at an all-time low in a century, 13% of all workers. Now, the “public service” unions are about to split from their dying cousins, the private sector unions. The eagle on the Seal of the United States clutches 13 arrows in his talon. The lesson is, in union there is strength, but in division there is weakness. The backbone of union power is now broken.

Second, we look at (Dr., Governor) Howard Dean, chosen as Chairman of the Democrat National Committee. His tactics are slash and burn. His comments are issue-free, being dedicated only to winning elections by any means possible, holding together the crumbling coalition of assorted groups who feel victimized by society.

The acceptance (so far) of Dean by some leaders and members of the Democrat Party ignores a simple truth about communications. Screaming is not a substitute for having something to say.

We turn then to Senator Dick Durbin. Last week we discussed his reprehensible remarks comparing American soldiers to Nazis. This week, look at his so-called apology for his remarks. He got all choked up on the Senate floor, like Red Sovine in a suit. (I saw 2% of you smile knowingly. You’ve heard Sovine classics like “Teddy Bear.”)

Anyway, Durbin said, "Some think my remarks crossed the line." He "apologized" to "those who were offended." But he never said that his remarks were wrong.

Hard-wired Democrat apologists, both in public office and in the press, referred to this as a “full apology” and said we should now “move on.” It was no apology whatsoever, much less a full one. He’s not sorry he was wrong; he’s sorry he got caught. And the fact that such behavior is acceptable among Democrats contributes to the diagnosis that the Democrat Party has died.

Only a minority of a minority in that Party has any ideology, the global socialism of the Soros-funded MoveOn organization and its like. Not even in the depths of the Great Depression did a majority of Americans accept ideas like those. Now, with the worldwide failure of those ideas well demonstrated, such niche ideology is a guarantee of elective failure (except in France), most of the time and in most jurisdictions. And that is the definition of death for a political party.

Does that mean that the brand name “Democrat Party” will cease to exist? No. For 200 years, when a party died its name died with it. Today, brand names are too valuable. Like the Ford Mustang, the Bank of America, and Time magazine, the brand marches on, regardless of its diminished current content.

Furthermore, like some ancient but obscure products, the Democrats will live on in isolated pockets like San Francisco, Baltimore, and New Jersey. In US history, the Grange and the Progressives remained locally powerful a generation after they had died and been replaced as national parties. It is national political death we’re talking about.

About the Author: John Armor is a First Amendment attorney and author who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu

FYI: I don't buy anything the "friggin' Media" says, but I don't suffer short term memory loss either. I can even remember as recently as 1992 when a war time President named George Bush saw his staggerly high Gulf War approval ratings slide into the toilet within the space of one short year. The "folks", as O'Reilly delights in calling the apolitical majority in our country, are (as we learned all too well in 1992) quite capable of swallowing a lot of liberal BS and voting against their better instincts/consciences if the "economy, stupid" is perceived as being in bad shape (e.g. gas prices are too darn high).

One thing that I have noticed, a lot of the more serious/devious Democrat political strategists have gone Deep Underground, and are playing their cards very close to their collective vest. They used to delight in telling us what they were going to do, then doing it, and end up telling us how they did it (to us). Their low profile means that something's brewing, and we'd better not let them blind side us. Which is all that I was trying to say: KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY!

I don't disagree with your points. The lesson I took from GHWB's loss was that "conventional" politicking will not defeat NUCLEAR politicking waged by the most evil politicians that this country has ever had to face. And the Clintons continued power and influence within the democrat party has changed it from a party of wrong-thinking (but not wicked) people to a party which both requires and rejoices in evil.

It is sickening, it really is.

There's nothing quite as amusing as sitting in a bar drinking with a union member. Sooner or later, they always go into a "I hate Bush/Republicans" rant.

That's when I calmly start asking them how they feel about specific issues, like gun control, affirmative action/"diversity", and how that affects them on the job, and issues that demonstrate to them that they are, in fact, patriotic in their own way (lotsa vets in this group, after all), not like the Soros/MoveOn neo-communists.

Then I ask them how they can continue to be loyal to a party that, deep in its' core, takes the position that white males with a predominant Christian background, like them, are the source of all that is wrong in America, and the only reason they are welcome in the party is because their union bosses support the Democrats.

Puts a lot of questions in their minds. Sometimes, it even brings them around to questioning. "Yeah, why do I support a bunch of people who don't respect me and think I'm a redneck scumbag, anyway?"

"Both are subject to the same failures which put the Whigs, the Federalists, and the Republican-Democrats, among others, on the ash heap of history."

I don't think I agree that a party today is subject to same failure. The system itself is too big and because of its vastness guarantees that no party will die, nor will a 3rd party disappear. More likely, the two names will continue on, moving left and right and back again, back and forth over time.

As long as there is a USA, there will be two parties and two only, th eD's and the R's

The minute Hillary gets rid of Dean and has her people take over the party and get Moveons money,

She wants dean gone now, remember the previous guy to hold the job was her money man.

That said, we are about to find out how much power she really has, and what her max is.

She is fighting tooth and nail to keep the AFL-CIO from splitting and doing everything she can, with every bit of her power to prevent the split.

If she is successfull, then I'll take her seriously.

I agree. The Democrats will remain dominant in their Blue State strongholds in California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey for the forseeable future. But as a national political force, they're all but extinct. A party of the coasts and the Great Lakes is not exactly a party that speaks to and on behalf of the entire country. To put it differently, a regional party is not the same as a national party. Indeed Zell Miller put it well it in the title of his next to last book, "A National Party No More." The Democrats don't see how much they've shrunk and the road back is a long one. A new party has better odds of making it on the national scene than the late unloved Democrats do.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

The MSM will not let the Democrats die.

Even if all that is left is a single "cell", the MSM will portray the last democrat as a majority.

(then democrats will demand proportional representation)

If republicans split in the absense of another left wing party that is not necessarily a bad thing. If it is republicans A want a Clarrance Thomas nominee for judge vs republicans B want a Scalia nominee for judge.

I would rather there be two parties of conscience vs the democrats party of interest group consession.

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