Yeah, but that's the World Net Daily! That would be like me quoting The New Re... uh, wait... (G)
(For those interested, here's a link to that New Republic article. I should also note, though, that The New Republic lost some of its credibility in progressive circles earlier this year when Roger Hertog (chairman of the conservative Manhattan Institute) and Michael Steinhardt (DLC BigWig) bought a two-thirds interest in it. Personally, I've seen some drift to the right - not a lot, mind you, just articles here and there that had me scratching my head over the fact, that they were coming from TNR. For more on the "liberal" take on the buy-out, check this article from The American Prospect.)
Seriously, this quote bears examining:
The Democratic Socialists of America's chief organizing goal is to work within the Democratic Party and remove the stigma attached to "socialism" in the eyes of most Americans. "Stress our Democratic Party strategy and electoral work," explains an organizing document of the DSA. "The Democratic Party is something the public understands, and association with it takes the edge off. Stressing our Democratic Party work will establish some distance from the radical subculture and help integrate you to the milieu of the young liberals."
Again, it's a matter of what they say they're doing. I haven't seen any Dems pushing socialism - as defined by the DSA - in their platform or their legislative initiatives. And even the Progressive Caucus's economic stimulus plan (warning, this is a MS Word Document link) includes no call to "a new social and economic order in which workers and consumers will take responsibility for and control of production" as the Socialist Party's platform calls for - and if they ever did such a thing I'd oppose them as much (well, ok, maybe almost as much) as you would.
It's interesting, to note too, that Pelosi is getting hit from the other side as well... this article from the progressive website "Common Dreams" came out against Pelosi - because she wasn't progressive enough!
But, even though I don't think Pelosi will advocate (or even supports) many of the positions in the Socialist Party Platform, you are correct that it's something we'll have to watch for.
One more thought on the World Net Daily article... I followed the link to their "expose" on the DSA/Progressive Caucus connection, and had to laugh (just a little, though, because it's more scary than funny) at this line:
Next time you wonder why our nation is tumbling down the slippery slope toward socialism, dictatorship and repression, don't forget the active role played by this group of dedicated, professional malcontents
I'd agree that Republican control of all three branches of the government won't include any "slide" toward socialism (more like feudalism, in my opinion, but that's just me) - but in my mind, it's Bush who poses the greatest threat of "dictatorship and repression" that this nation has seen in a very long time - maybe ever. The things Bush has done to make his administration unaccountable to anybody, let alone the people, and the repressive tactics employed by Ashcroft, are the nightmare scenario conservatives (or at least, libertarians) have warned about for years. Except, they said Clinton would bring it about.
But even libertarians are waking up. Check this article opposing the Homeland Security Department by William F. Jasper, Rise of the Garrison State, on the John Birch Society's website. The blurb says "Using the pretext of responding to terrorist threats, president Bush proposed changes that, in reality, have long been planned to consolidate police-state powers at the federal level." That, and many of the other comments in the article (not all of them, to be sure) would be equally at home in any current left-wing publication! In fact, here's one from CounterPunch that says virtually the same thing.
YIKES!
And xm177e2, you are special... didn't you know that already?
Hey, I like TNR.
Anyway, the point of me posting the "expose" wasn't to prove Pelosi was a socialist (I've already said I was wrong), but to point out the links between the DSA and the PC.