Dem Guys Is Gonna Split

As SLT has predicted - it was a common prediction, though - the Dems, according to an article in the Washington Times, are starting to fracture. This is actually a very healthy thing:

A centrist-leaning cadre of Democratic intellectual foot soldiers has declared all-out war on its liberal base, saying it needs to be transformed, if not pulled out by the roots, before the party can win again.

This is all pretty much as predicted, when SLT said:

There's no way the Old Guard would ever leave first; their policies have extremely limited appeal and they simply can't afford to give up the vote-by-rote traditional Dem support.

Which means a helluva brouhaha is taking shape, or as New Republic editor Peter Beinart calls it, "a civil war."

The rest of the article details the nature of the struggle, who's lining up on which side, and the general seriousness of the fight. Of particular note are the comments of blogger Kevin Drum, representing the liberal wing of his party:

Kevin Drum, writing in the Political Animal blog on washingtonmonthly.com,said "Islamic totalitarianism seems like pretty thin beer to many. It's not fundamentally expansionist, and its power to kill people isn't even remotely in the same league."

Mr. Drum's comments deserve a brief fisking:

1. not fundamentally expansionist? The "reconquista" of all of Spain doesn't count, Kevin? Not to mention their oft-stated goal of an Islamic Caliphate that spans the entire globe?


2. its power to kill people isn't even remotely in the same league. Kevin, are you serious? Consider:

   The 1971 army repression in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) resulted in influx of 10 million refugees into India. Most world renowned relief and news agencies put the number of dead at 3 million. However the fact that is glossed over in these statistics is that the entire Hindu population of East Pakistan was the primary target of Pakistani Army during the nine months of repression in 1971. Population statistics from Bangladesh and US government publications proved that 80 per cent of the refugees from Bangladesh were Hindus and that 80 per cent of the 3 million killed were Hindus. Thus, it was a Hindu refugee problem and it was a Hindu genocide that took place in East Pakistan in 1971.

Well, the genocide in question was only a few million; perhaps Kevin hasn't heard of it yet.

Hat Tip: Political Vice Squad