Now I understand that I belong to no organized party — I’m a Democrat, in the immortal words of Will Rogers, but unless we want to a Republican in the White House in 2013, and not win back the House and lose the Senate we better strive for a bit of Republican discipline and support of our party leaders.

It’s was the blind fury and ignorance of the Republicans, actually flirting with default, and some of their representatives and candidates for the presidency actually saying that a default was “no big deal” that caused the downgrade.  Go actually read what S & P said.  They make a token swipe at the Democrats in the interest of that chimera called fair and balanced, but their downgrade was based on the refusal of one party to even consider raising revenues to counter our debt problems.  In short America seemed like a banana republic because our political system seems incapable of governance and money people got scared.  Monday morning after the downgrade the market went into a tail spin.  Way to go GOP, you killed the hostage.

And what is the response on the Left?  To attack the President, call him weak because he wasn’t going to wrestle with the Republicans on the edge of a cliff, and then pull them both over, like an action hero in a summer movie because you know nobody gets hurt when you plunge off a cliff.  They’re all whining about how he just caves, and why doesn’t he fight harder.  First, let’s consider how that would look if our first black president went to rage as a default position.  He would become The Angry Black Man, and there is still a stain of racism in this country that would sell that meme.   He is still trying to govern on behalf of all American citizens which he swore an oath to do, and he fully understood the catastrophe that would have resulted if we’d defaulted.

I admit there were moments when I wanted the President to step back, wash his hands, and say, “Okay, since you won’t let me close tax loopholes for the very rich so we can preserve the safety net for the most vulnerable American, and you don’t think anything will happen, go ahead and take us into default.”  But that’s because I’m not a grownup, and mercifully he is.   I could (probably, maybe) have financially weather the economic destruction that would have happened with a default (and do consider the mess caused by a downgrade from a single rating agency) but the POTUS had to think about the millions of people who couldn’t have weathered that.

So, here’s my lecture to Democrats — Get a Grip!  You’re all complaining and whining about President Obama, and threatening primary challenges, and pouting and declaring maybe you won’t vote next year.  Well grow up.  There is no Goldilocks candidate who is perfect in every way.  I was a lawyer.  I’m mad because Obama didn’t have the Justice Department prosecute torture.  I have a pre-existing condition — I wanted Medicare for all (and right now I’m in the throws of buying new health insurance, but that’s a blog rant for another day.), I wanted more spending on infrastructure to repair our crumbling country and to create jobs.

But I’m by god going to get out there and work for the President’s reelection next year, and certainly going to vote because as we saw in Florida in 2000 every vote does count, and because elections have consequences.  SUPREME COURT.

And what else are you going to do?  Are you going to vote for one of that toxic brood on the Republican side?  Bachmann’s whose favorite historian has recast the Civil War as a struggle between the godless North and the Christian South, and is an apologist for slavery?  Romney who apparently has no principles?  Cain with his hatred of Muslims, and inability to understand that the Constitution won’t allow him to discriminate against them?  Santorum who appears to be mentally ill?  Rick Perry, another swaggering Texan Christianist who (according to Republican’s in Texas makes Bush look like a Rhodes Scholar)?  Sarah Palin who fancies herself Esther, and believes in the End of Days.  Actually, I guess most of them believe that, and they don’t believe in Evolution, or climate science.  They all hate The Gay, and they all believe they’re administration should be guided by the Bible and Christian principles.

The only one that wouldn’t send me fleeing the country is Huntsman, and he has the proverbial snowball’s chance of winning the nomination.  I could even live with Romney because it’s certainly clear he’s not an ideologue, you have to have core beliefs  for that.

My point of this rant, it let’s rally behind the moderate, centerist candidate we have who is A.) not crazy.  And B.) a grown up, and C.) intelligent and well educated and does not let blind ideology guide his decisions, and stop tearing down our own candidate.  The Republicans will love us if we continue down this path.  Though perhaps sane republicans are beginning to fear a Bachmann, Palin, Perry presidency.

Finally, do you really want people who seem to hate government and believe it can do nothing right to be in charge of the government?   One wonders why they run if they hate the public in public service so much.