Mike Malloy was recently ranting about the "fascists" (Republicans) and how is it the Dems can stand it, and that they should "just walk out," shut down the government.

Given the infamous lack of Dem spine, for my own sanity I've come up with a theory as to why they just take it. I believe a good number of the Dems like having such extreme Republicans in power. Huh? Why? Because it increases their chances of getting reelected. But how? The extreme and strident nature of these Republicans helps to incite great emotion in voters for the Dems; such passion motivates and gets out the vote for many of these "spineless" Democrats. GW, Rove, DeLay, Cheney -- in a disconcerting way, they comprise a bread-and-butter meal ticket to insure the reelection of a good number of Democrats.

Look, in the end, what politicians of any party affiliation desire most is to get to serve another term. That, Mr. Nader, is what makes both parties very much alike. Yeah, it would be great to be the majority party (who doesn't enjoy that?), but barring such an occurrence the trade-off in this case is viewed as fair to them.

Sounds selfish, cynical, and not high-minded enough, but that doesn't mean it's not true. I have a strong feeling this is a whopper of a dirty secret in certain Dem circles. Just remember, the Sierra Club (and related organizations) did very well during the James Watt years, and they're undoubtedly receiving healthy donations with GW in office. The same holds true for religious and "family values" groups when it comes to the "evil" Howard Stern.

Boogeymen can serve a valuable purpose for some -- an unfortunate fact for most of us.