“The desires of men are insatiable, nature prompting them to desire all things and fortune permitting them to enjoy but few, there results a constant discontent in their minds, and a loathing of what they possess.”

“Since this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowards, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely: they will offer you their blood, property, life, and children . . . when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you.”

Machiavelli

Machiavelli accepts the facts and advises the ruler to act accordingly. The prince, he states, must combine the strength of the lion with the cunning of the fox: he must always be vigilant, ruthless, and prompt, striking down or neutralizing his adversaries without warning. And when he does an injury it must be total. For “men ought to be either well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot.” Moreover, “irresolute princes who follow a neutral path are generally ruined.” He advises that it is best to come down at the right moment on the winning side and that conquered cities ought to be either governed directly by the tyrant himself residing there or destroyed. Princes, furthermore, unlike private men, need not keep faith: since politics reflects the law of the jungle, the state is a law unto itself, and normal moral rules do not apply to it.

The 17th-century English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed the predominant human impulses were fear and, among those above the poverty level, pride and vanity. Men, Hobbes argued, are strictly conditioned and limited by laws Hobbes , following Descartes’ practical method of investigation, states plainly that power creates law, not law power. For law is law only if it can be enforced, and the price of security is one supreme sovereign public power. For, without it, such is the competitive nature of men, that once more than subsistence has been achieved they are actuated by vanity and ambition, and there is a war of all against all. The true law of nature is self-preservation, he argues, which can be achieved only if the citizens make a compact among themselves to transfer their individual power to the “leviathan” (ruler), who alone can preserve them in security. Such a commonwealth has no intrinsic supernatural or moral sanction: it derives its original authority from the people and can command loyalty only so long as it succeeds in keeping the peace. He thus uses both the old concepts of natural law and contract, often invoked to justify resistance to authority, as a sanction for it.
Hobbes, like Machiavelli, starts from an assumption of basic human folly, competitiveness, and depravity, and contradicts Aristotle’s assumption that man is by nature a “political animal.” On the contrary, he is naturally antisocial; and, even when men meet for business and profit, only “a certain market-fellowship” is engendered. All society is only for gain or glory, and the only true equality among men is their power to kill each other. Hobbes sees and desires no other equality. Indeed, he specifically discouraged “men of low degree from a saucy behavior towards their betters.”

Mitch McConnell, in his myopic view of political philosophy, agrees with Machiavelli and Hobbes. Mitch considers that the successful party leader has to be beyond morality since the safety of and expansion of the state are the supreme objective. The society he envisages is medieval, static, hierarchical, conservative, dogmatic and authoritarian. The rights of the citizen are subject to the whims of the Senate. The citizen is expected to adhere to a rather grim self-sufficiency and sense of duty to the state.

This perspective of the nature of government is not shared by a true Democrat, of course. While not an advocate of true democracy, we can agree with Aristotle who states firmly that public power should aim at promoting the good life and that only through the rule of law and justice can the good life be attained. it is tyranny that Aristotle most detests; the arbitrary power of an individual above the law who is “responsible to no-one and who governs all alike with a view to his own advantage and not of his subjects, and therefore against their will. No free man can endure such a government.”

In other words - Mitch has to go.

It matters very little that ineffectual democratic leaders, who have twice ‘over promised’ and underachieved, now cry for unification from party loyalists .The historically unorganized Democratic party is once again following Dante through the gates of hell into the inferno. They have been eviscerated by the news media, and blogs. The people have been ill-served by those we supported. The issues we cared about - end the war, put casino revenue on the ballot, health insurance, etc. - have yet to be addressed. Mitch , brags about his obstructionist tactics, while the media -many times rightfully - feeds public perception of weak democratic leadership.

We need much more than a continuation of empty promises.
We need reasons to “Ditch Mitch” not mere campaign slogans.
We need facts about issues to trump our ignorance, instead of being told we are racist and stupid.
We need to see some spine, not jellyfish who are afraid to quit funding an illegal war.
TELL US -
Why should we listen to more of the same bullshit from the same inept people who failed us before?

I will repeat what I have said before: True Democrats will never vote for Bruce Lunsford, and will stay home in November.

Someone called therev61 said: “Well, we have given it to Mitch once again. I can’t decide what to do. After 72 years, I can’t bring myself to vote for a Republican for the first time. So I will write in Fischer or leave the line blank.” and was called a troll for his efforts.
Any dissenting opinion has been met with arrogance and hubris by the so-called Progressive KY bloggers. Shaming, and humiliating, people does not win converts, but instead stiffens the resistance, rendering calls to unite useless.

I agree with therev61, I can not and will not vote for DINO Bruce (but then I’m told I need Remedial reading lessons, so supposedly my opinion does not count .)

“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.” — Albert Einstein