Nattering nitwits of negativity

Here’s Sebastian Mallaby excoriating the Democrats for the absence of their solutions to Social Security in “The Missing Proposal”:

Last year Democrats impaled themselves on the Iraq war. They were so anxious to denounce the invasion that they failed to acknowledge the most basic point of all: that, having waded into Iraq, the United States could not leave prematurely. By attacking the Bush policy relentlessly, Democrats sounded negative. By refusing to say clearly that they would finish the Iraq job, they sounded irresponsible.

Now Democrats risk making the same mistake on Social Security. They are so anxious to denounce private accounts that they fail to acknowledge the most basic point: Social Security has a serious deficit. The Post reported Friday that nearly every Democratic senator refuses even to contemplate the Bush proposals. But the Democrats have no proposal of their own. They sound negative and irresponsible.

A must-read. I’ve been striking the same tone for months and so far only Joe Lieberman seems to recognize the trap the Democrats are setting for themselves.