We Are A Sleeping Giant
In response to "A Lonewolf Democrat in Republican Hell"
by Neuvocat

There has been a lot of talk lately about the complacency of Democrats after the last election. While the selection of his mighty-whitey-ness George the II has been something of a sore spot the last few weeks, we also need to focus in on the good fortunes that we have forgotten during all the fallout.

The truth is that the Democrats are a much more powerful force than even we ourselves realize. If anything we're a sleeping giant. The DNC itself pointed out that the election was an otherwise good night for us. We actually won some hard-fought battles and got some breaks when they were badly needed. My congressional district is an example of one of many Republican seats turned over to an upstart Democrat (hooray-yippee!).

The positions of the Republican leaders in the House and Senate have been compromised much more considerably than most people realize. Remember, it was the Democrats who looked at this situation squarely and tried to make a compromise through power sharing with Republicans who promptly rejected any such plans. John McCain still hasn't forgotten his agenda from the Republican primaries, and as a senator he is doing a fine job of making conservatives everywhere gnash their teeth.

The Republicans also still haven't learned from the reign of Newt Gingrich's term as House Speaker and continue to try persecute Bill Clinton, now just a private citizen like you and me. So much for Bush's hopes that both parties would work together so that he may bask in a bipartisan glow that would anoint him re-election.

But while the Republicans wallow in their own foolishness many within our ranks are concerned about Capitol Hill Democrats rolling over and playing dead. The confirmation of Attorney General John Ashcroft was indeed the wrong message to send to the nation. Barney Frank sent another one not too long ago that notions of ceding to Bush were "purely journalistic bullshit."

While the news outlets for the most part biased towards Republicans, it is largely ineffective in shaping public opinion against Democrats these days, unlike the era of the Reagan/Bush years. The reason for this is simply that TV's, radios, and newspapers only broadcast content. The very technology within such devices doesn't allow for communication such as intelligent discourses or forums fostering differences of opinion or opportunities for public debate-which develop the type of critical thinking that leads to keeping political leadership in check.

We don't have to put up with Fox, MSNBC, or CNN telling us what to think or stomach the marathon propaganda sessions characteristic of the pre-Clinton era. Oh no we don't. We can now say what's on our minds and literally be part of a national conscience. How? By the efforts of none other than our very own unsung hero, Al Gore, whose foresight led to legislation that founded the modern version of the Internet.

The Internet gives us the opportunity to be free from the bonds of media slavery. Our minds are no longer confined within such technological limitations now that we have the ability to communicate and dissent and do so like never before thanks to Mr. Gore. The access to information is unprecedented in such a way that we can tell the networks to go kiss our donkey while we exercise our First Amendment Rights in forums involving people all over the country who think like us.

Such technology can bridge the chasm brought about by the media the way that the printing press did when it helped provide abundant copies of Thomas Payne's Common Sense - which led to popular dissent and pointed out that the British had no real power over American settlers.

In both cases we have nothing less than liberty itself wrapped within a technological miracle. But unlike the settlers we do have people who represent us within the most powerful chamber of government. Democrats have stood their ground and even made gains within the House and Senate because of their willingness to listen to us. And now we must give them direction by making ourselves heard.

We have the means to do so, and we can speak loudly enough so that the giant within us all will finally awaken and assert itself in 2002 and 2004.

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