Hold Your Heads High

[Joeve]

This is a transcript of Joe Vecchio's daily "Cup O' Joe Report" podcast, availaible via "screaming audio" here and posted with the permission of the author.

A lot of people are pissed off that we lost the vote on cloture, clearing the way for Judge Alito to sit on the Supreme Court, but I think those of us who look at the world through non-rose colored glasses understood what an uphill battle it was. In the movie <i>Chicago</i>, lawyer Billy Flynn explained that the case is usually won or lost before the trial even begins, and I think this was just one of those instances. I'm not happy we lost this fight, but I was happy to see the Democratic leadership respond to the growing influence of those of us on the net. We may have lost, but we went down fighting. That may not seem like much but it's as good as we could have hoped for under the circumstances.

Instead of hanging our heads, we should hold them high. We're standing up for what's right and we're giving the party of Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Kennedy a badly needed kick in the ass. No pun intended. Since we live in an age where everything seems to happen in an instant, we don't always recognize the fact that some things just take time. We get our hopes up over big battles where we face impossible odds and when we lose we think the end of the world is near. But even though a battle is lost the war is far from over. We're only the beginning of a vast movement, and even if we had won yesterday there would still be a lot left to do. So be proud of yourselves and keep on fighting. Our day is coming.

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[ewagner]

1. I think that explains

more precisely what I tried to say earlier.

The WEB ....THE BLOGOSPHERE.... DID have an influence in this fight . Without us and several other blog sites, there wouldn't have even been an attempt at a filibuster.

We flexed our muscles....and whadda ya know? we actually HAVE SOME MUSCLE!

[Grateful for Hope]

2. Thank you for posting this

it validates my own thinking, and it gives me hope that, when it really matters (like election season 2006) we will prevail.

[Joeve]

3. Election 2006

To be honest, I don't believe that much will change for 2006. Right now I think we just have to concentrate on building a stronger foundation for the movement: working together a little more: putting pressure on our Democratic representatives in Congress and helping out challengers to weed out the DINO's like Lieberman and Biden.

Things were far worse for Americans a century ago than they are now, and they still got better. But even so it took thirty years for the New Deal to gain power. Our fight isn't going to be won or lost in 2006, it will be won in elections and votes and town halls in the decades to come throughout the country, as well as on the net.

[Grateful for Hope]

4. I think it will be won on the local front

before it is won on the national front.

And, I think you are right that 2006 is not the panacea that one might hope, but, I do think that it will be a turning point for our party (and, for our country) in that a trend will begin to emerge away from the extreme right.

[Joeve]

5. Agreed

And, I think you are right that 2006 is not the panacea that one might hope, but, I do think that it will be a turning point for our party (and, for our country) in that a trend will begin to emerge away from the extreme right.

I believe we will make some gains, if not in actual seats but in strengthening our voice within the Democratic Party. The problem with the Democratic leadership is that they were in power for too long, they simply don't know how to be an opposition party. They're more concerned about protecting their place within the party and their status as Senators. That's one reason why they're afraid to fight the Republicans.

In time we liberals will wrest control of the party from the old leadership and then we can begin to fight in earnest. Until then, we should keep the pressure up and take our voctories when we can.