Reply #11: What I don't understand

[ninkasi]

is WHY our politicians don't understand that we need to actually be the opposing party. There are a few who have the courage to speak out, loudly, and not backtrack as soon as some whiny conservative starts to blubber. Feingold, Conyers, Kennedy, Kerry, Murtha, Boxer, and several others stick to their guns, and don't back down. With such low polling numbers, how can the others be afraid of attacking harmful policies?

Cenk is absolutely right when he says that Americans hesitate to have confidence in Democratic politicians to protect them, when they won't stand up to the conservative smear machine. In addition, in my personal opinion, I would suggest that we stop reacting by trying to out-Republican them. Bush's actions have been illegal, and his words have been lies. He has made us less safe than we were before.

Keeping Americans afraid of terrorism stops them from worrying as much as they should about the outsourcing of jobs, the lack of affordable health care, the terrorism of our infrastructure, and rising poverty rates. I was born during WWII, and remember my mother and grandmother speaking of how what was routine during ordinary life was suspended when we were at war. There were gas rationing, food rationing, and other things that would have been unthinkable before.

This is why Bush keeps Americans afraid of finding a terrorist under every bed and in every closet. Democrats should turn this around, and explain why getting out of Iraq and repairing our relations to other countries is a far better strategy in combating terrorism. Bush's actions have made it worse. A terrorized America is not a strong America. Instead of trying to outdo them on their own issues, we need to prove our strength by standing up to them, and speaking the truth about their failures.