On Democrats and Voting Democratic

[WilliamPitt]

It seems today is, once again, another cut-off-nose-to-spite-face day. Statements aimed at the Democrats like "When are you going to set the fucking agenda?" abound.

They'll set the agenda. When *you* vote Democratic in November and put them back in the majority.

The minority does not control the agenda. At all. The minority can't even get a hearing room.

So think about this.

There isn’t a single member of the liberal, progressive community who isn’t tired right now, spiritually exhausted, mentally drained, dreading the possibility that someone might come along and dare them to hope. Hope, you see, has been caustic lately…and by “lately,” I mean the last several years. Too many years. There has been a lot of hard work and, to date, not a hell of a lot to show for it.

But...

The latest polls have George W. Bush’s approval ratings ion the gutter. Were this administration comprised of water, it would right now be almost frozen, it would be snow, it would have rosy-cheeked children in parkas skating on it, it would be an Ansel Adams photograph. The approval ratings for the Republican majority in congress passed this dubious benchmark some time ago, and stand now at 25%

I went to a meeting of the Congressional Progressive Caucus some months ago. The room was filled with House members, staffers, and a cadre of activists looking to assist the agenda being formulated. By the time the meeting was over, solutions for the problems facing health care, taxation, the environment, Iraq specifically, foreign policy generally, and election reform with special emphasis on electronic touch-screen voting machines, were laid out in detail.

The progressive movement stands today on the cusp of an historic breakthrough, and they have a plan.

Should the Democratic Party regain control of the House of Representatives in the ‘06 midterms, members of the Progressive Caucus will find themselves in charge of committees with incredible power.

Ten members, at minimum, will become chairmen: Barney Frank will chair Financial Services; John Conyers will chair the Judiciary; Charlie Rangel will chair Ways and Means; Henry Waxman will chair Government Reform; and Louise Slaughter will chair Rules. Several more will chair important subcommittees.

That is the government.

Our agenda will be their agenda. Our ideas will become their policy proposals. Our demands for reform will become their causes, and they will, by the way, have subpoena power during the last two years of this administration.

We are so close. So very close. The fight to regain control of the House will be ugly, with only the narrowest margin for error and misstep. Too many good progressives will find themselves left, in their home district, with a familiar Hobson’s Choice: vote for an infuriatingly insufficient Democrat, vote third party and risk potentially aiding the Republican candidate, or throw your hands up in frustration and dismiss it all as a bunch of bad noise.

I am asking you to suck it up one more time. I am asking you for a change of perspective. I am asking you to remember that any support you may offer to a Democrat in the next months, no matter how clueless that Democrat may be, is support for a greater good. Every vote cast, every dollar given, every neighborhood canvassed, every envelope stuffed, is one step closer to having Frank and Conyers and Rangel and Waxman and Slaughter in control of the most important committees in this government. The contest will be that tight.

There isn’t a single member of the progressive community who isn’t tired right now, dreading the possibility that someone might come along and dare them to hope. There has been a lot of hard work and, to date, not a hell of a lot to show for it.

I am daring you to hope. I believe we can win, I believe all this can be done, but only with your help. Anyone who thought this fight would be easy quit a long time ago. Those of you who remain know what is at stake. You have been through the fire, and you have suffered the torments. You are tired, as are we all.

But you’re not done yet. Neither am I.

I am daring you to hope, and asking you to remember that when you vote for a crummy Democrat in your district, you're actually voting for Conyers, Waxman, Slaughter and the rest.

We're almost there.

[AX10]

1. That's being pragmatic, just how it is in the Parliamentary system.

You may not care for your local Democrat, but they will go to congress and support the Democrats you like for the leadership positions in the congress.

[WilliamPitt]

2. They'll make up 218 bodies, at minimum

and that means we get the gavels.

[AX10]

7. Exactly Will.

:thumbsup:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

30. whereas some, apparently

prefer the gallows. Thanks for the great post.

[AX10]

86. Vote Democratic! Because they are a Hell of alot better than Repubs!

[Porcupine]

87. At doing whatever it is that they do that we don't know what it is......

because all of those names that you mentioned are just names to 95% of the American people.

Vote for a Democrat because the Democratic Party's Agenda on....

Jobs is: nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Energy is: uhm, anybody know?

Health Care: yup, you should have access. (don't ask how)

Iraq: staying, but giving thought to leaving sometime this decade.

Education: ??? anybody??

Climate Change: definantely bad. See us in ten years for solutions. BIFF (Big Improvements For Free is working on it.)

Debt: don't ask

Trade Imbalance: double don't ask.


Could somebody please page James Earl Carter and ask him to tell us what to do.


:argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh:

[Rex]

3. It's really so simple, even the Trix Rabbit could do it.

Come election time - walk into the booth and pencil/push/pull lever for the DEMOCRAT. Easy cheese has harder instructions!

If it starts with a Dem, it is good. If it starts with an Rep, it is bad.

[mmonk]

4. Our only hope is to win in November.

That's why I'm testy.

[Asgaya Dihi]

5. Your heart is in the right place

I was with you right up till the "Our agenda will be their agenda" bit. It hasn't worked out that way in the past with either party when we expected them to stand for issues they didn't even run on. Hell, it's hard enough to get a politician to stick to what they do run on ;)

I hope they win, I wish they could take both houses though I don't expect it, but it really isn't too much to ask of them "where do you plan to take us?". The media sucks and does a real good job at repeating Republican talking points so we've got a lot to overcome to start with but I heard a comment by one of the pundits a couple of nights ago that keeps sticking in my mind.

They granted that the media might not be getting the dems message out but had a simple question to ask on what they should be saying. Which message should they be repeating? Till we get together on something they've got nothing to repeat even if they wanted to. The party could do more to help itself too, it's worth kicking them till they get that idea and decide to stand for something again. Not at the polls maybe, but do let them know we expect and demand more. If they don't run on our platform they've got little reason to stand by it and we're looking at another round of business friendly, let's show them we can be tough too, policy. That's what they think worked for them in the past and that's what I expect again if we don't make them say different for themselves.

[porkrind]

83. Good comment...

it really isn't too much to ask of them "where do you plan to take us?"

If the excuse is that "we couldn't get a room to meet in", we're in *BIG* trouble. They can email each other?! They need to unite and come up with a plan for America and sell it to the people. They need to make their case as to why they are deserving. I don't think "we're not republicans, so vote for us" is enough of an argument.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Hush Will, we are busy demanding loyalty oaths

and considering bringing back the alien & sedition act.

[Tigermoose]

8. I will be voting a straight Democratic ticket, but pleeeeaase.

"Our agenda will be their agenda. Our ideas will become their policy proposals. Our demands for reform will become their causes..."

Let's see here...how do I insert that little humorous icon of the man rolling with laughter...

:puke: Whoops...wrong one. But strangely fitting.

These corporate puppets don't even begin to know how to pass legislation that benefits the working class of this country.

[WilliamPitt]

9. John Conyers is a corporate puppet?

Slaughter? Waxman? Frank? Corporate puppets?

Hm. I must have missed a memo.

[Rex]

12. Henry Waxman is my hero!

He is like a bulldog with a chew toy in his mouth. Just try and take it! HA!

[rumpel]

20. Yup. Snap Turtle

:)

[Rex]

23. I love Pelosi, but I would like to see Waxman as Speaker of the House.

When we get control back in November. Boy, talk about a collective shitting of the pantaloons! Reps would flee the country IMO.

[antigop]

31. ahem: Conyers voted for the Pension "Protection" Act

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll422.xml

Ask any worker in corporate America if they think this was good for them.

[antigop]

32. I'll answer: "NO"

It was a screw job for the American worker.

'Nuff said.

[yy4me]

10. Please keep up this kind of commentary, it helps me keep

a stiff upper lip. The closer we get to November, the more frightened I become. I am 64 years old and used to think that I've seen it all but the "goings-on" now take the cake. And to add insult to injury, today I was laid off. It took forever to find this job but the economy did its thing. This fine small company I worked for is on the brink and my job was the most logical to be cut. Cobra payment per month for health insurance? 480.00. Unemployment check estimate $500 per month.
Hard to think positive. The market for 64 year olds is limited, to say the least.

[Patchuli]

84. I'm so sorry to hear that, yy4me

That really sucks! I'm only 51 but I feel the ageism prejudice when I apply for jobs, starting at around 45. I was once a smart, perky young thing and got job offers (I'm embarassed to admit) mostly for the perky part. Now I'm a smart, experienced grandma but it seems the perky ones win out. How stupid is that? Good job performance, maturity and experience is what employers should want, not just window dressing. I will keep my fingers crossed for you to find something good soon! Take good care of yourself... :hug:

[sufrommich]

85. Stories like yours

get my blood boiling! I'm sure the idiots on this board howling for ideological purity and threatening to go elsewhere till they get it can give you some advise on how to live on $20.00 a month until that happens!!This is why we need Democrats in power NOW!!!:grr:

[savemefromdumbya]

11. It also means getting out door to door, delivering lit., phone calling

yes even if it is for a crummy Democrat

[tnlefty]

13. We have to achieve record numbers of voters.

Turnout in my county has been lousy for a while and even though our party makes efforts to get people registered and to drive people to the early voting stations and then to the polls for some reason many just won't vote.

Dammit, just go vote!

[sinkingfeeling]

14. Thanks, Will. Most of what I've seen posted here today has made

me sick. I refuse to 'throw in the towel'. I'm calling my two DLC Senators' offices about twice a day.

[RangerSmith]

15. Self delete... nt

[iconoclastic cat]

16. So, how to interpret the "we're making the economy the issue" crap?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/deja-vu-all-over-again_b_29977.html

Déjà Vu All Over Again: It's Not the Economy, Stupid! (139 comments )

Newsflash: According to this article in Roll Call, Congressional Democrats privately admit they really want to lose the 2006 midterm elections!

Okay, the article doesn't actually say that, but it might as well, since it is all about how Democrats have decided that the way to win in November is -- I kid you not -- to make the economy the central issue of the campaign.

[rumpel]

17. Will, I am quite upset with the "leadership", but you sold.

I am not happy with Pelosi, I am not happy with those that lay low and stick their head out depending on which way they imagine the wind blows -
I am not happy with the lunacy of Brazille supporting internet voting either. Is there really hope?

But all four you mention - sure, I will support anytime, I have, and will vest my rights and power to Henry Waxman again.

For quite a few others - "just one more time." -

[kmla]

18. There you go again, Will Pitt....

....injecting reason and sanity into our day again.

You should really get a clue, and start wondering why the church hasn't sainted Chavez yet, meanwhile condemning and chastising those who are not rallying around him. Sheesh.

Stop it now. You could give people hope in spite of themselves. Then where would we be?

:D

[Lexingtonian]

19. These outbreaks of hysteria are ridiculous

I don't know why people need all these mental and verbal crutches all of a sudden.

My guess it's that some latently conservative inner child needs all kinds of comforting, perhaps.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

21. Let's keep our eye on the ball!

n/t

[truebrit71]

22. I hope, no, i PRAY that you are right.....

..I still donate, even though my brain tells me my heart is being foolish. I remain engaged even though my spirits have been thrashed far too many times. I remain hopeful, however little, that just this once, the rest of America has finally, finally, finally caught on to the despicable, dastardly and (dare i say it) demonic, rule that we have had to suffer these last 5 1/2 years. But in the end it comes down to vote count. Not the vote, the vote COUNT. Too many times have we had our hopes dashed as we have been told that the exit polls were wrong, and that the other guy won.

My question to you is this, what do we do if they steal another one from us? What then? Will we as Democrats play the perennial Charlie Brown to the republican's Lucy? Or will we stop, and grab the damned football out of her hands and tell her she's had her fun for long enough...

We'll still support our candidates, we'll still support our party, but the REAL fight begins the day AFTER the elections. Especially if they try to fucking steal this one too....

[undeterred]

24. This is why I spend every spare minute working on a campaign

instead of agonizing over our powerlessness. Talk alone moves nothing. Working for a candidate moves something. Why then, do so many stay and talk on messageboards and so few get out there and volunteer? It's like pulling teeth getting people to do lit drops. But getting out there and volunteering gives me hope.

And getting the word out might actually change something in November, like dumping Sensenbrenner.

[blondeatlast]

25. Fleeting thoughts of "how long will it take before anyone notices I'm gone

from DU?" have fluttered across my mind recently, not that my presence really matters.

But I really needed that, Will! Thank you.

Onward and UPWARD! :patriot:

[Pirate Smile]

26. Thanks, Will. If we see any of the "why should I vote for a DINO" posts,

your OP answers that question wonderfully.

[Totallybushed]

27. I think

when they say, "set the agenda". it means, "tell us what you plan to do if we give you power". I don't think most people will vote for someone if they don't know where he/she stands on the important (to them) issues. Better the devil you know, etc.

I also think most people consider refusal to take a definite stand to be weaselly. Democrats are not weaselly, and they should not be afraid of their positions. The people agree with us, and the only way to prove it is to stand up for our convictions and WIN THE ELECTION

[JRob]

28. It's what we MUST do... Taking congress in '06 is the last hope and we

must pull out ALL the stops. Two more years of the same will solidify the necon agenda and destroy any hope we may have of an "America" that resembles the land of high ideas we believe in.

The GOP uses fear to motivate and I fear that "fear" of the worst possible scenario after yet another GOP sweep in November should be motivation enough to get the people of this country off of their asses and to the polls to vote Democrat.

I too have luke warm feelings about a lot of Dems, but will vote for dems in the hope that we can start to have some balance. We need serious reform in our government to assure that what we've seen over the last six years never happens again. We start with stopping Bush and his congressional rubber stamp.

I see this as the last stand and we must do or die.

[Laurab]

29. Thanks, William Pitt - I HAVE hope

But a bit of anxiety, too. Vote Dem as if your life depends on it, because it very well might - or, if not your life, your freedoms they haven't taken away yet. THAT'S how I feel about this election.

[lavendermist]

33. Will, I was just reading the discussion at...

TPM re:the torture legislation. I was sitting here with my stomach in knots, thinking, if this passes I may not even vote again. I have been voting since 1962, and haven't missed an election in all those years. But disheartened doesn't even begin to cover how I feel.

And then, I come to DU and there you are on the front page. I am sitting here with tears in my eyes, because I wonder how many more times we all will have to "suck it up." I know. As many times as we have to. Now, I don't do nearly as much as most who are on the front lines like you and others here at DU. I write letters, I send emails, I call my congressmen. I do what I can. But nothing has been working. And I am really leary of hoping anymore. I can't imagine what it must be like to those of you who are actively involved with researching, investigating and reporting the ups and downs of the last several years.

I am deeply saddened by the direction of our country. I think I am almost past anger and going into the resignation stage. Maybe, I'll just go read your post again. Maybe, just maybe, I can muster up enough hope. I really want to.

[specimenfred1984]

34. Rec'd! Those posts have no mention of torture.

The biggest story of the week, of the month, possibly ever and no mention of it.

Sad to say it but those posts are distraction posts, Rovian puke technique 101.

[Vinca]

35. I have hope, but they have Diebold. nt

[Blutodog]

37. Sad but true

After viewing the Princeton video last week I have to agree. It's far to easy for the Rethugs to steal whatever elections they can't win honestly. They've shown us over these last 30 yrs. they'll do just about anything to stay in power. I'm not getting my hopes up after 2000,2002,&2004.

[blue neen]

36. What a welcome sight this post is.

This place has been absolutely MORBID lately. The negativism and Democrat bashing have been sickening.
Anxiety about this election is definitely understandable, but we can't sit here and indulge in naysaying. The best thing to do is put that anxiety to good work. Volunteer for your local candidates--phone banking, door to door canvassing, whatever it takes.

If Casey beats Santorum in PA, it will be a time of great joy, not only for Pennsylvanians, but for all of us on DU. I'm looking forward to it. :)

[Ken Burch]

38. Ok, I'm campaigning for MY Democratic Congressional candidate

her name is Diane Benson, and her website is www.BensonforCongress.com if anybody wants to give her a few bucks.

And I'll grant you that we can't control the congressional agenda until we regain a majority. But we don't HAVE to let the GOP set the terms of the debate during the campaign. We can speak clearly for our issues during the campaign and WIN!

(And besides, nobody who hates Hugo Chavez would vote anything but straight ticket Pug, so there was no reason to even try appeasing reactionaries like that.)

[Raster]

39. Thanks Will. I believe. The yard signs go up this weekend, as do the

bumperstickers. I will be volunteering to answer phones or canvas or what-the-hell-ever I need to do. This is my country, and damnit I want it back. As I see it, it is truly now or never. This is the line in the sand. This is our time to tell the corpo-theo-fascists that they can go no further. Am I happy with the previous stance and performance of the Democratic leadership? No I'm not. But that's something that can be addressed AFTER the battle is won. We've lost too much and come to far to give it up now.

[Beelzebud]

40. I'm pretty hard on the dems, but I WILL be voting straight Democratic.

I know what the stakes are.

I know I can be annoying sometimes, but I just get so frustrated.

So remember. Some people like me just need to release the steam from time to time. I howl, and bitch, and moan, and complain about certain things the dems do (or don't do), but come election day, I WILL be voting for every single Democratic candidate on the ballot.

[brentspeak]

41. Excellent post

:kick:

[im10ashus]

42. It's a beautiful day.

I'll see you all at the victory party!

:party:

[seabeyond]

43. good post will, though for me this is the obvious and i am curious

why it is so hard for so many to see

[redqueen]

44. Thanks, Will.

*sigh*

[scone]

45. "when hope dies, action begins"

William Pitt's entreaty dares and double dares us to hope, but as Derrick Jensen points out in the article below, "hope" can be a "curse, a bane" -- anethema to the agency and salvation of direct individual action. scone


Derrick Jensen - after hope is gone only action is left.

BEYOND HOPE
Derrick Jensen


THE MOST COMMON WORDS I hear spoken by any environmentalists anywhere are, We're fucked. Most of these environmentalists are fighting desperately, using whatever tools they have—or rather whatever legal tools they have, which means whatever tools those in power grant them the right to use, which means whatever tools will be ultimately ineffective—to try to protect some piece of ground, to try to stop the manufacture or release of poisons, to try to stop civilized humans from tormenting some group of plants or animals. Sometimes they're reduced to trying to protect just one tree.

Here's how John Osborn, an extraordinary activist and friend, sums up his reasons for doing the work: "As things become increasingly chaotic, I want to make sure some doors remain open. If grizzly bears are still alive in twenty, thirty, and forty years, they may still be alive in fifty. If they're gone in twenty, they'll be gone forever."

But no matter what environmentalists do, our best efforts are insufficient. We're losing badly, on every front. Those in power are hell-bent on destroying the planet, and most people don't care.

Frankly, I don't have much hope. But I think that's a good thing. Hope is what keeps us chained to the system, the conglomerate of people and ideas and ideals that is causing the destruction of the Earth.

To start, there is the false hope that suddenly somehow the system may inexplicably change. Or technology will save us. Or the Great Mother. Or beings from Alpha Centauri. Or Jesus Christ. Or Santa Claus. All of these false hopes lead to inaction, or at least to ineffectiveness. One reason my mother stayed with my abusive father was that there were no battered women's shelters in the '50s and '60s, but another was her false hope that he would change. False hopes bind us to unlivable situations, and blind us to real possibilities.

Does anyone really believe that Weyerhaeuser is going to stop deforesting because we ask nicely? Does anyone really believe that Monsanto will stop Monsantoing because we ask nicely? If only we get a Democrat in the White House, things will be okay. If only we pass this or that piece of legislation, things will be okay. If only we defeat this or that piece of legislation, things will be okay. Nonsense. Things will not be okay. They are already not okay, and they're getting worse. Rapidly.

But it isn't only false hopes that keep those who go along enchained. It is hope itself. Hope, we are told, is our beacon in the dark. It is our light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. It is the beam of light that makes its way into our prison cells. It is our reason for persevering, our protection against despair (which must be avoided at all costs). How can we continue if we do not have hope?

We've all been taught that hope in some future condition—like hope in some future heaven—is and must be our refuge in current sorrow. I'm sure you remember the story of Pandora. She was given a tightly sealed box and was told never to open it. But, being curious, she did, and out flew plagues, sorrow, and mischief, probably not in that order. Too late she clamped down the lid. Only one thing remained in the box: hope. Hope, the story goes, was the only good the casket held among many evils, and it remains to this day mankind's sole comfort in misfortune. No mention here of action being a comfort in misfortune, or of actually doing something to alleviate or eliminate one's misfortune.

The more I understand hope, the more I realize that all along it deserved to be in the box with the plagues, sorrow, and mischief; that it serves the needs of those in power as surely as belief in a distant heaven; that hope is really nothing more than a secular way of keeping us in line.

Hope is, in fact, a curse, a bane. I say this not only because of the lovely Buddhist saying "Hope and fear chase each other's tails," not only because hope leads us away from the present, away from who and where we are right now and toward some imaginary future state. I say this because of what hope is.

More or less all of us yammer on more or less endlessly about hope. You wouldn't believe—or maybe you would—how many magazine editors have asked me to write about the apocalypse, then enjoined me to leave readers with a sense of hope. But what, precisely, is hope? At a talk I gave last spring, someone asked me to define it. I turned the question back on the audience, and here's the definition we all came up with: hope is a longing for a future condition over which you have no agency; it means you are essentially powerless.

I'm not, for example, going to say I hope I eat something tomorrow. I just will. I don't hope I take another breath right now, nor that I finish writing this sentence. I just do them. On the other hand, I do hope that the next time I get on a plane, it doesn't crash. To hope for some result means you have given up any agency concerning it. Many people say they hope the dominant culture stops destroying the world. By saying that, they've assumed that the destruction will continue, at least in the short term, and they've stepped away from their own ability to participate in stopping it.

I do not hope coho salmon survive. I will do whatever it takes to make sure the dominant culture doesn't drive them extinct. If coho want to leave us because they don't like how they're being treated—and who could blame them?—I will say goodbye, and I will miss them, but if they do not want to leave, I will not allow civilization to kill them off.

When we realize the degree of agency we actually do have, we no longer have to "hope" at all. We simply do the work. We make sure salmon survive. We make sure prairie dogs survive. We make sure grizzlies survive. We do whatever it takes.

When we stop hoping for external assistance, when we stop hoping that the awful situation we're in will somehow resolve itself, when we stop hoping the situation will somehow not get worse, then we are finally free—truly free—to honestly start working to resolve it. I would say that when hope dies, action begins.

PEOPLE SOMETIMES ASK ME, "If things are so bad, why don't you just kill yourself?" The answer is that life is really, really good. I am a complex enough being that I can hold in my heart the understanding that we are really, really fucked, and at the same time that life is really, really good. I am full of rage, sorrow, joy, love, hate, despair, happiness, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and a thousand other feelings. We are really fucked. Life is still really good.

Many people are afraid to feel despair. They fear that if they allow themselves to perceive how desperate our situation really is, they must then be perpetually miserable. They forget that it is possible to feel many things at once. They also forget that despair is an entirely appropriate response to a desperate situation. Many people probably also fear that if they allow themselves to perceive how desperate things are, they may be forced to do something about it. . . . . .

. . . . A WONDERFUL THING happens when you give up on hope, which is that you realize you never needed it in the first place. You realize that giving up on hope didn't kill you. It didn't even make you less effective. In fact it made you more effective, because you ceased relying on someone or something else to solve your problems—you ceased hoping your problems would somehow get solved through the magical assistance of God, the Great Mother, the Sierra Club, valiant tree-sitters, brave salmon, or even the Earth itself—and you just began doing whatever it takes to solve those problems yourself.

When you give up on hope, something even better happens than it not killing you, which is that in some sense it does kill you. You die. And there's a wonderful thing about being dead, which is that they—those in power—cannot really touch you anymore. Not through promises, not through threats, not through violence itself. Once you're dead in this way, you can still sing, you can still dance, you can still make love, you can still fight like hell—you can still live because you are still alive, more alive in fact than ever before. You come to realize that when hope died, the you who died with the hope was not you, but was the you who depended on those who exploit you, the you who believed that those who exploit you will somehow stop on their own, the you who believed in the mythologies propagated by those who exploit you in order to facilitate that exploitation. The socially constructed you died. The civilized you died. The manufactured, fabricated, stamped, molded you died. The victim died.

And who is left when that you dies? You are left. Animal you. Naked you. Vulnerable (and invulnerable) you. Mortal you. Survivor you. The you who thinks not what the culture taught you to think but what you think. The you who feels not what the culture taught you to feel but what you feel. The you who is not who the culture taught you to be but who you are. The you who can say yes, the you who can say no. The you who is a part of the land where you live. The you who will fight (or not) to defend your family. The you who will fight (or not) to defend those you love. The you who will fight (or not) to defend the land upon which your life and the lives of those you love depends. The you whose morality is not based on what you have been taught by the culture that is killing the planet, killing you, but on your own animal feelings of love and connection to your family, your friends, your landbase—not to your family as self-identified civilized beings but as animals who require a landbase, animals who are being killed by chemicals, animals who have been formed and deformed to fit the needs of the culture.

When you give up on hope—when you are dead in this way, and by so being are really alive—you make yourself no longer vulnerable to the cooption of rationality and fear that Nazis inflicted on Jews and others, that abusers like my father inflict on their victims, that the dominant culture inflicts on all of us. Or is it rather the case that these exploiters frame physical, social, and emotional circumstances such that victims perceive themselves as having no choice but to inflict this cooption on themselves?

But when you give up on hope, this exploiter/victim relationship is broken. You become like the Jews who participated in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

When you give up on hope, you turn away from fear.

And when you quit relying on hope, and instead begin to protect the people, things, and places you love, you become very dangerous indeed to those in power.

In case you're wondering, that's a very good thing.

[confludemocrat]

75. Thanks, trumps my desire to just say to this OP, "Just shut up"

because there was more of same "trust us" BS we've heard time and again, and each time been burned for trusting mainline Dem pols.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

46. If they have an agenda, GREAT! But...

they need to get it out there, through guerilla tactics if necessary, in order to convince the public that they truly offer an alternative.

I'll be voting Dem, especially since I have some great candidates in Minnesota.

BUT...the Dems have to keep in mind that those who are disillusioned with Bush have two alternative to voting Democratic: namely, staying home, or voting third party, such as the Independence Party here in Minnesota, the one that elected Jesse Ventura, and that is what will happen if the Dems don't get their message out to the public.

How can they do this without the cooperation of the MSM?

Easy. Well, maybe not easy, but doable.

Every member of Congress needs to go home and talk up this agenda at every opportunity, holding town meetings with all sectors of the population, even those who don't have $1000 to give. Especially those who don't have $1000 to give, because you know very well that a lot of the big contributors play both sides of the fence. Furthermore, those of us who don't have the big bucks feel ignored by the politicians, and it would be a big vote-getter to have someone from Washington take the time to listen to blue collar workers, farmers, even homeless people, because for all their sometimes freeperish social attitudes, many have a clear vision of what's wrong with this country economically.

When they appear on local TV and radio, they need to push the agenda.

The Congresscritters also need to huddle with the state-level elected officials and candidates and get them on board, urging them to push the same agenda at all their public appearance.

They also need to spread the word to county and precinct-level activists who can get LTTE's or even articles and opinion pieces into community and neighborhood newspapers.

An agenda is no good unless someone knows about it, and even a political junkie like myself does not know what that agenda you refer to contains.

[BattyDem]

47. Thank you. That's exactly how I feel.

:hi:

Despite all the bitching I've done the last couple of days, I will vote a straight Dem ticket in November. I may be angry at the Dems, but I'm certainly not stupid! ;-)

I totally agree with you. The Dems need to get out there, speak up and stand for something - BEFORE the election. As I said in a post earlier today - silence is not a campaign strategy and they can't depend on hatred for the GOP to get them elected. They must offer an alternative, otherwise people may not vote at all.

[Stephanie]

48. When progressives won't support t he progressive Democrat...

When progressives say, 'oh, so what, she voted for the war, she supports the war, but she's good on other issues' then I think the battle may be won if we win the House but the war is LOST because our party, and not just the leadership but our PARTY, has sold out it's principles and there's nothing left but greed and powermongering. I grieve for my party and I grieve for the planet. I am sick of COLLABORATORS and ENABLERS. This is the most egregious administration in the history of this country and they could not have gotten away with it without the COOPERATION of spineless cowardly Democrats and you know who you are, if you voted for this war based on lies, if you continue to support this war, and if you are aiding and abetting the Iran warmongering, you have sold out our party and you have sold our our nation and history will not be kind to the Vichy Democrats.

[fancydancy]

49. exactly

it is up to the voters, we are to blame as much as the politicians.

[dollydew]

50. Dear Mr. Pitt

The minority excuse won't wash. After all, minority African Americans fought back. This in a time when they had few rights or legal protections. Many of them died. Many non-African Americans died for this ideal we call freedom. Is the Democratic Party only willing to stand up when they become the majority? Well, what does that say. Ordinary Americans, without voice, without power, stood up anyway. Why should well paid Washington politicians do less?

[WilliamPitt]

56. Ordinary Americans, without voice, without power, stood up anyway

...and had a friendly congress. And a friendly president. The Voting Rights Act of '64 wasn't passed on the street.

[dollydew]

58. You're correct sir

But that didn't stop them from being hosed, threatened, blown-up, firebombed, and lynched, shot to death now did it? There was a friendly democratic government in place when MLK was murdered. If you really think African Americans only stood up when the government was friendly you might want to read the book Lynching in America. History tells a different tale. Many, many people stood up with little or no government protection at all. One of my relatives was lynched for his outspokenness. Did the government save him? NO. Did he wait for their "help" to speak out no. This is the deliberate and willful ignorance on the left. This plays into the stereotype that those "blacks" did nuttin for themselves until the guvmint came along. It simply isn't true.

[Ken Burch]

73. Just for the record, Will...

it was the Civil Rights Act in '64. The Voting Rights Act was in '65.

[bryant69]

51. Great article

Keep hope alive!

Bryant'
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Maryland Liberal]

52. Enough with the Close aready...

" We are so close. So very close. The fight to regain control of the House will be ugly, with only the narrowest margin for error and misstep..."

We need to NATIONIZE these contests with a simple message. That message should be "Give us DEMS a majority in the House and 2/3 in the Senate, and we will IMPEACH the Bushie..."

[David Zephyr]

53. Amen & Amen. And I'd respectfully add that the Dem Party deserves our vote

"I am daring you to hope, and asking you to remember that when you vote for a crummy Democrat in your district, you're actually voting for Conyers, Waxman, Slaughter and the rest." Goddamned right.

I wish I could say it as good as you do, but that's why there's you.

I am very proud of the Democratic Party these days.

After suffering with Daschle and Gephardt for those wilderness years when they kissed Bush's ass and were terrified of him, to now see Senator Reid and Pelosi and the almost our whole gang with Howard Dean's chairmanship firing back and standing up to these creeps, it is heartening.

And we all better get behind our Democratic Senator in New Jersey, too! We can not afford to lose that seat!

Great stuff, William! I am off to Chicago for two weeks and this will be my last post to the DU. This is the best thread to leave off.

K&R

[senseandsensibility]

54. I am exhausted and cynical beyond belief

but I will be out there canvasing for my local Dem challenger this week-end.

[cyberpj]

55. The minority can't even get a hearing room.

"The minority does not control the agenda. At all. The minority can't even get a hearing room."


I still have to wonder, would that have stopped MLK, or JFK? The minority could rent a room and meet elsewhere. Hell, they could write off the cost, couldn't they?

They could grab TV time by saying outrageous yet truthful things. Then get the followup time free as well because they'll be forced to explain their un-congressional behavior! Saying outrageous things about the elections will pay off as the truth is revealed. Saying outrageous things about Halliburton and the Abu Ghraib photos and many many other things would eventually become the facts.

I think a big part of the truth is they still have power and they could have used it to make powerful noise but they didn't. And the always bottom line is fear. What they'd lose, what the other side might know, what if they're labeled something, what if, what if, what if.......


True Democrats would not stand for what ours have stood for - for some time now.

(But I swear to you, I still do have hope too.)

pj

[mntleo2]

57. (Sigh) Ok Will, I'll Do It

But I am so tired. I am mad and disgusted and frustrated beyond words. For almost 30 years I have spun my wheels and stood up, lost jobs for my stances, been on the street because of my stances, and now I have to suck it up once again and trust these bastards. It has been Lucy and her football almost every time.

But the lineup you mention as to who would become chair people and all those wonderful and creative plans being made? Well that does it for me and even though I was planning on voting Dem anyway, yes I will vote Democrat and I will volunteer and I will try again. And I feel sorry for those Repigs in Dem clothing that some of you have to vote for, but I know we have all to do it. Like changing your cute and darling baby's messy diaper, we just gotta do it.

(sigh)

Cat In Seattle

[doctor_garth]

59. hmmm

this excuse of Democrats not having power is getting a little tired. I don't buy it.

They can do plenty. They can still filibuster. They can make a lot of noise. They do nether, it's execrable.

Now we have Bush making Republicans change the law so Bush can fucking TORTURE people. Retroactively. Not a word from Democrats. Disgusting and detestable. Don't ask for votes, show the money FIRST.

[mia]

60. Okay.

I'll vote vote for Democrats, despite your "crummy" lingo. I always have. This post reminds me of fodder for freeper comics. I don't know which "crummy Democrats" you're talking about. I've been away from this board all week.

What's your point? Tell me, who are the crummy ones?

[ElboRuum]

61. Fine Words... Practicality Will Get Us In The Door...

Then and only then can we really effect change. K&R.

[pinto]

62. I like this turn of phrase, Will, and agree:

"I am daring you to hope, and asking you to remember that when you vote for a crummy Democrat in your district, you're actually voting for Conyers, Waxman, Slaughter and the rest."

It's a good one. We have a job, at hand, and the rest is for tomorrow. The issues aren't going away any time soon. Neither are the Republicans. Bush, in his inadvertent honesty, let it slip. "This is a long term conflict". He was speaking of the Republican extremist agenda in the Middle East, of course, but as long as they hold the cards it bears on how we play the game, in the short and long term, domestically and internationally. We'd be wise to line up our ducks while we have the opportunity.

[Crewleader]

63. Thanks William and everyone

this thread is Good For The Soul...Keep Hope Alive! :thumbsup:

[SharonRB]

64. Thanks, Will

Well spoken, as usual. I needed a bit of cheerleading and you provided it. I, luckily, do not have to settle for a crummy Democrat -- Sandy Levin is my rep and his brother Carl and Debbie Stabenow are my senators. I consider myself very lucky.

Sandy is so safe, he barely has to campaign. Because of that, I have put my heart and soul into Nancy Skinner's campaign in a neighboring district. The district has been trending more Democratic of late and is currently pretty evenly split. Nancy has a real chance of beating 7-termer Joe Knollenberg in November. An internal poll done a few weeks ago had them in a virtual dead heat -- 40 for Nancy, 44 for Joe with a 4.9 percent margin of error.

The key in this race has been getting Nancy's name known and getting her out with the people, where she really shines. Most people respond very well to her and what she stands for once they have an opportunity to get to know who she is. Joe is starting his attacks for real now, though, which we expected to happen. He has some outright lies about her posted on his web site.

Fundraising has been the biggest challenge. If anyone here can donate to her, please go to my ActBlue p;age for her at: http://www.actblue.com/page/skinnerforthe9th

Also, check out her web site at www.skinnerforcongress.com.

Nancy will bring new energy to Congress -- both literally and figuratively. Her new slogan is: We don't need followers in Washington. Joe Knollenberg follows President 98% of the time. Nancy is a leader and we need more leaders on Congress.

[DinahMoeHum]

65. Remember, a mad dog is at its worst just before it dies

Here's hoping NY State becomes true fucking midnight Yankee blue.

:kick:

[NightOwwl]

66. Too bad the Dem "leaders" won't fight along with us.

Right about now, I'm disgusted with all of them.

[TankLV]

67. I am lucky - here in Nevada, I have a good, not perfect, crop of dem

candidates that I am allowed to vote for.

If the situation were Connecticut, with LIE-berman, I would NEVER vote for that quizling, traitorous, asshole. Never.

But that's never gonna be of a concern to me, fortunately.

I bitch and complain - ALOT - because to NOT do so would be to accept the horrible status quo.

Imagine. Conferring with ONLY repukes to come to an agreement on TORTURE! And the whore media remain SILENT on this blatent PARTISANSHIP!

They won't even consider the Democrats viewpoints. And the Democrats remain SILENT!

The country sinks LOWER and LOWER to the bottom, and some individuals HERE are OK with complimenting the repukes instead of KEEPING THEIR DAMN MOUTHS SHUT!

We enable these CRIMINALS with every such move.

The Democrats better learn and learn fast: If you have anything NICE to say about a repuke - SHUT THE FUCK UP AND REMAIN SILENT!

[Hawkowl]

68. Thank you!

I needed that motivational speech. I dislike Cantwell so much, but...Once more into the breach my dear friends!

Pat your self on the back, your rant will get at least one democrat to the polls.

[Redstone]

69. It's "composed of water," not "comprised of water." But other than that,

very well-said.

Redstone

[never cry wolf]

70. Goddamn it Will, learn to get your point across some day.. ok?

Also learn to have some common sense....

Sheesh... puppies.......

[Name removed]

71. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[yardwork]

72. Thank you for making these good points, but I'm very ANGRY

with the Democrats in Washington. They should have filibustered against torture.

There are so many things they should have filibustered. I know that the media is not on our side, but a filibuster would get the point across.

Still, I always have and still will vote for every Democrat at the polls. I just wish that they returned the favor by voting with their consciences for the things that really matter.

[AntiFascist]

74. Excellent point, and furthermore...

I'd like to have my cake and eat it too. In other words, push the party to make a stand AND gain both houses of Congress, in fact, there is an argument to be made that unless Dems take stronger positions they may not gain any more votes. I know there are certain areas of the country where Dems have to take centrist positions in order to gain support, and these are the exceptions. I'm also sure there are plenty of congresspeople who are trying to weigh the advantages of corporate sponsorship versus the needs of their consituency. These are the ones who are making people sick.

There is a problem at DU and it is all the "Oh, I'm giving up hope" threads. If that's how you feel then you should make plans to move out of the country if its that bad for you. We need fighters, we need people who are willing to vote, and we need to get energized.

[wildeyed]

76. yep.

I'm there. I will not quit, wouldn't give the bastards the satisfaction.

Still got over a week for voter registration. Got a gig doing that in front of a Wal-Mart in a democratic part of town, plus something cooking with a few of the large senior's high rises. After that, I will be canvassing every weekend until the election. Hope is great, but it is hard work that will win this thing.

I am optimistic, but trying not to get overly invested this time. Seems like the mood is anti-republican and folks are ready for a change. But who knows. One thing for sure, if we lose, it won't be because I didn't do my part. I'll sleep at night either way.

[HardRocker05]

77. when, o when, will 'anybody but the republican' be replaced with an actual

agenda that is worth voting for? ABR is really nothing but fear-mongering, and btw, it doesn't matter that the dems did not control anything the last few years - votes matter; they give people an indication of how dems will vote when the *are* in power, and the past voting records of the dems just does not inspire any optimism about the prospect of a dem take-over. it's sad that our leadership has let the democratic party get into such a state, but here we find ourselves at another crucial election, and the dems are offering us yet another election pitch based on zero accountability for them. That's what it is when we are told that we have to vote for the democrat no matter what they do or how bad they are - that's the definition of 'no accountability.'

[buddhamama]

78. I have hope

but it is not in our politicians that my hope is placed.

There are parts of your post I can agree with. I will vote Democratic this election cycle, regardless of the candidate.

However, you have incorrectly stated that the Democratic politicians are without power. They could have filibustered.Granted, it probably would have amounted to naught, but they didn't exercise their Rights, and 'they' (with some exceptions) have been completely uninspiring.

[a la izquierda]

79. At a local primary here in Oklahoma...

I swallowed my pride and voted for someone who I don't necessarily agree with over another candidate who was quite a bit more liberal because the Republican challenger basically said that if the more liberal candidate won, they'd pull out the stops and roll over him in the campaign. But, he did not win and interestingly enough, I have seen no signs or anything for this Republican candidate. He will undoubtedly NOT challenge the Democratic contender--though we'll see what Diebold actually has to do about it.

I am one to vote to CHANGE things, not maintain the status quo-as most of us on here are. But I voted with logic, not necessarily beliefs this past primary season because the thought of having a Republican controlling my district is revolting-unfortunately, Oklahoma is so darn conservative that I wonder what any Democrat can accomplish (read: Tom Coburn is our senator-what a frickin' joke!) But I have hope. I don't care what Democrat runs at this point-I'm registered Democratic and I'm voting the Big D across the board.

[woodsgirl]

81. Of course

I'll vote democratic. But why won't the democratic party give
money to Jean Hay bright, the dem. cadidate in the Maine
senate race? Is my party supporting me and my state? NO! Snowe
has fallen 20 points in internal Maine polls since summer. Our
elections are fair as well as some popular print media. (+ for
a dem. win) Snowe won't meet with families of Iraq troops.
Maine honors the military...past and present. Hay Bright is
pro union and labor..peace candidate. The reason she can't get
money from the democratic party? She doesn't have enough
money/ isn't corporate emough.

[Punkingal]

80. That is a nice thought,

That a vote for my congressman is actually a vote for Conyers, Waxman, Slaughter, and the rest. And maybe, just maybe, they will do something about the lack of leadership???? I hope, I hope. I would NEVER not vote, or not work for the Democratic Party. And I hope my vote here in Tennessee for Harold Ford Jr. helps change the leadership, because Harry Reid is a coward. The one time he showed some guts and shut down the Senate, it was all over the airwaves. Why can't they do things like that more often? That is what is so disheartening to me. The silence.

[Tin Man]

82. K&R

I don't know how I missed seeing this post for so long.

[seeker4ever]

88. America's Shame

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

89. The lack of a vocal response from Pelosi, Reid et al. on torture has

completely taken the wind out of my sails.

The blog poster in this thread has completely crystallized my feelings and thoughts on this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2208596

[leanin_green]

90. Pleeeeease, are you kidding me?

You don't have to have the majority to set the agenda. Just a voice and a following. A willingness to speak truth to authority and not what is politically expedient. Hell, the only voice these so-called leaders you refer to have of late is to stand up for this pResident because some leader with a set of stones called him names. You don't think that if these same people you speak of had the temerity to use their office as a lightening rod for a true opposition that they wouldn't be heard? If you've learned anything from the Republicans, it should be this. Whoever talks the loudest and the most gets the air time. I think we can all agree that what is said nowadays doesn't seem to matter really.

Get your head out of the clouds Will and join the rest of us here on Mother Earth! You've heard of the Angry White Male? Well, let me introduce you to The Pissed Off Progressive! I need more than your tired rah rahs to rally around the Party. I'm hungry and there's no meat on those bones!

[WilliamPitt]

92. So, "leanin green"

win me an Electoral College vote. One. (1).

Anywhere.

Lean wherever you want. All that means is you haven't committed. Go Green? Sure. Find me an Electoral College vote. Just one. Find me a geographic base. Find me any reason to "lean" that way.

Since we're talking about no meat on the bones.

I'll stand with Conyers, Kucinich, Frank and Waxman.

Thanks anyway. No "leanin" needed here.

[leanin_green]

93. Sure, make the issue about me and my name(which you misunderstand)

But, since you brought it up, I'll explain it once again.

The handle I use here doesn't refer to party affiliation or a desire to join the Greens. Since this is supposedly a progressive site, I thought it clever to show just where my progressivism fell along the spectrum of progressive political stances. I've been a Democrat all my life Will. I'm a Bay Area Democrat with well established liberal credentials. I'll put my liberal mind-set up against anyone here, even you. I'm transplantted now in Southern Utah. Try and maintain a liberal attitude here. I believe you'll see that I've been in this fight for a long time. But, you go ahead, make the debate about me. It only proves what I'm saying about Pissed Off Progressives. It's tactics like that that only fuels my(and many others)anger over the leaders you so dutifully trot out.

If your ever interested in anything that I sincerely posted, then I'd be happy to have that discussion with you. But if you only want to try and convince me to rally around the Party, you've got some work to do.

[Moochy]

98. Don't get high on your own supply

...of ego.

[Aviation Pro]

91. In 1994....

...Salamander Gingrich and the rest of the Republi - fucking - CON leadership put together a bullshit agenda that masked their real agenda: rape, pillage and loot the United States. A vote for any Democrat, in spite of the bullshit, tired Repub - soon to be getting ass raped in prison -licCON refrain that the Ds "don't have an agenda," is a google times better than a vote for any Repub - drive Hummers to compensate for their microscopic penises and ice box boxes - liCON.

Vote straight Democratic Party in November, period. Here's a reminder of the criminals who are in charge and need to be removed from office:


http://homepage.mac.com/jholbo/nutwork/images/Cheney,%20Dick.jpg






The list goes on and on.

[Raffi Ella]

94. Beautiful Post Will

Our Nations Democracy depends on the Demcoratic will of the people this fall.We've gotta stand together.
:kick:

[UrbScotty]

95. Kicked and Bookmarked - sorry it's too late to recommend (nt)

[Warren DeMontague]

96. Will, I agree- conditionally. I'm a lifelong yeller dog'ger, always.

So hear me out: There is a problem with some of our party members and elected representatives "going along to get along". There is a problem with "political expediency" and "realism" as we have been told, through a steady stream of lost elections, to accept and embrace it.

I can trot out a bunch of examples, but here's the big one: The IWR. Karl Rove deliberately sandwiched our Senators and Reps between voting for that turd and the November 2002 elections, as I'm sure you remember. For Kerry and the rest who voted for it, it was the "sensible" thing to do. After all, ground zero was still practically smoldering, and lord knew the Democrats couldn't be cast as the milquetoast, pussified, peacenik anti-war crowd. "Sensible" people knew that, even though the Iraq War was a bullshit-laden poop propped up with cheap, obvious lies, we had to "go along to get along" because to fight it (so we were told) spelled certain electoral doom.

(It's also worth noting that certain electoral doom came, anyway.)

Flash forward a couple years to John Kerry's campaign, when Kerry's vote FOR the war turned into the flip-flopper albatross around his neck to the very "moderate" voters it was supposed to win over. Flash forward to now. When all the other "justifications" for the Iraq war have proven false, what is Bush left with? "You guys voted for it. You believed in it, too".

THAT'S the problem with expediency, with doing what the "conventional wisdom" says we have to do. The conventional wisdom is WRONG. The American People WANT an opposition party that is CAPABLE of fighting BACK and that strongly stands behind core principles. Regardless of the specifics of what's going on right now, if we can't give them that- if we consistently chicken out and refuse to- long term, we WON'T win. I WANT us to win, that's why I'm holding my party to a high standard and trying to move it in a postive, forward direction that WILL bring in more voters.

[msgadget]

97. "I am asking you for a change of perspective."

When politicians win by being circumspect they haven't promised anything, can't be held accountable for my high hopes when I cast my vote. You say, Our agenda will be their agenda as if you have that on good authority. How can you possibly when the most influential voices in this party - a party most of us are about to vote for - have joined the right in bashing the 'left' and 'liberals' for daring to demand better? Can you even imagine republicans putting down 'conservatives' or 'the right' to appeal to democratic voters?

I don't hear Emanuel, Reid or Pelosi refer to the efforts of Conyers and Waxman so I have to wonder what sort of influence they will wield if the majority shifts. Maybe its strategy but it looks like the democratic party deciders absorbed all the criticism and put-downs from the right into their collective psyche and, rather than defend, have decided to start a new club, one that is concerned more with influencing (and not offending) republican voters than in appeasing their own. I ask you, what perspective should I have in the face of this? The agenda I hear is, imo, a cautious one and maybe that's designed to get through this election cycle without making too large a target. Perhaps, but I have no way of knowing for sure. I can only vote...and hope. I know the war will be ongoing. I don't think Big Business' grip will instantly loosen or that our paychecks will get fatter or that exhorbitant health care and energy expensives will shrink but I have to believe democratic voters will stop being the poor, ugly stepchildren of the democratic elite struggling for control. IOW, the reward for our votes should be them visibly feeling our pain and striving to alleviate it.

The republicans asked the citizenry to vote for change when they shifted the majority to their favor. The democrats of '06 baldly ask that we vote those republicans out, not necessarily because they - the democrats - have big, bold new ideas but because the opposition party is god-awful.

I do get the point you're making, William, I'm just weary and wary.

[eridani]

99. I went from feral cat to yellow dog in just two short years

Given the facts on the ground, progressive Dems can't ever control the agenda unless we suck it up and vote for some less progressive Dems, who are on average still better than Repubs.