My heart and my mind agree with everything John Edwards poured into his campaign. In an ideal world I'd be voting for him in a primary. This isn't an ideal world though. It's the real world, the one I'm stuck in. It's the one where 47 million of my fellow countrymen go without health care and my government tells me that poor Paris and Britney need a tax break. It's the same country that sends the children of parents working difficult, menial jobs to bed hungry or reliant on a food bank while rewarding the CEO of a company that has performed dismally with millions for that poor performance. It's not a fair world. So instead of going with the philosophy I believe in I find myself forced to choose between the lesser of two less palatable options.
I hate to rudely interrupt while everyone is having a grand ol' time bashing the heck out of our candidates. I know it is fun trying to pick apart each and every statement a candidate or his/her surrogates makes and what each and every candidate meant when they said it. Based on what I have read here over the past month, you would swear that Democrats are heartily endorsing racism and misogyny on a regular basis and you'd wonder why we aren't the party of old white men? It's almost obscene.
I have no bones in admitting that I have a dog in the Presidential race(His name is John Edwards). That said, I believe in praising others and I see many things to like about the OTHER candidates. I think Hillary is a savvy woman. She knows about tone and she knows about Washington. I think Obama is an outstanding speaker with the ability to connect with average folks through speech. I think Kuchinich moves that Overton window to the left. up until now one of my strongest reasons to like Richardson is that his environmental policy is one of the only ones who boldly discusses public transportation as a solution to ever decreasing supplies of oil and the fact that he could go to North Korea and get them to take him seriously. Today, I read something though that Richardson did that really appeals to me and I hope it could set a trend with the major players. Meet me at the flip.
There are some people here that believe that privilege and skin color go hand in hand. They believe that people and their problems can be neatly placed in boxes and that somehow or another by labeling those problems black, white and Hispanic we will eradicate them. It isn't that easy. I am going to share a portion of who I am for those that believe placing people in boxes in hopes they will look beyond skin color when it comes to solutions.
kos has been wrong before. It isn't like he has gotten predictions right all the time. He admits that he has been wrong before. There is absolutely no reason to believe he can't be wrong again
I've said it before and I'll say it again, we need to scream from the rooftop that the GOP party can not in any way, shape or form manage money. I just finished an article where military bases are facing the brunt of the dishonest budgeting practices this administration has utilized while the rubber stamping GOP Congress stood by and let it happen.
Imagine my surprise today when reading the USAToday to read that the federal excise tax on long distance phone calls was finally being repealed(after being found illegal in no less then 5 courts). It seems once upon a time, we were expected to pay TAXES to pay for a WAR and get this .......wait for it......the taxes generally fell more upon the WEALTHY.
When will the Democratic leaders learn that token protests are not enough? When will they truly unite to become an opposition party? Only THREE politicians plan on truly taking a stand when the watered down Patriot Act comes up for a vote. Here's the kicker. Our Senate Minority leader is going to "protest" the fact that the GOP won't allow any amendments to be offered but vote yes to the Act itself?
Whew. I'm so happy that Senator Reid's protests will be ON THE RECORD when they take away my civil liberties. I'm sure it will be a great consolation that the Democratic leadership can say "I told you so" to the Americans after the GOP manages to destroy civil liberties as we know it. Never mind that Americans will wonder why they didn't stand up and OPPOSE it with every fiber they had in them if they had reservations enough to want amendments to be offered.
All I want to see is a little backbone. Is that truly too much to ask?
Well, I ate a pan of chocolate iced fudge brownies. I listened to Avril Lavigne sing "My Happy Ending" three or four times. I don't feel better(I feel used and disillusioned) but I know that I can't just throw up my hands. I do want the fifteen senators that chose to abandon fighting for political expediency that I won't be fighting for the Democratic party they stand for. I'll fight for the democracy that I believe in and that over 20 senators were willing to fight for. Occasionally, I may find myself forced to ally myself with them but I will NEVER trust them again. They won't get my money. They won't get my time. I won't defend their indefensible behavior. I'll keep them around as long as I have to, but only that long. How ironic, that I WILL BE USING YOU. I have a long, long memory Senators and if I were you I wouldn't make myself too comfy because when you outlive your usefulness (and with the way you vote you ain't worth much) you're history.
It appears that our group is just as fractured as they are.
While they are divided in part by their core ideology it appears we are fractured by our belief in how to make the Democratic party succeed. It is my opinion that unless we do something to heal this fracture the DNC will continue to fail and not be able to gain the outside support it needs to retake a majority position.
