We all have our cherished reasons for being a Democrat. We all come into the party for different reasons and at different angles. I have a friend who works in maternal-child health for the State. I also have a friend who is an Ob-Gyn. Both are fierce advocates of women's reproductive health and a woman's right to choose. That is their life's work. They are Dems primarily because the party is so aligned with their values, specifically on those issues.
I also have cherished reasons for aligning with the Democratic party. I've always believed that the Democratic party was the part of the "the good guys." It goes back to when I saw a Democratic fundraiser on television at the age of ten and donated $10. That was in 1975. My central issue is being against war and the horrible atrocities that it creates for the victims and what it does to the people who are the perpetrators. I believe it devolves our society.
I always believed that our party would be "the good guys" who would try to avoid war, not perpetuate it. The Republicans never met a war they didn't want to start. I always saw our party as the protectors of our planet and the people in it.
When I first came to DU, we were aligned against George Bush and the Iraq war. Democrats knew it was a lie. And we all knew who the enemy was--the neocons. Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Armitage, Bolton and the rest of the sociopaths. DU was my refuge during that horrible time...watching "Shock and Awe" in horror, as most of America cheered it on like it was a video game. As the months progressed, it was apparent that the premise for the war was a lie and that the entire act was corrupt, sick and for profit.
And now--today--our party is perpetuating as much war as the Republicans. Hillary was endorsed by the founder of the neocon movement, Robert Kagan. Kagan served as her Middle East foreign-policy adviser while she was at State. She helped the neocons overthrow Libya and turn it into the failed state that it is today. The country is uninhabitable with untold numbers of refugees feeling into Europe.
I see Democrats rationalizing and justifying neocon war in our party being perpetuated by Hillary. I NEVER thought I'd see this. Like you trusting that Clinton's "record is strong", I also trusted Hillary and our party to not cave on an issue that was central to our identity. Looking back, I was in serious denial. I also rationalized or made excuses. Or I decided to look forward and hope that the Iraq War would be the end of it. But it was only the beginning.
I'd think long and hard about what you are saying. I'm not criticizing you or trying to insult you. I get denial. It protects us when we feel uncomfortable feelings. You don't want to believe that YOUR OWN cherished reasons for finding a home in the Democratic party--could be compromised. It's painful. It could leave you re-thinking your politics or your political identity. That is difficult. So, we justify and we rationalize and we look the other way--and hope that these politicians don't really mean what they're saying.
But they do.
We should NEVER tolerate our values being sold out. Not even a little bit. Democrats have always said that this is a woman's right to choose without government interference. "The life of the mother" excludes situations where the baby is deformed or will die. Or when the woman is raped or a victim of incest. Those are jaw-dropping exclusions, that seem to me--take away a woman's right to choose.
I urge you to really think about this. I'm a Bernie supporter. I'm sure you see me as having an agenda, but I'm not trying to turn you off from Clinton or on to Bernie. I am hoping that you will hold strong when a Democrat begins to chip away at long-held Democratic standards and party planks. Do not stand for it.
I have been worried about our party for a long time--because of the infestation of warmongering and neocon policy; and also because of the corrupt corporate money that has control of our politicians. I have a new level of worry now because I see signals that the same erosion may happen on social issues, like our right to choose. Watch this issue like a hawk. Pay attention to what our leaders say.
Make sure that those who get your votes, are also being true to those cherished values that brought you to the party in the first place. They owe that to you.
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