Reply #13: The DLC is against the "pacifist and anti-American fringe" ie. Cindy & me [View All]

[bloom]

and Rosa Parks... And Hillary is on that boat.


DLC | New Dem Daily | September 20, 2001
Self-Defense and the "Cycle of Violence"

"As the United States prepares, through diplomacy and initial troop deployments, for a military response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, religious, pacifist and anti-globalization organizations are quickly putting together a new "peace movement" that will be launched on a variety of college campuses today. According to The Washington Post, "over 1,200 members of the National Council of Churches and a diverse coalition organized by Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, and Rosa Parks" is working to mobilize Americans to oppose a "military solution" to the terrorist attacks. The effort will apparently reach its climax at a "major peace event" in Washington on September 30, the day when anti-globalization forces had originally planned to disrupt the now-canceled meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank...

The people who planned and executed the attack on the United States on September 11 are not morally equivalent to the leadership of the United States in their resort to violence: they are morally equivalent to the war criminals who launched the attack on Pearl Harbor, and to their Axis allies in Europe.

The simple truth that peace advocates need to understand is that the only way to end the current violence, to reduce the threat of widespread killings of innocents, and to restore peace, is to destroy the terrorist network that launched the attacks on September 11. The clearly stated political objectives of bin Laden and his associates are to expel the United States entirely from the Middle East, which means abandoning Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States to another invasion by the genocidal maniac Saddam Hussein, and cooperating in the destruction of Israel. These are clearly unacceptable and morally despicable terms for the United States. Our military action should be carefully calibrated to do nothing more or less than is necessary to prevent the terrorist network from striking again. And anything less than military action will clearly fail to have any effect at all..."

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=3799&kaid=131&subid=192


DLC | Blueprint Magazine | July 23, 2005
Valuing Patriotism
By Will Marshall

"Since 9/11, patriotism has become the most potent "values issue" in U.S. politics. To compete in America's heartland, Democrats must challenge Republicans' claim to be the authentic voice of American patriotism...

Such attitudes aren't likely to allay voters' doubts about Democrats' resolve to make them safer from terrorist attacks. Neither are demands by left-wing Democrats and the anti-war group, MoveOn.org, that the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq. Rather than offering fresh fodder to Karl Rove, the party would do better to heed Sens. Joe Biden, John Kerry, Evan Bayh, and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who have set an example for responsible, progressive patriotism. They have balanced blunt criticism of the Bush administration's blunders with concrete suggestions for relieving the strain on U.S. forces in Iraq, broadening international support for the Iraqi government, and speeding up the pace of reconstruction....

Patriotism is the ultimate values issue. Democrats need not be embarrassed by it. And they ought not to let Republicans monopolize the emblems of national pride and honor. Democrats need to be choosier about the political company they keep, distancing themselves from the pacifist and anti-American fringe. And they need to have faith in their fellow citizens: Americans will accept constructive criticism of their country if they know the critic's heart is in the right place...."

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=253472&kaid=124&subid=307