Reply #12: agreed [View All]

[Two Americas]

"If we don't group together and conquer the far right and their enablers in the Democratic conservative corner, then we're going to have a fascist future in no uncertain terms."

Yes.

"Do you *honestly* now think that Gore was no better than Bush? Michael Moore, who advanced that theory, doesn't anymore."

Never did. I did, however back in 1999 warn that we were seeing something very new and different in the Bush cabal, and that we were flirting with fascism if we didn't stop him. I thought that Gore and his staff were naive and running the wrong campaign against the wrong threat and told them that. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I still have the email I sent to the Gore staffers in 1999 when they asked what I was so alarmed about saying "think aggressive war, economic collapse, election theft, the destruction of the Bill of Rights, corruption on a massive and unprecedented scale - these people around Bush are dangerous and are capable of anything."

I also think that Gore rolling over on the stolen election greatly empowered the Bush administration, and set a pattern of compromise and weakness in the party. Fighting that could not have been worse than the results of not fighting it. People say that would have caused a Constitutional crisis. Well, now we have no Constitution. People say that fighting it would have caused division and conflict. Well, now we have worse division and conflict than ever.

But there is a persistent tendency toward denial among Democrats. As things get worse and worse and worse we never quite reach the point where we say things are bad enough to finally take the gloves off.

"Throwing the baby out with the bathwater does no one any good."

I will do what I always do - work hard for the candidate just as I have for 40 years, no matter how weak they are. That is not at issue. But I will continue to speak out strongly about the party - that is needs to represent labor and the working class in an unambiguous and effective way, and that it is weak and impotent in the face of the right wingers because of a lack of political will and clarity.