Dems may lose more than '06 by timidity.

[chieftain]

During the Vietnam War, establishment Democrats and Republicans supported the effort. A substantial part of an entire generation saw clearly the waste, stupidity and immorality of a bankrupt policy. When the political system failed to provide an effective way to change direction, countless young people lost faith in our ability to affect change peacefully. The reaction of some was to take to the streets , for others it was to take to drugs. For a huge portion of the population who did neither, politics and government became irrelevant. This loss of faith only served to undermine our constitutional form of authority.
We are now engaged in another wasteful, stupid and clearly immoral adventure.Not unlike the days of the Nixon regime, we have a leader who believes he is above the law. He relishes actions which, if not checked, will further destroy the fabric of our constitution.
The Republicans, with the possible exception of Chuck Hagel, are deeply complicit in both this atrocious war and the illegal usurpation of power. The Democrats, then, are the only hope for the emergence of a strong voice standing witness to the destruction of lives and principles that goes unabated. I am sure that the conventional wisdom operating for most of my party is that all of these things will blow up in the Republicans' faces and that the prudent course is to criticize the operation of the war, not its morality, to fret about Bush's power grab, but flee from a measure of censure.
If leaders will not lead, if our representatives do not have enough faith in the American people to speak the unvarnished truth about the evil that grips Washington,D.C., how can we expect our institutions to command the respect from a free people that is necessary for our democracy to survive.
Democrats need to stop testing the political winds and start speaking from their heart and soul about how we have been hijacked from our core beliefs. The polls say that 70% of Americans know that we are on the wrong track as a nation.Democrats need to speak clearly, act bravely and trust the voters.It is mot being melodramatic to say that our system of government and beliefs hang in the balance.

[Armstead]

1. Good Post.....It's long past time our leaders speak from the heart

[karynnj]

2. I think very many Democrats are

Between the war, Katrina, censure and other issues - there are many Democrats speaking out - the problam is hearing them.

[windy252]

3. #2 has a point

There are Democrats speaking out. It's just difficult to hear them above the Mighty Wurlitzer.

[ClintonTyree]

5. When they do speak out they're branded as traitors...

unpatriotic and obstructionists. And, as you say, the Mighty Wurlitzer parrots those talking points ad nauseum. Some of it is getting through now. Public opinion has changed but it's certainly not because the MSM is leading the charge. Bloggers are leading the charge and the MSM is following. The Corporate Media is rendering itself useless, they've become nothing more them infotainment.

[radio4progressives]

7. when you're smacked by a thug, you smack back, you don't run.

and if the entire party leadership walked arm in arm (in solidarity) against these pigs - they would get the attention of the msm, and yes it would have to be a relentless and constant battle, but battle they must.

[bedpanartist]

28. and that is why

a Democrat somewhere needs to be filmed on television punching one of these neocon asshats right in the mouth. Someone who has to balls to punch a Bill O'Reilly or fill in the blanks with another asshat Republican in the mouth.

I do, but don't have the money or access. I can and would kick Bill O'Reilly's ass in a minute just to satisfy God.

[theobscure]

8. They may be speaking out now, but they lack credibility...

How many spoke out before the Iraq invasion? How many voted against the Iraq War Resolution? If Democrats were truly progressive on this issue they would have strongly and fiercely opposed the Iraq invasion, regardless of the WMD misinformation/deception.

Do any of you truly believe that Democrats would be making such noise about the WMD issue if Wolfowitz and co. had not bungled their planning for and management of the occupation? They only became against the war when it became politically expedient to be so. It's not difficult to hear them; it's that it is useless to listen to them.

[vssmith]

12. I agree and I hope they change

I want to vote for someone who had the sense to not give Bush the authority to go to war! A good many of those Dems who voted for war were doing so because they thought that was the best way to advance their own political ambitions. In my opinion there are only two reasons a person could have possibly voted for this war: 1 Stupidity; 2 Political ambition. What was your excuse Hillary?

[theobscure]

13. I'll give you two more reasons....

3. cowardice
4. complicity- This, I'm afraid, is the most common reason. The Democratic Party as a whole is no less pro-war, pro-empire than the Republicans; just more timid about it. Let's face reality. If the occupation of Iraq had gone as planned, Democrats would still be riding shotgun with Republicans on the road to Iran.

Democrats are completely on board with the perpetual "war on terrorism" against a nebulous enemy, wildly mis-characterized in terms of threat level. They are complicit in the cover-up and whitewash of 9/11. There is also wide-spread support in the Democratic Party for the Patriot Act. Where is the major change of course going to come from?

Don't get me wrong, I want Bush and his neo-con puppeteers out. But the only thing we're going to get from the Democrats is the same type of irresponsibility, albeit a little less dangerous and much less focused.

[sandnsea]

17. Most Democrats did

Why didn't people like you get behind those Democrats and help them take the lead of the party??

And yeah, if the war had been managed well and the troops were home, it wouldn't be an issue with anybody, least of all the left who sway in the political wind more than any group out there.

[theobscure]

29. I'm wondering when progressives within the Democratic Party are..

going to grow tired of being relegated to window dressing. Why are they so loyal? Is preserving the two party system more important than having a forceful, coherent opposition to the prevailing position held in our government in favor of immoral wars of aggression to protect and further American empire, protect and further the gap between the haves and have nots, and diminish and dilute our democratic rights?

[sandnsea]

30. We need a stronger left party

I think it would be good for the left agenda, good for the Democratic Party, and good for the country. I've begged people to focus on a strong and separate agenda, so people can clearly see the differences. It can be done without constantly bashing Democrats too.

[chieftain]

32. I think Liberals have to recognize that certain parts of the

country will only vote for moderate Democrats but where there is a strong opportunity to elect real progressives, we should not settle for Republican lite. Our financial support should be funneled primarily to leftist candidates rather than sent to Democratic committees in DC. We should be passively supportive of every person or group dedicated to electing those who will vote to organize Congress with Democratic Chairs. We should reserve our active support for, i.e. our money and energy, for true Liberals who will speak forcefully for our values.

[chieftain]

10. It is one thing to say the war has been mismanaged, it's another

thing to call it immoral. With the former those that voted for the authorization refuse to face the undeniable truth that not only what we did was wrong, but also what we continue to do is wrong.Democratic presidential aspirants owe it to the country to admit their mistake and pledge that they will never lead us into a preventive war. As long as they calculate whether they will win/lose votes with such a stand, the killing and maiming continues, America's reputation is indelibly stained throughout the world and the constitutional system of government that has made us the envy of the world continues to unravel before our eyes.

[mzmolly]

27. They are also not speaking in a very organized manner.

Though that is changing.

[xchrom]

4. but i'm not sure that the ''beltway'' dems feel as we do.

there is some notion that somehow in their slow actions and a voting record you can SEE that they feel the same as the liberal/progressives that you encounter here.

i'm not sure that is true.

one thing i know -- is that liberal/progressives must become both aggressive and media savvy.

there is a necessity to present a muscular image.

and we must bring many millions over to a true left perspective.

[lostnfound]

11. There are over 60 members in the progressive caucus

Seems like it would be a good start to try to mobilize around them and support them.

On edit: For example, do we know which members of that caucus are likely to be vulnerable to being replaced with a DINO? Is there anyway to be more effective in fending off such attacks?

[bvar22]

14. A good place to find the "True" progressive Dems is:

http://www.pdamerica.org/

[lostnfound]

19. Thanks for that, I've been meaning to check them out. nt

[radio4progressives]

6. Excellent post!

:kick::thumbsup:

[WillyT]

9. BRAV-O !!! - K & R !!!

Spot on!!! Well done!

:kick:

[wizdum]

15. The repubs are so inept at this point that even diebold may not save them

...from defeat in the November midterm elections. It looks like the Dems will be back in. This administration is starting to scare people to the point where the whole lot of them will be kicked out. I just hope it's not to late. The dems are being elected, but vote fraud a la diebold is keeping them out of office. We'll see what happens.

[BeFree]

26. Indeed...and welcome to DU

Indeed, Kerry, or for that matter, Gore, would be the president today except for the stolen elections.

What a different world it should be.... with a democrat as president. A dem who sees global warming as the real terror, a dem who works for peace. Instead we live with a neo-con puppet whose sole interest, it seems, is to create havoc.

And we owe it all to stolen elections.

[wizdum]

31. Thanks for the warm welcome to DU BeFree...

Nice to make your acquaintance.

It does pain me that Gore was the real president elect, except for cheating by Katherine Harris, Jeb Bush and the Supreme Court. They will pay for their sins and they are paying. Mother Earth is making the red states pay dearly for the carnage in Iraq. Sad but true. Now Dubya is setting his nuclear sights on Iran. He is truly psycho and needs to be removed from office.

[sandnsea]

16. Be an echo

They are speaking out, they need us to echo what Dems are saying instead of the right wing 'Dems have no plan' and 'Dems are weak' lines. We repeat that shit more than they do, just like in 2004. Dem leadership isn't the problem, the grassroots are.

[FrenchieCat]

18. To be honest, it doesn't matter what Dems say....

the media is there to distort it, ridicule it, and bury it under some perverted crime headline bullshit!

[Minnesota Libra]

20. Personally, I think Democrats are trying very hard to speak against.......

...everything this criminal bunch does. Isn't anyone listening to the Senate and House when they are in session?? The Democrats are trying it's just that the media doesn't always carry it.

[chieftain]

22. The Democrats have been more aggressive lately, but

I believe they need to do more.Time is running out for the presidential candidates to call for a prompt withdrawal from Iraq and a reduction in the violent rhetoric regarding Iran. Dems did not have to support Feingold's censure resolution but they should not have abandoned him to face the Republican Senate thugs virtually by himself.

[Minnesota Libra]

25. Change is NOT easy or quick, first we had to wake up America and ........

....now we've got to get Democratic control of Congress again. At that point impeachment/censure of idiot boy, bringing our troops home, and alot more will take off.

It all had to start with waking up the crowds though.:bounce:

[Vinca]

21. You're so right. Also, the notion they shouldn't use the "I" word

is ridiculous. Democrats might win by a landslide if they mention impeaching Bush. Even some of the 'pukes want him impeached. The worst thing they can do is drift to "the middle."

[radfringe]

23. show me some

balls and I'll show you the money

there are some balls growing - but right now they are more like "ball-ettes" - and very few of them

a friend of mine commented: do you realize that if Clinton's numbers were this low he would have been toast with the impeachment?

I realize that the dems have little control over actually having investigations - but they could make more noise.

[chieftain]

24. That's what I am talking about, Senator Kerry.

On Fat Timmy's Show, Kerry just laid out a sane plan to start the withdrawal within a very short time. When the toad asked him whether he regretted his vote approving the War Resolution, he expressed his profound regret. He analogized the current situation to the point in the Vietnam War when the leaders knew that the cause was lost but more Americans and Vietnamese continued to be killed and maimed.
And he just came for Feingold's censure resolution.
This is exactly the kind of approach I am asking for and the country has been crying out for.
Thank you Senator Kerry.