IMPEACH!! -- Republican message: "If You Win, You Should"

[pat_k]

I have posted the following (or some variation of it) numerous times over the years.

The most serious problem members of the Democratic Party face is the perception that they are weak

Contrary to what many Democratic strategists believe, the perception of weakness has NOTHING to do with stance on national security. It is rooted in:

1. The reticence that centrists seem to have when it comes to accusation and punishment. (Something the right clearly revels in.) Instead of going after wrong-doers, Democratic leaders seek to "investigate" or "make sure it doesn't happen again" (and the Republicans chuckle, "Gee, for a minute there, I though they were actually going to do something.")


2. The tendency to refrain from fighting the good fights for "practical" or "strategic" reasons. Members of the Democratic Party may believe they are "picking fights wisely," but to observers, it appears they spend all their time predicting defeat and "saving their energy" for fights they can win. Outsiders looking in do not see "wise selection," they see cowardice. When the rare "winnable fight" does materialize, it is often for some incremental step or practical end that inspires no one.

Bottom line: You can't fight terrorism if you can't fight Bush. How can members of the Democratic Party expect Americans to believe they can stand up to terrorists, if they can't stand up to the man who terrorized Americans into war with threats of "mushroom clouds in 45 minutes"?

Seattle Post Intelligencer
Democrats hope to reclaim key conservatives
By CHARLES POPE
P-I NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/287233_reagandems02.html

Rep. Brian Baird is another Washington Democrat whose district is streaked with Republican strongholds. Like Larsen, Baird senses uneasiness and frustration among voters that Democrats hope to exploit.

"I had a guy two weeks ago come up to me and tell me straight up -- Congressman, I'm a lifelong Republican. If the Democrats retake the House, will you impeach the president? I don't think that's the best use of time, and I started to say that. But before I could, he said, "If you do, you should.'"

Demanding impeachment is not just required by their oath; it is not just the RIGHT thing to do, it is the WINNING thing to do!

We are seeing more and more examples that confirm the fact that folks on the right, particularly white males, want to see SOMEBODY in power go after Bush. On Randi Rhodes awhile back, a Republican (male) who called in captured the sentiment when he said something to the effect of "Bush is like a teenager that never got spanked." These folks want to see him get "spanked."

If the Democratic leadership would stop sounding like morally-confused, mealy-mouthed, morons ("Bush is nullifying the Constitution, but don't worry, we have NO intention of impeaching anyone") they INCREASE their chances of winning for ALL Democratic candidates by demonstrating strength and principle.

BTW. What do they think they are winning if they leave rule by signing statement unchallenged? "Help us win back Congress for a new direction!" Then we all can watch as Bush nullifies the laws they pass with signing statements and continues to destroy the Constitution, because they don't get it. Impeachment IS Our Positive Agenda!


If they do muster the guts to pursue impeachment after they win back the House, when it is "safe," they undermine the chances of making future gains. Standing on principle only when it is safe is cowardly and hypocritical, qualities that are disdained by the American public.

[bpeale]

1. I am so ready for this...

but I am sick & tired of hearing dems say they won't impeach. I feel so disheartened when they do that. It's like they stand for nothing ... but expecially not for the rule of law. I just have such a sense of dread for the future every single day when I get up.

[pat_k]

2. Try to push dread into the background, and cultivate outrage and hope. . .

. . . outrage and hope may sound like an odd combo, but outrage=energy and hope allows that energy to turn into action (if you don't think you can do anything, the hopelessness will stop you.)

And these folks are just people. Many people, myself included, learned this as we visited offices, set up meetings with staff, talked to them on the phone, and sought meetings with Senators as we lobbied Senators to stand up on January 6th, and to filibuster Alito, and to filibuster the War Criminals Protection Act.

Questions can be more effective than simply asking them to do x or y, or making a case in one-way communications. If we don't challenge their rationslizations, our arguments too often slide off like water on a ducks back. It is through dialog that we can find out, and challenge their rationaizations for inaction. And certain questions leave them no escape.

Questions like:

Are hours-long poll-tax-lines for poor, minority voters AND none for affluent, white voters a tolerable condition for you? On January 6th, 2005, will you uphold the objection to electors from a state where this is the documented reality, or become complicit with the perpetrators of this condition?

Questions like these: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2282473&mesg_id=2282631

[Crunchy Frog]

3. I don't know why this isn't getting more reccomendations.

It's a message that needs to be gotten accross.

[pat_k]

4. Buried in the Foley firestorm. . . I'll probably give it another shot in a

couple days.

This is a critical message that folks on "our side" need to get. Our strengths are also our biggest weaknesses (focus on systems, not people; "realism" that often blinds us to the reality of infinite possibility; pragmatism; reluctance to assert absolute knowledge when we actually have all the facts we need; reluctance to accuse/punish).

We need to recognize these counter-productive tendencies and make a conscious effort keep them in check, and cultivate new habits.

Top five destructive habits we must break to effectively solve our common problems and fight for the public good.

1. Instead of just going for what our pragmatism tells us we can get (and achieving far less than that), we need to cultivate the habit of going for the whole shibang;


2. Instead of "saving our energy" for fights we think we can win, we need to take up the good fights, even if we are "sure" it will just be a the charge of the light brigade;


3. Instead of believing we must be miserly in allocating resources from a limited pot; we must recognize that when we are passionate in fighting on principle, we can inspire and multiply those resources tenfold;


4. Instead of just focusing on "fixing the system" so it "doesn't happen again," when wrong-doers betray the public trust we must be willing to go after them personally.


5. Instead of inserting unnecessary qualifications and caveats to every assertion; we need to boil things down and understand that there are in fact absolutes in life. More often than not, we know all we need to know, even if we don't think we know all there is to know.