I guess I am just old enough to not really care about being consistent or keeping up the pretense

[Atticus]

that I'm always sure how I feel or even what I believe. Like James and Carly, sometimes I "ride with the tide and go with the flow".

That's not to say that I am without convictions or opinions. I just find that, lately, I am inclined to give more weight to how I feel than what I think. Feelings are always true even when they are temporary. Thoughts are often false when formed or, if true, may become false with time---or further thought.

So, I've decided that I am disappointed, big time, with my Democratic Party. Democrats worthy of sharing that name with Harry Truman, John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Paul Wellstone, Paul Simon, Adlai Stevenson and Barbara Jordan would have moved heaven and earth to scour all the Bush stains from our nation. They would not let war criminals go unprosecuted. They would not continue Bush's invasions of our privacy or his barbaric "rendition" practices. They would be standing up for labor, for homosexuals, for the poor, the sick and the "unpopular".

My "ideal" Democratic Party would be totally disinterested in what went on in bedrooms, but very interested in what took place in board rooms. They would refuse to allow superstition and nonsense dissuade them from starting a swift transition to a "green" economy and would lead the way in replacing hydrocarbon fuels with electric, wind, hydrogen or some energy source still waiting to be discovered or perfected.

They would set "unreachable" goals for universal healthcare and universal education. They would encourage young people to seek knowledge and the improvement of the common person's lot rather than status and material wealth. Once again, in my Party, politicians would openly and sincerely speak of the brotherhood of man and providing for "the least among us".

With this in mind, it was inevitable that I am disappointed with the sometimes shabby posturing and bloviating of today's Democrats.

But, because I am an idealist and not an ideologue, I will "love again". I will try to sweep away the tawdry, the fickle, the hypocritical and cling to the noble, the kind, the righteous and the just. I will search for these qualities in the Democratic Party because that is the only party in which they have existed in my lifetime. I will find a spark to fan and nurture and feed and, eventually, I will bet the rent money (again) on someone who I'm convinced can lead us to truly "be all that we can be".

I may wish that President Obama would lead us out of Afghanistan and Iraq within months and I may wish that he would DEMAND a single payer health care system but, stay home in '10? Sit out '12? That ain't happenin'.

I am BOTH: a liberal and a Democrat.

[Mind_your_head]

1. The "Democratic Party" can go blow itself.......

First they followed the Republicans, but I was not a republican......then they followed the Democrats, but the Democrats weren't for the people either.....

[rudy23]

2. I'm almost to the point where I want to vote in Democrats to spite them b/c I don't think they even

want to win.

How messed up is that?

[HamdenRice]

3. Try reading reliable sources. How is the admin "invading privacy" or continuing barbaric renditions?

I realize that it has become a kind of impregnable urban myth on DU that warrantless wiretapping has continued and that extraordinary renditions have continued, but both have been ended by this administration.

Don't get your "news" from DU discussions. Google is your friend.

[Atticus]

6. Majored in condescension, did we?

After you re-read my post and note that it never mentions "warrantless wiretapping", review this: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/01/obama-sides-wit/ Then, if YOU want to use Google, tap in "Obama, FISA, 2009" and read lots more like that one.

Regarding rendition, read: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/01/nation/na-rendition1

Guess some of these DU discussions are worthwhile, huh?

And, just for the record, Google sucks---and so do "drive-bys".

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. I'm more interested in the health care option, a tax increase for the rich, and

a halving of our money going to the military-industrial complex.

[truedelphi]

5. The Kissinger-istas are in power and the Party of Wellstone

And Bobby Kennedy is dead.

Corporate America will thrive and Monsanto will reign supreme. Too bad that means sickness and famine in the future for our kids nad grandkids.

But Geithner and Rahm can party on.

[Mari333]

7. +10000

[branders seine]

8. We are becoming Mexico.

but without the food.