I love this diary on Daily Kos, "Open Letter to Dem Leaders: You're Losing Me" by "Steven D." First, Steven runs through the list of charges against the Bush Administration and Republican Congress:*"Violations of the first amendment (arrests of peaceful protesters) go unquestioned. Violations of the fourth amendment (warrantless wiretaps) go unexamined....Corruption in Congress is rampant."
*"...war in Iraq based on lies, and our government literally let New Orleans drown....he practice of torture is now sanctioned at the highest levels of our Government, as is the unlimited detention of prisoners without any due process review by our Judiciary. "
*"Gay men and women are demonized as evil and held up as scapegoats, and women's rights are under a constant and insidious assault."
*"Our national debt is increasing to astronomical levels with no end in sight, as is our trade deficit. Our schools are breaking, and our Army and Reserve forces are broken. Our veterans are ignored and their benefits are slashed. Wages and salaries for most Americans are stagnant or falling even as the wealthiest corporations and individuals profit all the more from government tax cuts and government largesse in the form of no-bid government contracts."
Yet, despite all this, Steven then proceeds to point out:
...most Democratic officials and their hordes of out of touch political consultants and staffers routinely sit quietly on the sidelines with only the occasional meek objection to the raw, naked abuses of power by the ruling Republican Party. Anyone with half a brain can see that Democrats should be shouting from any media platform they can about the corruption, the incompetence, the lies, the erosion of our rights and liberties and the open destruction of our democracy by Republican politicians bent on one party rule at all costs.
How true. And now, my favorite part, something I've been arguing for a while now:
...let's consider a hypothetical. In an alternate universe, say, one where Dems control the Congress and the Presidency. Where the Democratic President has lied us into war after war with no end in sight. Where government budget deficits are on the rise, and Democratic politicians are held in deep disdain by the majority of the country for their corruption and failure to respond to the needs of most Americans. A place where the Democratic President's approval ratings have been steadily declining, and are now in the lower 30's, heading toward the 20's.In that hypothetical world, where Democrats rule America (rather than the real world where Republicans do) ask yourselves just one question: What would the Republicans do?
Would they sit idly by hoping that the Democratic Party would simply self destruct come election time, or would they be kicking the Democrats while they were down, harping repeatedly to the media about the failure of Democratic policies and Democratic leadership? Well, I think you know the answer to that question, don't you?
Republicans wouldn't just be seeking a censure resolution, they'd be demanding the impeachment of the President every chance they could get, in every speech and in every television appearance. They wouldn't threaten to shut down the Senate unless Congress investigated all the President's crimes, they'd do it. They wouldn't wait for good things to happen to them come the first Tuesday in November, they'd make them happen.
Preach it, brother! And while you're at it, you might want to mention that the last time a Democrat was in the White House, Republicans in Congress tried to bring him down almost from Day #1, ultimately attempting to impeach him over a consensual sex act with a woman. High crimes and misdemeanors? Yeah right, I'm sure the Founding Fathers meant oral sex when they specified those criteria for impeachment. Ha. But did that gross overstepping of the Constitution stop the Republicans' jihad against Bill Clinton? Of course not.
Look, we may disagree with these right-wing Republicans on just about everything, but one thing you've got to give 'em: they're not afraid to fight! What about the Democratic Party? Here's "Steven D." on the party that USED to include brass-knuckled fighters like FDR, Harry Truman, LBJ and JFK:
...we are fed up with your mealy mouthed excuses and your wishy washy public personas. We are tired of your concern that challenging this ludicrous President will make you appear weak on national defense. Most of all we are tired of voting for Democrats who, once safely in office, turn around and parrot Republican talking points, claiming that we, your most faithful and loyal supporters, the very people who got you elected, are a fringe group of leftist agitators that don't represent the Democratic Party.Well, that's a lie, and you know it. Because the truth is, we are your base, like it or not. If you lose us, you will lose, period. And I don't just mean the elections this year or in 2008. I mean your status as a major political party.
So it's on your shoulders, Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama, Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid, and all the rest of you. Come out swinging. For starters get behind Senator Feingold's Censure resolution. Then shut down the Senate until you get real investigations of the administration's illegal surveillance programs and its misuse of intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war. Use the word impeachment in every other sentence that comes out of your mouth. Let America know where you stand.
Now THAT's the attitude of a "fighting Dem" right there, and THAT's the type of Democrat we should all support wherever we can find them. Democrats who are willing to stand up against the Republican Party's abuses of power and fight for our freedoms, for our constitution, and for our country! Democrats like Russ Feingold. Democrats like Wesley Clark. Democrats like John Conyers. Democrats like Howard Dean. Democrats like Paul Hackett. Democrats like Tim Kaine. Democrats like Ned Lamont. Democrats like Jim Webb.
I urge you to support "Fighting Dems" wherever you find them, and to push other Democrats to adopt that attitude as well. Sure, Democrats have a big lead in "generic" polls (e.g., "would you vote for a Democrat or Republican if the election were held today"), but that won't mean shit in November if individual Democratic candidates don't stand up, speak loudly, and carry a big stick against the right-wing Republican assault on our nation's values.
What would the GOP do if they were the opposition party right now? One answer, and one answer alone: they'd FIGHT!