"The Democratic Party for too long has been a group of constituencies instead of a party".
Markos and Jerome continue:
"The Democratic Party stands for everything, yet stands for nothing. It's a gaggle of special and narrow interests, often in conflict with each other, rarely working in concert to advance their common causes. Members of each issue group - environmentalists, pro-choice activists, civil libertarians, plaintiffs' attorneys, and so on - promote their agenda above all others and show little or no understanding of the larger progressive values they share with the other groups. And so the whole is never greater than the sum of its parts."
Markos and Jerome point out that with Democrats out of power, even well funded and publicly supported progressive groups are now losing ground as 40 years of work is dismantled by Bush/Cheney. The old strategies aren't working.
There's one big problem that all progressives face, that should unite us to make us more effective:
A small group of powerful wealthy elites, now in complete control of all branches of government, write domestic and foreign policy to increase their wealth at the expense of the environment, the health and well being of average Americans, the fair treatment of people serving in the military, fair labor laws, humane treatment of animals, the economic viability of this country and just about every civilized and just goal that our founding fathers would have wanted protected by the Constitution.
For years, this elite group has taken advantage of the myopia of progressive groups who prefer purity, apparently, over solidarity and have allowed themselves to be isolated and discredited by a well worn strategy of denial, deception and distracting wedge issues that frighten the public away from their message. For example, the petrochemical industry has waged a pretty successful public campaign to discredit the scientific evidence on global warming and convince the public that pollution control will hurt jobs in order to continue using our air and water as their corporate toilets.
As Noam Chomsky and others have pointed out, this small group of elites have used our government and our taxes to socialize the risks/costs of doing business while privatizing the profits. Oligopolies have gotten fat and lazy. Innovation and science have taken a back seat to corruption and cronyism. While a majority of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction and disapprove of the President's performance, the silence from this small group of elites, with a few exceptions, is deafening.
Bush/Cheney are just symptoms of the disease
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/21/102850/145
Although their mean spirited violence and incompetence and their strategic blunder in Iraq have shone a light on what's been going on for some time.
Progressives are fortunate to have several retired military officers, sick at heart over Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld's misguided unnecessary, brutal war, speaking out and making the personal sacrifice to run for office in defiance of what they understand better than anyone as a foreign policy intended to serve a small financially powerful elite while our soldiers, Iraqi people and American taxpayers carry the burden and pay the price.
Progressive and enlightened military leaders, like Wes Clark and Jim Webb are now our best hope to help turn this country around, if progressives will only recognize it. These people have the heart, commitment and good will to try to do what's right that motivates other progressives, but they also have more than their share of proven personal courage and fine strategic thinking.
How do progressive groups establish trust and working relationships to fight a common enemy?
There are some glimmers of hope. For example, the Union of Concerned Scientists takes a more holistic view of what's going on.
And just this year, The
Pew Commission on Industrial Animal Production
http://www.jhsph.edu/clf/programs/farming/proj_pew.html
"
was formed to conduct a comprehensive, fact-based and balanced examination of key aspects of the farm animal industry. Commissioners represent diverse backgrounds and perspectives. They come from the fields of veterinary medicine, animal science, economics, agriculture, public health, business, government, and animal welfare.
For the next two years (beginning 2006), the Commission, in consultation with other national experts, will conduct an assessment of the impact of the industry on the public's health, the environment, farm communities, and animal health. The Commission will conduct hearings in various parts of the country and will produce specialized interim reports to help inform the Commissioners and the public. Finally, it will issue a comprehensive report of its findings, including practical recommendation that will made available for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and the general public."
http://www.ncifap.org/
That's good news. It's an important test to see whether experts from diverse groups can effectively work together on something that's dear to the hearts of people who care about our health, our environment, family farmers, farm laborers, fair animal treatment, and sustainability.
And there are business leaders like John Mackey of Whole Foods who built Whole Foods on the idea of health, environmental sustainability, family farming, fair worker standards, fair treatment of animals. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-10-21-wholefood_x.htm
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2005/11/16/news/13828.shtml
http://www.animalcompassionfoundation.org/
It seems self-evident that even if progressive groups were not under attack, they would be well-served to consider a more holistic approach.
A perfect opportunity for progressives to work together on is the case of the regressive Smithfield, Inc. that Lowell has written about here:
http://www.raisingkaine.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3150
and here:
http://www.raisingkaine.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=818
Smithfield management should be held accountable to the community for these abuses.
The activists groups that could work together on Smithfield are
fair immigration activists
labor rights activists
civil rights activists
animal rights activists
healthy food activists
family farmers activists
organic food activists
retired military may work at Smithfield
etc
A system of rules and laws and policies that are fair and serve the general welfare and live up to our highest ideals.
All progressive Democratic interest groups have been beseiged by the same corrupt dysfunctional system. Recently, an attempt has been made to marginalize scientists and educators with efforts to diminish and discredit hundreds of years of scientific study to promote some faith based alternatives in order to serve the corrupt system we have. This should not stand.
Each specialized group understands from their particular perspective how the elites use our government and our tax dollars for their benefit. Each group must stop fighting their battles with one hand tied behind their backs and instead learn to trust the expertise of their counterparts.
It's clear that short term corporate goals are no way to run government policy. Progressive activists must find ways to work together on what is our common problem. And that includes working to elect and educating progressive candidates who understand this common problem and will stand up and fight to overcome it with good sense and good will.
United we stand, divided we fall!