Who are we? Kos gives us a framework to reassess.

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Wednesday July 28, 2004 · 7:24 AM PDT

2004/07/28 · 07:24

Kos's most recent post about Barack Obama inspired me.

I feel like for the first time in years, I know who I am politically. I can separate the stereotype and the caricature from the reality. I replied to Kos's post with these words, which I then thought belonged in my diary:

Who are we as Democrats? We ourselves have been under the weight of caricature for so long. I feel that, in the past year, we have been emancipated of that burden. We are at once idealists and realists. We believe the dream that is America is a perpetual gift that must be fought for and reopened time and again, not accepted blindly as a perpetual truth.

We are, in a strange way, Cold War idealists without the war. We can do anything, build anything, be that beacon of hope and opportunity and grace. We defend liberty and Democracy with all our souls, above even looking out for our own safety and comfort. Because our own safety is so much more worthwhile in a world that is free and full of hope and opportunity.

We know that we may never fully live up to that ideal, but we will try. And when it is dangerously eroded from within - as this president is doing - we are aroused like, yes, a sleeping Giant. We shed the caricature and division that had made us weak. And we fight like hell for that gift, America, that awaits to be reopened.

Homophobia on dKos?

CTDem2

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Saturday July 10, 2004 · 2:40 AM PDT

2004/07/10 · 02:40

Benign or homophobic:

"John Ashcroft is a cocksucker!"

"The Democrats just bend over and take it."

"Fineman can suck my..."

OK you get it. There was a raging debate on a now-extinct thread about whether or not these expressions, found frequently on this and other liberal blogs, are big, bad, and hateful towards gays.

Here are my brief conclusions:

Most people who use the above expressions don't intend them as insulting to gays in any way, and don't even think about the connection. Therefore they feel that trying to stop it is a stupid waste of time.
This is actually worth a few minutes of their consideration, because there's a consequence to using these expressions that most of us don't think about. I'm not sure this is just one of those "typical PC mental masterbation" issues. Mostly, I think the real consequences have to do with children, especially gay kids.

Please read on... Read More

Reagan: our response, and what is "appropriate"?

CTDem2

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Saturday June 05, 2004 · 3:09 PM PDT

2004/06/05 · 15:09

So Reagan is dead.

And we are left with quite an emotional whirlwind.

Some, here, were Reagan Democrats. While disagreeing with some of his policies, they may give him credit (rightly or not) for bringing an end to the cold war and making America feel confident for the first time in two decades.

Some really disliked Reagan and his policies. They saw him as a potent enemy to their view of what America should be, and they were appauled by his policies and his appeal.

Still others blame Reagan for tragedies he caused, or may have prevented if he wanted. A few people here have unleashed an emotional response to Reagan's treatment of the AIDS epidemic. This was certainly a major failure of his administration, and it caused many great pain.

So how does this community deal with his death? What is appropriate, and who has the right to call something inappropriate?

Continued... Read More

NY GOP Convention Weekend

CTDem2

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Monday May 17, 2004 · 11:27 AM PDT

2004/05/17 · 11:27

So I've never been a part of a protest; I've always preferred to express my dissent in different ways.

But in September, I plan to change that. There's no way I'm letting GW Bush hold his convention in Manhattan without having an earful. I fully expect this to be the largest protest in US History.

But logistics are already starting to be a problem. Here's a thought.

What if we just made the Sunday before the convention a day to walk through midtown Manhattan wearing protest gear? Not an organized March, but rather, millions of people on the sidewalks wearing anti-Bush stickers and pins, handing them out, talking to reporters, but otherwise going about their business of a day in NYC? That certainly doesn't require a marching permit, and it could have some organization in the way of a registration booth.

I feel that this approach will draw MANY more people, and have the benefit of focusing our efforts on having everyone in the city armed with protest pins and stickers for the remainder of the week. The point is not only to get media attention (they won't give us impressive headlines anyway), but to dishearten the Republicans by overwhelming them with our disappointment all week long, as frustrated US Citizens. There's a lot to be said for sapping the enthusiasm from the party. And believe me, they deserve to be demoralized after allowing Bush to drag our nation through the dirt.

Anyone else for a "open protest" event in NYC?

Looks like Specter wins

CTDem2

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Tuesday April 27, 2004 · 6:48 PM PDT

2004/04/27 · 18:48

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/

52% Reporting:

Specter 61%
Toomey 39%

That's a 22% gap with less than half the vote still pending. It's almost certainly insurmountable. I'm calling it for Specter.

Kerry Should Question Their Patriotism

CTDem2

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Tuesday April 27, 2004 · 7:44 AM PDT

2004/04/27 · 07:44

OK, folks. So Kerry has been swinging, and we're all happy. I'd like to make a suggestion: Kerry should take this a step further, and question the administration's patriotism. How? By legitimately suggesting their attacks on him are direct attacks on people serving in the military today.

For example:

This is an administration that says they support our soldiers. I want to ask the American People this. Think of a soldier today in Iraq who volunteered to go fight for his country. He left his family, the comfort of his own home, to go to a war zone. He took enemy fire. He was injured multiple times while fighting alongside fellow soldiers.

Would it be alright for Dick Cheney, who chose not to serve, to attack the character of this soldier in Iraq because it served his purposes? Would it be alright for Rush Limbaugh, who never served a day in his life, to question whether this soldier deserved this medal or that for the injuries he sustained? Would it be alright for the President of the United States, who can't even prove he fulfilled his duties here after avoiding serving abroad, to send his surrogates to question this soldier's patriotism?

Make no mistake. This is the question before us today. I did not make this an issue, they did. Is it alright for this administration to attack our armed forces, those who volunteered to go to Iraq, if they think it'll help them with some political goal?

I say it is not alright. And if they choose to attack my military record, my time serving alongside fellow soldiers under enemy fire, I will fight back. Because no one in Iraq today should have to face this kind of attack now, or thirty years from now. Just like no one in Vietnam deserved to be spit at when they came back home, because it served someone's political purposes. This one's clear-cut for me, and I'm not taking it.

Imagine Election Day

CTDem2

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Tuesday April 06, 2004 · 4:34 AM PDT

2004/04/06 · 04:34

Imagine it's November 2nd, 2004.

The Bush administration has yo-yo'd in popularity all year, but it looks like they had their political timing right. Somehow, on that day, the country felt more "secure" with Bush. Kerry had been slandered beyond recognition. It is, indeed, a very close election, and Bush takes it. It may or may not be clear that there was foul play again on election day, but no matter. As we nervously watch the news that evening, it becomes clear: we have 4 more years of these guys.

Now this is something I'm not expecting today, but in April of 2000, I don't think many of us expected that within a year our country would have taken the political dive that it did. No-holds-barred politics has a way of surviving.

Now let's take this further. In the following 4 years, our country changes beyond recognition. What we think is infuriating today - will be nothing compared to what we see. The neocons would dig in their heels, having seen how close they came to collapse in 2004; they may even believe that loss of power may mean serious legal problems for them. They stop at nothing. Websites like Kos are shut down. Powerful progressive voices mysteriously disappear, or are quieted by threats against their families. To prevent an exodus, Americans need special permits to leave the country. Our economy is restructured into a true wartime economy, with social services shredded and the working class paying for a massive military force.

Who knows, obviously I don't know what will happen. My point is, things could get much worse, and probably would.

Read on...
Read More

Collapse of the House of Bush

CTDem2

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Sunday April 04, 2004 · 1:51 PM PDT

2004/04/04 · 13:51

Many would argue that this remains an unlikely scenario. But I think we have crossed a threshhold where it is now possible that the Bush administration will not only lose power, but collapse. We are seeing the early signs of a possible perfect storm in the months before a general election.

Scandals are being exposed, and the monumental failures of this administration are now being felt by the people. Any number of scenarios can make this administration radioactive, so that even its allies will abandon it. Worse yet for Bush, the combination of lack of confidence in our government, and instability in our foreign endeavors and our security at home, may work together to break our fragile economic progress.

In the coming months, we may well see a collapse of the House of Bush. And it could be spectacular. So spectacular in fact, that it may break the concept of a "hard base" like the one that held on to Nixon even during Watergate - Bush's loyalists may abandon him to save themselves. Read More

Selective Clarke Testimony To Be Declassified!

CTDem2

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Tuesday March 30, 2004 · 12:31 AM PST

2004/03/30 · 00:31

Thanks to TPM for the heads-up on the following story from NBC (this is the last paragraph from the story):

U.S. officials told NBC News that the full record of Clarke's testimony two years ago would not be declassified. They said that at the request of the White House, however, the CIA was going through the transcript to see what could be declassified, with an eye toward pointing out contradictions.

So, there you have it. Cut-and-paste declassification. They even acknowledge that they'll be cropping text to bias his testimony, so that it appears contradictory to what he said last week and in his book.

Here's an example of what they could do:

[In January of 2001, I requested that the administration act urgently, but they did not heed my warnings, nor those of George Tenet. It was not until after 9/11 that they finally did act.] The administration did everything that I had asked for, there's no question about that. [But they didn't do it in time.]

And I wouldn't really put something that devious past these guys. Would you?

Food For Thought & related questions

CTDem2

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Sunday March 28, 2004 · 3:29 PM PST

2004/03/28 · 15:29

Three different points on three different (but related) topics:

Clarke's Book.
Powell Position.
The Hard Base.

Read on... Read More

Guilt by Association: why we should publicly stand up for Clarke.

CTDem2

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday March 28, 2004 · 3:32 AM PST

2004/03/28 · 03:32

So the story today, according to the NYTimes, is that if the Republicans fail to discredit Clarke then they at least hope to make this appear as a standard back-and-forth partisan fight, R vs. D.

One could take from this that our party should distance itself from the situation, let it play out, and avoid letting them call it "just Democrats in an election year." That way, Clarke's testimony can play out without the political baggage. That was my initial intuition, anyway.

But maybe that intuition is wrong. Maybe we want to give Republicans exactly what they're asking for: make this about partisan Democrats attacking the administration. Why? First, because that's what politics should be: real issues, not just the fanfare. And second, because Clarke is exactly the kind of guy we want associated with our brand name. Who's tough on terrorism? Democrats. See them? There they are in Clarke's camp. They'd have listened to him. Too bad Bush didn't.

The White Elephant

CTDem2

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Monday March 22, 2004 · 12:57 PM PST

2004/03/22 · 12:57

Once again, we find ourselves in a surreal state.

The leading intelligence expert on terrorism in the country, hired by a Republican and serving 5 Republican administrations, has accused the President of the United States of failing the country on 9/11.

And since the 60 minutes show aired, it has not been the top story on CNN.com, the AP news wires, WaPost, or NYT (at least it's now on the front page of nyt.com, under the section of "times on the trail" with an article about debate on the President's handling of 9/11. CNN avoided the story for hours last night, and only produced a story when they could headline it "White House attacks back..."

There is now officially a White Elephant in the room. You know, the kind where you look around and wonder why everybody isn't saying, "damn, what the hell is that White Elephant doing here." But the press is reporting, calmly, "Administration ridicules Elephant sightings." We have to do everything in our power to make sure that, when Clarke testifies before the 9/11 commission publicly (?this week), the issue explodes into what it deserves to be: the biggest story in modern history. Maybe even bigger than OJ, although I may have my priorities mixed up. This must be framed not as a political accusation, but as a Drama: Negligence and Deception at the highest levels of Government! Let's not let this die down, it has to mount to the point that everyone's paying attention when that hearing comes.

We must save our country from these idiots. I remember a certain Roman Emperor who fiddled as Rome burned. Is Bush another Nero? Or is the Press?

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