Massachusetts be proud! Your Congressman Edward J. Markey, a senior Dem on the House Homeland Security Committee, is fighting the good fight against tyranny, torture and injustice at home and abroad.
Markey Wants Disclosure on Abu Ali Detention
Markey managed to deny Bushco legitimacy for torture flights and outsourcing of torture to Arab allies, and is seeking justice for an American citizen the Bushco bullies have had arrested and tortured without process in Saudi Arabia.
"The Justice Department thinks it is OK to torture detainees, as long as it is done secretly in another country. Torture is morally wrong, no matter where it is done," said Markey.
If you are a Markey constituent, send him some love for 2005 and do what you can to ensure he doesn't become a target of Bushco retribution at the next election.
If we want our elected representatives to reflect our values in their efforts, we need to show them when they are on the right track, and not take their efforts for granted.
I wonder how much more the Democratic Party could achieve if we became positive in our message to our elected representatives and leadership, rather than just carping when they disappoint us.
Every animal trainer knows that positive reinforcement is more effective at embedding desirable learned behaviour than punishing a dumb beast for getting it wrong. Parents of toddlers know the same thing, encouraging the first few faltering steps rather than bashing the tot for crawling.
Maybe we Kossacks and Dems in general should get into the habit of praising our people, speaking up to support them when they do right, rather than just shouting them down when they do wrong. An added advantage is that we will show the swing voters and even the Repubs that we celebrate our principles and that we uphold the defence of these principles in our leadership. That sends an important message that will resonate over time.
Watch what your reps do in the town hall, state capitol and Washington. Send them some love when they do good, take a brave or unpopular stand, and let's see how this theory plays out. Everyone who gets praise wants more, and most will work harder for the second kind word than they did for the first. Let's use that human truth to shape our representatives into the representatives in future we wish we had starting now.