This diary is a result of years of frustration with our country's broken two-party system and the horrifying impact it has had on our society and our laws. It contains nothing new; no revealing sound bites, no new political analysis, no links to clever progressive blogs, nothing like that. It is all my opinion.
No, consider this diary a sort of quiet primal scream from a long-time Democrat who is fed up with his party. Put simply, I have had enough. Uncle.
More below the fold.
When I was growing up, it meant something to be a Democrat.
It meant that you believed in tolerance and understanding over blind fear and hatred. It meant that you believed in the the power of individual liberty over the influence of politics and money. It meant that you believed in social and economic justice and the role of the government as guarantor of that justice. It meant that you believed in the victory of reason and science over religious extremism. It meant that you believed that our government has a vital public role to play in our society and that the checks and balances cleverly built into our unique democratic system would always ensure that that role was properly played.
Yes, it used to mean something to be a Democrat. But no more.
The Democratic party has become just another elite club of Washington DC insiders, weak, self-serving, and spineless political operators who seek only to maintain their positions of power and influence. It is frustrating and sad to see our so-called leaders abdicate their role as opposition party. I used to think that no matter how corrupt the system became, eventually good would always triumph over evil and somebody would emerge as a true and dedicated servant of the public interest. The failure of our party's national leadership to oppose the current administration's policies has taught me to think otherwise.
We've all seen these failures pile up one after another. From the failure of the party's leaders to support President Clinton against Ken Starr's expensive witch hunt, to their failure in opposing the theft of the 2000 presidential election, to the support of the Iraq War Resolution and Bush's lame anti-terrorism policies, to the support of the awful Patriot Act and the forming of the apparently equally lame Department of Homeland Security (nobody I know ever called America "the homeland"; makes me think of Nazi Germany and Der Fatherland), to the absence of opposition to the GOP's stubborn addiction to tax cuts for the wealthy, to the failure to stop institutional corruption in Congress, to the failure to oppose Bush's Supreme Court nominees. But most of all, they have to answer for their complete and utter failure to stop the right-wing's twenty year effort to move the political discourse to the right.
There are many to blame for this sorry state of affairs. But mostly I blame fear. Senators Leiberman, Biden, Clinton, Feinstein, Daschle, Kerry, et al are simply afraid. They are afraid of appearing weak on issues of national security and defense. They are afraid of opposing the Washington power structure, which has been built on corporate money and the influence of a loud but dangerously extreme right-wing minority. They are afraid of losing their positions of power. They are afraid of standing up for our ideals. They are spineless. They are weak. They have allowed themselve to become corrupt. And they have to go.
None of this news to anybody here.
So what can I do about it? Right off I must admit that I am not a joiner. Yes, I sign online petitions, write emails to Ms. DeLauro and Mr. Dodd and Mr. Leiberman. Yes I educate and inform myself by tapping as wide a variety of news sources as possible. Yes, I could sign up with Ned Lamont's campaign against Senator Leiberman, one of my senators. I could knock on doors, make phone calls. But many many people, dedicated people, smart and talented people, have been doing this for five years now. Nothing has changed; in fact, it appears as though the Democrats' spinelessness has grown worse. I must conclude that these grassroots efforts, while important and necessary, do not have the kind of significant national impact that we'd all like to see.
No, I think it's time to do something big and bold. Wouldn't it be great if all of the progressive organizations and Web sites got together to plan a GIANT MARCH ON WASHINGTON? I'm not talking about some small local protest that doesn't make the news. I'm not talking about 10,000 people walking down one street or gathering in a park with little news coverage. I'm talking about a Million Progressive March. I'm talking about a million or more patriotic Democrats marching on the Capitol to give serious and loud notice to our so-called leaders - we are numerous, we are angry, and we WILL be heard. Nothing short of a massive organized effort will do. It needs to be HUGE. It needs to be LOUD. And yes, the rhetoric needs to be strong and aggressive. We want Biden and Leiberman and Kerry and Feinstein and Clinton and Pelosi and all the others to shake in their boots. We must FORCE them to take a stand and abandon their loyalty to money and power and ego.
The Democratic party is near death as an opposition party. The two-party system is on life support and the doctors are shaking their heads sadly as if to say "there is no hope for this patient." We must find a way to bring this patient back to life.
So there is my rant borne of frustration. I don't have the answers. I'm just another average American who is long past frustrated with the current state of affairs. Hope you all enjoyed reading.