I was very distressed after reading Grannydoc's diary last night.
The Day the Music Died
My gut reaction was like that of many; anger, despair, and a sense of "we have to do something." This morning, as I get ready to go to my county's democratic Central Committee Meeting, I stopped to read the thread and I had some thoughts to share.
more.....
First of all, I feel as frustrated/angry as many of you, but the target of my anger and frustration may be different. And my thoughts of "what next" also differ.
Unlike some, I was not surprised by my Senators' votes. Wayne Allard is a diehard right winger. He rubber stamps everything Bush. Ken Salazaar is a "moderate", or as some would say "republican lite". I honestly believe that the only reason that Ken got elected is because he was able to capture the many "independents" (fence sitters imo who refuse to work for change but insist that they want it and blame all government for everything).
I happen to be a believer in representative democracy. And I believe that Salazaar represents the view of many, ill-informed in my opinion, citizens of our state. People here consider me to be a radical lefty. I grew up in the northeast of the country and they view that is the reason why I see things so far in their opinion to the left. But it is changing here, albeit frustratingly slowly.
Anyway this is my point. Changing to a third party is not the answer. It will in effect just make it easier for the extreme right, the neocons to get more power. Changing the view of the citizens who vote is what is needed. I bet if people go out today and ask a random group of fellow citizens about how they felt about their senators' votes last night, the overwhelming majority will stare blankly, having no clue of what you are talking about.
Bush and his co-conspirators in the media have been quite good at what they do. Who wants to go against the "Patriot" Act? That misnomer fools a large group of Americans who really take pride in being a patriot yet are too ignorant about what the Patriot Act really is. Look at No Child Left Behind. Hell, what cold hearted jerk wants to leave children behind? Even Ted Kennedy and other "lefty dems" continue to insist it is a good law. It isn't. It has hurt poor schools and poor children more than any other law I remember in my 40 years in teaching.
As for representatives, the one who "represents" me is so far to the right, he makes Bush look moderate. I worked on the campaign to get a dem elected here, a moderate one. He is/was an articulate, retired military man who raised more money than any democrat ever raised in this district. Despite the hard work of many of us, an inarticulate, right winger, "God wants me in there" type, with the help of Focus on the Family, the Christian Coalition, and the Club for Growth won the seat! This is a man who was so terrible in a debate, he could not have beat a mediocre 8th grader on a debate team. Seriously. And yet, he won the seat...by a large margin.
Now are you going to blame me and the other democratic volunteers for Lamborn's win? Or the fact that there are many ignorant, uninformed voters who either didn't vote or voted for this man because he represents their distorted views.
Until we can change the view of the citizens, until we can get the truth out to people, until we can get the media to stop supporting the candidates who support the agenda of the rich, corporate rulers, nothing will change.
We can form a third, fourth and fifth party and nothing will change until the people change. And the people won't change until they get the truth. And they won't get the truth unless we get it out to them.
It will take boots on the ground, volunteers ready to work hard for change. It will take electing people who represent our views. And we cannot do that unless we increase the amount of voters sharing these views.
At least that is how I see it.