To be honest it took me a while to decide whether to write this diary or not but after seeing the unfair twisting of one diarist's well meaning words, I wanted to go ahead with it. Some of you may not be thrilled with my defense of BWD's words here and that's fine. Others, hopefully, would give it a consideration and think a bit more about jumping to conclusions when they are faced with a well meaning and heart-felt words of a diarist who is known to be a passionate supporter of our progressive cause.
Here it is. The issue is that there is a diary on the rec list that misinterprets and twists BWD's diary's main point and I think it is reprehensible to do that. I would like to explain why I think the diary criticizing BWD's point is wrong by interpreting BWD words, as I see them.
The following are the trageted lines from BWD's diary.
To stay home in November in order to "punish" the Dems because they are yet to deliver on everything they promised, and as a result let the party of Mitch McConnell, Sarah Palin and the teabaggers to retain power - is not only childish, it's almost a treason
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These lines are not against critcism, political opposition or/and dissent as the diary criticising BWD, claims. What it is calling "almost a treason" is not dissent. Instead, it is a warning about the consequences of failing to support the Democratic party for not delivering fast enough when the alternative is Mitch McConnell, Sarah Palin and the Tea bagggers. And I bet BWD is not the only one who is seriously concerned about what is happening in this country, today. And yes, it is a fact that the last administration and their neocon goons almost destroyed this country and the alternative to the supporting of our current Democratic government just because they don't deliver fast enough could mean, as BWD also suggests, allowing the leftovers of the Bush admin to come back to power, once again. And yeah that can be seen as "almost treason."
Here is one, for example. The Democrats who tried to "punish" the Obama admin (plus the non charismatic candidate Creigh Deeds) sat at home in Virginia during the recent elections and allowed Bob McDonnell to get elected as the governor. I hope you are following the news about what kind of a diseaster that has been so far. From the denouncing of the anti-gay discrimination to declaring of the April the confederacy month, to bringing back the Jim Crow voting rights stunt, to possibly adding NRA gun safety courses to public schools starting with the primary ed (yep, you heard me right, this is the most recent one they are pondering on). That's what we got in Virginia for our "dissent," so far.
Furthermore, these are indeed unusual times in our nation's history and thus our political vigilance, including dissent, couldn't be more valuable. When the stakes are so high like the way they are today, however, I'm afraid, confusing dissent with unresonable and frivilous demand is "almost a treason" simply becaue we cannot afford it. We simply cannot have the Mitch McConnell GOP and the Tea Baggers and Sarah Palin to gain political power in this country, no matter what our political convictions are. BWD's call to me, in a way, is not only to the Democrats, but also to every thinking American citizen, including the conservatives and the independents. That this is not the time to miss the train because the alternative could be saying goodbye to our system of government. Period. Our Democracy is in danger and we all know it. We all know what kind of a danger this country is in, today. We were lucky to have Obama in 2008 but the danger is very much alive and kicking and yes, in a time like this we may not be able to afford not supporting the Democratic candidates, especially for reasons that do not merit dissent. Let's remember that the Democrats and the Obama admin have delivered miracles so far, given the shape of the country and the congress they took over in 2008.
Here is the bottom line: When the issue is the survival of our Democracy, then yes I can see BWD's point that "punishing" of the Democrats for frivilous reasons (reasons that are not proven to be legitimate or reasonable) could be seen as "almost a treason."
What BWD says has nothing to do with being anti-dissent.
It has everything to do with S.O.S., instead.
And our country is saying S.O.S., now.
That's what BWD meant.
That's what I interpret.