Is this something I decide, or does the Democratic party want people like me in the party? I may be in my early 40's, but I have been a Democrat, an activist for the party, becaue of the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal. That's why my father and grandfather were Democrats, and that's why I fought for the Democratic party.
That, and Bush. Need I say more on him? Doubt it.
But that is neither here nor there. Join me below the squiggly and we'll figure out if I am still a Democrat.
Does the Democratic party want progressives in the party, or do they just want us to shut up and vote for them? That is the question. It seems to me, in light of all the Democratic mayors cracking down on the peaceful Occupy Wall Street movement, that they do not. It seems that, by ignoring climate change, the plight of labor unions (see Obama killing EFCA because Penny Pritzker doesn't want her hotel workers organizing), or killing single payer health care, that this party does not heed the wisdom of their voting base.
And it is wisdom. For the most part, progressives and liberals take these positions for the good of the nation, not for profit. It's just not what motivates us. We see a country circling the drain and we are jumping up & down saying "hey we have some real problems that can be fixed! Listen to these ideas! These are not pie in the sky solutions. We know they work.
But that doesn't seem to matter because we aren't big donors that can finance a TV ad campaign. And that, my friends, is the heart of the problem.
So, since I don't have millions to do this, or buy lobbyists and congressmen, then maybe I'm not a Democrat. Or at least, a relevant Democrat.
Except, I am. I am a citizen, and I have rights. If defending these rights means I have to tell this party, the party of my family for generations, that they are going in the wrong direction, then am I still a Democrat?
Because they are not listening to us. Instead, they're cracking our skulls, bulldozing our protest sites, and generally acting like buffoons and thugs.
You know, like Republicans....
Finis