A friend who is a Democratic Party Official in a rather large Blue State recently told me, trying to get Democrats to work together is like herding cats. An example of this problem was pointed out in Kos' recent
Can I get an "Amen"?
The march on Washington showed the problem of Democrats not being able to go in the same direction.
In one case, there was no representation from the Democratic Party leaders as stated by the
Knight Ridder Washington Bureau:
Nationally known Democratic critics of the war, including Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and John Kerry of Massachusetts, won't attend what sponsors say will be a big anti-war rally Saturday in Washington.
With 67% of Americans disapproving of the President's handling of the war you would think that they would start to show some backbone. Many of these "leaders" seem to be lacking other body parts and may need either a prosthetics or an injection.
As long as they are not willing to take a position on this war other than leaving it up to the President they are complicit in Grover Norquist's "Tax Plan" for this nation. The longer this war goes on, the larger the debt becomes and the happier Grover Norquist becomes. The only goal of this Administration is to Starve the Beast!
In another case you have the "If this March/Party isn't 100% the way I want it - I won't take part in it" people. A number of people who posted during the day yesterday seemed to think that the March was put on by A.N.S.W.E.R. The March organizer was United for Peace and Justice, A.N.S.W.E.R. was a member but so were all these other organizations.
It is interesting that one of the other member organizations was the National Council of Churches. Their General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar marched with Cindy Sheehan Saturday and prayed with her in Crawford, Texas.
For most of my life I have refrained from calling myself a Christian as Christianity was taken over by the religious right while the mainstream churches seemed to stand idly by. In the past few months it seems times they are a changing.
In July of this year I ran across the NCC's Iraq War Statement Endorsement which states:
The Governing Board of the National Council of Churches USA
invites you to join them in this call to pursue peace and justice in Iraq.
July 4, 2005
This year our nation is at war as we observe the 4th of July, a day that honors those founders who spoke out for independence from tyranny. Today in Iraq a cruel dictator has been deposed, yet the suffering of the Iraqi people continues. Mandated elections have been held, yet the future of Iraq remains as uncertain as ever. Day by day the cost of this war for the United States, for Iraq, for peace grows clearer. No weapons of mass destruction have been found; no link to the attacks on September 11, 2001 has been shown. It has become clear that the rationale for invasion was at best a tragic mistake, at worst a clever deception.
As people of faith, we believe in the transcendent sovereignty and love of God for creation, and that the responsibility of human beings is thus to pursue justice and peace for all. We also believe that, as the biblical prophets of old, who in faithfulness to God spoke out to a people and a nation they loved, in humility before God we too are to speak to a land and people we love. As religious leaders we invite others who share our affections and dismay to recognize the time has come to speak out.
The time has come to say:
- NO to leaders who have sent many honorable sons and daughters to fight a dishonorable war;
- NO to the violence that has cost over seventeen hundred American lives, left thousands grievously injured, and killed untold numbers of Iraqis whose deaths we are unwilling to acknowledge or count;
- NO to the abuse of prisoners that has shamed our nation and damaged our reputation throughout the world;
- NO to the price tag for this war that has rendered our federal budget incapable of adequately caring for the poorest of our own citizens; and,
- NO to theologies that demonize other nations and religions while arrogantly claiming righteousness for ourselves as if we share no complicity in human evil.
The time has come to say:
- YES to foreign policies that seek justice rather than domination, compassion rather than control;
- YES to an early fixed timetable for the withdrawal of United States troops and the establishment of a credible multinational peacekeeping force;
- YES to the honoring of human rights even for our enemies and for a restoration of our reputation as a people committed to the rule of law;
- YES to spending and taxing priorities that put the poor first, providing health care, housing, employment, and quality education for all, not just the few; and,
- YES to a restoration of truth telling in the public square and to "last resort" rather than "first strike" as the criterion for the use of force to restrain evil.
On the day we celebrate our freedom, we acknowledge that the freedom promised in the toppling of a dictator has been replaced by the humiliation of occupation and the violence of a civil war. The sacrifice of brave men and women has been used to serve policies that have diminished our nation's prestige and our capacity to be agents of justice in the world.
It is time to speak out that this 4th of July will celebrate the best ideals of our nation for our sake and for the sake of the world.
As I read that statement in July as I do now it is the clearest, simplest statement of the problem and solution this country is facing.
It is hard for me to imagine why the Democratic Party has not embraced the NCC's position other than their perennial lack of courage.
There are over 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation who are members of the NCC. If you are not a Christian they have started Faithful America, "a program made up of persons who believe that one's faith - however broadly or uniquely expressed - has a word to say about our nation's government and its priorities."
It seems God through the NCC is trying to herd the Democratic Party and this country in its time of need to a solution to it's malaise.
Will they/you listen?