Many of us here are opposed to corporate rule. Many of that group have grown disillusioned with the idea that corporate rule can somehow be reformed or controlled in a way that would make this system fair, just or equitable.

I have been very moved by the anger and anguish I have heard many here express over feeling betrayed by the recent Democratic support for the Iraq War funding bill. The good intentions, dedication and love for democracy I have seem expressed on this website is truly a light in these dark days of our country.

Please forgive me if this part of my post seems overly "teachy." Some of you have surely heard many of these ideas before, but I want to offer as sober an assessment of the state of our democracy as I can and attempt to point to a possible future for all of us who value the dailykos forum.

Like many of you, I hoped that the Democratic party would take this opportunity to save the lives of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians by taking a strident stand toward ending this war. But their actions do not surprise me, nor should they surprise you. If think back rationally you will see that the same pattern of disregard for your will has been repeated over and over again – sometimes followed by the throwing of a small token bone to us.

I have always been an optimist. I truly believe that most people sincerely wish to do good in the world. We all yearn for meaning in our lives.

I work with many conservative evangelicals. These are good people. They are honest and hardworking. They sincerely believe that their lives are dedicated to a higher purpose.

That being said, people can be sincere and be wrong. People can seek to do good, but do harm. I am not an apologist. Ideas have consequences and I believe that we all are responsible for the effects of the ideas we espouse, theological or otherwise. However, there is a critical difference between tragic error and willful destruction. While some right-wing theologians certainly know that they are perverting the teachings of Christ, most are victims of false teachings.

The remedy for those folks is not scorn but truth. When people who yearn for truth hear it, they will be drawn to it. Those not interested in truth will reject it. This was how Jesus taught.

I had a true George Bush America day. I am a Christian. I work for little money for a non-profit  training public schools how to handle discipline and troubled youth without sending them into the criminal justice system. My wife lost her job today. We have a 2 year old daughter, can't afford day care and can't afford to have only one of us working. I spend about a quarter of what I make each month to put into health care for my family. I am completly un-unique. That being said I live comparitively well compared to most of the world. Many others in the world work harder and longer than I and theri children will starve to death tonight. Currently on my second very stiff vodka and tonic.

This thread has chilled me. It put toghter many things I've been thinking about. The threat of a fascist America is real. We should continue to talk about these things publicly and loudly.

Last night's Frontline documentray on PBS about the career courses of Bush and Kerry, hit on what I think we might be able to make into a major issue. The documentary described the shadowy organizations (like the Swifties) that have always followed Bush around and done his dirty work for him. When most poeple hear what they did to McCain in 2000, even most right-wingers are horrified.
As the Sinclair issue looms larger and larger in the news cycle, can we get the bigger picture out there? It seems to fit into the "we can't trust this guy" tack of Kerry. Also it seems that it could develop, if the heat were to be really turned up with some hard evidence, into painting Bush as more than a little Nixonian. (i.e. paranoid, isolated, out of touch, desperate to hold on to power at any cost)

Thoughts?

One much bandied about theory, which seems to be true, is that Dean is actually the candidate that most worries the RNC. This is not because he is perfect in every way. It is because he is hard to define, freeze and attack. To the thinking outside the box challenged RNC he is simply an unknown quantity. From MSNBC:

"Summing up the night from a Republican perspective, pollster Whit Ayres said, "It's clear that one candidate beat expectations, one candidate failed expectations, and for one candidate it remains to be seen."

Besting expectations, in Ayres' view: Kerry, who was written off as a hapless failure shortly before Christmas. Falling short of expectations, according to Ayres: Clark, who entered the race as a sterling four-star newcomer in September.

And remaining as the puzzle: the enigmatic Dean."

Its what I like to call the mojo factor. So the challenge now is to keep the mojo but give it some solidity by hammering home his successful record of actually walking the walk.

 

As a fervent Dean supporter, I've said for some time that no matter who wins the nomination, the Dean campaign will be the driving narative for this political season.

But I think there may be another story almost quite as powerful. It seems that this may be the year when the grassroots defies media manipulation of the story line. Sure this all flows back into the energy Dean brought to the race, but it seems to be transcending that. It seems I hear one thing from all of the talking heads about who's is finished, done or who is dropping out and then its not borne out in the facts of the campaigns.

Maybe its time to start planting an alterna-meme, "the media has lost control, people are acting independantly"

Kudos to everyone that's out there thinking for themselves.

In the 2000 election John McCain ran as a maverick outsider attempting to shift the locus of power inside the Republican Party. He ran on populism against the royalism of the Republican establishment. He nearly won.

On FOX News he described (with amazing candor)what Rove and Company did to him to enusre he would be defeated. McCain described the push polling and smear tactics. Phone calls to voters syaing his wife was a drug addict (she had been in recovery for drug abuse for some time) and many other slanders and dirty tricks. He said that he didn't complain because he didn't want to be a sore loser. He looked sad and angry bneath the surface. I don't agree with John McCain on many things, but I think he is an honest man. When a commentator asked later in the day why would John McCain be out stumping for the president in NH, the other conservative commentator said that he was being, "a good soldier."

I have to believe that the Democrats want a party different than this. I see little good in destroying good men and bending them to Party will. We should be the party of real democracy. We should be able to disagree without eating our young. We must prove that this party is one that values honesty and guts.

Dean is our McCain.

The Kennedy/Kerry machine has done some good things. But they are not the future of this party.
I'm tired of working to build grassroots movements only to have the establishment simultaneously undermine us personally and then appropriate our rhetoric without the substnace and action. I will support the democratic nominee because Bush must go. However, until the grassroots of the Democratic Party holds our leadership to a higher standard, nothing will change in this country.

Stand with Us
Governor Dean is speaking right now in East Lansing, Michigan. Here is some of the text of his prepared remarks:

Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire have cast their ballots. The 2004 election is underway.

The election won't be decided by pundits or polls. That's not the way our Constitution works. Democracy leaves the last word to the people, and the people are going to decide - in primaries and caucuses across this country in coming months.

I began this campaign over two years ago, hoping to talk about issues: health care, investing in children, balancing budgets.

I was outraged at the direction of the country - but what struck me quickly was how deeply my outrage was shared by the people. Outrage not just at the President but at the Democrats in Washington for failing to stand up to George Bush and for what we believe.

Our economy is at risk. Our international reputation is in tatters. The fabric of our society is being ripped apart.

These aren't petty political differences to be papered over. This is a fundamental disagreement over the very nature of what it means to be an American.

Eleven months ago, when few people knew our campaign existed, I spoke before the Democratic Party leadership in Washington. I asked some fundamental questions.

I wanted to know what the Democrats, including many of my opponents, were doing give George Bush a blank check for his war in Iraq.

I wanted to know about the deficit, health care, and No Child Left Behind.

I am still waiting for the answers. The American people deserve the answers. The Democratic Party deserves the answers.

This campaign is about who has the courage to ask these questions, the judgment to find solutions, and the toughness to fight for real change. In my book, leadership means having the courage to stand up for what you believe, no matter what the polls say. And to deliver results, not just rhetoric.

Today, all my opponents are talking the talk. Even those who voted for the war speak like they opposed it.

Those who voted for No Child Left Behind, now criticize it.

Those who shrank from confrontation in the face of polls and pundits, now compete to outdo each other in their condemnation of George W. Bush.

But in 2004, Democrats must decide: Who will stand up for you against George W. Bush?

I say, only someone who has consistently and firmly stood for change - even when it wasn't politically popular - can truly lead this great struggle.