Would you believe there are things for which I do not agree with you. Even though in the aggregate, we may have very compatible thoughts, I have little doubt that on somethings we are not compatible. So what do we do? Do we continuously fight about the few things that are disagreements between us? Or, do we work together on the things on which we do agree while tollerating our differences?
We have two major political parties. One leans conservative from just a little conservative to the far right. One party leans liberal (progressive) from just a little liberal to the far left. The conservatives can bicker all they want. They can split-up, factionalize, hold circular firing squads or do whatever they choose to do, but that doesn’t mean that the liberal/progressive party should do the same.
With the current disunity of the Republican Party as a model of how not to run a Party, a government, can’t the Democrats do a little better? It is OK to speak passionately about the things that you believe-in, but it is not OK to condemn the person within your Party who has a different point of view on one or another issue. If disagreements among any groups within the Party are across a broad spectrum of ideas, values, strategies, etc., then quite probably the Party should disassemble and reform into multiple groups with people sharing like views ...fragment the liberal / progressive agenda. The house divided scenario will destroy the current Party, so, if that is the desired outcome, it would be better to get ahead of the game and break-up.
Is it too late to recapture the Democratic Party? The rhetoric seems to support that conclusion.
In my adult lifetime, I have supported the Democratic Party. I felt it the Party that advocated policies most in line with my way of thinking. My passion for:
- the dignity of all individuals;
- the right to speak-out, but not the liberty to injure others in my speech or actions;
- the right to basic public education;
- the right to compete for higher education based on my skills and abilities;
- the right to choose the way I will live within the bounds of our society’s laws and norms;
- the right to live where I want (within my means, of course);
- the right to work where I want (within my skills / my abilities and a call for my labor);
- the right to healthcare in times of illness and wellness;
- the right to food and drink ...protection against hunger ...housing, protection from the elements;
- the right to peacefully coexist with others foreign and domestic, but the responsibility to take action when called on to defend our way of life, serve our country.
I thought the Democratic Party was most closely aligned with my thinking, my passions. I well understand that individuals within the Party will feel more or less passion on the individual items that I include in my listing. I don’t expect that everyone will line up completely with my views. However, I do expect and I have found to be true in the past that the Party was the closest to my positions on the issues, my passions.
I have never felt strongly about one individual candidate or office-holder over another. Some I liked better personally than others. My support was for the Platform that each candidate / office holder advocated ...how strongly they fought for that Platform. I looked at the totality of the Platform and not at individual Planks. Did the Platform match my ideas, the things that I advocated and cared about ...that was the measure of who I supported ...who I support.
Obviously, I am out of step with the thinking of many Democrats today. Now it seems that you must select a personality ...you must fight for one Plank or another and screw all the rest. If a candidate or office holder disagrees with you on one point, you must fight that person to the bitter end ...destroy that person. In my opinion, that is a dumb-ass way for Party members to go (and you don’t need to agree with me on this one issue). Let’s agree on the fundamentals of the Democratic Party governing philosophy and come together in a cohesive way to defeat those other guys who seem hell-bent on destroying the United States of America, liberals and conservatives.
Multiple minority parties will not cut it. For better or for worse, in our form of government, the two party system is the best (and only) workable solution.