I've been arguing with a (supposed) ally for several days, now. He constantly joins the RW/Naderites in loudly proclaiming "there is no difference between the two parties" and I'd finally had enough. I decided that every time he said that I'd challenge him. I gave him the Democratic platform ("cheap rhetoric", he said), I pointed out that 21 Democratic Senators voted against JR114 ("not unanimous, and look what they've done since", he said), and on and on and on that way.
"There is a difference between the two parties if living in a free society matters to you", I said, and he (once again, it's all he can do) turned the subject to foreign policy.
Only once did he agree, when I pointed out that the US Constitution is under attack by the GOP. But he's still convinced that, to use MY words, "there is no hope."
This is what he thinks: "In the face of an utterly perverted and manipulated political reality, the only "uniting force" can be found in an almost universal distrust of the status quo and of today's politicos." and "I'm old enough to remember McGovern's try at running on grass roots. Been there, done that."
To which I replied: Let me tell you about somewhere I've "been", and what I've "done".
On the morning of the Presidential election, 2004, I got up early even though I had taken the day off. I wanted to vote as soon as the polls opened, because even though the state I live in would clearly go to Kerry, PA was close and I could still help. I stood in line for nearly an hour before I cast my vote, then I got in the car and drove to downtown Philly. It was sort of a mad-house, as some people had volunteered to hold signs that said, "Honk if you're for Kerry" and the horns were going off constantly.
After a short meeting I was sent to Conshohocken to be an "area leader", coordinating the effort to ensure that pro-Kerry voters got to the polling place in a pro-Kerry area and actually voted. We sent people out in groups of two to canvass the neighborhoods, knocking on doors and politely asking people if they'd voted yet, reminding them how important their vote was if they hadn't. We'd mark off the houses that had voted, and made multiple trips through the same neighborhoods to catch the people who weren't there, on the previous passes.
This meant that we spent quite a bit of time hanging out near the polling place, trying hard not to be in the way, but watching what was going on. There was another group there, law students from DC, who had come to ensure that no voters were challenged by Republcian operatives. They were fun to talk to, and I learned more about the Federalist Society talking to them than I've ever learned on a message board from people who worked every single day to oppose them. The description that seemed most accurate and succinct was "creeps". Think Ann Coulter, and you can see why.
The Federalist Society wants to change the constitution in ways that your posts tell me you wouldn't accept. The Federalist Society backs the GOP, exclusively, and the Democrats can do nothing to stop them, because the GOP holds the chair of the Senate Judiciary committee so even the "pocket veto" used so successfully to hold up Clinton's judicial nominees in his last two years in office can't be used against them. This is all part of their long-range strategy to remake the country in their image, and they're nearly there. If George W. Bush has appointed a judge who isn't a member of the Federalist Society, I'm not aware of it. We're on the verge of a "veto proof majority" of right wing extremist judges on every federal court in America, just waiting for the opportunity to find things like "gay marriage" amendments and "the Bible is the supreme law of the land" to be constitutional. The extreme right wing is patient. They know that we're not paying attention to what they're really doing. We're too busy arguing amongst ourselves about which Democrat is the most "pro-war", and if we start to pay attention they call congress back for a special session that applies to only one person, or they rattle sabers at Iran.
Back to the story.
While I was standing by the polling place I met a pleasant woman who was there to support Arlen Specter. "He's a moderate", she explained. I spoke to some of the other people there who are on "our" side, and they said, "It doesn't matter. A Democratic majority is more important than allowing a 'moderate' Republican to retain his seat," but I wasn't convinced, yet. A little later on a Specter staffer came by and I spoke to him. He pointed out that the odds were good that the GOP would retain control of the Senate, and "wouldn't you feel better with someone like Specter in charge of the judiciary committee than someone like Sam Brownback?" I thought that made sense, at the time, and I began speaking to the other Specter supporter almost as if she was an ally.
Of course we know what happened.
When I finally left the polling place it was dark. Kerry had been declared the winner of PA, as well as DE, and I was proud to have done all I could to help make that happen. Then, just as I was leaving, I heard on a TV in the lobby that the Bush camp was challenging some votes in PA. It wasn't over, yet. I never did hear any more about it, in the car on the way home or on the tube as I watched the returns, or in the days that followed when OH was still open to question. Kerry did eventually win PA, but it wasn't enough.
Specter won PA, too, and he assumed his rightful place as head of the judiciary committee. Of course, he was immediately challenged by the extreme RW, they wanted to ensure that even the least qualified and most extreme judges could be seated by the committee, and they weren't sure Specter was their man. He didn't let them down, though. Just yesterday he put through the "marriage amendment", over the objections of Senator Feingold, and in spite of declaring himself that he opposed it. And, of course, we have Alito and ROberts, two judges who will rule in favor of corporations and against people every single time, seated on the SCOTUS for life. The odds are good that these two ideologues will be on the bench until I die.
So the "progressive purists" are free to argue all day long about why no one deserves a seat at the table. "They're too...they're not...enough" sounds great, and it's less filling, too. But the end result will be the same. More Federalist Society judges filling more seats, waiting like ticking time bombs to approve of the most discriminatory and one-sided laws. The tyranny of the "majority" will become the law of the land, and the protections for the least among us will be destroyed.
So by all means, continue to criticize EVERYONE. Say nothing good about ANYONE. Don't vote, or vote for a third party. The GOP will continue to win, but hey! You'll be able to say you held on tightly to every single one of your values even as the right to hold them is mercilessly stripped away from you, and even as our children's future darkens.
And please don't complain when President Jeb orders the nukes be used to protect OUR oil. I mean, what was God thinking when he put OUR oil under all those muslim countries, anyway?
I'm going to vote for the Democrats, this year.
