Tag Archives: liberalism

Democrats … Start Doing it for Yourselves

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
House Minority Leader

Dear Congresswoman Pelosi:

I recently received a mailer from you that included the following text:

>> Dear Friend … why don’t you take the enclosed George W. Bush Disapproval Poll and use it to me me how high (I doubt it) or low President Bush ranks with you. It’s your chance to tell me exactly what you think of the 43rd President. If you give George W. Bush grades of A or B, then I have bad news: First, you are a Republican. Second, you are going to be on the losing side of history. BUT … if you give George W. Bush C’s, D’s or F’s then you are a true-blue Democrat and I urge you to join us in our fight to hold the line against President Bush’s radical agenda and begin laying the groundwork for victory in the 2006 mid-term election … <<

I would like to offer you my thoughts on this effort of the National Democratic Committee.

I am in fact what most would consider to be a “true-blue Democrat”. I don’t think there’s any doubt of that. For 22 years I have voted a straight Democratic ticket. However, I find myself having a great deal of trouble believing what you say, despite my inclination to give more credence to junk-mailers who at least pretend to be on my political wavelength. Your message sent up a number of warning flags, I must admit.

To start with, “History” is written not by those who are right, but by those who are in power. What determines the “losing” side of history is what the “winners” determine the opposite side from their own. At this juncture, I’m not too sure that the “losing” side is going to be written in a manner pleasing to “Democrats” for quite some time. Why? Because the problem is not just that George W. Bush is doing wrong. Although I agree there is a lot of wrong-doing going on.

The problem, as I see it, is that giving George W. Bush a “failing” grade on this poll doesn’t make me a true-blue Democrat, as much as it makes me a complete and total IDIOT. Because I appear to be supporting a political party that has no vision of their own, that has not been too effective in countering these horrible policies, that is afraid of being called un-American for fighting a fascist-leaning, right-wing, neo-conservative agenda. A party that has no plan of their own, except to tell me what’s wrong with the other guy’s plan. That has in essence conceded that morality, right, truth, justice and the American Way are the property of the Republicans, and has contented itself with whining and bitching that those damn “righty-tighties” are just misusing those properties differently than a Democrat might misuse them if given the opportunity. What line exactly are “we Democrats” holding? And what good does it do to hold some imaginary line when there are so few of our so-called representatives that are willing to stand up for what they claim their constituents stand for? Further, for all these issues where George W. and his radicalized cronies have forced their way upon the unsuspecting American public, where have the Democrats been? In short, what good are they?

I’d like to see some groundwork, Congresswoman Pelosi. As you state in your letter, even though the right-wing doesn’t have one, I’d like to see a platform that unites, instead of divides. I’d like to see the Democratic Party come up with such a platform, and stick with it. I don’t think anyone can claim sole right to morality and doing the right thing. And surely, the 80% of people in the USA that claim some affiliation with Christianity (and the other 20% that follow equally valid and morally-based religions, whether Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Wiccan, Sikh, Shinto, Zoroastrian, Druid, Bah’ai or even Atheism) can’t be all Republicans. And Republicans aren’t the only ones capable of girding themselves with the mantle of the self-righteous … what about a little Democratic righteous indignation now and again? I can’t think of a better time that right now.

To be frank with you, Congresswoman, I’m disgusted with the political process. I’m disgusted with voting Democrat just because it seems like the lesser of two evils. I’d like to be able to vote, with a clear conscience and sense of accomplishment, for something worth believing in. Something that the big party Democrats are willing to state, in public, they believe in, too. Something, and a serious set of someones who are not straw dogs, but actual contenders. But remember, there’s not much point in picking who we’re going to travel with until we’ve figured out where we are going. The journey dictates the skills we’ll need, and not visa versa. So please, give us a something before trying to foist off another glad-handing someone in a suit more expensive than the average Democrat’s income can afford.

Just a suggestion: if you want a Presidential candidate to be elected “by the people”, you’ve got to be “for the people”, and whoever you put on that ballot had better be “of the people”. Not Democratic leadership people. Not Beltway Brotherhood people. Not “because anything is better than a Republican” people.

Don’t worry. I’ll keep voting Democrat until I die. However, I’m sick of knowing that underneath the surface, regardless of which candidate I choose, the bottom line doesn’t change for me, nor for millions of others who seemingly cast their votes in a seeming maelstrom of futility. After that, watching the few Democratic candidates who DO make it into office only wring their hands and cry, “oh, those neo-cons are ruining the country” is decidedly anti-climactic. And discouraging.

The bottom line is that George W. Bush’s F looks like an A to most people, and that’s why they voted for him. That occurred only because in order to give ourselves any kind of excuse for what either party is doing, the American People have been forced to grade on a curve. And the sad truth is that neither the Republicans or Democrats deserve to pass the class.

Feel free to use any part of this letter you wish to improve the Democratic Party.

Sincerely,

John Litzenberg
New Orleans, LA

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Neo Politics

Neoconservatism is not a threat to the free-living, free-wheeling, bleeding heart liberal philosophy of us drug-crazed, sex-minded hippie freaks.

No, despite its definition as “an approach to politics or theology that represents a return to a traditional point of view (in contrast to more liberal or radical schools of thought of the 1960s)”, it is not the left wing, per se, that is the target of neoconservatism. It’s target is not to return us to before 1960, but before 1760. After all, the traditional point of view in politics or theology is not democracy. It is monolithic, totalitarian and unquestioned rule. It is fascism, painted with a nostalgic brush called “the good old days” — those days before liberal science gave us the conveniences that gave us the free time to sit around and reminisce without having to actually experience the minor setbacks of medicine, culture, diversity, equality, and economic well-being that were in those halycon days available only to the extremely wealthy, or extremely lucky (and luck would be defined as in the right place to benefit from the temporary whims of the current dictatorship). It is belittling, beheading, excommunicating, exiling, or executing any who disagree with your point of view. And it is the point of view of rich, white men — who have convinced, somehow, the remaining 95% of the population of this country (that’s right, 95% of the wealth is controlled by 5% of the people, remember, and those aren’t people living in Harlem, or Watts, or Chinatown) that this is the agenda upon which America should settle. The course which we must steer by. Our mandate.

Let me get this straight — our mandate, as a democratic nation, is to abandon democracy, much as the Anasazi abandoned New Mexico.

Under a banner of religious self-righteousness, jingoistic nationalism, military might and xenophobic paranoia — particularly regarding people of Semitic origin and language.

Careful with that swastika, Eugene.

You will not successfully barter the illusions of freedom and liberty for the illusions of control and safety on my watch. The former may be undisciplined, untamed and only nebulously defined, but even in that raw, feral state they are worth ten times the most alluring manifestations of the latter.

That’s what I call a Neo-Liberal agenda. Fixing the broken left wing so the eagle doesn’t have to spin in circles and wear itself out trying to leave the ground.

Or to put it more bluntly, you can have the Constitution to wipe your ass with when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

The right to bear arms is NOT the same as the right to own or use a gun.
Schools and hospitals should be a greater priority than prisons and graveyards.

The ends never justify the means.

A Democracy is more fragile, and therefore needs more protection, than a Republic. The former is an idea, while the latter is a thing. That’s why the Pledge of Allegiance is somewhat misleading. A symbol, such as a flag, stands for an idea or ideal, not a thing. A thing is a limited interpretation, a casting in the temporary stone of time, so to speak, of an idea. It is not the idea itself, only a small part — in the same way that a religion is merely a bucketful of seawater mistaken for the entirety of the ocean.

Once you disregard ideas in favor of things, you stop thinking. Once you stop thinking, it doesn’t matter what the polls say, because the opinions you are offering are not your own, anyway. Most likely they have been given to by someone who does not know of, care about, value, respect, understand, or have any responsibility for, your life.

The responsibility, at least, they can never shoulder anyway. Responsibility is the price you pay for ideas — whether your own or someone else’s.

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Can This Thing Fly?: septenary stanzas

It’s doubtful that democracy’s dense doyens can reclaim
the country’s core without creating more sorrow and shame,
to count coup on the status quo, entrenched in apathy,
seems like the wisest way to go, at least it looks to me.

The Left Wing’s fawning satyrs spawn their imbecilic imps
who feign as fiends for filibuster, but are worthless wimps,
while on the Right, cropped high and tight, the fascists frolic on
investing in the right of kings and trampling the pawns,

and in the Middle’s mild morass, the muck is made and sold
that so entrenches everyone, they just do as they’re told.
The nation’s fate is fixed, with fools all wrestling at the wheel;
Smart money might just scan the hand, and demand a redeal.

13 APR 2004

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Pseudographic Xenophoria …

Perhaps this is continuing more of my mental somnambulism (see my previous entry for an exploration of thought-reducing politics), but I am perplexed with a number of things today:

First, why is it that after an election, if you vote Democrat, that you are immediately inundated with solicitous mail from any number of “liberal” organizations – Greenpeace, Sierra Club, ACLU, People for the American Way, Amnesty International, etc…all looking for money? Do they have some in with the exit poll people that gives them insight into which voters are “dirty pinko commie fag junkies” and therefore are susceptible to their particular brand of propaganda? Perhaps it’s just that as of late, I’ve become more and more sensitive to propaganda, but to use an older expression, this sticks in my craw. I know these organizations do things that I approve of, as a whole, but I also realize that programs won’t solve the problem. The problem is a societal bias against intelligent and inter-connected existence. The problem is that our culture believes that such a thing as “prehistory” exists. We all labor under the delusion that while Darwin was right about oh so many things, suddenly and miraculously with the appearance of homo erectus erectus the two million year chain of “moving towards” and modification and growth suddenly ended. Lo and behold, humans were created and it was finished. For all you anti-Christianity mavens out there, your story is starting to sound a bit familiar. End of the food chain, eh? Immune to the laws of selective, natural competition, are we? Sounds a bit like man was created to rule the earth, to have dominion over all its creations. Hmmm…

Second, with respect to the election, again, I suppose…

If I were to run for public office (which I guarantee you will NEVER EVER happen, despite of the Sufi proverb that says ‘Never name the well from which you will not drink’), the only way that I could ethically, morally and spiritually do such a thing is to state, upfront – my agenda is not Republican, Democrat, Green or Reform. I do not represent, nor do I wish to be constrained by, the limited vision of a national agenda which cannot by its very nature take into consideration the local, individual, personal and unique people that I represent. Neither am I an Independent – rather, I am an Interdependent. I hereby state that I am forming a party that is not a party, with an agenda that is not an agenda. Political action committees – I know your nature. Nothing was ever created, solved, invented, improved or mitigated by committee. I cherish the individual, but that does not make me a Objectivist, Libertarian or any other joiner. I represent the individual people in my jurisdiction, those who have trusted me to represent THEM, and the community they represent. Now, this may not always be easy – for change is the only constant, and this is a world in which what yesterday was secure and steadfast is tomorrow tattered and rusted. We MUST grow as a people, as communities, we must accept personal responsibility for the lives that we are living. And we must accept personal responsibility for our actions. Those that heal, and those that harm. Those that build, and those that destroy. Those that we are willing to parade in public, wrapped in flags, and those that we hide beneath sheets, behind closed doors, in our closets and under our breath. We cannot survive without each other – that is a great risk to have to make, to TRUST. And it is a great responsibility. It is NOT a national agenda, it is a personal agenda.

Oh, how I ramble … somebody, give me a melatonin and put me to bed….

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