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Hop over to Huff Post to read this essay by LGBT ally, Howard Dean, the and former Governor of Vermont (and DNC Chair). F’in A – a call for the Dems to get a flipping spine. If Dems can’t get the job done with control on the Hill – and against a GOP unwilling to denounce the racists and xenophobes in their midst — what it the point of having control. A snippet:
I don’t believe all or even most of the Republican party voters are racist, but going at least as far back as Lee Atwater, the Willie Horton ads, and the attacks on John McCain in the South Carolina primaries in both 2000 and 2008, the immigration debate in 2006, there is a persistent willingness in the Republican party to use race baiting for electoral advantage. The fact is, this is racist behavior.
Now if the Tea Party, which is not a professional group of politicians have the decency to repudiate the racist fringe in their group, why can’t the Republicans? Obviously they think this approach works on the margins, but even if this stuff works, it sure doesn’t produce good leaders or a civil society, and it certainly doesn’t produce a stronger America, it produces an even more polarized and angry America. It’s that willingness to put party ahead of country that has the Republicans in such low regard.
…Stand up for what you believe in. I admire Nancy Pelosi because she is tough, gets things done, and doesn’t take crap from the right wing or any one else. After the year and a half this country has just been through, it is pretty obvious that the right-wing has no intention of cooperating with anyone, and that they will do anything to regain power, just as they were willing to do anything to hold on to it. The only reasonable approach is to stand up to them as you would any group of bullies. Call them out for what they do – or don’t do as the case may be. If the Tea Party can call out some of their own members, surely we can call out a group of people who have put their party ahead of their country.
…The fact is that the Democrats won the election in 2008. The Republicans refuse to do anything for the country except say “no”. That means we have to work hard and do what we believe is right. And we have to stop apologizing for it. We have to stand up for what we believe in and stop trying to make deals with people who cannot be trusted to make deals for the good of our country.
12 Comments
We’ve been saying it all alongbut it’s nice to have someone prominent on our side… finally.
Um…. They *are* standing up for their convictionsCorporate profits and the richest 5%.
The words sound good, Dr. Dean, but you and the rest of the Democratic Party will have to work like Hell if you want to convince me that I’m wrong. A hundred times burned, and all that.
Deck chairs on the Titanic?It’s really time for Dr. Dean to face the fact that the Democratic Party as it’s presently constituted, is beyond hope or redemption. (“Hope” or “change”?) They are too committed to the corporations rather than the people; to the corporations rather than the environment; to the corporations rather than peace; to the corporations rather than justice and equality; to the corporations rather than the Constitution. And in case there’s any doubt, I include the churches in the category of “corporations.” (They are money-making concerns, after all, and they have the government in their corporate pockets, no less that BP and Haliburton.)
They will not willingly begin to undermine the status quo. They must be pushed. Our community (or at least the thinking part of it) is doing our part by closing the money machine. But we are not big enough to make a major impact on our own. We need allies, and big ones. Dr. Dean needs to start planning a third-party run, which is about the only thing I an envision that might actually move the Democrats back toward the left.
It’s about time…I guessHoward Dean is saying all the right things, I’m just worried that, like most prominent politicians and, unfortunately, many Democrats, he’s full of shit.
I’m willing to give him the benefit of a doubtAnd assume that he is speaking in earnest.
The problem is that the Democratic Party is a speeding, fully-loaded train: it will take more than a small handful of people to stop it. All of the conductors and brakemen are lounging with the fat cats in the First Class Car, while the rank and file keep filling the coalbin.
Same here but…I do wonder why Dr. Dean continues to hold membership in the Democratic Party. I feel they are holding him back and he could do so much better in a third-party. Or is Dr. Dean trying to change the Democratic Party from within?
of course he’s trying to change it from withinhe was after all the party chair until 2009.
Amen!I’ve been saying this for several years. I feel the same way about the big two-party system as I do about organized big religion harping about the sanctity of marriage. It is all bullshit and a self-serving money machine for THEIR benefit, not ours.
Probably correct.He IS of the DEMS, who, last time I checked, were’t really doing much to stop selling us down the river.
In a word, Yaaaaaaa!
Lobbyist scumWhat Washington needs to do is get out of their comfy office, kick out all the morally bankrupt lobbyists and listen to their people again. Lobbyists are paid a crap ton of money to spend their lives working for corporate interests.
What ever happened to listening to the people, or is it that regular people just don’t have the “donation” capacity of mega-corp lobbyists?
For goodness sake STOP BEING AFRAID TO ACT!
They need to use their position in history to the best of their advantage. Stop hesitating because of “formality” or “politics” sake. JUST DO IT!
And YES, call the crap for what it is. The Republicans will never help Democrats – ever. Olive branch no more.
I wanted to hug Howard Dean as I read thatMy friends and I have been saying this since it became cclear that the GOP talking about bipartisanship was just that…talk.
They only know about obstructionism.
If we would have been more prepared for the filibuster parade, maybe we would have realized that we should plow through as much of our legislation as possible and leave the elephants behind until they learn how to play well with other parties.