Make 2006 1994

"Democrats are in a world of trouble, teetering on the verge of what a University of Maryland political scientist recently predicted would be 'permanent minority status for a generation or two.'

To which I say: poppycock. "

Arrianna Huffington really knows how to get at the heart of the matter. I love her ideas and how she doens't allow the negative media blitz prevent her from speaking her mind. Her ideas for the dems taking over in 2006 are simple and I will paraphrase them below:

1. Election refom--no more electronic machines without a paper trail, no more voter suppression in poor/working class areas forcing people to stand in line for hours on end.
2. Kill the consultants (figuratively, obviously). Develop a strong campaign based on democratic values.
3. Rebuild party infrastructure.
4. Nationalize 2006 elections by taking a stand on larger issues of the day and making it part of a larger narrative.
5. Recruit and train better candidates.

There are a lot of very motivated, focused people out there who really want to make a change for the better and who aren't going to allow an electoral defeat get them down.

The People's Mandate---"Harness that Anger"

"Sooner or later, profound change will come to this nation tired of war, tired of seeing its wealth squandered, while the basic needs of families are not met. These needs are not hard to describe. Some are very practical, some are requirements of the soul: health care, work, living wages, a sense of dignity, a feeling of being at one with our fellow human beings on this Earth.

The people of this country have their own mandate."

Howard Zinn wrote this fantastic article for the "Progressive." I found it on "Common Dreams."

He encourages all of the people who worked so hard to elect Kerry (or unseat Bush), not to lose focus. We may have taken a blow on Nov.2, but we're not out. We can still work on and make a difference in 2006 and 2008.

Joe Trippi's blog

"In any case, Sen. Hart graciously agreed to take the time to meet with a group of students and he talked about the origins of our republic—about the principles of civic virtue, the common good, and civic participation— ideas we hear too little about in today’s attack dog politics.
He talked about how the founders, particularly Thomas Jefferson, believed that a remote central government was likely to tend towards corruption and away from the people.I’ve been thinking a lot lately of how the Democratic Party needs to reform itself to empower people to have more of a say in the decisions that effect their lives—"

Screw Howard Dean, let's elect Joe Trippi to the head of the DNC. He really has some great ideas about how to reform the Democratic party. I encourage everyone to read his columns at MSNBC.com and his op-ed piece.(WSJ)

While I think Dean was definitely the backbone of the Democrats over the past two years, I am more convinced every day that we wouldn't remember his name if it hadn't been for Trippi. Trippi was clearly the heart and brains behind Dean's campaign. I will definitely be paying more attention to what Trippi has to say.

Ohio Vote Counts

Over the next couple of weeks, the vote count in Ohio is going to be making the news more frequently. The problems they suffered on election day have never really been resolved. As a result, many in Ohio and across the nation feel that the reported totals in Ohio are dubious and could change. Whether or not it actually changes the results of the election remains to be seen. I wouldn't put a lot of money on changing the outcome, but I think there are enough legitmate problems that need to be resolved to ensure the continued legitimacy of our electoral process.

Here are a couple of websites to watch:

http://www.votersunite.org/info/mapflyer2004.htm

http://ohvotesuppression.blogspot.com/

Selective Moral Values

Yes, this is just like selective hearing and selective memory. Pick the parts of Christianity you like, discard anything that you personally don't agree with, add any of your own internal fears and prejudices, revile all else as evil. Mix to a religious fervor...viola! Selective Moral Values.

Apparently, a couple of the major networks are refusing to air a commercial put together by the United Church of Christ because the add promotes acceptance of gay and lesbian couples.

""Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples...and the fact that the executive branch has recently proposed a Constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast," the church quoted CBS as saying. "

I don't know about the rest of you, but the Bible I own isn't annotated with a list of appropriate exceptions of people its OK to hate. What exactly did Jesus mean when he asked us to love one another? forgive your enemy? turn the other cheek? forgive 70x7? I don't think I need Jerry Falwell to tell me.

"FALWELL: Well, I think this, that the spiritually unhealthy legalization of a reality, a man married to a man, a woman married to a woman, cannot help but to leave a very bad role model for the children of Massachusetts and... "
(from CNN's Anderson Cooper's transcripts)

I can read and think just fine on my own, thanks, and Jesus never said that.

The Christian Right is Neither

This is a great article by . I love how he writes about the hypocritical rhetoric of the religious right is dispelled by reading the scriptures. But reading scripture isn't enough to overcome the inherent hypocrisy of the religious right.

"In the spiritual vacuum that exists in this country, the Christian right is well-positioned to argue that its menagerie of fears and chauvinisms--piled into a box labeled "moral values"--constitutes a serious moral narrative. It doesn't, but the Religious Right's contribution to the denigration of Christianity will continue unabated until other Christian communities come up with a compelling alternative"

Republicans their own worst threat

This is a good article from the Chicago Tribune review...

Dems...stick to your guns

Helen Thomas wrote an interesteing article yesterday. She basically argues that, instead of fleeing to Canada, democrats need to stick to their guns and their core values; economic security and prosperity, diversity, good education for all, health care for all...those are the real family values. Values that help build our communities. Not values that divide and separate our communities through fear and hatred of one another. We need to protect the interests of everyday Americans by speaking out against legislation that will continue to erode the rights and lives of our citizens. We may not make a lot of political gains over the next 2-4 years, but we can create our own political clout by standing by the American people while the other party reveals themselves for what they truly are through the privitization of our rights to the benefit of corporate America and calling it "personal responsibility." There's a word for that, isn't there?


"Historically, the Democrats have focused on the safety net issues, dating back to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society. That's when the word "compassion" had some meaning.
Some pundits believe it was the so-called social issues, including abortion rights and gay marriages, that turned the tide for Bush in the Nov. 2 election. And indeed, the GOP enlisted the support of churches for those causes.

...

Democrats should stand their ground. Voters in middle America will soon find out that real family values translate into a good education, health care for all and economic prosperity. In other words, Democratic values will again be appreciated."