Note to Democrats: We're Pissed

We're very pissed.

We worked for years to counter the Republican spin. We wrote countless blog posts. We contributed our time and money, heart and spirit in the fight to stop the country from swirling down the drain.

We helped turn the Congress into a Democratic majority. We heard the new committee chairs talk about how they were going to re-establish oversight. Even heard some talk impeachment.

We got fooled.

The Republicans are laughing out loud as the man we all ridiculed as stupid wins time after time. This isn't what we expected, although some did. Before the 2004 election, I had many conversations with family and friends about how, if the Democrats got into power again, nothing would change. I said, "No you're wrong." The worst of Bush administration would be restrained.

So what have we gotten? Domestic spying is just fine. No company which conspired to spy on us can be held responsible. The war continues...expanded, even. Torture isn't so bad. Waterboarding? I'll get back to you on that. More kids can't get health care. Subpoenas served are ignored. The military is readied for an attack on Iran. The planet continues to melt.

The strategy of running out the clock on the Bush administration is a cynical and simple politics. That clock ticks for you, also.

We don't want excuses. We want action. You Democrats have allowed us to be branded "Far Left" in the party. You have allowed us to be pigeon-holed as the same kind of "base" as the religious wackos on the right...the Republican "base."

We aren't. We are the mainstream.

A lot of us complain that we want the Democrats to get a backbone, to stand up for what they believe. The sad fact is that the Democrats ARE standing up for what they believe. They believe in business as usual, just with them in charge.

The Democrats who have something to say are belittled by their own side, generally not for what they stand for, but how they look.

So we're pissed. How pissed? Spitting mad, to continue the wet metaphor.

In the midst of this overwhelming frustration, the words of Allen Ginsberg come to mind. Sadder still because they are more relevant than ever:

"America I've given you all and now I'm nothing.
America two dollars and twenty-seven cents January 17, 1956.
I can't stand my own mind.
America when will we end the human war?
Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb
I don't feel good don't bother me.
I won't write my poem till I'm in my right mind.
America when will you be angelic?
When will you take off your clothes?
When will you look at yourself through the grave?
When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites?
America why are your libraries full of tears?
America when will you send your eggs to India?
I'm sick of your insane demands.
When can I go into the supermarket and buy what I need with my good looks?
America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world.
Your machinery is too much for me.
You made me want to be a saint.
There must be some other way to settle this argument.
Burroughs is in Tangiers I don't think he'll come back it's sinister.
Are you being sinister or is this some form of practical joke?
I'm trying to come to the point.
I refuse to give up my obsession.
America stop pushing I know what I'm doing.
America the plum blossoms are falling.
I haven't read the newspapers for months, everyday somebody goes on trial for
murder.
America I feel sentimental about the Wobblies.
America I used to be a communist when I was a kid and I'm not sorry.
I smoke marijuana every chance I get.
I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet.
When I go to Chinatown I get drunk and never get laid.
My mind is made up there's going to be trouble.
You should have seen me reading Marx.
My psychoanalyst thinks I'm perfectly right.
I won't say the Lord's Prayer.
I have mystical visions and cosmic vibrations.
America I still haven't told you what you did to Uncle Max after he came over
from Russia.
I'm addressing you.
Are you going to let our emotional life be run by Time Magazine?
I'm obsessed by Time Magazine.
I read it every week.
Its cover stares at me every time I slink past the corner candystore.
I read it in the basement of the Berkeley Public Library.
It's always telling me about responsibility. Businessmen are serious. Movie
producers are serious. Everybody's serious but me.
It occurs to me that I am America.
I am talking to myself again.
Asia is rising against me.
I haven't got a chinaman's chance.
I'd better consider my national resources.
My national resources consist of two joints of marijuana millions of genitals
an unpublishable private literature that goes 1400 miles and hour and
twentyfivethousand mental institutions.
I say nothing about my prisons nor the millions of underpriviliged who live in
my flowerpots under the light of five hundred suns.
I have abolished the whorehouses of France, Tangiers is the next to go.
My ambition is to be President despite the fact that I'm a Catholic.
America how can I write a holy litany in your silly mood?
I will continue like Henry Ford my strophes are as individual as his
automobiles more so they're all different sexes
America I will sell you strophes $2500 apiece $500 down on your old strophe
America free Tom Mooney
America save the Spanish Loyalists
America Sacco & Vanzetti must not die
America I am the Scottsboro boys.
America when I was seven momma took me to Communist Cell meetings they
sold us garbanzos a handful per ticket a ticket costs a nickel and the
speeches were free everybody was angelic and sentimental about the
workers it was all so sincere you have no idea what a good thing the party
was in 1935 Scott Nearing was a grand old man a real mensch Mother
Bloor made me cry I once saw Israel Amter plain. Everybody must have
been a spy.
America you don're really want to go to war.
America it's them bad Russians.
Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.
The Russia wants to eat us alive. The Russia's power mad. She wants to take
our cars from out our garages.
Her wants to grab Chicago. Her needs a Red Reader's Digest. her wants our
auto plants in Siberia. Him big bureaucracy running our fillingstations.
That no good. Ugh. Him makes Indians learn read. Him need big black niggers.
Hah. Her make us all work sixteen hours a day. Help.
America this is quite serious.
America this is the impression I get from looking in the television set.
America is this correct?
I'd better get right down to the job.
It's true I don't want to join the Army or turn lathes in precision parts
factories, I'm nearsighted and psychopathic anyway.
America I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel."

Comments

[avergejoe]

The dems (as are the repubs) are just doing what their bosses tell them...

From HumanEvents 01/30/07:
For America is on a collision course with an Iran of 70 million, and the folks who stampeded us into Iraq are firing pistols in the air again.
At the annual Herzliya Conference, U.S. presidential aspirants, neoconservatives and Israeli hawks were all invoking the Holocaust and warning of the annihilation of the Jews.
Israel's "Bibi" Netanyahu, who compares Iran's Ahmadinejad to Hitler, said: "The world that didn't stop the Holocaust last time can stop it this time. ... Who will lead the effort against genocide if not us? The world will not stand up on behalf of the Jews if the Jews do not stand up on behalf of the world."
Said former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz: "Iran is the heart of the problem in the Middle East. It is the most urgent threat facing the world, and needs to be dealt with before it's too late." After meeting with the Department of State's Nicholas Burns, Mofaz called 2007 "a year of decision."
Richard Perle assured the conference that Bush will attack Iran rather than see it acquire nuclear weapons capabilities. Newt Gingrich also brought his soothing touch to the proceedings: "(C)itizens who do not wake up every morning and think about possible catastrophic civilian casualties are deluding themselves.

From HumanEvents 03/20/07:
For it was Pelosi who quietly agreed to strip out of the $100 billion funding bill for Iraq a provision that would have required President Bush to seek congressional approval before launching any new war on Iran.
"Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received a smattering of boos when she bad-mouthed the war effort during a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and the Democratic leadership, responding to concerns from pro-Israel lawmakers, was forced to strip from a military appropriations measure a provision meant to weaken President Bush's ability to respond to threats from Iran."

[WorkingClass]

"A lot of us complain that we want the Democrats to get a backbone, to stand up for what they believe. The sad fact is that the Democrats ARE standing up for what they believe. They believe in business as usual, just with them in charge".

Thank you thank you thank you for this. And for the Gisnsberg too. Now I can shower and go to fucking work.

[TommyMcCarthy]

P.S Having said that...let­'s keep our eye on the ball here. It is the O'Riellys, the Limbaughs and the Roves who have painted us thus.... not Democrats. Are 'ya pissed?... Well excellent!! and about time too!

Save your ammo for the real enemy. Unless you think ANOTHER Republican administration will better reflect your views and values then pick a candidate from the many fine choices available on the Democratic side and work to get him/her elected. Sniping around the margins will accomplish nothing...­.....tm

[WorkingClass]

Red state Blue state is a game for dummies.

[TommyMcCarthy]

And sitting it out is a recipie for of the same.

[TommyMcCarthy]

The best point Tom makes in this post is how those of us Against pre-emptive war, those of us that beleieve we can and should be proactive in fighting for equality and justice, and who believe that protecting our environment is a moral (yes Virginia, a MORAL imperative) are somehow "far-left". We are not. We are the mainstream­...a point well taken and not made often enough....­.....tm

[batguano]

RIGHT ON TARGET TOM! The quisling dems are feeding at the same trough as the repig fascist corporate shills, and the timidity of the others is astonishing. The cowardice they display in their votes for the Bush/Neocon agenda and willingness to "compromise" is unbelievable! Did they learn NOTHING from the '06 elections? The current Dem "front runner" represents just more of the same with a different logo and spin....mo­re "free trade", more militarism, war and death, More obscene Military Industrial Complex spending at the expense of our nations CIVILIAN goals and priorities, more slavish subservience to Israel/zionist demands and subversion of our foreign policy, and more give-aways to corporate power and greed! More "compromise" with the true forces of evil and collaboration with the trashing of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. If the dems don't get a spine as a group, or even a modicum of integrity, THEY will be out on their asses just like the remnants of the treasonous bush/Neocon regime, who hopefully will be prosecuted and hung for their numerous high crimes!
America desperately need a return to REAL American values and leadership, and a real accounting for the greed, war crimes, massive profits by cronies, and I will say the treason of the Bush regime. It takes more than an enemies list and an obscenely bloated military to make a strong nation! We should remember the words and integrity of the last true Republican president, Dwight David Eisenhower, and contrast his words and deeds with the divisive sophomoric drivel and lies coming from "dubya". "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children." DDE
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9743.htm

[FogBelter]

Mr. Dantoni, the real problem is the Democrats have decided that they won't acknowledge the real reason they were given the majority in 2006.

I was bemused and at the same time sickened as I watched Rham Emmanuel spin the reason for the 2006 Dem victory on Hardball, with Chris Matthews..­. and not very convincingly.

He says that Iraq was A factor ... not THE factor for the Dems victory ... then he rattled off stale DLC effluence that nobody views as valuable at this critical time in our Nation's history.

If the DLC and the Democratic Leadership are listening, let them be reminded:

They were elected to end this immoral, illegal, Imperialistic, Corporate war that has undermined the United States of America, and all it is supposed to stand for, in the eyes of the World.

The Democratic victory was supposed to get the country back on the right track and send a message to the world that, yes, the THINKING people of the United States recognize that Bush is a meglomaniac, with messianic pretensions, but that the People of the United States are back in control of their democracy and are working diligently to rectify the Bush Administration's transgressions.

Democrats and DLC ... THAT WAS THE MEANING OF YOUR VICTORY ...

... and you have FAILED in honoring the trust the American People put in you in November 2006.

FAILED.

[taliesin2323]

I am really having trouble with the Democrats in Congress giving in to Bush. Thats not what they told me they would do before I voted for them. I want them to stand up for PRINCIPAL AND TO DO WHATS RIGHT. Who cares if Bush keeps vetoing the bills. Who cares if the Republicans call them names and make fun of them. Don't give him money to pay for Contractor Killers (I mean Body Guards). Don't give him the Tax Breaks for Oil. DON'T LET HIM EAVESDROP ON AMERICAN CITIZENS! Aren't the Democrats reading these bills they are voting on? Hey Democrats. YOU WON THE ELECTION! You don't have to give in to Bush anymore!

[Dantheman99]

The DLC has destroyed the Democratic Party.

I don't think the Democratic Party can be saved. Corporate money has co-opted it. What the DLC has done is ensure that no matter which major party is elected, nothing will fundamentally change. Corporations may have preferred the Republicans in the majority until Tom "The Hammer" Delay started shaking them down for campaign contributions. But, they know they can do business with the Dems. Rupert Murdoch has no problem with Hillary.

America needs a progressiv­e/liberal/­labor party with a pro-environment agenda. The Green Party does not take corporate campaign contributions. The Democrats do not need a new campaign finance law to do the right thing.

While the Supreme Court may influence how I vote for President, I will definitely be voting Green for Congress. I didn't vote for the Democrats in 2006 for them to turn around and act like cowards in the face of Bush.

[milo9]

If the trajectory of dissatisfaction continues on it's present course, there will be nothing for it but to take to the streets, and inevitably the crazies will engage and take the struggle to the next level.

[cynara]

There are good Democratic representatives out there that have constantly stood for what they believe in. Russ Feingold, Dennic Kucinich and Al Gore, just to name a few. If we want the Democratic Party to take notice, we have to support in large numbers those few that are brave enough to take a stand.

Just look at the wiretapping scandal. Nobody was doing anything. Then Chris Dodd spoke out and netroots got behind him. All of the sudden Barak Obama and Joe Biden jumped on the idea. Suddenly we, and the constitution appear to have a chance.

It is not time to give up on the Democratic Party, but to throw our support behind the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. They are proposing the right moves, its through supporting them that we get the rest of their poll watching peers to step up.

[Dantheman99]

I've given up on the Democratic Party. As long as it accepts corporate cash, it's corrupted. However, for people who still have faith in it, replacing feckless Democrats in the primary with Democrats with a backbone is the only option available.

If only a couple of the timid ones were defeated in the primary it would send shockwaves through the rest of the Democratic Party leadership.

This isn't even about ideology. Stand up for progressive liberal values with vigor and fearlessness or we will find someone who will.

[Rescisco]

We're mad and can't take it anymore, but 52% of the American public (according to a poll I saw this morning) support military action against Iran. If you're a short sighted, narrow minded, tight lipped, condescending politician, it seems to me you either "nuance" everything or you play the ever popular war card in a country that has been conqured by and has surrendered everything that once made it special to fear.

[inthenitemare]

Did you see that poll on Fox News? I wouldn't put to much trust in it.

[trailrunner9]

Are you not suspect of polls at this point? I know I am. What and who is behind them anyway?

[metamorphosis]

Not to mention the fact that polls are paid for and sponsored by individual organizations or sometimes groups of organizations. The polling companies are paid to conduct a poll in a certain manner - asking precise questions of specific demographically targeted groups to attain the "objective" opinion of those polled.

The whole notion of polling has been flawed from its inception. Polling will never be an objective science because the process by which the polls are taken is spurious at best and downright deceitful at worst.

Polls are propaganda or, if you prefer, a public relations tool. That applies equally to the right and left.

[Haser]

The tragedy of the absolute desertion, from us, of the elected Democratic Congress, is the reflection on us. If you are bewildered at what has occurred, imagine the independent, ready to cross over voter. What should be a landslide is no more. What should be the final chapter for us as the party faithful to have this country solidly turn direction is not only muddied, but doubtful.
How dare we be ignored!

[Sanisera]

One of the problems with the whole Democratic party is lack of political experience in handling The Republicans. All I am seeing is tied hands and no gonads.

[beef33]

All this criticism of the "democrats" is confusing. Really the Washington elite should be the target. Us progressives and Naderites have been saying for years that there is not much difference between the parties. These people take their marching from the corporations who bankroll them. Hello. Essentially the way I see it most of congress and the senate are like competing lawyers as far as party lines go. Pass some paper back and forth bark a bit at each other for show. But collect big fees and go to lunch when they "settle" the case. Meaning stick it to John Q Public in the name of rigging the rules to help their rich pals. That is the system we have and believe you me the democrats are entrenched in it. Hillary "the corporate shillstress" Clinton got 27 million in "donations" last quarter. Who do you think that was from?

[DamianBrumley]

Mr. D

I hate to break this to you but the DNC or your favorite Demacratic leader cares about BushCo abusses in so much as it might get him re-elected. Note the chariman of the intelliegence committe and his million percent increase in contributions from telecom. Note the new four day work week. Note the watered down ethics reform. Note the walking back on civil rights. Note the walk back on the war. I love what you do and appalaude what you do, however until we look at government as it truly exisists we will never be able to stand up against or defeat it. "First they ignore you, then they make fun of you, then they attack you, then you win." Ganhdi The bloggs cannot be ignored anymore and if the bloggs tie the public statments of the MSM to the advancement of the government agenda then they will win. One example is when the government was in the surrender phase of the propaganda for the war Wolf Blitzer no only offered it as the choice they had the graphic on the screen poseing the question in the background. Nothings better for the press than a war, Wold cut his bones on Iraq1 and Anderson on Iraq2, how could they hate war. You don't have to activly promote war to show how how you realy feel.

[QFE]

Nuances. The right has a single unifying theme, as nauseating as it is. Those on the left see nuances. For instance, I'm crushed that we would leave the situation we created in Iraq, so I might try to figure out a way not to abandon Iraq completely.

Of course, if I could run things, we'd immediately do a mea culpa to the UN and offer to do whatever we can to back up the UN and the rest of the world in trying to fix the problem.

[Changeizgood]

8 Battallions every two months, two shia, two sunnie and two kurdish battallions
Our troops come home for the much needed rest and help to train the Iraqi's homeside. When their training period is up. Send back the Iraqi trained troops and bring another 8 back out again. If this is done for the nest 8-10 months, the Iraqi Defense Force against Al Queida, will be the same as the amount we now have over there, including the private security forces.

Then we use special tactical forces and information to track down al Queida links in Iraq and take them out, while concentrating on Al Queida in Pakistan.

The Iraqi's must have this chance. We owe it all to our troops and the diplomacy they are showing with the people on the ground.

It's time to bring them home and give them a new mission, going after Bin Laden.

I don't know what this President's mission to the troops was,but Barack Obama and Jim Webb's plan seems logical and commons sense.

That's the change america wants. Out of Iraq and on the right battlefield to get Bin Laden!

[Changeizgood]

The only thing stopping Obama and Webb's plan is the DLC Democrats that have lobbyist and war profiteers in their pocket like Lieberman.