Home > Enough of the D.C. Dems
GO MOLLY!
Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party. I don’t know about you, but I have had it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting son of a bitch up there, and that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton.
I will not be supporting Senator Clinton because: a) she has no clear stand on the war and b) Terri Schiavo and flag-burning are not issues where you reach out to the other side and try to split the difference. You want to talk about lowering abortion rates through cooperation on sex education and contraception, fine, but don’t jack with stuff that is pure rightwing firewater.
I can’t see a damn soul in D.C. except Russ Feingold who is even worth considering for President. The rest of them seem to me so poisonously in hock to this system of legalized bribery they can’t even see straight.
Look at their reaction to this Abramoff scandal. They’re talking about “a lobby reform package.” We don’t need a lobby reform package, you dimwits, we need full public financing of campaigns, and every single one of you who spends half your time whoring after special interest contributions knows it. The Abramoff scandal is a once in a lifetime gift-a perfect lesson on what’s wrong with the system being laid out for people to see. Run with it, don’t mess around with little patches, and fix the system.
As usual, the Democrats have forty good issues on their side and want to run on thirty-nine of them. Here are three they should stick to:
1) Iraq is making terrorism worse; it’s a breeding ground. We need to extricate ourselves as soon as possible. We are not helping the Iraqis by staying.
2) Full public financing of campaigns so as to drive the moneylenders from the halls of Washington.
3) Single-payer health insurance.
Every Democrat I talk to is appalled at the sheer gutlessness and spinelessness of the Democratic performance. The party is still cringing at the thought of being called, ooh-ooh, “unpatriotic” by a bunch of rightwingers.
Take “unpatriotic” and shove it. How dare they do this to our country? “Unpatriotic”? These people have ruined the American military! Not to mention the economy, the middle class, and our reputation in the world. Everything they touch turns to dirt, including Medicare prescription drugs and hurricane relief.
This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.
Who are these idiots talking about Warner of Virginia? Being anodyne is not sufficient qualification for being President. And if there’s nobody in Washington and we can’t find a Democratic governor, let’s run Bill Moyers, or Oprah, or some university president with ethics and charisma.
What happens now is not up to the has-beens in Washington who run this party. It is up to us. So let’s get off our butts and start building a progressive movement that can block the nomination of Hillary Clinton or any other candidate who supposedly has “all the money sewed up.”
I am tired of having the party nomination decided before the first primary vote is cast, tired of having the party beholden to the same old Establishment money.
We can raise our own money on the Internet, and we know it. Howard Dean raised $42 million, largely on the web, with a late start when he was running for President, and that ain’t chicken feed. If we double it, it gives us the lock on the nomination. So let’s go find a good candidate early and organize the shit out of our side.
Forum posts
8 March 2006, 15:47
I beg to differ with you on whom we should have as our Democratic Presidential Candidate. Dennis Kucinich would be a fine president. It would be "nice" to have an intelligent man in the White House!
From what I have seen of Rep. Kucinich, he genuinely cares about this country. I’m just amazed that such a man could get elected in Ohio.
9 March 2006, 00:10
One of Kucinich’s main campaign planks in 2004 is one that Ivins mentions. Single-payer health insurance. Here is what Miss Piggy had to say about Kucinich in August of 2003: "Can’t elect a guy that short and skinny, not to mention vegetarian." (Actually he’s a vegan.) The Porker threw her weight (all of it) behind John Kerry.
9 March 2006, 00:17
Guess I’m slipping. I forgot Dennis also supported the other two ideas. He led the fight in the House to keep us out of Iraq. He introduced the Department of Peace plan. He has been a strong supporter of public financing of campaigns. He is also the least weatlthy person in the House. So Dennis met all three of what Miss Piggy says she wants.
9 March 2006, 01:05
I don’t know what Molly’s problem with Dennis was(You think she would have been able to overlook the ridiculous treatment of congressman Kucinich at the hands of the corporate media)...
...but maybe she’s waking up to how bad it really is and saying "I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore" You think she would have been able to overlook the ridiculous treatment of congressman Kucinich at the hands of the corporate media.
And I agree with previous posters- I trust the presidency to Dennis Kucinich!
9 March 2006, 02:38
Allow me just a moment of your time to outline what I believe are the ONLY THREE ISSUES on which all candidates for Congressional elections should run.
These three issues are central to the immediate future of our nation and every candidate - Democrat and Republican alike - should be forced to take a strong public stance on these critical issues.
In order of importance:
1. Impeachment of the President and Vice President for (take your pick) lying us into war in Iraq, stealing the 2004 election, breaking the law by illegally wiretapping American citizens, leaking classified information (the Valerie Plame-Wilson case), other various crimes and treasonous activity.
2. Immediate withdrawal and removal of our troops from Iraq. There is no argument on this issue. It’s been a colossal failure for which we will need to make reparations.
3. Repeal of the Patriot Act. This law must be repealed in entirety. The proof is that so few arrests have been made through use of the Patriot Act that it is superfluous. American justice survived perfectly well within the parameters of our Constitution for over 200 years and there simply is no reason to have this profoundly repressive law on the backs of the US citizenry.
All others issues can be handled once these three are taken to account. Election reform, health care, taxes, campaign finance reform, etc., will all be handled by a new Congress which understands that their constituents are American CITIZENS, not lobbyists for globalist corporate interests.
That’s all, for now. Put these issues first. Forget everything else and force the politicians to say: yes, I will support or co-sponsor impeachment legislation; Yes, I will vote to remove our troops from Iraq at the soonest possible moment; Yes, I will support or co-sponsor legislation to repeal the Patriot Act in entirety.
Rick Gagliano is the publisher of Downtown Magazine. On the net: http://www.dtmagazine.com