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CHECK US OUT AT: http://delawareliberal.wordpress.com/Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Green Ego Trip Down Memory Lane
Waaaay back in December of 2005, Dana at Delawarewatch wrote:
A large part of my decision to quit the Democratic Party and join the Green Party was because I knew before the Iraq invasion that Saddam did not have nuclear or chemical weapons.(snip) I wondered how it was possible that I could discover this information in my spare time, but Congressional Democrats, with all the research capabilities available to them, could miss the obvious mendacity of the Bush administration's claims.
I saw the same events unfold. I knew the WMD pretext was crap. I saw what a sad and pathetic waste of space the Democratic party had turned into. But I also saw Senator Bryd calling for a debate. I heard Howard Dean say that the President was making us less safe in his wrecklessness.
My reaction was to join the Democratic party and try to fix it rather than quit it. In people like Byrd and Dean I heard the true voice of the Democratic party. I knew - and still know that the Democratic party is our best hope.
Prior to the events Dana described, I had always voted for Democrats, but I left the management of the party to people I imagined to be professionals. When I joined the Democrats I found, not a party run by professionals, but a party run by worn out volunteers who were desperate for some fresh blood. It was, and still is, ready and willing to be taken over by liberal activists.
The "Green" protest vote may be soothing. Imagining some kind of grand conspiracy might give a sense of order to ones life, however - if you are truly interested in creating a country that lives up to its highest ideals, the only choice is the Democratic party. Wishing it were different is like a child wishing it was Christmas everyday.
The Democratic party not only has the infrastructure to take on the Republicans, it is reformable. This is not my opion - this is a fact I see being played out everday. It is being reformed from within by people like Jack Markell and Howard Dean. It is being reformed from the outside by people like Richard Korn, John Kowalko and Karen Peterson. These people are changing the Democratic party back into a party of conscience and social justice.
Now more than ever, working and voting for the Green Party is just wrong. It is simply wrong to waste your liberal energy and talents on a party other than the Democrats. (Unless you secretly like George Bush, then it makes sense.)
A large part of my decision to quit the Democratic Party and join the Green Party was because I knew before the Iraq invasion that Saddam did not have nuclear or chemical weapons.(snip) I wondered how it was possible that I could discover this information in my spare time, but Congressional Democrats, with all the research capabilities available to them, could miss the obvious mendacity of the Bush administration's claims.
I saw the same events unfold. I knew the WMD pretext was crap. I saw what a sad and pathetic waste of space the Democratic party had turned into. But I also saw Senator Bryd calling for a debate. I heard Howard Dean say that the President was making us less safe in his wrecklessness.
My reaction was to join the Democratic party and try to fix it rather than quit it. In people like Byrd and Dean I heard the true voice of the Democratic party. I knew - and still know that the Democratic party is our best hope.
Prior to the events Dana described, I had always voted for Democrats, but I left the management of the party to people I imagined to be professionals. When I joined the Democrats I found, not a party run by professionals, but a party run by worn out volunteers who were desperate for some fresh blood. It was, and still is, ready and willing to be taken over by liberal activists.
The "Green" protest vote may be soothing. Imagining some kind of grand conspiracy might give a sense of order to ones life, however - if you are truly interested in creating a country that lives up to its highest ideals, the only choice is the Democratic party. Wishing it were different is like a child wishing it was Christmas everyday.
The Democratic party not only has the infrastructure to take on the Republicans, it is reformable. This is not my opion - this is a fact I see being played out everday. It is being reformed from within by people like Jack Markell and Howard Dean. It is being reformed from the outside by people like Richard Korn, John Kowalko and Karen Peterson. These people are changing the Democratic party back into a party of conscience and social justice.
Now more than ever, working and voting for the Green Party is just wrong. It is simply wrong to waste your liberal energy and talents on a party other than the Democrats. (Unless you secretly like George Bush, then it makes sense.)
posted by jason # 9:09 AM 
Comments:
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In my view, the purpose of political campaigns is to win elections and govern. As a friend of mine once said, "If you want to send a message, pick up the phone."
Yes, many in Congress were cowed (and lied to) at the time of the Iraq vote. I remember Senator Byrd standing up then and calling for the debate that we as a country are only now having.
I am proud that the Democratic Party is more and more acting like a forthright and increasingly effective opposition party. And by the way, criticizing the way our country is being mismanaged is not a question of how liberal or left one is; a moderate can be as outspoken as a liberal in opposition to the way BushCo is making a mess of things.
Yes, many in Congress were cowed (and lied to) at the time of the Iraq vote. I remember Senator Byrd standing up then and calling for the debate that we as a country are only now having.
I am proud that the Democratic Party is more and more acting like a forthright and increasingly effective opposition party. And by the way, criticizing the way our country is being mismanaged is not a question of how liberal or left one is; a moderate can be as outspoken as a liberal in opposition to the way BushCo is making a mess of things.
The Greens need to keep at it on the local level.
The biggest goof of all was their not figuring out that a vote for Nadar in 2000 was a vote for BUSH.
Nadar should have stepped down...and then again the stupid WLV and others SHOULD HAVE given Nadar a place in the debates ir he maight not have been so stubbornly hell bent to screw us all over.
(he has an ego-problem or he has been bought)
The public good was ill served with the election of these neo-cons.
The biggest goof of all was their not figuring out that a vote for Nadar in 2000 was a vote for BUSH.
Nadar should have stepped down...and then again the stupid WLV and others SHOULD HAVE given Nadar a place in the debates ir he maight not have been so stubbornly hell bent to screw us all over.
(he has an ego-problem or he has been bought)
The public good was ill served with the election of these neo-cons.
# posted by 
: 12:56 PM
: 12:56 PM
The league of Women voters stopped doing the debates a while back, but I agree.
The Greens are a valuable assset for the radical right-wing of the republican party. I think they should primary Democrats, not skim votes off during general elections.
The Greens are a valuable assset for the radical right-wing of the republican party. I think they should primary Democrats, not skim votes off during general elections.
I'm surprised you guys are down on the radical third-party candidate. If it wasn't for a radical third-party candidate in '92 and '96, we'd be working on 25 straight years of Republican Presidents.
# posted by : 5:24 PM
: 5:24 PM
"In my view, the purpose of political campaigns is to win elections and govern"
You are sort of right.....their purpose is to win elections, which does NOT suit them to govern. Yet we are governed by all of the artificial crap surrounding their real purpose. Governance and policy are always taking a back seat to partisan considerations and to all our detriment.
Those who say parties only exist to win elections are right, but those who make winning elections for their party their only contribution to governance are just WRONG!
It is no coincidence that those who beat their chests and say 'my country, right or wrong' are the same minds that would say 'my party, right or wrong'. Either view is corrupt. Wrong is wrong and it should not be a price we all pay so a few can win their elections.
Post a Comment
You are sort of right.....their purpose is to win elections, which does NOT suit them to govern. Yet we are governed by all of the artificial crap surrounding their real purpose. Governance and policy are always taking a back seat to partisan considerations and to all our detriment.
Those who say parties only exist to win elections are right, but those who make winning elections for their party their only contribution to governance are just WRONG!
It is no coincidence that those who beat their chests and say 'my country, right or wrong' are the same minds that would say 'my party, right or wrong'. Either view is corrupt. Wrong is wrong and it should not be a price we all pay so a few can win their elections.
# posted by : 3:55 PM
: 3:55 PMSubscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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