Progressives Are the Conscience of America, We Are Her Future
Rusty
It’s always been the same old story. Republicans are “strong”, Democrats are “weak.” This has been the frame ever since Joe McCarthy smeared his way to national prominence fifty years ago. Despite the reality that Democratic presidents and congresses led America to victory in the First and Second World Wars, Democrats are “weak.” Despite the reality that it was a Democratic president who triumphed in the Cuban Missile Crisis, Democrats are “weak.” Despite the reality that a Democratic president and a Democratic Supreme Commander of NATO won the war in Kosovo without one American casualty, Democrats are “weak.”
How can we try to explain? How can we reason with people who are deaf to reason?
In the shadows where these people gather, staying the course in Iraq is heroic, even though that course has brought us nothing but shame and global condemnation. Every evening, as the Washington cocktail parties begin, another dawn breaks in Baghdad and trucks roll up to the Al-Tub al-Adli morgue, bearing the mangled corpses of Iraqi men, women, and children. The Sunday Times reports that many of the bodies of these victims of Baghdad’s nightly slaughter “are pocked with holes inflicted by torturers with power drills. Some show signs of strangulation; others, with hands tied behind the back, bear bullet wounds. Many are charred and dismembered.”
Democrats who are calling upon America to find a way to end this mindless carnage are slandered as cowards eager to cut and run. Tim Russert and Joe Klein and Paula Zahn, perpetually aglow from mingling with Rove and Mehlman and the GOP elite on the Georgetown party circuit, can be counted on the protect The Decider and his Grand Old Party, and to disparage Democrats as “weak, divided, and about to “get creamed” again by Rove in the midterms.
Once upon a time in America, we had journalists who cared about the truth. They sought it and proclaimed it, but those days are gone. We had leaders who actually governed. They sought accord and valued it, but those days are gone. We were respected in the world. We sought that respect and earned it, but those days are gone. Americans are staggering into the twilight of democracy. They are afraid of losing their freedom, but they are even more afraid of defending it. That would require confronting Republicans, and everyone knows what happens to people who confront Republicans.
Not so long ago, a Republican president stood upon a battlefield in Pennsylvania and implored Americans to honor the sacrifice of the fallen by ensuring that government of the people, by the people, and for the people would not perish from the earth. But the heirs of Abraham Lincoln have betrayed the idealism that forged the Republican Party, and have replaced it with extortion, exploitation, and corruption.
So fear stalks the land of the no longer free and no longer brave. Republican power is the God of this land, and all must bow down to it. No matter how many perish, no matter how many suffer, no matter how much it costs.
As progressives, there’s so much we’ve had to go through. Countless times, we tried to make a difference, and managed to overcome the pain we felt inside as defeat followed defeat, for we knew that giving up has never been an option. Evil flourishes when good people remain silent, and that has never been truer than in this Age of Rove, which reeks of evil everywhere we look.
Liars and thieves rule this country we love, and profit from our affliction. Our taxpayer dollars are used to bludgeon us into submission to corporate overlords, our courts are becoming the temples of theocrats, and our laws are little more than scraps of paper to be ignored into oblivion by George W. Bush. So we must ask ourselves, can people who brandish lawlessness as a partisan weapon be brought down by Patrick Fitzgerald, or by anyone serving in The Decider’s Department of “Justice”?
I used to think so. I don’t anymore. Fitz may get Cheney, some of us may even live long enough to see it, but Republican power is so entrenched in the federal bureaucracy, the courts, the Pentagon, the intelligence community, and the subverted electoral system that restoring democracy to America is going to require a tidal wave of Democratic pickups in the House and Senate this November. Beyond the Netroots, no one even dares whisper impeachment. Beyond the Netroots, no one dares accuse The Decider’s thugs of stealing the last two presidential elections. Only Democratic domination of Congress can end this nightmare, and that will only happen if progressive activists and bloggers intensify their efforts beyond anything ever seen before in the history of American politics.
Bush may plunge us into war with Iran by August. A “terrorist attack” on America may trigger that war, but no matter how dark it may get, we are the light that will never, ever die. Progressives are the conscience of America, we are her future.
Long ago, a homeless man wept as he beheld the iniquity all around him. Before he was arrested, tortured, and executed for telling the truth, he said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely.”
We have mourned for far too long. We have been reviled and persecuted by modern-day Philistines and their Sanhedrin, but we shall be comforted by our faith in our cause, and we will redeem this country.
Comment # 1 ~ Alma ~ 06/22/2006 17:53 GMT People beyond the net don't seem to have a clue what needs to be done. They have never been given the facts of what is really happening in our country and they don't seem to care anyway.
The ignorance and lack of discussion out in the communities astounds me. We need to bring it home to everyone. I'm sure if they were informed of the real state of affairs they would care, so I see it as our main job to get the facts out into the non-blogosphere.
One day peace will reign again. The waiting is hard, but justice will come.
Comment # 2 ~ tahoebasha1 ~ 06/22/2006 18:57 GMT It's hard to decipher which area of complicity is the worst, as combined, complicity with the Executive Branch of this government and the Republican Party, as so well expressed by Rusty, has entrenched us all in the most nightmarish circumstances this country has ever known. The magnitude of the problems are awesome. Of course, the media, as complicit with the government and the GOP, has created double the efforts that are needed to fight this horrendous condition of our country.
Here is but one paragraph from an article in the NY Times today, which shows the mindset so well of the GOP and the Executive Branch:
". . . . But people who attended a series of high-level meetings this month between White House and Congressional officials say President Bush's aides argued that it could be a politically fatal mistake for Republicans to walk away from the war in an election year. . . . "
G.O.P. Decides to Embrace War as Issue
The more we get the truth out to ordinary citizens the better it will be. Talk to people, as and when you can. Write, write, and write letters to the editors. Do everything you can to help disseminate TRUTH about the GOP and the Executive Branch. As, Rusty says, it will depend on progressives to get the job done!
Comment # 3 ~ tahoebasha1 ~ 06/22/2006 19:01 GMT Sorry about link -- just join and you can receive The New York Times daily via e-mail, etc. and you get this link.
Comment # 4 ~ Rusty ~ 06/23/2006 01:33 GMT As Tahoe and Alma have expressed so well in their commentaries, progressive activism is the only cure for this plague of ignorance and apathy afflicting America. Everyone must speak out, join a blog, write letters to the editor, and support progressive candidates.
Comment # 5 ~ Alma ~ 06/23/2006 05:11 GMT Good to see that this was in the diary rescue at KOS tonight.
Comment # 6 ~ Alma ~ 06/23/2006 05:53 GMT This is what SusanG, the blogger that rescued Rustys diary at KOS had to say about it:
Rusty1776's Progressives Are the Conscience of America is a beautiful manifesto of progressive beliefs, managing to be both full of sorrow and hope at the same time. Really great writing on display.
Comment # 7 ~ Rusty ~ 06/23/2006 07:49 GMT Thank you, Alma. I should send SusanG a CodePink t-shirt for such kind words about my KOS diary. It just so happens that I have an extra one handy, due in part to the generosity of you and Tahoe, but particularly because of Tahoe's oversight activities regarding the United States Postal Service.
Comment # 8 ~ topperfalls ~ 06/23/2006 18:21 GMT This is grand of course, but the lunkheads who keep voting in the Santorums and DeLay's wont respond to such lyrical intelligence. We need our own "Cut and run" type slogans that combat the wingnuts at their most basic level of operation- emotional, patriotic, etc.
Obama's recent email suggests "Had enough?" which I think is a good start. The Dems need a PR expert, and God knows Pelosi and Dean and Reid just dont cut it--they dont demand respect and attention at all--just go head to head with these idiots on an AOL board andyou'll see how simple and illiterate most are, and what we have to contend with.. intelligent words alone won't win the elections in the fall, which is a MUST...so how can Coulter, Cheney, Rove and the gang keep getting away with it over and over? how can another "last throes" comment not get laughed off the air? the media just gulp it down and we let them...
Comment # 9 ~ topperfalls ~ 06/23/2006 18:25 GMT and another thing! lol ... it seems like a simple denial is all it takes to get reporters to back off these days... Snow says "we've answered that" or "we want to look forward" to the Rove follow ups and so, voila!, that's it...
why didn't Clinton get away with that with Monica? It's about lawsuits, so I hope Rove and Ohio both get sued pronto!
I think Dems totally underestimate the depth of the arrogance and powerhungry evil they're dealing with, and play to people's intellect, not their emotions, which in this country is a bad, bad idea...
Comment # 10 ~ Rusty ~ 06/23/2006 19:27 GMT Good points, Topperfalls. The RePugs have always understood that connecting with voters on an emotional level is what wins elections. Our Slogan Contest is one of our efforts to penetrate the thick skulls of Joe and Mindy America. That is hard work, so I hereby challenge you, Topperfalls, to top my feeble slogan: "Lying and Spying Whie People are Dying is Leadership?"
Comment # 11 ~ Rusty ~ 06/23/2006 19:30 GMT Sorry about the typo, the slogan is "Lying and Spying While People are Dying is Leadership?"
Comment # 12 ~ tahoebasha1 ~ 06/24/2006 01:32 GMT Rusty, just saw your above article cross-posted at DailyKos and 24 excellent comments thereto. Progressives Are the Conscience of America, We Are Her Future
In particular, Susan G.'s Diaries Up for Rescue, as noted by Alma, and Susan G.'s comment: "Rusty1776's Progressives Are the Conscience of America is a beautiful manifesto of progressive beliefs, managing to be both full of sorrow and hope at the same time. Really great writing on display."
(I hope links work for all to see.) href=http://www.dailykos.com/user/uid:8411/>Susan G
Well deserved, Rusty.
Comment # 13 ~ tahoebasha1 ~ 06/24/2006 01:35 GMT Sorry about last link. Susan G
Comment # 14 ~ Rusty ~ 06/24/2006 02:39 GMT Thank you, Tahoe,
Progressives deserve a tribute, they are the only people telling the truth in this GOP wasteland of lies.
Comment # 15 ~ Topperfalls ~ 06/24/2006 14:30 GMT Kerry's "Lie and Die" isnt bad, but kinda negative... I still dont udnerstand how the media can let Cheney get away with his absurd comments, it's like, Dick will say, the sky is falling, and CNN will run the headline "Cheney says sky is falling" ... this is reporting? Again, it's about finding ann emotional connection that penetrates all but the most thick headed red staters (they are lost causes but only about 30 percent of the country)... so we have 70 percent to work with... I mean can we send out Dem leaders to a PR class already? just venting this am, hope to have a creative brainstorm soon!
Comment # 16 ~ topperfalls ~ 06/24/2006 14:32 GMT oops, I think "Had enough?" is actually pretty good... it sums it all up, its vaguely optimistic and open ended ... what could Ann Coulter say about this?
Comment # 17 ~ feline ~ 06/24/2006 14:49 GMT I agree with the assessment that a simple, emotionally impactful, offline message needs to be stated over and over by the Dem candidates.
Comment # 18 ~ feline ~ 06/24/2006 14:50 GMT I agree with the assessment that a simple, emotionally impactful, offline message needs to be stated over and over by the Dem candidates.
Comment # 19 ~ tahoebasha1 ~ 06/24/2006 16:58 GMT Feline, it appears that you definitely agree.
Comment # 20 ~ topperfalls ~ 06/26/2006 17:50 GMT TIme to vent! I want to play on this theme and came up with this... any suggestions?
Had enough, America?
Had enough of half of us being told that we’re terrorist lovers?
Had enough of half of us being told we hate the troops?
Had enough of the moral hypocrisy that makes marriage amendments and flag burning priorities over healthcare, border security and the economy?
Had enough of the “last throes” of the insurgency?
Had enough, America?
I’m one of the millions of proud Democrats who loves America and fiercely supports our troops, but I also love honesty, genuine morality and truth. We’ve been manipulated, disrespected and lied to by the Republican leadership, whose only response is to “Swift Boat” and demonize those who disagree with them. I’m all for free speech, but it’s high time for a Democratic leader to stand up for us and state the obvious.
Comment # 21 ~ Rusty ~ 06/26/2006 22:31 GMT That's good venting, it should be a letter to the editor. We have to take our message into America's "newspapers" and onto talk radio airwaves.
Comment # 22 ~ topperfalls ~ 06/27/2006 03:42 GMT right on, why try to be intellectual with types that can barely spell? the message needs to be short, sweet and use reverse psychology to some extent... logic and reason dont resonate, we know that from the last election... by the way, how about we ask all the editors in America, if Rush Limbaugh is such a valiant conservative, what's he doing with Viagra, being unmarried and all? must be keeping his 'mistress' happy... the hypocrisy is so laughable!
Comment # 23 ~ Rusty ~ 07/28/2006 19:23 GMT Topperfalls, we're still waiting for your frontpage article. Have your people call our people so we can get this arranged.
Comment # 24 ~ feline ~ 08/01/2006 08:04 GMT Topperfalls, I can't wait to meet you in the chatroom one of these days, too.
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