What is the lesson of November 5, 2002? It is simple really.
It all comes down
to one major overriding factor. A free press that encourages fierce
investigative
journalism of government and institutions, and promotes free and open debate
with
an array of divergent views and opinions is the single most brilliant vision
of our
founding fathers. For over two hundred years, as a nation, we found
ways to preserve
and encourage that vision, until greedy, right wing, corporate robber barons
realized
that was the one central roadblock that stood in their way. Purchasing
a political party
was not enough, but purchasing America's broadcast airwaves was just the
prescription
needed to insure success.
Do you think that the biggest blunder of Bill Clinton's political career
was his tryst with
Monica Lewinsky when he knew the world would be watching? If you
should think so,
you would be wrong. Bagman Ronald Reagan delivered the Fairness Doctrine
to his
corporate sponsors on a silver platter, but when Bill Clinton signed a
bill that allowed
consolidation of media ownership, a free press was finished in America.
Democratic
leadership seems to have no clue why the media has turned against them,
nor are they
willing to take responsibility for the situation. I suggest that
they go back to school and
read the founders' comments on the reasons for a free press until they
understand that
the term does not identify newspapers published at no cost to the reader.
What is it that the Democrats fear which prevents them from conducting
a partisan debate?
It is not Republicans, issues or the American people that congressional
Democrats fear.
What they fear is how they will be portrayed to the constituents in their
districts by
broadcast news if they oppose the truly repugnant Republican agenda.
The Democratic
Leadership Council, designed to attempt to match the Republicans in corporate
donations,
fails because they are unable to realize that, whether or not they take
in more dollars,
no amount of money can compete with constant Republican campaign promotion
in regular,
daily, twenty-four hour "news" cycles. And here, where you see the
word news in quotes,
you should read that as nothing more nor less than propaganda.
Democrats have knelt down before an illegitimate president hoping to blend
sufficiently with
Republicans to avoid the media attacks. That hasn't worked, and it
won't. This class of the
elite is perfectly happy to have tamed Democrats around in order for the
poor, the middle class,
minorities, labor, and the elderly to feel that there is hope in a two
party system, so long as the
Democrats know their minority place. And what we have left is a shell
with no remaining parties.
We have corporate representatives, a few valiant survivors, and many who
hide in the hallways
of the capitol, hoping not to be noticed. For the latter, a political
career is all they have or know,
and when weighed against that, democracy is just too damned much trouble.
In short, there is no longer any long term hope for the Constitution of
the United State of America
unless an active, fair and balanced, Fourth Estate, less concerned with
profit than with ethics and duty,
is reestablished within our national borders. When NBC presents Rush
Limbaugh to provide its
election night coverage, there is no longer hope that the left can find
a voice in the American media.
When a few, unrestricted mega corporations own the White House, Congress,
the judiciary and the
media, the best we can expect is war for our children, and occasional charity
for the unprotected.
We are certain to see the rapid erosion of the middle class, and the elimination
of the rights of labor.
Healthcare? No. Medicine for the elderly? Only if one
should be wealthy enough to afford it.
Education for the children? Unnecessary, unless born (re: selected
by God) into the ruling class.
There will be damage done over the next two years that will not heal for
generations to come.
Perhaps never. And the damage already done to the Fourth Estate may
well be permanent.
But I am a fighter by nature. I've often been told that I don't know
when to give up. Yet I'm
comfortable with this "flaw" in me. Enough so that I will now demand
that same character flaw
from each and every Democratic representative.
There is a chance, however slim that we can yet take back America from
the rightward goose
steppers who are now in control of the Republican party, and the four branches
of American politics.
We will have to be relentless in everything we do, and forever pressure
our elected Democrats.
We must demand that they be vocal, we must demand that they take action,
and we, ourselves,
must back them up on a nationally organized, grassroots level. And
whatever our disagreements
on the progressive left, we must learn to do what we thought, up to now,
was the impossible.
We must learn to speak in unison, and with one voice. We must learn
to find compromise among
ourselves, yet be uncompromising with the opposition.
Our first priority must be to notify every Democratic Representative in
the House that we demand
Nancy Pelosi be elected as House Minority Leader. The alternative
is Martin Frost from Texas
who has promised to deliver more Republicanism Lite. He advocates
informing the electorate
that Democrats are not responsible for the bad economy and that Democrats
support George Bush's
war efforts against Iraq. Frost is dead wrong!
Democrats must propose solutions to our economic problems while casting
blame for corporate
corruption where it is due. Voters don't want to know what a politician
didn't do, but rather what
he will do. Also, there are no polls to suggest, even skewed polls,
that Americans are married to
Bush on a war with Iraq. Democrats must offer a viable solution to
controlling Hussein without
sending America's children off to die. And we must frame that issue
in exactly that light. All politics
eventually become personal, and if we want more people to vote we must
begin to acknowledge,
and to promote that fact.
I had the honor of meeting Nancy Pelosi at a Votermarch rally in San Francisco
shortly after the
stolen election of 2000. Ms. Pelosi was the only elected politician
who showed up to speak. And she
spoke of the rights of voters with eloquence and grace. She is fully
aware of the color of the national
media. She is passionate, and she is committed. It is because of
her efforts as Minority Whip that the
majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against Bush's
war resolution.
She is a shining light in the Democratic party. She should be the
first female Speaker of the House
in the history of this country.
As Minority Leader, there is no question that Nancy Pelosi will be a hunted
woman by the national
media and the Republican party. They will accuse her of everything
from conspiring with Saddam
to having sex with rodents. It will need to be the job of every Democratic
member of Congress to
rise to her defense, and we must do the same on a grassroots level.
She has worked hard to protect
our back, and we must do the same for her.
It is no longer sufficient to complain that the media presents no progressive
voice. We know the
current rules of this playing field, and we must learn to win using the
house rules. We must seize
every opening, and take advantage of every opportunity. We must present
facts quickly and concisely,
while anticipating what tactics will be used by media hosts and Republican
guests. We need to frame
important questions that are easily asked, but not easily answered, while
willing to phrase solutions that
are solid in logic, short enough for a sound bite, and inescapable in their
honesty.
And finally, a message to those politicians who still call themselves proud
Democrats. Confronted with
a biased media, there is no public attention without controversy.
If you are not willing to do battle with
this administration, you will garner no attention, and you will not gain
voter support. While you must pick
your battles carefully, you must be ferocious with your arguments.
It is incumbent on you to never forget
your constituency while seeking a national spotlight. Spend more
time in your districts, consistently write
letters for publication in local papers, and seek every opportunity to
appear on local television.
Nobody in Washington knows your districts better than you. If you
have a personal relationship with the
people who elected you, it will be far more difficult to blindside you.
Walk among your people. If you
want to retake America in 2004, you need to start campaigning now!