Subject: Why Don't Democrats Fight?
 

I'm a Democrat. I''ve called myself a "Yellow-Dog", and I've heard the
question asked lately, "Why don't we fight?" It's a good question.

Of all the issues and questions confronting our party at the moment, I
believe we need to focus on this one and answer it. In doing so, maybe
we'll find the will to fight.

First, I'll look within myself and try to identify any thoughts or
philosophies that might rise up to dilute my fightin' instincts. Maybe
some of you will recognize something we have in common as Democrats.

1. Are we Democrats simply too forgiving? Does this come with being a
Liberal? Further, do we have an innate recognition and appreciation for
the fact that others (in this   case the GOP) can differ with us and still
be worthy of our respect? Are we, as Democrats simply more tolerant, and
therefore step out of the way and let them take a turn at the wheel?
(When we really ought to throw them overboard)

2. Do many Democrats, deep down inside, wonder if sometimes the GOP
isn't right? Do we have misgivings that minorities really are taking over?
That perhaps abortion is an  absolute wrong? To go further, were many
mainstream Democrats so ashamed at Bill Clinton's personal behavior
that when confronted with it, we find ourselves      unable to gain a solid
footing from which to fight? Think of how deeply ingrained in the American
psyche is the truth that in order to prevail, one must have the moral high
ground? Has our collective "will to fight" been compromised in some way?

3. Do we wonder if, perchance, we just got lucky with the last 8 years of the
economy, and that a downturn was inevitable, no matter who won this election?

4. Do many of us wonder if maybe there was something to all the GOP shouts
about counting "dimpled" and "hanging" chads? Are many Democrats tuned
into "spin", and        astute enough to spot it even when it's from our own party?
In other words, we're not sheep...and therefore we suspect even our own leadership?

5. Does being liberal make many of us susceptible to pie-in-the-sky bullshit from
people like Ralph Nader? Are we so concerned for the environment and other lofty
ideals that we forget to be pragmatic? Have we forgotten that to change anything,
you first have to win? How often have you seen a "Bush-Cheney" sticker next to
one of those "Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Love"
stickers on the bumper of an old Volvo? In fact, that Volvo probably has a
Deadhead sticker and maybe an "Eracism", or "Greenpeace"  sticker, too.
Those won't even stick to Suburbans or Expeditions, will they?

In closing, I think the GOP beat us because they got on a war footing.
They "militarized" their party, and now they've conquered. They're in the
White House now, and they're talking to us the same way we talked to the
Germans and the Japanese after we kicked their asses..."The War is over, and
now let's rebuild"  Yeah, rebuild...as per their blueprints. Don't think that there
weren't centrist Germans and Japanese who acknowledged defeat in  '44-'45,
but bristled at US plans...they just didn't speak because they knew they were
the losers. It's been 50 years now, and they still don't bitch much, do they?

They came, They saw, They conquered, and here the Democratic Party sits,
lacking the aggressiveness, skills or tools to do a damn thing about it.
All we can do, unless we fundamentally change our party into an aggressive,
winner-take-all, scorched-earth son-of-a-bitch of war machine (like the GOP),
is come to BartCop.com and crack jokes and laugh at funny cartoons, then have
a drink, smoke our favorite green vegetable matter, and watch TV.
Not there's anything wrong with that, but...

We have mid-term elections coming up in two years. I'm all for comic
relief and having fun with politics, but it needs to be taken as relief from the very
serious business of transforming our current pussy-whipped excuse for a party
into an instrument of power that will further our version of the American Dream.
To do it, all good Democrats must believe with every fiber of their being that our
agenda is closer to what the Founding Fathers laid out than the selfish, elitist, racist
travesty that was just installed in Washington...and then get pissed to the point of
action. If you don't do anything else, find your local Democratic Party organization
(ours is theBay Area Democrats)...and at least get on their mailing list. Many
of these groups throw lots of good parties, too.

Democrats, get mean.
Please?

Doug Bounds