Perhaps our choice is unity or tyranny.

[democrank]

The kingly menace operating out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has forced me to rethink the merits of my long-held idealism. I was certain that a courageous person would rise above the muck and deliver inspirational messages and concrete proposals to a citizenry eager for activism. The pro-war candidates could go lick their rejection wounds while my hero (or heroine) would search the attics of the Ninth Ward, troubleshoot with unemployed steel workers, serve meals at a soup kitchen and repair a minimum wager`s muffler at The Good News Garage. The peril this country faces under continued Republican rule has become far more important than my steadfast support for Democratic candidate "X" or adherence to a long list of Must-Dos.

This country is suffering. I don`t care how many cruises we go on or how many golf clubs we buy, we`re suffering. The chasm between rich and poor is growing wider by the day. Many loved ones are trapped in a near civil war thousands of miles away. We`re awash in personal and national debt. Nearly every institution we`ve cherished has been sullied. We don`t even know if our votes are counted or if our personal information and communications are private. Congress has pork-barreled us to death at the same time they`re cutting housing for the disabled and these same folks can`t even muster up the decency to hold constructive hearings on warrantless wiretaps.

Congress` dereliction of duty and the Bush administration`s despotic secrecy is a very dangerous combination. Ask the infiltrated Quakers. Ask the "few bad apples" following their torture orders. Ask the folks looking for our missing billions in Iraq.

This is so much bigger than our contest among Democratic candidates. If the Rubber Stamp Republicans aren`t stopped, we won`t even recognize our own country. Maybe we`d better do everything in our power to unite this party. Do the big job first...defeat Republicans... then we can work on our differences. I`m not saying we shouldn`t place demands on our Democratic leaders, I`m saying that ANY Democrat would be better than this hideous mess running things now.

[jwirr]

1. I am a delegate to the county convention this weekend.

I will be working for progressive issues but I will also be keeping your post here in mind. Thank you.

[IndianaGreen]

2. The actual choice is between impeachment or tyranny!

If Congress does not remove the Criminal-in-Chief, and the rest of his thugs, we will lose the Republic for good!

[Warpy]

3. Exactly right, and we won't be served by uniting behind a pack

of scacred shitless wimps who won't stand up for their constituents or their country. To hell with the lot of them.

Stupid is more likely to be thrown out by his own party than he is by the spineless do nothings on the Democratic side of the aisle.

[welshTerrier2]

4. nope ...

not the path i'm choosing ... your post is thoughtful ... but i'm just not going to give my vote away without having a voice ...

no need to convince me of the dangers we face with more republican tyranny ... but i don't accept the idea that we have to win FIRST and then we can try to make progress ... the people you'll elect with this approach will completely ignore you just as they are now ... you will have no voice, no vote, no power ...

if Democrats want my vote, they're going to have to earn it ... does this mean i'm a rigid, inflexible purist? that's nonsense ... i'm more than willing to sit down and exchange ideas with elite Democrats ... i'm willing to listen; i'm willing to compromise; i am not willing to be taken for granted ... and that's just what has been happening ...

the Party wants my money; they want my work; they don't want my opinions ...

what needs to change is not a shift to the right or a shift to the left ... what needs to change isn't an exact position on any given issue ... what needs to change is the process of communication in the Party ...

if the Party wants to win, i suggest they make a greater effort listening to those who feel alienated from what the Party's been doing ... this includes the left and it also, very importantly, includes those who have stopped voting completely ... it's time to stop criticizing these potential voting blocks and start making an effort to be more inclusive ...

when we represent more voters, we get more votes ...

[randr]

5. The seriousness of the situation, as you so well

state, requires that we move beyond party boundary's and begin to recognize that the unity we so desperately need is one of national unity.
An awakening of all Americans, regardless of party, to the importance of what we are about to lose and an emergence of true patriotic DUTY.
Profound opportunities of international cooperation were lost following 9/11 do to the failures of the temporary help in Washington.
We, as American citizens, can not afford to make the same mistake and ignore the opportunity to move beyond the imposed divisions among us.