My response to a personal funding request from DSCC "Grow a SPINE or NOT ONE DIME!!!"

[calimary]

It came from [e-mail] - but it was written by a fellow who's sent out emails before -

Dear J.P. -

Please pass this along to our nearly-deaf Senate leadership:

NOT ANOTHER NICKEL until:

1) We get a ROBUST PUBLIC OPTION - that covers EVERYONE.
2) Dems grow some backbone and STOP CAVING to the GOP (hey! Did you hear the news last November? The GOP LOST. Repeat: LOST. WHY are we still treating them like they won?).
3) YANK joe lieberman's committee chairmanship - AND other perks. WHY is he allowed to continue enjoying these privileges, and WHY do the Dems continue to reward his bad behavior? Would you raise your kids that way, condoning and ignoring and rewarding their bad behavior? If he won't stand with the Dems, the Dems should NO LONGER stand with him. Since when did somebody die and make him God?

I'm sorry, J.P. I worked like a dog ALL last year, blogged, hosted a local radio show, went to meetings, hosted a debate party where we shook down all our friends for the Dems and for Obama, and donated until it hurt. I busted my behind and put virtually everything else in my life on hold for this - so my Dems would take the majorities in both Houses of Congress AND the White House, so we could FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY make some changes and fix some very egregious wrongs.

And what do I get? Continued CAVING to the republi-CONS. Heck, NOBODY among the Dems even says "peep" when those assholes mispronounce our party's NAME!!! Nobody even does anything about THAT!!!!

It's a very poor return on investment for me to donate any more to the Democrats. Besides, it's liable to go to helping some Blue Dog and I have NO interest in that, either.

DEMS WITH SPINE, OR NOT ONE DIME!!!!!

I'm sorry, too, because I ordinarily love helping my Dems, and I know this is disappointing to you as an activist. But you've GOT to carry this message to SOMEONE who's listening in the Democratic Party hierarchy!!! I'm disappointed, too. I'm broken-hearted! I'm one of MILLIONS out here who are so fed up we can't see straight anymore!!!

Sign me -

calimary
UBER-FRUSTRATED LIBERAL-AND-DAMNED-PROUD-OF-IT Democrat

Just thought you guys might like to see this. Plus - maybe another meme or two that might be usable? It kinda rhymes, so it might stick in the mind more easily, too.

I'm just Beyond Frustrated. And my checkbook is CLOSED. No backbone? No bucks.

[ej510]

1. You should've put more emphasis on the special interest.

[calimary]

4. Gotta start somewhere!

One vertebra at a time.

[mkultra]

15. can i just copy and paste your email and send one myself?

maybe they will get the message if we all send emails. OR post a new OP with the suggestion using your text.

[calimary]

16. Absolutely!

I certainly do that anytime I see a great idea here - and DUers tend to come up with TONS of them.

[KaryninMiami]

2. Well stated- Dems with Spine or not one dime- Love it!

Now I'm feeling inspired to give something to Grayson who, unlike most of the rest of them, has a spine!

[calimary]

5. Well, Grayson's an example of behavior that deserves to be rewarded and reinforced.

[Better Today]

3. K&R.

[calimary]

6. Thanks! I only buy backbone these days!

[PBass]

7. I tell them that I only donate to specific candidates now,

because I don't want any of my money going to Blue Dogs.

[calimary]

10. Exactly! I've said that to them myself.

Alan Grayson gets my donations ANY day. ANY DAY!!!! Barbara Boxer too, without hesitation!!! I buy only balls and backbone, not Blue Dogs.

But I've stopped donating to Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in South Dakota. A few years ago I donated to her first campaign when she was running in a special election, and she won, and then she had to run again fairly soon for the regular election. And I gave again. And I'm on her list now - I've received Christmas cards and her wedding and baby announcement by now, too. But she turns out to be a Blue Dog, dammit!!! A fairly substantial Blue Dog at that - I think she either chairs or cochairs that group or is otherwise highly placed in the pecking order there. Too much for me anymore.

And I was so proud of her - AND proud of myself for backing a newbie who was the underdog and I liked her from what I could learn about her, and she won and I was so tickled! Even went around the house dancing and singing about how I'd just bought myself a Congresswoman! Yeah, well, that sure turned out great. :sarcasm:

No more. Can't get my money back but I sure don't have to cough up any more. And I've called her office and said so. NO $$$ for Blue Dogs!!!

[AdHocSolver]

8. The sad fact is that a key segment of the Democratic party leadership is ...

...apparently the puppets of the corporate power elite. There is no other way to explain what has happened in this country during the last several years.

That explains why the Democrats have avoided gaining power during the last nine years, or using what power that they could wield.

This explains the hostility towards Howard Dean when he supported, and successfully used, the fifty state strategy to enable Democrats to regain power in Congress in 2006, and the presidency in 2008.
After 2006, the party leadership could no longer claim that minority status made them unable to even influence policy. "Just give us a majority and see how quickly everything will change.", they promised us.

When the Republicans held the presidency and majorities in Congress, it provided cover for the DINO's and others in the Democratic party leadership to take money and perks from the corporate oligarchy, and still get rank and file support to keep them in power. They merely had to claim "minority" status to keep getting reelected, in spite of secretly stabbing the people in the back again and again.

Now that the Democrats have majorities in Congress and hold the presidency, the people can see that the corporate oligarchy still controls everything. Lieberman "defects" from the party to take away a sure filibuster-proof majority, and then he is allowed to keep his seniority as a Democrat and committee chairmanship? Don't be so naive!

Lieberman wasn't catered to in order to get him to vote the "correct" way. He was being rewarded for taking the heat, and providing cover for the Democratic Party leadership to get away with a useless health care "reform" legislation. Look at who is running the show or advising on the economy: Geithner, Summers, Paulson, and a bunch of names who ran the show when the Ponzi schemes and other frauds were initiated.

Save your money, and only support true progressives. Only vote for true progressives. While Republicans are content to let you starve, "DINO's" are only going to give you empty promises, supplemented by a few crumbs, just enough to keep up the hopes of Democrats to support and reelect them.

[jeanpalmer]

9. "If you believe,

then we can tell the lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over."

[calimary]

11. Completely, wholeheartedly agreed!

Only true-blue Dems, liberal and progressive Dems, will ever get my support.

AND, not only that, but I'd like to see at least some of them start on an ongoing campaign to rehabilitate the word and term "liberal." It's been bastardized and perverted for FAR too long. We need to turn the tables and start doing that to the concept of republi-CON.

AND ALSO: I'd REALLY like to see them declare Global Thermonuclear War on anyone - ANYONE - who says "Democrat Party," or "Democrat Senators" or "Democrat Congress" or "Democrat bill" or "Democrat ANYTHING." Using a noun as an adjective and still claiming they've been well-educated! What a sad shame that these people who've very visibly reached adulthood got so lost back in English class in third or fourth grade when they were talking about parts of speech and learning the difference between nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Difficient schooling or learning capabilities maybe? And then with such a poor command of their own English language, they actually still go out and speak to people and embarrass themselves in public like that?!?!? Whoa...

And yes, we should be questioning their intelligence on this, too.

Frankly, WE SHOULD BE QUESTIONING EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM, NO MATTER HOW SEEMINGLY MINISCULE.

EVERYTHING!!!!

[calimary]

12. Progressives and Liberals - ONLY.

[ChiciB1]

13. They've Stopped Calling Me... I Told Them Some Time Ago!! n/t

[calimary]

17. At some point, however, you can always Call Them!

It never hurts to remind them WHY you've locked them out of your largesse. I'm sure they're doing their best to forget anyway.

[mkultra]

14. K&R congress is where our anger should be placed.

those assholes need to get in line. I understand we are democrats and all that blah blah but seriously. Get in line.

[calimary]

18. Damn. I'm hoping they're ALL watching what happened during those off-year elections last night.

DEMS!!!!! You fuck this up - and you're fucked. They'll come back to get you and you'll be Vulnerable As HELL!!! You'll just give them more ammo and make their case for them.

I've already heard this morning after last night's elections that "they have the White House, the House AND the Senate, and they can't get anything done."

OUCH.

That is a VERY powerful argument. VERY powerful. If I were the bad guys, I'd be running with that one - EVERYWHERE.