History will scold those who stayed silent

[Coexist]

I have often been critical of the 'dry-powder' school of leadership in this party. On this board, some have questioned my support of fighting unwinnable battles - bemoaning the fact that my time and energy should go to other causes or claiming that I am encouraging 'hurting' or 'dividing' the party by my actions or calls to action. But I can't stop.

My impetus is this; when my children ask me what I did - what will my honest answer be? Will I say,

"I was against it, but

- what could one person do?"
- I had to look to the future and hope the rest of the country wakes up in time."
- if you stay quiet, you will not be criticized, private dissent is enough, don't give your opponent any ammunition against you."
- someone more experienced than me said not to rock the boat."
- I knew we would lose, so what's the difference."

We all know those excuses, with the 20/20 hindsight of history, would embarrass me on issues such as Japanese Internment, civil rights, and Miner's strikes. So I guess what I'm saying is NO - I won't shut up about Censure.

I came across this opinion piece that spells it out better than I ever could.

History will scold those who stayed silent

BY LEONARD PITTS [e-mail]

''Every generation blames the one before.'' --Mike + the Mechanics, The Living Years

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14118677.htm

<snip>
So it has come to this. The president's apologists rationalize even his most obvious and egregious illegalities, mendacities and bungling with straight faces and earnest demeanor and the rest of us are left posturing for history, trying to make certain that when the official record is written we are not indicted by our silence.

<snip>
I think I know. I think tomorrow will ask how we could have shrugged off the very real possibility that the president broke the law. I think tomorrow will want to know how we could have meekly and quiescently allowed our civil rights to be abridged. I think tomorrow will be perplexed by our tolerance of obvious incompetence and brazen untruths. I think tomorrow will wonder how we could have turned blind eyes and disinterested ears to mounting evidence that the war in Iraq was predestined and Sept. 11 just a convenient pretext.

<snip>
You cannot be a student of history without ruminating on some of the more dubious episodes of the American past and wondering how in the world such things were allowed to happen.

<snip>
So I understand where Feingold and Conyers are coming from. Where good and frustrated people all over the country are coming from. History's verdict is all we have left. And when tomorrow calls today to account, some of us want to be able to say, we stood up. We called out. We were not silent.
It is small solace, but it is solace, nonetheless.

[warpheads]

1. We Poor Democrats

We've got a particular problem; it's an old problem, and if you believe that the division in America between the right-wing and rest of us is real and important, it needs to be at least thought about and addressed. The latest event concerning Sen. Feingold and his pursuit of Censure is glaring evidence of the separation between posturing, sloganism, and the power-quest of politians as opposed to any actual dedication to principals and ethics. In short: Does the Democratic Party deserve to exist?
Who doesn't know that Bush lied? Who doesn't know that the Congress and Senate have the Constitutional responsibility and authority to investigate questions of ethics and the legality of actions of the President and any other federal official? And as a Democrat, who else is disgusted and shocked at the pictures of the entire Democrat side of the isle sitting quietly and doing nothing in support of Sen. Feingold's move towards Censure. And for that matter, what exactly have the Democrats been doing?
During the Reagan Union-Busting era; once the Unions lost a substantial number of members and no longer had the 'political clout' they once had, the Democrats dropped them like a hot potato. If not for the work of organizing of SEIU the voice of organized labor would not be heard at all on Capital Hill.
With between 70-75% of Americans still in favor of Roe vs Wade, the DLC (Democrat Leadership Conference, representing the conservative branch of the party that consistently crosses the isle to vote with the Republicans, and maintain a choke-hold on the party) are trying to find ways to appeal to the 'red' states with compromises on a Woman's Right to Choose that won't offend the 15-20% of Americans that identify themselves with the Religious Right; Hillary Clinton leading the way.
With even the likes of Neo-Con Pat Buchanan stating on MSNBC last week that the "Economy is improving for the richest 20% of Americans and Corporations, but not the rest of working Americans..."; the reality of the economic injustice of 26 years since Reagan proving that continued attempts at 'trickle-down', billions of tax dollars given freely to Corporations for research and development, tax breaks to the rich has failed. The results have been the richest and most powerful country in the history of the world subsisting on credit-debt consumerism, wildly over-inflated single family home property values offered as a way to allow the average working family to subsist by refinancing themselves deeper into debt to pay bills that paychecks can't afford; while 'Free-Trade' is forced on the rest of the world as Corporations achieve imperialist power: The carrot being billions of corporate dollars, the stick being America's military might if they don't comply. As one who is politically Left, I get worried when a Neo-Con like Pat Buchanan is the only one talking about this and elected Democrats act like they've never heard of it.
The Health Care and the Banking and Securities Industries are a Bunko-Artists dream. Where are the Democrats when it comes to the millions of hourly-wage working Americans that lost tens of thousands of dollars from their 401 K savings accounts when Merrill Lynch had it's fiasco in 2000-2001? I was among them. And this is not the first time when Wall Street needs to cover bad debt they rob the unprotected working class of their savings. Reagan did it in the 80's when he allowed the banking industries to just take the IRA's back. Any threat to the 'bottom-line' of the rich and it comes out of the pockets of the working and middle classes with a "too-bad, so-sad" from those in power. And Health Care? Health Care in the United States is owned by the Insurance Industry who charge Americans for a service that is deducted monthly from our paychecks and billed again at 'point of sale' for a band-aid and an advise nurse on the phone offering home remedies in lieu of medical care. In Canada you may have to wait in line for a while; but you get the medical care. In the U.S. we have Kaiser hiring people off the streets as telemarketers to answer the advise lines and after referencing a symptom catalog book, offer at home remedies to keep the "health-care consumer" out and protect the bottom line...in short: No Medical Care; just the monthly bill. As with most things in America today, we're being charged for services we don't get and our elected officials pass law after law to protect the interests of the Corporate Elite from ungrateful rabble: Us. Where are the Democrats?
I think I found the Democrats. They are all behind Nancy Pelosi chanting the mantra: Let's Just Focus On Winning The Election. Don't make waves and offend the red states (who only went red by single digits and not at all in some states; but that didn't matter to the Supreme Court.), and let the DLC lead us to being better Republicans that the Republicans are.
Last week one of the various 'think tanks' was quoted as saying that within the next decade or less a third party would take over. If this is true, it will be because the Democrats have lost by being too busy trying to get back on the Corporate teat the Republicans knocked them off of; which they were able to do because the Democrats were too busy stuck on the Corporate teat to notice things were going wrong down here...where the "Joe Six-pack" and the rest of working Americans live and work. The 80-90 % of us. And the most important thing the so-called Democrat front runner for 2008, Hilary Clinton, can offer is to send fundraising requests to registered Democrats outside of her state, offer compromise on Choice, and wrangle to get her face on a damn stamp for free political advertising and the majority of democrats pout and bemoan the loss of the heyday of being in power while laughing up their sleeves at people like Sen. Feingold and Howard Dean for being the few that seem to remember why there is a Democrat party, where it came from and what it used to do.
As for me personally; I live in California and have registered Peace and Freedom. If the Democrats don't offer me a choice I can at least vote my conscience. How funny. The Peace and Freedom party started by being the conscience of the Democratic Party that was forced to leave the Democratic Party. And now; rather than want it's conscience back, it want to become another Republican Party. Poor Democrats: So close to your lesser gods in Corporate America and so far from the American People.

[Coexist]

7. I love this line of yours:

"I think I found the Democrats. They are all behind Nancy Pelosi chanting the mantra: Let's Just Focus On Winning The Election."

Although I do tend to support Pelosi - but I still can't shut up about the fact that censure is NOT radical, and Bush has done MUCH MORE to deserve this than Clinton did to deserve impeachment.

[FightingIrish]

2. Perhaps history won't be kind to those who only spoke

against the war but sacrficed nothing to stop it. Sometimes just taking a stand can involve paying a price but for most of us it is relatively painless. It is time to give up some of our comfort, treasure and time to change the disatrous course we are on. It may come to risking our freedom and our lives but something must be done.

[warpheads]

10. Agreed.

The 'right' is appearently better at organization and training than we are. That may be a place to start.

[blm]

3. May I ask which Dems are staying silent and on what?

Because if it's about censure, I will say that too many, even on DU, haven't UNDERSTOOD that Feingold HAS censure right where he wanted it - slowed down IN COMMITTEE so judiciary committee Dems can request more documentation - as Kennedy and Leahy did late last week. It's been in committee since TUESDAY.

Why are so many DUers siding with Cheney and Frist and demanding that Dems state their positions RIGHT AWAY? GOPs want an immediate vote and move on WITHOUT further examination.

That's not what Feingold wants - he wants debate FURTHERED and slowed down in committee so senators can access WH documents on NSA spying.

So why are DUers so clueless about this? Or are they just taking an opportunity where many activists are confused so they can just bash the whole Dem party - yet AGAIN?

[Coexist]

5. blm - we are on the same side in this

what I am referring to is those who claim this issue is a great gift to the republicans and we should shut up about it and let it go away so we can win in November.

I have posted many articles about censure to keep the conversation flowing on this issue here. Not to mention the phone calls and LTTE. I am hoping that others join in - there was HUGE momentum on the Alito filibuster - and I am hoping the same thing happens on this issue, too. Yes, we lost in Alito, but we did not go quietly into the night.

[blm]

18. And I am a big stickler for the HISTORIC RECORD as everyone knows -

I just think we lose out as a movement whenever anything is promoted inaccurately or without full comprehension. I believe full comprehension is THAT important. And I thank those who add to that understanding every day here, and am dismayed at those who see it as an obstacle to their preferred storyline. That's all.

[tom_paine]

4. K & R

:kick:

[MADem]

6. The people aren't staying silent

CENSURE is out there. It is slowly and surely gathering steam. Just like the strategic redeployment agenda that the GOP tried to quash.

Alot of people are criticizing the strategy of using a single point man to take all of the heat and attention, but it works better, in this GOP slash and burn environment, than having a coordinated message full of the same talking points go out, carried by everyone in elected positions.

Case in point: Jack Murtha. He went out there on his own, after a closed door, bicameral meeting, where the strategy was laid out, and threw down his 'strategic redeployment' gambit. The GOP went after him, tried to get other Democrats to decisively commit to the Murtha position (in order to be able to smear the entire party, not the highly-regarded Murtha alone) and the best they could get out of everyone was "Let's hear the man out." Murtha was articulate, passionate, focused, and possessed of incredible GRAVITAS AND CREDIBILITY.

The GOP tried first, to poo-pooh Murtha, and then to crap on him, using Jean Shitt, er, Schmidt, and that failed hugely. So then, they tried to dismiss him. Well, it didn't work--he was the "Money" guest on Meet the Potatohead today.

This is what is going on. The GOP has a very effective machine that brutalizes Democrats en masse, by using the magic 'librul' words, the 'Wha dew yew hate Murka?' themes, but it is much tougher for them to beat up on a single individual (especially one who has a long, principled record and a well-articulated, well documented viewpoint--like Murtha and Feingold). When they try this against a single target who is pounding away with a single, concise message, they look like bullying thugs.

They would much prefer to indict the ENTIRE PARTY, and then rile their base by figuratively dragging Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton down the street tied to the bumper of a Hummer. This is what is behind the Democratic "Go It Alone" strategy.

It is up to the PEOPLE to hear the message, to carry the message, to vent the outrage, and write to their congressmen, express their opinions in any and every venue, and damn, it is working. The polls show it, I am hearing not just rumblings, but roars of dissastisfaction from people I thought were HOPELESS Bushbots. We just have to keep griping, carping, and speaking out.

[Coexist]

9. wow - great post

let's hope it is actually a strategy. I can take some comfort in that - I wrote this one while day-dreaming of that:
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/FLDem5/13

Enjoy it - not as passionate as your wonderful post, but amusing!

[MADem]

12. It is, really, truly

To this day, very little has come out about that meeting of the Democrats just before Murtha took center stage. But what has come out is that the way Murtha did it is the way they gamebooked it.

The lead dog gets the best view, but the lead dog is also the one most vulnerable to attack.

The decision to let the lead dog take all the heat serves to focus the argument around a single person. That person HAS to be passionate, able to think on his or her feet, incredibly articulate, and be able to swat down objections like King Kong smacking a plane out of the sky. It helps if they look good, either grandfatherly or Senatorial, and it helps if they have a serious track record. It's rough, lonely work for the one on point, but it is the work of a genuine patriot.

Americans see that. This isn't a "political game"--it's a strategic policy throwdown, by one guy, clambering up on a rock and shouting "HEAR ME! FOLLOW ME!"

The singular representative, by standing alone in a 'call 'em out, here I am, challenge ya' pose, can go over the heads of the pundits straight to the American people. The media covers it, avidly, because it is INCREDIBLE THEATER--you've got your brave individual, declaring a call to arms, and being beaten up by a gang of GOP thugs. The sense of justice and fair play automatically kicks in.

The GOP knows how to effectively smear a party, but they have a harder time going after individuals who have concisely articulated views, a long voting record, and a strong base of support that isn't just wide, but deep. They cannot win against firm conviction that is wedded to plain, common sense. It is scaring the shit out of them, and that's a good thing!

[Coexist]

13. If this line of yours doesn't describe Murtha and Feingold to a 'T'!!

"The decision to let the lead dog take all the heat serves to focus the argument around a single person. That person HAS to be passionate, able to think on his or her feet, incredibly articulate, and be able to swat down objections like King Kong smacking a plane out of the sky."

Your arguments are wonderful. You give me hope. "HEAR ME! FOLLOW ME!"

Murtha has, with a little help from incompetent leadership, changed the public opinion on this war because he is so credible in that area. Feingold is extremely credible on the censure issue. Maybe this will pick up steam too. I must admit, it is so nice to hear them both in interviews. You hear them and just keep nodding, "yes, yes."

Great stuff.
:applause:

[katinmn]

8. Thanks for this post! I think many of us are sad by the apathy around us.

Here are some words of hope for all the weary warriors from Howard Zinn.

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based
on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also
of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our
lives. if we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do
something.

If we remember those times and places - and there are so many - where
people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at
least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different
direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for
some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents,
and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all
that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

~ Howard Zinn

[Coexist]

11. thanks for that.

:hug:

[EFerrari]

14. I think many of us have been struggling with this dilemna

I wound up writing this in response to Rose Siding.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=698894&mesg_id=698894

[Coexist]

16. wonderful words.

I actually purchased a "Liberal" t-shirt and wear it to the local grocery store in my red, red county!

I have gotten no reaction, positive or negative. People are nervous about speaking their minds lately.

[Avalux]

15. This is why I've decided to act.

You replied in my thread about a redress petition - even if it fails, I want to develop it and try. At least I can say I did something. :hi:

[Coexist]

17. please let me know when you do!

I will help out as best I can with my meager skills.

[pitohui]

19. it may or it may not

for the most part history books don't have room to address those who remained silent, the single great exception being the germans during the holocaust

do the right thing whether or not you are afraid of history