Left Hand, Meet Right Hand

The Daily Kos, Atrios, David Sirota and other big-hit bloggers chimed in yesterday on Hillary Clinton’s little love fest with the Democratic Leadership Council at their meeting in Columbus, Ohio. For whatever its worth, and as you may have guessed, I think the DLC can take a hike.

I’ve always believed that this country suffered a nervous breakdown on 9/11, and I think that awful day ended up causing the rift between what I would call the progressive, left-wing elements of the Dems and the corporate-backed DLC perpetual losers to grow into a yawning chasm.

It seems that the party is split between the foot soldiers (represented by the bloggers I mentioned above) who understand that MANY PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY ARE SUFFERING UNDER BUSHCO and we MUST FIGHT BACK, and the DLC who seem to be still smarting from Repug propaganda that the Dems seem to lack “moral values” (whatever that means in the Repug context) and aren’t as patriotic as the Repugs (a laughable and insulting charge when you find out how many Dems have actually served this country and how many Repugs did nothing about combat but run away from it), and for that reason, just want to “go along.”

It’s going to take someone with a hell of a lot of imagination apparently on the Dem side to craft some kind of platform, agenda, “mission statement” (ugh – corporate speak!…causing negative waves….must….resist!!), or whatever the hell else you want to call it, and just say, “OK, everybody, this is the law of the land. Follow this in lockstep like the Repugs do with their program, or go home. Now, if we all agree on this, then let’s all just gather around and play nice, have a swim in the pool, maybe take a few minutes after we towel off and play with our Gameboys® with the exploding graphics of Dubya, Cheney, Rummy and Condi, and then, if we all eat our green beans for dinner, we’ll gather around the fireplaces and make S’mores.”

(Oh, OK, I threw down the gauntlet, so I might as well take a crack at this thing myself)…

It was wrong to listen to Bushco and invade Iraq solely on their word without the corroboration of Hans Blix and the UN-appointed weapons inspectors. Further, it was wrong of the US Congress to approve a resolution for Bushco to “use force,” when we never bothered to determine whether or not that meant a quick-strike military action or a declaration of war.

It was wrong to support the so-called “Tort reform” legislation, making it harder for individuals to file class action lawsuits, and the so-called bankruptcy bill, since both those pieces of legislation are utter betrayals to our core constituency.

It is wrong to allow Bushco carte blanche to underfund our first responders in the event of another terrorist attack, as well as to continue allowing the underfunding of our schools and the pollution of our environment on behalf of Bushco’s corporate benefactors.

It is wrong to allow Bushco to pursue an economic policy that rewards corporations and CEO while casting a blind eye to working men and women in this country who must work multiple jobs, many with inadequate or no health care, in order to provide for themselves and their families.

It is wrong for Bushco and the Republican congress to totally ignore the separation of powers in our form of government, as witnessed by the intervention of Congress in the Terri Schiavo matter in which they attempted to overrule the verdict of a Florida court, and in the ruling granting Bush powers to declare a U.S. citizen an “enemy combatant” and thus ridding that person of habeas corpus and rights of due process.

OK, it’s not much, but it’s a start. There is much, much more that could be added to this list, but every single Dem should stand up and pledge an oath that this represents their core beliefs. That’s what the people of this country want to see – a living, breathing, viable opposition party that ACTS LIKE IT and HAS A CLUE ABOUT HOW TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES. Further, if you want evidence to see how the out-of-power party is supposed to act, all you have to do is watch the rough-and-tumble activity of British politics, which makes us all look like wusses by comparison.

Also (though this goes without saying), every Dem that has acted against what this “platform” (if you will) states should stand up and take the hit and pledge NEVER to act against it again. They and the rest of the party will be berated on cue by the Repugs and the right-wing media echo chamber, but that’s the price you pay (which is nothing compared to the price our people are paying in Iraq, after all).

There you have it. For whatever it’s worth, I’m throwing out a plan of sorts, gratis. I don’t want a dime for it. You can pay me back by winning some congressional elections, and maybe (dare I hope?) the White House in ’08.