And the ONE thing we need to REQUIRE is a BAN on political contributions by corporations and special interests. After that, they still won’t always do what I want, but they will do what they perceive as best for the PEOPLE of this country. I can live with that.

You’re missing the point. The foundation problem is not the Democrtic Party but a sick political culture in which We, the People, can no longer have rational discussions and make rational decisions about our own security and well being. This sick political culture came about because of a number of complex factors, but the liberal/progressive base played a part, as I’ve explained in past posts. Ain’t nobody innocent. The sick political culture, and the failure of liberals and progressives to form a coalition to replace the New Deal coalition that broke apart in the 1970s, cut the soul out of the Democratic Party and left it the collections of weenies it is today.

Now, you can whine about the Dems all day long, and it’s not going to do you and the country a damn bit of good. For reasons I’ve gone on about at length in the past, third parties are for losers. Waiting for the Messiah Candidate who will go to Washington and make it all better is a fantasy. What’s real is that parties are the channel for all political power in Washington, and if we liberals and progressives are not working through a viable national party we might as well quit and move to Canada.

So, we a choice of two parties to work with: Republicans or Democrats. We have to choose one, then we have to work to both shape the party and heal the political culture so that the party wse choose CAN support progressive values and policies. In other words, we have to change the forces that pressure them to be less progressive into forces that pressure them to be more progressive.

It would take several thousand words to explain this in full. I’m just serving notice that the next whiny post about how it’s all hopeless and the Democrats are hopeless and there’s nothing we can do will be deleted.

Uh…. Nope. It is an image I reject, first of all, because the function of a People’s Representative is not to present themselves for continual chastisement and “correction,” which is what you are advocating in place of “whining.”

A People’s Representative represents the Peoples’ interest and the interests of the Nation. Only ours — in the case of too many of the Democrats in office — do not. They represent themselves. Period. No amount of poking, prodding, chastising and correction will change that. That’s what we have been doing for the last six years in case you haven’t noticed and the result has been… pretty much nothin’. They have dismissed our interest, they have disparaged their base, they have caved, yielded and abased themselves before the Rs routinely, and I — along with millions of others — am heartily sick of it.

There are some Good Dems, but not enough of them. And since our votes are only counted when the Rs want to count them, we are screwed. In America, the People do not rise up. It’s too icky.

No maha. The Dems in office will not do what it takes on their own, and they will not do it — ever — under our lash.

That’s partly our fault, “our” being the liberal/progressive base. It didn’t just happen. (I explained some of this sorry history here.) It won’t be corrected until we out here in the wildnerness choose to correct it. It must be corrected because there is no realistic alternative.

And may I say I am sick to death of the incessant whining about how Dems won’t do anything to help themselves. They’ll do it if they get a stuck rammed up their butts to make them do it. And we are the stickholders, children. Stop whining and start ramming.

That’s because Rs have been attacking Ds on national security for more than 50 years. They did this by blaming Dems for alleged mistakes of the past, like the Soviet takeover of eastern Europe and Mao’s takeover of China. That these were matters outside of U.S. control, and that Rs really didn’t have an alternative plan other than nuking the other half of the planet, didn’t matter.

I think the Dems have tried the “strategy focused on future events that they can actually alter.” They are wonderful at rolling out five-point plans for this or that. They get no traction because they are perceived as weak. They are perceived as weak because that’s The Narrative — Rs have been attacking Ds on national security for more than 50 years. Ds are going to get nowhere until they take back credibility on national security.

14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people
tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespreaddomestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and
power elite.

10. Labor Power is suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect
their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

http://www.rense.com/general37/char.htm…

I think the window of opportunity for that has passed. Here’s why:

1) 9/11 is now seen as history, rather than a current event for which someone must be held responsible,

2a) Democrats already have the strategy of Iraq + Economy = Victory. To refocus on 9/11 would mean reorienting their election strategy, and I don’t think they have enough time to build an effective and coherent narrative and to get that narrative banged into the public’s collective consciousness

2b) Although a recent Gallup poll says more Americans blame Bush than Clinton for 9/11, the media narrative still reliably sees Rs as “strong” and Ds as “weak” on national security - Obama’s book just reinforces this (although maybe its changing with Clinton’s interview?)

3) Democrats should run on a strategy focused on future events that they can actually alter, not on events that have actually happened. Voters will identify more with a message of “Yeah I want US troops home and a better economy too!” than “Yeah I don’t know what Bush did pre-9/11 either”.

4) Attacking the Rs “strength” of national security will mean significant uncertainty in voters minds - “I thought Rs were strong on security, but now I just don’t know.” While that is good in decreasing R support, I wouldn’t rely on “voter uncertainty” as a campaign strategy.

Wow that was longer than I meant it to be.

Yes the time is ripe. It’s long past time to “dismantle the Big Lie”. Yes. It is. It really is.

And you know as well as I do that the Dems will not do it. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not Ever.

For whatever reason, they have made a deal with the Devil, and they will not — under any circumstances — either challenge Bush’s strength, or demolish the Busheviks’ lies.

They had all the chances in the world. They blew every single one of them.

We’re screwed.

“Yes, we heard that a major jewel heist was planned but we didn’t have the exact details so we didn’t do anything to protect museums and gem dealers.”

Would that fly? Or would the police chief be fired?