War in Iraq = Future Lack

Reframe the war in Iraq for all its negative consequences, by connecting its full cost to our full future lacks.
Balance all the costs of this type of unjust war to all these

Future Deficits:

• lack of safety from terrorism
• lack of fuel*
• lack of money
• lack of clean environment to live in
• lack of jobs, life, liberty, health.

Costs of Iraq war

• the lives lost
• the growing ill-will with millions of Muslims
• billions $$$ spent will bring future national bankruptcy
• environmental DU damage
• health costs of all the injured or contaminated troops
• moral danger of setting the first attack precedent (Bush says "pre-emptive strike", let's start naming it for what it really was).

In the longer term, if we keep using fossil and nuclear fuel instead of developing clean renewable sources, we risk environmental damage to the atmosphere, and radiation damage in the ground, air, and food.
*Here's the reason I say it will cost us fuel instead of gain it: Grabbing their oil is a short-term fix. When it runs out in 30-50 years, we won't have the time or the money to fix the situation fast enough. Better to start working on safe alternatives before that crisis.

We could make the world safer by putting the billions of dollars we're spending on this war into renewable energy/ conservation breakthroughs now. The USA has left a oversized footprint of environmental damage to planet Earth. For all the damage we've done, I want to start repaying that debt asap!

Spending even half the huge amount of cash in the defense and pentagon budgets could create millions of jobs here in the USA and radically improve education as we retrain and rebuild ourselves into a green nation. For example, how many jobs will it create to super insulate every single dwelling in the nation, and rebuild many to passive solar standards?
By leaving Iraq we will reduce our terrorist threat. Every day we stay compounds the threat.This situation is breeding terrorists. Many Iraqis do not want to live under American occupation. I hear it's not very pleasant over there. Although we have transferred power in name, it is obvious that we still call the shots as long as we have permanent military bases and the controlling interests in the corporations handling the reconstruction.

Instead of creating ill-will, we could build good-will by withdrawing our full presence, but helping fund reconstruction of Iraq by non-American firms, chosen by Iraqis. Remember when Bush said France and Germany couldn't bid on any contracts, and then he went one step further and gave these profitable jobs with no bid to his American buddies? Well this time I think the blackout should be on all American interests. Then we will begin getting safer as our global image changes from greedy imperialists to a caring nation.
The other key step in reducing Islamic hatred of Americans will have to be a radical shift in our Mideast Policy, to be fair and equal to both the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Acting on the wrong side of justice will cost us the American Dream.

Unjust war = no more safety, no more plenty.

Senators call for a new "Truman Committee" to prevent War Profiteering

Something good in congress! Spread the word.
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (Democrat-IL), and Larry Craig (Republican-ID)introduced a bipartisan resolution on Sept 15 to create a Senate special committee for oversight of contracts awarded to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the war on terrorism. Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Mark Dayton (D-MN) are also cosponsors of the resolution.
Often described as the most successful government investigation effort in U.S. history, the Truman Committee investigated billions of dollars in wartime contracts, saved millions, and serves as a valuable model today. Today, as in the World War II years, skyrocketing costs and rapid allocations of funds have outpaced the federal government's ability to oversee and audit the use of taxpayer funds. Congress has allocated more than $166 billion for war and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, and costs will continue to rise.
The Durbin-Craig resolution will create a new Truman Committee to examine bidding, contracting, subcontracting and oversight of private contracts, and also to investigate allegations of wasteful and fraudulent practices.
I found out about this from an amusing blogger, firedoglake.
Her post at dailykos is called
War Profiteering and You: A CALL FOR ACTION
here is an excerpt:

We all know that the so-called "reconstruction effort" in Iraq has amounted to little more than a depraved carnival of corporate greed. But just how bad is it? It's bad. Really bad.
So I decided to take a closer look at the Top Ten War Profiteers (as determined by the Center for Corporate Policy) and examine how each has fared in the news of late. This is what I found. (Warning: It's ugly.)

What can you do?
1. Inform yourself about the top ten offenders in Iraq at her article
http://firedoglake.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/3/9342/72417
2.Ask your Senator to join them in co-sponsorship.
3.Write these senators a thank you note.
Their e-mail adresses are a click away at the above link.

Here's my Thank You note. perhaps too brash for the Republican. oh well.

Thank You for calling for a new "Truman Committee" to prevent War Profiteering. I think this is a good idea. I am disgusted at how the current administration has attacked Iraq without just cause, and then moved in with no-bid contracts for all of Bush's crooked cronies. Let's see... American taxpayers pay for the war, but it costs more than we can cough up, so our future generations will be saddled with debt too, meanwhile, Bectel, Halliburton, BearingPoint ,BKSH & Associates,etc. executives get even richer by overcharging for work they never complete.
STOP THEM! Thank You.

Progressive Democrat Summit Inspiring

Our carpool of 6 braved the snow in DC, and returned safely with no ice or snow on the highways. What a fun and exhausting experience to gather with 500 progressives from all over the country. At our next Think Tank on Friday Feb 18, we plan to give a presentation of what we learned at the Summit, and discuss topics that came up there. I also plan to put up a webpage at the blog about the conference.
If you want to hear about what it was like right away, here are comments and ongoing discussions from other attendees at the PDA conference blog.
We heard David Cobb, the Green party's presidential candidate; Tom Hayden was inspirational; Medea Benjamin, a founder of Code Pink brimmed with good energy. Swami Beyondananda put his wisdom to rap music, and the Billionaires for Bush did some fabulous song and dance numbers.

We took notes through panel after panel after panel of intelligent, sensitive, well-informed multi-cultural speakers. Whew!
There wasn't enough smaller break-out meetings by topic, which was a little frustrating for all of us networkers. But we did have regional meetings, so I'll be filling you in on the North Carolina scoop soon. I took a blogging workshop, so I hope that our think tank blog may start reaching more people. My hope is that we can provide a suggested format to encourage other living room think tanks to start popping up.

Swami Beyondananda

Michael Moore & Hack-proof Voting

Our Jan 14 meeting was fun and productive. We began by watching Michael Moore's appearances on TV last week; the Today Show, the Tonight Show, and the People's Choice Awards Show. Fahrenheit 911 won the People's Choice Award for Best Movie of the Year, and it will be entered in the Oscars race. Michael said, "I will take that as a suggestion to make more Fahrenheit 911's." He commented on the Democratic party's choice of undynamic candidates, and feels they need to find someone well-loved by the American people, like Tom Hanks, or Oprah, or at least someone who can emotionally connect to people like Clinton did.

We brainstormed on phrases to use concerning "Vote Verification". I'll link to them later, when ready. These phrases can be used in speech or on printed flyers or stickers to spread around. Essentially a soundbite with a website address, such as whatreallyhappened.com, chuckherrin.com, and/or www.airamericaradio.com. If you haven't seen these sites, take a peek.
Chuck Herrin's site is the best to recommend to Republicans, since he is one, and he is a computer expert who is actively working for a switch to all hand-counted paper ballots, nationwide. That's right--
NO MACHINES!
Apparently that's how Canada does it, and it would be the safest way to limit fraud and tampering. At first, this seemed like a pipe dream to me, but as I learned more, I am coming to think it is an issue which could rise to America's attention with a lot more grassroots publicity.

Here is a Missouri bill calling for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots, submitted last May by Mo. State Representative, Edward W. Spannaus. I don't know if this bill got killed or not, but I repeat this excerpt from his presentation, because it gives me hope to see legislation in favor of of a totally manual method. And he gives such a clear argument, which can be your talking points for why we need this manual system.

"House Bill 1744 would require 100% use of paper ballots, and would prohibit all electronic counting or tabulation of votes. Additionally, every voter would be provided with a receipt—a copy of his or her vote—to be used in the event of a challenge or contest.
I would point out at the outset, that a comprehensive study of lost votes for the past four Presidential elections (1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000) found that paper ballots had the lowest rate of error of any voting system.
This study, known as the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Report(Mar 2001), studied five general types of voting technologies: hand-counted paper ballots, lever machines, punch cards, optically scanned paper ballots, and touch-screen (DRE) machines. The study reported:

"The central finding of this investigation is that manually-counted paper ballots have the lowest average incidence of spoiled, uncounted, and unmarked ballots, followed closely by lever machines and optically scanned ballots. Punchcard methods and systems using direct recording electronic (DRE) devices had significantly higher average rates of spoiled, uncounted, and unmarked ballots than of the other systems."
...
Why Use Only Paper Ballots?
A system of paper ballots only, as envisioned by House Bill 1744, best meets the Constitutional requirements for fair elections, and provides the soundest basis for voter confidence in the electoral process.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declared that the right to vote includes the right of qualified voters within a state not simply to cast a vote, but to have their votes counted properly.

Impediments to vote fraud: Any use of computers opens the door to fraud. The speed and complexity of computers creates an inherently dangerous and fraud-prone situation, because, as we have noted, only a handful of people know how votes are being counted. Citizens can never have full confidence in any such system of vote counting.

By going back to a universal paper ballot, which is hand counted, we are creating additional impediments to fraud and tampering with results. If this requires more people to count the votes than is needed when using computers, all the better. The more people involved, the more obstacles we have created to carrying out vote fraud.

Transparency and voter confidence. The objection has been raised, that a total paper-ballot system would be a slow, inefficient system for counting votes. In our view, this is a great advantage. A slow, ponderous vote-counting system, where citizens can watch their votes being counted with complete transparency, is the best way not only to prevent vote fraud and election-rigging, but to establish public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process.

There is no requirement, Constitutional or otherwise, that vote totals must be made available instantaneously for the benefit of the news media or anyone else. There is, however, a Constitutional mandate that votes be counted fairly, and that all votes be treated equally.
A 100% paper-ballot system is the best means to ensure such an outcome."

- Edward W. Spannaus

Reframe Social Security

Does the wording "Ownership Society" feed the conservative frame?

Susan Carver Williams makes a good point in her perspective on the fight to protect Social Security from the Bush administration's sneaky tactics.

"I don’t know about you, but I’d rather live in a Generous and Kind Community that is strengthened by our connections than in an Ownership Society where we fight to protect what’s “ours” and expand what’s “ours” and keep others from having any of it."

I've put her analysis on how Bush & Co are cleverly marketing and framing their attack at my new page , Social Security Discussion Corner.

Please contribute to our conversation there... e-mail me or post a comment on the blog.

Here is a great succinct argument for why NOT to privatize Social Security or medicare. This is directly quoted from the Petition Site. In fact, please sign the petition there. Thanks!

Social Security is not facing an imminent crisis, and is not in danger of running out of money anytime soon. (The Social Security Administration estimates the trust fund will last until 2042; many economists estimate the fund will last much longer.) Also, privatization will cost a lot - and working families will be the ones who pay.

continued at Social Security Discussion Corner

Will lessons from history help us save the planet?

Happy New Year!
This January 1st Op-ed article in NY Times by Jared Diamond, "The Ends of the World as We Know Them" gives a fascinating background on ancient societies which failed or adapted and survived. I always wondered why 90% of the Mayans disappeared around 900AD. [I know... I'm weird, but I have visited there.] He also sheds light on the collapse of the Polynesian society on Easter Island three centuries ago, and the disappearance of the medieval Norse colonies on Greenland.
"When it comes to historical collapses, five groups of interacting factors have been especially important: the damage that people have inflicted on their environment; climate change; enemies; changes in friendly trading partners; and the society's political, economic and social responses to these shifts."
One of the key social responses for failure or success is insulation vs acknowledging the problem and modifying behavior.
Can we apply these lessons to our current situation? The author is hopeful.

the people’s party?

This article in Mother Jones by Michael Kazin is worth the reading time.

Democrats need to start acting more like the people’s party they once were -- and less like a traveling road show that packs up after each election.
Listening to the Democratic nominees during the 2004 presidential campaign, it often seemed as if they were ashamed to belong to their own political party. In his acceptance speech, John Kerry boasted that he “broke with many in my own party” to support a balanced budget and ridiculed the idea of “Democratic values” and “Republican values.” John Edwards gave a rousing concession speech -- but didn’t even bother to invoke the party’s name.
The other side never makes that mistake...

my favorite ideas from the article are:

A reborn Democratic Party would draw ideas and energy from states and local communities, enlisting candidates and organizers who share the values and language of the people whose votes they’ll be seeking. It could sponsor comedy nights and dance parties and debates about whether one can support gay marriage and still be a good Christian; throw street festivals at which every immigrant society, sportsmen’s club, church, temple, and mosque feels welcome;

We are a backlash

Jane L expressed my sentiments so clearly, I am posting her Solstice message here:

My year has been dominated by the elections. The reactionary forces in our society have changed our prevailing dialogue by hijacking our language. “Liberal” has become a dirty word, “family values” has become synonymous with repudiation of homosexuality and non-conforming lifestyles, and “terrorists” refer to anybody but ourselves. Can we claim the high ground of moral values when we initiated a preemptive and unprovoked war on another country? Where is the America that is my home? I want to live in a country where family values means providing shelter, sustenance and health care to persons in need, and where “pro-life” means giving those who are alive the option to make unfettered choices. I want to live in a country where there truly is a separation of church and state so that “science” is what is taught in our public schools. I want to live in a country where we take the threat of global warming and the fouling of our environment seriously, rather than pass legislation that abdicates these responsibilities, mislabeling it the “clear skies” act.
This has been a time of great reflection; where in losing my country I have come to realize how much I love it. It has been a time of resurgence in political activity organized by Internet and community groups. My friends and I did more work for this election, registering voters and getting out the vote, than we have done in recent history. I remember thinking in the late 1960’s that when I became old (meaning the age I am now), my generation would form the Gray Panthers. The baby-boomers would rise up and organize for social security, medical care, and social programs. Well the time is here and perhaps that is what is happening. My group of friends has started a progressive think tank, groups of democrats all over have continued to meet since the election, and liberal churches are organizing to change the direction of religious dialogue. We are a backlash, we are a movement, and we are fighting once again to make this a better world.

VOTE Integrity: Paper ballots essential!

There was a small but enthusiastic turnout at the Verify Our VOTE Rally at the State Capitol, Dec 12 at noon. Jewelsong sang a few lovely songs. My favorite speaker was Republican geek, Chuck Herrin. He is a powerful voice for the essential need for paper ballots to insure vote integrity.
He shows exactly how simple it is to hack the vote at present.
He is also working hard to engage Republicans in this fight for fair elections. Most of his speech can be found at his website in his two primers for empathy between the parties. This one has some excellent tips for how to speak more productively with conservatives:
Empathy Training for Liberals: A Primer on the Conservative Mind, From the Inside of One.

I highly recommend forwarding this next piece, addressed to Conservatives, to any that you know:

Empathy Training for Compassionate Conservatives: Why the Democrats Are Still Whining About the Election (and Why Maybe We Should Be, Too)

Speakers at the Rally included:
Joyce McCloy, N.C Coalition for Verified Voting, David Allen, Black Box Voting
Chuck Herrin, Republican computer security analyst,
Cecil Bothwell, The Progressive Project and many more,
including elected officials and musicians

Voices for Verified Voting
a coalition of concerned citizens organizing to:
educate others about election irregularities, and
mobilize effective action to ensure transparent, verifiable elections

for more information:
http://www.51capitalmarch.com/
http://www.divas4democracy.net/

Operation: Red Alert

Susan S. found this blogger who is doing just what someone suggested at our last Think Tank... but with a new twist...organizing a way to make short soundbite size mini-flyers that we can post around town. You can sign up to receive them by e-mail as a pdf ready to print.
Sign up here:
http://aethern.blogspot.com/2004/11/operation-red-alert.html
If you want to help write them, go to dailykos on Mondays. In fact, it's the most happening political blog around imho[in my humble opinion], so check it out any time:
http://www.dailykos.com/

Operation: Red Alert comes from an idea that surfaced on the Daily Kos diaries a few days back. Essentially, we will organize to craft messages and distribute them through an email list. The members of the list will post these messages on grocery store bulletin boards and the like. Here are some potential examples:
WASHINGTON REPUBLICANS CHANGE RULES
In the early 1990's Republicans put in a rule that said a congressional leader who's been indicted of a crime must step down. Now that Republican Tom Delay appears to be heading towards indictment, they get rid of that rule. What do Washington Republicans really stand for?

WASHINGTON REPUBLICANS SEEKING TO ERASE YOUR MORTGAGE DEDUCTION
The White House and congressional Republicans are seeking to do away with the tax deduction on your mortgage. Some tax relief, huh?

WASHINGTON REPUBLICANS WANT TO SNOOP ON YOUR TAX RETURNS
Congressional Republicans attempted to gain the power to not only gain access to any citizens tax returns, but also to make them public. Do you value your privacy? We sure do. Vote Democrat.

Solidarity better goal than unity

Susan S sent me this as a great perpective for our discussion.
It's from "a gilas girl's diary" at daily kos

"Solidarity is more than compromise, and shouldn't be mistaken as such. At its core is respect: respect for people and their experiences, respect for possibility, respect for the not-yet-known. It doesn't require assimilation (which must always contain some degree of erasure) and it belies two-dimensional (black and white) thinking.

Its a concept that's not foreign to US political history, but is certainly not familiar to contemporary politics. Its also the foundation of progressive politics.
This is the kind of work that needs to be done now. Its a small place to start, but begin here, with the difference between a politics of unity and a politics of solidarity and see the different directions they each yield. Then make that part of the move to rebuild maintain and rebuild a progressive and democratic America.

Let's start by explaining why we don't want "One America", and point out that as a society and we are far more than the "Two Americas" that the populist-inclined Democrats bemoan. The power of American democracy isn't "unity" of outlook and positions, it is both the balance AND the struggle between different outlooks and positions. It is the recognition that both the majority and minority are part of the government. That democracies can only work when they have the government AND an opposition. That politics only works when there are multiple interests being struggled over and discussed."

It's not long and she makes a few more good points at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/3/14456/5254

Extra Think Tank Content Pages for You

I've made a place at http://equal-peace.com/ for additional content to support our ongoing discussions in the Living-Room and on the blog,
http://livingroomthinktank.blogspot.com/
If you want to post an entry to the blog, (instead of entering a comment to another
post, which you can do yourself), please e-mail your post to susan@snakeandsnake.com and I will add it to the blog. If it is long I will
post the beginning and link to your content page here.
Each person can have their own content page, and I can put the most recent entry
at the top of your page. I began with Jane N since she was the first to send me something.
Your "Corner" will be in the list of entries at the right side of the blog page. Click there and it scrolls down to that post, then click on "continued" link to find rest of your post.
Check it out!
http://equal-peace.com/thinktank/thinktank.htm

Jane N's Corner

Wake Up America!!!
Wake up America
get your heads out of the sand
The Neo-cons have hijacked
and taken control of our ‘homeland’...
continued @ Jane N's Corner

“Have you recovered from the election yet?”
...
Recovered? Hello NO. There is no recovering from this election
until we recover our democracy. Until we use it as one more wake up call
to finally accept what is happening in this country and step forward to
stop it and take ourselves and our government in a fundamentally different
direction...
continued @ Jane N's Corner

January events

Next meeting: Jan 14.
I want to change our meeting day to the third Friday of every month, but there are two conflicts on Jan 21, so for January only I suggest we meet on the second Friday, Jan 14th. The conflicts are both fun events for progressive Democrats, which you may want to attend:
The Blue Dot Ball on Jan 21 somewhere in the Triangle, (not fully planned yet).
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) Summit
in Washington, D.C.
January 21-23, 2005
Helping to shape the future of the Democratic Party, and the direction of our country, with progressive speakers, discussions and workshops. Together we can take back our Democracy. Some of the speakers:
Medea Benjamin
Rep. John Conyers
Gov. Howard Dean
Tom Hayden
Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Rep. Barbara Lee
Marianne Williamson
Jim Zogby
More details in this flyer:
http://www.pdamerica.org/tools/events/jan_summit_2005.pdf
I just heard about this group, and I think it is a great idea. I am in full agreement with their vision and strategy:
http://pdamerica.org/vision.php

Dec 3rd Think Tank notes

We had fewer attendees (10), but a stimulating discussion. We ended with watching the abridged version of "Hijacking Catastrophe". There are also some powerful interviews on this DVD with military personel who speak out against the Bush administration.
I read a part of Pericles (the blogger, not the ancient Greek) concerning moving Christianity to the left. We mostly talked about religion's influence on politics, how to explain that our progressive values are consistent with Jesus's teachings (New Testament), how Christianity was dragged to the right and how to move it back to the left, defining progressive values as moral values, etc. Kathy M. told us about a group that facilitates talks between the opposing sides, "Let's Talk America" whom we may ask for help for our February meeting. Daina has a Republican Christian fundamentalist friend who volunteered to come to our group for a discussion some time. We may be able to get a small guest panel of Christian Bush supporters who are willing to come explain their perspective and hear ours.
We talked about the White Rose group of resisters during WW II, which led to a suggestion that we put out some sort of little messages, leaflets perhaps?

Did you know that Gandhi professed "militant nonviolence?"

"You don't have to be black to quote Martin Luther King, you don't have to be Hindu to quote Mahatma Gandhi, and you don't have to be Christian to quote Jesus." -- Pericles

Books & Websites

websites for improving dialog between left and right:
http://www.letstalkamerica.org/
http://www.radicalmiddle.com/
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm Sojourners Magazine
Book Suggestions
"Had Enough?- a handbook for Fighting Back" by James Carville.
This is a terrific action oriented book for how Progressives can get their sh!t together. It's humorous, but also very factual with footnotes, proving his claims that Bush was actually blocking our safety and "homeland security" every step of the way, etc. Susan B.
The following books came up in our discussion as aids to bridging the left/ right religious gap:
"Engaging the Powers" Walter Wink
"Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism" John Shelby Spong
"Understanding the Bible" John Buehrens (UU)
"God and Other Famous Liberals" Forrester Church (UU)
Video:
Kathy M suggested we watch this:
God is Not a Republican…Or a Democrat Webcast Panel Discussion Featuring Jim Wallis
a panel discussion From the Riverside church in NYC between Jim Wallis and four religious leaders about religion and politics.
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=sojomail.display&issue=041117#3
( scroll down to find the streaming video.)

npr "Fresh Air" about the Religious Right

Here is a link to Dec 2 "Fresh Air." It covered in detail the methods by which the Religious Right has, over the last 25 years+, attained political power. Having some notion of their tactics and strategies cannot help but positively affect any actions we might select to take. It is about 40 minutes.

Chuck

http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=2-Dec-2004&prgId=13

link to Pericles, 10 Ideas for 2008

Check out this superb list of suggestions which was elevated to the top of kos's blog.
10 Ideas for 2008
by Pericles
Mon Nov 29th, 2004

By the time a campaign starts, it's too late to put a completely new idea into the heads of a majority of the electorate -- especially a broad new theme or a major reframing of an issue voters think they already understand. At that stage, a candidate can do little more than agree or disagree with ideas that the public already knows. President Bush, for example, didn't invent the family-values theme or the strength-makes-you-safe theme or the tax-cuts-create-jobs theme. He just aligned himself with them; that's why his campaign seemed so simple.

So what ideas will liberal candidates be able to campaign on in 2008? The ones we start developing and promoting now. I have ten suggestions.
The ten ideas fall into three groups. The first three ideas are defensive: The Right has been making some dubious claims that we need to start challenging. Ideas 4-6 reclaim major ideological assets that that we have let the Right own without a fight - Christianity, globalization, and capitalism. The final four ideas align the Democratic Party with democracy and the common good...
see the 10 ideas here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/29/221636/33

article: The Politics of Victimization

Are Democrats acting like abuse victims? and if so, what actions should we take to escape this vicious cycle?
This article by Mel Gilles (which was an e-mail forward) has such clear insights that I am posting it in its entirety.
[Mel Gilles, who has worked for many years as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse, draws some parallels between her work and the reaction of many Democrats to the election.-- Mathew Gross]

The Politics of Victimization

Watch Dan Rather apologize for not getting his facts straight, humiliated before the eyes of America, voluntarily undermining his credibility and career of over thirty years. Observe Donna Brazille squirm as she is ridiculed by Bay Buchanan, and pronounced irrelevant and nearly non-existent. Listen as Donna and Nancy Pelosi and Senator Charles Schumer take to the airwaves saying that they have to go back to the drawing board and learn from their mistakes and try to be better, more likable, more appealing, have a stronger message, speak to morality. Watch them awkwardly quote the bible, trying to speak the new language of America. Surf the blogs, and read the comments of dismayed, discombobulated, confused individuals trying to figure out what they did wrong. Hear the cacophony of voices, crying out, "Why did they beat me?"

And then ask anyone who has ever worked in a domestic violence shelter if they have heard this before.

They will tell you, every single day.

The answer is quite simple. They beat us because they are abusers. We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of violence, and we need to start calling the dominating side what they are: abusive. And we need to recognize that we are the victims of verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence.

As victims we can't stop asking ourselves what we did wrong. We can't seem to grasp that they will keep hitting us and beating us as long as we keep sticking around and asking ourselves what we are doing to deserve the beating.

Listen to George Bush say that the will of God excuses his behavior. Listen, as he refuses to take responsibility, or express remorse, or even once, admit a mistake. Watch him strut, and tell us that he will only work with those who agree with him, and that each of us is only allowed one question (soon, it will be none at all; abusers hit hard when questioned; the press corps can tell you that). See him surround himself with only those who pledge oaths of allegiance. Hear him tell us that if we will only listen and do as he says and agree with his every utterance, all will go well for us (it won't; we will never be worthy).

And watch the Democratic Party leadership walk on eggshells, try to meet him, please him, wash the windows better, get out that spot, distance themselves from gays and civil rights. See them cry for the attention and affection and approval of the President and his followers. Watch us squirm. Watch us descend into a world of crazy-making, where logic does not work and the other side tells us we are nuts when we rely on facts. A world where, worst of all, we begin to believe we are crazy.

How to break free? Again, the answer is quite simple.

First, you must admit you are a victim. Then, you must declare the state of affairs unacceptable. Next, you must promise to protect yourself and everyone around you that is being victimized. You don't do this by responding to their demands, or becoming more like them, or engaging in logical conversation, or trying to persuade them that you are right. You also don't do this by going catatonic and resigned, by closing up your ears and eyes and covering your head and submitting to the blows, figuring its over faster and hurts less is you don't resist and fight back. Instead, you walk away. You find other folks like yourself, 56 million of them, who are hurting, broken, and beating themselves up. You tell them what you've learned, and that you aren't going to take it anymore. You stand tall, with 56 million people at your side and behind you, and you look right into the eyes of the abuser and you tell him to go to hell. Then you walk out the door, taking the kids and gays and minorities with you, and you start a new life. The new life is hard. But it's better than the abuse.

We have a mandate to be as radical and liberal and steadfast as we need to be. The progressive beliefs and social justice we stand for, our core, must not be altered. We are 56 million strong. We are building from the bottom up. We are meeting, on the net, in church basements, at work, in small groups, and right now, we are crying, because we are trying to break free and we don't know how.

Any battered woman in America, any oppressed person around the globe who has defied her oppressor will tell you this: There is nothing wrong with you. You are in good company. You are safe. You are not alone. You are strong. You must change only one thing: stop responding to the abuser. Don't let him dictate the terms or frame the debate (he'll win, not because he's right, but because force works). Sure, we can build a better grassroots campaign, cultivate and raise up better leaders, reform the election system to make it failproof, stick to our message, learn from the strategy of the other side. But we absolutely must dispense with the notion that we are weak, godless, cowardly, disorganized, crazy, too liberal, naive, amoral, "loose", irrelevant, outmoded, stupid and soon to be extinct. We have the mandate of the world to back us, and the legacy of oppressed people throughout history.

Even if you do everything right, they'll hit you anyway. Look at the poor souls who voted for this nonsense. They are working for six dollars an hour if they are working at all, their children are dying overseas and suffering from lack of health care and a depleted environment and a shoddy education. And they don't even know they are being hit.

Mel Gilles at 07:31 PM on November 07, 2004

article: THE URBAN ARCHIPELAGO

Complete article at
http://www.thestranger.com/2004-11-11/feature.html
If you are interested in gaining support for Democrats by examining and promoting urban issues, please read this article and then COMMENT on it for us, please! It makes a very good case that the future of our party depends on city voters...we need to acknowlege that and appeal to them. The author does rant about stupid rednecks, suggesting we don't bother to appeal to rural voters at all, but the analysis of where Progresssive Values intersect with Urban Values seems very important for us to explore.