"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. ”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
BRAVO to the House Democratic Caucus for working with the Nashville LGBT community for a fundraiser for the Caucus. They correctly perceived that the community should be natural supporters of the Democratic Party and that by standing with your friends, your friends will stand with you.
Now it's time to do that here in Memphis and other urban areas across the state. This is a sign that SOME PEOPLE in the Democratic Party understand where our future lies and where the population is growing.
Great work, House Democratic Caucus, big props to Leader Fitzhugh, Caucus Chair Mike Turner and the entire Caucus for their forward-thinking leadership!
I never knew the Shelbyville area was that weird a place. When Democratic Rep. Curt Cobb resigned his House 62 seat to take a clerkship in the Bedford County Courts, he set off a chain of events that has led to the following:
1) His brother Tyrus, or Ty, a UPS driver, ran for and won the Democratic nomination. He is not to be confused with Democratic State Rep. Tyler "Ty" Cobb, a Columbia firefighter. Then, he sought AND WON the endorsement of....wait for it...TENNESSEE RIGHT TO LIFE. Yes, the people who think that people like us who believe in a woman's right to choose what to do with her body are baby-killers. How did this happen?
Well, because 2) Pat Marsh, the GOP nominee, had been a DEMOCRAT until right before the filing deadline, and apparently thought it would be easier to win the open seat as a Republican than as a Democrat. As every seat is now crucial in a 50-49 House, the GOP establishment has circled the wagons around him. The establishment, yes. The GOP rank-and-file, not so much.
They seem to be moving toward 3) the Constitution Party candidate, Chris Brown, who has decided to bring the crazy when he has gotten the chance to debate either or both candidates.
So, we have a Republican who was a Democrat, a Democrat who is anti-choice and the candidate of the Right-to-Life movement, and a Constitution Party candidate who shows signs of out-looning them all. Why the hell should I even care? It's not my district, after all.
You see, this is the problem with the TNDP outside Memphis, they don't seem to really understand what a Democrat is or is supposed to be. (We had that problem for a while ourselves; see under Ford Jr, Harold) The freaking TNDP is even attacking Marsh for allegedly supporting human cloning! What the hell?
What next, a call for the end of fractional reserve banking? Welcome to Bizarro World, folks, where apparently Democrats are running to the right of Republicans (again, ask Jr. how THAT worked for him), who are trying to keep the Constitution Party guy from getting the teabagger types and pretending everything is OK.
THIS whole scenario is why the TNDP, despite the best efforts of Chip Forrester (who is cranking up ground troops as I write) is lost right now. Outside Memphis, with the exception of a few Nashvillians and bloggers, they still seem to think that Blue Dogism is the path to victory and it's still 1992.
To hell with that noise, I say. If you're not a National Democrat, you're not a Democrat, it's that simple.
Or not; see Baucus, Max, or Lincoln, Blanche. I am a Hubert Humphrey Democrat, a Paul Douglas Democrat (look them up) and a Dale Bumpers Democrat (there was one Southerner who understands the term). Those were people who took stands and were respected for those stands, even getting votes from people who might not agree with them.
You see, if all you do is just run slightly to the left of the GOP, the battle keeps moving to the right and away from natural Democratic positions. Why? Because the GOP ALWAYS advances their beliefs and their agenda. The Democrats here? Gosh, no, we don't want to offend our preachers or Mom or the druggist or whomever, so we can't do that.
BULLSHIT. People respect you when you stand up and fight for your beliefs. The crazy teabaggers? Well, right now, they're unreachable, so quit worrying about them. If you can't make a case for liberalism, what the hell are you doing in the Democratic Party? I am tired of appeasement (and that goes for you, too, Mr. President, STAND UP FOR THE PUBLIC OPTION AND USE YOUR BULLY PULPIT!) and I want Democrats who FIGHT and move the agenda forward. If you can't do that, move over for someone who can.
Text of Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's remarks Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Caroline.
My fellow Democrats, my fellow Americans, it is so wonderful to be here.
And nothing -- nothing is going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight.
I have come here tonight to stand with you to change America, to restore its future, to rise to our best ideals, and to elect Barack Obama president of the United States.
As I look ahead, I am strengthened by family and friendship. So many of you have been with me in the happiest days and the hardest days. Together we have known success and seen setbacks, victory and defeat.
But we have never lost our belief that we are all called to a better country and a newer world. And I pledge to you -- I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate when we begin the great test.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.
For me this is a season of hope -- new hope for a justice and fair prosperity for the many, and not just for the few -- new hope.
And this is the cause of my life -- new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American -- north, south, east, west, young, old -- will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.
We can meet these challenges with Barack Obama. Yes, we can, and finally, yes, we will.
Barack Obama will close the book on the old politics of race and gender and group against group and straight against gay.
And Barack Obama will be a commander in chief who understands that young Americans in uniform must never be committed to a mistake, but always for a mission worthy of their bravery.
We are told that Barack Obama believes too much in an America of high principle and bold endeavor, but when John Kennedy called of going to the moon, he didn't say it's too far to get there. We shouldn't even try.
Our people answered his call and rose to the challenge, and today an American flag still marks the surface of the moon.
Yes, we are all Americans. This is what we do. We reach the moon. We scale the heights. I know it. I've seen it. I've lived it.
And we can do it again.
There is a new wave of change all around us, and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination -- not merely victory for our party, but renewal for our nation.
And this November the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans, so with Barack Obama and for you and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.
First, Happy New Year, here's hoping you are well. I want to be supportive here, as this is one of those subjects on which we agree, consolidation. It would clearly be better for all citizens in this county if all services were consolidated. We'd have to let G-Town keep GPAC, and Bartlett could keep BPACC, but still, it's a wise deal for everyone.
I understand your frustration here, but maybe your suggestion about how the referendums should be conducted might not have been the best way to approach the part of the County outside Memphis. Oh, I know, they would still get a vote as County residents, and it might have been represented by at least one media outlet as the equivalent of tanks rolling down Poplar Avenue, but still, it DID seem a bit heavy-handed.
Look, don't take this personally, we're on the same side here and I want to see this happen as much as you do. I think you should listen to Calvin Anderson here, I think he's going in the right direction. You need to work on this quietly, and take yourself out this as much as you can.
I want to address this as delicately as I can, so here goes: if you REALLY want to see this get through, you should make a public announcement that you would NOT consider running for a consolidated County Mayor's office. Simply put, you are a lightning rod, and there are a LOT of people who would vote for this if you were out of the equation.
Look, don't get offended, I KNOW that there are lots of people out there who want Memphians to continue to subsidize their lifestyle so they don't have to pay their fair share of property taxes. However, there are more people out there than you might think that will support consolidation.
Look, you know yourself who should be the front person for this effort, it's your buddy across the mall, you know he could sell refrigerators in Alaska in January. Sadly, sir, this is not one of your strong points, even after 16 years in City Hall. Take yourself out of the equation PUBLICLY, if not privately, and this can get done.
It might even be your crowning achievement, but you have to take one for the team.
UPDATE: From an MSNBC analyst on Bush: "That wasn't a State of the Union speech, it was a State of Denial speech."
HERE'S the transcript of the Webb speech:
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 Democratic Response of Senator Jim Webb To the President's State of the Union Address
Good evening.
I'm Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown - an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.
It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President's message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.
Further, this is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy independence in his state of the union message, but for the first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by the Democratic Party. We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of alternate energy programs. We look forward to working with the President and his party to bring about these changes.
There are two areas where our respective parties have largely stood in contradiction, and I want to take a few minutes to address them tonight. The first relates to how we see the health of our economy - how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans. The second regards our foreign policy - how we might bring the war in Iraq to a proper conclusion that will also allow us to continue to fight the war against international terrorism, and to address other strategic concerns that our country faces around the world.
When one looks at the health of our economy, it's almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it's nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.
Wages and salaries for our workers are at all-time lows as a percentage of national wealth, even though the productivity of American workers is the highest in the world. Medical costs have skyrocketed. College tuition rates are off the charts. Our manufacturing base is being dismantled and sent overseas. Good American jobs are being sent along with them.
In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table. Our workers know this, through painful experience. Our white-collar professionals are beginning to understand it, as their jobs start disappearing also. And they expect, rightly, that in this age of globalization, their government has a duty to insist that their concerns be dealt with fairly in the international marketplace.
In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy - that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.
And under the leadership of the new Democratic Congress, we are on our way to doing so. The House just passed a minimum wage increase, the first in ten years, and the Senate will soon follow. We've introduced a broad legislative package designed to regain the trust of the American people. We've established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines. We're working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons.
With respect to foreign policy, this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years. Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world.
I want to share with all of you a picture that I have carried with me for more than 50 years. This is my father, when he was a young Air Force captain, flying cargo planes during the Berlin Airlift. He sent us the picture from Germany, as we waited for him, back here at home. When I was a small boy, I used to take the picture to bed with me every night, because for more than three years my father was deployed, unable to live with us full-time, serving overseas or in bases where there was no family housing. I still keep it, to remind me of the sacrifices that my mother and others had to make, over and over again, as my father gladly served our country. I was proud to follow in his footsteps, serving as a Marine in Vietnam. My brother did as well, serving as a Marine helicopter pilot. My son has joined the tradition, now serving as an infantry Marine in Iraq.
Like so many other Americans, today and throughout our history, we serve and have served, not for political reasons, but because we love our country. On the political issues - those matters of war and peace, and in some cases of life and death - we trusted the judgment of our national leaders. We hoped that they would be right, that they would measure with accuracy the value of our lives against the enormity of the national interest that might call upon us to go into harm's way.
We owed them our loyalty, as Americans, and we gave it. But they owed us - sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare, a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it.
The President took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of staff of the army, two former commanding generals of the Central Command, whose jurisdiction includes Iraq, the director of operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many, many others with great integrity and long experience in national security affairs. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable - and predicted - disarray that has followed.
The war's costs to our nation have been staggering. Financially. The damage to our reputation around the world. The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism. And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.
The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.
On both of these vital issues, our economy and our national security, it falls upon those of us in elected office to take action.
Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.
Roosevelt spoke strongly against these divisions. He told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves "as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other." And he did something about it.
As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. "When comes the end?" asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.
These Presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.
