On Being a Democrat

One of our dogs had puppies a month ago. As a general rule, we have our animals "fixed," but my son brought home a dog, and now, for the first time since the early 1970s, I have six little barking balls of fur to care for. As a result, I’ve been buying more newspapers than usual.

My daughters love those puppies, and there are important lessons that kids learn in helping to care for pets. They help me change the papers in the pen the puppies sleep in, which is in our living room.

This morning, I glanced at the headlines of two "local" papers, and read about a college student being stabbed to death on campus in Delhi, NY, and of another student who is in critical condition (in a coma) after a bar fight in Binghamton, NY. A total of six young men have been arrested for the two violent crimes.

In my mind, I think of the contrast between the images of college students who are actively involved in the democratic primary campaigns, and of the image of the senseless violence among another group of young people. It was ten years ago this month that one of my nephews was the victim of an assault by a racist gang of young men who targeted him because of the color of his skin. One of the thugs would then be involved in a series of vicious assaults on Asian-American students at SUNY-Binghamton.

I suspect that most of those young men learned about violence in their homes. Not all, of course. But most.

I worked in human services for many years. Much of my work involved dealing with domestic violence, which included the physical and psychological abuse between the members of a household. Child neglect & abuse, spouse/significant other abuse, and the abuse of elderly family members; nuclear families, extended families, young and old couples, straight, gay and lesbian couples; poor, middle class, and wealthy families; the ingredients that too often result in cycles of violence.

When I worked in domestic violence groups, or in similar settings, one thing that often stood out was that the violent family member would blame their behavior on other people. "She made me do it." "Look what you’ve made me do." That type of thing. It’s the first error in thinking that we had to deal with: as individual human beings, we are responsible for our actions. Until the violent person takes ownership for their behavior, they cannot change; until they can change, there has to be an intervention to ensure other people’s safety.

We see related errors in thinking in the larger society. An obvious example is George W. Bush, who has errors in thinking that have caused untold suffering for families in the US, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He is the cowardly gang-leader, who thinks he is tough because he directs violence on others. And he refuses to take ownership of the suffering he has caused innocent men, women and children; instead, he claims that others have forced him to be "the war president."

The Congress has failed to take responsibility for their role in allowing the administration to be wage the war of occupation in Iraq. After the 2006 elections, many democrats had hoped that Congress would put an end to the president’s violent policies. Just as we want the society to hold the violent young men who stabbed the college student responsible, and want society to protect innocent children from violent family members, we want the Congress to take action.

We have been frustrated, because Congress has failed in their responsibility. And some of that frustration has mixed with our desire to bring about real change in the 2008 elections. There were several good candidates in the democratic nomination, and people supported different ones, because they believed their candidate could best make positive changes as president.

As we have come down to two candidates, the opportunity to make a significant change came into focus: we could nominate a black man or a women. Along with that positive potential, we also began to feel the presence of the negative potential – racism and sexism. These are the siblings of violence, and they impact us as the democratic family.

The media continues to promote the idea of people from the Obama camp refusing to support Clinton if she wins the nomination, and of Clinton people refusing to vote for Obama if he is the nominee. Even here, on DU, we see members who are saying that they will not vote for one or the other, because of what their supporters have said. This is a variation of the "look what you made me do" error in thinking.

Each one of us is responsible for our actions, including how we vote in November. It makes a difference: the truth is that John McCain has said that he will nominate "conservative" judges to the Supreme Court – which means he would put conservative judges on other federal benches. And those judges will make decisions on everything from the Bill of Rights/ US Constitution, to the quality of life in households across the country.

Now is the time to step up, and be a responsible citizen and member of the world community. Work for democratic candidates from the local and state level, to the Congress and the White House.

Thank you.

"If your candidate does not win the nomination, will you vote for the winner in the General Election?"

It's never come up, in my memory.

I have to wonder, if it's actually any different now than it's ever been... if this isn't a media creation...

It is curious how it has even been so pronounced at this important time in the primary season.

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I believe most are speaking out of anger or frustration.

And I think that it is understandable that people feel angry and frustrated, for we are living in a strange time. It is people taking responsibility for doing the right thing, despite those feelings, that will advance our democratic values.

Well, we're going to have to work for it. Going on the mathematical calculation that Obama is going to be the nominee I think it would be beneficial to point out that voter registration drives are being held this weekend, all over the country. If you can, sign up to help (at Obama's site), it's only three hours out of one day.

Before NC and Indiana, Mod Mom did a thread about a postcard writing campaign to the people in Indiana. Move=On had one too. I don't know what affect those postcards had, but I like to think we helped him narrow the margin of victory to 1.1%.

I was listening to John Ridley on Joe this morning and was surprised to hear that he has become an Obama supporter. When asked why, all of a sudden he was on board, he said it was because of his son. We have heard that over and over...Caroline Kennedy, Bob Casey and others. It made me think of the saying that you can always trust the judgment of children and dogs( puppies).

the revolution of values that Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke of on April 4, 1967, when he spoke in the Riverside church. That speech fits for identifying what our goals should be today.

many that you post... The time has come to unite our fellow Democrats.

Only with Unity can we achieve Victory....


thank you friend....

Shawnee

Passions are running high still, as we see on the news and on DU. But we will make advances one person at a time. We can all be "super advocates" of democratic goals.

It's about the congress, local government, community involvement, personal connections between estranged and misunderstood groups of Americans and working towards a positive future along with the world community.

to the White House, we have an opportunity which will never present itself again in this same way.

It is like a river you can't step into it twice.

The new party that is coming will be bigger, stronger and more united.

It is a great time to be a Democrat.

Sometime we will think of these days as the good old days.

New leader, new party, new directions and puppies.

We have to deal with today's issues. The recent growth in interest in the democratic party, which is in large part due to the excitement that Barack Obama brings, allows us to deal with some issues today that we could not yesterday. Democracy is that living river: it's found in the action, the movement, that brings change.

It's time for the Progressive blogisphere to change focus and put the spotlight on John McCain and the Republican Party. Senator McCain has had a free ride for way too long during our own protracted intra Party struggle.

John McCain is more than vulnerable on a wide range of issues. For unknown reasons, the main stream media has handled him with kid gloves since he became the Republican presumptive nominee. The Progressive blogisphere has the ability to do what the main stream media will not - challenge John McCain on the merit of his positions.

A ceasefire is a two way street. As long as it holds on both sides, we should focus on John McCain and the Republicans.

http://baldwinparkdemocrat.blogspot.com/2008/05/time-for-ceasefire-with-clinton-camp.html

I just wish we had UN observers sometimes.

Thanks H2Oman

I agree 100%. On DU:GD-P, for example, it isn't going to be the supporters of either Clinton or Obama, it must be both. And that happens when we, as individuals, take the first step.

Enjoy the puppies. I have deer mice occasionally as pets that my cat brings home, and I let them go after a while.

They have been the center of attention here recently.

have found us." --Jim Morrison

The court is already screwed up for awhile but what McCain will do is screw it up for my boys for most of their lives.

And, as you know as well as I, there is no way to recapture our Constitutional democracy without a fair judiciary.