ATTN DEM LEADERSHIP: The Only Thing You Have To Fear Is Fear Itself!

Dear Democratic Leadership,

Our party is suffering a kind of debilitating paralysis. The party under this leadership lives in fear. We have since 2000. It is pitiful to watch as it simply makes you a doormat in Congress. You will remain a doormat until you internalize the logic that the only thing you have to fear is fear itself.

I do not fully understand what drives your fear. Following 9/11 Democrats overwhelmingly voted to support every measure sent over by the administration for fear of being called unpatriotic. Your fear made you complicit in the Iraq War Resolution and the U.S.A. Patriot Act among other clear abuses. Now you are hurriedly trying to explain those votes away. Fear trapped you.

By all indications, several members of the leadership were briefed about the various surveillance programs being run by the N.S.A. Yet, rather than stand up to the obvious abuses they constitute, your fear kept you silent until the news leaked. Now, you have to explain why you were not doing your oversight job from the start. Again, trapped by your own fear and left to eat it as a result.

I could go on and on with these examples. But, I think these make the point.

However, there have been a few shining moments that you need to learn from. Take the Bolton nomination for example, that was opposition leadership. The party stayed united in their opposition and in doing so, forced the administration to settle for a temporary, recess appointment. That was a success for one and one reason only, you lost your fear.

If you think that you will come back to power based solely on remaining silent and waiting for the Republicans to implode, you are both doing a disservice to the nation and prolonging your own time wandering the desert.

Only through rejecting fear and acting like a bold and focused force, will you ever remove the right-wingers that have so abused this country from power and restore some of the democratic principles this country was founded on.


Please for the sake of the country take the good advice offered up by FDR and act like winners not cowering whipped dogs.

Sincerely,

Distressed American

How ya doin'? I'm now a precinct chair, and ginbarn and I were delegates to the Texas state party convention last weekend.

And yes, your speech is right on. Thank you!

:yourock:

Good to see you still on it. It takes every freaking one of us. Even then, we struggle endlessly.

Say hi to ginbarn for me!

/sarc.

I get where you're coming from, but I think you may be missing the mark on how it works in the halls of Congress.

Not working well for us right now.

Maybe it is them that do not understand how it works. If they got it, maybe they would not be getting used by this administration and the Repug leadership.

Yes, right now, the Dems are the minority, but that's no reason to back off, to not fight. Are they waiting for PERMISSION? Waiting for the Republicans to say, "Okay, you may speak now." There are a few who show no fear, but overall, the Dems are running scared. If they can't stand up for what's right now, how can we have faith that they will stand up when they do get some power?

Apparently we win by always losing.

LOL!

If they fear anything, it should be not getting OUR votes.

Or just tell the truth and they'll think it's hell. Either one works for me.

As long as we let them act like that and keep handing our votes on over, the longer they will sell us out to Bush for their own political careers.