Alas, here I sit, thinking…umm.. thought, that I would be rescued soon, by a wannabe in disguise, liberal soldier in donkey print khakis, pen cocked and strapped to his thigh, ready to fight the invincible repugs to the democratic death for me and my rights as an American Human……

but, alas, my rescuer doth not showeth, and I languish in my prison still, waiting for freedom, waiting for my voice to be heard….

and then, the voice, unseen, that whispereth through the cells..

You, unfair maiden, I will never come for.

There are Important WARS that I need to Battle for, there are IMPORTANT, FREEDOM DEFYING, ugly REPUGLICANS I MUST PIRECE MY PEN(is) LANCE THROUGH.

I will not, fair and hairy maiden, be able to fight any battles for you. But, my sweet and unfaltering dove, know that as you languish in the horrid Gitfem, that, even as you grow yet older and hairyer, in my strong mind’s eye, you will always be that fair and wilting flower I once knew (and forever secretely despised).

Never demanding, always acquiesing, always waiting for the day when, I am released from the fierce battles of MEN, so that you can render me your womanly comfort(MAKE SURE THAT YOU SHAVE FIRST!!!).

Signed, YOUR HERO,
KOS

But do we get the respect we deserve? Paul Begala (extremely well paid democratic consultant) was on CNN’s “Inside Politics” show the other day talking about how Dean was sent out to stir up the grassroots of the party and raise a lot of money from them. Meanwhile Pelosi, Reid, and Biden would calm down the DLC/Corporate/Big Money wing of the party. And yes, the grassroots will get mad when the party runs to the right, but “WHERE ARE THEY GONNA GO?” THEY’VE GOT NOWHERE ELSE TO GO!”

I’m so tired of that argument – it actually makes me sick to my stomach. It’s basically very un-American. I resent not having options. I resent being told I can give lots of money (and I have), but I have no right to have my views taken seriously within the party. I resent the hell out of that. And I personally cannot take it anymore.

What also ends up happening is that women are less likely to volunteer (or donate), and as someone pointed out at on another blog (I can’t remember who) a lot of the footsoldiers for the Democratic party are women. How many more would they have if they reached out to women? How many are they going to lose if they keep up the attitude that birth control is a “special right”?

And, again, as someone else already pointed out elsewhere, anyone who thinks that women can’t win elections for the Dems has completely forgotten the fallout from the Clarence Thomas hearings. When women are motivated to vote in their self-interests they can make a big difference, and this usually works to the Dems advantage.

To quote Donald Rumsfeld (which I almost never do) It’s going to be a long slog.

People really are searching for alternatives. They just can’t stomach politics as usual.

My philosophy is “Organize Green, vote strategically.”

Sometimes I’ll vote for a Dem, sometimes a Green, sometimes an Independent. But by organizing Green, there can be central place and message and community.

Yes, the Green Party has a 10-point platform. For the most part, that platform is the same, nationally and internationally. However, like any other platform, how it plays out in reality can often be much different than the ideal. Prior to the 2000 election, there was a long discussion on my state’s listserve about how feminism shouldn’t be part of the platform. The point was driven home by an MRA who made it clear that he blamed feminism for the judge in his divorce case granting custody to his kids to his ex-wife, even though she was “abusive and a bad mother” (his words).

After seeing how many agreed with him (and getting slammed by 50-100 emails a day) I couldn’t take it any longer and got off the listserve, so I have no idea how it played out, but it definitely opened my eyes to the reality of progressive politics.

My other problem with the Greens is that they pride themselves on being non-hierarchical. This is, in theory, a good position, but again, in reality, means that there are as many opinions on various positions as there are people, and very little communication and support between the numerous chapters. In some places, the Greens are people who are concerned with the environment and don’t really care about anything else; in other places, they’re against classism, but not in a socialist way. This is obviously a similar problem with Democrats as well, it just seems that it’s exacerbated with the Greens. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that most people in the party (around here anyway) come into it with pretty strong beliefs and are usually active in those areas.

I also agree with Linnaeus about the upper-class thing; I live in a college town, so the local party is full of professors, and very few (if any) minorities or working-class people.

In general, the Greens seem to be lacking a cohesive message. And, while they seem to be doing well in California, have been losing steam in other places. Hell, our campus group has completely fallen apart. Five years ago we had over 200 members.

At the moment, the pinnacle of sophisticated thinking in the leadership of the Democratic party is that progressives can be “triangulated” in true Clinton style. “We’ll give them Dean, we’ll take their money, but we’ll also make sure to placate the big corporate/lobby money by having Biden, Pelosi, and Reid “distance” themselves from his remarks.

Frankly that strategy is just plain insulting to the intelligence of every American who can read. Once again, they don’t want to have the difficult discussions – instead they create a paperthin blanket thinking they can cover up their corruption. “Just say what they want to hear” does not work anymore.

The progressives in the Democratic party won’t have any real influence in the party until Dems start feeling real heat (as in losing elections) from the Greens. Progressives will NEVER be able to match the money from the lobbyists. All we have is our votes and they won’t take us seriously until corrupt and conservative Democrats start losing elections. Yep, they will probably lose those elections to Republicans. But maybe then they will start to value and even court the progressive vote.

It’s the only way the Dems can recover their soul.