We Were Betrayed

[Gryphons Eyre]

My Father told me, I should have listened.

I grew up in a strong labor family. Blue collar workers at that time were Democrats; you would not have found someone on the shop floor voting for a Republican because of a “hot button” issue; particularly when that Republican was intent on exporting his job. That has all changed now and my dad saw it coming.

After all the years of disappointment, when Bill Clinton won the presidency I thought things had finally changed for America. And things did seem better for awhile; that is until he took a hard right turn. I remember supporting and praising what Clinton was doing for the country. I believed in his economic policies and even welfare reform. Then came NAFTA; I defended that just like everything else believing Clinton saw a vision for America; my dad was outraged. He called up the local office of the Democrat Party and told them he was no longer a Democrat. They could just bloody well find somebody else to man their phone banks and drive people to the polls on Election Day. Now I see he was right, I only wish he were alive so I could tell him that. We were betrayed and I am still coming to grips with this as well as the Democrat Party must.

How did this happen? That’s the question Democrats have been asking for over a decade now. Democrats have lost sight of what it means to show leadership and the nation has suffered for it. Never before has this nation needed a clear strong voice to speak to the issues of the day as it does now yet for over a decade the Democrats have been in retreat; unsure and timid in which way to move forward. While the party flounders the American people have been crushed beneath the wheels of “compassionate conservatism” and those of us who could do nothing but watch in horror sank ever deeper into despair. This time must end!

There is an internal struggle raging within the Democrat Party; one that poses centrist “new democrats” against “new progressives”. Those that think it better to retreat from adversity then to confront it head on. Those that have betrayed the “new deal” and the men and women who have built this nation with their own hands rather than fight for their rights guaranteed within the constitution. Who prevail in this struggle will determine what this party stands for and who will provide leadership at this critical point in history. Democrats need to be united to confront the awesome forces poised against the people of America and foundation on which this nation stands. To do this we must first put our own house in order.

Who are the “new democrats”? Who are the members of the “Democrat Leadership Council”? Who are Wall Street Democrats and who frequents global economic summits in Davos, Switzerland? Why did Bill Clinton champion NAFTA which in combination with “rubinomics” has contributed to the loss of 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2000? Who is in the pocket of pharmaceuticals, oil corporations, defense contractors, and the credit industry? Who is in league with the neocons and betrayed everything the Democrat party stands for? You find the answers to these questions and you will begin to see why America no longer effectively has a two-party system.

I will not vote for Hillary Clinton! I will not vote for anyone that does not admit they were wrong if they voted to authoritize war in Iraq. I will not vote for anyone who does not push universal health care to the top of their agenda. I will not vote for anyone that does not push “fair trade” rather than “free trade” to the top of their agenda. I will not vote for anyone that will not confront and reverse the destruction of our constitutional rights. I will not vote for anyone that will not rigorously work toward restoring America as the leader of the world in the fight for true liberty, justice and freedom. I will not vote for anyone that does not work tirelessly to shut down the industrial-military complex in this nation that is consuming the very life blood of its people.

I call on every Democrat to take this vow. I am calling to my party to regain that moral compass that saw the American people through two world wars and the great depression. I call upon my fellow Americans to seek out truth in the media, transparency in government, integrity in governance and restore this great land to that last best hope for mankind.

"Today the Democratic Party stands between two great forces. On one side stand the corporate interests of the nation, its moneyed institutions, its aggregations of wealth and capital, imperious, arrogant, compassionless.... On the other side stands the unnumbered throng which gave a name to the Democratic Party and for which it has presumed to speak. Work-worn and dust-begrimed, they make their mute appeal, and too often find their cry for help beat in vain against the outer walls."

William Jennings Bryant

[cali]

1. You will not vote for a democrat. Period n/t

[leftofthedial]

26. not all Democrats fall into the categories listed in the OP

just the gutless traitors

[JDPriestly]

2. Sounds like you like Edwards.

That's fine by me.

[Top08Gear_com]

15. Ditto

Definately sounds like an Edwards take.

Which if that's the case you might be interested
in this shop over at:

http://www.cafepress.com/standtogether08

[lostnotforgotten]

3. I'll Vote For Any Democrat That Did Not Support GWB And His Iraq Folly

eom

[John Q. Citizen]

4. Vote Kucinich!

[Name removed]

5. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Jim Sagle]

6. I don't trust anyone who call it the "Democrat Party."

[Capn Sunshine]

11. Here here

"Democrat Party" is a specious attempt at an insult popular with the neocons. It's a buzz word that communicates a subliminal message .
Auntie A , better talk to your friend there.

[auntAgonist]

29. yeah but

did you even read what he wrote?


aA
oh and it's "calls" not "call" being as we're picking apart words here. :)

[Monkeyman]

7. I vote for the Democratic Party

[zeemike]

8. Your Dad is probably laughing at you from above

Telling all his friends up there his son finely gets it.

But it was all done with money. Money siphoned off the Treasury during the Reagan deregulation of the 80s that bought the Senate and House members and put them in the pocket of the very wealthy who were then made more wealthy by dramatic tax cuts. They had so much money that they bought not only the government but the media and most of every things else that had a use.
And with all these resources they can keep us ignorant and fighting among ourselves so we do noting while they destroy the nation and it's constitution.
The world is there oyster now, they have no allegiance to any country or land. They can have there ranch in Colorado, there chalet in the south of france and there own private island in the Mediterranean sea.
Do you think they are worried about you and me?

[thethinker]

9. The underlying problem

is campaign contributions. We need to get ALL money out of politics.

The democratic party did sell out the unions. Yes, the unions always voted democratic. It is a shame, but it is true. They not only sold out the unions, they sold out all the Americans who count on having a decent paying job. The democrats are still better than the republicans.

Nothing is going to change until we get ALL the money out of politics. No Band Aid solution is going to work. That is the only thing that will fix our broken system and make sure the people that are suppose to be representing us work for us instead of the highest bidder.

[blossomstar]

12. Money = Corruption, You are so right.

[whathappened]

10. wtf

if they would just slap a tax on every ship that bring in there shit from acroos the pond , we would have the jobs back fast , scrap nafta

[Cerridwen]

13. And just to piss off everyone - I gave you the 5th rec. and sent

this to the Greatest Page.

If you've got editing time: go ahead and update Democrat Party to Democratic Party. As you can see by some of the responses, it's a hot button here which combined with the fact you know some of the less palatable parts of the Democratic Party's history and your low post count means you're going to be judged, found guilty of being a troll and sentenced rather than people reading your post for substance.

By the way, welcome to DU and your first trial by fire. This thread will break out into a flamefest or slide off the page; probably not much in between.

Those of us who carry the history of the Democratic Party, including the icky parts, are the bane of existence for those who've decided the Democratic Party will be our savior.

And I strongly urge you, if you take the time to vote, go ahead and vote a straight Democratic ticket. The other option is to give the republicans a win and those bastards don't even put gild on the cages they create for us; at least the Democrats do that much. Then push, push, push from the inside.

But, please, be sure to say Democratic Party! :D

Welcome aboard - it's gonna be a bumpy ride.



:hi:

[Gryphons Eyre]

14. my apologies but...

We were still betrayed.

I believe "The Democratic Party" is the only hope those Americans that follow after us might still believe in these words:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Or will these words ring hollow as if spoken of some other people who lived in a distant time and place. Sadly from the perspective of this declaration might our children and children's children not have to fight for these truths all over again?

g

[China_cat]

17. If we aren't fighting for them all the time, we don't deserve to

keep them. Like anything else...use it or lose it.

[MGKrebs]

16. "The Party" is not the same as it's candidates.

Candidates necessarily tailor their messages to respond to what they see as the will of the people, hopefully in a way that stays true to their principles. At least winning candidates do.

If we want to change the way the candidates act, we have to change what voters want. Join the party, get active. Let's encourage the national party and the state parties to implement a year-round effort to promote the values of the Democratic Party. They are winning values, but people do not hear them except during campaigns, and we can see how varied the messages are when we leave it to candidates to decide them.

Voting is not the only way to express ones desire for change. It is just a measurement of how well we have done the work leading up to an election.

[The Gunslinger]

18. It's called the Democratic Party

Thanks

[zulchzulu]

19. Welcome to DU... I do have a question...

Like others have posted, you use the Gingrichian term "Democrat party" within your post. Usually, that's a sign that you don't respect the Democratic Party. Is that so? Are you a Republican?

Oh, and another question... did your father leave the Democratic party and perhaps join the Republican party because of Clinton's passing of NAFTA? If that is so, he certainly did a lot worse.

I agree with you on many of your points you mention, but I'm curious and wouldn't mind you answering these simple questions.

[nolabels]

44. The "IC" was swept away a long time ago.

The party that calls itself "Democratic" only represents the lesser of the two evils and has no plural in it. There is no excuse for the abysmal waste that is called the Defense budget and it supplies no real safety for citizens that is supposed to represent. As a group, the people of the US would probably be much safer without it. When the next war comes remember that somebody told you so.

[Gryphons Eyre]

20. Democrat/Democratic not the issue here...

I have to add one more comment; all those within this thread who belabor me for using Democrat instead of Democratic does a disservice to the important issues this thread was intended to address and is in fact a sad commentary on why political discussion is in such disarray in America today. If you care more about being grammatically correct then the real life struggles that are gripping this nation then I would suggest this is the wrong forum to take up that argument. Certainly one that I was not here to argue.

I lived through the Reagen years. I saw hope die in America. I saw working class salaries stagnate and a fathers hope that he could provide a better life for his child wither and die in this nation. I have seen the Secretary of Labor saying that "outsourcing" was a good thing after all "the stock market was the "final arbiter" of economic growth." Try telling that to the steel worker that has lost his job and everything along with it. The cruelest cut of all is that it was someone I admired, someone I believed in; someone that was a Democrat who implemented the beginning of the end. I know, I am preaching to the choir here but folks this is far to serious at least for me to see it being pissed away over grammatical error. Actually my grammar is pretty good for being a machinist all be it college educated. Have some respect, I am officially on the endangered species list and by all accounts soon to be a dinosaur.

Yes I will vote Democratic; always have. Yes I have seen it as a choice between the lesser of two evils. I think we need to do better then that and even though year after year I voted and lost I still believed the important part was casting that vote. I am not so sure about that now. I think the important part is aggressively engaging my own party and Americans outside the party that that vote has to count for something more. An America in the future I can be proud of because I cant say I am too proud of her anymore.

[thethinker]

22. Please excuse the grammar lessons

It is a way of not dealing with your point. Your point is painful for many of us.

The democratic party is not perfect. But, God knows the people posting on DU try to make it better. We pick the party apart. We keep our congress critters under close scrutiny. Some days we praise them, and other days we cuss them. We have sent them roses at times, and other times thousands of emails. Because there are so many of us, they know we are out here in the internet world. They call us netroots (a new term for the grassroot movement).

The years since Reagan was in office has not been easy for most people. The country has gone down hill. Young people starting out today will be very lucky if they can live as well as their parents did. That is a fact. The middle class is shrinking. If this trend continues, the country will end up in a depression and the wealth will be redistributed thru taxation. The country has gone thru phases where it had to deal with the robber barons before. It will have to do it again. The economy is heading toward a brick wall.

As I see it, the democratic party is the only hope we have. We have to make it better. We have to keep replacing DINOs with fresher faces with more progressive ideas. We made a lot of progress with the mid term elections.

In politics, the pendulum swings. After the Reagan years, it moved to the right - big time. Now it is moving left - big time. We saw this in the mid terms. We will see it more clearly after the next election. The center is moving left. The independents and many republicans will be voting democratic. Some will be voting democratic for the first time in their lives. Mostly because they are as fed up as we are. They will be voting democratic because it is the only hope they have to stop these endless wars and start repairing the damage done to our country. Some people posting here think the center is to the right of Cheney and will always be there. But, they are wrong. The pendulum is swinging.

At times, especially during the last six years, I have also felt betrayed by some of the democrats in congress. I was very disappointed in the bankruptcy bill, the Patriot Act and all the other nonsense that some of them voted for. But there are some good democratic congressmen that vote right every time. The problem is there are not enough of them. We have to work hard to get more good ones to Washington. Finding good candidates happens at the grassroots level. Dean is working hard in this area. The results are beginning to show.

The last six years have been so rough, I know it is hard to stay hopeful. Just remember it is always darkest before the dawn.

[Gryphons Eyre]

25. finally a reply that actually reflected on what I said...

Thank-you for you insight "thethinker".

Much of what you say I can agree with. The problem though is in the leadership and not in the rank and file nor even in the case of many senators and representatives. I believe the damage could have been contained to a far greater degree; had the party leadership not simply postured for political gain and far worse as I have argued been in collusion with those that have exploited their own people. It is for Democrats to see clearly the difference between someone who calls them self a Democrat; practiced in the rhetoric that identifies themselves as such; and someone that is truly working for the interest of the people.

It is about accountability. It is about making substantive political discussion palatable again. It is about showing Americans that they have been fooled into thinking because a respective candidate says they are a Democrat; a Christian; a Right to Life or Right to own Firearms proponent; that it is in their best interest to vote that person into office.

The struggle still rages on my friend and it is not a foregone conclusion who will prevail. Nor is it an absolute that the pendulum will continue to swing to the left. We must be able to connect with people emotionally and through community efforts much like the Right has done if we are to win the battle for the soul of America. If I have learned anything through the years of despair, carefully crafted messages from the right; economic and national security issues have not driven people into the open arms of the Democratic Party. More then not, and because of a lack of true leadership and an ability of the party to show a clear distinction of who we are and what we stand for; many have just given up. I mean to change that.

g

[Gelliebeans]

21. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[win_in_06]

23. It's William Jennings Bryan

not Bryant

[Greyhound]

24. A hearty welcome and an apology for the rabid avoidance of the issues.

You've, like I so often do here, pointed out that the unjustified enthusiasm that permeates many element of this board is, indeed, unjustified. Many here seem to cling to a belief that prior to 2001 America was great and all was right in the world. You know what happens when you point out other's delusions.

You made excellent points, none of which can be denied with any credibility, and we are in the throws of a monumental struggle to take our Party back from the corporatist agenda that has run it since at least the early 80's. The fact that our (currently) leading candidate for our Party's nomination is the wife of one of the principle architects of that absurdity only makes it that much worse.
So once again, welcome to the struggle, ignore the BS, and enjoy the camaraderie.:toast:
:kick: & R

[AtomicKitten]

27. "Democrat" Party sends up a red flag for me.

While you will find some people not enamored with the "Democrat" Party like you, I believe most will support the DEMOCRATIC nominee in the general election.

And as I posted elsewhere regarding "apologizing" for the IWR:

I am not impressed by the performances - excuses, apologies, explanations, etc. - of those that voted 'yes' on the IWR. It doesn't mitigate their complicity in this mess.

In my mind, what you are doing is rating their after-the-fact responses like an Olympic event. If I try to see things from your perspective, I actually come out less repulsed by Hillary's response because I find the apologies the epitome of phoniness. Just as they voted 'yes' in part to preserve their political asses, they are falling over themselves apologizing for the same reason. Ugh.

No, sir, I think they all suck for voting 'yes' and intend to manifest my displeasure in my primary vote. In my opinion, all 28 Senators made the mistake of their lifetimes and all of them should suffer the consequences of their bad judgment. You can keep their tap-dancing mea culpas because it's all bullshit in my eyes.

[calimary]

42. I heard an interesting take on the whole apology question today on the Ed

Shultz show. It made sense. Yeah, there's the thing about Hillary's will-she-or-won't-she-why-won't-she stand on apologizing for voting for the IWR. And Edwards' apology already. But what we are missing, myself included, is that THE WRONG PEOPLE ARE BEING ASKED TO APOLOGIZE. I think the people who had hard-ons for this war, lied to get us all into it, and continue to lie, defy the law, rape the Constitution, and smear America's face and reputation in the world with mud, blood, and shit - the bush/cheney machinery - THEY are the ones who should apologize. FIRST, LAST, and ALWAYS. They're the ones who owe all of America, and all of the world, an apology (and I'm not holding my breath).

One other thing - the "Democrat Party" versus "Democratic Party"/"Democrat Leadership Council" versus "Democratic Leadership Council" - to our OP and others here, I'd just remind that if we fall in with the "Democrat Party" stuff, we are using THEIR language to define US. I'd rather name MY OWN party, and call it what WE who are part of it call it. I will NEVER allow the enemy to define my party or hang their own name on it or try to rename it or otherwise pervert it. We subconsciously put ourselves in a diminished, discounted, even subservient position to them if we go along with what they've decided in a piss-ant, mean-spirited, snide, snarky, gingrichian attempt at belittling us to call us. I will NOT go along with it. They're NOT my slavemasters and I will NOT wear THEIR name for me - any more than I would accept one of those cutesy "nicknames" that might be conferred upon me by the resident.

This is not to say our OP entrant is trying to sneak one by us like so many snakes-in-the-grass on the other side. Gryphons Eyre makes a worthy argument (and Welcome to DU, btw!). The American worker has indeed been sold down the river. Ross Perot's "giant sucking sound" has indeed come to pass with NAFTA, and the steady effort since ronald reagan fired the striking PATCO workers to bash unions and beat them down into powder. I heard something on the radio today about union membership a couple of decades ago was 20-something percent of the work force. Today, it's something like SEVEN percent. The worker no longer enjoys being a small part of a much larger entity that can bargain en groupe for better pay, better benefits, job security, worker safety and other protections. Big business has long wanted to break the backs of the unions so they wouldn't HAVE to cover such things, eat into their precious profits for the benefit of the people whose labor generated those profits. I'm a union member myself. There are two of us in my immediate family. And I'm proud of it. Unions are a necessity, and I'd hope that by now, most workers would be able to see that, because the lack of strong unions is one of the byproducts of big business making such political inroads at the expense of the worker. We would NEVER have even needed unions to begin with, if corporate America had done well by its workers, treated them reasonably and compensated them fairly. Unions came about because that was NOT the case. Corporate America knows only one thing - like any self-respecting Ferengi knows: profit above ALL ELSE. Profit is GOD. And it's only behaved decently toward those whose labors generated that profit because it was COMPELLED by a separate, independent entity (the government) to do so. Business will only do what it should do when it's forced to. And we MUST start getting back to that. There must be a penalty for outsourcing, relocating your corporate HQ to the Cayman Islands to avoid paying your fair share of taxes, and the like. We're once again in that position where business will have to be FORCED to do the proper, ethical, and moral thing.

I hope to God one of OURS starts making that happen. It'll have to be one of ours anyway, because the republi-CONS are loathe even to entertain such thoughts.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[auntAgonist]

32. TOJ,.this is

the best you can offer?

He's no freeper and definitely no loser.

read the thread.

and , quit with the name calling.

aA

[Midlodemocrat]

33. Not a freeper, not by a long shot.

[brentspeak]

31. We just had an election. The Democrats haven't even finished moving into their new offices

You're ranting about the past as if it's the present. I hate the DLC, too -- but the DLC is no longer in charge of the Democrats now that the election is over. Your OP is needlessly divisive.

[Q]

38. You are SO wrong...

...about the DLC not being 'in charge' of the Democratic party. Just as the Neocons control the GOP from the shadows...the DLC controls at least the party leadership. They are right now pushing their 'other' DLC Clinton and will launch a smear campaign against anyone they consider more progressive than J Lieberman.

Please do the research on this matter. The future of the Democratic party is at stake.

[PhilipShore]

34. I agree with 99% of your article & Welcome to to DU Gryphons Eyre

I just would like to add; that there were Democrats in labor during the Vietnam War, that would physically attack protestors at demos. Why?

My guess is, I am no labor historian, but there jobs were probably tied to the Military-Industrial-Complex, that Ike warned the country about.

After JFK - it seemed to me, though I was a baby when he was shot; that the country, and especially a lot of members of labor started to identify with the politicians that benefited from the destructive and violent forces that more then likely led to his assassination. Why? Perhaps, because of the "stockholm syndrome" - I am no shrink - and I am not a lawyer, but I can see no other reason why some in labor, from that time to present could identify with the - politicians - that were not concerned with their best interests.

[Kopterman]

35. I think...

...that they just wanted to beat us up cuz we had hair like girls.

[PhilipShore]

36. Are you a hippie?

[Kopterman]

45. yep. nt

[Porcupine]

37. Well I'm with you.

People DIED to get where we were in 1980 and the life that workers had then has been sliced away to nothing.

I want my rights back.

[LittleClarkie]

39. Don't you have more than one thing at the top of the agenda?

Seems a tad crowded up there. What should be at the very top?

[smalll]

40. I think you go way too far, but I like your peroration and the Bryan quote -

it makes me think of an old hymn -

"Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light..."

[Bryn]

41. Welcome to DU

I am still waiting for America to return back to being country, not the CORPORATION.

I hope to see more of your posts.

[Larry Ogg]

43. Very well said and heart felt post Gryphon. Keep saying it like it is, and keep saying it often.

May the waves you make, rock big boats! And welcome to DU…