Is it to entertain like minded Democrats and Progressives? Nothing wrong with that on its face I guess. I have enjoyed countless hours reading, watching videos, and conversing with some very smart and interesting people.

Is it to educate? Sure it is, I know because I have learned much here and still have much more to learn. There are many informational exchanges taking place that I would have missed altogether had I not been a regular reader.

Is it a place for charity? Absolutely. The people here are some of the most generous I have ever met! Much more so than most of the so called, "Good Christians" I have known.

Is it a place to organize, plan, and start Progressive movements that can benefit all Americans and that can make great, positive, and lasting changes in our politics, environment, and social welfare? Not so much I am afraid. As we are being dragged in another deadly, costly, war, our elderly and disabled are barely able to survive, wages have gone backwards (if you can even find and keep a job), and we are faced with starvation and mass extinction from unchecked climate change. All while our politicians continue to naturally due the bidding of those that sent them and keep them in Washington, their Donors! With the exception of a few brave DU'ers who participated in OWS, most here, if they do anything at all, will sign petitions that will be presented to these corrupt politicians who probably laugh as they toss them in the trash.

I have proposed fighting for Publicly Funded Federal, State, and Local Elections (PFE's) and outlawing campaign contributions. Certainly not an easy proposition, but one which will attack the root of the problem and put us in direct opposition to the PTB. Bernie Sanders has said that PFE's are his #1 issue! If enough of us here put our intelligence and efforts in getting out the message and supporting Bernie, other politicians will take notice and join the movement. Bernie doesn't have to win the election, or even the primary, to actually win by getting this battle started. You don't have to march and be arrested to help, just do what you can do to fix the one problem that is causing most of the others. Or, you can continue to complain that Republicans in the Senate filibustered immigration again. Boner in the House will not bring Equal Pay to a vote... The midterms are a great time to be asking these candidates what are they going to have to do for all of that money Wall Street gave them? Is anyone here willing to make a difference, instead of just bitching about how bad things are? I hope so because I am not good at this stuff, but I am willing to get out there peacefully and stare down riot police if I have you guys with me!

"Dust docket". I presented thousands of old men for deposition in asbestos and silica litigation and heard some of the most amazing war stories, as well as seeing first hand the terrible racism that existed in the military and industrial America.
I heard stories of battles I had read about in school, the Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima, Omaha Beach. I met veterans from WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and heard things that were at times alternating between fantastic and horrifying.
I saw institutional racism where white men starting work at a refinery spent anywhere from a week to two months in the "labor gang" digging ditches and other back breaking labor, before being moved to a trade. The black men at the same plant spent 30 years or so in the labor gang before being moved to the warehouse when they physically could not do the work any longer. This one particular plant donated the land next to the plant for them to live on and build a school for their children. In the 1990's it was discovered they had buried toxic sludge underneath when it started to bubble up on the playground.
I hope that the men who decided to dump the radioactive waste in that landfill cannot sleep at night and dream of the dead children when they do sleep!

Think Congress is on vacation again, think again, they are fundraising! Year round, every year, not just election years they go to fundraisers where someone gives them their regular payment (installment) as long as the politician's message is what they want. If the message changes the payments stop. It's a big, crooked joke! How can we have an effective Congress doing the will of the people and protecting us and our environment when our legislatures can be bought? You know the answer, just look around.
The only way out of this mess is a massive uprising of Americans saying enough is enough! We need PFE's at all levels of government to put a stop to this. I read DU everyday and see stories and policies that would not happen if we had true Representative Democracy in America. Our politicians represent these corporations and the wealthy, the rest of us without much speech (money) don't get sh*t except the bill!
Climate Change is the fight of our generation that we cannot afford to lose! We will NEVER get the legislation and the change we need in time if we don't get rid of campaign contributions! Without PFE's we will lose the Climate Change war. While in New York this weekend for the Climate Change protests, spread the word about the way to win this fight!

We must demand Publicly Funded Federal, State, and Local Elections (PFE's) and outlaw campaign contributions. All other issues need to be put aside for the time being as success of PFE's will allow us to resolve many other issues that have been stymied by the PTB.

Climate Change will never be seriously addressed by the PTB. This is an example of the issues that can better be taken care of after PFE's are passed as well as one reason why we cannot wait to start taking action. I keep saying that these midterms are the perfect opportunity to show America how much each candidate has raised and ask the question, "What do you have to do for all this money?" If there is no Quid Pro Quo as Justice Roberts said, why do they do it? They get rid of regulations, have their taxes cut and cut, and syphon money from us, through the government, and into their pockets. These corporations move to other countries to avoid our taxes so it cannot be that they donate this money to candidates out of patriotism.

This is not a Republican or Democrat issue, it's an American issue! As citizens in a Democracy, it is up to us to protect and fight for our rights. We need to spread this far and wide and organize protests outside of TV stations. We need to stay peaceful to show the rest of our countrymen and women that even the right to peaceably assemble has been taken away (see Ferguson). It will not be easy, but it can and must be done to save this country, and this world from ruin.