The President - I mean, the “Occupant” - says he wants to make America great again. I wonder when was that? What century? What decade? What year?

If one looks back at the story of America, but ignores past deficiencies or forgets the people who were denied rights to which all Americans are entitled, then the past can be, for some, to a minority, a comforting place. But it also betrays a lack of courage. It speaks to a fear of the future, which is, by its very nature, always uncertain. And is antithetical to who we are as a people. We have always embraced the possibility of the future, not the comfort of the past.

It has been that attribute that has made the American nature truly exceptional and the Democratic Party the instrument of the people. We are not held down or beholden to a fictional past. We Democrats look to the future with its possibilities of positive change and new challenges and have always there to make it ours and so it must be again.

Our party must be clear on the issues of the day and all who seek the nominations of our party must identify themselves as Democrats and be damn proud of it! Our present positions must be rooted in the traditions of our great democratic past. It is Democrats who gave the nation Social Security,. It is Democrats who gave the nation Medicare and Medicaid. It is Democrats who gave the nation the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. It is Democrats who gave the nation the Affordable Care Act. And it is Democrats that have given the country so much more. It is the Democratic Party that has used government power to make better the lives of average Americans, irrespective of their status but with an emphasis on those those who are most at risk.

Now is not a time to be beholden to ideological litmus tests. The stakes are too high, our democracy is too much at risk for us to be so divided when there is actually so little that actually divides us. Our party is made up of disparate parts but it is held together by common interests.