Why the left must be willing to stand on principle, even if it means losing a battle

[Daemonaquila]

What is the real game? Is it a better future for our country? Or is it to win as many seats as possible, even when your party's candidates' politics are questionable? Is it to pass laws that benefit the people? Or is it to win passage of legislation brought by the party, even if it has to be watered down to nothing to do it?

If you wrote a list of the top 10 changes you think America needs, what would they be? If you compared them to the political work of your current federal, state, and local Democratic leaders, how's that working for you?

We're constantly told that if we don't do _______________, it'll mean a Democratic loss. Since when is it all about party wins or party losses, no matter the substance? Ben Nelson is a Dem. Stupak is a Dem. Even Jumpin' Joe is supposed to be one of "ours." Feeling like a winner yet?

It is time to fight for principles. Politics is not a football game where we root for one team or another, free of consequence. It is time to demand real change, real results, real accountability. It is time to say "Go to hell!" when we are told to move on, get over it, accept the outrageous because it's "better" than the alternative. Do note that the one thing the Rethugs have consistently done is stand on their warped principles - limitless capitalism, empire building, reintegration of church and state, etc. - and win. They've even been winning despite a Democratic president and a "veto proof" majority. Notice that Nelson and Jumpin' Joe have been standing on their principles, and derailing the work of that so-called majority. Wouldn't it be nice to see someone do that who's working for the benefit of the people?

Democrats, from local party organizations to the highest office, have been playing politics like novice chess players. The game becomes not about making a mate, but about protecting their pieces. They want to take the opponent's piece, but they can't possibly lose their own in the process. Sometimes it devolves into targeting a particularly scary opposing piece, such as starting a queen hunt, at all cost. It ends in disaster when their opponent, who is not afraid to lose some pieces in a good cause, maintains focus on checkmate.

I invite you to think about how far politics, and our own party, has devolved. For example, Rethugs and Dems alike voted for the USA PATRIOT act without reviewing the bill. Some Dems who took heat for it went so far as to lamely apologize, saying they wouldn't have voted for it if they'd known what they were voting for. Once upon a time, that kind of outrageous negligence would have been a mandate to step down in disgrace. But after limp mea culpas that would've made a megachurch preacher with a crack habit and a penchant for same-sex teen prostitutes blush, how many are still in office? How many of those have tried to undo their damage by dismantling that law? Or in more recent times, we can just turn this syndrome into a joke: How many Democrats does it take to throw American women under the bus? A veto-proof majority.

This lack of spine started in high school. We all knew who the lousy teachers were - the ones who hated teaching, hated the students, just phoned it in day after day. But there were always those kids who had to pretend to be mature and worldly (even in their own minds, if they weren't fooling anyone else). They'd say "I really didn't like Mr. ________, but I really learned a lot from him." Horse hockey. Apologizing for the state of our party, just like apologizing for a lousy teacher, is safe and comforting. It requires no action and no risk. Real change - the American Revolution, civil rights, emancipation, the New Deal - has never been safe or comfortable. It's scary - and wondrous.

It's time to take risks. It's time to act. I invite those who are disgusted by the current state of affairs, especially those who have said "I'm done," to start kicking some Democratic ass. If you aren't already active in your local party, get active. Organize other disgusted dissenters to get active. Why do we care about politics? Because we care about our damned country. So go DO something about it. If your local party has its head in the right place, strengthen it. If it doesn't, take it over if you and your allies are able, or take a lesson from Nelson and Jumpin' Joe and be an effective thorn in the side. If you can't stomach a candidate, don't stay home on election day or break down and vote for the candidate out of party loyalty - write in a vote for the person you wish was the candidate. Will that mean some Democratic candidates will lose? Hell yes. You have to be willing to let it happen, if you want this party to have a soul again. When the Bushies started the war, up sprang buttons and bumper stickers and posters saying "Dissent is Patriotic." Be a goddamned patriot. It doesn't matter whether it's easy, like writing a post about the latest Rethug atrocity, or hard, like looking a DLC cheerleader in the eyes in front of your neighbors and telling her she's so full of crap her eyes are brown.

I'll end this overly long post by urging you to read what is probably Chris Floyd's best column ever, about doing what's right and necessary - http://www.harrysnews.com/tgBrokenLight.htm. Be daring, be dangerous, and remember what it's like to respect yourself in the morning.