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We The People & Freedom of Speech
[Thoughts and impressions from longtime DCP member DiAnne Grieser on the close up experiences of attending political events. Maybe we can't be there, but we can bring you the reports of those who can! Thanks, DiAnne. Editors.]
It was heartening earlier this week to see a real President join a local hero, Jim McDermott, in a Celebration of Freedom of Speech. As Jim said, "I wish I could turn back the clock!" Together, they planned this amazing evening to entertain, educate and motivate "we the people" in the most beautiful symphony hall. We enjoyed world music (Children of the Revolution), jazz (Stanley Jordan) and commentary (Thom Hartmann of Air America).
Thom Hartmann reminded us that Jefferson sent letters to Madison in 1776, from Paris, desperate to persuade him that we explicitly needed a Bill of Rights in addition to our Constitution, in which said rights were implicit. Jefferson advocated for absolute unlimited freedom of speech including political speech. Prior to the Magna Carta, only kings had Freedom of Speech. Following the Magna Carta, only the wealthy had Freedom of Speech. From 1776, "We the People" were likewise given Freedom of Speech. In 1798, the Alien Sedition Acts was established under President Adams, and passed by only one vote. Benjamin Franklin was arrested. Freedom of Speech was re-established via the Election of 1800. Without Freedom of Speech, a free America could not exist.
(photo credit Scott Cohen, Seattle Times) 
The Court Case
We are at such a crossroads again. It started in 1993 with Newt Gingrich, who was fined $300,000 for using tax-deductible money to finance a political organizing tool, which was highly illegal. Gingrich organized a conference call with House conservatives to craft a media response, though this was expressly prohibited. Two citizens intercepted the call and recognized Gingrich's voice. Eventually McDermott heard the tape and leaked it to two newspapers. Gingrich was forced to resign. McDermott thus became a target and was sued by Representative Boemer, the first case of one Congressman suing another in the nation's history. McDermott's interpretation is that he is defending "the people's right to know," and he has the support of Dow Jones, ABC, Associated Press, DBS, Heart Corporation, McGraw-Hill, NBC, New York Times, Newsweek, Time, Washington Post, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and even the Wall Street Journal. To some, he is just another "leaker."
A Contrast in Values
Bill Clinton has been doing alot of travelling in America. People someimes tell him that they don't know what the Democrats stand for. He laid it on the line in this manner: Republicans like to concentrate wealth and power, Democrats like to reward the working middle class. If concentrating wealth and power is the primary goal, a secretive government, no-bid contracts and corporations that regulate themselves do not seem odd. If ordinary people are to be empowered, openness and accountability are called for. Democratic values would encompass a cleaner energy future, good healthcare, a decent living wage, good education, and a security policy that fights terror but seeks to have more allies and create fewer terrorists.
Secondly, he contrasted Republicans as "ideological" and Democrats as "philosophical." If one has an ideology, they can fit the facts to their belief system. If one has a philosophy, values lend a direction but facts are taken into consideration. In an "ideological" system, it is best if people stop thinking and questioning. He cited Ron Susskind's latest book, in which certain conservatives felt that progressives were "trapped in the reality-based world."
Two good diaries the check out, especially if you're working local campaigns.
All Politics is Local
With the importance of local activism now front and center in the Lamont campaign, I thought it might be fun to give folks some ideas about how they could work in their own communities. Blogs are a great tool in our kit, but to win, we will need boots on the ground, conversations around the dinner table, and experience in local races. We have many folks on Daily Kos who do all that and more. Today I'd like to introduce just one of them and encourage readers who are not affiliated with progressive organizations to seek them out, or start one of their own. Her name is Cammie Donaldson and she is President of the Space Coast Progressive Alliance.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/5/7430/84365
Bumper Stickers
Bumper stickers may seem inconsequential . But the willingness of people to put the name of a candidate on their car is a sign of commitment. They add to the visibility of the campaign and the candidacy. And enough of them, particularly in comparison to the lack of visibility of those of an opponent, can help with the bandwagon affect, that this is a candidacy going places, one to which others will also want to commit themselves. Conversely, the lack of bumper sticker may indicate a candidacy which lacks appeal, or is simply too disorganized to get materials out to those who wish to support.
(Read the rest of this for some good campaign ideas.)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/5/6932/98833
Clinton gave such a great speech. As a Precinct Committee Officer, I plan to transcribe his speech in its entirety so that I may recall key phrases to use as my talking points when I walk my precinct and talk with my neighbors. Clinton just makes everything so clear. Thanks for the story Diane.
Wow. So clear, so concise. Wish I had been there. I could listen to him forever. I know, he's complicit in many things that are bad, but when push comes to shove, what a contrast.....
Man vs. chimp.
Elizabeth
Agreed! If you get (or make) a transcript, I'd love to see it & indeed use it, as you said! If the radical conservative position is to "consolidate power and wealth," that pretty much explains much of what they feel it is ok to do. If they are ideological, then it makes sense to them to ignore global warming or think we can spread democrcy through war, since their ideology does not depend on facts, excepted as used selectively to bolster their ideology.
I also received this "GOP gameplan" from mbk:
overview at:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/
Raw_Story_acquires_91page_Republican_playbook_0804.html
pdf of the actual Santorum-Hutchison document at:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/GOPAugust.pdf
We have some amazing events coming up here. Please let anyone know who might want to head this way for a three-day weekend! These activities sound as wholesome and family-friendly as the Blue Angels air show, the SeaFair Pirates and the Torchlight Parade. The big difference is that these events are probably heavily monitored by the government because they are critical of foreign policy as currently administered. They are legal events and within the domain of public expression and free speech. According to what the ACLU has found, these type of groups are watched (including Quakers, Vets for Peace, those singing grannies & many more).
On the Anniversary of the Bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki and to commemorate ALL victims of war & violence, we always prepare lanterns and float them on Green Lake, which is right in the city of Seattle (walking distance from where I'm typing). This is the 61st remembrance. Origami cranes for peace are also constructed and there are Taiko drums, gospel choirs etc. It's a family event and sponsored by so many peace groups & churches. I started going when my dad died in 1994, and this would have been his 84th birthday. He was a WW2 vet (Pacific) so I always send him out a lantern. That's tomorrow night.
Then next weekend (AUG. 11-13) is the Veterans for Peace National Convention here. Cindy Sheehan will be speaking. Workshops will include: non-violent communication, building consensus, compassionate listening, political communication, advocacy, media literacy; sustainability of the environment through peace, Human Effects of War: PTSD,U238 / depleted uranium, spiritual aspects of war, gender issues; Veteran support: women's issues, GoldStar families, Vets4Vets, homeless veterans, IVAW; Issues of war: militarism, impeachment, counter recruiting, torture, treating for peace, war as an instrument of foreign policy, nuclear weapons, weapons in space.
On FRIDAY, 8/11 (which is also my birthday and I'll be stuck at work): SEATTLE PEACE WALK. This is interesting because it starts at Idries Mosque and appears to be right after when the Friday (main service day for Muslims) occurs. All the Islamic groups and alot of the peace groups are behind it & the march proceeds up the street to my local shopping mall (where nothing political seems every to have happened in decades) & then turns around & goes back to the Mosque. People of all faiths are welcome. It is about peace in general but appears to be also largely in support of the Lebonese people. This region has the 2nd largest Muslim community (first is Michigan).
There is also a demonstration downtown the next day (August 12) (& looks like a real one, not just "usual suspects") r/t stopping the US-Israeli War (so the slant is definitely anti-imperialist/leftist though there may be many sympathizers leaning more to the mainstream).
Then Sunday (August 13) at Peace Arch Park, which is between Canada and US, Veterans for Peace delegates will travel by bus two hoursnorth for a picnic lunch/reunion with US War Resisters residing in Canada and their Canadian supporters. This will be a unique opportunity to network with those who had the courage to leave home and family in the U.S. and move to Canada rather thanpartake in wars they felt were illegal, immoral and/or based on corporate greed. There were an estimated 125,000 such war resisters during the Vietnam era.
& is it deja vu?
40,000 US Troops Have Deserted Since 2000
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080506X.shtml
Since 2000, about 40,000 troops from all branches of the military have deserted. Those who help war resisters say desertion is more prevalent than the military has admitted. "They lied in Vietnam with the amount of opposition to the war and they're lying now," said Eric Seitz, an attorney who represents Army Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to the war in Iraq.
Great article. Must have been a splendid evening with two great men. It's a good thing Pres Clinton is doing some footwork for a REAL democrat, cuz I am none too pleased about the exhaustive footwork he is doing on behalf of one of the most loyal republicans (that being Joe Lieberman....)
Thom Hartmann’s deification of Jefferson may sell books, but it’s simply bad history.
Jefferson had a lot of nerve complaining about the Alien and Sedition Acts – in light of the fact that he was a sitting Vice-President actively working to undermine a sitting President (including a potentially treasonous attempt at interfering in ongoing negotiations between Adams and France) - while simultaneously paying James Callender to publish scandalous stories about an old friend who had reached out to him at the outset of his term, in the hope ending the partisan strife that eventually led to those Acts, only to be rebuked on purely political grounds!
The polarization that exists today may well be judged minor in comparison to the gulf that existed between the Federalists and Republicans during the period when the Alien and Sedition Acts became law. And considering that the Jeffersonian Republicans were advocating America get into bed with The Directorate, and eventually, with Napoleon, it is hard to argue that their instincts were superior to those of Adams.
Jefferson was anything but a saint, and in my view, qualifies as one of the great hypocrites in American history.
I will close by pointing out one final irony: if you read Jefferson, you immediately discover that he is as ideological in his own way as any neo-con is today. He advances assertion after assertion as if everything he can conceive of must be “self-evident”. Time and again he adopts rigid, ideological positions - like his opposition to Hamilton’s “implied powers” argument, which he is forced to repudiate during his Presidency when acquiring Louisiana – and only with great difficulty is he willing to admit his mistakes, or live up to his lofty rhetoric.
David McCullough has written a splendid biography of Adams, as has Joseph J. Ellis; but maybe I need to be the person to write “What Would John Say”!
DiAnne,
I read the report off of your own blog as well. (And thanks for emailing me about this post too.) Thanks for the report - and Clinton is quite a character!
Even though he hails from the part of the Democratic Party that is selling out everything (DLC), he has enough charisma to move everyone's heart - progressives, even conservatives. And that's what held the Dems together through the 1990s.
It's time Clinton started speaking up again and hold the Dems and the progressives together again, and glad to know that he is doing that.
Just overheard on my local Air America affiliate (KTLK AM 1150):
Someone by the name of Reverend Dan called into one of the local hosts' shows. He immediately launched into a tirade:
- George W. Bush was appointed by God - not by the Supreme Court, not by the people, but by God.
- The Republicans will continue to steal elections, because it is necessary sometimes to break the laws of man to make the will of God happen.
- Clinton is a Communist. His studies as a Rhodes scholar is the ultimate proof.
- God and W will work together to stop the Communists, fornicators, and sodomites from taking over this kingdom of God. (Hmmm, I thought a sodomite in the form of Ann Coulter had already taken over the country?)
I'm incensed over this. The only reason I am not tearing up Bibles is because there are none that I can find.
Dianne great article. I'm not sure I agree with everything he says or does, but I think he made some great points.
I'm like Robin...not sure I approve of him playing 'middle-man' between Hillary and the Lieberman race.
Posted by: Robin at August 5, 2006 03:20 PM
Welcome Robin. I agree with those that say we need a big tent in the democratic party; however, Lieberman is the pet goat of the Republican party. He lost my support a number of times. But the biggest knife in the back was when he stood up against the Democratic Iraq resolutions on the Republican's time clock.
A couple of comments about Clinton -
I appreciated that he helped out a dear hero of ours here in the 7th District - Jim McDermott
I appreciated that he put together a clear system for thinking about the radical conservatism and the premises from which it operates - concentration of wealth and power & ideology which is not fact-based.
That alone was worth going for. I was not so interested in who else he has supported, who has appeared with his wife (such as Rupert Murdoch) or what he has in his past.
Speaking of wisdom and directiona and perspective, I just came from our "Al Gore party." This should have been the 6rh year of having President Gore for the United States of America. This was no blockbuster action movie, but more like an intelligent lecture with very good editing. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it and remember with some bitterness at hearing Gore be called an "environmental wacko" when he was running. Congress ignored his message, at our peril. The US should have been at the forefront of the Kyoto Accord. As it is, our cars are the least mileage deficient, compared with other countries who manufacture cars. China is leagues ahead of us.
We have maybe 50 years if we don't radically change our ways. One person we went to the movie with was 80 years old and she turned to me afterward and said, "Can you imagine Bush up there having to talk for that long?"
My mom (who is 76) told me today that when she was 5 years old she left a birthday party because an older girl told her the world was coming to an end. She ran home & her grandmother told her that there are some people called "religious fanatics" who interpret the Bible toward their own ends. She said she's never forgotten it.
These same people have infiltrated our government (religious fanatics) and the guy who was fired from the White House for changing text in their statement r/t global warming now works for Exxon. & then yesterday Kos had investigated the YouTube spoof or rebuttal of Gore's movie, supposedly made by a 29 year old blogger. It turns out it was made by PR people from one of the big oil companies.
These people are killing us - the same ones who don't care if we're obese, die of lung cancer or asbestos or become addicted to pharmaceuticals, to line their pockets. As Gore pointed out, maybe we ought to be worrying about a few other things besides terrorism.
By the way, Matt, thanks for the history lesson. I'm much more steeped in biology than history but am always wanting to learn. Nothing is as simple as it seems, and history is easy to revise or cite selectively from.
Just took a nap & woke up with a start - here I was thinking about changing the type of lightbulbs we use, to save energy.
I wondered - how much mileage does a tank get? How many gallons of petroleum for a bomber?!
Take the No War for Petroleum Pledge
When White House officials say that we have vital interests to protect in the Middle East, what they really mean is that they want to protect the oil that feeds our economy. It’s not
coincidental that Iraq possesses the second largest oil reserves in the world. In addition to fueling war, ourfossil-fuel-based economy creates air pollution, causes serious health problems and contributes to global climatechange. From the Middle East to Latin America, Africa, Asia and the U.S., ecosystems and communities havebeen devastated by the effects of the petroleum industry.Creating peace includes taking action to lessen our use of oil and to advocate for clean sustainable, renewable fuels. Examples of pledges that you can make include:
q I will cut down on driving my vehicle, or carpool. I will begin by not driving one day per week. I will walk or bike whenever possible. I will support and use mass transit. I may work closer to my home or work from home one day per week.
q I will minimize purchases of consumer goods that use petroleum when they are transported far distances. I will minimize purchases of plastics because they are made from petro-chemicals. I will buy locally made products, choose products with little or no packaging, and choose organic foods whenever I can.
q I will inform my community and the greater national and global community on the need to take actions such as the above for a more peaceful and sustainable world.
“I pledge to take the following steps to lessen my use of petroleum and to advocate for sustainable alternatives.”
http://www.ecologycenter.org
This is what Kos was talking about yesterday - it's now in the MSM but in the UK
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2299550,00.html
Sick lobbying is behind penguin spoof of Al Gore
So L.A - The Chris Ayres Weblog
IT BEGINS with a caricature of Al Gore — grossly overweight and dressed like a Victorian industrialist — pointing an umbrella at an overhead screen of climate data. The former vice-president’s audience is made up of cartoon penguins, who — in spite of the increasingly balmy conditions in Antarctica – snore at his global-warming lecture and fantasise about going to see X-Men 3.
“What is Al Gore’s new movie, An Inconvenient Truth, all about?” reads the video’s description on YouTube.com, where it was posted.
“Global Warming? The Environment? Or something much more BORING? See Al Gore’s Penguin Army learn how crazy this flick really is . . .”
The maker of the Gore-baiting spoof is credited as Toutsmith, a 29-year-old from Beverly Hills, California. The video appears to have been produced on a home computer, with a budget of pennies. But an investigation by The Wall Street Journal has discovered that Toutsmith is actually operating from Washington, on a computer registered to a PR company called DCI Group. The company’s clients happen to include the multinational oil company ExxonMobil.
The YouTube mystery comes as Mr Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary that combines classroom science with blatant self-promotion, continues to draw surprisingly large audiences. In spite of the film showing at only 587 cinemas across America, it has made more than $20 million (£10.5 million).
(snip)
As for DCI Group, the company has declined to comment on the spoof, saying only: “DCI Group does not disclose the names of its clients, nor do we discuss the work that we do on our clients’ behalf.”
Yet the video on YouTube – which allows people to post short video clips online and share them with friends — appears to be an example of what the PR industry calls “Astro Turfing”. The term was first used by the US Senator Lloyd Bentsen, a Democrat, when trying to describe fake grassroots campaigns to sway public opinion.
(snip)
YouTube was deluged with almost 500 comments from users yesterday, including “f*** Exxon”, and “this is almost as dumb as Bush”. A few stood up for the spoof, with one remarking, “Too funny!!! Its amazing how the warmest days ever recorded were in the 1930s (remember the Dust Bowl?)”.
Sponsored links to the Al Gore video that had been placed on Google were taken down yesterday. It is not clear who paid for them.
If the video was produced by DCI Group, it would not be the PR company’s first attempt to produce its own content. The company operates a news and opinion website called Tech Central Station, which is sponsored by companies including Exxon, General Motors and McDonald’s. The website takes a highly sceptical view of climate change, and is openly anti-Gore.
(snip)
BELIEVE IT OR NOT
In 2001 Microsoft was suspected of being behind a deluge of readers’ letters sent to newspapers complaining about the US Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against the software company
Last year an organisation called Working Families for Wal-Mart was set up to voice the opinions of people who believe the superstore chain is helping ordinary families of America. Most of its funding came from Wal-Mart
Even environmental groups have been Astro Turfed. The harmless- sounding Save Our Species Alliance was accused of being a front for timber lobbyists to weaken the Endangered Species Act. It is headed by a veteran PR man and the former president of the Oregon Forest Industries Council
(Comment: Wouldn't the Swift Boat guys be an example of Astro Turfers? We suspect who is behind them.)
Clinton Has Kind Words for Gore
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former President Clinton, whose relationship with Al Gore has had a few rough patches, welcomed the success of Gore's film on global warming and praised the post-White House work of his vice president.
"I ran a partnership, not a one-man show," Clinton said about his presidency a few minutes into a speech Thursday night ."And if it hadn't been for Al Gore, a lot of those things wouldn't have happened."
(snip)
Clinton said he was"tickled"by the response worldwide to Gore's film,"An Inconvenient Truth,"a documentary that focuses on Gore's power-point presentation on the environmental dangers of global warming.
"I called him the other day and told him:'You know Hillary and I went to see your movie at our local theater. The first time, we couldn't get in, it was full,'"he said."We had to just walk away and walk on home."
They saw the film a week later, Bill Clinton said.
"It's heartwarming to see him continue to make such a positive difference in the world, and I know you're all very proud of him,"he said to loud cheers from the partisan crowd."And you should be."
(the story then continues at the link, bringing up stuff I don't think is pertinent to the issue)
As my mother used to say, "Consider the source"
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Aug04/0,4670,ClintonGore,00.html
These people are killing us - the same ones who don't care if we're obese, die of lung cancer or asbestos or become addicted to pharmaceuticals, to line their pockets. As Gore pointed out, maybe we ought to be worrying about a few other things besides terrorism.
Posted by: DiAnne at August 5, 2006 07:49 PM
That's right.
Not only that, they've done such a great propaganda campaign to make us think the dangers are less grave than they truly are.
My father, for example, swears that the dangers of asbestos were inflated to make Americans stop paying for abundant Canadian asbestos. He claims that asbestos exposure is even less dangerous than smoking tobacco, and does not merit the protection measures that are legally required now. I don't know where his sources are, but I know that there are plenty of right wingers in the construction industry who will say anything.
If you haven't seen Gore's documentary - go. It's like going to a very interesting lecture. Denial is powerful and as he points out, some go directly from denial to despondency without taking any intermediate action. That is not good.
Consider Gore - he's known about global warming since he was a student & his professor sampled C02 levels. Congress has paid very little attention over time.Gore ran for President & many of us who voted for us didn't technically know much about global warming, greenhouse gasses & so on. We knew about the environmental movement - I even had Greenpeace checkblanks.
I did not understand alot of things I learned today.
Now this documentary really lays it out. Looks like the solution (if there can be even a partial one) lies with the whole world.
Some states (mostly the northeast and the west) have gone ahead & created progressive laws re the environment. Most cities have signed on with the global environmental plan that
was just developed in Canada recently. This country is such a horrific offender - just recently our government was giving rebates and tax breaks for those who bought huge trucks. We lag behind the EU, China and many other places for vehicle efficiency.
In the documentary, they showed Reagan, Bush Sr & others saying ridiculous and outrageously wrong things about the earth and getting away with it. Bush himself occasionally gives lip service to ideas like renewable energy. Too little too late. The movie also touches on the stolen election of 2000 (showing, more than saying) and that's tragic.
Just came from a parade. It was a very traditional parade, very populist - with pirates, drill teams, people from all cultures and all walks of life. It would have been hard to say what year it was. Lately everything seems so surreal. I see people enjoying themselves and wonder when more of it will be taken away.
Well I remember having a bit of optimism
back in the Clinton years whereas now
I have nightmares about the middle east and
feel like everything is crumbling. Its like
just when you think you have heard of some
of the worst corruption you could imagine the
next day you are barraged with even more
information about corruption or information
about the "patriots" who have no loyalty
whatsoever to anyone but themselves, no sense
of community or caring about anyone else.
They ship jobs to foreign countries, they ship
all their money to foreign countries, they
weasel out of paying their fair share of taxes
but they want all the benefits to come their way.
They have this vaunted opinion of their self
righteous right to the government and everyone
else owing them a living, but not just a living
but extreme wealth. Their hedonistic and self
serving ways are destroying the country, and
destroying the economy and there are way too many
innocent passengers on their sinking ships
of fate.
I want to add that I have enjoyed reading
DiAnne's article and all the comments. So much
information and so little time.
Hey, Julie. Welcome. The people here give me hope everyday, as do all of the folks working for change around the world. I talk to them every day. It helps quite a bit.
Next Item: Posted by: Ally McLesbian at August 5, 2006 04:27 PM
Ally, the problem isn't the bible, the problem is the people who use it as a weapon of power, greed and hatred. Anything can be a weapon if hit someone with it hard enough. Even the bible.
Next Item: Suz posted a diary on Kos over the story DiAnne posted about. She originally posted the story here as More Than an Intersection, but has since revised and reworked the orginal. The story (on the bogus Al Gore film circulated on YouTube) connected the dots between Exxon lobbyists and the filmmaker. Uh, the filmmaker was not such an amateur after all...lying scum and the people who employ them. Suz, could you post a link to you diary when you get a sec. Thanks.
DiAnne, you live in an area of the country that is so awake and aware. Thanks, as always, for spreading your engagement and energy around. I found a package to mail you that I've had since August of 04?!! (Will mail soon, promise! Although would much rather deliver in person!)
Elizabeth, are you DiAnne's friend? If so, I'm a big, big fan of your work.
Matt, WRITE! :-)
KJ - Elizabeth is a friend of mine & the pre-eminent voter integrity person here in Seattle, as I think Marjorie G is in NYC. She is sponsoring Clint Curtis, who is running in Florida - he'll be coming here to speak on 8/17. He pretty much wrote the book about how Florida did the coup of 2000.
McJoan at Kos posted a story about the Clinton/McDermott event & here it is. So I'm going to post "our" story over there as a "comment" - I didn't cross-post it as a diary because I can never get the photographs to work on their site. I just got this from Bert & he said I should have put mine there. This is good though. I need to send it also to Elizabeth.
Two Great Democrats: Clinton and McDermott
by mcjoan
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/6/201427/0136
On Monday night I had the opportunity to see two great Democrats on the same stage, at my Rep. Jim McDermott's "We the People" event. Clinton was in town fundraise for Sen. Maria Cantwell's reelection campaign, as well as McDermott's ongoing legal battle in Boehner vs. McDermott, stemming from the Republican effort in 1997 to conspire to defy a mandate from the House Ethics panel to not conspire against any ruling regarding Newt Gingrich.
McDermott is a hero to his Seattle constituents, and his remarks reflect why. (From prepared remarks.)
After ten years of Republican rule America has empty pockets, empty gas tanks, and broken promises.
They ignore the Constitution, toss aside the Geneva Convention, out an undercover agent, look over your shoulder at the library, tap the phones in your home, pick your pocket at the pump, and keep sending special interests on tax holidays paid for by the American people.
Then, they go out for lunch to plot what they'll do to us in the afternoon!...
They are not above our laws; they just ignore them, undermine them, have special interests re-write them, or simply attack anyone trying to defend them.
I can't let my country down; I can't let my constituents down; and I can't let the Constitution down.
Clinton next took the stage to raucous applause. The Clinton nostalgia in the room was palpable, and for good reason. Speaking extemporaneously, Clinton gave red meat to these Seattle Dems, clearly laying out the differences between the parties, and what this election means. He spoke cogently, without notes but with great charm and wit, on energy policy, health care, homeland security, foreign policy, and the partisan divisions of today. I've never been a tremendous Bill Clinton fan. But I do long for the days when the White House was occupied by a capable, intelligent, thoughtful, and ultimate public-service oriented president. How far we've fallen in such a short time.
Here are a few excerpts that stood out for me. The entire speech can be heard at this podcast.
On the differences between the Republicans and Democrats:
"[I]t's really just a narrow sliver of the Republican party that has run this whole country for the last five years--it's basically the most ideological, conservative wing of the Republican party, dominated by people who sound like me. You know . . . white southern Protestant guys and their ideological soulmates."
"They honestly believe that the source of America's greatness is in its big companies and wealthy elite, and we believe the source of America's greatness is in its middle class and the promise that everybody who works will be rewarded for it."
"They favor a government that is secretive, unaccountable, and constantly increasing excecutive authority. . . . We believe in a government that is open, accountable, and empowering."
"They favor ideology, we like evidence."
"Because they have already got their minds made up, they think argument is the province of weak minds and they prefer attack. So they attack to support their ideology and we argue to support our evidence."
"They just decide what they want and make up the facts as they go along. It may work for them, but it doesn't work for you."
"The most important thing is - if you look to the future, the 21st century, [then you realize] an ideology that condemns you to indefinite deficit spending. . . . that's not very well suited to solve the kind of problems we've got."
On Republican governance:
"Their number one priority, more than homeland security: to repeal the estate tax for the less than one percent of American people that are covered by it. You know what it cost? $250 billion over a decade. $25 billion a year . . . more than 25 times more important for them to give estate tax relief to less than one percent of us . . . than it was to provide homeland security for 300 million of us. That is ideology not evidence. You need to stand against that, talk against it, and explain how we can do better."
Finally, on what the Democratic party is about:
"The Democrats are for a clear energy future, healthcare reform, raising the minimum wage, restoring the cuts in the college loan program, helping out the kids who lost money that went to my tax cut."
The difficulty for me in listening to the speech was that it took me back, it took me back to January 1993, when I attended President Clinton's inauguration, when I heard him say "There's nothing wrong with this country that can't be fixed by what's right with it." That was an inspiring message then, and it's an inspiring message now. But Clinton is still working around the margins, still the wonk who loves to talk about energy policy, healthcare reform, and college loans. Like the DLC gang that helped bring Clinton to power, I'm not sure that he gets the new political world in which we live, that the landscape has been so altered that the politics of the 1990s aren't adequate to counter the threat this extreme Republican party poses to our public life.
It was fantastic to hear these themes again, but it harkened too much back to the Clinton formula of old, that formula that the DLC is still trying to push. The Clinton formula worked for Clinton, one of the most talented politicians of the last several decades. But it even had limits for Clinton. As a reminder: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. Ring a bell? When Clinton was fully under attack by the Republicans, as Democrats are now, he went to the mattresses. He didn't triangulate. He didn't look for a third way. Democrats are fighting for our lives here, we need to take that message from Clinton.
That's the example to take from Clinton, the example that Jim McDermott has provided for all of his tenure in the House of Representatives.