The Democratic Party is dead to me.

[balantz]

It isn't what it is supposed to be. It is part of a system of government that is owned and manipulated by the elite. It operates currently in compliance with a fascist regime. If John would have spoken his heart about this sad truth he wouldn't have made it as far as he did.

I pray to the Spirit of Liberty, the grace of our Democratic ideals, that a group of wise and powerful leaders step in to the political landscape and save our country, and the world, from the jaws of the military industrial complex and all of the affiliated corporations that so completely control our lives.

I pray that a grassroots movement takes hold and flourishes in this world, regardless of borders.

I pray for a new organization of United Nations that promotes dignity and peace for all. One that will move to save this planet and her people from the fear-mongers.

[saltpoint]

1. Boy, not to me it isn't.

And it isn't in the lives of the children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren whose fathers fought in wars against nations who shoveled people into ovens.

For those of us who remember Robert Kennedy or Dr. King or Thomas Paine or Sacajeawea, the Democratic Party represents a magnificent evolution in ideas.

It isn't dead either to people who know why The Wall in Berlin divided families and friends.

Politics isn't perfect. It's mostly thorns.

But the rare roses rise in the densest fog.

And their scent wafts down the humblest of garden lanes.

[balantz]

2. Poetic.

It is supposed to be the entity to which you refer, but it is no longer that noble institution.

It has become a tool of the mega-corporations which for the most part are owned by a minority elite.

It is the pacifying branch of the government. We all keep hoping it will administer the will of the people, but it continues to fall far short of that duty.

This fact is central to why I cannot "get behind" either of the two remaining candidates.

[saltpoint]

3. I can understand and respect your frustration, but would insist that

out of the ashes of apartheid, we now hold Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela high as icons, as landmark hearts against tyranny.

There is redemption in the struggle itself.

Joan Didion said it very well: You play the hand you're dealt and you stay in the action.

Just my take.

[balantz]

4. Well, there's really no choice in that matter. The cards have been dealt.

I'll be happy to see the winning candidate be a true populist/progressive, but I won't hold my breath.

And Tutu and Mandela didn't change the corporate/elite structure of power in South Africa, they were just the leaders in a movement that had to happen, much like civil rights had to happen here.

Neither C or O are our populist "saviors".

And the Party was supposed to end the war. Also, impeachment would have been the proper thing to do.

[saltpoint]

5. Well, you're entitled to your view. I'm not questioning your smarts.

But there's work to be done and we need all hands on deck.

[balantz]

6. And what kind of work would that be?

[saltpoint]

7. Building communities. Rehauling school curricula.

Reorienting consumers to citizenship.

Re-establishing relationships with the natural world and the world of our deep ancestors.

That sort of thing.

[balantz]

8. Sounds good.

Sure would be nice to have a government to back us in those endeavors, one that isn't owned by the greed of corporate interests.

[saltpoint]

9. One navigates through the land and hopes one's maps are reliable.

Isaac Newton said he saw farther than most not of his own gifts and volition but owing to his standing on the shoulders of giants, by which he meant the great minds and spirits of times past.

Churchill felt that the farther behind one looked the farther ahead one could see, and that this was an appropriately inspiring caption beneath the picture of human undertakings. Sins against its hinge weaken the whole structure. Plus, he had time for fun. He smoked serious cigars and was an avowed nudist.

[Two Americas]

24. it is not personal

Objective criticial analysis is not something to personalize - "I understand your frustration" - nor does it call for analyzing what you imagine the flaws of the speaker to be, nor does it ask for a lecture as to how a person should feel or what they should do or think.

Talk about the message, do not patronizingly discuss the messenger.

[saracat]

10. I am just about there myself Balantz. After all the sexism and rage and the lack of respect shown.

by many, I do not want to be associated with such folks. If our party is reflected by what many on this board endorse, I have thrown 30+ years away. I am sick at heart.For this cycle, I will support the local candidates but I may be done after that depending on the nominee.But truly, the viciousness is too much.Perhaps a miracle will interven.We can always hope I suppose, but I have been disappointed too often.

[balantz]

11. People will have to turn against the giant corporations.

The entire structure of banking and corporations is geared to make a minority of people wealthy and suck from the common labor and the wealth of the Earth.

The military industry and the oil corporations are monopolizing and squandering the resources of this Earth which really should belong to everyone more equally.

The Democratic Party should be our watchdog, it should work for us. The Democratic Party should be rebuilding the regulations that have been removed from the giant corporations.

The greedy interests of the elite will provide safe-havens for them, and leave us in the dust scrambling for a hand-out.

I don't want a government that is owned and operated by these special interests, I want a government that will safeguard the interests of everyone, and will protect the Earth's resources and manage them wisely for all of our children.

[saracat]

12. And we surely wouldn't have the "watchdog"under Obama who wants to give then a "seat at the table"

Wwe need a "fighter" and he is a corporate sellout. For all her corporate involvement, I actually believe Hillary will at least put up a fight. Obama wants to "negotiate' and has never been sucessful at it.He folded like cheap suit to lobbyists in Illinois and bailed on anything substantive in his whole 2 years in the Senate.Damn, we really needed John Edwards.

[balantz]

13. I hope I am wrong

But neither O nor C will put up any real fight against the corporate-elite and their fascist government(s).

The two candidates and each of the two factions of the Democratic Party that they belong to are firmly entrenched in the system of corporations and banking that owns our governmnent.

Only a revolution will give us back our Democracy. And not a bloody one, Lord knows we wouldn't win that kind of a revolution.

As the world teeters toward world war, and the economic house of cards falls ready to be re-shuffled, and the health of our planet and ourselves reaches a critical state, then there will be a spiritual revolution. If the fundamentalists don't "armageddon" the world and everyone sees that the rapture is not the pie-in-the-sky that they preach, people may begin to turn toward sanity and work for the common good.

If we survive all of that.

We must become our own leaders if we are to survive. But too many still have faith that the Party will work for the common good. Where have they been, and what have they been doing? Why after these few decades are we in such a mess? Why does our Party continue to fail us and then put the blame on the Republicans? The Democrats also are too busy pushing the agenda of the corporations. We should have seen change come from a vibrant and vigorous Party, not circles and circles going nowhere.

It sure would be nice to have some progressive giants step up to the plate and help us become our own leaders.

I still dream now and then for the likes of Gore and Edwards to make a bold move. I just don't think the Party will allow someone like Edwards to have any power within the system. The Party answers to the will of the elite, not the common people.

[flyarm]

15. I am right there with you!! I got a call yesterday wanting more money to reup my membership

in one of 8 dem clubs i belong to ..i told them to stick it up their ass!

I am done with the Dem party..they bled the last dime they are getting from me..i will give to a different charity than the dem party fucking charity.

Geez when i think of how much money the dem party has gotten from me in the last 8 years..i could have fed many families for a year! feel as though i have royally pissed my money away..

and that is just the money..my life has been taken over by the dem party ..trying to save this nation..what a fucking joke..there are no two parties folks..it is all one big party with one big money pot in the middle..

fuck them..

i am done!

fly

[Seabiscuit]

17. Likewise. I recently got a questionnaire from the DNC which asks for donations

in the last questions, and even more recently a mailer asking me to renew my membership in the DNC.

I sent both of them back without any money enclosed, with the comment: "I will not be donating again to the DNC until the DNC makes unmistakably clear what role it may have played in causing John Edwards to suddenly, unexpectedly, and without explanation, suspend his presidential campaign."

Haven't gotten an answer yet, and don't think I will.

[spooky3]

21. got a mass mailing from Paul Newman on behalf of DSCC

If there is anyone I wish would live forever, it is Paul Newman. And there is no question that we need to rid the Senate of more Republicans.

But I have so little confidence that our national Dem. leadership will spend this money wisely and/or support candidates I feel are most deserving, that I have left the letter on the kitchen counter for a few days, trying to decide what to do.

I stopped responding to DNC so they have given up on me. I like what you wrote to them.

[Seabiscuit]

23. I don't give DCCC or DSCC any money.

I worked on Francine Busby's campaign for the 50th District Congressional seat in 2005-2006 and the DCCC wouldn't give her a dime or any volunteers. Yet they had the audacity to call me on the phone asking for donations, and when I told them I'm donating my money directly to Busby because the DSCC won't help her I was told by the caller that she would make sure my money went to Busby if I donated to the DSCC and I laughed her off and hung up.

I'm only giving money directly to candidates these days. These large organizations can do whatever it is they do, including stabbing Edwards and Busby in the back, without my help.

[saltpoint]

14. I think it's silly to expect a "miracle" to "intervene" and make politics

pure, saracat.

That's not a very hard-boiled look at the nature of power and influence from the beginning of time to say, this week.

Snap out of it. Read some ancient history. Read some more about Lincoln, whom you profess to respect and care about and whom John Edwards sometimes invokes.

You think this is a picnic? It's far from it.

Edwards elevated the debate. Let's praise him for it and follow his lead.

[troubleinwinter]

22. I'm about there too. I feel my only shot is some local/down ticket races.

I'm about done with DU, too, for the time being. Even with having turned off GDP a coupla weeks ago, some of the shit leaks through and it is ghastly ugly. I am stunned at the crap posted. Even threads having nothing to do with the primaries are filled with revolting snarky rude invective. It's hard to have a sensible conversation ANYWHERE on DU anymore.

[bpeale]

16. i hear you balantz! and i'm right there with you

this is not my party anymore. they do not speak for me. once they get in office, they turn around and flip me the bird. well, no more. i will not support the dem party with cash or with time. truly they are no different than the republicans. the only difference, if you can call it that, is that they lack the organization of the republican party machine. they can't quit stepping on their own d**ks to organize their own party.

i'm sick of the in-fighting. and i think the two remaining candidates will finish off the dem party once and for all. we all know that its all about THEM and not about US anymore. they don't care any more for this country than the republicans do.

fuck them. i am done with them too & will be changing my party affiliation to independent possibly this friday. i'm sick of it.

[kelligesq]

18. I'm waiting til after the election, then will change affiliation & work for third party

[kelligesq]

19. I think people are so disgusted that a 3rd party may finally be viable.

[bpeale]

20. i'm going to change my party to independent soon. the dems don't deserve my vote.