Dear Scribe:
I read your dairy of February 15, Letting Go – Moving On
(http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2006/2/15/112030/699)
and found it incredibly moving. But on re-reading it and the comments that followed, I became increasingly upset over what I see as a misdirection of your obviously deeply held feelings.
I must tell you that I will not be coming to the wake. Not unless it includes my own. In explanation, I offer the following thoughts:
Do not mourn the passing of those not yet dead that should live.
Do not mourn the passing of those that should not live and have lingered already too long.
There are those that would have you believe that today’s government (or any transitory government) is the same as our democracy. It is not true.
There are those that would have you believe that today’s official representatives of the Democratic Party are the only hope for democracy. It is not true.
There are those that would have you believe that our democracy is a weak and failing patient, for whom we have done all we can, and now futile intervention will only unnecessarily prolong the painful process of death. It is not true.
For those that will join you at this wake I would challenge you and them to look again at what is dying. Then look at what we have done and should be doing to save that which still has and deserves life.
I start from a number of assumptions:
First: There has always been and will always be a conflict within every democracy between those supporting democracy and those opposed to it. This is a fight that will never be completely won, nor ever completely lost.
Second: The core of democracy is the power of citizens to have a voice in the governing of their country and the power of that voice to achieve change for the benefit of all the citizens.
Third: The greatest weapon wielded by the opponents of democracy is the ability to convince the people that they have no voice and have no power to affect change.
Fourth: Even in the most extreme cases one can imagine, where the opponents of democracy have convinced the people that they are without power, the perception of weakness and futility is never correct.
The concepts of freedom and liberty that are imperfectly represented by our Constitution continue to stand as a light shining through the darkness to people in this country and across the world.
The fact that our current government has led us away from that light does not mean the light has gone out.
The fact that our current government has led us away from that light does not mean that our ability to turn back towards that light has been taken away.
The fact that our current government and both political parties seem either intent on continuing, or incapable from stopping, our downward rush into twilight and darkness, does not mean that democracy has failed us, only that it has been ill used and poorly served by those individuals and entities pretending to be its faithful servants.
One of those posting a comment to your diary voiced their sadness that Paul Wellstone was not here. He was my Senator and indeed he is terribly missed, but covering democracy in its burial shroud would be the very last thing on Paul Wellstone’s mind at a time like this. He would be shouting at us to organize, organize, organize and not give up. He would be exorting us to stand up as engaged citizens fighting for our country and its people and not rest until we are headed back towards the light of a living democracy.
I understand that when we have done everything we can, then any further intervention just prolongs the agony.
But can any of us truly say we have done all that we can?
Have we but reached up and taken a strong hold of the powerful tool standing before us?
Have we talked to our friends and neighbors until they too understand that they can and must pick up that same tool to make this democracy work?
Have we truly understood that a freeloader democracy is no democracy at all and that in order for our children to enjoy the benefits of democracy that we must annually go out into the field and plant more seeds that in their time the next generation may harvest and then plant yet again?
Here where I live, the party caucuses will be held on March 7th. Until I see twice the number appear that appeared in 2004, triple the number, quadruple the number, I will not say we have done everything we can. Until I see the majority of our people start using both parties to further their own relational self-interests by making their party and their elected representatives accountable on a daily, weekly and monthly basis for their action and in-action, I will not even begin to say we have done everything we can.
Until people turn their anger and their frustration and their grief and their words into action, yes once more, twice more and again and again and again, I will not think that we have done everything we can.
Until we show those that have no need for and no interest in democracy that they will only take our democracy away from us when they pry it out of our dead cold hands; until that time we cannot, must not, dare not say that we have done everything we can and that is time for this democracy to have coins placed on its eyes and be given to the boatman for its long journey down into darkness.
With all due respect for your heartfelt anguish at the state of our country, it is not time to grieve, it is time to act.
Thanks, SallyCat made a statement to this effect in the party diary. She was through with the so called navel gazing and was going out to engage in various local actions. Probably good advice from her and you.
Thanks. I don’t mean to minimze the anguish held by Scribe and others. I share it. But I think people underestimate the intentionalism of those that use the perception of futility as a weapon. Every time someone says we can’t make a dent, evey time someone says it doesn’t matter who is elected, every time one more of us buys those lies, we lose another piece of our country.
I know many who offered comment offered hope of a new democracy. I just happen to believe we do not have to wait for this new democracy to arise because it is the same old democracy we have today, with more of its (and our) potential fulfilled.
in the ass from the grass roots level, before we throw the first shovel of dirt on it’s grave.
The big question is how to do this.
IMO, A true nonviolent action movement could pressure the D party to move our way. This has been done before, (think MLK).
But so far the various groups, what little exists of a nonviolent movement, are uncoordinated and half hazard in their implementation of their actions.
We have yet to even BEGIN to implement the vast majority of the tools used by past movements, see links here.
IMO We need to adapt concepts and methods which were viable in the past (MLK, Gandhi, WWII-resistance, etc) to our present situation.
Until we have done that, we have not applied the attitude behind the words of John Paul Jones, “Surrender, hell, we’ve just begun to fight.”
See also right side link on my sig line…
Yes. In every town, on every street, on every country road, there are people who can take this and make this into the kind of cooperative, creative, inclusive power that is the thing most feared by TPTB inside and outside the Democratic party.
Why otherwise do they spend so much time and money trying to distract us, trying to tell us that it does not matter who runs government, that both parties are the same, that politics is only for the corupt or extreme, that government is our enemy, that the game is rigged and only the rich and powerful have any chance of protecting their own?
If these things are true it is only because we allow them to be so.
Some day we may face a time when working through the democratic system as we know it today is without hope of sucess. But not this day. And until that day arrives, we fight.
BTW: The first kick in the pants might be to follow the advice of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s essay Live Not By Lies
Highly Recommend it:
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2006/2/17/15474/6062
Thanks for passing it along.
Unfortunately, you’ll be kicking a corpse. The Democratic Party, as historically defined, is dead. I know of no other definition that adequately portrays the state of a party that acquiesces in the face of the ‘majority’. That will not stand up in opposition to to judicial appointments that will/have altered the face of the government for a generation to come. That will not stand up in opposition to the extension of one of the most egregious, regressive laws in the history of the country, IE: the Patriot Act, as witnessed today in the cloture vote on debate re: Feingold’s amendment…apologies to Sen Feingold and Robert Byrd. I could go on, ad infinitum, but you know the list as well as I.
Many are still in Denial stage about it’s demise, and many others remain in the Anger, Bargaining, and Depression stages of grief over it’s long and painful death.
Others, myself included, have crossed into the realm of Acceptance and are seeking alternative strategies to re-invent, if you will, the spirit of the late, lamented Democratic Party. Rather than repeating a rather long post regarding same, I offer this comment from earlier today.
I do not know the answer, but I do know that, as a group, we have yet to come to a strategy that is likely to yield the results we seek.
Peace
You could very well be right on that prognosis.
If I was to speculate on the future I’d say some sort of Katrina-like event sometime in the next few years will precipate great political change, regardless of what us leftybloggers do.
This catastrophe could be a change for the better, politically speaking; or, for much worse than we have know thus far.
If “our side” is better prepared to take up the slack when Gov/Fema/etc fails then it may go our way.
However, if some “fatherly fellow” with a little mustache shows up promising a panic stricken populace he can fix things, then we’ve got a much more serious problem.
As far as a mutual-aid concept, I am willing to put whatever resources my friends and I can muster to the benefit of any bootribbers requesting assistance should any bizzare events occur.
It is not a prognosis NDD. It is the conclusion of a thorough postmortem autopsy.
El general Franco is still muerte
Peace
dada:
I respect your position. I have little with which to argue that the current crop of elected officials represent little more than a husk of what the Democratic Party has been and should be.
What I disagree with is defining the Party by those that profess to be its servants while serving different masters. The rank and file, the people we go to work with every day, their values and beliefs are no corpse. Kick all the rascals out if you will, but do not put spade to earth for the grave of the Democratic Party without first telling the millions of everyday citizens where they are to go.
A new party? When and out of what? Will we wait for the husk to dry and blow away? I think the wait will be too long and costly.
I understand your frustration with the old and cowardly men and women who will sell their souls to keep their jobs and power – and more curseably sell our futures for their comforts and wealth.
But my message to Scribe and all who sing that funeral song is that you are burying the thing that is alive along with that which is dead. The Party is beyond its current congressman and senators just as the Country is beyond its current administration.
To give up on the real Party, or to give up on this
Country, is to give up.
May I suggest a triage here?
I know of no other way to define the party other than to use their actions as a guide and define it based on my values and ethics.
I have not, and do not advocate a third party. What I am advocating is a non-violent withdrawal of consent, via the vote, that is more in line with the strategies of Gene Sharp’s Theory of Power.
Please read this exchange w/ Rumi from yesterday that will perhaps, make my position clearer.
I am not a neophyte in the world of politics and, in fact, got my first real taste of it in 1968 in Chicago…but that’s another story.
Peace
Yes and so what do we do to inform others of our actions? In with-holding the vote, what do we do in the interm of time? I have suggest we offer up a committee to inform the powers that be that they are on notice! The vote with-holding is coming and if they do not change their ways, just watch and see. We really do have to mean what we say or we will never be taken for anything but a threat that falls through on any meaning.
I suggested yesterday that we all get busy notifing, getting the word out. The sooner, the better.
Am I understanding this correctly or what? BTW I am an outsider willing to fight with you all. I need my marching orders.
You are correct in recognizing that the powers that be need to be placed on notice re: the consequences of their (in)actions.
I have not yet come to a conclusion, in my own mind, as to how best effect that notification. I, personally, have changed my registration from D (40 yrs.) to Ind. and notified the D Party to that effect. I have also explained the reasoning behind said action and layed out, very clearly, what I believe needs to happen.
I will continue to work for and support candidates that reflect my values, I will not support those that do not.
I think the net roots can have a much stronger presence and more effect that what has already been evidenced. However, we all need to reach out to people on a more personal level, face to face discussions, GOTV, local committees, etc…these avenues cannot be ignored. In that light I agree with those who suggest sort of consortium of liberal groups that would present a unified front. This is where I think the net roots could be most effective.
Much of the discourse here in the last few days/weeks has been about defining a strategy…it is not an easy thing to do. I am hopeful that everyone who has expressed their views and concerns will stay involved and that we will soon have an armature, if you will, upon which to build.
Peace
Thank you dada. I do think this is the smartest move you could take. Just to let the D party know that you are independent in yoru attitude and voter resgistration now. This is and will be a clue to them to know that your vote will have to be worked harder for if they want it. They need to know why this change has occured as well.
I feel so sorry for you all in here to see your feelings of hurt betrayal and all that has been stated here. It is not easy to develope a working construction so as to be workable. But it has to be done. Just know that as an Ind. I am with you folks. I always have been. I do not withdraw my works and efforts to anyone who has gained my respect. Also thanks for allowing me in your group. Otherwise I would not have a voice either.
What a fine writer you are! Enough with the !! already, but I’m in awe. I’ve just come here from reading Solzhenitsyn’s essay, and I feel so enriched by reading both (not to mention Scribe’s beautiful diary earlier!).
I’m ready to join the resistance, hold secret meetings in my home, and slip secrets to co-conspirators.
[Sorry if I’m out of line. I do admit to sipping bourbon on occasion.]
Thanks.
Praise the burbon and pass the amunition, because we have just begun to fight. (Drinking, however, commenced some time ago. :^) )
The best way to defeat “them” is to make them a part of we.
as grieve or act. I think Yoda would even say that what is happening this very moment within “the force” is so huge I don’t think it can be defined by a lone one of us right now. I cried for three hours this morning having to look at any nutjob in an Army uniform and my husband only confirmed what I was “feeling”. Things in the military have hit a new crisis low and the last of the sane people are finding places to bail like a motherfucker. The fucking out of their minds sociopaths in uniform are in heaven though as WAR has become a mantra whispered with each breath they take and their eyes glaze over. I am in a lot of emotional almost psychic pain right now. My husband said that he isn’t leaving the military and can’t imagine a time that they need the sane more. I smell something horrid and unspeakable floating on the breeze and I woke up terrified this morning. Whatever is dying for some here and being reborn within others is beyond my full comprehension, I only know it is so and I have no idea where any of us are going. Cabingirl on the other hand is literally floating along and this whole transition its just another great day. How many times does our competition have to lay down in front of us before we stop trying to quit before we win she asks? As soon as I stop emotionally dry heaving I intend to fully ponder her question. For now though I am battling an awful virus of the soul and I don’t think I have anything left to purge but bile……..but purge it does.
I believe we should be glad that your husband is taking his stand where he is. I can only thank him for his honored service and thank you for the sacrifices you bear with him.
As a society we are far removed from the costs of what we enjoy. The costs of freedom are no different. Having men and women in uniform of good mind and true heart is one of the prerequisites for retaining freedom here and keeping what is left of our tattered reputation abroad.
I have not served, but have had relatives that have. They served as a counterbalance to those you describe as listening to the whispered mantra of war – as I would guess your husband does.
As to what comes on the dark wind, I cannot say that your premonitions are wrong. There could be times coming where all will be tested and each will be asked to choose whether they will stand or kneel.
In little ways, we face that every day. So if it comes, we will ride that storm as best we can and do what we can to keep ourselves and our democracy alive. We can only hope that each low point on the wall is guarded by those that are true.
As far as Cabingirl goes, I wonder if the trick is in defining who is the “opposition”. The Delays, the Libbys, the Robertsons and Bush are only the current face of that opposition. They may be on the mat, but the forces behind them are spinning along or receding into the shadows, as fits their position and agenda. I agree that we need to roll with the changes and take ground where we can, that does not necessarily mean floating, but it does require not sinking.
Even if we manage to use the current pratfalls against the current face of our opposition, unless we remake our perception of what it means to participate in democracy, our victory will be short and bitter.
But at bottom, I believe that we can tap the power that lies in our democracy and in our people. And if we do that, we can stand against anything the wind brings our way.
I hope your pain eases. Have hope and keep the faith.
So, first, I’m not sure “floating” is the right word. It’s more of a knowing how not to lose heart when you think things suck. But I do agree that there’s some sort of major shift happening here.
With regard to the opposition laying down, my point really was “Gee, how cool would it be if the other side gave up in February without even trying?” They won’t, and it’s laughable to even think that, isn’t it? So why are WE considering it?
And I do realize that the tentacles of the Republican Empire are many and always twisting their way into everything. And as Rob Stein said during a powerpoint presentation I saw last year, they feed their young, and the Democratic party doesn’t. And maybe that’s a good thing, because we sure don’t need any more Schumers and Reids. We need real people to start stepping up and running locally, to help take things over. And I’m not giving up on that until it’s been PROVEN not to work. I’ll cry then. Not now.
For anyone who’s down and says “why bother?”, I volunteer my time to organizations and causes that I care about and that also influence my voting choices. When I was furious over the Alito hearings, I got up and trotted over to the courthouse with some of the folks I know from that for a Roe anniversary/visibility thing. It wasn’t much, but it made me feel better being around other people who care about the same things, especially when a woman who has been a volunteer since the clinic opened nearly 30 year ago said to me, “We have to stick together.” And maybe that’s what working “inside the system and outside the system at the same time” means to me, rather than pushing for a third political party, supporting things we care about.
Today, I got a newsletter from that group. On the back was a quote from the Lorax by Dr. Seuss:
“Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
(Please note that this is really a response to so many of the thoughtful comments and diaries that have floating around all week, rather than just this thread.)
differently. Here I am upset mostly by the people who I depend on to represent me and people that I voted for…not representing me. Also upset about the Dems selling out on Women and Gays so they can get elected and those issues have never been the fucking problem! I took what you said as…..every single day and every way things for the Republicans just get worse and worse and the downhearted among us are talking about quitting right now?
Well, there’s that too, of course.
Wow, ITW! What a charge!
I’m one of those missing Paul Wellstone, and I am daily reminded of his constant advice: Stand Up! Keep Fighting! That’s what I am trying to do, and intend to keep on doing.
Yet there are people here, and elsewhere, in places closer to the front lines than I am, and I don’t just refer to Iraq. Their lives, their situations, put them at more risk for damage from this travesty of leadership than is the case for others here. No one who needs time away, or who must take a different path, should be rejected for this.
My hope, however, is that most will keep fighting, and those who decide to step in a different direction will make theirs a brief detour that leads back rather than away. We do have to act and act and keep on, raising up new people, new citizen voters, new progressives.
You serve Wellstone’s memory well and his voice is in your heart.
I do not and cannot reject those that seek a different path. For those no longer able to fight, there is no wrong in stepping out of the line.
Even for those that no longer think the battle worth fighting, I cannot blame them – in the past I have done the same.
But we cannot let the message stand unchallenged that we have no way to win and nothing left to do but watch the walls fall around us.
Even if it is the truth, if we are to come out the other end with any hope of saving and building, we must first commit to preserving our own will, our own democratic principles and our own humanity. To preserve these things, even if it is only within ourselves, I believe we must fight and never quit.
I am glad you are here, doing exactly that.
My online access went south and just came back this morning, so I’ve just read your excellent letter. I will be glad to respond soon, after I’ve had time to absorb it more fully and re examine my own words previously written. For now, let me only say this: For me it is not a matter of grieving OR acting. It a matter of grieving AND acting,simultaneously. I think we only differ on what “form” that actions should take. More to come. 🙂
Exactly so, Scribe. Grieving AND acting. . .in whatever forms best suit what we are able to do.
Into the Woods, your letter was good for me, because it made me delve even deeper into my own awareness) (This is why I love these discussions here so much: I am pushed to always go deeper.) The result grew too long for a comment, so please see “Moving On – Letting Go Part Two, coming right up.
Thank you again.
Dammit and #@!&^%$!@** !! Ran into formatting glitch I don’t kniow how to fix..need to retype the whole thing.
Here:
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2006/2/18/17126/2397
Was wonderful talking with you.
I would like to point out a crucial distinction between ambition and observation. I have nothing to gain or lose in this discussion.
I’ve said that the Dem party is damaged and is probably not going to gain enough strength to be effective IF nothing changes in the approach. Part of that is a damaged identity due in part to ambiguous or undefined ideals. This problem is compounded by the MSM. One way to achieve that is through a new means of organization and communication that would also draw strength by giving a voice/identity to the small special interest(potential 3rd party) forces.
That is a realistic observation. I have no loyalty to any party but that could have given many people a goal to turn it into ambition. I tried to present it in a way that wasn’t 3rd party or democrat favored and that might be part of why it wasn’t well received. It’s based on promoting policies/ideals and letting the candidates rise to what the people demand.
Also part of the observation that I didn’t mention much is the fact that the current political climate has a whole bunch of republicans will gladly vote for something that is not republican. They probably won’t vote for a democrat either but if it’s a new identity, some probably will but never admit to it.
Anyway, the observations are that new votes are out there if something changes and a new identity is presented to the voters…not necessarily 3rd party but something new in some way. If nothing changes, both parties are due to lose votes regardless of the 3rd party option. The voters have lost faith in their respective parties and the system as a whole, at this time.
As for ambitions, I have none.