Crossroads

{1} "Important elements of democracy existed in the infant American republic of the 1780s, but the republic was not democratic. Nor, in the minds of those who governed it, was it supposed to be. A republic – the res publica, or ‘public thing’ – was meant to secure the common good through the ministrations of the most worthy, enlightened men. A democracy – derived from demos krateo, ‘rule of the people’ – dangerously handed power to the impassioned, unenlightened masses. Democracy, the eminent Federalist political leader George Cabot wrote as late as 1804, was ‘the government of the worst.’ Yet by the 1830s, as Alexis de Tocqueville learned, most Americans proclaimed that their country was a democracy as well as a republic. Enduring arguments had begun over the boundaries of democratic politics. In the 1840s and 1850s, these arguments centered increasingly on slavery and slavery’s expansion and led to the Civil War."
--Sean Wilentz; The Rise of American Democracy; 2005; page xvii

After reading the first two pages of DU:GD-P, I thought it might be worthwhile to remind people that the 2008 election represents another of the historic crossroads in our nation’s history. Our votes will decide which of two directions our country will move in the next four years. The democratic ticket represents the possibilities of restoring our Constitutional democracy; the republican ticket represents a totalitarian corporate republic.

The Bush-Cheney administration has been able to become the most extreme example of an imperial presidency in our nation’s history, because of a weakened balance of powers in the federal government. This includes a broken legislative branch, and a judicial branch which is increasingly inclined to enable the imperial executive.

The next president will appoint people to the federal courts, including the US Supreme Court. Let’s take a quick look at how the republican-appointed justices view "democracy."

{2} "Part of Scalia’s objection to democracy, amplified a year later, was that it got in the way of a return to an eighteenth-century interpretation of the US Constitution. Speaking at the January 2002 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, he opined that as written in 1787 the Constitution reflected natural or divinely inspired law that the state was an instrument of God. ‘That consensus has been upset,’ he said, ‘by the emergence of democracy.’ He added that ‘the reactions of people of faith to this tendency of democracy to obscure the divine authority behind government should not be resignation to it but resolution to combat it as effectively as possible’."
--Kevin Phillips; American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush; 2004; pages 107-108.

We are at a crossroads, as a nation, as the democratic party, and as individuals. We are either going to elect a democrat, who believes in the power and worth of individuals as Jefferson defined in the Declaration of Independence, or the republicans will elect a man who views us as cogs in a corporate machine.

Our party is finalizing a decision between two strong, capable leaders. Both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama have the support of a solid base of dedicated citizens. But as our party approaches the crossroads, it is evident that we will be nominating Barack Obama.

Finally, as individuals, we are at a personal crossroads. Will we continue to take the low road, and have petty fights, where we look to insult the supporters of the other candidate’s supporters? Or will we take the high road, and make every effort to unite the party?

As a retired social worker, I am aware that our society produces individuals who are often more afraid of their best side, than their worst. Our choice is stark: If we do not work to bring forth our best, we can be assured that the republicans’ worst will prevail.

Think about it.

Thank you,
H2O Man

"Our choice is stark: If we do work to bring forth our best, we can be assured that the republicans’ worst will prevail." . . . So don't work to be/do the best thing?

Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I added the "not."

options for that sentence. I write a lot for a living; I do things like that. Still processing the coherence and continuity and holding various sentence options in my head, working at the macro and micro level at the same time, can cause some details to get lost.

If we do *NOT* work to bring forth our best, we can be assured that the republicans’ worst will prevail.

Thanks!

love ya, man.

P.S. Could you also correct that last sentence in your blog?

Thanks.

We can choose to turn away from the path to destruction currently epitomized by John Sidney McCain.

Yet some foolishly seem determined to head in that direction. I almost feel like we're in that movie "Speed," held hostage on a bus that cannot stop.

I do not understand this. I do not understand being so consumed with hatred.

Bush/Cheney did not create the infrastructure and machinery for an imperial presidency only to abandon it.

I beg our fellow Democrats to consider that point when making their choice in the upcoming election.

The choices seem so obvious, that it still surprises me that some are not seeming to understand what losing in November would mean.

I used to collect old postcards. I have quite a few of the old turnpikes, canals, and railroads of upstate New York. The one in the OP is one of my favorites.

And the Armistice Day that flowed from it all. It's always interesting to look into the eyes & places of generations past. When I did photojournalism, I had the opportunity to pick up a box of daguerreotypes. He only wanted $300 for them, but I was a little short of that working my way through college. The first couple layers or so had become degraded. But I still kick myself for not coming up with the 80 some odd bucks :(

Years ago, I got a letter from a 90-year old man who was writing because he saw me on tv a few times during a case that went to NYS Supreme Court regarding Native American burial protection rights. It turned out that he was my grandfather's cousin. He said that I reminded him of one of Grandpa's brothers. He had the bible and old family photos, including daguerreotypes, from Ireland. He gave them to me. (My grandfather came to the US in 1879.)

One of the top authors on railroads in the northeast used to rely on my father for information; after Dad died, he called me in regard to a site where Irish immigrants working on a railroad were buried in an unmarked mass grave. When I took him to the site, he remarked that it was sad that no one knew who the men were. He said he wished there were pictures of the men who had built this railroad. So I invited him to stop by my house, and showed him the old photos. He suggested that I write a book, and he has also used some of my photos, etc, in his books.

My older son has been able to use the computer to restore the daguerreotypes to a much-improved condition. It has allowed me to share them with other relatives who share an interest in the family tree.

And in spite of the passage in Alice where she is made dry once again via the mere recitation of history; I agree! History isn't only where we made those same ole mistakes that keep leap-frogging us into our future. History remains where we came from :thumbsup:

:kick:

i think that that explains some of these folks around here who put us obamanaughts down, and kick the idea of hope. hard to keep that notion down, tho. and i feel certain we will prevail in november.
thanks for your most eloquent additions to the discussion, as always.

that things would change on GD-P sooner, but I think that after 6-6, things will come together. And I am confident that we will make significant gains in November.

barack will lead us down the right road.

.

:applause:

Hey, what do you think of Scottie McC's book? Interesting to see him take the opportunity to attack the administration he was part of. I remember the day when he was forced to resign, how when he met reporters with Bush, and was getting choked up, Bush took a gleeful delight in his suffering. Now he is trying to return the favor.

It may be of value if VP Cheney tries to push strikes on Iran.

;)



:kick:

"individuals who are often more afraid of their best side"?

Thank you.

It is something that I noticed frequently when working with family systems. I think it applies to other systems, such as communities. So, to try to illustrate that, I'll give an example in the context of the DU community on GD-P.

Every day, almost without fail, for every one thread suggesting "unity," there are 39 threads that advocate hard feelings and promote division. Surely, we all have a good side and a bad side, because we are all human.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a single day when all of the progressives and liberals here concentrated on contributing positive things on this forum? If we all tend to our own gardens here, expressing what we think on issues in a non-confrontational way? And focus on discussing the positive things we are doing to promote democratic victories in November? That still allows for disagreement, but it would keep it from being so disagreeable.

If that happened, we would easily isolate those very few who are only here to plant the seeds of hostility, and to disrupt and cause divisions. Maybe some are republican "trolls," maybe they are just disturbed, but we would not be having the amount of hostility here if we all focused on adding only positive contributions to this site.

Sometimes people say it is simply a part of the internet, and that people wouldn't act the same way in "real life." I disagree, based upon the experiences that I've had not only in social work, but as a member of our society. In order to change our society, we cannot rely upon some "leader" in Washington. It comes from us. And if we cannot change our behavior on something like DU, it will be difficult to change it in other areas.

to the negative reactions to a positive message.

My reaction is to take them as encouragement to keep on being positive.

In light of McCellan's book. It was a surprise to me too, that someone who acted as such a cypher for the * admin would write such a book. I remembered that humiliating farewell scene between him and *. I don't know if this was a 'payback is a bitch' scenario, or once out he could see clearly. However, I don't dispute or find fault with what he wrote. We've been crying out in the darkness about this for years. Watching the reaction today, fury, denial, defensiveness, calling him a traitor...has been illuminating. It can't help business as usual McSame.

David Gregory has just called it brutal! And it was. Not the book, mind you, though the truth tends to stomp on liars.

you might end up cutting heads with Steve Vi (spoiler alert)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0QKbnCDW94