Just found this Dean group!!

Never saw this group before - found it when I put Dean's name in the Search option and a post from this group turned up. There are so many posts I could respond to, I figured I'd just start a new one.

Dean was bamboozled in 2004 at the Iowa Caucuses - by the DLC. I watched in wonder when all of the candidates (except the lady, forgot her name) were picking on Dean. What a setup that was.

When he let out the scream, which any intelligent empathetic person knew was something Dean did to make his heartbroken supporters feel better, I fell in love with him. What a good man, he cared more about them than himself.

That night I signed up for a monthly contribution (a small one) to DFA, and have kept it up since, and will as long as I'm alive and still know who I am. Age is a somewhat ruthless boss.

This is a good man.

those of us who see ourselves as "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party (as Dean put it), no matter whom we backed in 2004.

Nice to have another poster reviving this forum.

and agree re DLC's poisonous ways --

It never bothered me a bit. Of course, I raised three children who were baseball and softball players, one of whom was a daughter with two national tae kwon do championships, so letting out a yell or scream during an emotional moment seems pretty human to me.

And I couldn't agree more with the Democrats within the Democratic Party characterization offered my No Elephants.

While still a democrat and a democratic voter, I left the party in 1999 and have been "non-partisan" ever since.

I think another characterization of this group might be "principles before party." THE PARTY LEFT ME over Bill Clinton's conservative economic and social policies (e.g. free trade, deregulation, cuts to social services).

To put my cards out on the table:

I don't believe the Democratic Party offers any solutions; I believe it's as corrupted and captured by corporate interests as the Republican Party. To be clear--the Democratic Party is not the solution, it is part of the problem to be solved.

I don't buy into the lesser-of-two-evils, or lesser-of-two-tumors, voting model. That voting strategy is used by the Democratic Party to extort votes out of Progressives. They ignore or pay mere lip service to our principles and demands, then throw the "go ahead, help elect a Republican" thing in our faces. That maggot just don't eat the poop for me anymore. If my vote is guaranteed, then I have no influence.

I believe things have to get worse before they can get better. The people are suffering, but they are still too pacified to rise up in revolt. The sheople must grow fangs, abandon the flock for the pack, and go hunting for both the shepherds who manipulate them and the wolves who prey on them.

I believe we are watching the Constitution devalued; we have a President perpetuating the illegal wars and war crimes of the past administration; our government is run by the Few for the Few; we're 5% of the world's population, yet we do 50% of its military spending; we're manipulated by fear and/or hope, depending on the issue of the moment; and our grandchildren's futures are being sacrificed to a combination of militarism and unwillingness to tax those who benefit the most from imperialism.

Just a few of the thoughts that left me away from the party faithful who endlessly repeat their excuses and platitudes over in General Discussion.