Too bad Harry Hasn't Been Around To Advise and PUSH Obama---'52 speech

"The first rule in my book is that we have to stick by the liberal principles of the Democratic Party. We are not going to get anywhere by trimming or appeasing. And we don't need to try it.

"The record the Democratic Party has made in the last 20 years is the greatest political asset any party ever had in the history of the world. We would be foolish to throw it away. There is nothing our enemies would like better and nothing that would do more to help them win an election.

"I've seen it happen time after time. When the Democratic candidate allows himself to be put on the defensive and starts apologizing for the New Deal and the fair Deal, and says he really doesn't believe in them, he is sure to lose. The people don't want a phony Democrat. If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat, and I don't want any phony Democratic candidates in this campaign.

But when a Democratic candidate goes out and explains what the New Deal and fair Deal really are--when he stands up like a man and puts the issues before the people--then Democrats can win, even in places where they have never won before. It has been proven time and again.

We are getting a lot of suggestions to the effect that we ought to water down our platform and abandon parts of our program. These, my friends, are Trojan horse suggestions. I have been in politics for over 30 years, and I know what I am talking about, and I believe I know something about the business. One thing I am sure of: never, never throw away a winning program. This is so elementary that I suspect the people handing out this advice are not really well-wishers of the Democratic Party.

More than that, I don't believe they have the best interests of the American people at heart. There is something more important involved in our program than simply the success of a political party.

The rights and the welfare of millions of Americans are involved in the pledges made in the Democratic platform of 1948 and in the program of this administration. And those rights and interests must not be betrayed. "

Thank you, Thom Hartmann, for reading these words today!

We need to all meditate on the wisdom of this former DEMOCRATIC president!

and pretty much every other time. Yep.

Bluebear brought tears to my eyes with his words, and these words of WISDOM and STRENGTH and COURAGE are really tearing me apart.

DAMN, what a frickin' waste!

thanks for your boost to this! :pals:

Bobbolink....because you deserve it.

eta...clarification

It would've been better, however, if he'd held to that in the post-1948 period, rather than trying to appease the redbaiters by being more anti-left than any Republican. We lost in '52 largely because McCarthyism had intimidated most people who worked for Democratic candidates and created a chill in American political life.

We'd have won if Harry had said "Fuck the Red Scare. I won't persecute people for their beliefs. And I damn well will NEVER impose a 'loyalty oath' when we all know such a thing is useless and pointless".

I read through this before and forgot to kick it. Thanks for the reminder. Harry kicked ass, only he called it "telling the truth."

Truth and Hell and often confused. :hi:

r

:loveya:

K&R!

The good old days. . .

Let's bump this to the top of the greatest to thank Thom Hartman for caring about the soul of America. We have to reclaim our party people, by demanding they once again become the party of the people. If that involves throwing them all out(by defeating them with better dems in the primaries) and starting over, so be it. I could find 400+ DUers that could do a better job that the current jackasses in Congress.

"The rights and the welfare of millions of Americans are involved in the pledges made in the Democratic platform of 1948 and in the program of this administration. And those rights and interests must not be betrayed. "

when the Democratic Party had principles that they believed in and fought for. We could take a lesson from this.

K&R

N/T

:bounce:

:hug:

Unfortunately back in your day, there were few if any lobbysits in the Beltway area.
Even in LBJ's day, there were only 700 lobbyists.

And now there are over 7,000.

With the today's Supreme Court Decision showing us that many more will be hired.

Pitchforks, anyone?

:nuke:

Cocoa and brandy for a :toast: