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Things I Have Not Heard
...from the Democrats. the alleged "opposition" party:
- a commitment to undo the military commissions act. the one that stripped us all of habeas corpus rights
- a commitment to undo the 'Patriot' Act. one of the more egregious violations of civil liberties we've ever seen
- a plan to win or disengage from Iraq
- a plan to handle North Korea and Iran
- a commitment to stop the "lock out" of the minority party from any say in the governing process
- word on whether or not they will take up campaign finance reform
I'm sure I'll think of more. but do I dare think they'll care what I think after I cast my ballot tomorrow? Of course not.
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Steve Rittler is the President of CounterMarch Systems and former manager of both the Philadelphia ColdFusion User Group and the Philadelphia Developer Network.
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I'm suggesting that the Democrats. after railing on for months about how bad GWB is. haven't really committed themselves to anything that would "undo" some of the more damaging legislation passed by this Congress.
I don't think I need to go into painful detail on why points one and two really need closer examination. The Republican Congress. in collusion with the weak and ineffective minority party. has managed to sneak not one but two bills that have a substantially detrimental effect on civil liberties in this country out the door.
The simple question is. if W is so wrong and his policies are so bad. why did you support some of the worst ones? If you want to stand up and be for "change" then let's hear where you screwed up and plan to make amends with the American people. Present your opposition not only to ideas and beliefs. but also concrete things that impact the people. Both parties fail miserably at making that not-so-quantum-leap from $265m bridges to the imact on the American taxpayer. Here's the opportunity for the Democrats to start spelling out that "list of wrongs" in black and white and take the next step of spelling out how they plan to right them.
Look back to the "Republican revolution" and the Gingrich Contract with America. He might not have succeeded. but there it was in black and white "what we stand for and what we'll do". That took balls. The Democrats of 2006 have none.
In California. several of the Democrats on the ballot today were an embarrassment so I found myself voting all over the map (and even voted for a couple of Republicans!).
I'll vote mostly for democrats later today. but it's almost completely because I can't justify hiring republicans.
Some democrats have said what they'd do. but it mostly had to do with repealing tax cuts to the rich and "looking for new solutions in iraq" or something like that.
They should get a campaign slogan that doesn't include the words "George W. Bush".
Interestingly. my favorite columnist. Leonard Pitts of Miami Herald. had similar column today.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/column...
"Democrats may win. thanks to GOP stumbles" is title. A small piece of it below:
Keith
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So. if you win power here. please don't assume it validates anything you've done.
If you win. it's because of Mark Foley and Terri Schiavo and Randy ''Duke'' Cunningham and Donald Rumsfeld and George W. Bush and Jack Abramoff and Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter and Dick Cheney and Hurricane Katrina and 2.800 dead soldiers and because. as my mom used to say. enough is enough and too much stinks.
More to the point. you don't win because of you. Heck. I don't even know who you are. Ever since Bill Clinton left town. you have been inept at defining yourself. communicating your ideals with all the clarity of. well. John Kerry trying to tell a joke.
I don't know what you believe. what you plan. where you want to take the country. I daresay that most people don't. A victory here just means that you were the only other game in town. And yet. it would give you a rare oppportunity.