Time to Come Out Swinging

I'm using this analogy, even though I am opposed to any kind of physical or verbal violence used for the purpose of forcing or bending the human will.  Of course, I'm not suggesting that there be any physical aggression in our politics, and verbal aggression that is aimed at achieving the same kind of result is also abhorrent to my worldview which is based on Quaker values.  

However, I am not opposed to the kind of verbal rhetoric that is aimed at getting the truth over the cacophony of right wing extremism intersecting with hijacked Evangelicalism, and making a loud, shrill, firm case for people to have a clear choice when they enter a voting booth to cast a ballot.  Preserving democracy, which is the core value of freedom, sometimes requires a measure of enthusiastic debate and some passion inspired not only by the preservation of values, but by the clear motivation of those who are bent on manipulation and control, and who want to take away freedom from anyone they think isn't worthy of it.  Values are worth defending and there's a difference between verbal violence and intelligent rhetoric. 

A Brilliant Moment Showing Exactly What Democrats Need Going into 2014

Representative Jasmine Crockett, of Texas, provided an example of exactly what the Democratic party needs when she got the floor yesterday in the first impeachment hearing instigated by the extremist right and permitted by Speaker McCarthy.  Wow.  That's flashing around social media now, exactly as it should be.  She exposed duplicity and dishonesty, laid out information that contrasted what a real impeachment, or two, actually looked like as opposed to this political sham, and made a salient point.  

It was, in fact, a whole day's worth of such examples from Democrats on that committee.  They buried the opposing party, many of whose members on that committee want nothing to do with a pointless, baseless political attack that will only raise Democrats' chances of winning in 2024, and particularly of defeating those on the committee who know it's too close for comfort in their own district.  Rather than appear on camera, some of the members left the chamber during the hearing, running off rather than confronting the truth with lies.  

This is what we need.  We need this kind of thing making the news cycle every day.  It will counter the deference that the media gives to Trump, who doesn't have to do anything now to be the subject of daily coverage.  And having sensible, coherent, intelligent Democrats passionately stating reasonable positions that are supported by facts will be quite a contrast to the often unintelligible, demented ramblings of Trump and of other Republicans who invent the facts to support talking points.  What commentator or reporter wouldn't welcome an intelligent discussion rather than having to do something with blabber?  

This is what our party needs now, folks!  We need a John Fetterman--Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez--Jamie Raskin--Jasmine Crockett approach to the way we appear in the media.  

No More Mr. Nice Guy 

It doesn't violate the integrity of the manner in which Democrats conduct their politics to raise the volume, take the best and clearest ideas out of the policy proposal, set down the thick volume of pages that only policy wonks will read, and confront Republican extremism and hypocrisy dead on. I've lost count of the number of times Democrats have asked the question of Republicans, "So what is your plan for dealing with inflation?" and got some standardized set of talking points leading away from a clear answer to the question.  

This morning, on a local talk show, I actually heard a former Democratic state representative, who is now a county elected official, point out the Republican hypocrisy in trying to shut the government down by forcing spending cuts when they let the most recent GOP President run up an $8 trillion with a "T" debt on the American credit card.  Why were they not concerned with government spending when Trump was giving away trillions in tax dollars to billionaires?  Why do we not keep the pressure up by mentioning this over and over and over and over again?  It's time to start making some of this mud stick to those who made it and threw it first. 

Frankly, we are losing the media battle, because our traditional way of approaching politics and our thinking that if we just put enough information out there, people will find it and make good decisions.  This is how we lost, over a period of almost two decades, control of state legislatures, governorships, and local governments.  We don't get voters to the polls for those elections because we spin our wheels with timidity and decorum.  It doesn't require rudeness to get the point across, it requires some passion, a little bit of anger, and a simple message that is to the point, contrasting truth with falsehood and action with inaction.  

Democrats have some real rock stars, in the best sense of that word, in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.  Outside of that hearing yesterday, when some Democrats rose to the occasion and deserved a standing ovation, John Fetterman has really made himself visible in recent weeks and we need to see more and more of him.  And we need to press for this, by pointing it out, supporting it and helping keep it in the media.  

So thank you, to each member of the oversight committee from the Democratic party, for holding the line, doing your homework, and your job, and standing up for what is right in a firm, assertive, loud, attention-getting way.  Keep it up.  We are depending on  you, and on others who need to step up and put their country before their political ambition.  That earns my vote more than anything else.