And liberals can find a home in neither. Obviously not in the Republican party. But not really in the Democratic party either... Yes, there are liberals in the Democratic party, and wonderful ones, at that - Russ Feingold, Anthony Weiner, Patrick Leahy, Sherrod Brown, Sheldon Whitehouse, Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Marcy Kaptur, Barney Frank... But for a multitude of reasons, Democratic party leaders feel constant pressure to to move rightward. Even with a liberal, Nancy Pelosi, in charge of the House of Representatives.
The health care bill and where it currently stands is a case in point. Even though a majority of Democrats in both houses of Congress wanted a public option - or at least Medicare's expansion as an alternative - as of the last week the current bill contains neither. Why? Because of a few conservative Democratic senators. (Republican senators don't even bother.) In fact, only one senator - Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Dems, and so gets a committee chair - is responsible for the Medicare option being dropped. And this, after he extolled the virtues of just such a plan three months ago. He even says he dropped it because he saw how happy it made liberals! Great guy, that one.
And that's just one person. One conservative Democrat. After concession upon concesssion was made to the handful of Conservadems to begin with. Thus, essentially, giving those half dozen or so people all the power in the party.
Now that both options have been dropped, liberals like myself are crying foul, let alone over Medicare being dropped solely due to Lieberman's flip-flop. (And this, after defecting from the Democratic party, stumping for McCain for president and criticizing candidate Obama at the Republican convention.) Howard Dean - the man behind our expanded congressional majorities but ignored by the White House once Obama moved in - has called the bill a bailout for insurance companies and recommended a move toward reconciliation (majority rule) instead.
So the White House and some Democratic senators came out swinging - against Dean. Not against Lieberman. Not against Republican party members in Congress. Obame and company have chosen to come out swinging - not for the first time - against Dean, and the liberals he represents. Who have already given concession after concession to begin with.
Long story short: liberals are taken for granted in the Democratic party. And have been for decades now. We don't have a party. And the expectation from the party at large has been that we have nowhere else to turn, so we'll continue to accept being ignored, even abused.
It's BS! I don't have a viable political party. A party that, as Bill Maher often points out, does not embrace progressive - but also widely held positions - on a host of issues. Those include legalization of marijuana, universal health care, a scaled back war budget, strong anti-trust legislation, campaign finance reform, gun control legislation and much more. I'm tired of not belonging to a party that respects me. Not only that, I'm tired of a party that too often runs rightward, embracing the positions of the opposition. Bill Clinton ruled as a Republican essentially, and they still tarred and feathered him for it. Obama's ramping up the war in Afghanistan, backed off banking regulatory reform, allowed the public option to die, closed off to the possibility of prosecuting members of the Bush administration for possible crimes and so on.
I want a party with real progressive values. I want a party that won't make me feel bad for what I believe. I want a party that excites and inspires people. That isn't a shell of its former self. The Democratic party is none of that.
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