i'm wondering how, as individuals, we can reverse the destruction going on in fronts both domestic and foreign when we are stuck with 3 more years of BushCo. I'm feeling depressed and angry. Even worse than before. Now I'm seeing them awarding rebuilding contracts to Halliburton and planning an N.O. renewal project to test new conservative ideas on the most vulnerable "research subjects". And talking about the great "preparedness" for Hurricane Rita, like it wasn't directly connected to the disasterous no-show for Katrina and the consequent tanking in the polls. There's just no shame, no shame at all and the most enormous chutzpah that can't seem to be arrested. I don't have such breathtaking presumption to match theirs. What do we do? Where is our leverage?
I'm sad tonight...about soj, the three years remining on the Bush contract, the constant head banging, the keyboard clacking...just blue.
And autumn is coming. It's in the air here. The first day I smelled the death of leaves.
I sense a cold winter and cold winters in New York are hard...with the wind off the Hudson, ice in the gutters and only the banging pipes marking the time until April.
I was really struck by this photo , which graced the cover of Tuesday's New York Times, showing Ariel Sharon, Condoleeza Rice and James Baker attending a memorial of the late Yitzhak Rabin in Israel. There's something in that picture...in Rice's face, jaw set, eyes hidden behind rockstar sunglasses...and how she is flanked on either side by two men who've played hard-ball power politics for decades: Ariel Sharon, peering beneath his furrowed brow and, always conscious he is being observed, gesturing and thinking...and James Baker, completely hidden behind a permanent dimplomatic mask, an impenetrable sphinx. Of course, that photo sends a powerful message to the world. Rice was in Israel to do serious business . The fact that she brought Baker with her meant that the full weight of the U.S. military-industrial complex... the old guard ...was with her. That trip to Israel was important; and I would guess that U.S. plans and actions regarding Syria were part of that
I've spent the last 24 hours reading as the fires ignited by Nobel laureate James Watson have spurred hundreds of racist comments on message boards across the world . The racial views espoused by Watson are not simply pernicious, they are unamerican. The premise that you could walk out your door in the United States and make the claim, with a straight face and in a public place, that you presume that someone is less intelligent than you because of the color of their skin or ethnic background is abhorrent. Watson claims that everyone with Black employees “knows that they are not the equals of Whites” and, somehow, that is supposed to be acceptable? We are supposed to take him seriously…as a scientist? I don’t think so. Watson is about to lose his job and what was left of his reputation. The equality of every citizen, respect for each other including our differences and a sense of the potential inherent in each and every citizen, especially our children, is essential to what it m
From where I stand, it is encouraging to read essays expressing creative and critical ways to think about Democratic strategy in what is shaping up to be a significant election year. Thereisnospoon has served up another solid challenge (always welcome) to Democratic assumptions...and bmaples addendem to that diary (including a nice summary of some thoughts from Markos) extended the idea of a "broad assault" on conservatism that I (with many others) advocated in the wake of Katrina with flipping the rock . What I'd like to do with this essay is adapt a paradigm from the world of business strategy that I think applies to the Democratic party in 2006. I think you'll find these ideas dovetail with the above essays, and, I hope, will prove useful tools for thinking about Democratic strategy in 2006... Dudley Lynch's 1989 book Strategy of the Dolphin: Scoring a Win in a Chaotic World divided business strategy into three competing paradigms: that of Sharks, that
Comments
I think it comes down to this:
We know we are right, short and long term...there is tremendous strength in that.
Ie. There's always short term political organizing...2006..2008. But there's also long term work to do....always.
I'm going to try to write with a pragmatic mix fo the two. You'll see.
Short answer: for 2006 try to take vulnerable GOP districts in the House. They REALLY don't want us to focus on that. We should.
Long answer: build our vision. If we don't, we know it won't happen by accident.
I'm sad tonight...about soj, the three years remining on the Bush contract, the constant head banging, the keyboard clacking...just blue.
And autumn is coming. It's in the air here. The first day I smelled the death of leaves.
I sense a cold winter and cold winters in New York are hard...with the wind off the Hudson, ice in the gutters and only the banging pipes marking the time until April.
Sad, indeed.
you know.... a cure for the blues I hope.