What's Wrong With The Democratic Party?

What’s wrong with the Democratic Party?
Reflections, February 11, 2007jsc

The Democratic Party has lost sight of its roots, that is, governance based on the liberal principles of limited government, human dignity, individual rights and social justice. The Party’s founder, Thomas Jefferson, would surely have declared this Republican Administration’s promotion and defense of torture not only a breach of limited government but treason, and he would have called for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. What would Jefferson say as he watched CNN’s Glenn Beck sucker punch Al Sharpton into reducing the level of debate about the meaning of presidential candidate Joseph Biden’s use of the word “clean” when referring to black presidential candidate Barack Obama to a discussion about “bathing”, a smartass white guy making a black man dance to his conservative tune? What would Jefferson say as he watched Ann Coulter bashing liberals and alluding to presidential candidate John Edwards as a “faggot” to the laughter, clapping and cheers of her neo-conservative audience, and not so much as a meow of protest from the Democratic Party? The Party that allowed Republicans to portray war hero John Kerry as a traitor in election 2004 seems to have learned nothing. By default the electorate in 2006 gave Democrats a chance to promote a real alternative to Bush’s Doctrine of War, the Rule of Law, to win the peace in the age of terrorism; what the citizens see so far are leading democratic presidential candidates pandering, dodging, and scurrying like frightened chickens not able to defend themselves, and by implication unable to defend the Nation. There is a palpable vacuum in the U.S.A.’s political consciousness. What will fill it? We must not forget that in a time of similar turmoil prior to WWII Hitler was democratically elected in Germany. What’s wrong with the Democratic Party is easy to describe. Clearly a prescription of political viagra is needed, but whether the Party of Jefferson will take its medicine in time for Election 2008 is uncertain.