Thursday, January 7, 2010

WHY I AM DEMOCRAT

My party is held in a big tent with no burly security guards at the flap. I am a Democrat because my party looks like America. It is not crowded with one race, ethnic group, religion, etc. You don't need an expensive ticket to get in. Everyone's invited. There are some there I won't ask to dance. There are some who are a little too wild for my tastes. There are some who dance with Democrats but, you can tell, are really just slumming: they'll sip champagne with the fat cats next week.

Admittedly, I have some negative reasons for my party choice. I am a Democrat because I believe there are, among the other guys, more politicians who are rotten guys. Schlafly, Limbaugh, Nixon, Agnew, Bush, Cheney, Starr, Rove, Ashcroft, Coulter,Hannity, Beck. Those who look to the worst in human nature. Those who are greedy and arrogant. Those who see themselves as intellectually superior and therefore more deserving. Those who think that those worse off than themselves are deservedly so. Those who are dismissive of, unconcerned for, arrogant toward people of lesser wealth, lesser ability, lesser intelligence. Those who have little or no respect for honest laborers. Those who trust the free enterprise system to cure all ills. Those who demand self-sufficiency from the poor but welcome government perks themselves. There are, of course, many at the other party who do not fit those negative stereotypes.

My choice is primarily a positive one, though. I am a Democrat because I believe my party has, over the the years, most closely supported my political ideals: civil rights and equality of rights, strong public schools, separation of church and state, a role for the government in promoting the general welfare of all its citizens, a strong, sensible, diplomatic foreign policy.


I am a Democrat because, as I review my life, I find that my votes have proven right much more often than not. My party adopted the civil rights movement that is accepted as the correct position by almost everyone now, even some who fought it tooth and nail 40 years ago. It was primarily members of my party who led opposition to the Vietnam war and virtually all Americans eventually came to see that war as the mistake that it was. Democrats saw Richard Nixon for the fraud he was when he was the darling of the Republicans. My party opposed Ronald Reagan’s economic policies and those policies nearly bankrupted our nation. Many in my party told America that George W. Bush was the blustering little bully he has turned out to be. They told America his policies would divide us, derail our economy, lose us our allies, and make the world a more dangerous place. They were right.

I am a Democrat because I revere so many of our party leaders of the past and present: Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J.Q. Adams, Jackson (blemished though he was), Cleveland, Wilson (warts and all), FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt, Truman, Stevenson, Marshall,

8 comments:

Baxter said...

Welcome back, my man!

Mark R. said...

Terry's post as always is so full of mistakes and wishful thinking that there is no wonder he is a Democrat. The party of people who tell lies so much that they believe they become fact.

Let us examine this post. Terry says Democrats are not "Those who are greedy and arrogant. Those who see themselves as intellectually superior and therefore more deserving. Those who think that those worse off than themselves are deservedly so. Those who are dismissive of, unconcerned for, arrogant toward people of lesser wealth, lesser ability, lesser intelligence. Those who have little or no respect for honest laborers."

Hold the press. What political system is Terry looking at? Did he take a driver to the temple? Today's Democratic party is the party of the arrogant, elitist. The Democrats today believe that they are smarter then the majority of Americans and that they will use government to trample the majority of American's wishes. Look at the polls. These guys are going behind closed doors and cobbling things together that will create havoc with the American health care system. They are voting contrary to their constituents wishes.

The Democratic party is the party of greed, corruption and graft. What party does the Congressman belong to who had 100 K in cash stuffed in his freezer. Look through history. Huey Long, Chicago politics, Detroit City with Kwame Kilpatrick and his replacement Kandia Milton, Democratic politics can be defined with terms like machine politics. They steal as much as they can get away with and then use their power to whitewash their transgressions. Why is Chris Dodd retiring? You have Barney Frank as well. They are the fathers of the current economic crisis.

The Democratic party is the party that promises everything to the poor and uneducated yet never ever delivers. If they are so worried about the of people of lesser wealth, lesser ability, lesser intelligence than why are these people still in this state? We have showered trillions of dollars on these problems through government programs and none of it has worked. Why is this Terry? Could it be that it is the Democratic party’s best interest to keep the down trodden this way? That is how the black leader like Jackson and Sharpton want it. Keep them uneducated and dependant on government aid. That way we can always use class warfare and take their votes for granted.

Mark R. said...

Talk about government perks. The Barry Whitehouse is spending money on itself faster that any President in history. What about all of the sweetheart mortgages and campaign contributions that Democrats received from Freddie and Fannie? John Murtha and his airport, Nancy Pelosi and her demands for jet transportation, the list goes on and on. The Democratic Party is the party of the flim flam artist. The originators of the term spin. Lie and scream so much and so loudly that people will believe it. The party of more broken campaign promises in one year than the last three Presidents combined including the man who coined the term it depends on what the definition of is is.

What about all of the bribery that has been going on with so called health care reform?

Any idiot who truly believes that the government is going to cure all of these problems must have been in a Rip Van Winkle type deep sleep for the past 70 years.

“My party adopted the civil rights movement that is accepted as the correct position by almost everyone now, even some who fought it tooth and nail 40 years ago.” Wrong, wrong, wrong. The Democratic Party fought against the civil rights movement. The Republican Party was the reason it passed. Reverend Martin Luther King was allegedly a Republican voter. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican as well.

“My party opposed Ronald Reagan’s economic policies and those policies nearly bankrupted our nation.” Yet these were the same policies that led to the end of the cold war and were the genesis for the greatest economic growth this nation ever had. But we can talk about debt some more. You must then see your vote for Barry as a huge mistake under this guideline. He is bankrupting this country. The average American family owes over 165K of this debt. Can you tell me what number the Democrats raised the debt ceiling to? I didn't think so.

“Many in my party told America that George W. Bush was the blustering little bully he has turned out to be. They told America his policies would divide us, derail our economy, lose us our allies, and make the world a more dangerous place. They were right.” No they were wrong. The man in power now is making the world a more dangerous place. After 9/11 and before Barry was elected did we have the terror attacks we are having now? Three acts of terror in the US in Barry's first year. They view him as weak and that is why Al Qaeda is more aggressive.

I am a Democrat because I revere so many of our party leaders of the past and present: Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J.Q. Adams. Terry please buy a history book. Jefferson, Monroe, and Madison were all for limited government and states rights. Jefferson is the anti Democrat. Madison is the image that is in the Federalist Societies logo.

Alexander Hamilton was your man. Using the Federal power to squash individual rights was his mantra. Funny thing is he is the only major founder who was not born in what became the United States of America.

Mark R. said...

Terry I guess you really need to reassess why you vote for Democrats given how many mistaken beliefs are between your ears.

Baxter said...

Mark:

If Chris Dodds and Barney Frank really are the "fathers of the current economic crisis", then the GOP really is a feckless party. The crisis developed and unfolded under monopoly Republican control. If the Democrats could wield that much power in the wilderness, what can Republicans ever do right? Elect them and Barney Frank will still be in charge?

Of course - Dodds & Frank are not fathers of our mess. It is a direct result of GOP monopoly control, just as the Great Depression was under Hoover (R). It is not partially the Democrats fault. The steaming pile lies entirely below the backsides of Mssrs Bush, Frist and Hastert.

If you have to fib to make your argument, Mark, then you have already lost.

Baxter said...

Correction Mark:

Southern Democrats filibustered Civil Rights legislation along with Republicans. Your boy Barry Goldwater was ardently opposed to the legislation, viewing it as an assault on "freedom" (the same kind of freedom that the Teabaggers espouse today).

The Democratic Party, with Kennedy and then Johnson leading the way, passed our landmark civil rights legislation of the 1960's.

Abraham Lincoln would be ashamed of what his party has become and would certainly be a Democrat today. You will notice the Red States are essentially the Old Confederacy with a few more states thrown in.

sara p said...

Ol' Sara completely agrees with Terry. I'm ecstatic that Terry is a democrap. My ol' grampa used to say, 'never stir a crusted over manure pile; it just starts to stink'. Keep that closet door shut-it's bright out here!
sara p.

Baxter said...

Sara:

Which of your family members was ol' grampa referring to when he said that?