"In the world which is upside down, the true is a moment of the false."
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| rock and roll means fuck "In the world which is upside down, the true is a moment of the false." |
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Monday, August 04, 2003 Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) asks a most important question. i personally think that it is perhaps the most important question we can ask of ourselves right now. How Badly Do You Want to Win? "Do you want a different president in 2004? I’m asking this as a serious question, not a rhetorical one. Do you want it badly enough to actually do what is necessary to win the election that will take place just 17 months from now? Everywhere I go, everywhere every Democrat goes, we hear, “Where are the Democrats?” I take that challenge seriously, and many of us are working day and night to make ourselves heard, putting together a strategy with members who are willing to use tougher language and “creative” tactics in coordination with outside organizations. Yes, we need more Democrats who believe, as Paul Wellstone said, that “the politics of conviction is a winning politics.” But I challenge you to do the same by asking, “Where are you?” I say that as an activist and organizer myself, and with a great deal of respect for the work that all of you are doing. I acknowledge the magnificent visibility of the antiwar activities, and the Web-based organizing that has generated millions of e-mails to Congress, the work of the Anti-Tax Cut Coalition and others. I say that with enormous respect for the work of organized labor nationally and locally. I know we are all grateful to President John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO and his incredibly effective leadership. Even so, there have been too few examples of viewpoints, other than those consistent with the administration’s, breaking through to the public. If we are to win, it’s clear we need to do more, do it louder, do it faster, and do it better. And if we don’t, in 2008 we will live in a country and a world far different from the one we have had and the one to which we aspire. " (....) "If we are serious about getting rid of George W. Bush in 17 months, then we have to make some decisions and some commitments. (....) "Because like it or not, either George W. Bush or the Democratic nominee, whoever he may be, will be our next president. All of you know who I’m talking about; I may be talking about you. We should, by all means, be working to promote a progressive agenda with each and every candidate and to make the nominee as progressive as possible. But in the end, we are going to have to dedicate ourselves to electing the Democrat. To do otherwise is a luxury we cannot afford." i've called out called out the bushies in this space many times before. ditto the press. today i'm callin' us out. really. i mean, how badly do you want to win? look, it's now august of 2003, kids. what did you do today to beat bush 15 months from now? i'm serious. it's time to get to freakin' work, folks. it's time to roll up yer sleeves and dig in. got a candidate? yes? great. no? get one. hell, get two or three. it's early still in that respect. anybody who has visited this space knows that sen. bob is my guy in this thing. but, please, by all means, don't let the fact that you may have not decided on one candidate or the other disengage you from the process. this one is just too goddamned important for that. i've heard the argument made about "..this being the most important election in the history of the nation.." in every election i can remember, the first being carter/reagan in '80. but,.. ...ahem. um, take a good long look around, friends. can anyone make the argument that this isn't arguably one of, if not the most crucial election in the history of the republic? anybody? anyone at all wanna take a swing at that one? this nation has been hijacked by a gang of lying, murderous theives. they've absolutely got to go. are you ready? the past few weeks have seen a great deal of the luster stripped from these folks. there are a number of folks who are starting to tune in, to catch a whiff. doubts and uneasieness about the administration are starting to exhibit themselves in significant portions of the electorate. one can see it in the polls, hear it in conversation, see it in letters to the editor in your local paper. it's time to start turning these doubts into action. i wanna hear from the students at cash-strapped state universities who have their tuition jacked up to pay for tax cuts. i wanna hear from parents of students whose schools had to truncate the school year for lack of money or whose children were dropped from state funded health care programs because of state budget deficits. i wanna hear from the damned 3 million people who have lost a job in the past 2 and a half years. i want to hear from the families of the poor kids bustin' a hump over in iraq. everybody has a part to play here and now is the time get movin'. willie ain't waitin' around. this guy isn't either. the bushies will spend the next month photo opping the ranch and raising gazillions of dollars while, as steve gilliard points out, most folks can't take a month off. asked recently about how he could possibly spend what is estimated to ultimately amount to a $170 million war chest, he replied, "just watch me." these loathsome folks are gonna have a ton o' money and all the advantages afforded an incumbent president. blah, blah, blah. we've got one hell of a not so secret weapon though. we've got the truth. all that money isn't going to hide a deficit of close to half a trillion dollars next year. it's not going to obscure the more than likely possibility that, at the time of the election, well over 100,000 americans if not double that number will still be on the ground in iraq. 170 million smackers ain't gonna buy back 3 million and counting new jobs. it's not going to be easy and i have a feelin' it's gonna be a squeaker. time to mount up and get this thing done. so, how badly do you want to win and what are you willing to do to make that happen? posted by downtown | 2:53 AM |
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Cost of the War in Iraq
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