Quote of the Day: Howard Dean"We had thousands of people from all over America come to Florida to knock on doors. But the Republicans had thousands of people all over Florida knock on their neighbors' doors, and that's more effective."
- Howard Dean, on the recipe for the GOP's success
Howard knows better than anyone. Iowa taught him (and us Democrats) an important lesson. All politics is local. My own neighbors will remember that I knocked on their doors when I was collecting signatures for Howard Dean in Onondaga County in 2004. It was a wonderful experience. Many invited me to their kitchen table to talk about the community, politics, and the candidate I was trying to help. This is the lifeblood of politics - your own back yard.
Currently, DFA (along with GrassRoots for America) is training Democrats on Campaign Organization and Management, Recruiting and Developing Good Volunteers, Putting Volunteers to Work, Data and Data Mining for GOTV, Banking the Vote with GITV, Earned Media for Grassroots, Activating Your Base, and Maximizing Year-Round Visibility.
Because of the lessons he's learned from direct experience, I believe, to this day, that Howard Dean is the best choice the Democrats could have made to lead the party to future success.
Idolator Bill Frist is Going to HeckI am repulsed to hear FOX News falling into the repeated use of Republican talking-points regarding "people of faith" and how they support the "nuclear option", which is a nothing more than outlawing the filibuster tradition so the GOP can get its way on Judicial nominations 100% of the time (instead of their meager 97%.) Democrats have blocked only 10 of President Bush’s 229 judicial nominees.
Democrats are people of faith. Many of them do not believe in the death penalty. Many of them have a faith-based disagreement with the theory of pre-emptive war. Many of them believe that the GOP's economic policies run against the principles of Christianity.
Conservative judges do not defend Christians. They defend Conservatism.
I heard Brit Hume talk about Bill Frist today on the Fox News Sunday show. Frist said that "people of faith" believe that Democrats are robbing them of their "Christian heritage" by "abusing" the filibuster.
Frist is not talking in support of one America or one Christian America or one Christianity. He's using religion for politically partisan motives. That, my Christian friends, is idolatry - and you know it.
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Update:See Folley.net for related commentary. "According to Senator Frist, the debate over debating rules in the Senate isn't just about the Constitutional meaning of "advise and consent", it's really about how much the Democrats hate Jesus."
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UPDATE:
See George Lakoff's response. He advises that this Sunday, April 24, will be called "Social Justice Sunday." He says we must show that spiritual progressives are alive and well and willing not just to speak out, but to shout out. The Clergy and Laity Network and DriveDemocracy.org are leading the effort.
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And how about that Unitarian Jihad?!
Why is the news dominated by nutballs saying that the Ten Commandments have to be tattooed inside the eyelids of every American, or that Allah has told them to kill Americans in order to rid the world of Satan, or that Yahweh has instructed them to go live wherever they feel like, or that Shiva thinks bombing mosques is a great idea?...
..We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with..
..Beware! Unless you people shut up and begin acting like grown-ups with brains enough to understand the difference between political belief and personal faith, the Unitarian Jihad will begin a series of terrorist-like actions. We will take over television studios, kidnap so-called commentators and broadcast calm, well-reasoned discussions of the issues of the day. We will not try for "balance" by hiring fruitcakes; we will try for balance by hiring non-ideologues who have carefully thought through the issues...
...We are Unitarian Jihad, and our motto is: "Sincerity is not enough." We have heard from enough sincere people to last a lifetime already. Just because you believe it's true doesn't make it true. Just because your motives are pure doesn't mean you are not doing harm...
..People of the United States! We are Unitarian Jihad! We can strike without warning. Pockets of reasonableness and harmony will appear as if from nowhere! Nice people will run the government again! There will be coffee and cookies in the Gandhi Room after the revolution..."
*TAKE ME HOSTAGE! PLEASE!
