I protest.

Standing for something.

Jesse at Pandagon asks The Question,

What does the Democratic Party stand for?

You know, quite simply, I really don't care what the Democratic Party stands for. For one thing, I'm not a Democrat. Sure, I've given quite a bit of money to them, but I regularly vote as either Independent or (these days) Nonpartisan. By contrast, I am a member of the ACLU. The difference is that the ACLU is doing something in which I strongly believe. What has the Democratic Party done lately? Just winning seats in Congress or in the Senate, or even the Presidency, isn't actually doing anything. After a couple of decades of caving in to the Republicans, Democrats are in many ways a singularly ineffectual bunch.

Of course, there are a few exceptions. Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean come to mind. Pelosi has used her position in the House to actually stand up to the Delay machine and to Bush. She is, to use Billmon's phrase, speaking the truth to power, and she is doing it well. Dean, before he was cut off at the knees by the Democratic Party leadership and the idiot media, was actually motivating people. He expressed the anger that so many of us feel; that's why so many people supported him. He started saying things that many had thought but almost none would actually say for fear of being called a "liberal elitist" by the agitators of the Republican Party. Now that I think about it, he could have been said to have spoken the truth to power as well, at least to some extent. Certainly he seemed to take the side of the little guy, of those of us who have had no voice at all in the governing of the United States.

The reason I'm not a Democrat is that, by and large, Democrats don't do anything. Well, except to appease Republicans, and I'm thoroughly sick and tired of that. Pelosi isn't an appeaser; neither is Dean (and that's why I would love to see him as chairman of the DNC). Daschle, on the other hand, was an appeaser, and I'm afraid Reid will be as well.

Rather than worrying about what the Democratic Party stands for, how about deciding to stop fucking around, stop appeasing the Republicans and start actually speaking the truth? Sure, the Republicans will call Democrats who do so all kinds of nasty names, but so what? Isn't it better to be strongly principled and have a chance of winning than to live on crumbs from the Republican table? Crumbs that will shortly disappear anyway when the Republicans get around to fulfilling their desire to dismantle the Democratic Party?

How about the Democratic Party try being the Party of Principle. The Party of Truth. The Party of Honor and Conviction. It would sure as hell distinguish them from the Republicans, and ultimately whatever else they stand for will be utterly meaningless without those characteristics.

Of course, being principled is dangerous. It could lose votes; it quite definitely would lose the votes of those who disagree with those principles or who can't tolerate people of principle (of which, I'm afraid, there are more than a few). It's a good way to win self-respect, though, not to mention the respect of others. It would also mean that people could begin to trust what Democrats say; being principled means telling the truth and keeping promises. (One of the things that frustrated me most about Clinton was that he failed to follow through on his promise to reform health care.) This would certainly distinguish Democrats from Republicans, since to be a Republican these days is, with only a scant handful of exceptions, to lie unceasingly.

Strongly principled, honorable Democrats can stand for anything they like; it's not like there's a dearth of progressive goals, or a lack of need for the kinds of things progressives get done. Without those strong principles, though, they will fail no matter what they stand for.

For a good example of the accomplishments of someone without principles or honor, one need look no farther than the debacle of Iraq, the U.S. economy, or the plunging value of the dollar against the euro.

Quick update: Oh, and being strongly principled and honorable does not involve tolerating lies, deceit and trickery, nor suffering fools gladly. It is time to call the lies and liars, the incompetents, the criminals and the bullies exactly what they are, in public, to their faces. Nancy Pelosi is doing it, every other Democrat should be doing it, too.