Where are we going? and How will we get there?

Friends,

When I established the Better Future group in November 2004 I had no idea where it would go, who would respond, how effective we would be, or whether it would even be around 9 months later.

At times I have been thrilled by the passion, eloquence, and commitment expressed in messages posted on the group list. At times I have been distressed by the narrowness of some of the postings. At times I have wondered if I did the right thing in establishing the group.

Well, in my musings I decided to share a few random thoughts about where we are and where we might be going.

First, I want to say that it is in diversity that we must find our unity. We must value and defend the right of others in a democracy to think otherwise. For most of my 70  years I have been a democrat with progressive ideas. I was involved in the civil rights movement, even having the honor of marching with Martin Luther King, Jr. I was actively involved in LBJ's big win over Barry Goldwater; I suffered through the difficult campaign of Hubert Humphrey in which his loyalty to LBJ caused him to wait too late to publicly oppose the war and thus let the unpopular Richard Nixon win the presidency; I worked hard for George McGovern and still wonder how different the last 33 years might have been had he won; I celebrated the fact that our system worked in removing Nixon after the Watergate scandal broke and occasionally dare to imagine that the system will work again and correct the abuse of power by the present administration that John Dean describes as "worse than Watergate"; I was proud of Jimmy Carter for his insistence on human rights at home and abroad and still don't fully understand the "reagan democrats" takeover in 1980; I always viewed George Herbert Walker Bush as a wimp who was sold to the public by the dirty tricks of Lee Atwater and a young trainee of his by the name of Karl Rove; I love Bill Clinton and his unmatched communication skill; and I was more devastated by the loss of John Kerry to Shrub than I have been after any election in my memory.

A diverse field of democratic candidates over that 40 year span to say the least. They all believed in the people; they all believed in putting people first; they all believed in equality, dignity, tolerance, and human rights; they all respected the unity that comes from respect for diversity. 

I am a passionate individual who never leaves any doubt about what I believe or why I believe it. At the same time I learned nearly half a century ago that the only way to govern a diverse democracy is from the center. Democracy has a way of self-correcting. When the pendulum swings too far in one direction, it will inevitably swing back again -- maybe not as quickly as I would like -- but it will self-correct. I believe that is true today as well. In fact, I see signs of this everyday. I saw signs of this in the recent special session of our Kansas Legislature in which the moderate republicans joined forces with the democrats to defeat the anti-public education efforts of the conservative republicans; I see it in the public's refusal to embrace GWB's dismantling of social security, and in the way the Congress has begun to ignore the nomination of John Bolton. 

I hear the voices in this group and elsewhere who have lost faith in the democratic party because many of those who would lead are unwilling to commit themselves to programs and policies that align with the most liberal and progressive wing of our party (the wing where my natural instincts put me); I hear those who say like Ralph Nader that the democrats are even more dangerous than the republicans (and I don't understand that logic at all); I hear those who say that unless the democrats nominate "a real democrat", whatever that is, they will sit out the future elections.

Well, I respect all of you and your passions. But what the years have taught me is that 'politics is the art of the possible!' Or as, the late Senator Robert Kerr of Oklahoma was credited with saying, "You have to be present before you can answer the roll," by which he meant that no matter how pure your platform, you don't have a chance of implementing it if you don't get elected.

I understand the criticism of the Democrat Leadership Council, but I am sure the republicans take great comfort in knowing that some progressive democrats are willing to make the DLC their target rather than focus on defeating the most repressive, anti-democratic, corrupt, and dangerous administration in my lifetime.

I will continue to listen to all points of view and embrace those who hold diverse points of view so long as they contribute to regaining the majority in the House and Senate for democrats and so long as they enhance our chance of replacing GWB with a democrat. 

As I have said many times, it is far too early for me to pick a candidate for the presidency in 2008. I am far more interested in working at the grassroots to defeat conservative republicans in the House and Senate and to support democrats in local and statewide races than I am in polarizing the race for the presidency at this time.

If I were living in the 30's, 40's, or 50's in Oklahoma, they would probably call me a "yellow dog democrat", one who would vote for a yellow dog rather than for a republican. At least at the national level that is where I stand. In local and state level races there are times when the candidate fielded by my party is so bad that I have no choice but to support a moderate candidate from the other party.

I warned you at the outset that I was going to share some ramblings with you. Well, I agree with those of you who are thinking I have rambled on long enough. 

Keep hope alive!

         John

John E. Cleek, Ph.D., Moderator

http://abetterfutureforall.blogspot.com/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A_Better_Future/

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever has!"  Margaret Mead