Unlike most other users, I have for the past two+ years maintained an identity on D Kos using my real name. This diary marks the debut of my new DKos identity. My new existence is free(er) of geographic and personal specificity; that is as it must be.
I’ve recently pursued a job that may involve some political visibility. I no longer feel I can afford to freely comment here under a name that is too identifiable. Sad but true, too much open honesty in politics can be dangerous. So I forfeit my much lower UID, all my mojo, my TU status and start again.
I’ve chosen my new user name carefully, in tribute to the period that formed the Democratic Party as is stands today.
The New Deal, especially the first 100 days of FDR’s first administration, reshaped this nation profoundly. It gave a nation hope in one of its darkest hours and established the principle that the United States is not just the playground of the wealthy, the powerful and the fortunate few. It retrieved democracy when some in this country were ready to turn to fascism (after all, Mussolini) made the trains run on time didn’t he?). The New Deal laid the basis for the formation of a large middle class, the idea that all should be at least minimally secure in old age, that education and an enlightened form of governance benefited us all. It rejected the notion that everyone is on their own and only job of government is to keep the peace.
At bottom, the Bush administration’s policies, at least on the domestic front have been the culmination of a long standing determination in the Republican Party to reverse what FDR and the Democrats did almost 75 years ago. If there is a defining difference in my mind between Democrats and Republicans it’s the notion that we’re all in this together, we take care of our own. Republicans believe in "you’re on your own" - "I got mine good luck, and keep your hands off mine." They believe the purpose of government is to protect what is theirs and make sure they get more. The sky high deficit, the Haliburton syndrome and all the rest are a tribute to that
And while they’re at it they believe everyone should think, do and believe as they do; witness the fundamentalist Christian right.
George Bush is right about one thing – we live in an era where there is a profound clash of ideas; the only trouble is he’s on the wrong side. While he derides the Islamist fundamentalism (Islamo-fascism) on the one hand – he lines up with their philosophical brethren right here at home. He’s right in a way, it is a struggle for freedom, but not as he defines it. It’s the struggle for the freedom of the many, not the fortunate few. It’s a struggle for the virtue on intelligence and knowledge over the virtue of fear, selfishness and hate.
So a question – would you feel at risk here posting with your real name? In light of recent revelations about new FBI methods of tracking people on the internet it seems almost foolish to use a real name.
Wish I could move my mojo, but I can’t - Carry on.