Rep. Louise Slaughter posted a diary earlier Bypassing the "Screamers" for a Real Conversation proposing that she will hold online town hall meetings to avoid being shouted down by right wing thugs.
There are many comments in that diary, including my own, that urge Rep. Slaughter to reconsider. The more I thought about these comments, the more I felt it necessary to address a long running problem with our representatives in the Democratic party.
::Jump::
The problem I would like to address is the perception that the Democratic party is weak. This meme has been spread far and wide for many years by the right. In some instances the accusation is completely unfounded, in others, there is some truth to the label. We are in a time and place that something CAN be done to nullify that brand.
I don't need to repeat the right wing accusations about cutting and running... you all know them very well, and if you are like me, you are sick of it. The good news is, with some principled leadership, we can absolutely destroy any last vestiges of this meme right here and now. I am tired of waiting for our Democratic leaders to take the fight to them. We here in the netroots are the purveyors of spine, and if our leaders come looking, we will be happy to supply them with one free of charge.
So this message is to the Senators, Representatives, and staffers who might be reading this now. The formula is simple. We understand that you are merely trying to be "civil" civil servants. In most cases, we appreciate the fact our reps are not raving lunatics... really we do, but we are asking you to stand up for the most basic of democratic principles. We want you to fight to get your message out... whatever the subject might be, in this case we are talking about Health Care Reform. This isn't some small policy that can be compromised into submission. This is a LIFE OR DEATH issue that will have lasting repercussions that will last several lifetimes. It will literally mean saving or ending the lives of Americans, and you can make a difference by standing on principle. If you do that WE will support you. We will go on TV, we will blog, we will show up at your town hall meetings, we will DONATE money... in short we will do everything in our power as fellow Democrats and concerned citizens to support you. We are asking you to be brave and lead us into the breach once more... we will follow.
Please drop the fear. If 9/11 and the past 8 years have taught us nothing, it taught us that caving to violence, threats of violence, general lunacy, and insults gets us nowhere, in fact by backing down you simply hand the aggressors the victory that they seek. Don't be that guy. The other party has plenty of people guided by fear, we don't need to add to their numbers, we are better than that as a party and a country. The answer is not to avoid the fight, but to welcome it... they disrupt a town hall, hold another but be better prepared. Don't quit... don't ever quit. If you quit us, we will quit you, it's that simple. The stakes are too high to back away from this fight, not now, not this battle. This is one we can't afford to lose, both literally and figuratively.
This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933
Fight damn it... FIGHT!