Did anyone see Steve Lopez's column in today's LA Times, lambasting Sen. Kennedy for the recent fundraising letter he sent out?
According to Lopez, the current Democratic agenda can be summed up from the bumper sticker Kennedy included with his letter which stated "Had Enough? Vote Democrat in 2006."
Apparently Lopez has fallen hook, line, and sinker for the meme that the Republicans are the party of "ideas" and all we Democrats can do is criticize them.
I wrote to him to express my beliefs regarding the Democratic agenda.
Steve,
Do you really not know what differentiates the Democrats
from the Republicans, or are you simply buying into the Republican meme that the GOP is the only party that "stands for something" and whose ideas "get results" as Bush recently said at his press conference in Chicago? Talk about vague. By paying attention to how each party votes on the major issues of our day, I think the Democratic agenda would become quite clear to you. You don't need a fundraising letter from Sen. Kennedy to see the obvious distinctions.
Democrats stand for environmental protection (see the ANWR vote), even at the expense of a few barrels of oil (gasp!). Republicans stand for obliterating our nation's protected wildlife preserves in the name of "energy independence."
Democrats stand for raising the standard of living for the poorest Americans (see the vote to increase the minimum wage, which failed due to a GOP filibuster). Republicans stand for protecting corporations and creditors from "freeloading" poor people (see the Bankruptcy bill vote).
Democrats stand for examining what exactly we are doing in Iraq and how long we can expect to stay there (see the recent vote on withdrawal). Republicans stand for "staying the course" at any cost (to lives or logic).
Democrats stand up for equal protection and Republicans seek to enshrine discrimination into the U.S. Constitution (gay marriage amendment). Of course the Republican's focus on this issue is obviously a ploy to distract "social issues" (unsophisticated?) voters from the actual issues of the day, but it seems to be working handily!
Democrats stand for a woman's right to choose an abortion and Republicans seek to limit that choice.
Demcrats believe in a separation of church and state while Republicans seek to diminish the wall that separates government and religion (by allowing school prayer, tax payer supported vouchers paying for parochial education, using tax money to support faith based organizations).
Democrats believe in the power of diplomacy and Republicans believe in the power of the bomb. Of the 23 Senators who voted against authorizing the use of force in Iraq, 22 were Democrats and 1 was a Republican (predictably, Lincoln Chafee of RI).
Democrats believe in real science (evolution, the scientifically undisputed reality that humans are a leading factor in global warming) while Republicans believe in creation science and sticking their heads in the sand on global warming.
I need not go on. The distinction between the parties is clear enough to me, and the choice is ours to make. It all depends on what type of nation we want to live in. One where equality is diminished in the name of "freedom" and civil liberties are continuously curtailed in the name of "security" or a reality based world where we force ourselves to consider the sometimes ugly realities of modern life and use our time usefully to improve and progress.