The Cheetoes alternative

I spent an evening phone banking this past week, and was ecstatic with what I heard. People are getting pumped for the 2008 campaign cycle, when we'll finally be able to start dismantling the reign of the "unitary executive." What was especially telling is this obscure fact: of the people I spoke with, more than half had opened our recent caucus fund-raising letter and actually knew what was inside. I've never seen such a high rate of interest: usually people just throw such letters unopened into the recycle bin. I enjoyed the conversations and am optimistic about the results.

If you haven't yet sent in your check, now is a good time. Use the envelope we sent you, or if you didn't receive one or somehow "misplaced" it (yes, we know...), you can donate online at www.douglasdemocrats.org. Or send a check made out to Douglas County Democratic Party, PO Box 2857, Parker, CO 80134.

Of course, for every 100 donations, there's one crank. The favorite excuse this year has to do with people's impatience with Congress, that they aren't doing enough about the Iraq war, about global warming, about the economy, or a hundred other things. Being only one of the three branches of government — the other two being the executive and judiciary, wholly owned by the Bush machine — you would think folks can do the math and realize we need two branches in order to effect real change in America.

I think the fact that the Congress has stopped any new Bush initiatives, is great progress. Not nearly as much as I'd like, but not bad for a party with a 2-1 disadvantage in our three-branch government. In Colorado we've won back two branches, and you can see much greater progress here. We'll get there nationally next year, if we work for it.

How can any serious person doubt, that a Democrat in the White House — any of the leading Democrats — would make a huge difference in turning the nation around? That any of them would be an improvement over Bush's imperial heir Giuliani or any of the seven fundamentalist wacko dwarfs? I don't think any person with at least half a brain doubts this.

So stop making excuses. We do a caucus fund-raiser only once every two years. In that time, the average American family spends about $200 on "salty snack foods." Which would make a bigger difference to your children's future: the Democratic Party, or Cheetoes? Time to set your priorities.

Back to work

I've seen it all over the blogs this month. While we might be disappointed in the Democratic leadership in Congress so far, we're only just getting started. The big ship of state can't turn on a dime. So far, the Democrats in Congress have been able to slow its wrong-way momentum, and there's certainly more of this to be done.

I'm as impatient as the next guy. But a lot of the problems facing this nation are more cultural than political. The Congress and president, by commanding time in the media, are in a position to lead cultural change, but they don't have the power to mandate it. If we want honest government, freedom, mutual responsibility, and equal opportunity, the public is going to have to demand it, much more than they have in recent times.

If we as Democrats want this, we'll have to keep fighting for it.

We've enjoyed a long break from the busy and highly successful 2006 campaign. Change happens more quickly at the state level, where our new Democratic Governor and legislators have done a fantastic job getting our priorities sorted out and setting a new direction for the state. At the Federal level, there is still much to be done.

One thing's for sure, we need more and better Democrats in Washington.

The first big step is the local caucus, on February 5. The Douglas County Democrats web site has lots of information about the caucus and how it fits into the 2008 presidential election. Caucus season starts this week with a big fund-raiser. Through a combination of our web site, email, a letter, and phone calls, we'll be making a plea for you to help us fund the most successful caucus ever.

» Please donate now.

We'll have a dry run at the caucus, to try out the rules and procedures, at our November Central Committee Meeting. Everyone is invited. This is also the time to start researching the candidates. Which one will lead the nation in the direction you want? The best place to start is this Wikipedia article.

Yes, it's time to get back to work. The 2008 campaign season is upon us, and there is much to do.

Nixon moment

We saw a classic Nixon moment this week when the president of the United States went in front of reporters to state,

This government does not torture people.

Hardly anyone missed the parallel with another historic denial, "I am not a crook!"

This followed a New York Times exposé showing how public disavowals of torture by the White House, were contradicted by secret reports and actions behind the scenes.

But soon after Alberto R. Gonzales’s arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. It was a very different document, according to officials briefed on it, an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.

Mr. Gonzales approved the legal memorandum on “combined effects” over the objections of James B. Comey, the deputy attorney general, who was leaving his job after bruising clashes with the White House. Disagreeing with what he viewed as the opinion’s overreaching legal reasoning, Mr. Comey told colleagues at the department that they would all be "ashamed" when the world eventually learned of it.

Mr. Comey is right, I am ashamed. We should all be. When our nation was founded 231 years ago on the principles of freedom, and a concern for our standing in the world, the Founders made an explicit decision to give up a little security in favor of liberty. They did not form an authoritarian government, they did not form a nation of torturers. Bejamin Franklin famously said,

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.