Re: History will record . . .
- From: Scotius <wolvzbro@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:45:11 -0400
On Sun, 4 Jun 2006 19:56:10 -0400, "Joe S." <anon@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
. . . that our national experiment with fascism -- in the guise of the
rightwing of the Republican Party and their holyroller allies -- ended in
2006.
Poor Joe S. Can't admit that most Americans voted against
Kerry not because they were the "religious right", but because
ordinary people of neither wing find the left at least more obviously
repugnant than the right, and are right to find it so.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003038471_democrats04m.html
QUOTE
Democrats see turning point
By Ralph Thomas
Seattle Times Olympia bureau
YAKIMA - Democratic Party leaders on Saturday lashed out at President Bush
and the Republicans and vowed to seize on what they described as a "golden
opportunity" to win back one or both houses of the Congress and expand
Democratic dominance in Olympia.
State Democratic Chairman Dwight Pelz told about 1,000 delegates gathered
for the party's convention that there is a "fresh breeze blowing" in
America.
"History will record that America's flirtation with the Republican
right-wing agenda ended in 2006," Pelz said.
The most noticeable friction at the Democrats' pep rally came during an
appearance by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, who has been catching flak from
party activists - and two Democratic challengers - for her past support of
the Iraq war.
As Cantwell took the podium, scores of delegates chanted "No more war." But
their chants were eventually drowned out by hundreds of Cantwell supporters
shouting "Six more years."
Pelz, in his first year as party chairman, got things rolling with a
scathing attack on Republicans.
"George Bush and his corrupt Congress have attacked the basic foundations of
our middle class - our employer-based health-care system, our pension
system, Social Security and Medicare," Pelz said.
But the most boisterous cheers came when Pelz proclaimed that, if Democrats
succeed in taking back the U.S. House or Senate, "We will have subpoena
power and we will investigate ... Bush, Cheney, Donald [Rumsfeld] and
[former House Majority Leader Tom] Delay and we will reveal to the American
people what these people knew and when they knew it."
Pelz also took shots at the state GOP, describing the party's new
immigration plank as part of a "growing xenophobic movement" in the nation.
During their convention the previous week, the Republicans added a provision
to their platform opposing automatic citizenship for children of illegal
immigrants. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution recognizes
citizenship for all persons born in the United States.
The Democrats on Saturday took a far different tack on immigration. Their
new platform says the party opposes building walls along U.S. borders and
any policy that denies "civil and/or human rights or educational
opportunities for immigrants and their children regardless of immigration
status."
Anti-war stand
The state's Democrats also approved a pointed anti-war plank. It says there
is "irrefutable evidence" that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was unjustified and
"based on false and misleading statements and faulty thinking." The
Democrats also call for "an orderly, complete and rapid exit strategy" and
combating global terrorism by "working on the root causes of conflict" such
as poverty and political disenfranchisement.
Some anti-war Democrats are unhappy with Cantwell for not supporting a tight
timeline for troop withdrawal and for not expressing regret for voting to
authorize the invasion of Iraq.
Pelz and other Democratic leaders rallied around Cantwell and tried to
deflect attention from the Iraq-war controversy.
"This is not our war," Pelz said in his speech. "This is a Republican war."
Before Cantwell's appearance, the delegates were shown a videotaped message
from former President Bill Clinton, who urged them to work hard to help
Cantwell defeat Republican challenger Mike McGavick.
Clinton didn't mention the war. Neither did one of the nation's most
outspoken war critics, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, who introduced
Cantwell to the crowd.
Instead, McDermott praised Cantwell for standing up to what he called a
Bush-led "oil junta" and opposing a powerful Republican senator's attempts
to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil developers.
Cantwell used most of her speech to decry oil-industry profits and Bush
administration policies on matters such as prescription drugs and funding
for agricultural research.
She made only a vague reference to the war, saying, "2006 needs to be the
year of transition, when the Iraqi people stand on their own and our troops
come home."
"She glossed over the Iraq issue," said Todd Boyle of Kirkland, one of
several dozen delegates who held up "No War" signs throughout Cantwell's
speech. "She gave it less than 30 seconds."
Boyle, who supports immediate troop withdrawal, said if Cantwell doesn't
take a stronger stand on ending the war, he will not support her.
The most pointed shots at Cantwell came from her two Democratic opponents,
Mark Wilson and Hong Tran. During brief floor speeches, both painted
Cantwell as a privileged millionaire and assailed her reputation as an
environmental leader.
"You can't be a true environmentalist when you support the pillage and
plunder of war or neo-con fast-tracking, free-trading policies," Wilson
said.
Cantwell said she wasn't bothered by the reaction from the anti-war
delegates.
"Listen, the Democratic Party has lots of different views, and we knew that
coming in," she said. "This is a time to get people excited from around the
state ... and that's what we were here to do."
END QUOTE
.
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