One of our members responded to my previous post
regarding values by saying:

You cannot legislate morality beyond a point. Deciding where that point is requires politics (the art of compromise) and knowing what you can and you cannot compromise on. And then trying to convince enough others to go along with you.

Shades of grey are the only things we really can see, in the end. What we think are black and white are not as absolute as we believe.

1 Corinthians: 13 "For now we see through a glass darkly"


I have to disagree. The passage from 1 Corinthians quoted above are, of course, the words of the Apostle Paul and would probably be better translated as we do not now see clearly.

They pretty much echo the words of Jesus who basically said some of us have a speck in our eye and some of us have a 2x4 in our eye.

This being true, and I think it is, the question then becomes who has the speck and who has the 2x4.

As for legislating morality, it's done all of the time.

The Bible forbids charging a brother (any human being) interest. Congress says 30% is okay except for "pay day" loans and then 400% is okay.

Who has the speck and who has the 2x4??????

Values are important because they determine the actions of people, and groups, and the policies of nations. For instance, the policies of a nation whose citizens value human life are very different to those of a nation which does not.

Question - Is the murder of another human being ever acceptable? Answer - No, never.

Question - Is the killing of another human being ever acceptable? Answer - Yes, in self defense for example.

The notion that everything should be percieved in shades of gray is totally wrong and usually are a product of the flaws in a society. Mend the flaws and we solve the problem.

PROPOSITION:

Any person, group of people, nation, or world which is not governed by values which recognise and protect the dignity of others is inherently oppressive and corrupt.

Is this a correct statement? If it isn't correct, why is it incorrect? If it is correct, why is there so much misery?

yuppa, it's rudy. from the ny times and the brilliant mr rich:

Link

I have long contended that Democrats have a problem talking about taxes. It's not our ideas that have problems - we have plenty of great (if too-complicated) tax plans out there. No, what we have a problem with is in communicating those ideas in terms of "values."

As Freedom of Speech noted earlier, Barack Obama has been talking about his tax ideas lately.

In reading this CNN article on the subject I must say I found the language he used to be very good and quite refreshing.

The key is as much in "what" Obama said as in "how" the reporter then paraphrased it:

Obama:

"Instead of having all of us pay our fair share, we've got over $1 trillion worth of loopholes in the corporate tax code... This isn't the invisible hand of the market at work. It's the successful work of special interests."

CNN:

"..the present tax code reflects the wrong priorities because it rewards wealth instead of work."

CNN:

"Obama proposes funding the tax cuts by closing corporate loopholes, cracking down on international tax havens and increasing the dividend-and-capital-gains tax for the wealthy, he said. He called his proposal a "fair" alternative to the present tax code and said it was necessary because hard times on Main Street translate to hard times on Wall Street."

Notice first, how the headline of the story reads "Obama Tax Plan: $80Billion in Cuts, 5-Minute Filings." It rolls right off the tongue, and most importantly the reporter is emphasizing Cuts and easy filing.

Click "Read More" to see the rest of my post   Read More »

I just saw this article - Republicans have done next to nothing to stop the amount of abortions in the country. This is what the goal should be, not to use them as propoganda (which, when you think about it is just plain SICK) but to find a realistic solution to stopping them! The dems are on the right track here. Hopefully thinking people will be able to see past the rhetoric and see who is really trying to make a difference on this issue, by making big changes that get to the root of the problem (economics, education, compassion). This is the solution Hillary has outlined all along, which is another reason why I support her - she has stated long before this that her goal is to provide real long term solutions to this - I may not fully agree with some aspects of her outlook (I believe abortion is a human rights issue for the child, not the mother) but I share her goal and see her as the only candidate - replublican and democrat both - that will succeed in reducing abortions in the country as well as helping these young women. Christians for Compassion!

Dean: Democrats Move Debate Forward on Shared Values
July 20, 2007


This week, Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to include the "Reducing the Need for Abortions Initiative" in the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. Among the programs included in the $647 million package are initiatives to promote appropriate contraceptive information and services, to increase access to health care for pregnant women and young children, to support child care assistance and domestic violence programs, and to provide funding for after-school programs.

I just saw this article - Republicans have done next to nothing to stop the amount of abortions in the country. This is what the goal should be, not to use them as propoganda (which, when you think about it is just plain SICK) but to find a realistic solution to stopping them! The dems are on the right track here. Hopefully thinking people will be able to see past the rhetoric and see who is really trying to make a difference on this issue, by making big changes that get to the root of the problem (economics, education, compassion).

Dean: Democrats Move Debate Forward on Shared Values
July 20, 2007


This week, Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to include the "Reducing the Need for Abortions Initiative" in the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. Among the programs included in the $647 million package are initiatives to promote appropriate contraceptive information and services, to increase access to health care for pregnant women and young children, to support child care assistance and domestic violence programs, and to provide funding for after-school programs.   Read More »

Nice Work DNC Thanks to Howard Dean and his first-rate team, the organizational structure has been put in place to make the Democratic Party vital for another 20 years or more. It's recaptured the center of the country's political spectrum and now is poised to not only win back the presidency, but also regain the moral high ground that was totally co-opted for years by the Gingrich-to-Rove-to-Foley "Contract On America" conspiracy. And, as importantly, the Party has shown that its members will fight back with fact against ugliness. I like that.

But mean-spirited, cynical arrogance is not exclusive to any party. Anything can happen when the money means more than the citizen. So we (party members, voters, John Q. Citizens) need to keep everybody honest. This we do by watching closely, asking lots of questions, writing our officials when they're missing the boat (who knows, they may respond to praise, too), and encouraging them with campaign contributions when we can.

What Voters Want We also have to let our future leaders know that we expect them to not (no, make that never again) resemble the old leaders. One doesn't need to read tea leaves or entrails to grasp that we want our leaders' ethics to more closely resemble the ethics we employ in our lives. I would like to see voters screaming like hell over ethics until the politicians get it on this subject.

The next two years are a try-before-you-buy period for a lot of American voters, I think. Many of them voted for Democratic candidates for the first time in their lives, hoping that thier chocices would turn out better than the godawful onces they made since 2000. They are waiting to see if the new Congressional leadershiop can rise above the same-old-same-old and accomplish the will of the people. It's really pretty simple -- I think the electorate is looking for some honesty, a surcease from the incredible financial and moral corruption of the currant administration, and some genuine interest shown in them, the middle class in the middle of the road.

Some Values As a result of a recent harsh interchange with a friend, I decided to simply write down what I believed in. It took the form of the following piece, which I share with you. Your feedback is encouraged.

Values for a New Millennium
1. Patriotism is not the prerogative of a political party.

2. Debate is important and encouraged. Dissent is natural and healthy. Both concepts are not only core values of our country and its founders, but fully protected under law. Those who seek debate and practice dissent are not traitors. See the rights to assembly, association, and free speech guaranteed in the First Amendment of our Constitution.

3. No party will ever successfully demonstrate a monopoly on access to (nor understanding of) God.

4. Freedom of religion does not mean that everyone must have one or that I must care about yours. It simply means that you can't stop me form practicing mine, nor can I stop you from practicing yours.

5. All of us can do it (whatever "it" may be) better than any of us. Establishing consensus takes will, hard work, and compromise. The American public is still up to the task.

6. Military service or training provides no inherent basis to establish or judge patriotism any more than getting drunk qualifies the drinker to judge wine. Reference Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard, Captain Joseph ("Tail-Gunner Joe") McCarthy, and Warrant Officer John Anthony ("Johnny Walker Red") Walker, Jr.

7. Labeling someone "traitor" demands evidence. Evidence equals facts.

8. Opinions are not facts and should never be labeled as such.

9. It's never wrong to admit you've been wrong.

10. Presuming that any party can corner the market on desire and will to shield our country from "any enemy, foreign or domestic," is simply wrongheaded and must be repudiated as demagoguery and as the fuzzy thinking that it is.

11. Everybody's welcome in America, period. You need do only three things: (1) learn the language (make it official -- it's English), (2) love and defend America, and (3) pay your taxes. Then come on over, come on up, come on down. If we don't like this idea anymore, then someone needs to chisel Emma Lazarus's poem, "The New Colossus," off the base of the Statue of Liberty. Read it if you don't know it. Ask for help if you don't understand it.

12. Thou shalt never accept thy news in sound bites. Learn to read again. In news as in health care, demand second opinions.

13. Tests and oaths of loyalty are out. Kaput. Our country was hornswoggled once during the McCarthy era, and any resurrection of the practice will result in another, even more painful hornswoggling.

14. Balance the budget. Fiscal integrity and responsibility are vital. Although the Constitution mentions money without mentioning deficits, there is no evidence anywhere that extended deficit spending guarantees anything more than a bigger debt to pay.

15. Reject the special interest group, the lobbyist, the political consultant, and the military-industrial complex. Ike was right. If you encounter any of the above, run the other way.

16. Spirituality is more often good than bad, but spirituality and religion are different. So the Founding Fathers put a firewall between religion and the state. They had it right, then as now.

17. There is no such thing as a holy war.

18. You can't fight terrorism by making new terrorists. You can't create new truths by telling bigger lies. You can't compel cooperation with brutality. America's supposed to be better than that.

Over and Out
That's all for now.

For at least eight years, Rep. Don Sherwood (R, PA) has represented himself as a conservative values Republican. However, last year he admitted to cheating on his wife with a younger woman over the course of five years. He then settled a lawsuit that alleged he choked his mistress. (SEE: Link )

Sen. George Allen (R, VA) has a history of making racial slurs. You can watch the video clips of Allen hanging himself at Link

What do these stories have in common? Well, aside from the standard Republic hypocrisy on being the "values people" and "moral high grounders," both Sherwood and Allen apparently will receive the dubious honor of campaign appearances by none other than Dubya himself. (SEE: Link )

Conservative Republicans can be, at least ostensible, child stalkers like Foley, racists like Allen, adulterers and assaulters like Sherwood, influence peddlers like Delay, and liars like Rumsfeld and yet still stand in critical judgment of those with Progressive values. Now, to compound matters, Dubya is even placing his official imprimatur on some of these scandals. I am tempted to say that brazen, unabashed chutzpa has become a Republican value. However, that would be too kind of an assessment.

According to MSNBC, a Countdown producer obtained an advance copy of a book by David Kuo entitled "Tempting Faith." This book is significant because Kuo, a self-described Christian, was not only the second-in-command in W's Office of Faith Based Initiatives, but also worked under Bill Bennett and John Ashcroft.

In his book, Kuo admitted that the Bush administration used Evangelical Christian voters for self-serving purposes. For instance, Karl Rove referred to Christian leaders as "the nuts," while other in the administration referred to them as "ridiculous" and "goofy." More seriously, Kuo alleges that the administration diverted taxpayer funds to rally Christian voters in targeted districts in order to benefit Republican candidates.

In my opinion, this is just another sad commentary on the current state of the Republican Party. How can a party that preaches personal accountability and fiscal responsibility be the same party that shelters sexual predators, labels those who disagree as unpatriotic, spews hate against detractors, and spends taxpayer money like drunken sailors?

Check out the above-referenced article at: Link.
Please contribute your thoughts on Progressive values: Link

Author Laurence Britt analyzed seven fascist regimes throughout history and identified fourteen common characteristics:

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
5. Rampant sexism.
6. A controlled mass media.
7. Obsession with national security.
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.
9. Power of corporations protected.
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.
14. Fraudulent elections.

If any or all of these characteristics sound familiar, please read the complete article at: Link

It may also be of interest to contrast these characteristics to the values that Progressives have proposed at: Link

In conversations with my fellow Democrats, I am frequently troubled by their "detachment from" or "unfamiliarity with" their own values. Perhaps, they are simply not accustomed to speaking in terms of values. Perhaps, Republicans have become so skilled in framing the national political discourse that they can, at least claim, to hold the moral high ground. The time has come for men and women of values, morals, and conscience to reclaim America's political landscape.

Here are just a few of my own ideas for seminal Progressive values:
1. We respect innate human dignity.
Our government should not unjustly infringe upon citizens' privacy or the right of individuals to make personal decisions.
2. We believe in human equality (with or without recourse to a Creator).
Our government should not discriminate between citizens.
3. We believe in economic justice.
Our government should not only protect private property rights, but also enforce fair inheritance laws, regulate profits from the mere accumulation of capital, and ensure that those who benefit the most from our national commonwealth (infrastructure) pay their fair share for the benefits bestowed.
4. We believe in a strong national defense.
Our government should retaliate against nations that violate international standards of aggression and not pick wars of choice. Warfare should not be used as an alternative to police action.
5. We pursue intellectual truth without constraint.
We not only adopt the products of science, but also adopt scientific methods, i.e., critical thinking, questioning of authority, and rejection of convoluted reasoning.

We can see the results of six years of Republican domination of all three branches of government including all of the current scandals and tribulations. Ask yourself, is the U.S.A. financially sounder, stronger, better educated, healthier, more egalitarian, and more internationally respected today or at the end of 1999? What do you think?

P.S. great video. (SEE: Link )

How do we find, inspire, and equip inspiring Democrats to run for office and succeed? Thanks to the last eight years of this administration, we have a large base of activists. How do we find leaders within that base? How can we find leaders that can inspire non-activists? And can we support those future leaders with an appeal to values simple enough to connect with and truly inspire the common American?

Remember, 2008 is just a milestone along the way. We need to build now a strong party infrastructure that generates inspiring leaders and equips them to succeed, over the long term. We need long term strategy and an organization that knows how to execute. Let short term priorities not distract us from that.