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Please join me in starting a new national progressive political party because the Democratic Party is dead, thanks to Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel.
I believe Obama and Rahm intended all along to destroy the Democratic Party and they are on the verge of accomplishing their goal. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for us, they left too many fingerprints at the crime scene. The Democratic Party is dead and now we need to decide where to go from here.
I favor forming a third party out of what remains of progressive democrats and independents, libertarians, greens, and others who oppose the corporate oligarchy, constant warfare, the war machine, torture, the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Christian right-wing fanatics, and the Republicans.
We need to restore Maat by investigating and prosecuting everyone in the Bush and Obama administrations who ordered, approved, committed, and covered-up war crimes and crimes against humanity. Bush, Cheney, and Obama must be held accountable and brought to justice or there can be no peace in this land.
I volunteer to write the platform for this new party. I’m a law professor and former criminal defense lawyer with 30 years experience in federal and state courts. I know we have other lawyers here. Bmaz and Mary, for example. How about Christy to the extent her health permits?
Let’s kick some ass for a change instead of getting our asses kicked.
I’m going to start drafting the platform with or without help because I’m sick of all this shit and I’m not going to take it anymore. Y’all might as well contribute so your voices are heard.
As the sage, Hillel said,
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
But if I am only for myself, who am I?
If not now, when?"
I am so much more than a pissed-off lawyer and law professor, but this is my contact information and you can call me Mason or Fred:
Frederick Leatherman
750 Fairview Drive
Paducah, KY 42001
(270) 556-8652
Frederick.Leatherman@yahoo.com
89 Comments
crickets, wow. sad. I’d offer to help but, lacking any formal education, money or time, I doubt I could do much more than vote. Maybe when We are enjoying a Palin presidency and the Repugniks in congress have found “bipartisan” support to drastically cut govt subsidies to the working class for their mandated health insurance a Progressive Party will have more support.
Now that’s puttin’ your money on the table.
FWIW I believe that PaulaT and Masaccio are also attorneys. So is ART45. Let’sgetitdone has a Phd. in political science and perhaps the world’s largest Rolodex. Cocktailhag has a degree in Journalism.
Me, I’m a surfer but I’m pretty good at speechifyin’. If you and let’s'll do the research, I’ll wave the bloody shirt.
I always enjoyed your posts, Fred. I’m pasting your info in my address book and I’ll contact you through e-mail. I admire your effort.
I’m a lawyer, but not really active in law and this type of law was never my specialty. But I’m happy to help in any way I can. I think my biggest strength that relates to this effort is communication. Or maybe it’s just that I’ve enjoyed participating in the threads about change and common cause with those on both left and right who don’t like the way our corporatist government is going that makes me want to keep doing things like that.
I’m in; tell me where to sign up. I’m a creative-type– can consult on graphics and media. Also on out-of-box thinking in general.
Nothing against any of You.
Our Government is full of Lawyers, and people with hords of degree’s and it’s a piece of shit.
Yes it has Doctors, Ecocnomists, professors and thousands of others that we all would consider smart people, yet It can’t seem to fuction right, and most of those, are just greedy bastards out to make their killing off their positions.
The day we return to citizen representatives, and those representatives not mainly highly educated and degree’d people, we might have a Government of the people.
One once of common sense is worth more than a dozen masters degree’s.
Forgive me but that is horseshit. You don’t think having an education is a good thing for running a nation of 300+? Really?
The Khmer Rouge proved that education wasn’t necessary, didn’t they?
So show me where it’s done this Nation so much good.
Show me where all the highly educated people have made us such a great Country.
Show me where a good education has made smart people. Some of the biggest whippy Dips in Washington are highly educated.
I’m not against Education, but show me where it’s helped so many of the assholes out there.
It’s not the education, it’s what’s done with it. We’ve gone from a time when the math whizzes were helping us explore space to where we’ve got them coming up with exotic derivatives that can blow our economy to the moon. There are lawyers like Yoo and Bybee and there are lawyers at the ACLU who fight them. There are the uneducated intelligent and there are the no nothings who are proud of their ignorance. Educated/uneducated, lawyers/non-lawyers are false dichotomies like right and left that have been used to divide and conquer. We can’t let worrying about who are the elites trying to look down on us or the ignorant trying to dumb us down, we need to just critically think our way through the issues and who is genuinely going to adhere to our view on them.
Take your pick. We are all equally elite or none of us are. Ahem, I rather prefer the former as it allows me to feel a wee bit more special.
Just like the FBI, we are all special agents.
Heh.
Working as an atty, I saw how little education had to do with intelligence. I worked with a paralegal with a high school education who was better at pleadings and discovery than most of the attorneys I knew. She started out as a legal secretary and learned on the job. But that didn’t mean everyone with a law degree was a loser, either. My dad went from dirt poor farmer of parents with 8th grade educations to master’s degree and an income that actually makes it pay to be a Republican. It’s not the education that made him smart, his family was smart when they were uneducated and poor and they are smart now that many of them are educated and far from poor. It’s not what you have or don’t have, it’s what you are doing with it.
It really frosts me the way our country decides who will be paid what for what kind of work. I may have advanced degrees, but I’m not much good at elitism.
Agreed, so contribute your common sense.
We the people are the fools, because we still think we can fix the mess this Country is in by voting.
When it was our voting that made it possible for that mess to accrue.
We keep switching back and forth between the two parties and then wondering why things keep getting worse.
As long as we keep supporting the systems, parties, and people that have made the mess it will only get worse.
I won’t be joining you all. I think it is better to work within the Democratic party. Still, I love that there are folks who are ready to do more than talk, who will actually take action. Good Luck in all your endeavors!
No, we need to take over the existing Demo. party the same way the radical rt. took over the Gopers and kicked the so called moderates to the curb. lets take over the dem. aprty and kick the Corporatist a/blue dogs to the curb. let them form their own party not us! were the majority of the party NOT them. Why should we be stuck in a 3rd party that will start out with one hand tied behind its back. FUCK Rahm and FUCK Obama we can beat these pricks because we have the people behind us NOT them. 3rd parties are a ticket to oblivion. Its hard work to take over a party but the right did it and we can do it as well.
Ain’t sayin you’re right and ain’t sayin you’re wrong, but we certainly have to have an organization with candidates for office in every state and the federal government. I prefer a new organization untainted by the past.
Well, I see that I forgot one of the most critically important points, public funding for campaigns. Going to need some help here to get around Citizens United. Professor Tribe’s got some ideas. Anybody else?
The thing about trying to take over the Democratic Party from within is that in order for such an endeavor to succeed, there has to be an outside organization to which progressives may go in the event that Democrats refuse to be moved to the left. Without a viable alternative, there is no incentive for Democrats to listen to their base. The Republicans were taken over by movement conservatives who, when necessary, did in fact leave the party in order to exert greater influence. Perot’s ’92 and ’96 campaigns sent a clear message to the GOP hierarchy that the degenerate base (businesspeople and war profiteers) could and would do without the Republican Party if their demands were not met. Needless to say, the GOP got the message and it has been beholden to the most extreme elements of the conservative movement ever since.
None of that could have happened without the very real threat of an organized third party to spoil elections. A lot of Democrats blame the Greens and Ralph Nader for the 2000 debacle, but in order for a political party to truly spoil an election, it needs at least a double digit percentage of the vote. Nader got less than four percent in 2000, and he’s gotten even less in subsequent elections. Perot’s candidacy was the last real spoiler candidacy in recent memory, and look what it managed to accomplish.
I think this is an interesting idea if only to clearly articulate a set of principles we can agree on and develop good communication forms for them. However, I think we also need at least two other things:
1) A common forum to communicate, organize and build support with.
2) More direct meeting and organization at the local or State level.
What do you think we could do to meet these requirements?
BTW: I’m not sure this conflicts with trying to take over the Dem party. If we focus on principals rather than party there is no reason we can not use support for truly progressive dems as a tactic.
Thirty-Point Platform starters for review and comment:
1. We don’t need no stinking wars or a gazillion military bases around the world, so bring all our troops home, downsize the military to a purely defensive military assigned to defend our homeland and sell all the military bases on foreign soil;
2. Treat terrorism as a criminal problem and handle it accordingly (i.e., the way we always have until the bed wetters took over);
3. Stop all domestic spying and wiretapping;
4. Repeal the Authorization to Use Military Force, the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and FISA;
5. Release all prisoners seized as part of the GWOT who are not tried in federal courts and release the ones who are acquitted;
6. No more military tribunal trials;
7. Job Bill of Rights (You got a job, if you’re willing to work);
8. Single Payer Health Care for Everyone;
9. Environmental Bill of Rights (let’s promote and fund green and solar — no raping Gaia anymore for fun and profit);
10. Equal rights for all without respect to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, religion, health, education, or economic class.
11. Reimpose Glass Steagle (banks can lend but not invest);
12. Reimpose regulation and sanctions on financial markets;
13. Abolish the limit on social security tax, so the rich pay more;
14. No one is above the law and equal justice for all;
15. Investigations and prosecutions of everyone who authorized, ordered, and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity;
16. No more single bid, cost-plus contracts;
17. “See yah, wouldn’t want to be yah,” to Blackwater, Xe, or whatever you’re calling yourself lately and all similar types of organizations;
18. To Hell with privatizing the military;
19. You want an education, you got it;
20. Separation of church and state;
21. No more meddling in the internal affairs of other countries;
22. No more assassination squads for any purpose;
23. To Hell with the following rip-off theories: unregulated free markets work best, tax cuts for the rich benefit everyone because money trickles down into the open palms of people too stupid to make money on their own, supply side economics, voodoo hoodoo economics, and greed is good;
24. Primacy of the Golden Rule as to individuals AND the nation and its relations to other nations;
25. Sorry AIPAC, but it’s OK to criticize Israel and it ain’t anti-semitic to do so;
26. End the War on Drugs, legalize drugs, and tax their purchase like alcohol and cigarettes;
27. Amnesty, release from imprisonment and restraint, and restoration of full civil rights for everyone convicted of a drug offense, unless a crime of violence was committed;
28. Worker Bill of Rights that guarantees the right to unionize, not be harassed for joining a union, a minimum wage, employer contribution to retirement account, four weeks off paid vacation per year, and pregnancy leaves;
29. Two-year mandatory government service that can be served in the Peace Corps, its civilian equivalent (to be established), the Conservation Corps, and other similar social service work, or the military; and
30. Investigations, prosecutions, and trials for those who authorized, ordered, and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity AND those who precipitated and profited from the nation’s financial collapse, plus formation of a Consumer Protection Agency.
Fred
I agree with Hugh that we can explore and discuss the possibility of some 3rd party, while also working hard to reform the democratic party.
But party leaders are able to get anti-war progressives to vote for more war, saying things like “you’ll never hear from (the White House) again” unless they vote for things like more war.
We need to honestly assess whether even getting an ideal Democrat elected to a national seat would even make a difference, because the forces of intimidation could be simply unbeatable for even the most upstanding Democrat.
Any 3rd party that doesn’t make a strong effort to attract right leaning independents and disgruntled Republicans is bound to fail and only give more power to the Republican party.
Traditional Democratic voters would only support the new party in large numbers if they have reason to believe the Republican party would lose as many voters as the Democratic party in any given race.
The 3rd party platform should therefore be careful to cater to some core interests of disgruntled right leaning independents and libertarians.
Deficit-free budgets would be a key foundation to this alliance, as would a general shrinking of the size of the Federal government.
Unless we’re prepared to compromise on some pretty fundamental liberal principles, the 3rd party idea would never work, and it would just be a failed attempt that empowers the unsustainable status quo.
Expecting any large number of people to understand this is an uphill battle in itself. It’s hard to rally emotionally driven people around the idea of compromised principles, and the mighty howitzer that is our mass media would key in on these fault lines and aggravate them in an effort to divide and conquer as usual.
“If an enemy has alliances, the problem is grave and the enemy’s position strong; if he has no alliances, the problem is minor and the enemy’s position weak.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
http://www.artofwar.net/china/quotes.htm
Hi Kiddies,
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood and time again to play America’s favorite game, “Shoot the Corporation.”
I don’t see creating a new party and primarying Democrats from within the party as contradictory. It would get around a lot of the roadblocks that the two parties have put in the way of third parties. And it would allow us to build up a critical mass. Nowadays we are not talking about a third party so much as a second party to oppose the corporatist Democrat/Republican combine.
I was hoping that well known bloggers like Jane or Huffington would push to work with grass and netroots to start the process this election cycle. There is no reason why the Republicans should be allowed to benefit from the collapse of the Democrats. That could have and should have been us. We have a better, fairer message and solutions that work, something that no other political group has.
Taxpayers did not intend the money they paid in taxes to be made available to private-sector predators admitted to the pay-for-play game to wallpaper their homes with and to purchase champagne in which to bathe.
We can stop feeling powerless and have lots of fun doing this AND make a huge difference in people’s lives.
I already checked with your mommies and daddies and they said it’s okay with them if you come out to play, so . . .
Whadda yah say?
Last one into the pool is a Republidemo.
I know, doesn’t sound scary enough.
Starting new parties is a great idea, but many have tried and found the roadblocks by the other two are hard to overcome.
Also to actually get a majority of the people to switch so they could win is questionable.
In ten years there might be a chance.
Revolution would be much faster, and do a much better job.
They used to shoot horsethiefs in the old west, but we have become so much more civilized we can’t do that anymore.
Now we just give our horses to the theives and tell them thanks for taking them.
While yes, these kind of proposed progressive 3rd party platforms come up now and again, to little avail. But that doesn’t mean they have no merit!
At the VERY least they can be used as a platform cudgel to use on the Democratic party. Of course the HCR debacle suggests that getting signatures of affirmation from members of Congress is of limited value. That will change, I expect, only with large numbers of progressives acting on a document such as your proposal.
The Tea Party organizers had international mindshare for their conference, even without the Palinapalooza earlier tonight. They got that kind of attention through cheap fear and studied incoherence. A determined group of progressives, scratch that, Progressives, should be able to do SOMETHING with fact & reason and non-sociopathy. Right? In any event we can’t give up.
But then I’m easy: you had me at “Gaia”.
The Progressive Party of America: symbol the bison.
Like the bison.
Not sure about the party name.
A little more zing.
Maybe a rainbow over the bison?
Rainbow is a powerful, welcoming, and warm symbol.
Ouroboros?
Native American?
Feathers?
“Thou Shalt Not Crucify Gaia Upon A Cross of Greed”
Photo of Gaia from space.
Eye of Horus gazing out of Gaia
Something simple, without too many other contemporaneous associations. A quick label, after all the ideas are the driving force. Implicit branding.
Uncluttered.
Thanks.
a Rough Rider hat and a Bullfrog!
Oh, down for maintenance in a couple of minutes. Hmmm… it’s a C..O..N..spiracy!
and the site is back up — time to take off the tin foil :)
I couldn’t resist, the timing was too funny!
*laughing*
I’ve fantasized for a while of a party called the ‘Citizens’ party.
I am a ‘fringe far left progressive’ but i live in a red , RED state, I notice many of my neighbors, since hurricane Katrina, have begun to speak of our government and corporations with the same contemptuous tone. It seems to be dawning on citizens across the spectrum that Left/Right is not completely operative any longer.
I think a new party needs to define itself not in left/right terms but rather a more inclusive name that addresses the real divide.
Actually, we’ve already had a progressive party known as the Citizens Party, founded by biologist and environmental activist Barry Commoner in 1979. He ran for President on the Citizens Party ticket in 1980. I can’t remember if he won or lost.
I live in Kentucky, which is about as red as red gets and I’ve noticed the same thing you’ve noticed. Stick to issues and facts with friends, neighbors, and strangers while avoiding labels and all of a sudden you can have meaningful conversations and reach agreement. There is a pervasive belief that our national government is our enemy and insane because it is bought and paid for by corporate money, promotes an unwarranted fear of terrorism to eliminate our civil rights, stirs up trouble in foreign countries with valuable natural resources and starts wars in which it kills innocent women and children as it steals those resources, and it has no intention whatsoever of helping any of us find decent jobs that pay a decent wage. People are beyond disgusted with Obama’s and the Democrat’s bullshit and I don’t believe there is anything they can do to dispel the people’s firmly cemented notion that they are rich, corrupt, crazy, lazy, and incompetent.
This is why I believe the Democratic Party is not salvageable and we need to form a new party that rises like a phoenix from its ashes. Whatever name we choose for it must not contain the words “progressive, “democratic,” “social,” “communal,” or “liberal.” Those words are radioactive. I think its core values should be Truth, Redemption, and the Golden Rule and its symbol the Phoenix.
I found an entry similar to this one. As it turns out, there are already progressive political parties in existence — the Greens and, surprisingly enough, modern versions of the Progressive Party of the U.S.
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/27615
That entry contains links to the party web sites. The write got flamed by the moderators, so be careful in this thread how you respond when they come trolling here. One of the biggest reasons I avoid the ‘netroots unless absolutely necessary to deal with them is the cliques of Democratic Party hacks who often run the sites and who go out of their way to mistreat and ban dissenters.
“I think a new party needs to define itself not in left/right terms but rather a more inclusive name that addresses the real divide.”
Exactly. There are so many people (maybe a majority now, after this past year, 3 years, Bush/Cheney) who “have no place to go” and will sit it out indefinitely- not out of apathy, but cynicism. I don’t think there’s ever been a “riper” time. With the kind of grassroots movement Obama had, this could succeed, but time is short. The frustration/ anger/ fear/ desperation/ wanting to hope is still out there- if anything, more of all of those.
You have excellent ideas, Mason (& I didn’t read through Michael in Ohio’s diary again, but had recc’d it). I would go further in emphasizing “defense” while also defining defense more literally an attack on US soil by a country’s forces rather than this nebulous group of “evil doers”, and strengthen the borders. (I am anti draft, but I like your conscription idea) I would add the repeal of NAFTA & GATT and tax the living daylights out of re-imported goods & services and penalize those who move their money offshore. Personally, I would really put some teeth back into antitrust laws (including Fair Use Doctrine & public utilities- and especially food & drug).
I would also place limits on what “public servants” can give themselves in compensation and make it illegal, period, for staffers to go to work for lobbyists or companies who lobby for anything at all. Private sector does this all the time by way of non compete contracts. I would eliminate the exemption from liability that is the basis for incorporation or eliminate/ rework “corporations” altogether.
Paper votes with a copy for the voter.
That 23 (or 28- whatever it is. less than 30)% is never going to be anything but hard core, so I wouldn’t go that far to take them into account. I would go for educating people rather than advertising/ informing them rather than “campaigning”.
“If not now, when?” unless maybe connecting with pet lovers, esp, but I’m in and just waiting (impatiently).
In my opinion, there has never been a better time. The situation exists. SOMEBODY will fill the gap. Will it be the Tea Parties? Or something better. The SCOTUS may have allowed corporations to flood campaigns with money, but as of now, a piece of paper (maybe that’s a “GD piece of paper”) still can’t walk up to a voting machine and push the lever. I am not good for much but grunt work
When confronted with a seemingly insurmountable problem, the solution is to break it down to a component level. Want to change the political system? Target a single Senator at a time. Pool all available resources (money, money and more money) into a single state. Unseat an incumbent and it will send a stronger message and will generate quicker and more effective change than starting a third party from scratch. The way the system is now, a President, his corporate acolytes and a minority of Senators can dictate the direction of the country. If that’s the way the game is played, why not unseat the Democratic Senators most responsible for Wall Street corruption and legislative gridlock. Forget the Republicans and Democratic blue dogs, they’re not the problem. Start with Schumer. Send a message. Look, moneyed interests control the political process. They control New York; the Mormons geographically control Utah, parts of New Mexico and Arizona. Evangelicals control virtually the entire South. How about getting a little Progressive religion of our own and coalesce (virtual networks) our efforts and take control of races in targeted states? If we can raise millions for Obama, why can’t we raise millions for candidates that will VOTE our values? No need to start a third party; start a money raising campaign aimed at unseating unresponsive Senators. The Democratic establishment only understands one thing, power. They’ll get the message. Demonstrate it and you’ll get a seat at the table; and with a block of let’s say ten Senators (we fund and elect) maybe even a seat at the head of the table.
Actually, a third party could help attract Mormons. They are by and large Republican as a result of the gay and abortion wars, but their philosophy in general is more progressive. They have a welfare system to which every active member is supposed to donate in order to make sure there are no poor and starving among them. They have social services for those in need of mental health services. They get overwhelmed, though, because relying on personal giving, especially from those encouraged to have a lot of kids and the mom stay home with them, is not working so well in today’s economy. I’ll bet if a third party went to the Mormon Church with a platform of, say, social safety nets which would save the Church welfare system from having to take sole responsibility for feeding those who lose jobs or suffer a medical bankrutpcy, they’d be interested. They have been against government social services because of the perception that the money comes with strings and that they have a personal responsibility to their own, but, as I said, it’s hard to keep doing things that way as so many of the middle class are falling through San Andreas fault sized cracks in the current system. Just let people vote their conscience on the religious hot button issues and you’d have them. As the younger Mormons take over from the old guys who run things now, you’re not going to see the same attitude about things like gay marriage, either.
I actually think it’s a good idea to do both at this time. There isn’t enough time to wait for a third party to get off the ground and powerful, but it’s going to be really hard to take over the Dems. So why not target enough Dems to shake the party up and keep it from steamrolling (hi, Scott Brown!) while getting the third party going? In each election, there might be better opportunities for a third party candidate or for a progressive Dem to win a primary, depending on the circumstances. Go with the one you have while you build the one you want. Plenty to be done without having to worry about infighting over the best way to do it.
I agree– push the Dems left in 2010, develop new Progressive Party for 2012.
Not a bad approach, but why pick Schumer? At least he votes the right way on most issues. Conrad, Nelson or Lincoln sound more like the types to take on.
I’d like to primary and get rid of Baucus, Conrad, Nelson, Lincoln, and Landrieu.
And then there’s my all time favorite senator, Holy Joe . . .
I am of the “if not now, when” school of thought.
I have been a Democrat for my whole voting life. I cried watching the inauguration of Obama. I had such hope, though i knew without doubt after his Fisa vote that Obama was no progressive. The utter disregard however, for the people who make up this country, by the President, the party , well..it has been stunning. These people aren’t even trying to hide their flim flammery any more. There is one party, and then there is us, the great unwashed mass, the lower 90%.
They need to feel some big heat, and working to dislodge one schumer at a time just won’t do it.
Agreed.
From wiki:
“A phoenix is a mythical bird with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1,000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (sun city in Greek). It is said that the bird’s cry is that of a beautiful song. In very few stories they are able to change into humans.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_%28mythology%29
The Ancient Egyptians’s name for the phoenix was the Bennu. Its home was Heliopolis, which means City of the Sun.
Since ancient times, the Bennu has symbolized rebirth and resurrection through fire.
The Bennu is the Firebird and its colors are scarlet and gold.
How about calling our new party the Firebird?
Voltaire thus described the phoenix:
“ It was of the size of an eagle, but its eyes were as mild and tender as those of the eagle are fierce and threatening. Its beak was the colour of a rose, and seemed to resemble, in some measure, the beautiful mouth of Formosante. Its neck resembled all the colours of the rainbow, but more brilliant and lively. A thousand shades of gold glistened on its plumage. Its feet seemed a mixture of purple and silver; and the tail of those beautiful birds which were afterwards fixed to the car of Juno, did not come near the beauty of its tail.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_%28mythology%29
For a jpg image of the Phoenix, check this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2004_Belgium_10_Euro_60_years_peace_Europe_front.JPG
There are many others.
Or the Phoenix Party?
But I don’t want name confusion with the city.
Imhotep, the Third Dynasty Vizier (i.e., Chancellor of Egypt) and Chief Architect during the reign of the Pharaoh Djoser, designed and built Saqqara in stone, an astonishing underground city of the dead near the ancient capitol of Memphis and present day Cairo. He was the first to design and build in stone. He also designed and constructed the first perfect pyramid and it’s still standing and perfect today. It’s the Red Pyramid constructed out of large blocks of red granite.
The pyramids at Giza were built during the Fourth Dynasty following the design he perfected with the Red Pyramid.
Imhotep also is known as the father of medicine for his collection and study of medicinal herbal remedies. He lived a thousand years before the Greek fellow who is generally credited as the father of medicine.
Last but not least, Imhotep also was the High Priest of the Sun Cult at Heliopolis that worshiped RA (the Sun) as the creative and regenerative life force.
His name means He Who Comes In Peace. He lived during the 27th century BCE, approximately 2600 to 2650 BCE.
The powerful resurrection archetype is more ancient than history and the invention of writing. It is not uniquely Christian, obviously.
It symbolizes our power to change our circumstances as well as who and what we are through the exercise of will and, at a deeper level, it reminds us that our spirits survive death because they are immortal and we can be whatever we desire to be in any incarnation because consciousness creates matter and we are gods in the making.
This last notion is not based on religious faith. It’s the emerging new science-based paradigm called biocentrism or the biocentric universe.
Upon what better symbolic foundation can we create a new destiny for our country and ourselves by building a new party based on the power to effect change and follow the Golden Rule?
“Two-year mandatory government service that can be served in the Peace Corps, its civilian equivalent (to be established), the Conservation Corps, and other similar social service work, or the military.”
You’ve heard of the 13th Amendment, right?
I think Obama’s national service idea pretty much killed the Dem hope of taking the 18th IL when the Dem candidate came out in favor.
Also, I believe, a state under international law has the right to use force to “abate a nuisance” when another state does not or can not.
You’re a patch left of me on some things. I wouldn’t vote for that platform.
Of course, it prohibits slavery. The military draft wasn’t struck down as slavery during or after the Vietnam War. We just abandoned it and went to an all volunteer military, so I don’t believe my proposal, which allows people to choose what they will do, is likely to run afoul of the 13th Amendment. They will be paid for what they do and they will have benefits such as the GI Bill to pay for education after they finish.
Military service is a choice, but not the only one. Military service likely won’t involve much danger since the military probably will be less than a tenth of its present size and only defend our heartland from invasion, an extremely unlikely event.
For the name of the party, how about the Freedom Party? That has a nice ring to it. Also, there is an attempt to find common ground with all of the third parties. Check out Liberty Coalition.
Fred, you’re correct. The party of FDR is dead and has been for many decades. And that’s a shame since the formula to repeating wins was what FDR mastered. Today, the liberal Republicans have taken over the Democratic party, so trying to regain control of the Democratic party will be an endless battle; it’s corrupted, and the few Progressives (Feingold, Kucinich, Sanders, etc) that are part of it have no place to go, which is why you see Feingold being the only vote back in 2001 against the Patriot Act.
I’m also a believer that a party must accompany a movement; that’s why the Greens and the Socialists don’t really present an alternative at this point.
Let’s go, I’m ready.
I have a name for the party ready to go.
Haven’t had time to read the responses here but two states already have progressive parties. I would suggest you start there before doing a lot of writing.
I’ve been looking into getting the progressive party in California. We need something over 800,000 signatures to get that done and we need to hold a caucus to elect leaders. All the info is on the Sec. of State’s website.
I’m anxious to help out but I have AIDS and although the Dems have been great at keeping me motivated to do this, I don’t have the energy on a consistent basis. I’ll help out however I can. Keep up the momentum.
BTW, I am also interested in helping anyone to create a website called thirdparycandidates.com so people can put in their zip code and find the third party candidates who would represent them. We need to attack on all fronts until we have the national progressive party in all states.
I’m in California. Do you know of anyone who is gathering signatures to get the progressive party into CA that I could contact to sign on?
Check out the link to the Liberty Coalition at 47.
I’m wary of the Liberty Coalition. They sound like they are with the Patrick Henry Caucus (or something like that) that my hard core but making no logical sense tea party friends are into. I would vote for one of their candidates if they were reasonable. It sounds like they are Ron Paul fans, for example, but also go beyond where Ron Paul goes, which is why he is not a wholehearted tea party fan even though the tea party concept started with the libertarians. I am not, for example, against big government. I think we need a powerful government to combat the influence of big business. I counted myself a progressive when someone in the past was talking about the difference between liberals and progressives because I do care about fiscal responsibility, but just saying we need to pay down the deficit is a problem. When? Not now, IMO. How? Cut MIC, not SS and Medicare. I’d also love to see corporate tax rates tied to living wage employment figures. If they employ enough people at good enough wages that we don’t need to spend a lot of money on food stamps, etc. and more people are paying income tax then we don’t need their corporate taxes as much, but if they are going to beat the employers down and outsource the jobs to the extent that the govt has to catch all the falling people, then they should use more of the profits they make in causing the problem to deal with the consequences.
Me too.
I was unaware of the liberty coalition and that seems like a good start. I think VA and maybe NY are the states that have a progressive party already on the books. My first inclination would be to contact the organizers of those efforts in an attempt to avoid any wasted time going down the wrong path. We are not ready to collect signatures yet. We need to develop a sort of business plan, find sponsors, find people capable of leading the organization at least for the short term.
When I’m feeling better, I’ll start to work on finding some more information. This is more than just collecting signatures and requires some long term commitment by some well organized people. We need to find progressives in other states who are willing to join this coalition to make this a national drive for a progressive party.
We will be thwarted by the Obama dead-enders and cautious progressives and need to have plans in place to deal with that. There is much work to do.
If anyone is on Facebook or similar, perhaps a facebook group might be a good place to start to find young healthy people who want to change the world and have not been crushed by cynicism yet. If you can contact the existing progressive parties or start a facebook group, you would really help to get this moving.
We, as individuals, will be responsible for stepping up to the plate to make this happen. There is no ready made organization to donate our time to. Please step up PaulaT and let us know what you find out. We need to move from the talking stage to the doing stage. I think we can accomplish this by 2012 if we get serious about this.
Perhaps the Sec. of State might be able to point us in the right direction. You can try contacting her office as a good place to start.
I read your prior comment about having AIDS, so I know you’re on a very short deadline, but if you want to get hold of me, you can register on my forum: http://liberal-pride.org
I don’t know what I can do to help get things moving, but at least there you’ll be able to make contact. We need to start sharing information ASAP.
If we don’t kill the MIC, it’s going to kill us.
I know enough about economics to know Professor Krugman is right when he says the deficit is a non-issue.
We need jobs and we need them NOW! And not some stupid trickle-down crappy program designed to create more jobs from afar with smoke and mirrors by giving tax credits to businesses. Obama can take that idea and shove it y’all know where.
Summers, Geithner, Rahm, and Obama know their plan not only won’t work, it’s going to stall out the recovery. They figure we’re too stupid to know they’re applying the Shock Doctrine. Well, they’re wrong.
It appears the progressive party has already been created in the past. See wikipedia.
“To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.” – 1912 Progressive Party Platform, attributed to Theodore Roosevelt[1] and quoted again in his autobiography[2] where he connects Trusts and monopolies (sugar interests, Standard Oil, etc.) to Woodrow Wilson and William Howard Taft, and consequently both major political parties.
Vermont’s progressive party.
http://www.progressiveparty.org/
The Washington progressive party.
http://www.waprogparty.org/
Oregon’s progressive party.
http://progparty.net/
Let’s not reinvent the wheel. It appears there are already organizations we can learn from to start the California progressive party.
mason, here’s the progressive party platform of 1912. A good place for you to start.
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=607
I have the 1912 platform. Mad Hemingway posted it last night.
Thanks for the other links.
I agree. No point in reinventing the wheel, except to the extent that the pressing issues of the day have changed.
Other than Lincoln, is anyone else facing reelection in the elite category of scumbag blue-dog senators?
Isn’t Bayh up this year? That guy needs to go, as does the idea that someone with a wife on the Board and tons of stock can vote on whether insurance companies get to keep their monopoly and get handed extra mandated clients or put up with public competition.
I say, Buh-Bayh!
The blue dogs should rename themselves the Benedict Arnold Chorus.
Deficits matter.
Nope, not until everyone who wants a job has a job. Then we can get the deficit under control in no time.
What Obama is now proposing is guaranteed to kick the economy back under the bus before it gets back on its feet.
Brilliant. Just brilliant!
I agree that deficits matter, but, like everything else, you have to prioritize. If you put deficit reduction above job creation at this point, you just end up in a downward spiral. If you get the unemployment (and tax revenues) going in the right direction, you end up in an upward spiral. Less spending on safety nets like unemployment, more money coming into general fund and SS and Medicare funds, stronger economy, etc. We also need more industries going strong so that we can funnel all those MIC contractor employees into other lines of work when we get really serious about controlling our deficit spending.
Just to play the Devil’s Advocate, Why? The government is not a business.
As far as Defense spending, each year the US spends $1.5 Trillion. It has 800+ military bases around the world. This is the problem with a standing military; there always needs to be wars and invasions and occupations. It would be better to go back to having a War Department (implemented only at a time of war) and eliminate the Pentagon, the CIA, and the rest of the shadow government branches. By doing this one thing alone, the money problems would almost be solved.
The deficit will become a surplus if we also end the War on Drugs, release everyone now in prison or under restraint for a drug offense unless a crime of violence also was committed, restore civil rights, legalize drugs, and tax their sale as we tax the sale of alcohol and cigarettes.
We have to stop being stupid.
“If you put deficit reduction above job creation at this point, you just end up in a downward spiral.”
Guys, the deficit matters. It matters now. SOME jobs could and should be created now, and companies should be bludgeoned when they send jobs overseas.
The U.S. could cut $300 billion dollars from the defense and police state budgets right now.
Medicare and Medicaid could be given the power to negotiate drug prices downward.
Credit card rates could be capped at 20%.
Sub-prime mortgages given out in bad faith by the banks could be forcefully re-negotiated by the government, in the homeowners interest.
Social Security taxes, now capped at $106,800.00, could go back into effect on income over $400,000.00.
There are a bunch of practical things Obama could do to both decrease the deficit, create jobs, and increase the fiscal health of the lower 95% of Americans.
Just because he isn’t doing them, doesn’t mean the deficit isn’t an urgent situation bordering on a crisis.
Unfortunately, Rahm’s motto is “never let a crisis go to waste.”
Sucks for us.
Also, get used to the idea that millions of the jobs lost over the past couple years are simply not coming back. They could come back, but they won’t.
I’m certain we agree on a lot more issues than we disagree, but we’re kinda caught chasing each other round the tree on this deficit issue. I favor most of your deficit trimming ideas, for example, and several of them are in my 30 points. Paula T said it’s a matter of establishing priorities, or putting out the biggest fires first without undermining your effectiveness ending one fire by what you do to put out another. I’ll go with that.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, I want to question everything. Must we really accept “that millions of the jobs lost over the past couple years are simply not coming back?” You concede they might but conclude they won’t without explaining why. Dat be a no-no.
Doesn’t the ultimate answer depend on whom is in charge? Anything good is impossible with the present crew and that’s why we need a new party to replace the Brain Dead Democrats, may they RIP, or burn in Hell depending on how angry you are.
Many corporations outsourced millions of jobs so they could cut costs by exploiting and virtually enslaving impoverished and starving workers in poor countries. Well, I’ve got news the greedy bastards ain’t gonna like. Violating human rights is never acceptable. Violating human rights in service to greed is a good way to wind up dead.
The financial benefits derived from outsourcing jobs can be and must be penalized and there are a variety of ways to do that and create incentives to return those jobs. We can’t return all of the jobs and we can’t return the country to where it was in 1979 before Reagan was elected and began systematically destroying the middle class and our economy with Milton Friedman’s goofy ideas about globalization and free markets and Arthur Laffer’s supply-side voodoo economics.
We need to stop the orgy of consumption and learn to live within our means and we need to stop treating Gaia like a thing to exploit. She is alive and already defending herself. She will squash us if we continue to plunder, pillage, and pollute her. We need to respect our mother and protect her from the greedy ones who would destroy her to make another buck.
The Greedy Ones are Gaia’s enemy, our enemy and the enemy of Al Qaida, the Taliban, and all people everywhere who don’t want to be exploited and want to live in peace.
Value does not equal price. Our teachers, nurses, artists, child-care givers, and many others who have chosen to live their lives being of service to others contribute value and enrich all of our lives beyond description. If financial compensation were based on the value of one’s efforts to society (cost of labor), our teachers, nurses, artists, child-care givers, and many others who have chosen to live their lives being of service to others would make more money than anyone else.
Our lives are cheapened and discounted when we are treated like a commodity whose value is measured by money. So, too is Gaia cheapened and discounted. Money is just a paper IOU decorated with fancy printing and numbers. It’s inherently worthless but useful because it’s easier to buy stuff with than carrying three steers on your back into a store and negotiating a price for the commodity you want in steers.
Free markets are ruled by the law of the jungle, which favors the apex predator (i.e., corporation) that does not appreciate the value contributed by those whose lives are dedicated to being of service to our mother and our communities. Let us forever put to rest the canard that free markets are a good thing.
Now is the time to let Rahm go to waste.
I almost forgot. Legalizing drugs will virtually eliminate overnight the black market in drugs that causes most of our violent crime and a lot of our property crime.
All these good results and single payer too!
Don’t know how much longer this diary will remain visible, so I’m grabbing this chance to say thanks for the ideas and links.
I intend to post a new party platform tomorrow for everyone’s review. All comments will be appreciated. No one can wound me with words, but politeness is appreciated.
This is not my project. It’s our project. Each voice is important. We’re making history happen.
We still need a name and a symbol. I’ve proposed the Bennu bird or Phoenix as the symbol. Its colors are scarlet and gold. It symbolizes rebirth and resurrection.
What can I say? I’m an old deadhead and I’m conditioned to think in terms of images, T-shirts, and Sugar Magnolias that jump like a Willy’s in 4-wheel drive . . .
Meanwhile, keep the comments coming.
Thanks,
Fred