Progressive Democrat Issue 94: DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP

Democrats are not pefect...and no Democrat would ever say they were. But Democrats are the political force that, more than any other, has moved this nation forward since the 1930's. Economic fairness, education, civil rights, the dignity of the working many, populism, progressivism, these have all been DEMOCRATIC values since the 1930's. And largely remain Democratic values despite intraparty infighting, political ups and downs, and despite all the attempts of Greens and Republicans to paint our party differently.

I am often embarassed by the Democratic Party, my Party. But I am far more often proud of my Party, the Democratic Party, not only for what it stands for, but for what it accomplishes and the great leaders it produces. Many Democratic leaders have been flawed, LBJ and Truman in particular. But even the most flawed of Democratic leaders, LBJ, gave America great civil rights legislation, the Great Society, Medicare, Medicaid, and the War on Poverty.

Where Democrats too often fail is not, as the Greens and Republicans would have it, in lacking ideas. The Democratic Party has been, for 70 years now, the primary source of new ideas for American politics even while Republicans simply try to restore pre-1930's ideas over and over again no matter how often they fail. Where Democrats too often fail is in having a lack of good leadership from within. But when that leadership emerges, great ideas and great policies often result.

The Democratic Presidents since FDR have all been flawed. But they have also all been great men despite those flaws. Republican presidents post-Theodore Roosevelt have mostly been backwards thinkers, lacking any new ideas or even a clear understanding of the modern world. Some, like Eisenhauer, despite that, have been good men. Others, like Nixon, have understood the modern world and had new ideas, but were otherwise morally corrupt and pathological liars. Then there is the current resident of the White House, a man who is BOTH unable to comprehend the modern world, AND who is morally corrupt.

I want to honor the Democratic Presidents since FDR, admitting their faults, but remembering the reasons why they were great men and leaders.



FDR: "We have nothing to fear but Fear itself."
"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country."
New Deal; Social Security; Montevideo Convention(renouncing the right to intervene unilaterally in the affairs of Latin American countries); Lend/Lease policy...



Truman: "The Buck Stops Here"
"America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand."
Artillery commander, WW I; Truman Committee (exposing fraud and mismanagement in military); United Nations; Marshall Plan; Fair Deal...



JFK: "And so, my fellow americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
"Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in."
volunteered for military service despite being disqualified due to a bad back; Lieutenant in the Navy; Navy and Marine Corps Medal; Purple Heart; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; Alliance of Progress; Partial Test Ban Treaty; created the Peace Corps...



LBJ: "It is the common failing of totalitarian regimes that they cannot really understand the nature of our democracy. They mistake dissent for disloyalty. They mistake restlessness for a rejection of policy. They mistake a few committees for a country. They misjudge individual speeches for public policy."
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground."
school teacher; officer in the Naval Reserves; Civil Rights Act of 1964; Elementary and Secondary Education Act; Great Society; Medicare; Medicaid; War on Poverty...



Jimmy Carter: "A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity."
"Human rights is the soul of our foreign policy, because human rights is the very soul of our sense of nationhood."
Graduated from US Naval Academy; served on submarines in both Atlantic and Pacific fleets; bolstered Social Security; Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act; Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt; SALT II Treaty; founded Carter Center; Nobel Peace Prize winner; Sunday School teacher...



Bill Clinton: "Let us all take more responsibility, not only for ourselves and our families but for our communities and our country."
"Saddam Hussein didn't kill 3,100 people on Sept. 11. Osama bin Laden did, and as far as we know he's still alive."
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993; Brady Bill; expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit; raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.2% of taxpayers, while cutting taxes on the poorest taxpayers and on 90 percent of small businesses; balanced the budget; created Federal surplus; paid off some of America's National debt; vetoed late-term abortion ban; proposed Campaign finance reform; establishment of the "Bin Ladin Unit" within the CIA; targeted bin Laden in a cruise missle attack, missing him by mere hours; declared the Taliban a terrorist regime; Memorandum of Notification ordering the CIA to capture bin Laden; prevented al-Qaeda "Millennium Attacks;" warned Bush (who ignored him) that the number one issue of Bush's presidency would be al-Qaeda...


At the end of the Clinton Presidency, America was on track to be debt free for the first time in its entire history by 2008, and was focused on stopping al-Qaeda, particularly after discovery of the "Millennium Attack" plot.

Enter Bush...


During the 9/11 attacks


Bush's Iraq policy: "Mission Accomplished"


While New Orleans was drowning after Katrina


And here is a graph of the National Debt from Truman through today...shows the effect the 1920's "trickle down" "supply side" failed economics of the current Republican Party.

And, finally, what actual ideas are Republicans offering in this election?




A far, far cry from FDR's "we have nothing to fear but Fear itself."