Focus on 2006, Plamegate will take care of itself

ILLUSTRATED: Forget the Fitzgerald investigation. Keep it simple: Lies, Incompetence, and No Accountability.
Don’t worry about whether we’ll see Rove’s mugshot. The administration has been wounded and will be more so either at trial or a plea negotiation.
Key themes we Dems need to focus on with friends and associates:
Honesty: We were defrauded into war. Democrats will be straight about getting out of Iraq, solving the budget, and in general, government for the public interest.
Competence: Democrats will appoint qualified people to make government work for the public interest.
Accountability: This administration is anti-accountability, trashing anyone who tells the truth. Not a single person fired for 9/11 or Iraq, not a single spending bill vetoed. We know how to run a government.

Jurisprudence 101

ILLUSTRATED: We are all spokespersons for Democrats. Here is some verbal ammo.
**There is more on Judicial talking points under "Democratic Sound bites, by the issue" on the right.
"Judicial Restraint/Activism": Tell your friends that ideological jurists have a policy agenda. The Right claims that jurists should not legislate, but Scalia & Thomas have overturned more acts of Congress than anyone else. We think judges should interpret the Constitution as if it is 2005, not 1789. The economy and society evolves.

"Texturalist/Strict Constructionist": They read implicitly what they want and don't want. We need to understand history since the GOP wants to take us back to it.

Economic- The Right want to go back to the 1890s when business was much more powerful than government regulators. Beginning in 1937, the court was "restrained" and let Congress regulate the modern economy. Then starting in 1995 the court became, dare I say, "activist" and started to roll back regulations towards the 1890s.
Property- The Right perverts property rights to deny environmental regulations. And the right to discriminate.
Privacy- The intellectual forerunner to Roe v Wade was Griswald v Connecticut saying that a married couple has a "privacy" right to use birth control.

Failing the System = Indictments and a Failed Presidency

ILLUSTRATED: The Founders' system will prevail over the arrogrant people currently in charge of Washington
“The rule of law not the rule of men*” is the mantra of most civilized countries. People are flawed. One of LBJ’s former aides said that the presidency is a microscope to view someone’s character. Scandals and gaffes are simply the magnification of errors of extremely powerful people. The checks and balances are put in not only to save the system from men, but to save men from themselves. Rove, Frist, Delay, Libby et al are victims of their own arrogance. But arrogance, as the Founding Fathers knew, is only human.
The Founding Fathers were very wise when they set up our tripartite, multi-level system of government. So was Harry Truman when he set up the National Security complex and the postwar international institutions. They understood one thing: If laws are to reign over people, then institutions must be in place that are greater than us flawed souls.
The ideologues running the Congress since 1995, and the whole thing since 2001, have a vision of America and the world that they want to effectuate with all of their power. Historians, political scientists, and management theorists will look back on this time as a disgrace to the legacies of the leaders who built the winning American system.
In your car, when you merge onto a clogged freeway, each lane usually lets in one car alternatively. This is even though the lane in the freeway has the right of way. You yield because it’s good for the system.
The GOP in power right now does not yield. Thus, they are failing our soldiers, our school children, our finances, our ecology, and our access to justice. And that’s only a partial list. Worst of all, these politicians are failing themselves. Sure I took some pleasure as a Democrat watching these indictments, but I am an American first, and I am embarrassed to see these senior officials prosecuted.
BOTTOM LINE: In 2006, we need to explain to our friends and neighbors, that we need a Democratic Congress for the sake of our system. The balance is good for a healthy system of government, and that will put American back on track.
*(“men” of course is a gender neutral term here)

Don’t Gloat about Plamegate, Affirm our Party

ILLUSTRATED: Be humble, and gently bring your friends to our side.
It is very easy to say “We told you so America! The Bushies scammed their way into office in 2000, they misled us on Iraq, and they sold out the government. What did you expect from these characters?” DON’T!!! Rubbing our Republican friend’s face in it won’t work for Democrats trying to re-brand ourselves.
The middle voter now realizes (s)he was very wrong about George W. Bush. But it is human nature to not want to be reminded that one was mistaken. The middle voter will resent us Democrats for telling him/her the obvious: that we were right all along.
Here are three fundamental pillars of government. In each one, gently explain how the Republicans have done America wrong, and then explain the Democrats’ solutions:
1) National Security. The Bushies are not policy makers, they are ideologues. They have a warped worldview and they pursue it recklessly. They have broken an international system put in place after World War II and we are a weaker country because of it. Our military is stretched too thin, and we have lost the diplomatic credibility to lead.
Democrats want to increase the active duty military, and rebuild the international system to resolve disputes. America will be stronger and safer because of that.
2) The Budget. The Republicans are trying to freeze wealth where it is, not grow the economy for all people. They are taxing people’s wealth less, and taxing people’s work more. Bush has not vetoed a single bill, and is selling out the budget to corporations.
Democrats want full circulation and investment of national wealth so the whole country gets richer…yes even the rich. We also believe in balancing checkbooks which means taxing rich people like they were during the Clinton economy. Government is to serve the public interest, not special interests.
3) Judiciary. You’ve heard a lot about how judges should not legislate or be activists. Bush’s favorite Justices have voted most often to strike down laws passed by Congress. They have an agenda, and will vote on cases to get their way.
Democrats think judges should interpret Constitutional Principles as if it is 2005, not 1789.
Conclusion…In Lincoln’s spirit of “with malice towards none, and charity for all” let’s not gloat, but gently persuade our Republican friends to see the light in 2006 and 2008.

Right over Might

ILLUSTRATED: Democrats value law, Republicans lust for power.
The most distressing part of the 2000 Florida Recount was the realization that most Republicans are more loyal to their power base than to justice and the rule of law. Seeing GOP politicians and their flacks (who pose as journalists) downplay perjury and counter-espionage laws is further confirmation that our opposing party is the party of corruption. (Before I go on, I try to minimize partisan vitriol, as it takes an affirmative presentation to win elections)
Corruption does not necessarily mean graft, or even outright cheating. Corruption means not doing ones duty and instead taking the route of a quick payoff or acceptance from those with influence. An officeholder, like Kay Bailey Hutchison, has a duty to promote the rule of law, even from members of her own party.
We are the party that does the right thing.