Last night I attended the Dr. David Gill Volunteer Appreciation night at our Champaign office.  David Gill is an emergency room physician running to unseat Rep. Tim Johnson in IL-15.  In true grassroots fashion we're making the most of our money and energy even though "political insiders"  don't think it's a winnable race.  But progressives must stand up for their beliefs in every district, we know no "red state/blue state".  So that's what we're doing.

The new Democratic Party is not about leading or following: it's about being honest.  We can't continue to hide away our beliefs every time a "Republican" walks into the room.  I don't want elections based on God, guns, and gays but that doesn't mean I don't have opinions on them.  And since I have no intention of ever running for public office, but do plan on voting for Democrats this fall, I thought I'd share my beliefs on issues I just wish would go away.  I'm so sick of reading all this "red-state/blue-state" formulaic columnist crap.  There comes a point when as someone who grew up in an "urban-blue" area can't but help who the fuck does David Brooks think he is?

George W. Bush once wanted to be known as the "Education President," and he's certainly given the United States' public an education: don't elect morons.  It's interesting to listen to him talk of holding students and teachers to higher standards, when in all likelihood, he himself would no have met those standards.  He has been the recipient of the world's finest education, for free, simply because of his name.  Yet, I'm willing to bet my dumb public-educated ass could trounce him on any standardized test, and I bet you could too.

Yesterday I expressed some frustration with Armando for copy/pasting quotes of Dean and Obama from a horrid NY Times article, then calling them idiots with no real explanation.   While I understand the need to vent and sympathize being frustrated with Democrats who fall into Republican narratives, calling Dean and Obama idiots just perpetuates a culture of victimization that we as Democrats need to get over (or so I think).

So who do I think is an idiot?  John McCain.  While I think his intentions are sincere and fully-respect his service to our country, he is Bush's biggest tool.  And that was before his attacks on Barack Obama.

Update: There's some great commenting here. My point, which may have been lost, isn't Armando perpetuating a culture of victimization by just repeating their quotes with no real dialogue as to why Obama and Dean are idiots? They have given their life to the cause, they're human, and we can't expect them to have the perfect talking point every time they speak. Building a team takes time, let's try to be more positive.
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In this diary Armando sagely writes that:

Does Warner believe in deadlines or timetables? Clark for training or redployment? Who cares? None of it matters until Dems get some power.

Can we keep the focus on Bush please?

DailyKos: Building Democracy One Thread at a Time

Kos: This is a Democratic blog, a partisan blog. One that recognizes that Democrats run from left to right on the ideological spectrum, and yet we're all still in this fight together.

Updated: Well even though Samuel Alito now sits on the Supreme Court I think we really made him re-think how he will rule in future cases. And there was an attempt to filibuster, and even though Barack Obama didn't give the filibuster he still voted against cloture, exactly like this constituent asked.

Below the fold is a Daily Kos guide to filibustering Samuel Alito.