Letter to the Democratic National Committee

Let me preface the following comments by stating that I have been a Democrat my entire voting life and was raised in an Italian immigrant working family that consistently voted Democrat and adhered to Democratic principles.

I am seriously beginning to reconsider my party affiliation. The reasons for this are many, and I will attempt to outline my rationale below:
• I have watched with profound concern and distress the remaining remnants of our Republic being torn asunder by an Administration that is permeated with “true believers” who profess absolute faith in an autocratic and oligarchic social order that is embodied in what is referred to as an “ownership society.” The ineluctable shift of control of our society from the people to corporate power, which has heretofore proceeded slowly, is now nearly complete. The Constitution we claim to admire has been essentially turned into an entirely ineffectual document occasionally used by politicians to weave into shallow and tired rhetoric
• I have witnessed the President pursue an illegal war based on admittedly false pretenses; ignore or undermine international treaties and obligations; jeopardize domestic environmental standards for the sake of placating corporate interests; plunge our nation into unconscionable debt while advocating further cuts in taxes to the most affluent of this country and overtly break laws that he is bounded by oath to protect
• I have seen supposedly core Democratic issues such as affordable and universal health care, affordable housing, a living wage etc go largely unattended by the Democratic minority
• I have watched as the Congress has inexorably sunk into a morass of corruption as legislators of both parties have grown increasingly addicted and dependent upon the financial largess dispensed by powerful corporate interest represented by their lobbyists. A particularly pertinent example is the passage of the so-called credit card reform bill that will have a profound impact on the lives of the most vulnerable Americans.

The real interests of a majority of Americans have been effectively abandoned and even the franchise has been degraded by the perfidy and reprehensible abuse of voters at the poles as witnessed in the last two Presidential elections. In spite of all these events that can readily plunge the nation into a dark and abysmal future, the majority of Democratic Congressional office holders remain steadfastly silent and impotent except for the occasional sound bites.

In light of these realities, I believe it may be time for me to put my energies elsewhere possibly looking towards an alternative party that is courageous enough to passionately encompass a truly progressive agenda. I believe I am not alone in coming to this conclusion, especially considering the lack of resolve in thwarting the conformation of Mr. Samuel Alito. It is unfortunate that we have effectively evolved into a real politick where the State has become thoroughly authoritarian, mean-spirited, contemptuous of ordinary people (as seen in New Orleans during the Katrina catastrophe) and conjoined to the powerful corporate class. I fear for my descendents and their future in such a callous society where life is so poorly valued in spite of the sentiments expressed in the shallow and self-serving rhetoric of our political leadership. Even the Iraq War that has produced no end of sorrow for the Iraqi people does not seem to be worthy of opposition by Democrats in Congress. The arguments seem to gravitate around strategy rather than an objection to murderous policies.

There is no time like the present for the Democrats to become courageous and oppose directly and vigorously the ominous forces that would prefer that the people of this country live in a continual climate of fear under the wholly fabricated umbrella of perpetual war.