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The Put Up or Shut Up Challenge

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The polls as of the beginning of November reveal that George W. Bush just set a record for the percentage of Americans who STRONGLY DISAPPROVE of him, breaking Richard Nixon’s old record around the time of his impeachment inquiry (at 48 percent).

 

HALF OF THE PEOPLE STRONGLY DISAPPROVE. YET STILL THE OPPOSITION COWERS.

 

Half the people –people who can be counted on, one would infer, to welcome and reward politicians who confront and oppose this presidency vigorously—enough to win an election. But still, the Democratic opposition holds back.

 

Here we have one more example of the disastrous polarization that has occurred in America along the right-left divide: the right wing has been taken over by power-lusting thugs, people who habitually turn every issue into a war and conduct that war in a “take no prisoners” fashion; and the left is led by people who do not know how to fight.

 

Perhaps that is the explanation of the question, why do the Democrats seem cowardly and ineffectual: perhaps it is because they do not know how to fight.

 

But we need for these, our representatives, to fight. The plain facts of how power works in our system dictate that, when confronted with a lawless president, we need for these people to be our champions.

A champion is the one who leaves the field a victor. The word itself connotes a warrior: derived from the word for “field,” the champion is one who triumphs on the field of battle.

 

In this case, the battle is not merely a competition between individuals, or between sides. It is a moral struggle. So it is not just our team or our tribe or our high school we want to prevail, but more importantly it is the good, the true, and the beautiful. We need for them to be our champions in the fight to make the truth predominant again over the Lie, after all these years when Bushite lies have ruled the country. We need for them to be our champions in the fight to give the values of peace their due weight.

 

We need for them to be our champions in the fight to maintain the legal and constitutional structures that safeguard our lives and that –far more than fascism—help create the circumstances where decency and justice have a fighting chance.

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Andy Schmookler, an award-winning author, political commentator, radio talk-show host, and teacher, was the Democratic nominee for Congress from Virginia's 6th District. His new book -- written to have an impact on the central political battle of our time -- is (more...)
 
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