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Published on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 by CommonDreams.org
Truth, Justice or American Games: What are Democrats About?
by Simon Floth
Real justice implies freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. These delicate entities cannot exist without wise and honest cooperation. They die on all shortcuts to gain or safety. And so they should. As Roosevelt emphasised in the four freedoms speech, "(t)hose who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Whether it be dubious war, compromised media, corruption in business and government, malignant materialism, sunk social security, or the unbalanced corporatism which sustains all these, the role of Democrats to work and ultimately prevail against such catastrophes is obvious. Democrats work for justice in every sphere of the nation’s life. Their method is intelligent voluntary cooperation and their ultimate resource is the simple decency of the average American. They have no other means for anything besides a false success. Nor might they ever lack sufficient means.
So why project any other image? People do not need shepherding via manufactured allurements or fears. That is the game plan of the Republicans, and one that would have failed had the Democrats not been spellbound by it. If a simple slogan is needed let it be similar to "fair empowerment". This reflects everything the Democrats have always stood for and is both timely and irresistible. (Something more catchy would of course be preferable, so long as it did not fracture or distort the concept.)
By now, or shortly if not, one is likely to feel browbeaten by the obvious. Yet to put it starkly enough to remember: excepting pragmatic details, Democrats need less ideas. The fundaments have been obscured. How often, for instance, do the following ideas appear on the congress/media radar?
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http://www.commondreams.org/views05/`0222-20`.htm
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