Letter to Democrats
Posted: January 16th, 2005, 1:29 pm
I am sending the following letter to members of congress, governmors and popular personalities who profess to be Democrats:
"The Honorable (Name)
(Address)
Dear Congressman, Congresswoman, Senator, Governor, Mr., Ms,
My name is Michael Bonanno. I live in Antioch, California. Consequently, you don’t directly represent me in congress.
I am sending this exact letter out to all members of congress, governors and well known personalities who profess to belong to The Democratic Party.
(Name), I have read article upon article about how Democrats must work to change their party.
Some Democrats want to move more toward “the center”, which is to say, move more toward “the right”, which, ultimately is to say, move more toward The Republicans.
This is what happened in 2004. John F. Kerry tried to out-Bush President Bush. Many people saw little, if any difference, between Kerry and Bush. Naturally, voters concluded that a vote for Kerry is a vote for Kerry and, so much like a vote for Bush, why bother voting for Kerry?
We all know what happened.
Many Democrats want very badly to win the “red” states. The logic goes something like this:
If George W. Bush wins the “red” states so easily with his agenda, we should mimic his agenda.
“Red” state voters are thought to be “right wing nut jobs” with low IQs while “blue” state voters are thought to be “left wing nut job elitists” with high IQs but no common sense.
I don’t agree with either of these theories. I believe that people in the “red” states were looking for someone different than George W. Bush for whom to vote as much as people in “blue” states.
The trouble is, the only people who presented different visions were candidates from what we call “third parties” here in the US and, in the US, “third parties” are thought to be parties who don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning.
So we’re back to presenting the voters with George W. Bush or Republicans like George W. Bush running against Democrats who are merely George W. Bush with different names and different faces in 2006 and 2008.
I know the reputation my representatives in congress have and what they’re supposed to promote.
As I hope to reach every Democratic member of The Senate and The House, as well as Democratic Governors and well known personalities who profess to be Democrats by the end of 2005, I won’t have the luxury of learning the agendas of all of the people to whom I write.
I will, therefore, present my suggestion in general terms.
Those Democrats who believe that The Democratic Party should move to the “right” so they can hardly be recognized as different from Republicans should cut a deal with Republicans and those two parties should form what I foresee as being called The Democratic-Republican Party (or The Republican-Democratic Party).
Those Democrats who are serious about presenting a true loyal opposition to the “right” should join forces to form a legitimate second party. Maybe it can be called “The Populist Party”.
I’m somewhat partial to The Green Party of the United States. Maybe those Democrats who want to be really different from The Republicans could put their money, time and effort into joining and bolstering The Green Party.
There certainly wasn’t enough courage within The Democratic Party to give George W. Bush and many other Republicans a decent fight in 2004, so I guess I’m asking Democrats to over achieve in the courage department to ask them to become associated with The Green Party of the United States. After all, The Green Party does have the reputation of taking “drastic” measures to fix “drastic” problems and courage is something that is painfully missing from The Democratic Party, as far as I can see.
It will take courage for Democrats whose views are so close to George W. Bush and The Republican Party to admit that they are a hyphen away from joining The Republican Party and it will also take a great deal of courage for Democrats who want to truly present the American voter with a different, more progressive platform to realize that The Democratic Party that exists today can not be fixed and join forces to form and/or join a more progressive party.
But courage and leadership are what the American people are thirsting for today.
In “The American President”, Michael Douglas, who plays a fictitious progressive President named Andrew Sheppard, is told by one of his advisors, played by Michael J. Fox, that the American people are so thirsty for leadership that, if there is no water, “they’ll drink the sand to find it.”
Sheppard replies with, “The American people won’t drink the sand because they’re thirsty. They’ll drink the sand because they don’t know any better.”
(Name), I believe that it’s a combination of both. I think that the American voter will drink the sand because they’re thirsty to know better. It’s been a long time since they’ve been told the truth by their “leaders”.
(Name), please take a stand. You have every right to want to present and promote views that are close to those of The Republican Party. If that’s the case, then I ask you, for the clarity of the American voter, to work on forming the Democratic-Republican Party to which I refer above.
If, on the other hand, you want to truly present the American voters with a real choice, even those voters in the “red” states, than please help to dissolve the confused, ambiguous Democratic Party that we see today and join forces with others to form or join a more progressive party.
As I said, I don’t know your agenda and I won’t know the agendas of all of The Democrats to whom I will try to write by the end of 2005. However, if you are first true to yourself and your own ideals, then you can be true to the American voter.
You probably will receive three copies of this letter.
You’ll receive a copy which will be sent to your Washington, DC office, a copy sent to a district office listed on the internet and, finally, a copy of this in an email.
Thank you for your time and consideration and please take a true stand to help our nation in this time of uncertainty.
Sincerely,
Michael Bonanno"
As far as I can see, no one wants to fit into The Democratic Party. Everyone wants The Democratic Party to fit them.
It's the most rediculous goal I've ever heard of!
"The Honorable (Name)
(Address)
Dear Congressman, Congresswoman, Senator, Governor, Mr., Ms,
My name is Michael Bonanno. I live in Antioch, California. Consequently, you don’t directly represent me in congress.
I am sending this exact letter out to all members of congress, governors and well known personalities who profess to belong to The Democratic Party.
(Name), I have read article upon article about how Democrats must work to change their party.
Some Democrats want to move more toward “the center”, which is to say, move more toward “the right”, which, ultimately is to say, move more toward The Republicans.
This is what happened in 2004. John F. Kerry tried to out-Bush President Bush. Many people saw little, if any difference, between Kerry and Bush. Naturally, voters concluded that a vote for Kerry is a vote for Kerry and, so much like a vote for Bush, why bother voting for Kerry?
We all know what happened.
Many Democrats want very badly to win the “red” states. The logic goes something like this:
If George W. Bush wins the “red” states so easily with his agenda, we should mimic his agenda.
“Red” state voters are thought to be “right wing nut jobs” with low IQs while “blue” state voters are thought to be “left wing nut job elitists” with high IQs but no common sense.
I don’t agree with either of these theories. I believe that people in the “red” states were looking for someone different than George W. Bush for whom to vote as much as people in “blue” states.
The trouble is, the only people who presented different visions were candidates from what we call “third parties” here in the US and, in the US, “third parties” are thought to be parties who don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning.
So we’re back to presenting the voters with George W. Bush or Republicans like George W. Bush running against Democrats who are merely George W. Bush with different names and different faces in 2006 and 2008.
I know the reputation my representatives in congress have and what they’re supposed to promote.
As I hope to reach every Democratic member of The Senate and The House, as well as Democratic Governors and well known personalities who profess to be Democrats by the end of 2005, I won’t have the luxury of learning the agendas of all of the people to whom I write.
I will, therefore, present my suggestion in general terms.
Those Democrats who believe that The Democratic Party should move to the “right” so they can hardly be recognized as different from Republicans should cut a deal with Republicans and those two parties should form what I foresee as being called The Democratic-Republican Party (or The Republican-Democratic Party).
Those Democrats who are serious about presenting a true loyal opposition to the “right” should join forces to form a legitimate second party. Maybe it can be called “The Populist Party”.
I’m somewhat partial to The Green Party of the United States. Maybe those Democrats who want to be really different from The Republicans could put their money, time and effort into joining and bolstering The Green Party.
There certainly wasn’t enough courage within The Democratic Party to give George W. Bush and many other Republicans a decent fight in 2004, so I guess I’m asking Democrats to over achieve in the courage department to ask them to become associated with The Green Party of the United States. After all, The Green Party does have the reputation of taking “drastic” measures to fix “drastic” problems and courage is something that is painfully missing from The Democratic Party, as far as I can see.
It will take courage for Democrats whose views are so close to George W. Bush and The Republican Party to admit that they are a hyphen away from joining The Republican Party and it will also take a great deal of courage for Democrats who want to truly present the American voter with a different, more progressive platform to realize that The Democratic Party that exists today can not be fixed and join forces to form and/or join a more progressive party.
But courage and leadership are what the American people are thirsting for today.
In “The American President”, Michael Douglas, who plays a fictitious progressive President named Andrew Sheppard, is told by one of his advisors, played by Michael J. Fox, that the American people are so thirsty for leadership that, if there is no water, “they’ll drink the sand to find it.”
Sheppard replies with, “The American people won’t drink the sand because they’re thirsty. They’ll drink the sand because they don’t know any better.”
(Name), I believe that it’s a combination of both. I think that the American voter will drink the sand because they’re thirsty to know better. It’s been a long time since they’ve been told the truth by their “leaders”.
(Name), please take a stand. You have every right to want to present and promote views that are close to those of The Republican Party. If that’s the case, then I ask you, for the clarity of the American voter, to work on forming the Democratic-Republican Party to which I refer above.
If, on the other hand, you want to truly present the American voters with a real choice, even those voters in the “red” states, than please help to dissolve the confused, ambiguous Democratic Party that we see today and join forces with others to form or join a more progressive party.
As I said, I don’t know your agenda and I won’t know the agendas of all of The Democrats to whom I will try to write by the end of 2005. However, if you are first true to yourself and your own ideals, then you can be true to the American voter.
You probably will receive three copies of this letter.
You’ll receive a copy which will be sent to your Washington, DC office, a copy sent to a district office listed on the internet and, finally, a copy of this in an email.
Thank you for your time and consideration and please take a true stand to help our nation in this time of uncertainty.
Sincerely,
Michael Bonanno"
As far as I can see, no one wants to fit into The Democratic Party. Everyone wants The Democratic Party to fit them.
It's the most rediculous goal I've ever heard of!