"IDEAS FOR DEMOCRATS, I: THE VISION” 

Steven Jonas, MD, MPH

With this column I return to the subject of politics and the Democratic Party that I have addressed in two previous series, the one on the Kerry Campaign in the summer of 2004, and the one entitled “The Future of the Democratic Party” in the fall of 2005.  As with the classic bridal gown, there will be something(s) old, something(s) new, something(s) borrowed and something(s) blue, which is what we all be (actually much worse) should we be unable to derail the Georgite theocratic fascist juggernaut.  The first absolutely essential step in doing that will be to take over at least one house of Congress this fall, regardless of what Adam Nagourney had to say in the News of the Week in Review in The New York Times of May 14, 2006 (“Hey Democrats, Why Win?” a topic to which I shall return in a future column).  

In a front page article in The New York Times on May 9, 2006 (“Optimistic, Democrats Debate the Party's Vision”) Robin Toner said: 

“With Democrats increasingly optimistic about this year's midterm elections and the landscape for 2008, intellectuals in the center and on the left are debating how to sharpen the party's identity and present a clear alternative to the conservatism that has dominated political thought for a generation. . . . . But some of these analysts argue that the party needs something more than a pastiche of policy proposals. It needs a broader vision, a narrative, they say, to return to power and govern effectively.”  To which I say, Amen.   

I also say that such statements are nothing new.  On the Op-Ed page of The New York Times of November 4, 2004, Andrei Cherny, a former senior staffer for both Sen. Gore and Sen. Kerry, wrote: “The overarching problem Democrats have today is the lack of a clear sense of what the party stands for. . . . Democrats have a collection of policy positions that are sensible and right. . . . What we don’t have and what we sorely need is . . . a worldview that makes a thematic argument about where America is headed and where we want to take it.” 

In The New York Times of May 26, 2003, there was a front-page story by my high school classmate Adam Clymer about the state of the Democratic Party.  Adam told us that what all of the Democratic Party leaders and outside observers alike, even the DLC people quoted, agreed upon is that what we need is: a new "clear identity," the ability "to think strategically" (Peter Hart), a "better message," to "stand for something" (Bob Strauss), to be able to "show that we can make progressive government work" (Will Marshall), "to move away from incremental new reforms to big and broad issues" (Bill Carrick).   

But when I said “nothing new,” I really meant “nothing new.” In a New York Times article on September 25, 1987, the journalist E.J. Dionne wrote:  “All Democrats have been searching for language to call America away from the individualism of the Reagan years to a new sense of community.”  We Democrats have not found that language yet.  If we had, we have won the Presidency the last time around, despite the Georgite cheating machine.  In an article in The Washington Post of Nov. 9, 2004 (yes, although I have been reading the Times since I was age 7, I do see other papers from time to time), Dionne pointed out that a significant number of people who agreed with the Democrats and disagreed with Bush on individual policy issues voted for him anyway, in part because of the lack of an overall vision on the part of the Democrats and the presence of one (although we would strongly disagree with its content) on the part of the Georgites.  Finally finding that vision will be crucially important for beginning the Democratic comeback in 2006 that will be necessary if our country is to be saved from the worst outcomes of Georgite policies down the road of history. 

As some of you know, in 1992, I published a book entitled The New Americanism: How the Democratic Party Can Win the Presidency. In the book, I proposed a “broad, embracing, expansive vision” for the Democratic Party, for its then present and the nation’s future.  I believe that it is still very much what the doctor ordered for the Democratic Party.  In brief, it is a simple concept with a precise mission: to find the new grand vision for the Democratic Party, to find the bed-rock foundation upon which both the traditional agenda and the 21^st century agenda of the Democratic Party can be established, to find the language and the civil weapons that our nation needs if the determined Georgite assault on, yes, American Constitutional Democracy as we have known it for 200 years, is to be halted in its tracks.   

Ever since the New Deal, the principal political divide between Democrats and Republicans has been over the role of government in our nation and our national policy.  Republicans want it as small as possible in dealing with the economy, as big as possible in controlling and restricting personal rights and liberties. Democrats generally take the opposite view.  Previously both sides have had some shadings on their positions.  Georgite Republicanism has none.  Not only have they adopted the Grover Norquist “sink it to the size of a bathtub and then drown it in the bathtub” program for any positive functions of government, but they also most obviously want to establish a government of, by, and for the repression and oppression of any citizens of our great nation who oppose their social, their economic, or their foreign polices. I originally envisioned The New Americanism as a sort of elegant marketing program for the traditional Democratic agenda.  Now the struggle is clearly over whether the United States will continue as a Constitutional Democracy or not.  Thus, with all immodesty, I now view my proposal as the first political weapon which should be put onto the field of political battle in order to stop the Georgites once and for all.  

The New Americanism finds the proposed “Vision for the Democrats” in the very founding documents of our great nation. The New Americanism projects a grand, integrated, overarching, forward-looking domestic and foreign policy based upon the principles of, yes, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  Together they provide the Statement of Purpose for our nation, the Statement of Purpose of our National Government, and the Primary Functions of that Government in achieving in the stated Purpose. 

Our National Purpose is made clear by the Declaration: to demonstrate unequivocally that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness . . .” 

The primary Purpose of our National Government is also made clear in the Declaration: “[T]o secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men.” 

The Primary functions of our National Government in achieving this purpose are spelled out in the Preamble to the Constitution:  

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”   

Why this is enough to make a strict constructionist out of anyone (other than the Georgites, of course)!  And so I present to you, dear reader, my proposal for, as Andrei Cherny put it, “a [Democratic] worldview that makes a thematic argument about where America is headed and where we want to take it.”  I do hope that it may prove useful.

________________  

Dr. Steven Jonas is a contributing author for The Political Junkies (www.thepoliticaljunkies.net).  He is a Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University (NY) and author/co-author of over twenty books. Dr. Jonas is one of America 's most perceptive Democratic political analysts.

In his book The New Americanism, Dr. Jonas presents his proposal for that “new vision and mission” for the Democratic Party that so many, for so many years, have been urging it to find.  A new vision and mission are obviously needed with increasing urgency as with increasing speed and determination the Georgites drive our nation towards frank theocratic fascism.  Dr. Jonas finds the needed vision and mission in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  "The New Americanism: How the Democratic Party Can Win the Presidency  is available from Amazon.com (go to "Books;" enter the title) and BarnesandNoble.com (same). 

 He is also the author of The 15% Solution: A Political History of American Fascism, 2001-2022.  Under the pseudonym "Jonathan Westminster" this book was originally published in 1996.  It was republished with a New Introduction in 2004.  Under Georgite rule, the “fictional non-fiction” scenario of this work of “future history” is, most unfortunately, becoming all too real, now almost day-by-day.  The 2004 edition is available at www.barnesandnoble.com (search with the book title) and www.xlibris.com (click on “Bookstore,” then “Search” with the title).  Both versions are available at www.amazon.com (go to "Books;" search with the title).

 Dr. Jonas is also a Contributing Editor for the Weblog http://planetmove.blogspot.com/, produced by The Planetary Movement Ltd. UK (http://www.planetarymovement.org/), TPJ's own Michael Carmichael,  President and Chief Executive Officer, a Contributing Columnist for the Project for the Old American Century, POAC, http://www.oldamericancentury.org/, on which his TPJ columns appear regularly, and a columnist for the webmagazine BuzzFlash ((http://www.buzzflash.com/) on which short(er) Commentaries are published once a week or so.. By invitation, Dr. J's TPJ columns are also posted periodically on the weblog Thomas Paine's Corner (http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/).

2006
May 18, 2006       "On Conspiracy Theories"
May 11, 2006       "The Significance Of The Tony Snow Job”*
May 3, 2006         "Bush Is Not Hitler, II"

April 25, 2005       "Bush Is Not Hitler, I”
April 20, 2006       "Some Thoughts On The 'Immigration Problem'"
April 13, 2006       “The Georgite State Of The Union Address Revited"
April 6, 2006         "A Firebell In The Night:  The So-Called 'Gay Marriage' Amendment, II"
April 2, 2006         "A Fireball In The Night:                        
                            The So-Called ‘Gay Marriage’ Amendment, I

Feb 22, 2006         “The German Reichstag Fire of 1933 and 9/11: Some Comparisons. A Revisit,
                              Part II” 
Feb 16, 2006         “The German Reichstag Fire Of 1933 And 9/11: Some
                            Comparisons.  A Revisit, Part1" 
Feb 9, 2006           "A Comment On The Democratic Alchemy,’
                             Appearing In The American Prospect”         
Feb 2, 2006           "Vengeance Is Mine, Saith The LORD"

Jan 26, 2006          "George Bush And The Doctrine Of Original Intent"       
Jan 19, 2006          "Let's Hear It For Original Intent (Version 2)"
Jan 12, 2006          "A Quick Visit To Mexico"
Jan 5, 2006            "Why The Patriot Act, Redux: Fascism In The Here And Now, Cont." 

Dec 22, 2005          "Why The Patriot Act, Redux: Fascism In The Here And Now"
Dec 15, 2005          "An Iraq Exit Proposal"
Dec 10, 2005          “Exiting Iraq, The Georgite Way"
Dec 1, 2005            "The Future Of The Democratic Party, VIII:
                              A Politically Viable Progressive Position On The War" 

Nov 25, 2005            “The Future Of The Democratic Party, VII: ‘The Ten Commitments’”
Nov 17, 2005            "The Future Of The Democratic Party, VI: An Organizing Proposal For Progressives” 
Nov 10, 2005            “The Future Of The Democratic Party, V:
                               There Is No Middle Ground"
Nov 3, 2005              “On The (Possible) Indictments.”

Oct 27, 2005            “The Future of the Democratic Party, IV:
                                Bush, Bennett, Miers, and the DLC.” 
Oct 20, 2005            “The Future Of The Democratic Party, III:
                                First Thoughts On Dealing With The DLC.”
Oct 13, 2005            “The Future Of The Democratic Party, II: On The Republicans” 
Oct 6,  2005             “The Future Of The Democratic Party, I”

Sept 29, 2005          "The Bush Flood, And The Georgites: New Orleans, III"
Sept 22, 2005          "On The Great New Orleans Flood Of 2005, II"
Sept 15, 2005          "On The Great New Orleans Bush Flood Of 2005, I"
Sept 8, 2005            "Let's Hear It For Original Intent"
Sept 1, 2005            "An Iraq Solution"

Aug 25,2005             "Some Thoughts On The Atomic Bombing Of Japan"
Aug 18, 2005            "Why God Sent Us George W. Bush" 
Aug 12, 2005            "John Bolton And The Nuclear Option II"
Aug 5, 2005              "The Significance Of The Karl Rove Speech"

July 28, 2005             “Iran Nukes, Revisited"
                                 (Expanded Edition)
July 21, 2005             “Iran Nukes, Revisited"
July 14, 2005             "The Dick Durbin Disaster" A Follow Up
July 7, 2005               "The Dick Durban Disaster"

June 23, 2005            "Why All Of This Repression Abroad?"
June 16, 2005            “Not Very Intelligent Design"
June 8,2005              "Pat Buchanan's "What If, "III?"
June 2, 2005             "Pat Buchanan's 'What If,' II?"

May 26, 2005            "Pat Buchanan's 'What If?'"
May 18, 2005            "The Schiavo Case, V: The Attack On Science" 
May 12, 2005            “Possible Explanations For Bush-Behavior On And Around 9/11"
May 5, 2005              "Bill Frist's Declaration Of War"

April 28, 2005            "The Schiavo Case, IV: The Definitions Of Life And Death"
April 24, 2005            "The Schiavo Case, III: Further Legal Considerations And Their Political Implications"
April 14, 2005            “The Schiavo Case, II: William Bennett And The Beginning Of The End Of The Separation Of Powers"
April 7, 2005              "The Schiavo Case And The Locus Of The 'Police Power'"

March 31, 2005           “John Bolton And The Nuclear Option"
March 22, 2005            Of "Moolahs," Putin and Bush
March 17, 2005            Georgite "Freedom And Democracy"
March 10, 2005            "We Won't Have To Worry Any More"
March  3, 2005             "Iranian Nukes"

February 24, 2005        "Going Nuclear In Iran"
February 16, 2005        “The Georgite Social Security Scam: Bases For Suspicion”
February 10, 2005        “The Georgite Version of ‘Freedom and Democracy’ ”
                                   “The Coming 2nd Civil War (Unless),” No. 6
Feb 3, 2005                  “WMD Discovered --- In Washington”

Jan 27, 2005                 “Comparing George W. Bush And Adolf Hitler”
Jan 18, 2005                 “The Bush Second Inaugural: A Preview” “The Coming 2nd Civil War
                                    (Unless),” No. 5 
Jan 13, 2005                 “The Georgite Concept of Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law”
Jan 6, 2005                   “The ‘Unless’ Of The ‘Coming Second Civil War’ Series; Part II”  

Dec 30, 2004                 “The ‘Unless’ of the ‘Coming Second Civil War’ Series, Part I” 
Dec 23, 2004                 “The Real Meaning Of The ‘Faith-Based Presidency;’ Part II”
Dec 15, 2004                 “The Coming Second Civil War (Unless)” 
Dec 9, 2004                   “The Real Meaning Of The ‘Faith-Based Presidency’ ”      

Oct 28, 2004                 Why The Patriot Act?”
Oct. 21, 2004                “The Cheneys’ Daughter Flap”
Oct 14, 2004                 “George Bush’s America” 
Oct 7, 2004                   “The Debate” 

Sept 30, 2004                “Four 800 Lb. Gorillas In The Campaign Room” 
Sept 23, 2004               "Fixing The Kerry Campaign, 9/15/2004"
Sept 16, 2004               "Lessons From Japan.  Part II: Successful Occupations"
Sept 9, 2004                 "Thoughts On the Third Anniversary of the Tragedy of 9/11/2001"
Sept 2, 2004                 "Lessons From Japan, Part 1"

August 26,2004             “Dealing with the Republican National Convention and Related
                                     Issues”
August 18, 2004            "The Best Of Dr. Jonas"
August 12, 2004             “Some Thoughts For and About The Kerry Campaign, VI”
August 5,2004                “Some Thoughts For and About The Kerry Campaign, V”

July 29, 2004                “Some Thoughts For and About The Kerry Campaign, IV”
July 22, 2004                “Some Thoughts For and About The Kerry Campaign III”              
July 15, 2004                “Some Thoughts For And About The Kerry Campaign II”
July 7, 2004                  “Some Thoughts For And About The Kerry Campaign,I”
July 1, 2004                  “Counsel To The President”
June 24, 2004               “ ’You Know me Al:’ On the German Reichstag Fire of Feb. 27, 1933
                                     and the 9/11/01 Bombing of the World Trade Center, Part II”
June 17, 2004               “ ‘The Ralph Nader Problem’ --- A Re-run plus”
June 10, 2004               “Ronald Reagan’s Legacy”
June 3, 2004                 “’You Know Me Al:’ On The Reichstag Fire Of Feb. 27, 1933 And The
                                      9/11/01 Bombing Of The World Trade Center, Part I”

May 27, 2004                “On Fascism -- And The Georgites”
May 20, 2004                “On John Ashcroft -- And Jefferson Davis”
May 13, 2004                “Karl Rove’s Personal Political Notebook”
May 6, 2004                  “Possible Explanations For Bush Behavior And 9/11” 

April 29, 2004               “On George Bush and Religion, Part 2”
April 22, 2004               “What Condi Rice Might Have Said”
April 8, 2004                 “On George Bush And Religion”
April 1, 2004                 “Some Political Thoughts For Senator Kerry”  

March 25, 2004              “Brief Essays”
March 16, 2004             “You Know Me Al: The Iraq War --- So What Was It About, Anyway?
March 11, 2004             “A Word (Or Two) On Ralph Nader”
March 4, 2004               “A Firebell In The Night” 

February 27, 2004        “On Doctor Dean”

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