MY LEFT WING MANIFESTO

In case you’ve missed it, my new Community Blog, My Left Wing, opened to the public this past Friday. Including the 3 days of beta testing, the site has attracted 1040 Unique Registered Members in a week. Granted, I had one helluva springboard here at DKos, but I’m still fucking impressed by those numbers, man.

Forthwith, I offer a brief list of topics, issues, subjects and various philosophical views; and my positions on each, with explanations where necessary. (Whom are we kidding? There’s no such thing as a “no brainer” anymore, given the pitifully massive number of people out there who seem to be “no brainers.”)

(This diary is a synthesis of the My Left Wing MANIFESTO and About Maryscott O’Connor at My Left Wing. my deep apologies to anyone who finds it redundant, self-aggrandizing or proselytising. Fair warning: It is all three.)

I am an orphan of Vietnam.

My father, Lieutenant Terence Raymond Roach, Jr. of the Third Marine Division, was killed on February 8, 1968 at Khe Sanh, during the Tet Offensive. I was born 3 months later, on April 29, 1968.

I consider Vietnam to be the defining feature of my life. Had it not been for that unjust war, I would have grown up with a father and a happy mother. Had she not been widowed, my childhood would have been very different; I cannot imagine it would have been worse (that’s a lie: I can imagine Terry Roach coming home with PTSD and providing me an even MORE fucked up childhood than the one I had — but I choose NOT to imagine it that way). It ought not surprise anyone that I have an extreme sensitivity to needless war.

I have always been politically aware, a Democrat and a liberal. In 2000 I became a political activist. The national shame of that sham election spurred me to contribute to John Kerry, to volunteer for the Kerry campaign and to become involved to a degree I never imagined possible for me, by joining a liberal blog (Daily Kos) and interacting with thousands of people who felt as I did – that George W. Bush is the worst thing that has ever happened to the United States and that we must do everything in our power to elect John Kerry and John Edwards.

Well, regardless of the reasons why, we failed in our collective endeavour. After shaking off the disappointment, rage and despair, many people chose to turn their ire on their fellow Democrats, liberals and people of conscience. They call this the “circular firing squad,” an infuriating tendency of Democrats and liberals to tear apart whatever organization and cohesion they might share with ludicrous internecine battles over everything from policy to campaign strategy to defining Democratic (or liberal) “values.”

I’m no policy wonk, nor an analyst, nor a strategist. I do know that the Democratic Party is badly in need of reform. Howard Dean has my utmost support; he stands with a very few others in my esteem as an example of true integrity and passion for democracy and freedom.

What I do not support or condone: The execrable inclination of most entrenched elected Democrats toward capitulation, pathetic compromise, vacillation and outright spinelessness in the face of the most dishonest, manipulative and outright virulently criminal Administration in the history of the United States of America.

When a Party is in the minority at the Federal level, it is supposed to be an “Opposition Party.” One must suppose, logically, that the term prescribes actual OPPOSITION to the ruling Party. At this writing, 7/19/05, we have begun to see signs of life from our Democratic Representatives in Congress. FINALLY. But there remain far too many of the so-called “Vichy Democrats” (a term which actually appeals to me, but in my opinion ought be applied sparingly and judiciously).

Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the Senate and House Minority leaders, respectively, have made a good beginning. Far, far too late, in my estimation — but as the saying goes, better late than never.

Markos adopted the term, “Reform Democrats.” I believe he got it from Howard Dean, but don’t hold me to that. Well, I am A Reform Democrat. I do not believe in blind fealty to any political Party, but I don’t think I’ve ever voted for a Republican in my life.

I want to REFORM the Democratic Party. I believe, PASSIONATELY, that the party needs to move further LEFT, not further to the centre. That might have been laudable, once upon a time; but once the Radical Right Wing of the Republican Party began inexorably shifting the political spectrum further and further to the Right, the centre began looking and feeling exactly how the old Right looked and felt.

Sorry, boys – I have no wish to be in the centre of what now appears to be half a fucking spectrum. If I have my way, the Democratic Party will once again be the party of the Left, the party of True Liberalism – and our Democratic Representatives will proudly wear that badge of honour. I have no use for Democrats who, fearing reprisal or defeat in elections, indulge in craven appeasement and capitulation to their opponents’ framing of the issues.

ENOUGH of that shit, man. I want a Democratic Party with a conscience, with courage of conviction, with commitment to Liberal Values, goddamnit.

A good place to start? How about we defend the motherfucking CONSTITUTION? Patriot Act, Homeland Security, “activist judges” – don’t tell ME we’re not on the road to Fascism, man. We passed a rest stop in November and we could have turned around, but NOOOO, half the fucking country preferred to “stay the course.” Well, almost half — say, that reminds me, Democratic politicians: FIX THE ELECTION SYSTEM, you assholes.

Not only am I FOR it, I hereby declare that if you’re a Democrat, Independent, Green, Libertarian, progressive, liberal or just an honest Republican and you don’t consider mandating transparency and consistency in all voting procedures nationwide to be the Number One Item on the agenda of the Democratic Party, to say nothing of Democracy itself, then you are either ignorant, deluded or an asshole.

Of course, if you’re a Republican or a member of any of the myriad varieties of Radical Right Wing Neocon Christofascist Zombie Brigades who only care about winning, it’s pretty clear that reform of a voting system that includes companies like Diebold, whose source code in their voting and counting machines is classified and available only to their associates (no accountability to outsiders like, say, voting monitors)… well, reform doesn’t really seem like it would do YOU much good, does it?

‘course not.

I honestly believe the 2004 election was manipulated and stolen through the employment of computer fraud, voter intimidation and illegal disqualification of voters. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you like (though I don’t happen to believe that’s necessarily an epithet): But please, PROVE to me the election wasn’t stolen and that we as a nation did not experience a coup d’etat. I dare you. When the source code in the computers that register and count votes is not available for inspection and verification, there is simply NO WAY to ensure that fraud is not being perpetrated.

So even if there WAS no fraud, there will always be doubt and mistrust. It is IMPERATIVE that all voting systems throughout the nation be consistent and verifiable by disinterested parties or individuals.

So, to repeat: ELECTION REFORM: Number One Issue. Period.

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Maryscott O’Connor. I am a 37 year old woman, married (to Adam Crocker), a sometime professional actress, writer and now “stay at home”  mother with a 5  and 1/2 year old son (Terry O’Connor)… and possessor of 2 ovaries and 1 viable uterus.

My Curriculum Vitae: 3 pregnancies: 1 abortion, 1 miscarriage/D&C and 1 live birth (and, oh, what a fun time was had by all).

This here legal and safe availability of abortion, me boyos, see, it’s what people call a “DEAL BREAKER.” We women, being possessed as we are of the vessel of human reproduction and all its attendant joys and woes, tend to feel a bit proprietary about it. We like to think we ought to be let alone with our doctors when making decisions about it (seeing as it’s part of our anatomy and all – and being as it’s customary in a civilized society to acknowledge and support an individual’s right to a pelvic exam in private, barring the prying eyes of our national legislature and even our neighbours or… sometimes… whatever man happened to plant his part of the reproductive process in said vessel).

Am I getting through?

ABORTION IS A MEDICAL PROCEDURE. The decision to have one or not is a MEDICAL DECISION. Which means no fucking government interference with abortion.

If I have to fucking spell out why the right to make one’s own medical decisions (as in the case of abortion, but certainly not limited to that procedure) is FUNDAMENTAL to human beings –well, hell, we got nothin’ to talk about.

But don’t lets let THAT stop us.

I consider George W. Bush’s virtually unilateral decision to send young American men and women to die in Iraq a crime against humanity. I believe he used obfuscation and the certainty that he would be able to blame others for his faulty decision making to engage us in an unnecessary and immoral war; to that degree do I believe he has embroiled us in another Vietnam. I realize that Mssrs. Kerry and Edwards faced a mine-filled territory when it came to Iraq (pardon that metaphor, it’s inappropriate), and I did not expect them to reverse the current course of events. I only prayed that once they took office, the United States would begin making its way out of Iraq on the fast track.

Obviously, that did not come to pass, and loquacious as I am, I simply cannot find the words to describe my bitter disappointment and despair on November 3rd, 2004.

I cannot fully explain why this war has affected me as deeply and painfully as it has. I don’t know anyone over there, my son is not of age for a draft and my husband and I are too old for a draft, should it come to that. (I do fear that, given how badly the Bush Administration has mangled this entire situation, we will be forced to implement the draft.)

It comes to this: I have a deeply ingrained sense of justice, and it has been terribly offended by this unnecessary war. I weep for the people of Iraq, I weep for the American men and women in Iraq, I weep for the families of the dead and the maimed. I weep most especially for each and every orphan created through George W. Bush’s hubris and folly. The recent revelations of the torture in Abu Ghraib (the violent rapes of CHILDREN, for God’s sake!) only adds to my despair and shame. To say nothing of my RAGE.

Federally funded healthcare for all U.S. citizens should be a goddamned RIGHT.

Get it the fuck DONE, I don’t want any fucking excuses. Richest fucking country in the world and we’ve got people dying of shit like infections that could have been cured instantly with a goddamned prescription; babies born to teenagers who never made it to pregnancy check-ups; the elderly and infirm who have to choose between paying the light bill (or the frigging grocery bill) and getting the medications they need for the week…

This shit has GOT TO STOP.

National Healthcare: Get it the fuck DONE, already. You people in Congress are supposed to be the best and the brightest, for chrissakes.

(Oh, and if you see “socialism” where I write “federally funded healthcare for all” and you recoil as if from a hot flame… Get the fuck over it; the world has no room for reactionary ignorance like yours anymore – go sell it on Mars, bitches.)

Every time I hear some sanctimonious fuck spit out, “Marriage is between a man and a woman, in God’s eyes,” I think of the Max von Sydow line in “Hannah and Her Sisters:”

“If Jesus Christ came back and saw what people have been doing in his name, he would never stop throwing up.”

This is one of many  issues that make me weep for humanity. When an entire minority is still disenfranchised in terms of civil rights and adequate political representation, I weep. The fact that so many otherwise intelligent, educated people still believe who someone sleeps with should determine his human rights, still believe that their God considers homosexuality an aberration worthy of eternal damnation to that imaginary construct they call “Hell,” I weep. I rage, too.

As the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts recently pointed out, “The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal.”

Contrary to popular myth, “marriage” and “civil unions” are not the same; changing the term drastically changes the meaning as well. As mentioned above, marriage is approximately 1,500 reciprocal rights, privileges and obligations, 1,000 from the feds and about 500 from the state. A civil union, on the other hand, is a term coined by the Vermont legislature to avoid granting the “m” word to gay and lesbian couples. Because federal law does not recognize civil unions, a civil union provides only the 500 state conferred rights, privileges and obligations associated with marriage with none of the 1,000+ federal benefits.

But that is not the only difference. In addition to being denied federal benefits, rights and responsibilities, civil unions lack portability – so couples do not have the security of relationship recognition when traveling to other states. So although civil unions may provide a couple some protections at home, when they go on vacation, travel on business or otherwise leave the state, the couple will likely once again be relegated to the status of legal strangers.

Domestic partnership laws provide even fewer protections than civil unions and can vary dramatically depending on the jurisdiction that enacts the law. In some jurisdictions, domestic partner registries do not confer any rights or responsibilities at all and are simply a registration. In other jurisdictions, domestic partners are given a few protections, such as the right to hospital visitation. (The most generous local domestic partnership laws only provide about 10-15 rights). Currently, only three states, Hawaii, New Jersey and California, provide more comprehensive rights and responsibilities under their domestic partnership registration systems. At the local level, most domestic partnership laws provide benefits for public employees and little or nothing else.

… Now tell me again how there’s no fucking difference.

The Radical Right’s passionate advocacy for school vouchers, combined with empirical data, have convinced me that vouchers are yet another indication of the Radical Right’s agenda: the  erosion and eventual dismantling of public education.

Public education should be funded on a per-student basis equally throughout the nation. Forget that school district crap: I don’t care what has to be done to get us there, but all in the public school system of the United States should receive at least a level playing field in terms of how much funding  their schools receive. The system as it now stands is ludicrous.

Raise the cap. Allow people the option to refuse their benefits, for god’s sake. Take that “charity” argument and shove it in a deep dark hole. I’m not saying DENY benefits to billionaires; I’m saying at least give them the OPTION of refusing what to them is a PITTANCE of a monthly benefit… and use it to help replenish the coffers of the Social Security Trust Fund.

SOCIAL SECURITY: Don’t Fuck It Up, FIX IT.

Oh, for the love of Mike… Is there anyone here who doesn’t think we ought to be pouring our financial and scientific resources into finding a viable alternative to oil? How about coal? Natural gas?

Okay. Then let’s move on.

Here’s an idea: What say we listen to the experts on this wide-ranging topic?

Every reputable scientist on the planet seems to agree that not only is global warning real, it is dangerous, imminent – and caused by human behaviour. Unless the government starts implementing some serious motherfucking regulations to counter-act the effects of our behaviour in this country (because we ARE the prime culprits), nothing will change. Expecting corporations and even vast swaths of the population at large to regulate themselves is like setting a toddler loose in a muddy field and expecting her to come back to your arms as sparklingly pristine as she was when you got there.

Air and water standards? Conservation? Recycling? Please see above.

Against it, categorically. I happen to believe that the alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical industries have a huge interest in keeping marijuana illegal. And the DEA, well, where on earth would they be if all narcotics traffic were suddenly decriminalized? For that matter, it might just screw up several cartels and their covert partners here in the United States of America, eh?

Imagine the steep drop in arrests, convictions, prison terms and prison inmates, were all drug laws to be suspended immediately. Imagine the number of prisoners currently rotting in jail for possession of a fucking ounce of marijuana who would be let loose on our pristine streets.

Can’t have that, now, can we?

Prison is a huge motherfucking industry in this country. Drug offenses keep them nice and packed to the gills with fresh tax dollars, y’see. Oh, and did I mention – every single federal and state prisoner gets counted in each state’s census, and is therefore part of what decides how many electoral votes and representatives in the House each state gets? Hmmm. They don’t get to vote – but just look at all those so-called “Red States” building more and more prisons.

Food for thought.

(Bill Hicks piece on marijuana edited for length. See complete text of the My Left Wing MANIFESTO.)

*    I am pro-choice: I cannot countenance a government being given proprietary rights over the medical decisions of any human being. I am also in favour of the legalisation of Assisted Suicide, for the same reason.

*    I oppose the death penalty: I do not believe that a state sanctioned killing is any less of a murder than the one committed by the man or woman sentenced to death.

*    I support gay marriage: I would like to see all state-sanctioned marriages become “civil unions” in word and deed. Leave the word “marriage” to the religious and give the gay community the dignity of equal civil rights under the law. I am horrified by the Bush Administration’s encroachment of the necessary divide between state and church.

*    I oppose school vouchers: The Radical Right’s passionate advocacy for school vouchers, combined with empirical data, have convinced me that vouchers are yet another indication of the Radical Right’s agenda: the erosion and eventual dismantling of public education.

*    I believe public education should be funded on a per-student basis equally throughout the nation. Forget that school district crap: I don’t care what has to be done to get us there, but all children in the public school system of the United States should receive at least a level playing field in terms of how much funding their schools receive. The system as it now stands is ludicrous.

*    I support the legalization of marijuana (and, frankly, all narcotics — see the My Left Wing Manifesto for more): it is no more harmful than alcohol, a legal drug – and I believe its illegality to be based in the stranglehold of the pharmaceutical industry on our lawmakers and government agencies.

*    However, for as long as drugs are illegal (and I realize my views on decriminalizing drugs are not shared by most people), I believe that non-violent drug offenders ought to be put in treatment – not prison. At the very least, I believe that medical marijuana should be available to everyone. John Ashcroft’s abuse of federal statues with regard to medical marijuana was a vile and immoral abomination and I was elated to see the back of him.

(Speaking of Mr. Ashcroft: he was the very embodiment of abuse of power, but only one of many examples in the Bush Administration. The cronyism, the disenfranchisement of the free press, the vindictive punishment of dissent, the pathological secrecy – all these represent to me just a few of the reasons that George W. Bush’s tenure will one day (and soon) be regarded with horror as the worst Presidency in the history of the United States.)

*    I believe that “three strikes” laws and mandatory minimums must be eradicated. They are unfair and disproportionately target minorities and people in lower income brackets. The differences in sentencing for crack cocaine versus powder cocaine are so obviously biased against minorities as to be risible.

*    In addition to sentencing reform, I believe in the necessity of massive prison reform in this country. It’s a multi-billion dollar business in this country; By mid-2002, 1 in every 142 Americans was in prison. That’s fucking outrageous. SO are the statistics on race and imprisonment. Every single federal and state prisoner gets counted in each state’s census, and is therefore part of what decides how many electoral votes and representatives in the House each state gets. Hmmm. They don’t get to vote – but just look at all those so-called “Red States” building more and more prisons. There is something really fucking rotten in the U.S.A., folks — and part of the stench is coming from our legal system.

*    I believe in strong government regulation of corporations: the idea that companies, whose sole raison d’etre is profit, would voluntarily regulate themselves at the risk of that very profit – is laughable. I also believe that so-called “white collar crime” should be just as harshly punished as non-violent crimes of other natures. Why a man who rips off his company and its shareholders for millions gets a tenth of the prison sentence of that of a man who breaks into an empty house and rips off the inhabitants is simply beyond me.

*    I support the concept of Fair Trade, as opposed to “Free Trade.” As long as the more powerful nations can freely exploit those with less power and influence, as long as American companies can “outsource” to labour making pennies on their American counterparts’ dollar, there can be no such thing as “free trade.” It is merely unfettered colonialism and exploitation writ large; and it damages not only the vulnerable nations and their citizens, but all Americans and their national economy, as well.

*    I believe in universal health care. I believe that if politicians were not so in thrall to the lobbies of the medical and pharmaceutical industries, it could be made a reality virtually overnight. I don’t hold out much hope for this, but I can dream.

*    I believe in that most basic tenet of every reputable religion and philosophy that ever existed: Love thy neighbour. To wit: it is incumbent on each person to make the health, safety and happiness of his fellow human beings his primary purpose in life. By extension, this applies to every institution and every nation.

*    To that end, I do believe in humanitarian and sometimes military intervention by the United States and every civilized nation when it comes to genocide (see: Sudan), brutal dictatorships and the systematic abuse of human rights. I have long struggled with this idea (America as the world’s policeman) and have not yet reconciled my revulsion for war with my visceral desire to end injustice and suffering throughout the world. If my reading of history is correct, military action is sometimes the only recourse a good nation has if it is to fulfill the requirements of being decent human beings.

Inspired by my Blogfather, Markos, and his stunningly successful and fabulous political blog, Daily Kos, My Left Wing is both a spin-off and homage to Daily Kos.

Now, Daily Kos is a Democratic blog, its focus primarily on Democrats and rebuilding the Democratic Party – Reform Democrats has been the recent terminology, and an excellent term it is, too.

My Left Wing is a Liberal blog. While its founder (me, that is) remains absolutely a Democrat, My Left Wing is intended as a watering hole for all walks of liberal life. Democrats, Greens, Independents, Socialists, Libertarians – anyone who shares even a few of the attributes we have come to call “Liberal Values” – will likely find their niche (or at least a fresh new playground) at My Left Wing.

I believe there is room in this world for many more of these left-focused sites. Markos has proved that beyond a doubt. With his 50K+ registered users, it’s patently obvious to even the casual observer that there are liberals all over the world simply aching for forums like DKos and My Left Wing and Booman Tribune and MyDD, for contact with kindred spirits – and for even the most loosely based of communities.

I consider the blogosphere’s capacity for liberal communities virtually infinite (no pun intended). There are millions of us out there in the world, and, like me (as I have discovered to be true), many American liberals have spent the past 5 years feeling as if they wandered in a wilderness, bereft of companionship, solace or sustenance. One having found communities like Daily Kos, we also found our voices again. We discovered that, contrary to the claims of the Vast Right Wing Corporate Propaganda Machine, we liberals are legion.

What if all our voices, cacophonous as they might sound to the uninitiated, are actually the harmonic, symphonic key to saving democracy, saving the Democratic Party – and by extension, saving our beloved nation and the world from the heretofore deafening and meretricious roar of the Radical Right Wing?

WE are the messengers of truth. WE hold in our hands the power to change the world. WE hold the high ground, my friends. So we must join together, with all our flaws and foibles, our self-searching and self-doubt, our myriad perspectives – what was once referred to as the “circular firing squad” of the Democratic Party has the potential to become not a Tower of Babel, but a resonant, harmonic chorus of a Liberal Symphony.

(Oh — and that link in my first comment, the one to the Pictures Page? Just know — it is HUGE. If your computer is slow with images, DON’T OPEN IT.)