This is a first for me.  At least as far as I can remember.  I started typing this as a comment in the open thread.  But it has grown to diary size.  So fuck it.  Here is what is on my mind:

Can’t agree more with SallyCat, dada and many others expressing their dismay at the Democratic party.

I’ve been in a discussion at dKos on these issues.

I’m sensing that there are many, many dems who are in despair.  Ready to become something different.
I don’t think they (entrenched Dems) thought we were serious.  Or thought we had a place to run.  And maybe we don’t.  Yet.  But I have to tell you that my mind is spinning.  Why not form a third-party?  We are so completely fucked now, it doesn’t matter.  Why not form a party that actually stands up for people instead of corporations?  One that stands for individual liberty over government control.  One that stands up for an environment and an economy based on the principles of sustainability instead of the fallacy of constant “economic growth.”  One that eschews military-imperialism in favor of peaceful global cooperation.  One that stands for science and reason instead of religion and fearful passion.

Was it Robert Kennedy who said, “Some men see things as they are and ask ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and ask, ‘Why not?’ ”  Was he the last Democrat that anyone was proud to support.  The one we hold in our minds and mourn his loss.  [Of course it was — But I wasn’t sure when I started to write my paraphrased and now perfect quote — FSM bless the Internet].

I believe that this computer as a form of communication is a powerful tool.  I was impressed by those that tried very hard to rally at the end.  Duke.  Steven D.  BooMan.  SusanHu.  Man Eegee.  Armando.  Gerogai10.  Judibrown.  Tampopo and all the other Days of Justice 12.  (I don’t mean to exclude you.  You know who you are.  Sitting there.  Have worked your heart out.  To try to save the country you thought you grew up in.  You were downtrodden after Bush-Gore.  You blew a cork at the Iraq invasion.  You felt like shit after Bush-Kerry.  You blogged.  You called.  You contributed.  You volunteered.  You marched.  And now you are sitting there reading this shit, saying what the fuck am I going to do now).

Isn’t it time.  Fuck the Democrats.  Let me replay a conversation I had with my Senator Levin’s office.  He is my best Senator.  Best representative in my chain of command.  But here is what I said today — and wrote about at dKos:

[I had this conversation with Sen. Levin’s office in my district.  I gave him my position in detail.  And I’d written him an explicit letter to this effect.  But here’s the end of my conversation with his staffer today.]

He says, “So what?  Are you saying that if he were to vote ‘yes’ on cloture you would support a Republican?”  I said, “Yes.  That’s what I’m telling you.  Not only if he votes ‘yes,’ but if he isn’t able to get his Democratic colleagues to support him.  Because this is core to me.  It is what I thought the Democratic party stood for all these years.  And a close loss without putting up the actual fight on filibuster means nothing to me.  So while my first choice would be to turn to a third party that might agree with me, I would vote yes for a Republican.  Because — and I hate to use this word on the phone — I would rather get screwed by a Republican on issues like this than a Democrat.”

I’m saying this.  And I know there are a lot of you on this site who feel exactly this way.  There is no party in American politics that supports the issues we believe in.  The party that used to has moved so far to the center in their effort to get elected, that they have completely alienated us.  And they think they haven’t gone far enough yet.  For FSM sake, I was on the phone today saying I’d like a nominee like Sandra Day O’Connor, who by anyone’s standards twenty years ago was a solid conservative.  The country has moved without us.  The party has moved without us.  And we would dearly love to be able to support our candidates and our causes with equal passion.

So I’m saying — and maybe this is just the sting of this loss — this loss that endangers my daughters’ reproductive rights and very equality — IT IS TIME TO FORM OUR OWN PARTY THAT WE BELIEVE IN AND THAT WE SPEND OUR MONEY AND ENERGY TO BUILD.

And the beauty of it.  As I think about it more.  So fucking what if we do?  Will it kill the country?  Fuck no.  The country is already dead.  The three ring circus of our government lies in the sole possession of a vapidly conservative-christo-corporate-fascist monster of a party.  And the dems are just small resistance.  Frankly, if we bolt the dems, and they get absolutely fucking clobbered in ’06 and ’08 while we are building, and the Rethugs end up with control of 80% of the government, while we re-organize something we believe in.  All the better.  Because when we are ready to go.  With a party we believe in.  Then people will be ready for a fresh voice.

I finish with this.  Fourteen years ago, a squeaky little guy who bought a bunch of air-time on national television, and had a little foamboard presentation about a single issue, almost launched a successful third-party movement in this country.  That was before the Internet.  And that fucker was polling close to a third of the vote for president, when he flaked and abandoned the race.  Had he been elected, I’d say the Democrats or Republicans would not exist today.  It would be the Reform Party of America against the survivor.  I was at some of the rallies and offices.  I remember the fervor.  The hunger in people.  And there is more hunger now.  Because we are being royally screwed into the dirt by the present two-party system.  I say it is time.

And I don’t even have a name.  A rose by any other.  It doesn’t matter.  But I’m taking your nominations.  Because I want us to lead it from right here.  I didn’t want to write this crazy fucking rant.  But I’m snapping.  And I believe in you people here.  A fuck of a lot more than I believe in the party.

So answer the poll question.

[UPDATED] Waking up this morning, and reading this, I’m left nearly speechless. The number of wonderful ideas that have been shared. I don’t think I can respond to each of them at this point. But I like them. And I think there may be a synthesis in them. Something we can definitely get behind as a group. Something that we may be able to build on. I don’t know. But I plan to diary it later in the day/early evening. Take what are wonderful ideas, and pull them together in someway, as best I can. I’m not sure about much. But for me, I honestly am not saying, “I’m not a Democrat anymore” because it is some joke. And then again, I worry about my own decisions and thoughts, and if they will prove constructive or destructive to what many of us share in terms of values. I don’t know. But there is much to build on right here in these comments. And I thank each of you for sharing what you have. I don’t intend on overlooking one thought when I get around to pulling this together in some fashion. We are good and strong people. We have been ill-served by our present leadership. Of that I’m convinced. How best to go onward, I’m not sure. But onward I think we need to go.

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