Should our party leaders be held accountable for the positions they take?

[Guaranteed]

More specifically, should they be held accountable by their constituents/party members/financial supporters?

[StephanieMarie]

1. Yes, but only for a moment. Not.

[eg101]

2. criminally accountable for failing to deliver universal healthcare?

18000 Americans die every year because of having to go without healthcare. Every other advanced western nation has it but America.

I say that is criminally negiligent. It is actually a form of manslaughter. And our party leaders are guilty of it. I say they should be held criminally liable for these crimes.

While our political leaders chow down on America with gusto, 18000 Americans die every year.

[Guaranteed]

3. Careful, or someone's liable to diagnose

with some kind of mental illness!

That's what a few cowardly-types around here do when you step out of line and start asking questions.

[LoZoccolo]

5. Bull. shit. n/t

[LoZoccolo]

4. Yes, and that's why we should let the Republicans win.

Because it's not like Kerry said anything about universal healthcare during the debates or anything.

[eg101]

6. I listened to him and read his platform extensively

Kerry did not support universal healthcare. Period.

[DaveinMD]

7. yes he did

and he had a plan to move us in that direction. Nice try.

[LoZoccolo]

8. I believe he did too, but shit, even if he didn't...

...how would anyone get the Republicans to get it done?

Plus the Republicans have a strategy of getting us in debt as an excuse to cut social services. We'll have gone so far backward that we'll be begging for a lot of other things before we get to universal coverage!

I'm so sick of all this shit. People need the stuff that's getting taken away right now. Splinterism is a white middle-class vanity luxury.

[eg101]

10. Splinterism is a powerful negotiating tool--our only tool

Not voting for Dems is the only real tool we have to make them do what we want. If we throw that away, we have no tool. And then the DEms can do as they please.

[LoZoccolo]

11. BULL SHIT! Only tool MY ASS!

Probably half the junk you'd advocate, people don't even know about. Yet you'd rather take the slacker activist route of withholding votes rather than act as an advocate to get so much support for your issues the Democrats couldn't ignore it.

If we throw that away, we have no tool.

You might have no tool, but I do.

[DrGonzoLives]

15. Please

By all means, ensure that more right-wingers get in power. because, as we all know, that will make things better.

Get back to us when you're out of the college dorm and in the real world.

[LittleClarkie]

9. Through your contributions and votes and healthy criticism

as in "I am disappointed in your stance. I won't be supporting you until you do better." Then, yes.

Through saying, "How do we punish him for his vote?" or "Here's the nasty sarcastic childish note I just sent to my Senator letting him know what he can go stuff himself from now on because he didn't do what I thought he should on this one issue," Then, um, no.

Criticize, yes.

Bash, no.

[Guaranteed]

12. Well, ideally, you're right.

But, you know, we've dealt with an awful lot of bullshit over the last three or four years, from the Chimp AND from the Democrats. People are angry, as they should be. They just don't feel like being polite anymore.

Not that they shouldn't be. But- yeah, they're just pissed as hell.

[LittleClarkie]

13. I'd hate for them to get destructive just when I think I see signs

that the Dems are getting their act together. Hope I'm right. Might just be pie in the sky. Or newbie idealism. I haven't been shitted upon yet. I'm trying to keep my eyes open, and yet my heart and mind as well. It ain't easy.

[Guaranteed]

14. No, I saw it too, last week.

I'm cautious...let's see what they do.