Why I'm leaving the Democrats

[IndianaGreen]

Why I'm leaving the Democrats

Donna Tara Lee, a transgender activist living in Florida, retired postal worker and an organizer for October's National Equality March in Washington, D.C., describes her response to the first year of the Obama administration.

November 25, 2009

I WOULD like to say that I have been a lifelong Democrat since I was first eligible to vote in 1969.

Before that, I leafleted cars for RFK in 1964 in his Senate race in New York. My family revered Franklin Roosevelt for getting us through the Great Depression and Second World War, and thought Harry Truman was a great successor to FDR for expanding the New Deal and fighting communism. These were the politics I was brought up with and learned at the dinner table.

Since that time, as I got older, I have been an unabashed liberal. I have been active in all the following causes dating back to the 1960's: civil rights, antiwar, feminism, pro-choice, the farmworkers movement ( I boycotted grapes for years), no nukes, free speech, justice for the Palestinians, anti-imperialist, anti-apartheid, and, lastly, the LGBTQ movement.

I was always sympathetic, but never took action on LGBTQ issues, except to vote against any anti-gay politicians and for any LGBTQ rights initiatives that I could. And yes, I spoke up for equality for LGBTQ persons.

And I have been a loyal Democrat all these years. So why am I now thinking of leaving the party after our biggest electoral success since 1964?

http://socialistworker.org/2009/11/25/leaving-the-democrats

[FreakinDJ]

1. Good Luck with that whole Socialist thing

don't let the door hit ya......

[IndianaGreen]

3. The socialists were not the ones that gave us DADT and DOMA

or that cavorted with Rick Warren and Donnie McClurkin.

[paulsby]

10. the socialists didn't give us ANYTHING

fortunately for us, because they've always been a tiny little party with no power... thank god

[IndianaGreen]

17. Had you listened to the likes of Eugene Debs

America would not have been part of the bloody royal dispute that was the Great War of 1914-1918

[paulsby]

21. had wilson listened to most americans

he would not have entered the war. the majority of US citizens opposed it, not just socialists like debs. debs, since he was particularly vocal about it was prosecuted (like many others) under various (unconstitutional) laws passed at that time.

WWI was a very unpopular war. Wilson WON his presidency on a platform that opposed entering the war.

so, what's your point? if your point is that socialist debs had the right opinion and wilson had the wrong one about WWI, that's fine, but debs was one of scores of millions who opposed us entering that war.

heck, wilson campaigned on the slogan "he kept us out of war" and then later decided to enter WWI against MOST people's wishes, not just socialists.

[David Zephyr]

43. paulsby, I like you, but we owe a lot to American socialists.

It was their activisim, their going to jail, dying and being deported that gave us so many of the rights we wrongly credit to electoral politics.

Start with the Haymarket Martyrs if you want to just pick a place in American history.

It's not the party's political prowess, it's the people and what they have given us since the 1800's.

[paulsby]

46. i will give you that

they have been on the right side of some issues, and certainly not afraid to be vocal about it

[DeSwiss]

45. They gave us ideas. n/t

[paulsby]

47. you are right

i spoke too absolutely. they have been on the right side of history sometimes. and they have been a positive voice for some things. as for that pesky socialism... well...

[truedelphi]

2. very well written piece. Agree with everything as stated, though one important point was

Left out - it's not that some of us are now considering leaving the party - it is that the Party has left us.

The Democrats are now such Centrists that they would make the Republicans of the fifities and early sixties ashamed. Eisenhower would not be able to figure out the Geithner/Bernanke Bankster giveaway labelled as "BailOut." Nixon would wonder where in the world Obama discovered Salazzar.

And Democratic leader, Ted Kennedy, may well be spinning in his grave over the Health Care "Reform" Insurance industry giveaway.

Also are there any elderly advocates, any poverty advocates, any Union workers advocates anywhere in this administration? In early July, someone here at DU mentioned Van Jones, and before I had the chance to even read his bio - he was gone.

The transgendered community has an excellent take on this Administration - but it is a shame that more people do not realize how the Lobbyists running Washington meme is the Exact Opposite of what we were promised. Too bad the "Change" became "Chains" instead.

[Vincardog]

4. Bingo what truedelphi said. Too bad the "Change" became "Chains" instead.

[truedelphi]

6. I'll humbly state -- Another Du'er came up with that phrase, and I

Cannot remember which person said it, but it is a fabulous expression.

[Teaser]

8. fabulously fucktarded, yes.

.

[queerart]

7. Bravo!

You Nailed It!

it's not that some of us are now considering leaving the party - it is that the Party has left us

You stated the reality of things beautifully.... Thank You!

[madrchsod]

5. "Politician"

"......i support the left,tho' i`m leaning to the right
but i`m just not there when it`s coming to a fight....."

pete brown and jack bruce

[rwheeler31]

9. Why give up now?

If you support liberals work to get more of them elected. This country is in a pissy mood due to the drumbeat of corporate media.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

11. It's clear this one is a Naderite, hoping to have another few decades of Repukes in office

Evidently, many decades was not enough for her. She has to have only GOP controlling this country.

Some Americans are simply, well, stupid.

[Myrina]

13. Yes and your simple-minded response shows you're one of them.

:freak:

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

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[Occulus]

31. Wow.

Whining babies, huh?

Alerting.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

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[Occulus]

33. So you're in the GLBT forum accusing us of whining and demanding our rights?

Is that it?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

34. No. Most GLBT folks are not out there whining. And one doesn't have to be part of GLBT to

be a whiner. So try a different tactic on me - it might work better for ya.

[Occulus]

35. Exactly how do you define "whining"? n/t

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

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[Occulus]

37. Do these particular issues affect you directly? n/t

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

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[donco6]

50. How on earth did you come to that dumbass conclusion?

Naderite? WTF?

[theoldman]

12. I also have decided to leave the Democrat party.

I am going to become a Communist. Does that sound smart? Not any dumber than leaving the Democrat party and joining the Republican party. Oh, you going to join some small party that has no power. That does not make any sense either. Maybe I just need to have a little patience and see what happens in the next few years.

[WillParkinson]

14. Be patient. Wait.

I've been waiting for more than 25 years. How long do you want me to be patient? For ever step forward they take at least two steps back.

It's old.

[Chulanowa]

23. It's the same mentality that the hippies had

Where people think that non-participation is going to elicit changes. The hippies figured that if they just "dropped out" society would come to a halt and things would come to change.

Kind of Atlas Shrugged for lefties.

Sad fact is, if you remove yourself from participation, then your voice won't be counted. As a result, things will get worse for you. Imagine how different things would be today if all those people in the 60's and early 70's had stopped farting around and actually voted their beliefs?

[mistertrickster]

30. Damn right. I was attracted to the "radical chic" as an impressionable pre-teen

during the Woodstock Era.

Now I look back with real organizers like Saul Alinsky with the utter futility of their "methods" and the huge opportunity for real social change lost.

The only real effect that I can see that came out of the "radical 60's" was that now it seems three-quarters of the girls getting pregnant (and the fathers of those pregnancies) feel no need to have a spouse. That's not the kind of "change" that we can really point to with pride.

[theHandpuppet]

49. Democrat Party?

Last time I checked, the phrase "Democrat Party" rather than "Democratic Party" was an invention of the Reich Wing.

[mitchtv]

15. I have simply given up

I now know that I will not live to see any major change ( for the better). GayTM , closed.

[rwheeler31]

16. This is not about you. I hate saying that to anyone, but

I say it to myself often. We owe our kids a better country.

[mitchtv]

22. I f I don't get my rights

It's gonna be difficult for me to give a shit about someone elses kids. So yes, it is about me

[Rowdyboy]

26. For once I don't agree with you Mitch....I'm 55 and live in Mississippi so I really doubt

my home state will ever dignify me by letting me marry my partner. Not gonna happen-not in this lifetime in Mississippi.

We don't have (or want) kids but for those random gay children out there ricocheting like pool balls-I'd like them to have the choice. Yes, I would like it for myself-but if (as appears certain) Mississippi never lets me choose, I still hope that the rug rats coming afterward have the option. I truly want a MUCH better life for the next generation of gay children than that which
I experienced. They deserve more.

[FreeState]

39. Thats not true and its demeaning to those of us that do not have our civil rights

its not selfish to demand the same fucking rights everyone else has - ever.

Im nearly 40 years old - I have maybe 40 left. I want to live the rest of my life as an equal in the eyes of our government - there is absolutely nothing selfish about it.

GLBT persons that are alive now DESERVE A BETTER FUCKING COUNTRY.

[Sapphocrat]

40. Every time I hear any permutation of "Think of the children!" ...

...I remind the speaker that I, too, am someone's child.

[NMMNG]

41. What about the LGBT children?

Don't they deserve a nation where they have the rights, freedoms, protections and privileges everyone else takes for granted? And the children of same-sex couples. Do they not have the right to have parents who can legally marry and therefore provide them a stable home environment?

Or do you only care about the little straight children?

[donco6]

51. Well, that makes it all better.

Kids? WTF?

[AnOhioan]

18. Thanks for the post IndianaGreen

I have to say that I agree, the Democratic Party has failed me and many like me. The debacle that is called health care reform is the straw that broke the camel's back. It has been added to the litany of disappointments that include non-prosecution of Bush era officials, and the ongoing influence that lobbyists hold in the halls of power.

I had high hopes for President Obama but, to date, he has made me wonder if those hopes were misplaced.

He is better than John McCain would have been, by a mile. But Obama the President is not Obama the candidate.

The Democratic Party has tried to be all things to all people and therein lies the problem.

Don't use the left to get elected and then ignore their concerns. If the Party wants to continue trending center and letting corporate America call the shots then so be it. I for one, will have no problem voting for a Green, a Socialist, or whomever, if the Democratic nominee does not stand for what I believe in.

PS...to those of you who will throw out the term Naderite, grow up. Nader's candidacy in 2000 did not lead to Bush in the WH. The lackluster campaign that Al Gore ran lead to the closeness of the Florida vote that allowed the courts to decide the winner.

[rwheeler31]

19. I respect your concerns, can anyone defeat corporate

America?

[AnOhioan]

20. Given the current state of....

campaign finance and the stranglehold the two major parties hold on the electoral process, the likelihood of any major change occurring is, unfortunately, slim and none, and that is something we all must live with.

[NMMNG]

24. We didn't leave the Democrats

The Democrats left us.

[Rowdyboy]

25. The Democratic party has failed me with amazing regularity since 1968 when I turned 14....

Yet I still vote Democratic. Go figure. You are who you are regardless of anyone or anything else.

Do what you need to do. That's my intention for the foreseeable future...

But I do wish you good luck, and lots of it!

[WVRICK13]

27. I Have Always Been A Socialist

but vote Democrat because it is the lessor of the evils.

[mistertrickster]

29. What I hear people who think this way saying is that: it's easier to quit than do the hard work

of transforming the party and real organizing.

I would like nothing more than a vibrant multi-party system. I've been attending meetings of the Democratic Socialists here in town mainly just to see who has the guts to call themselves "socialist" these days, and they've got some good ideas.

But if you leave the Democrats, where are you going to go?

I don't like everything they do either. I probably don't like half of what they do in fact. But they're still the only alternative in a two party system.

That's why I started a DFA Chapter in my town, and why I campaign for progressive candidates. It's not much, but it's something, and something better than just giving up and quitting.

It's either that or the fascist Republicons will win . . .

[donco6]

52. Well, she did talk about how much she's already done.

And when you do all that and just see it all slide into the mud - it's a bit disheartening, dontcha think?

I'm seriously considering giving up myself. I'm facing my 50th birthday and 15th year with my partner. We'll never be married, never be seen as equivalent to other humans. Time to hang it up and just enjoy life and let everyone else fuck themselves.

[David Zephyr]

44. Thanks for the article and the link, IG.

.

[needja]

48. thank you.....

very well stated.

[Ukonkivi]

53. I know this site is called DEMOCRATICunderground

And I DO support many individuals within the Democratic Party. In far more frequency than I support the Republican Party, which is limited to a few Libertarian individuals. I honestly support the Green Party and Socialist Party over the Democratic Party.

I am by no means loyal to any party. I am a Libertarian Leftist who finds the ideals of the Democratic party over all far more appealing than the ones of the Republican Party.
The Democratic party produces more individuals like Dennis Kucinich than the Republican Party produces individuals like Ron Paul.

Would I have rather Brian Moore been elected than Barack Obama? You betcha!
Do I not think that the Democratic Party is also a worthwhile cause? Of course not!