During the Christmas holidays, I had coffee with a woman who marveled that I had time to read the many articles and books I refer to in my daily blogs. My response was to shrug and say that using other people’s ideas as a basis for my own was easier than being original.
I wasn’t being modest or funny, though my companion seemed to think so. To be honest, the reward of writing a blog is the opportunity to ruminate on other people’s thoughts. Recently, for example, I came upon an essay in the January issue of Harper’s written by its Editor, Thomas Frank. (pg. 6-8) Most of the time I don’t read editorial comments. They tend to do little more than summarize the magazine’s content. But Frank’s was an exception. He was pointing a finger at the Democratic Party for its failure to lead the country after the Republics tripped over themselves like sailors in a drunken brawl during the last budget meltdown.
What amazed Frank was the Democrats’ inability to realize that the most pressing issue of the time is poverty. The Republicans have made a platform of insulting the poor, true. But the Democrats have failed to see that these same folks, many of them living in the states with conservative voting records, are the most likely to understand the consequence of high unemployment and a life without medical care or a stable social security system. Oddly enough, these constituents once trusted their government. During the depression, they didn’t consider federal assistance a dirty word. So what’s changed? In Frank’s view, the Democrats have failed to promote a compelling vision of the government’s role in everyday lives.
I agree with Frank’s opinion. If the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt really thought about or understood the voters, they would know that a man without a job or a living wage in Natural Bridge, Alabama has much in common with a man without work or a living wage in New York City. Democrats don’t have to tar-and-feather Republicans. They need to work for the people.
(Courtesy of globalastrologyblog.blogspot.com)
