Americans will turn to political violence when all other avenues have been exhausted.
It has happened before.

The Chicago Tribune reports that an anti-war rally is scheduled for tomorrow:

“The march kicks off on March 18 at 7 p.m. at Ogden School, near Walton and Oak, and will proceed east to Michigan, south to Wacker, west to Clark and south to Washington.”

Were you aware this protest was taking place? While the Trib featured this article on their homepage this morning, I had to search the Sun-Times website to find any mention of the protest. No mention of the protest on Sen. Obama’s website, nor on Sen. Durbin’s.

I find it the height of irony that today is the premiere of “V for Vendetta,” a film which imagines a lone hero fighting back against a fascist and totalitarian state, with violence as his preferred means. Here in the real world, we can barely get the recognition of our party leaders. There will be a lot of people patting themselves on the back for being revolutionaries while they sit and munch their $7 popcorn and slurp their $6 big gulps at the movie’s premiere tonight. They will laud themselves for being so sophisticated, intellectual and progressive. They will thrill to the explosions, carefully choreographed combat and the “bullet time” footage of thrown knives, tumbling end-over-end towards their targets.

Yet, how many of them will actually be pounding the pavement at the protest? How many of them are as enthralled by the onscreen violence as the next right wing nutjob? How many of them realize that their tax dollars are subsidizing real violence, right now, across the globe? In a sense, encouraging people to project their frustrations into this film is as good a way as any to co-opt their potential energy. Is the promise of violence the only thing which can still animate the passions of the average American? How many self-described liberals, progressives and patriots will opt to attend the movie premiere over participating in direct action against the government that currently afflicts us, as opposed to rooting for a fictitious hero fighting a fictitious government?

The Democratic party is finished. Their utter and abject failure to mount any real opposition to Bush on basically any subject is embarrassing, appalling and ultimately dangerous for the future of our country and our system of democracy. Any party that fails to muster a fight, that fails to make a case for itself, that fails to listen to the American people, that hardly even attempts to persuade the American public at large of even the most basic truths is not a political party, but rather the fossil remnants of one.

Til now, I have supported the Democratic party in word and deed because I saw them as a flawed but only real alternative to the Republican party. In the absence of a Congress that will act as a check and balance, it was my hope that the Democrats would stand as a bulwark against the darkest impulses of the Bush administration. However, in fight after fight, all I hear from Democrats is excuses, or worse: silence.

I’ve been quite vocal in my denigration of the Republican party, their leaders, their constituency and their policies. I have promoted the Democratic party not as a savior but, flawed as it is, as the only national organization capable of acting as a check on the GOP. At this point, I couldn’t be more disappointed with the Dems. A growing majority of Americans- and even U.S. troops- believe we need to begin bringing our troops home from Iraq in the next 6 months and yet, the feckless Democrats cannot be bothered to represent the will of the people.

One would have thought that after the 2005 Presidential election and all that has followed, the Dems would have realized that being upfront, vocal and unapologetic as to their point of view is the only way to play the game. The one recent issue that the Dems actually got organized for was the Dubai ports issue, a true tempest in a teapot if there ever was one. Hillary et. al. figured they could score some quick and easy political points, and so they were vocal. What a joke.

And yet…Sen. Feingold introduces a measure to censure Bush and you can hear crickets chirping on the Dem side of the aisle. Bush blatantly, admittedly and repeatedly breaks the law and Dems are quiet. The Patriot Act was renewed with little substantive changes. The litany of outrages goes on and on, with no end in sight.

The last time Obama made the news, it was for participating in a roast of Bush and Cheney. As funny as some of his digs were, the impression I got was that Obama was just one of the club- not a threat to the establishment, as many hoped he would be. Just another DC politician, yukking it up, utterly out of touch with his constituency. Before Obama gets my endorsement, support or vote, he needs to fucking DO something. Yes, he’s a more attractive candidate than Hillary, but he needs to have much, much more going for him. After 5 years of lies, war, kidnapping, deceit, killing, torture, law-breaking and profligate spending by the Bush administration, and the Dems still cannot muster a response. This is absolutely pathetic. And dangerous. Can America survive not only the next 3 years of Bush rule, but the prospect of a Republican keeping the White House in 2008? Hard to believe it could happen, but without a viable Democratic candidate, whom will voters turn to?

Folks, it is UP TO US. We cannot rely on our elected officials any longer. They are worthless. We must take back our country, and we must start now. The real question is: can America be saved via our current political process? Or must the entire edifice be razed and rebuilt? Can America be reclaimed peaceably? How do we get back on track?

Yes, I know many of you wingers out there will gloat over this, but hey, fuck it, I’m just telling the truth. I’m pissed off and disappointed but I refuse to spill any more pixels supporting people that do no support my interests. While Republicans may find politics to be a faith-based initiative, I do not. I want results. And the Democrats in Washington are barely even pretending to fight the good fight.

I understand that not every fight can be won. But to constantly shirk from combat on issue after issue begs the question: WHEN will Democrats fight? What issue can finally reanimate the corpse of the party, if not two Supreme Court Justices, rampant corruption on the part of the ruling party, utter incompetence on the part of the White House on every front from Medicaid to Iraq to Katrina to illegal wiretapping and torture? If they will not fight these fights and go down swinging if necessary, for what will they fight? Are these people really that focused on their own political careers that they would gladly watch the whole ship sink rather than risk speaking out and alienating voters? Are they that afraid of being called hippies, liberals, commies, what-have-you by the meanies on the right and by the media? Please.

How do we build a party that represents the interests of Americans? How do we build a country that exists for all Americans?

Understand me clearly: the above does not represent an abandonment of Democratic or progressive ideals. Rather, it is a recognition that in order to advance Democratic ideals, we may have to abandon the Democratic party. Why not?

It’s already abandoned us.