September 7, 2005 @ 3:24 PM
Patty-Cake, Patty-Cake
Jim Pederson, the former Chairman of the Arizona Democratic party, is running for Congress. He’s running for the U.S. Senate as a matter of fact, against Republican Senator John Kyl.
Kyl represents everything that needs to be changed in the administration’s conservative, "God-Helps-Those-Who-Help-Themselves" approach to the nation’s welfare.
But Pederson is running with such delicacy of feeling as to suggest that he has bought in on the Republican frame for the debate: Now we must all pull together…plenty of time for investigations and finger-pointing later.
I don’t know whether to scream or throw up.
I want our candidates and our Congressional delegation to howl, to refuse to be silent, refuse to be "cooperative." Right now is the time to be critical. God, I wish Pederson had had the courage to say that he was declaring now, today, when the human consequences of Republican policies were clear and unforgettable.
I wish he’d had the courage to speak up, even at the risk of frightening off the middle-of-the-roaders in our party who think that the sweet spirit of conciliation is the way to win.
I wish he’s had the courage to risk losing for being accused of ‘playing politics’. It might be the only way to win.
