"Nescis, mi fili, quantilla sapientia regitur mundus."

Actually, this isn't a command, "Know, my son..", it's a statement: "You don't know, my son, by how little wisdom the world is ruled."

What do you all think the democratic party platform should be, realistically? Saying we need federal election reform is all well and good, and quite true -- but it's not really a democratic party issue. Here are the things I want the Dems to stand up for:

(1) Election reform, get rid of diebold machines and other insane, untraceable, unverifiable voting machines and give us back some faith in our election systems. Restore any sense at all that our gov't officials are actually elected by voters.

(2) Fight against corporate welfare & corruption: set strict, enforced limits on lobbying and campaign contributions, which demonstrably lead to such gross corruption as Mr Abramoff & his ilk wallow in.

(3) (this would be #1 but the others are pre-requisites) Do whatever it will take to restore the air and water, to preserve and repair the environment, to heal our biosphere, if it's still remotely possible, so that my grandchildren (and yours) will have any prayer of a life. This has to include a fast, complete divorce between Washington DC and Detroit, serious & immediate support to alternative energy sources, nationally and internationally. Get some well-funded, serious work going IMMEDIATELY on hydrogen, wind, solar, alternative transportation systems, biofuels -- just to start with.

(4) Get us back into the good graces of the rest of the world, admit and acknowledge that we're only one nation among many, not the king-pins of earth, apologize for the gross offences of the neo-cons, and get some cooperative brainstorming going on how to get our troops out of the Middle East, and how to calm and/or contain the whacko nuts in Iran. Pull down our troops around the world wherever safely possible.

(5) End the tax cuts, increase the taxes for the richest, reform the tax code. Work out a way to tax the American corporations who are operating off shore. Plug corporate loopholes. Legalize taxation of church property (not their income: if they give it all to the poor, spend it on soup kitchens or aids patients, then they don't pay taxes on it.)

(6) Organize a national health care system that covers everyone -- single payer. Get over ourselves, for god's sake, we're the only advanced western power that hasn't already put this in place ages ago. It will take some serious crowbar to get the death-grip of the pharmaceutical companies and HMOs and other profit-motivated greedheads off the necks of the American consumer (sorry about mixing my metaphors here), and I don't know if any dems are up to it -- but it's on my wish list anyway.

That's the beginning of my wish list. You guys say you're sick of the dems belly-aching and not providing a program -- here's my wish-list program, at least off the top of my head. What's yours?