Stringsinger, you're right that Cindy is not a wonk.   She's rather like the chihuahua who fearlessly goes for the throat of the great Dane. Very gutsy and single-minded. Seldom terribly effective.

I think there IS a real danger that people like Cindy -- i.e., liberals who form a circular firing squad around the Dems and progressive-minded politicians instead of aiming at the neocons -- will help create Karl Rove's dream of a "permanent Republican majority."


I, too, am "opposed to this damnable Occupation." I agree that too many Dems "are not talking enough about the fact that many of their wonkish ideas (however laudable) will [n]ever see the light of day as long as taxes are going for Blackwater, invasions and incursion into foreign countries, a missile defense system that not only doesn't work but is a misnomer, sending and exporting weapons through the support of war contractors, nuclear bomb options and the invasion of Iran on the table." I especially bemoan the fact that the Democratic-controlled House seems reluctant to impeach a criminal administration for trashing the constitution.   (Some principles are more important than political expediency. Not to mention that, with Republicans filibustering and Bush's veto pen ever poised, it's unlikely Congress will get anything through, this term, that Bush doesn't approve of.)

Yes, as you say, "Democrats need to be talking more about the caring for people in the world. ... They need to speak with a unified voice about the common good for all. They need to have Cindy's courage ... ."

MAYBE "they" SHOULD support Cindy, but "they" are unlikely to do so as a unified group. Pelosi now has enough support from the overlapping groups -- Democrats, progressives, independents, anti-war groups -- to pretty much ensure her retaining her seat in the House.   If Sheehan runs against her as an Independent, it's quite possible the effect will be to split the vote of the aforementioned groups and give the seat to a Republican, who will probably be less acceptable to the liberal/anti-war "idealists" than Pelosi is.

IRV, in non-trivial ways, is as important to democracy as"what Cindy is doing now. It allows voters' true preferences to be registered, without fear of throwing away a vote by voting for someone who's not likely to place first or second in the race this time around.


"There will always be the wonks but the beacon of light comes from those who have loving principles and are willing to put themselves on the line to show them. The wonks will follow."   Hmm. Perhaps. But let's not forget that there are equally zealous moms and dads on the other side of the fence who have also lost beloved sons or daughters in Iraq.   Being passionately devoted to a cause does not automatically make your ideas workable, much less put them into effect in a practical way.