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Email: jeffrey_pratt@NOSPAM.hotmail.com

Republicans to rescue children from immoral cheaters

I am a baseball fan as well as a political junkie of sorts, so it is interesting to see a situation in baseball that parallels what often in the political world frustrates progressives - the cynical use of a "moral issue" to further corporate interests.  In this case, the moral issue is steroids and cheating, and the corporate interests are the baseball owners who now stand to gain substantial negotiating leverage over the players union.

ANWR and Red States

I have been thinking about the Montana Miracle, and what implications it might have for actionable items.  I immediately thought of ANWR and the upcoming legislative battle.

As this article from February and March 2002 of Field & Stream shows, there is some initiative for environmentalists and conservationalist minded hunters working together but also alot of work to do.

As someone with a boot in both camps--I belong to one of the oldest big-game hunting clubs in America and also to the Nature Conservancy--I would say to my fellow hunters, if you don't want to see America become like Europe, with hunting confined to estates reserved for a wealthy elite, then get over your prejudices and join forces with the environmental movement; and to my fellow environmentalists, if you want 15 million allies, get over your snobbery and find common ground with hunters.

A Brief History of the Democratic Party

The quality of diaries today is exceptional. Also, check out Silent E's piece on gun control--Chris

Democrats have a lost sense of identity and inability to articulate their views to large sections of the population. While additional factors and party reform may help reestablish the the democratic party, part of the issue is that democrats have little connection to their own history or their role in shaping America. Republicans, and in particular conservatives, benefit from having a self-identity based in part on a particular interpretation of American history that is both mistaken and reinforced by conservative voices. It places the low point of our nations history with the presidency of FDR and the establishment of modern New Deal liberalism. As the story goes, FDR's reforms slowed the recovery, established the modern bureaucratic state and all of its assorted problems. Accordingly, conservatives see their cause as one of dismantling the New Deal and returning to what they believe are the principles of governance established by the constitutions authors.

This of course, ignores the scandal ridden, isolationist, tax-cut and corporate pimping Republicanism of the Harding, Coolidge and Hoover administrations which allowed New Deal liberalism to establish itself in the first place. The Republican policies of this era helped set the stage for both WWII by blocking Wilson's treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression by ignoring reforms and enacting polices that created fundamental structural problems in the economy. Although to their credit, at least their general do-nothingness didn't hinder the short lived post war economic boom of the 1920's. I say this with such force because the policies echoed by today's conservatives bear an eerie resemblance to early 20th century republicanism and the consequences cannot be forgotten. This includes their pre-"family values" program of opposing woman's suffrage to preserve "traditional roles" and to "protect the family" to their economic laissez-faire policies in the 1920's to an internal debate between isolationists and nationalists.

Liberalism FAQ

I started writing a 'Liberalism FAQ', motivated in part by discussions of what was wrong with conservatism and developing more of a comprehensive message for liberals.  My main goals were:

a) Providing short (1 paragraph or less) answers to common conservative complaints/questions/issues.

b) Giving the answers a unifying theme of anti-elitism and pro-constitutional government. (Partly because I believe this and partly because I think it will play well with moderates in red states)

c) Not weakening or watering down positions or moving to the center.

I don't know if I have achieved these goals, so maybe you guys can help me edit.

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