DEAR GANG OF 15 SELLOUTS

Dear Gang of 15 Democratic Sellouts (Melissa Bean - IL; Jim Cooper - TN, Henry Cuellar - TX, Norm Dicks - WA, Ruben Hinojosa - TX, William Jefferson - LA,
Jim Matheson - UT, Greg Meeks - NY, Dennis Moore - KS, Jim Moran - VA, Solomon Ortiz - TX, Ike Skelton - MO, Vic Snyder - AR, John Tanner - TN, Edolphus Towns - NY):

You say that you are Democrats and that you are in office to fight for people like me. How does voting for legislation like the CAFTA bill do that? How does sending our jobs out of the country boost the American economy? Many of you represent economically poor and hard hit districts that are still reeling from the effects of NAFTA, and now this? Could you take a minute from feeding at the corporate trough to tell me how your representation in Congress, by selling out your vote on bills like CAFTA is helping people like me be protected from Corporate monsters like Wal-Mart?

You say that you represent labor unions, yet every time you vote on legislation like CAFTA, or the Bankruptcy Bill, you show your true allegiance. As David Sirota says on his blog, you should be targeted for defeat in 2006. It matters not that the Democrats may remain in the minority for some time, thanks to your machinations, but Americans would rather have a minority that includes John Conyers, Barbara Lee, Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold and others, who believe in us, and who really will fight for our rights by exercising minority rights; not to mention, actually go to the mat for us, than keep the likes of you in Congress just to keep up the numbers.

Most of you represent what is considered "safe" House Districts; in fact, Greg Meeks, I understand you're running for re-election virtually unopposed. So why did you cast that vote for CAFTA? You don't want to pay for your own Jamaican vacations, so you would rather travel on the Corporate dime and call it job-related? Shame on you for getting so fat at the trough, that you have forgotten who sent you to Congress in the first place. The rest of you, have no excuse, unless it's like Greg Meeks. We scream at you, "HAVE YOU NO SHAME" and you answer with a resounding "NO, WE DON'T HAVE ANY SHAME! WE'RE PROSTITUTES! WE SELL OUR VOTES TO THE HIGHEST PAYING JOHN (read Corporate Interests)! SCREW YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RIDE ON!"

The reason you have sustained for so long is that you continue to get free passes from the rest of your Democratic collegues, and the Democratic National Committee, just to keep up the numbers of Congressional seats. But your presence indicates that it is worthless for you to hold that seat, because the longer you hold your seat, the more opportunities you have to be derelict in your duty to the people who elected you to office. However, now that Howard Dean is driving that mighty Wurlitzer, money that you think you will get towards re-election, will probably go to any progressive candidate who mounts a worthy challenge to you. We're sick and tired of watching you sell us out, and then expect us to continue voting for you, like a crack addict continues to hit the pipe, and continues to lose all of his teeth as a result! So, should you lose your seat to a Republican, or better yet, another progressive Democrat, the sooner you lose that seat, the better it will be for us.

The wingnuts in the Democratic Leadership Council is starting to sing the "Let's Play Nice" theme song again, with Senator Hillary Clinton singing lead. Do you honestly think we're going to allow the Group of Consistent Losers to drive the bandwagon this go-around? Not if MoveOn, Working For Change, David Sirota, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (aka DailyKos), Duncan Black (Atrios) John Aravosis (Americablog) Steve Gillard, and others like little ol' me have anything to do with it. So, fasten your seat belts, because we are about to give you a bumpy, bumpy ride, until we ride you hard out of Congress and hang you up wet!

The American people you purport to represent deserve better than your cowardly appearance on the floor of the House in the disguise of representing your constituents' best interests. We are not drunk on the Kool-Aid as you would wish, so you can keep us in the dark like a plant and feed us your particular brand of BS, as you have done in the past. We are wise and we are on to you. If the Democratic Party has to lose the likes of you in order to save its very soul, and stand for the principles, beliefs and values that she has long stood for; while we may be a minority party, we will also be a party that the American people will know what we stand for. You DLC demagogues have had almost twenty years to establish the message, and you are still screwing it up to this day.

Sometimes, the purpose can be diluted by too many in numbers, and that's where the Democratic Party is today. On the brink of annihilation, yet you 15 members of Congress call yourselves Democrats, while shooting at the rest of us and picking us off one by one. Perhaps, with less Democrats like you holding political office, the rest of the Party and Democratic Congressional members can truly focus on what matters to the rest of us, and become a more united front, even though they might be small in number. A united front can shut down Congress, based on minority rights alone, and force the Thug Party to come to the table and play fair. Your continued presence in Congress, enables them to attack at will like rabid dogs, and the result is a fascist government, with a self-imposed Dictator in charge. While the GOP may have orchestrated the theft of elections and hijacked the courts to get what they have, they could not have done it without the likes of you, and your brand of "Democratic" beliefs that have never represented us, and they never will.

My wish is that you would do the real honorable thing and resign your seat. But you are too selfish to do that. So the only option is to make sure you don't regain your seat in 2006 and beyond. Don't think we can't do it, because we can, and if you're arrogant enough to believe you're untouchable, go read "It Can't Happen Here" and learn of the fate of those who thought they were untouchable. The cycle of life demands justice at some point, and the justice for you would be a place on the unemployment line as an ex-politician, replaced by someone who is going to be of the people and for the people.

You have been warned, and you ignore this warning at your own peril.

Sincerely,
Leutisha Stills (aka The Christian Progressive Liberal)
Oakland, California