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“This plays right into the hands of the Republicans.”
“Our only goal is to elect a Democrat into the White House in 2008. Nothing should distract from that.”
These the main sound bites from Senator Art Torres at the California Democratic Party meetings this weekend.
They should be the talking points of the grassroots Democrats whose anti-torture platform was shot down yesterday.
The actions of Torres, committee chair John Hanna, and others in the California Democratic Party leadership played right into the hands of the Republicans. The core principles of the Democratic Party – freedom and upholding the constitution – were blatantly violated by one of our members, Senator Dianne Feinstein. The message our resolution sent was simply that we expect better from our Senator, because nothing distracts more from electing a Democrat to the White House in 2008 than weak-kneed Democrats in Congress who betray even the most basic Democratic principles.
Torres and Hanna’s strong-armed tactics played right into the hands of the Republicans. They have sent the wrong message to California, and the wrong message to America.
There's a reason that Congress has approval ratings even lower than Bush's. It's simple: too many Democrats aren't standing up to fight for our principles. When it comes to issues of grave importance like war and torture, the California Democratic Party jus cannot be silent.
That's why this movement is far from over. The CDP was shaken this weekend by the power of our coalition. We'll continue to press for our party to stand and defend its core principles. And we'll win, even if it takes some time.
The message that the coalition of grassroots Democrats wanted to send from the Anaheim meetings is that the California Democratic Party does not stand with President Bush. The California Democratic Party stands for freedom from torture. The California Democratic Party will not be silent when one of our members betrays our simplest, most basic principles.
Instead, the message sent by Torres and others was: "The California Democratic Party sometimes supports Bush policy."
Despite Torres and Hanna playing right into the hands of the Republicans this weekend, in the end, they're just two people. The real power lies with us - the grassroots. We're going to go on and make sure that we elect a Democrat into the White House in 2008.
I wrote the resolution against waterboarding with Brad Parker. Here is the resolution that should have been passed:
Resolution Defining “Waterboarding” as Torture and
Eliminating its Practice by the United States Government.
WHEREAS, “Waterboarding” is a torture technique whereby a person has water poured over their face to simulate drowning, has been classified as torture under the Geneva Conventions, and has not previously been allowed in U.S. military army interrogations, and is antithetical to every moral principle that American stands for, and
WHEREAS, the eighth amendment to the United States Constitution bans the use of cruel and unusual punishment, and on September 6th, 2006, the United States Department of Defense released a revised Army Field Manual entitled Human Intelligence Collector Operations that prohibits the use of waterboarding by U.S. military personnel, and further that the United States is a ratifying member of the UN Convention Against Torture which prohibits the use of water boarding and
WHEREAS, this form of torture has been used during the Spanish Inquisition, by the Japanese and the German Secret Police in World War II, the North Vietnamese against American POW’s in North Vietnam, and that the majority of Americans abhor and do not want this form of violence and torture committed in their names by the US Government and it’s acting agents.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Los Angeles County Democratic Party is committed to ending the illegal and immoral act of torture “Water-Boarding” done to any persons and further that we unequivocally support the Geneva Conventions definition of torture, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the California Democratic Party send a copy of this resolution to the California Congressional delegation.
Passed by VALLEY DEMOCRATS UNITED 10/07
Passed by the Los Angeles county Democratic Party 11/13/07
Authors:
Margie Murray
Valley Democrats United
Elected Democratic Delegate, 41st AD
Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles
Brad Parker
President, Valley Democrats United
Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles
ENDORSED BY: Valley Democrats United