Dave Chandler

Gary Hart, Yes.

I've got to emphasize this line from Gary Hart's column in yesterday's Washington Post:

No Democrat, especially one now silent, should expect election by default. The public trust must be earned, and speaking clearly, candidly and forcefully now about the mess in Iraq is the place to begin.

I couldn't have said it more clearly myself. While more American troops get killed in Iraq every day, while scores are wounded and maimed everyday, while hundreds of innocent Iraqis are killed and wounded and dispossesed everyday -- almost all the leaders and candidates of the Colorado Democratic Party are silent.

I am asking progressives, peace activists, centerists, anti-war Libertarians, traditional Republicans, and conscientious Democrats to support me now ... as a matter of principle. I opposed this war three years ago and ran in the 7th CD because both the Democratic and Republican candidates stood with Bush on the then-coming war. Today, all we hear about the Democratic candidates in this race is how much money they've raised and how much money they're going to raise -- they are silent on the war. It is obvious that the Democrats still believe that those who oppose this war are going to vote for their candidates as a matter of "default" ... exactly what Sen. Hart said should not happen.

It is real simple. If you want this war to come to an end, if you want the death to begin to come to an end, if peace is a value to you -- then right now you've got to support me in this contest for the US. House of Representatives in the 7th Congressional District.

Link: Who Will Say 'No More'? Gary Hart/Washington Post

But what will history say about an opposition party that stands silent while all this goes on? My generation of Democrats jumped on the hot stove of Vietnam and now, with its members in positions of responsibility, it is afraid of jumping on any political stove. In their leaders, the American people look for strength, determination and self-confidence, but they also look for courage, wisdom, judgment and, in times of moral crisis, the willingness to say: "I was wrong." To stay silent during such a crisis, and particularly to harbor the thought that the administration's misfortune is the Democrats' fortune, is cowardly. In 2008 I want a leader who is willing now to say: "I made a mistake, and for my mistake I am going to Iraq and accompanying the next planeload of flag-draped coffins back to Dover Air Force Base. And I am going to ask forgiveness for my mistake from every parent who will talk to me." ... No Democrat, especially one now silent, should expect election by default. The public trust must be earned, and speaking clearly, candidly and forcefully now about the mess in Iraq is the place to begin.

Link: Hart Calls Out Democratic Fence-sitters | Mike Littwin/Rocky Mountain News

And when it comes time to finally do something, you do this: Rush to the microphone to second the president on Iraq. You say, with no hint of irony, that, although you would handle things much differently, we must "stay the course," even as the course gets rougher and the options grow fewer and the blame assigned to Bush becomes increasingly loud. It's not a strategy popular among Democratic activists and Democratic bloggers or most people contacted by pollsters.

Smart Voters

So we learn from the Denver Post's Washington Bureau chief that the Democrats own pollster is telling them what I and other Greens have been saying for several years now ... the Democrats just don't have "the guts to stand up for something." Well, we all know why. They're dependent upon the same corrupt campaign contributions system as the corporate Republicans. Which is why Greens will not take money from Political Action Committees and we limit the amount even an individual can give. Now, we know this puts us at a disadvantage, but look what 'going along to get along' has done to our nation ...

Furthermore, I am still perplexed at the Democrat's timidity and hesitancy to boldly oppose Bush and to boldly propose real reform for our tax system, health care system, energy resources, and deal forthrightly on a host of other critical issues. They seem so scared that someone on the radical right will call them a bad name that they are paralyzed into inaction; they're so frightened that they might offend a potential contributor that they won't make a declarative statement on anything controversial.

Voters deserve to have a choice, that's why I'm seeking the nomination from the Colorado Green Party for the 7th Congressional District. If Democrats will not bravely announce that they will support a Congressional resolution calling for a plan for withdrawal from Iraq, then what good are they? If they will not proclaim that they will repeal the Bush welfare-for-the-elite tax give-aways, then what good are they? If they will not present plans for private health care provided with universal health insurance, then what good are they?

My message to progressive Democrats: register Green and let the establishment Democratic Party know that you are serious about changing this country for the better.

Link: Dems Not Drawing Bush Ex-partisans | John Aloysius Farrell/Denver Post

Pollster Stan Greenberg spent much of his summer listening to voters from Colorado and other states who supported President Bush last year but are now disenchanted with his leadership. What he heard is a bunch of bad news for Democrats. Until Democrats have the guts to stand up for something, these voters will stick - against their own economic interests - with the Republican Party. ... "Republicans are overwhelmingly seen as a party that is unrepentant in its fealty to corporate interests and unconcerned with the growing economic uncertainty felt by most Americans facing employment concerns, stagnant wages, rising prices and the crushing cost of health care," the pollster concluded. Yet "Democrats are not making any gains, even as Republicans continue to lose ground," Greenberg said. "There is absolutely no sense that Democrats have a viable alternative vision that would promote broad economic growth or increased prosperity for working Americans," he said. Think about it. If the Democratic Party won't offer an economic program that boosts your take-home pay, helps you care for sick kids and old folks, or brings down the cost of gas at the pump, what good is it? ... But for now, far from being the party of reform, "we are not seen as the change," said Greenberg. "Democrats are seen as part of Washington."

Energy and Peak Oil

If I am elected to the United States House of Representatives from Colorado's Seventh Congressional District, I will be a persistent and enthusiastic advocate for the adoption of the Oil Depletion Protocal by our country. Here is a very good explanation by Richard Heinberg for why we must take the issue of Peak Oil seriously and why this proposal is a positive and necessary first step to mitigate the coming end of cheap oil.

How to Avoid Oil Wars, Terrorism, and Economic Collapse | Richard Heinberg

THE OIL DEPLETION PROTOCOL

WHEREAS the passage of history has recorded an increasing pace of change, such that the demand for energy has grown rapidly in parallel with the world population over the past two hundred years since the Industrial Revolution;

WHEREAS the energy supply required by the population has come mainly from coal and petroleum, having been formed but rarely in the geological past, such resources being inevitably subject to depletion;

WHEREAS oil provides ninety percent of transport fuel, essential to trade, and plays a critical role in agriculture, needed to feed the expanding population;

WHEREAS oil is unevenly distributed on the Planet for well-understood geological reasons, with much being concentrated in five countries, bordering the Persian Gulf;

WHEREAS all the major productive provinces of the World have been identified with the help of advanced technology and growing geological knowledge, it being now evident that discovery reached a peak in the 1960s, despite technological progress, and a diligent search;

WHEREAS the past peak of discovery inevitably leads to a corresponding peak in production during the first decade of the 21st Century, assuming no radical decline in demand;

WHEREAS the onset of the decline of this critical resource affects all aspects of modern life, such having grave political and geopolitical implications;

WHEREAS it is expedient to plan an orderly transition to the new World environment of reduced energy supply, making early provisions to avoid the waste of energy, stimulate the entry of substitute energies, and extend the life of the remaining oil;

WHEREAS it is desirable to meet the challenges so arising in a co-operative and equitable manner, such to address related climate change concerns, economic and financial stability and the threats of conflicts for access to critical resources.

NOW IT IS PROPOSED THAT

1. A convention of nations shall be called to consider the issue with a view to agreeing an Accord with the following objectives:

a. to avoid profiteering from shortage, such that oil prices may remain in reasonable relationship with production cost;
b. to allow poor countries to afford their imports;
c. to avoid destabilising financial flows arising from excessive oil prices;
d. to encourage consumers to avoid waste;
e. to stimulate the development of alternative energies.

2. Such an Accord shall have the following outline provisions:

a. No country shall produce oil at above its current Depletion Rate, such being defined as annual production as a percentage of the estimated amount left to produce;
b. Each importing country shall reduce its imports to match the current World Depletion Rate, deducting any indigenous production.

3. Detailed provisions shall cover the definition of the several categories of oil, exemptions and qualifications, and the scientific procedures for the estimation of Depletion Rate.

4. The signatory countries shall cooperate in providing information on their reserves, allowing full technical audit, such that the Depletion Rate may be accurately determined.

5. The signatory countries shall have the right to appeal their assessed Depletion Rate in the event of changed circumstances.