"Today, the reports of abuse and humiliation at detainment facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Cuba are distracting the world from focusing on winning the war on terror. Although the military chain of command seems to have properly investigated the role of its personnel and held accountable those in the wrong, the civilian leadership in this country has failed to do the same.

Call on Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner to investigate the Bush Administration's role in prisoner abuse now!

For generations, the United States has been a powerful voice of moral authority in the world. After World War II, we led the world in creating the Geneva Conventions and prosecuting war criminals at Nuremberg, and later became one of the first nations to ratify the Convention Against Torture. Even today, Slobodan Milosevic is being tried for war crimes thanks to a U.S.-led NATO air strike against his brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Balkans.

Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has squandered our legacy of moral leadership.

I need your help to protect the honor of our men and women in uniform and to set us on the right course to win the war on terror. Although the President has said the United States is "committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example," the Administration's actions don't match his words. In his infamous memo, Alberto Gonzales advised President Bush to ignore the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war – a treaty that protects our soldiers captured abroad – to give the president more "flexibility." This so-called "flexibility" along with other Administration policies and statements may have ultimately contributed to the environment in which the abuses at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan have occurred.

Among the disturbing practices identified so far: the rendition of prisoners to countries where they can be tortured, failing to register "ghost prisoners" to deny them visits by the Red Cross, employing civilian contract agents to conduct interrogations outside military rules, and the reported prolonged degrading treatment of some detainees in U.S. custody. All of these deserve further investigation.

With the right leadership and accountability, couldn't the Administration have prevented the embarrassment of Abu Ghraib and the controversy at Guantanamo Bay? While some are blaming individual soldiers, doesn't at least some of the responsibility rest with the civilian leadership of our government? Don't the American people deserve the truth? Shouldn't Congress lead an investigation?

Sign my petition to Chairman John Warner now and urge him to hold hearings on the Bush Administration's statements, policies, orders, and actions related to prisoner abuse.

http://ga4.org/campaign/prisonerabuse

How can we win the war on terrorism, a fight for democracy and freedom in America and around the world, if we forsake the very principles and institutions for which we are fighting?
The laws of war are designed to regulate combat and to protect non-combatants from the violence and degradation of war. The conduct of this Administration may ultimately lead to a green-light for our enemies to torture our soldiers when captured -- we owe it to our men and women in uniform and their families to investigate.

American soldiers deserve better than to see our allies pointing their fingers at Guantanamo Bay and calling it an "American problem." We are doing their work too – defeating terror is a global priority.

People of good conscience cannot afford to stay silent.  Please join me today, and then invite everyone you know to stand with us.

Sincerely,

Wes Clark"

Stands are positions taken on issues. For example, the progressive stand on gay marriage is that gay marriage should be legal. Progressive stands on current and future political issues should be clear based on our principles document.

     

Policies are things like universal healthcare, high (or low) corporate taxation, requiring insurance companies to cover contraception, and gutting social security. They don't belong in our Principles Declaration either, but progressive policies should follow naturally from our principles. (It won't always be obvious how, as policy-making can be complicated and require special knowledge. For example, many progressives agree that everyone should have healthcare, but it's actually pretty hard to know how best to structure a universal healthcare system.)

     

Policies are designed to further objectives. For example, a conservative policy is to enact legislation conferring value on the lives of fetuses, in pursuit of the objective of making abortion illegal."

         

created by: http://www.principlesproject.com/aboutprinciples

 

Plenty of messages, but how do we share our story. These messages appear to be consistent with our values. Yet, I dare say that while most Americans would support these messages, they do not identify Democrats with the message or the values and principles that are the foundations of these messages. Listed below are Democratic Party Messages from various online sources:

• Fight for Working America The government must protect the rights workers from exploitation. This includes making sure that employees receive a livable wage, and work in a safe environment. "We honor work in America. Americans work hard, and they have a right to expect that work will pay. We want all Americans to benefit from continued economic growth and rising wages." DNC Platform

 
• Investment in Our Future The Democratic Party supports science and technology education and research to keep the United States on top. These investments drive economic growth, generate new knowledge, create new high-wage jobs, build new industries, and improve our quality of life.
  
• Fair global trade In order to make globalization work we also have to globalize worker protection, labor rights, environmental rights and human rights. Howard Dean
 
• Tax Cuts Taxes should not be used to increase the gap between the very wealthy and the very poor in the United States. Giving tax breaks to the rich while unloading the weight onto the shoulders of the poor, is wrong. Today's Democratic Party is committed to targeted tax cuts that help working Americans invest in their future, and we insist that any tax cuts are completely paid for, because we are determined to balance the budget." DNC Platform
 
• We believe that government programs should be grounded in the values most Americans share: work, family, personal responsibility, individual liberty, faith, tolerance, and inclusion. DLC New Democratic Agenda
 
• We support democracy. Democracy requires an active, informed, responsible citizenry that participates in shaping and running its public institutions. Secrecy, propaganda, privatization, and the spreading of fear and distrust all work against democracy. Pericles.dailykos.com
 
• We believe America has a responsibility to lead the world toward greater political and economic freedom. DLC New Democratic Agenda
 
• We believe that as advocates of activist government, we need to reinvent government so that it is both more responsive and more accountable to those it serves and to the taxpayers who pay for it. DLC New Democratic Agenda
 
• We stand up and take action for fairness based on our respect for religious freedom, our respect for human dignity, and our intellectual makeup. S Rosser
 
• The economy. An economy centered on innovation that creates millions of good-paying jobs and provides every American a fair opportunity to prosper. Lakoff
 
• We believe that the promise of America is equal opportunity for all and special privilege for none. We believe that economic growth generated in the private sector is the prerequisite for opportunity, and that government's role is to promote growth and to equip Americans with the tools they need to prosper in the New Economy. DLC New Democratic Agenda
 
• Expand Prosperity and Opportunity: Create broad-based prosperity; move the federal budget to balance; champion free and fair trade; help all Americans succeed in the global economy; ensure the integrity and vitality of America's financial markets; encourage entrepreneurship and innovation and broad access to capital; prepare the country for the retirement of the Baby Boom generation; and re-establish greater progressivity in the tax code. NDN Agenda
 
• Assert Responsible Global Leadership: Win the war on terrorism and end international conflicts that threaten our interests and values; foster security and democracy in Iraq; ensure that America's military is the strongest, most agile, and best equipped in the world; combat AIDS and other pandemics that threaten global stability; and work together with our allies and international organizations to advance democracy, human rights, liberty, free markets, opportunities for women, and rising standards of living across the world. NDN Agenda
 
• Protect the Homeland: Implement a comprehensive homeland security strategy; improve our nation's counter terrorism intelligence capabilities and performance; ensure that those on the frontline have the very best tools, training and support to protect our communities; secure our nation's borders and ports without impeding the free flow of goods and people; and fight to protect the civil liberties for all Americans that have long been the envy of the world. NDN Agenda
 
• Strengthen Families and Communities: Put families, children and communities at the very center of our agenda by improving the nation's schools through higher standards, greater accountability, more choices for parents, quality teachers, and promised additional resources; fostering family friendly policies that help parents succeed at work and at home; expanding college opportunities; promoting safe neighborhoods, home ownership, personal responsibility, community service, and greater participation in our democracy; supporting a woman's right to choose; embracing immigrants seeking a better life in America; and striving for equal opportunity for all and a more diverse, integrated, and tolerant nation. NDN Agenda
 
• Security Through military strength, strong diplomatic alliances, and wise foreign and domestic policy, every American will be safeguarded at home, and America's role in the world will be strengthened by helping people around the world to live better lives. Lakoff
 
• The Common Good Americans are united by more than just the fact that we root for the same military team. America, and the communities that make it up, own property, we create institutions, we select a government to represent us, and we protect ourselves with regulations. The air, the water, the parks, the broadcast spectrum, the intellectual property of the public domain -- they don't belong to nobody, they belong to us. They are the Commons. Government must take good care of all of your property, public as well as private. Pericles.dailykos.com
 
• We believe in community; that we can achieve our individual destinies only if we share a commitment to our national destiny. We believe in an ethic of mutual responsibility in which government has an obligation to create opportunity for citizens, but citizens have an obligation to give something back to the commonwealth. DLC New Democratic Agenda
 
• We believe that living in peace with sisters and brothers in community is a continual challenge; that it is rooted in the direct and honest communication. Sojourners Community
 
• Modernize Our Health Care System: Provide all with access to quality and affordable health insurance; address the rapid rise of health care costs; reform and improve Medicare; and invest in and encourage the extraordinary promise of the knowledge revolution in science and medical care that is perhaps the most important development of our time. NDN Agenda
 
• Health: Every American should have access to a state-of-the art, affordable healthcare system. Lakoff
 
• Leave Behind an Even More Beautiful America: Keep our air and water clean; preserve land for future generations; and make America energy independent through greater production here at home, investments in new clean technologies and renewable sources of energy, and a national crusade to encourage smart energy use and conservation. NDN Agenda
 
• Environment A clean, healthy and safe environment for ourselves and our children: water you can drink and air you can breathe. Polluters to pay for the damage they cause. Lakoff
 
• Nature The natural wonders of our country are to be preserved for future generations. Lakoff
 
• Environment Today's Democratic Party believes we have a duty to preserve God's earth and American quality of life for future generations. A Democrat believes that the environment must be protected from those will exploit it for their own means. DNC Platform
 
• Education A vibrant, well-funded, and expanding public education system, with the highest standards for every child and school, where teachers nurture children's minds and often the children themselves, and where children are taught the truth about their nations--it's wonders and its blunders. Lakoff
 
• Early Childhood Every child's brain is shaped crucially by early experiences. We support high quality early childhood education. Lakoff
 
• Energy We need to make a major investment in renewable energy, for the sake of millions of jobs that pay well, independence from Middle East oil, improvements in public health, preservation of our environment and the effort to halt global warming. Lakoff
 
• Energy "Clean, abundant, and reliable energy is essential to a strong American economy. We support investment in research and development to spur domestic energy production and enhance efficiency. New technologies -- natural gas, energy efficiency, renewable energy -- developed in partnership with American industries and scientists are increasing productivity and creating jobs." DNC Platform
 
• Democracy does not just mean elections and a constitution. Democracy is a structure of trusted public institutions through which the people shape their lives. The Democrats need to be the party that promotes public trust -- open government, accountability to the people, support for public institutions. Public trust needs to be coupled with public responsibility. We should not be defensive about the failures of public institutions, but should turn the discussion to remedies that make the institutions better, not ones that eliminate public institutions in favor of private ones. Every problem with a public institution should be an opportunity to impose more openness, more accountability, more democracy. Pericles.dailykos.com
 
• Openness An open, efficient, and fair government that tells the truth to our citizens and earns the trust of every American. Lakoff
 
• Equal rights We support equal rights in every area involving race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. Lakoff
 
• Protections We support keeping and extending protections for consumers, workers, retirees and investors. Lakoff
 
• We believe in binding up the divisions that the world often creates, especially those based on race, class, gender, or culture. We are called to combat racism in all its forms and to build a more just and pluralistic society where diversity is respected, freedom is secured, and power is shared. We refuse to accept structures and assumptions that normalize poverty and segregate the world by class. We are committed to resisting sexism in all its forms and affirming the integrity and equality of women and men both in the church and in the world. Sojouners Community of Faith
 
• We believe in a society that puts the health, safety and prosperity of its citizens first; one that promotes excellence in education, choices in quality health care and a healthy environment for all citizens. Ohio Dems
 
• Democrats value opportunity and equality for all citizens, and respect both the self-reliance of individuals and the benefits of teamwork, to meet the challenges of a fair and just society. Ohio Dems
     
• Keep the government out of your personal life and away from your freedom. GA Dems
• Protect your family by protecting American jobs and health. GA Dems
   
• Defend our country from outside attack and cut off terror at the roots GA Dems
 
• Bring honesty, responsibility, and balanced budgets back to politics. GA Dems
 
• Build a stronger future by investing in American technology and our children's education. GA Dems

   

 

Party Mission Statements:

The Democratic Party is the Party of Progress Progress means strengthening our defenses and strengthening our alliances. Tax policies that help working people and the middle class, closing loopholes for corporations and making sure that wealthy Americans do not get all of the benefits. Investing in people so all those who make the grade can afford a college education or the training they need to get ahead. Moving people from welfare into the workplace through training and job placement. Making America energy independent while cleaning our environment. And, progress means ensuring that all Americans have access to healthcare and are able to save for a secure retirement. NDN
 
"Our vision is simple. We want an America that gives all Americans the chance to live out their dreams and achieve their God-given potential. We want an America that is still the world's strongest force for peace and freedom. And we want an America that is coming together around our enduring values, instead of drifting apart." DNC Platform
 
"Today's Democratic Party is determined to renew America's most basic bargain: Opportunity to every American, and responsibility from every American. And today's Democratic Party is determined to reawaken the great sense of American community." DNC Platform
 
"That is what today's Democratic Party offers: the end of the era of big government and a final rejection of the misguided call to leave our citizens to fend for themselves -- and bold leadership into the future: To meet America's challenges, protect America's values, and fulfill American dreams." DNC Platform
 
Democrats are people who look ahead not behind, people who welcome new ideas without rigid reactions, people who care about the welfare of people - - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties - -  people who believe we can break through the stalemate of suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad.  Adopted from John F. Kennedy