The Party Never Stops

Back in October or November of 2004, my mother made the mistake of donating money to the Democratic Party. Try as I might, I could not convince my mother to not give the money to them, no matter what rhetorical strategy or logical argument I presented. It's not that my mother is affiliated with any political party, she doesn't even like the Democratic Party, but she gave the money out of principle (the principle of "They are asking, and I have the money"). I tried to tell her that "they" are not some beggars, or some people in dire need, they aren't even an organization that would help anyone out; "they" are a machine that needed fuel in the form of green backs. I don't think there is any moral principle that states that we have to give money to machines. She gave the money anyway.

Since then, it has been one annoyance after another. Junk mail from the Party continued to arrive at our home. They asked for more money. They have called with surveys. They hide in our back yard and monitor us while we sleep--well, they don't do that, but they might as well. It seems the Democratic Party is poorer than I was while in school. They even sold my mother's name and address to the ACLU, because, about three or four days ago, we received a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union, along with a survey, along with a plea for money. Fortunately, my mother is not going to give to the ACLU. She says she doesn't have the money.

I didn't immediately toss the letter from "Anthony D. Romero" (Executive Director--he's so important, his title is redundant!), partly because I wanted to see why the ACLU sent a four page letter to us. I read through it, and of course it was repetitive and incoherent, but the crux of the letter was about freedom, or "civil liberties." Mr. Romero does not attempt to define freedom or civil liberties, but he believes that we are for them: "Like many others, you may be feeling that civil liberties in our country are going to get worse before they get better. But I'm betting that you are also like the thousands of people who are raising their voices and standing up for the basic American values of justice and liberty for all." I think Mr. Romero just lost some money.

Later on in the letter, Mr. Romero tells us that, "Through all the ups and downs of political debates, we must never lose sight of the fact that those who stand in opposition to freedom are standing on the wrong side of history," which immediately brought to mind a part of the "Team America" theme song..."Freedom is the only way." And of course, it's blatantly obvious that any neoconservative would respond by saying whatever they are doing is supporting freedom, and that the ACLU, being opposed to whatever the neocons are doing, is on the "wrong side of history" (whatever that means).

It's also interesting that the ACLU is against big government when it's mostly Republican: "George Bush has four more years to pursue a double-edged agenda that uses the war on terror to vastly expand unchecked government powers, while working hand-in-hand with religious right extremists to undermine religious liberty, suppress free speech and dissent, undo a woman's right to choose and deny equal rights to lesbians and gay men." Mr. Romero probably would not have said anything about "unchecked government powers" with a Democrat in office. The ACLU was also for civil rights legislation back in the '60s. They fed the beast, and now they are unhappy that it isn't doing what they say.

I guess my mother will just have to wait until a Democrat is elected president in 2008, so that we can stop getting junk mail.