Let’s Put Dorian Gray’s Picture on that Stamp May 5, 2006March 4, 2017 HAD ENOUGH? On the off-chance you haven’t already seen enough to know we need a change, click here. (Or maybe you just want an organized place to go to look for information to better persuade your Republican uncle.) YEAH, BUT . . . Don: ‘The Republicans may have screwed up. However, that does not mean, ipso facto, that the Dems will do better. You gotta tell us what you propose to do.’ ☞ Well, it’s a huge and good question, of course, and one that no one person can answer (we don’t have the British system, with a single opposition leader). But here’s at least one shorthand picture of what we propose: priorities and personnel and policies and processes rather like those of 1993-2000, recently abandoned. We DO believe in evolution, we DO believe in over-the-counter sale of Plan B (which would reduce abortions), we DO believe in the huge business-and-domestic-job-creation opportunity that alternative energy and energy conservation provide, we DO believe in helping middle class and low-income workers more than in cutting taxes most for those who need them least, we DO believe we’ll do better if the world generally likes and admires us – and we don’t believe in corruption, cronyism, or torture. (And, yes, obviously, in that isolated rare situation where Jack Bauer has captured the terrorist who knows the unlock code of the nuclear weapon that’s about to go off, we do believe in torture if Jack thinks it will save Chicago.) We believe that we should join the list of 36 other countries where every citizen can get decent health care (but where those who choose to, and can afford them, can opt for private rooms and breast augmentation). We believe in encouraging, not discouraging, stem cell research. We believe in heeding, not suppressing, the alarms being raised about global climate change. We believe in enhancing, not cutting, the aid available for college . . . and in giving every child the opportunity for an outstanding education. And on and on. That’s part of our problem – people don’t want a long laundry list, and it’s hard to know where most effectively to focus in winning their hearts and votes. So let me end with just one more: We believe in REAL security. And in strength. But strength is only as good as the strategic thinking behind it. Does anyone think we’re safer than we would have been if we had finished off Bin Laden before diverting our forces to Iraq with no contingency plan in case we weren’t greeted with flowers? That our military and National Guard today are stronger than they were before the neocons took over? And strength requires financial strength, too – not the addition of $9 trillion in national debt from 1980 through 2008, $8 trillion of it racked up under three Republican presidents. BEAT INFLATION – FOREVER David Morrison: ‘Hey, the U.S. Postal Service has finally taken your advice, and is planning to issue a forever stamp that remains valid for first class postage even after subsequent rate increases.’ ☞ Awesome! See? If you live long enough, anything is possible.