What we can say, what must be changed

I have very, incredibly little to add to this eloquent, moving and, above all, substantive post by ReddHedd from firedoglake. To make you click through, here's a portion:

We have lost our way in this country in terms of values. I don't mean in the wingy sort of way in which values are usually discussed, where you say a bunch of superficial nonsense about gays getting married and the country going to hell as a result, either. That's just another one of those fear tactics stirred up by political types who want to play divide and conquer to win elections by working the ends against the middle.

No, what I'm talking about goes deeper into who we are, into issues of where we ought to be. And these are issues that Democrats used to be for, in the not so distant past, but they have all but disappeared from the discussion in the last few years. I'm going to talk about this more as time goes on toward the elections in the Fall, but this morning it is eating at me as I listen to local news updates from the mine and find out that the miners left notes for those they left behind -- those notes cry out to me to get off my butt and do something.

And, she does get off her butt and she crafts a potential message more holistic than any I can remember coming across on the vast internet. Reasserting traditional Democratic belief in education, social programs and safety nets, she wants a return a time when "the party spent time working on issues that lifted up the least of our nation, to give them a shot at the American dream, just like everyone else."

The money:

But it isn't enough that I want more for myself and my family. Every person in this nation needs to wake up and realize that they deserve more as well. That's a message that Democrats could take to the bank, I'm sure of it. I know it is a message that would resonate here in West Virginia. People are hungry for hope, they are hungry for someone who will value them -- and not just use them as a pawn.

More than that, they deserve to be valued. It's a question of doing what is right, not just what is politically expedient in the moment to win the election or raise more money or whatever else seems to be driving political power these days. Let's give the little guy a voice again -- help him to stand on his own two feet and make something for his children, and you help the whole country. That goes for moms, too, I can tell you that.

I think it's time for all of us to get off our butts now, because, increasingly, the American Dream is relegated to being precisely that, something that disappears from reality the moment you open your eyes.