Imperfection

[okasha]

5. If I typed here what I've started to call some of these people in my head, the circuits would fry.

Your analogy to the Democratic Party is a good one, especially when it comes to what the institution was, rather than what it is.

You and I are both Texans. We know that 50 years ago the Texas Democratic Party in this state was entrenched, conservative, deeply corrupt and not infrequently violent. South Texas was ruled by the Democratic patron system, an essentially feudal structure as bad as anything in the Deep South. War on Poverty funds went into the coffers of men who were already millionaires. Prospective opposition candidates were beaten on the street in broad daylight; sometimes their properties were burned. One man's printing press was confiscated by sherriff's deputies. It wasn't until the Voting Rights and Civil Rights Acts in the 60's that the Party began to change.

That's our history. Should we disavow the Democratic Party now because of what it was, or shall we hold to it because of what it now is?

The answer's pretty clear, isn't it?