HOMEGROWN DEMOCRAT

"We democrats are deeply flawed people, we can be earnestly boring and awfully righteous about moral issues in faraway places. We can be weenies, capable of doing dumb things in the name of the common good. But we do stick to our guns. We believe in decency and public spiritedness and have refused to hitch our wagon to yahooism and have supported government as a necessary force for good. And we are passionate. This is a year for passion."

And,

"Republicans have perfectly nice manners, normal hair, pleasant smiles, good deodorants, but when it comes down to cases, you do not want them to be monitoring your oxygen flow: they will set it to the minimum required to sustain basic brain function, and then they will recite a little prayer for you. They are a party that is all about perceptions, the Christian party that conceals enormous glittering malice and is led by brilliant bandits who are dividing and conquering the sweet land I grew up in. I don't accept this.
     We Democrats are deciduous. We fade, lose heart, become torpid, languish, then the sap rises again, and we are passionate. This is a year for passion."

The first is the back jacket  and the second a quote from his book Homegrown Democrat by Garrison Keillor (of Prairie Home Companion fame). I read this the first time the year it was published (2004) and just ran across and am re-reading it. I would suggest it as a sort of a "bible" for Democrats - its certainly speaks to me, my love of country and the knowledge that the Democratic Party is the party of the people, by the people and for the people as President Lincoln so eloquently stated - a party of "we're all in this together" rather "than you're on your own." It's worth a read. You can get it for just a few bucks at (click here).

The Liberalator