Once In a Lifetime (Let Leah Daughtry Hold Me Down)

And you may ask yourself, how did this happen? How did we get here? Who is responsible? You think you know the answer, don't you? You lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of Coward Dean, Donna Grendel Brazile, Naughty Nazi Nancy, and Dirty Harry Reid. They most certainly have shared responsibility, and will go down in the annals of PUMA history as complicit executers of the coup, and as enemies of Democracy. But some elusive trouble is festering underneath the duplicity of the Democratic Party leadership. What is it? Perhaps we should ask Leah Daughtry.

Daughtry now serves as the Chief of Staff to Howard Dean. She is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Democratic National Convention. Everything that occurs in the Pepsi Center will be run down to last detail by her design. Perhaps now we understand why the announcement of Obama's Nuremberg Rally at Invesco received not one word of scoffing from party leaders, not one bit of concern as to how a party that was canceling convention events in June due to a lack of funds, was so nonplused by this massive financial undertaking and extravagant waste of time and resources. When you examine where Leah Daughtry comes from, and what she represents, you will have a better understanding of how and why we are standing on the precipice of a free fall into the pit of despair.

According to the Democratic Party's website Ms. Daughtry worked at the U.S. Department of Labor as Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management during the Clinton Administration. She was in charge of the development of the Department's management programs and policies, as well as being responsible for managing their budget to the tune of $35 million. She has also been, in the opinion of the party leadership, "...widely recognized as bringing sound, principled management and leadership practices to organizations with which she has worked."

As Howard Dean's Chief of Staff she is, "...responsible for managing day-to-day strategy and operations of the national party."

In other words, Leah Daughtry is running the DNC, developing and moving its strategy, and bringing us the fiasco we are currently experiencing. Howard Dean is simply the errand boy. Of Daughtry, Dean has said, "Her strong guidance, skilled leadership and counsel have been invaluable to me during my tenure as DNC Chair and to the Democratic Party as a whole. I am confident that Leah will play a key role in the success of this important event [the Democratic National Convention] that will help us elect the next Democratic President of the United States." But why would anyone choose to lead the Democratic Party down a suicide road?

Her extracurricular activities include, "Pastor of The House of the Lord Church in Washington, D.C., member of the Board of Visitors of The Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College, as well as the Boards of Directors of The House of the Lord Churches, and The Randolph Evans Memorial Scholarship Fund. She has previously served on the Board of Directors of the National AIDS Action Council. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Ms. Daughtry has also served as Executive Director of Man-to-Man/Sister-to-Sister, a not-for-profit human service agency dedicated to enriching and enhancing the lives of Brooklyn families, during which she created a specialized mentoring program for girls with HIV-infected mothers."

Very impressive. Let's go to church.

Her father is Herbert Daughtry, the leader of the House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn, founded by Leah's grandfather. The New York Times reports that, "His ministry has always combined consuming spirituality with black liberation theology — the theology Jeremiah Wright invoked this spring to defend his controversial sermons — and zealous political activism. Leah holds these forces within her."

The NYT goes on to report that a pro-reparations banner hangs in this church bearing the legend, "They owe us." So Leah Daughtry, the woman running the DNC, is steeped in black liberation theology, as is Barack Obama (I'm going to assume that since he sat in the church of Jeremiah Wright and listened to his bigoted spew for 20 years, and only left when he could no longer justify the politics of membership). You wouldn't have joined the Trinity Church simply to suit your political desires would you Barry? That wouldn't be very new politics would it?

I lived for a time in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, without doubt one of the loveliest areas in the country. Pastoral, academic, ringed by the Holyoke Range, it is home to five colleges including Amherst, Smith, and the University of Massachusetts. It is also a sheltering home to an active LGBT community. As a Jew I am always reading the social barometers of tolerance in the communities in which I reside. In my opinion, the LGBT community is the most easily marginalized in America. Assailed from all sides of American society, any community with an active and tolerated gay population is one in which I am happy to live, and one I feel safe in. If the gay community is accepted, so am I. Where gays are marginalized, pushed to the fringes, driven underground, or outright attacked, there is trouble for all minorities, be they religious, cultural, or racial. The LGBT community is under attack by the leadership of the Democratic Party. Do you feel safe? With this kind of leadership at the DNC I certainly don't.

Citizen Crain reports that in a March deposition regarding a discrimination suit filed by Donald Hitchcock, Howard Dean testified that Donna Brazile put up strong objections to a gay Democrat proposal to include LGBT delegates to the the Party's affirmative action rules (noted by Harold Ickes on May 31, 2008 as being the only thing more sacrosanct than fair reflection to the Party's delegate distribution rules).

The Washington Blade reported:


Dean said some 'influential individuals' within the DNC Black Caucus, such as Donna Brazile, opposed the plan because it was seen as "an affront to the civil rights movement." Dean said the dispute grew to the point where "we had two very important groups of people in the DNC disagreeing with each other" and several DNC and caucus officials were asked to broker a deal that would make peace on the issue.

"I wanted equal representation for gay and lesbian Americans," he said, "and I wanted to achieve it in a way that wasn't offensive to the history of the civil rights movement."
Other case documents suggest Leah Daughtry, Dean's chief of staff and coordinator of the party's upcoming convention in Denver, also opposed Shay's proposal. Dean, however, said he couldn't recall her position.

Would someone please explain how standing up for equal protection for gays is an afront to the civil rights movement? Equal protection under the Constitution for all people is the definition of civil rights in America. There is only one reason why anyone would hold this sick, twisted, hypocritical view: Homophobia. And where does Leah Daughtry stand on this issue?

Though Dean stated that Daughtry's role in these discussions was simply to mediate, the fact is that her personal religious values make me more confident in the Kiwi bird's ability to fly than Leah Daughtry's ability to be an impartial mediator in any party business involving the LGBT community.

Again from the Washington Blade:

Leah Daughtry, the Democratic National Committee's chief of staff, opposes same-sex marriage, according to transcripts of her deposition in the Hitchcock lawsuit.

"I believe, as the church believes, that marriage is intended for one man and one woman," Daughtry said in transcripts obtained by the Blade this week.

Despite her stance, Daughtry noted in the transcripts that she has not advised Dean to oppose same-sex marriage.

Daughtry is a Pentecostal minister to a small congregation in Washington. She has said that she speaks in tongues and considers the practice "a gift given by God."

According to the transcript, she denied that her religious beliefs impact her work at the DNC.

Uh-huh.

The obvious rift between African American and LGBT Democrats is the Party's dirty little secret, or not really secret; it's just not being widely reported by the MSM who, at least up to now in this election cycle, have staked their collective professional reputation on kissing Barack Obama's ring.

Leah Daughtry also has one more dirty little connection in her roll as DNC puppet master. Newsweek reports that in 1997, family friend Alexis Herman, hired Daughtry as her chief of staff. Herman was the Secretary of Labor at the time. You remember Alexis Herman don't you? She co-chaired the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on May 31, 2008. Isn't that special?

This coup runs deep, and the powerplay doesn't even let the LGBT community reside under the bus. The marginalization of this large, politically active, and financially generous segment of the Democratic Party, by what must be Donna's new coalition, puts all of us in jeopardy. They have taken it upon themselves to determine who will fall under the umbrella of the Equal Protections Clause.

This is Donald Hitchcock's statement regarding his suit:

"As a lifelong, loyal Democrat I am filing this complaint against the DNC because the road to social justice sometimes demands that our political family and friends be held accountable when they do not act for the common good.
Respecting the Democrats' opportunity to regain the majority in both Houses of Congress, I remained silent throughout the last year about my illegal termination and subsequent ongoing defamation from the DNC. Prior to filing this lawsuit I tried several times to settle this matter in a reasonable and professional manner, but the DNC refused and continues to attempt to discredit me and my political opinions.

Prior to my position at the DNC, I worked for 10 years advocating for equality for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. When I was recruited by the DNC to serve as the Director of its Gay and Lesbian leadership Council, I was told that my professional and activist background would be helpful to achieving Governor Dean's goals. Once I joined the DNC, however, senior staff made it clear that they had no interest in LGBT equality. Instead, Democratic LGBT constituents and employees are treated as second-class citizens, whom the DNC tries to ignore unless fundraising is involved ?reducing the community to a little more than an ATM. As a DNC employee, I tried to push the organization to treat the LGBT community with greater respect. The DNC ultimately terminated me after my long-term partner criticized the Democrats' lack of a strategy to combat anti-gay ballot measures - a critique made without my input and which the DNC recently admitted was accurate.

It is clear that the DNC fundraisers have no intention of ceasing their personal attacks against me. Their goal is to keep LGBT money flowing to the DNC, no matter what. For some, if truth is not convenient they find it expendable for the cause. They have spent time researching my political and charitable contributions and even claimed publicly that I was not a loyal Democrat since I did not donate a part of my salary back to the party. Social justice is not for sale, nor should it have to be bought.

The LGBT press has rightly criticized the DNC for its failure to recognize and promote basic human rights for the community. Rather than respond to legitimate questions about DNC policy and strategy impacting the LGBT community, the DNC has retaliated against publications and former employees by attacking the messengers personally. The DNC now has fewer openly gay and lesbian members than before the 2004 election. This is not progress.

I expect my party to embody the Democratic values of fairness and honesty. It is important that the DNC be able to acknowledge its failings and live up to its promise to protect the human rights of the LGBT community as we move forward. To help attain this goal, I cannot remain silent on matters of policy and substance."


Let's be clear Just Say No Deal Coalition; it will not be enough to defeat Obama, should his candidacy survive the Democratic National Convention. If Daughtry, Brazile, Herman, and the rest of the new coalition squad continue to maintain power in the party, then PUMAs will have no party to return to, and nothing to build but a third party; a center/left PUMA party that takes on the roll of being the Big Tent that the Democratic Party's affirmative action rules were supposed to make it. What are you prepared to do to take your party back, or build a new one? Start asking yourself. The road is long. The work is hard. The need is urgent. Your liberty is at stake.