The effete might recognize my line from an academic book called Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government, a great book that's about Republics in the sense Josh is into, not the party of Dobson.  The source is less important than the sentiment, however. What our truckdriver and Petit both recognize is that domination tends to be a matter of common knowledge among parties involved, not some secret only Democrats are privy to.  And it offends everyone's sense of fairness.  

So what if we start talking about it? And talking about it that gets to the core of liberty that we Americans value?  

The principle extends to foreign policy.  When respecting people's freedom means deploring domination above all else, we're in a position both to deplore Saddam Hussein and deplore American occupation of Iraq.  And we're in a position to deplore autocrats and American dependence on Middle Eastern fuel sources as well.  Isn't that a language a whole lot of Americans can speak?  

Is there a useful theme for Democrats here?