(Some great food for thought. - promoted by RDemocrat)
Lately there has been a spate of diaries at such web sites as FireDogLake and "Open" Left wherein lay members - typically under attack from site moderators, who act as Democratic Party hacks and gatekeepers - have sought ways to bring back the Progressive Party, or join the Greens, or build up some other institution, that will allow progressives to act together as a cohesive political unit. (I posted an entry there myself, only to end up being attacked by site moderators, threatened with banishment, and ultimately banned when I refused to back down against their incessant bullying.)
(It may have come to that. Great diary!! - promoted by RDemocrat)
At what point do progressives stop being Democrats' whipped dogs and start acting like a movement capable of putting the Dems in their proper place as the party of the people? David Sirota wrote today about Obama's latest call to increase war spending beyond its already ludicrous proportions.
How many of the extreme right-wing and criminal policies of Bush-Cheney has Obama adopted? How many of those extreme right-wing policies has he exceeded? Last month, knowledge that Obama has gone a step further than Bush, authorizing the executive branch to murder American citizens on the flimsiest of rationales. This sh__ has GOT to end.
I keep hearing from the President and other party leaders how our country needs to get past "partisanship". Well, sometimes it is a very good thing to work together and try to agree but the times we live in do not call for that particular solution. Yes folks, what we need right now is a good round of ugly, nasty, bitter partisanship to achieve progress for the working class.
We are used to always hearing about some idiotic drivel coming from Glenn Beck. It has become quite customary for him to insult the intelligence of the American people and even the mindless drones who believe him who have no intelligence on a regular basis. Now, not only does he show his complete and total ignorance on the mindset of President Obama, but he is comparing Progressives in this country to Marxists.
Barack Obama inherited one of the biggest messes in the history of the
United States of America. Two wars and a collapsed economy, just to
mention a few. When Barack Obama was running for President he said
change wouldn't come easy and he would need help. So what have we done
to help him and cover his back? I ask this question because I've
watched the progressive community allow the Tea Party folks to own the
streets and take over the Town-Hall meetings during the spring, summer
and fall of 2009. I was on the streets and at Town-Hall meetings to see
this first hand. Not only did I see it, Mike Watt and I shot photos and
videos of these events and Richard Dillon wrote about them eloquently.
We are all used to Fox News spouting lies and propoganda to brainwash the masses. As such this story should come as no surprise. Now, I am no Obama apolegist but some of the things he does is blown out of proportion and reported to the masses that watch Fox News as fact. Nowhere is this more evident than one of the actually good things he has done, assessed a tax on banks to recoup the taxpayer money given to them.
In keeping with the theme of the last couple of decades it appears as if the very rich and Corporate America will not be asked to sacrifice a damn thing to cure the ills of this country. As always, our government is bought and paid for and the working class are the only folks who will be expected to foot any bill. These newest developments have made what was going to be a horrible bill much worse.
Could it be the Democratic Party is the Party of no real values?
Why does the Democratic Party seek input from Republicans that are Hell bent on destroying them?
Does the Democratic Party really expect Progressives to be fired up and ready to go when the 2010 elections roll around?
What happened to "Don't ask don't tell?"
Was the 2008 election nothing but a political "Bait and Switch?"
Does the Democratic Party really believe Progressives will forget what was promised in 2008 and not remember what was delivered in 2009 and 2010?
I could go on forever with questions like these, but I think you get my drift. Am I fired up and ready to go? No, I'm fired up and pissed off! Feel free to ask your questions in comment section below.
Congress and the Senate in particular are on the verge of cramming a mandate that I buy insurance from Corporate Crooks using taxpayer money that they do not deserve. Once again Progressives and those who really needed real reform the most have been stabbed in the back. We got used to it under the Republican Congress and President George W. Bush but it is a particularly poison pill to swallow under a Democratic Congress and President I gave so much money and effort to.
It is no secret to many of us that this country has needed a Progressive direction to correct many of the problems it faces for some time now. I was born in 1970 and have seen exactly three Democratic Presidents in my life. The damage done by Conservative Presidents has been disasterous, and the Democrats elected have seemed to only keep us running around in circles while no real change is imminent to repair the damage.
Across the nation many Progressives have been disillusioned with the leadership shown by President Obama on Healthcare. As a former single-payer proponent himself we simply hoped that he would fight harder for a better bill. Instead, he allowed the Congress to mostly write the healthcare bill and far from gave a ringing endorsement to a more Progressive direction. Many of us also feel this timidness also lost the momentum in a critical time for the debate.
With a lot of the things that are going on in the Senate Finance Committee I have been as upset with some Democrats as with the Republicans. I strongly believe that when leaders in our party do things that are irresponsible we cannot simply fall in behind it because they are Democrats. With that being said there have been some Progressive Democrats that we should be proud of this week.
The Baucus compromise and its released seemed to finally reach the "bi-partisanship" it sought. However, it did it in a way not meant. It seems as if the Republicans it catered to and liberals both hate it equally as much. Jay Rockefeller, long time Senator from a recently red state led the opposition by Democrats quite vocally. However, despite not having a single Republican vote the consensus was that liberals would once again compromise their values in the name of getting something done.
During the Presidential campaign many Progressives were definately inspired by a new, potentially historical candidate. You really cannot blame anyone for being inspired by the life story and the charisma of a candidate who could speak, was intelligent, and inspired millions to join the process they had become so tired and suspicious of. However, the rhetoric was there then, and now Progressives are starting to be disappointed in the candidate that inspired them as the reality sets in that he is indeed a centrist.
With the Senate and Max Baucus appearing to be ready to "compromise" and the White House leaving it hanging in the air whether they will fight for a public option the hope of Progressives and those who desperately need real reform falls to Progressives in the House. While I hope the President will come out swinging for a Public Option tonight, all early report are that he will not. However, that does not leave the idea without its defenders.
Boy, leave it to the "leaders" in our party. First, many of them are beholden to the same special interests that the Republicans are. Then, through a massive uprising by Progressives in the last two election cycles we gave them the huge majorities that needed to effect real change. However, with all this going for them it seems that as soon as a bunch of sore-loser lunatics show up at townhall meeting to spew nonsensical arguments fowarded by such trailer-trash as Sarah Palin, and oxycontin-addicted hypocrites like Rush Limbaugh, who needs Viagara to be a man our leaders are ready to pull the chicken-switch yet again.
Soon after being elected it seemed Barack Obama had all the political capital in the world. He used a lot of it to get the measures through to deal with the Republican crashed economy. While that effort is still on-going there are signs that the stimulus has indeed started working as the economy slowly tries to correct itself. However, where the most political capital is needed is on the urgent issue of Healthcare Reform.
The compromise in the House is not real Healthcare reform. Although our country desperately needs Healthcare reform just supporting any bill offered is not progress. After Corporate Democrats and Republicans have gotten a hold of the bills in the House and Senate they are so watered down that they will not be anything that will do much good.
Well, the bad news on real Healthcare reform is that no compromise has been reached on the Healthcare Bill in the Senate or the House. The good news is that no compromise has been reached on the Healthcare Bill in the Senate or the House. In the Senate, we have Corporate Democrats negotiating with Republicans to kill real reforms and in the House we have the horribly disgusting and traitorous Blue Dogs who are determined to kill real reforms.
