Hey Progressives, stop talking and start running
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Much to the delight of the Republican Party, democrats are currently devouring their young. Self-named progressives compare to the Tea Party because of their shared dislike of all things Obama, but calling them “Obama Haters” would be contributing to what is akin to a civil war. A war I no longer want any part of, a war that must be stopped.
If any liberal shows any respect, trust, sympathy or support for the herculean tasks facing President Obama, they are being taunted with terms like, “Obamatrons, Obamabots, Obama-huggers.” A comment I read recently compared Obama to “a baby seal killer”, it was applauded by fellow progressives. Although progressive seems an inappropriate word for me to use in that case.
There is an awful lot of rhetoric and not a lot of action, unless you live in Wisconsin or Michigan and that is because Tea Party backed candidates were elected into office. Now they are spreading their mayhem and getting a belated reaction.
The Tea Party is active within the Republican Party. This political force did not exist in 2008, yet welcomed dozens of Tea Party backed freshmen to the new Congress after the 2010 mid-terms. They are holding Speaker Boehner’s feet to the fire, saying they will run against him in the next primary if he does not listen to their demands. He is listening.
There is still time progressives, stop talking and start running, If you think you are not being heard, force the Democratic Party to listen to you. Get involved, back someone for local or national office, maybe run yourself. If you do, be prepared for people to disagree with you along the way. I know that’s hard to take, but when a fellow democrat counters any of your beliefs, don’t call them names.
It’s a liberal duty to proud of what the right hates, these are the people we should be pissing off, not each other.
FDR in 1936
Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred.
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well I was a bit pissed by the time I said that…er…whatever I said..;-)
Speaking of the term “liberal,” I never run from it. I often refer to myself as a proud liberal. I cannot understand how anyone would be ashamed of the term. Any other political affiliation would seem a bit embarrassing.
I don’t either John. I’m proud of it!
‘Call Me Dave’ Cameron has just moved to the ‘right’ in England (note I say ‘England’ not Great Britain’ or ‘The UK’…well…what’s the UK?..Wales?..yeah…get a life..Scotland?…They wear kilts and eat haggis…so let’s get real…
England is the country that counts.
Cameron is – as are all politicians – an asshole – but…..BUT…he actually went to the right today…
Islam beware…we are THE WORM and we ARE turning….
Bye Liberals….and good riddance.
MY COUNTRY
MY WAY OF LIFE
FUCK OFF MUZZIES
nite….
..and thank you Dave….not that I believe you…but as British Prime Minister you actually said it.
….daft sod…
Hmmmm…Now I’m trying to figure out what this has to do with the post. Our liberals are not England’s liberals so what seems to be the point?
The President said we should hold his feet to the fire. I’ve been vocal about my disagreements with his policies, and more so, his strategy for dealing with the republicans.
They will not be our friends no matter what. No matter how hard we try to “comprimise” which is more like appeasing, they will not support anyone but another deluded obedient republican. My hope is Obama and his staff realize this before we lose more seats in 2012. We’re not going to make inroads with the right. They’re not going to vote for Obama or any other Democrat. Move to the left and get the independents back who sat out in 2010 is the only way.
The way I see it getting the independents back is exactly where he is going. Sit back an watch what a second term with the house swung back will look like.
Joe I agree. The independents are the ones who get you elected in the first place, although I can never understand how a person can swing between democrat and republican in the first place, but the way of Americans politics is not easy to understand.
Holte, the truth of the matter is independents don’t really exist any place other than when you register to vote and you are asked party affiliation. The real divide is between consistent voters and non consistent voters. Consistent voters go to vote every election and total about 37% of the population and out of this bunch most are republicans and elderly. Then you have 63% of the population who are inconsistent voters, they may vote for in the presidential election only or they may not vote at all….they have no real party loyalty.
Independents don’t swing…its when they are asked by a pollster what their political affiliation is they say “Independent” because that is the label for the box they checked at the local county clerks office.
People who claim to be undecided are usually so because they do not want to answer the nosy pollsters question.
Bamboo, that is only partially true. I am a precinct chair and I get county voter records after every election.
In Texas you don’t actually declare as D or R. By voting in a primary or signing petition in lieu of filing fee for a candidate you commit for that cycle.
I see solid Ds and solid Rs that vote in every primary and general election and probably vote straight ticket in the general. Then there are soft Ds and RS that don’t always vote in either the primaries or generals but generally follow party lines when voting.
There are still others that cross from one party to the other in the primaries and I assume do the same in the generals.
There are ideed indendent voters and at least in this county they make up about 10-15% of the general election voters.
I may not like everything that Obama does, or has to do under the circumstance of being the head of one branch of government in a two party system, but I like most of what he does. In contrast, I could’t stand the majority of what GWB did when he was in office. There’s a song–how does it go–You can’t always get what you want… Personally I have been shocked to see the level of vehemence coming from people on the far left towards Obama. If anything it has convinced me that I am not as liberal as I thought I was, at least not the kind of liberal who feels let down and embittered because Obama hasn’t delivered a liberal paradise on earth. BTW he never promised that. If Obama and all future deems were to take a hard left into Kucinich territory we would definitely have a long lasting conservative paradise to frolic about in.
Well said, Holte.
These Hard Lefties call themselves Progressives. They are the neo-libs. The left equivalent of the right’s neo-con. They are the extreme fringe of the party. Fortunately they make up a tiny, tiny minority of the party at large, 80% of whom support the president, so I really don’t think twice about them until they call me names, and when they do I unfriend and block them from Facebook. No worse fate 🙂 🙂
Seems a little extreme, Mike. We all become very passionate when discussing politics. I have had people call me horrible things and I just let it roll off my back, much like a marble would roll of a duck’s back. I tend to burn my bridges, but only by sharing my honest opinion or by satirizing an opposing view. I never set my bridge on fire with a match, which is akin to de-friending someone on that awful website called Face Book.
John I also have no problem with a spirited discussion. But I have a problem if you call me a mother-fucker. Do that and I unfriend you. It has happened. So do you still that “extreme?” 🙂
I don’t know, Mike. I am called everything under the sun. I am called “liar,” “hypocrit,” “moron,” “wanker,” and probably a tub of other lovely terms I am not thinking of at the moment. I simply don’t usually get offended (at least not yet). I see those who do this are expressing passion the way they do it, which is a tad lower-toned than some others.
I was very recently accused of being a republican, which is the worst think the liberal could think to call me, and it offended me slightly, but I still speak to him (he does not speak to me anymore, I believe, but I ignore that fact). Another liberal implied that I a neo-con. I still speak to him. I just don’t get all that worked up over the passion of bloggers. Maybe I should.
No one can de-friend me. I don’t use Face Book. I feel invincible.
Too bad you don’t use Facebook. It is an extraordinary forum for discussion and provides an excellent opportunity for individuals all over the world to come together. It is also an excellent resource and repository for information.
Thanks for your support C.H. it means a lot.
I realize that President Obama is the president of the US not the President of the Democratic party. Therefore he will be forced to make decisions on what is best for the US and not just what liberals want.
With that said I wish he had gone a different direction in a few of his decisions. But given the choices of a republican, conservative, god and rich people president; a never give an inch liberal that has a snowballs chance of ever serving as president and a liberal that governs to the center, I will take the third choice everytime.
If you are a true liberal in today’s world a second term of this president is the only prudent choice. That and getting the house back.
Well said bsranch. Well said indeed.
You can’t beat fucking but you can beat a liberal….er…sorry…didn’t mean to sound violent…;-)
And why should I not be disgusted with the “Obama Haters”? Obama exceeded expectations, he is hated. If he is just right, he is hated. He fails, he is hated. They knew EXACTLY what would happen if they put Republicans in power and they did it anyways. How do you expect us to reconcile with them when they don’t have anything to stand for? The only difference between them and the teabaggers is that they are less likely to commit terrorists acts and commit mass treason.
You can be disgusted with them and their provocative behavior Eddie, but I implore you to not join in with the name calling.
Can you offer me any proof that those firebaggers can be reasoned with? Traded with? That they considered people like me at least less than a threat than teabaggers?
No I can’t offer you nothing Eddie, you, like me, must do all the offering. The only way to deal with unreasonable people is to be reasonable ad infinitum. At least they might say “I don’t agree with Eddie, but he is reasonable.”
Than what, my dear sir, would be the f-ing point? With friends like these, who need enemies?
Didn’t say you had to be friends with them Eddie, just reasonable. But you do have a point.
Lets deal with something a little more real….
Lets see, a majority of Americans believe that the wealthy should be taxed more and President Obama agrees but the DEMOCRATS in the senate could not pull it off…
So the President signs a bill into law that he did not support and the people did not agree to because that is what the democrats in the senate offered (oh, and here is an extension of unemployment benefits which will increase the deficit but thats okay because we will be cutting the deficit next year)
Now, either that was some great political theatre on the part of Obama or the democratic party does not support the President. Take your pick….I doubt if it was theatre on the part of the President as he added it to his budget plans again.
If the Progressives were to become an independent political force much like the Tea Party you assume that the democratic party would embrace this movement as the Republicans embraced the Tea Party.
Quite a niave assumption to make considering that corporate money supported the Tea Party and the Republican Party and thus since everyone was eating from the same trough it was relatively easy to force them to get along.
In the case of a Progressive movement, which would have no corporate support joining up with the Democratic Party, which eats from the same trough as the Tea Party and the Republican Party, isn’t ever going to happen.
So now what do you do?
Any Progressive inroads into the national agenda, must be made through the Democratic Party’s existing infrastructure. There is no other (quick) way. You are making a few assumptions of your own suggesting I am naive. Thanks for stopping by Tao.
Actually, I asked you a question that was posed to me last night at the first organizational meeting the democrats had with for the local university students to begin Obama 2012.
I couldn’t answer the question…and I seriously doubt, that these idealistic young people are going to work within the system as you implore. If history is any judge they will either sit out or support a third party candidate.
No Holte, I didn’t claim you were naive but I do thank you for your last sentence.
The Tea Party have young idealists too, whatever their age, they have given the Republican establishment a good shaking and will probably take it over by 2012, even though their thinking is nowhere near majority approved. The tyranny of the minority.
Progressives/Liberals have got to get off their backsides and do something, it’s the only way. We are talking our way into oblivion.
Thank you for the response….
Nobody is more disappointed with Obama more than I am, more disappointed with the first two years when we had both Houses of Congress. The progressives need to choose a candidate and fight for him or her and stop stop picking a fight with other democrats who still support Obama.
I don’t understand some progressives (which is simply a liberal by another name). You want to run someone against a president who is almost certain to win? You want the incumbent to spend his time fighting off an opponent who is trashing his record, something the Republicans will be doing every five minutes?
I’ve heard the following names bandied about: Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. You’re kidding right. They are to the Left what Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are to the Right.
Let me put it this way, if, during WWII, General Patton decided to fight Montgomery (they hated each other) how well do you think they would have done against the real enemy…the Germans? If Hitler hadn’t elected to invade Russia he may well have won the East, but he was foolish and decided to fight an enemy on two fronts. A sure loser.
The point is to win! Do the progressives understand that? Do they hate the president so much that they will sacrifice the whole election so they can run a sure loser like Ron Paul?