Allow me, for a moment to put on a referee uniform, college football uni will be fine, I don’t like the new NFL uni’s, too metro for me, to offer some words of advise and guidance to both the radical left and the newly elected Democratic Majority in Congress…
Don’t Shit Where You Eat…both of you.
First off, let’s look at what happened, and has probably already been diaried extensively, this week.
When Cindy Sheehan and her group interrupted the press conference on Ethics Reform held by the new House Democratic Majority, two very important and destructive things happened: 1. It made the new leadership look weak in the face of an unruly audience, and 2. It reinforced the idea held by many in the current power structure that we on the far left (netroots, grassroots, whatever roots you want to call them) are more interested in being “Loud and Proud” than working with or even allowing the new powers that be to come forward with an action plan.
A day before the new Congress is even sworn in, and the people who share many of the same goals as the new majority punks said new majority. WHAT THE FUCK?
Yes the last election was about Iraq, but Iraq is just one part of the total equation. Iraq is the most visible example of government working outside the will of the people; something that ethics reform and other priorities of this new majority seek to stop. Can we not all agree to give this new Congress a chance to do something before we pile on and join the chorus of Right Wing Noise Machine in calling them a failure?
Yesterday, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid issued a letter to President Bush calling for the end of the war in Iraq. Will it be ignored? You bet your ass it will, but it’s the first step. Please, keep holding our representatives’ feet to the fire, but don’t punk them out publicly. You gain more credibility and influence by working together than working against each other. Chill out and give them a chance.
Now for the other side of the ball…
Guys, seriously, it’s been two months since you won the election. Bush and the media have been talking about a surge since Thanksgiving. How the fuck long does it take to put a letter together saying “Think again, buster”? You guys partially brought this on yourselves. I know it’s been hectic and all that, and I know it has taken some time to put together your “100 hour” plan, but really, a letter stating your opposition to this could have come just before Christmas.
Maybe you guys were waiting for Congress to resume so you could put your new titles on the letter, thus giving it more impact in the media. Maybe you were checking in with your new caucus, making sure you didn’t over-reach like you did with the Murtha thing. I don’t know the answers to this, but getting on the ball ain’t rocket science. Take the Bush by the horns for fucks sake.
I know that this thing probably just reinforced the long held idea that the far left is really your enemy. We’re not, but we’re unruly and have little patience for “process”, much to our own disservice, but you guys are our best hope for some clarity and sanity in the federal legislature. More importantly, don’t let 40 shouting people paint the picture for the hundreds of thousands of us that generally support you, while wishing that you would act more swiftly and with more resolve. Keep us in the loop and we will help you in the long run, isolate us, and we’re your biggest problem.
Here’s the deal people…we need each other. Like it or not, we do. We need the “roots” people for their insight, organizational skills, and the money to get people elected. We need our elected officials because our nation is a REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY, and all the shouting folks in the world won’t get a bill written and passed. We need each other, so let’s start working together.
Otherwise, we both fail.
So to both sides of this first skirmish in a long list of probable skirmishes I humbly ask both sides, “Don’t shit where you eat, you may not like what you find on your plate. “