If there were a central truth to progressive politics it is, perhaps:
Change comes from the bottom, up
So WHY are we still, two years too late, demanding fantastical quick fixes from the top, down on the rec list?
UPDATE, from the Rec listed diary:
I can hardly think
of a bigger waste of time than calling someone like Blanche Lincoln and a lot of these other Senators.
Plus, it divides the response.
Better to contact the White House, focus the response in one area, and pressure the only person who can really make a difference on this issue.
Really? The only person, hm?
FDR's New Deal did not just appear arbitrarily in some political vacuum. Almost the whole Democratic Party plus numerous Republicans were channeling the outright dangerous power of millions of Americans. Dangerous? Yes, the people were dangerous after three decades of radicalism, suffrage, protest and organizing. The political machine had to do the New Deal not because it was the right thing to do, but because it was the only thing to do.
The whole of this country's capitalist population was afraid of the collapse of capitalism. What is the left and the Power-chair Party threatening to destroy today?
The Civil Rights movement did not come from Martin Luther King, Jr. Or even him with Rosa Parks. Or Harry Belafonte. It came from a massive but focused culture where thousands and thousands of black children were willing to be savagely abused and endangered to fight for progress, and their parents willing to walk miles to long, day and night-shifts rather than dignify a racist bus system.
The American people were not a bunch of sputtering, pompous fools. They were desperate, they were less afraid of losing their cozy, suburban existence than they were of losing a tooth-and-nail fight.
Hell yes we should let Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln feel the light of day and the might of right ringing through their inboxes and voicemails.
Hell. Yes.
Every day, the lives of Republicans and conservatives in Congress should be made a living hell not because we are out to persuade them. We are to bombard them into either submission or oblivion.
Beltane made a great comment that I think gets to the heart of why we failed on health care:
If we don't have the time and energy (10+ / 0-)
to fight for change than maybe we shouldn't expect others to make change on our behalf. During the health care debate, for example, every GOP Congressperson should have been met by protesters carrying child size coffins to underscore what a disgusting pack of child-killing monsters these people are. If we let the right-wing off the hook, we should not expect the Democrats to do any different.
In 2012, Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins and a number of other aquitards of progress should get the boot from the progressive movement.
We need think tanks, boots on the ground, congresspeople vowing they are in favor of single-payer, high-speed rail, marraige equality and jobs from the government, directly hired. Yes, we need to pressure the president too. But our focus is too small and too on him.
We need EVERYTHING.
That is what a movement is. It should be focused, yes. But for our nemesis it would look a sandstorm in their eyes.
Now, get out and raise some hell. Make them hate their jobs.
UPDATE on stopping Bush's tax cuts for the rich, from zenbasson's wonderful diary:
But everything depends on what kind of bill the Speaker and Leader bring to the floor.
And I say:
Let them bring a good bill to the floor and let it die. Let Republicans and Blue Dogs vote against it.
And then do NOT allow another bill to be brought.
We have to force their hands. Naomi Klein made a similar declaration in 2009. This is not about hatred or dislike of anyone. It's about making change for the better the only option through a movement.
Check out proseandpromise's diary on Movement Politics