"Zen is being zero or one-hundred percent"
- Old Zen Proverb
"God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time."
- Abraham Lincoln
"United we stand. Divided we fall."
-Aesop
Lately, the DKos community has been unraveling. It has become near impossible to find consensus around here on major issues. Indeed, we cannot even agree if we have a good president or not. As a consequence, too much of our time and energy is now being used up debating each other. The left, as a whole, is disbanding. This community, as a whole, is disbanding. Under the Bush regime, it was easy for us to unite against a common enemy. Under Obama, we find that we are as torn and divided as the rest of the country is. The bottom line is this; The Daily Kos community needs to get its shit together and it needs to do it soon.
Everyone here understands a community that is divided against itself cannot stand. The reality is that for all our great intentions and aspirations, we are ineffective and useless if we cannot work together towards a common cause. The worst thing that could happen to the progressive community is that it destroys itself while trying to make the world a better place. If that's all we accomplish, then we as a community have failed collectively.
The way out of this quagmire is to once again become united. And, to become united, we must decide who we are. Decisions need to be made, once and for all, about where we as a community stand and what we are willing to tolerate. Perhaps most important of all, we need to make decisions about this president and about this party.
Do we support President Obama, or do we not?
Do we support Democrats, or do we not?
These are two areas where we cannot be on the fence. Indeed, if we cannot form a consensus on these two fundamental areas, then perhaps the progressive community needs to be disbanded and split into two opposing groups; cheerleaders and purists.
It's a question of values
The thing we are essentially split over is our hierarchy of values. In life, our decisions shape our destiny. It is through the decisions we make that define who we are and what we stand for. To make a decision, each one of us looks inward to our own personal hierarchy of values. We ask ourselves questions like, "What is more important to me? Family or Work? Time with my kids or money for their security?" As a nation, we look to our hierarchy of values by asking, "Which is more important? Civil Liberties or protection and security?" It is the values we choose over other values that define who we are as a people, as a nation and as a community.
We can all agree that the values of integrity and loyalty are important values to have. But what happens when these values are in opposition to one another? What happens when we have to choose one over the other? This is essentially the dilemma that the Daily Kos community finds itself in.
Let me explain...
If we choose loyalty over integrity, that means we unite behind this president and this party and increase our chances that some of the progressive agenda will get accomplished. However, this virtually guarantees that the party won't change very much over time. As Rahm Emanuel pointed out, "Fuck the Progressives. Who else are they going to vote for?" It also means that the progressive agenda will be compromised.
If we choose integrity over loyalty, then we trash this president and party when they don't do what we want. This ensures that our agenda remains intact, but it erodes the power the left has against the right. Indeed, this course of action will likely increase the right's power. But, it is also likely the Democratic Party will adjust itself (over time) to better serve their progressive caucus.
Neither position is ideal. There are pros and cons to each. But to not make the decision and stay stuck in the middle is the worst possible thing we can do. We need to decide where we stand.
So, I ask this community to stop fucking around and simply make a decision. Which do we value more? Integrity or Loyalty? Are we with this president and party even though it compromises our agenda or are we against this president and party for the sake of keeping our agenda intact (but weakening the left and giving power to the right)?
There is no "right" choice here, but we need to decide. So, let's vote on it. Please.
I'd like this diary to get as much exposure as possible so that we can see the poll results from more than just a few dozen members. Ideally, it would be nice if we could get over 1000 votes on the poll, so please tip and rec this so that it gets on the rec list.
Thanks and thanks for reading.
p.s. Just for the record, neither the cheerleaders or the purists can claim they are 100% factually correct. So don't give me that argument because it simply isn't true. Obama and the Democrats have made mistakes. It is also true they have tried to fight for some progressive causes. I think most members here would agree with both those statements. It's not about facts. It's about values. Which is more important, loyalty or integrity?