To The Following Supposedly Progressive Organizations:
Bold Progressives: http://boldprogressives.org/
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: http://dccc.org/
Democratic National Committee: http://democrats.org
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: http://www.dscc.org/
DickDurbin.com: http://dickdurbin.com
Elizabeth Warren.com: http://elizabethwarren.com/
Emily's List: http://www.emilyslist.org/
The House Majority PAC: http://www.thehousemajoritypac.com/
People For The American Way: http://www.pfaw.org/
RussFeingold.com: http://russfeingold.com
Searchlight PAC: http://www.searchlightpac.com/
Why are you all still AWOL on the Iran nuclear deal???
REALLY. What is your problem??
I probably get almost a hundred messages a week from you people.
Can you spell spamming?
In the past week, I've received from you messages about breast cancer research, LGBT discrimination, Social Security, Elizabeth Warren, the war on women, Donald Trump, Medicare, ALEC, Jeb Bush, overtime rules, Glass-Steagall, Donald Trump, Planned Parenthood,the Republican debate, Wall Street reform, marriage equality, Donald Trump and, oh yes, Donald Trump.
I am deeply disappointed, in fact outraged, by the contents of your emails this week.
Seven years ago the progressive community galvanized behind Barack Obama, a charismatic and inspiring leader who declared his disgust, disapproval and opposition to the catastrophic folly that was the Iraq War. In the course of that campaign, he declared his intention not only to end our idiotic military invasion and occupation of that country but to also end the mindset of which the Iraq War was the misbegotten monstrous child.
Make no mistake about it: At the beating heart of today’s progressive movement is a profound distaste for, and opposition to, misguided and bloody military engagements, fomented and pushed by toxic political elements like the neo-cons, the America Firsters, the hawk caucus in Congress, etc. etc. That distaste, that opposition, informed the core of the progressive movement that won us back Congress in 2006 and won us back the presidency in 2008.
Having Barack Obama as our president has meant a new era in foreign policy. Not only has he brought most of the troops back from Afghanistan and Iraq. He also managed to get Syria’s Assad to surrender all of his chemical weapons without firing a shot. He has moved toward normalization with countries from whom we have formerly been estranged, like Cuba and Myanmar. He signed a new START nuclear agreement with Russia.
And exactly a week ago today, in what will probably be President Obama’s crowning foreign policy achievement, he announced an agreement on a deal to limit and neuter Iran’s nuclear program.
The direction set by President Obama on foreign policy is one of the most important results of today’s progressive movement. The announcement of the Iranian agreement rivals the passage of ObamaCare in historical importance for progressives.
Which is why all of the above-named organizations who have made for themselves a comfortable home in my inbox have sent messages regarding House Republicans, John Kasich, John Boehner, Keir Gumbs and the Family Research Council.
HUH??? WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?????!!!!!
The pre-eminent progressive issue of our time, war and peace, is now front and center in our nation’s political debate.
Our opponents have wasted no time at all. They have hit the ground running on this. Fifteen minutes after the president announced the agreement at 7AM Eastern, July 14th, Senator Tom Cotton was on Morning Joe denouncing the deal and declaring his intention to lead opposition to it.
So why are you all hiding under the bed?
Why are you being so cowardly?
Why are you not sending messages out to all of your peeps telling them to support this deal, to contact their congressional representatives, to show up at town halls, to write letters to the editor? Why are you not posting pages in support of this deal with the option to share them on Facebook, to retweet the links on Twitter??
It’s time to get off your ass. It’s time to stop being afraid of AIPAC or of Bob Menendez or of Haim Saban. It’s time to do your duty as an organization which pretends to provide support and leadership to the progressive community.
Right now, today, July 21st, 2015, this Iran deal is center-stage for the progressive movement in this country, not breast cancer, not homophobia, not college, not single women, not anything else. It should be center-stage for every progressive organization like yours.
So why are you sending out messages about this reality show host with the bad hair?????????
Right now, there are a grand total of four [now six!] progressive organizations in my Inbox who have shown the guts and the principle to stand in their emails with President Obama, the P5, and the international community, by supporting this historic diplomatic triumph:
Credo Action: http://credoaction.com/
Daily Kos: http://dailykos.com [just added! see below]
Democracy For America: http://www.democracyforamerica.com [DFA just came home as well! see below]
MoveOn.org: http://moveon.org
Progressive Democrats of America: http://pdamerica.org/
U.S. Action: http://usaction.org
This sparse and tiny list are the exceptions that prove the rule. The progressive establishment elite are not getting behind this deal. They are afraid.
They are hiding.
They are taking a dive.
Shame.
Shame.
UPDATE 1: I am pleased to announce that I just received an email from Daily Kos urging support for the Iran deal and providing a means for me to both call my congressional representatives and sign a petition in support. So, to that tiny select group of four organizations I originally listed above who have taken a stand in favor of the deal, I am happy to say that Daily Kos can now be added. Thank you, Daily Kos!!
UPDATE 2: Yet another organization who was hiding under the bed, and who refused to join this fray, has also decided belatedly to do the right thing and fight for this historic and inspiring agreement. That organization is Democracy For America. What is particularly noteworthy here is that DFA was one of the organizations whom I had originally called out for cowardice on this point. So it is a great relief to see them standing up for progressive principles once again. Of course, it is regrettable and disappointing that their home page has not one word on this issue, even as a high-profile congressional debate that gives this issue unparalleled salience is about to get under way. Still, better late than never.
It is not particularly surprising that DFA had an internal tussle before doing the right thing. After all, DFA is headed by Governor Howard Dean's brother, Jim. Governor Dean is employed by MEK, an Iranian exile group similar to the Iraqi exile group headed by Ahmad Chalabi, which was so active in beating the drums for war with Iraq a dozen years ago. And MEK has now joined forces with AIPAC to oppose this deal and work for its defeat. So it's not too hard to imagine that Howard's brother, Jim, found it a little difficult at first to support this deal.
But support this deal Jim has now decided to do. Welcome home, DFA!!!
So the Thirteen Slackers have become the Dirty Dozen.
UPDATE 3: I am very pleased to announce that Organizing for Action joined many other organizations in sending out an email advocating for the Iran deal and announcing a presidential conference call on the issue Thursday night. Of all the so-called progressive organizations who have irresponsibly and cravenly hid under the bed on this issue, I personally found Organizing for America's silence to be the most disgusting. So it was heartening and a relief to see them finally break their silence. They are not completely out of the doghouse on this issue, however; OFA members are busily organizing on their own regarding this issue, yet on those events OFA HQ continues to maintain radio silence. So keep the pressure on, folks.