Since I joined dailykos, I have mostly lurked. I usually read the diary titles at least once a day, and usually I read a few diaries. But mostly, I haven't particpated because I do not call myself a democrat. I have many things in common with the progressives here, but I quit being a democrat when I watched Bill Clinton turn into a moderate republican early in his presidency. There was no question, of course of being a republican, having been an ignorant conservative from birth, but having the veil removed with a little liberal arts education.
I have only been compelled to write diaries a few times. Today I am compelled.
What happens now? That's what I want to know. How far are progressives willing to go to regain a constitutional republic? Is that what progressives truly want, anyway? Many here have already made the assertion that we are now in a battle for the future form of government of this country. Will we continue on the trajectory that will take us to empire and destruction, or will we reject imperial ambitions for a more Jeffersonian ideal--the ideal that gets smeared as "isolationism." Is this an either/or fallacy (Of course it is)?
Will we live in a society where the Bill of Rights is defended and provides protections for its weakest members , or will we cower under a tyrannical system that projects the illusion of democracy and freedom while it enslaves and exploits its subjects? Either/or fallacy? Hmmm.
I ask these questions, because I am seeing all my fellow travellers around here in so much pain, anguish, and rage over the democratic cowardice/corruption we've witnessed in the last two days. This is how I felt over a decade ago when I began to realize how much of a lie/sham/puppet show federal politics was. Disillusionment. Cynicism. I have engaged in both for over a decade as it concerns politics.
But what's underneath all the anger? I've read and been told that anger is a masking emotion. Usually it is a mask for fear. So if all the rage I'm seeing around here is a mask, then perhaps many kossers are now afraid at the core that it is too late to do anything about the nightmare we are witnessing.
And why not be afraid? We are facing the destruction of U.S. society/government as we have all known it in our lives. I happen to think the destruction has been underway for decades, as evidenced by the debasing of the currency, the destruction of unions and the manufacturing base--which means the destruction of the middle class (thanks Ronnie), the militarization of the society and glorification of and desensitization to violence (hello Rambo), the willingness to bomb the shit out of other countries or send the CIA out to murder in our name, and many other trends that have been underway for decades.
Fear is a valuable tool. It forces us to take action. Despite what the ignorami on the right wish to think about science, we are all wired up with nervous systems that use fear to protect us. My nervous system has been screaming for over a decade that danger is coming. I can see that people around here are getting a good dose of fear (if my premise that anger is a mask for fear), though it's a healthy fear of what lunatics like Bush might do, as opposed to what lunatics like bin Laden might do.
But back to the question. How far are progressives willing to go to to re-establish the rule of law? And how does it get done? Some possibilities:
- Form a new party whose sole aims are to end U.S. militarism, which will include the end of all interventionist adventures (which is as Jeffersonian as you can get, imo), and to destroy the military industrial complex.
- Do nothing--continue to support the current democratic sham
- Put up local candidates against the enablers in 2008 (only six months away)
- Foment revolution/insurrection/civil war based on the "when in the course of human events" preamble of declaration of independence.
- Withdraw from national politics and work only at local and state levels.
- Commit suicide.
- Form a new party that takes on every (or merely some of the) progressive goal, including the anti-militarist aims.
- Withdraw from all politics, period.
These are some possibilities. But which one/ones are really going to have any outcomes we can be happy about.
This is far from exhaustive, and as I teach my students, either/or fallacies are the easiest to spot. The possibilities of how to proceed are myriad and complex, and I don't have the gray matter to develop them all.
The purpose of this diary, by the way, was merely to lance the pus-filled boil that comes up in my psyche sometimes when I let myself care about national politics. I hesitate to post it, as it is rambling and disordered. Nevertheless...