As we are winding down this cycle before the primaries start, I have been thinking about the Netroots.
Who are we?
Where do we come from?
What is our agenda?
Really, what is our agenda?
I read an article on Huffington Post that just blew me away, but more importantly it raises questions about the Netroots.
I started blogging because I was just fucking sick and tired of George W. Bush. If you ever want someone to drag a party down, just say his name. And when you see Republicans cringe at his name, you are onto something.
Everyone here has various opinions, but overall, we are supposed to be progressives. Meaning, moving things forward. Demanding change. Making our politicians accountable for any of their decisions. And if we get sick and tired of being, sick and tired, we have the courage to DEMAND CHANGE.
Now, I read this article and it featured our landlord, the notorious, kos. I don't know kos. He seems like someone I can argue with and it is still cool. But this article is taking not only kos, but netroots to its core existence. Who are we? And will we just settle for anything?
"We may decide she's not our first choice, but she's not a bad choice." - Markos Moulitsas, August 4, 2007
It was a surprising thing for Markos, the founder of DailyKos the most widely read political blog, to say. He made that statement just before the candidate forum at YearlyKos in Chicago where Hillary Clinton gave her take on lobbyists. First, by insisting that the money she takes from them doesn't effect her vote- which is the equivalent of saying voters is stupid. And then by defending lobbyists- "A lot of those lobbyists, whether you like or not, represent real Americans," she said. "They represent nurses, social workers and, yes, they represent corporations and they employ a lot of people."
OK. Hillary Clinton is the Democrat for lobbyists. At least we know where she stands on that one.
I was at Yearly Kos and sitting there with a table of Hillary supporters when she dropped that bombshell out of her mouth.
My reaction, stunned. Really. This is a woman who does not say those things in public. Even the supporters at the table were shocked. One stated, "How could she say that?" Well, she did and has no repercussions about it at all. That alone states volumes about Hillary Clinton.
The blogosphere was chatting away at it, but was not a total blast by the front pagers. Sorry, it was not.
And if she is our nominee, don't expect a whole lot of anything in her first term. That has been bought and paid for by the ones donating the most to her campaign, the lobbyists.
Remember, you get what you vote for.
She's also the Democrat who blames the failure in Iraq on the Iraqis, stating that our troops did their job but the Iraqis didn't take advantage of what we had done for them. As if the situation in Iraq can be blamed on anyone other than the people that got us into this war.
I realize Hillary has changed her position significantly on Iraq, if not on the Iraqis. She finally regrets her vote for war (yes, it was a vote for war). But the Netroots is supposed to be about standing for something. This movement, this rejection of politics as usual, rejection of politics by the corporations for the corporations, is supposed to be about something.
That above says a lot about how many feel. How can we nominate a person who voted for this tragedy called, The Iraq War? But more importantly, how can we even not take to task what is happening with Iran and Hillary Clinton's vote for the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment?
Aren't we supposed to be pissed to no ends at these politicians who have voted for this? But more importantly, more vigorously at the ones who do not have the gumption to admit the vote was wrong?
What is going on here? Are we that afraid to actually say NO? Because Hillary Clinton is not representative to most of us. She is not. And this is reflective in her stance in Iowa, one of the early states, versus the national polling. Maybe, the good folk in Iowa can smell bullshit and we just can not. Ummm, that is a thought.
Finally....
A prominent blogger once told me that the Netroots was immune to flattery. He was either lying to me or he was lying to himself. Nobody is immune to flattery. It's not a bad thing when Hillary Clinton shows up at a blogger candidate forum, but it doesn't mean that much. Especially if she's going to stand on stage and defend lobbyists.
Are we sell outs? Really. Are we? Are we sell outs because we believe the inevitable and just want a glimpse of Clinton? Or do we really believe in Hillary Clinton's positions and that she will be the best person to bring our country together.
Well, I don't believe in the hype. I don't. And we have great progressive candidates to choose from, who represent us, who we are. And one of the candidates is definitely not Hillary Rodham Clinton.
But, to cover all assets, we will humbly vote for her if she is the nominee. Won't we? Won't you? Won't me?
And that thought alone, just stinks.