I actually can't believe that I am the one saying this, but some of you fellow lefties are off your nut.
I recently took the Political Compass quiz. Needless to say, I was to the left of Lenin and Ghandi both. I am an atheist, vegetarian, pro-choice, pro environment, anti-discrimination, semi-socialist who believes that all of life's basic needs should be communally shared... wants are negotiable.
For every thousand citizens there are probably 999 who disagree with me on one or more of my values.
Yet, I openly campaigned and was a state delegate for Senator Obama in Washington.
What gives? Why did I sell my soul to The Man?
I'll tell you why. It is because I understand what being in the minority means. I've lived my life there. I understand how I need to persuade and compromise to make inroads. I know that law never changes minds and that it takes people to make a popular movement for change.
Have we forgotten here the Art of Persuasion?
Some of you may know that I came here as a Kucinich supporter (Elise... sorry to name names). I was two steps away from a purity troll.
I did not choose that path. My tail was kicked by the Bush Administration. I voted for Nader in '96 as a protest vote after campaigning for Clinton in '92. I also voted for Nader in 2000 in Washington (a safe state, in my defense... I would have voted for Gore if it was close here... runs and hides from dirty looks). I also marched against the War in Iraq along with my children and tens of thousands of other Seattlites.
We know what happened. My efforts were little more than a fart in the wind.
So, I've spent some time remembering what made me so mad at the Democrats in the first place. I remember feeling let down during the Clinton Administration, reading Alexander Cockburn and Christopher Hitchens, thinking that the Clintons were merely corporate pawns. Nader and Chomsky were there, and the horrible foreign policy debacles of generations throughout the world.
But I couldn't help but notice that things under Bush were still dramatically worse. The Reagan years had been awful as well. Were the Clinton years better?
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Please burn that year into your memory. 1994 was the year that the Democrats lost. Bill Clinton ran in 1992 and 1996 and won. But 1994 was the year that the Republicans took control of this Nation.
The Clinton years were only marginally better than the Reagan or Bush years because the Democratic Congress of 1994 had become a corrupt institution which needed to be hit with a giant weedwacker. Ross Perot and 20 years of Republican organizing provided the machinery. This was the Congress of Foley, Rostenkowski, Traficant. If I were to take those 3 characters and run them though the Political Compass they would be marked somewhere within the Republican framework. Good politicians also fell to the weedwacker, but such is the nature of political machinery.
Back to my point though -- the Bush years made me see the Clintons in a new light. I stopped hating them. When I stopped lurking and joined in the discussions here as a marginal Kucinich supporter looking for a credible candidate I understood that I would vote for Hillary if she became the nominee on this basis. I didn't want her to be the nominee, but I would accept her, even help her.
I know that things turned out more to my liking. I watched debates, switched back and forth between going for the pure Kuc, the emotive Edwards, or the inspiring Obama. I could see the winning horse by December and went with it. I am not so pure.
So, I guess that this is a rambling message for all of those out there who are pretending to be all too pure. Knock it the fuck off. There is a pen which is called History (and often Herstory) which will not judge you kindly. This is that moment, this is our time, to turn the page of Republican rule.
Bush once declared that the Constitution was a Goddamn piece of paper!
Never forget.
P.S.: I am on vacation with a poor internet connection. I wrote this diary two days ago and hoped to improve on it. In light of recent insanity I feel the need to post it mostly as is. If I do not respond to your pure concerns promptly, please think of this picture from the last time I was at Ocean Shores:
P.P.S.: For those raw Obama supporters who want to pretend that President Obama will someday walk on water: