I'm not gonna name names, because there are too many to mention, but I keep seeing comments that often start with "I'll vote for Obama in 2012 no matter what ___________"
Why would you say such a thing?
Do you understand the ramifications of that?
Obama is already President. He already got your vote. He knows you're not going to vote for a Republican.
You have almost ZERO power. Almost zero. You have no money, you have no lobbyists, you have no "friends" and "esteemed colleagues" on either side of the aisle. You are almost completely irrelevant.
So putting these words in writing -- "I will support Obama in 2012" just means that they can take you for granted. 100%. And they will.
You have just handed over to them what tiny political power you still have.
This is politics. Why is it so many people don't seem to understand that politics is about power?
You can whine about Obama all you want. You can gnash your teeth, blame anyone and everyone, tear your hair, wail out to the Gods on every single Recommended Dairy List from now until 2012 and nobody will care. That is not power. That is noise.
The only power we have left is that we don't have to keep Obama for the next 7 years.
That is a simple fact. We need to make it ABUNDANTLY CLEAR to the Obama administration that their job security is in jeopardy. We will not tolerate another term of this.
We don't have to, so why would we?
Saying you'll vote for Obama in 2012 no matter what is EXACTLY like saying to your spouse "Well, I guess if you cheat on me, I wouldn't leave you. I'd forgive you". And your spouse is a MAN who is out of town a LOT. A man with looks, prestige and money.
It's exactly like that.!
The only power we have is the threat of removal from office.
So let's put it to use.
"I'm okay with 7 more years of Obama ONLY IF______________. If not, then here's ________ who will replace him. "
I know there are some people here who are just thrilled with Obama. I ran into a commentor yesterday who said Obama had been good for "his portfolio". Oh great. Dems are supposed to be the party that puts people ahead of property. To me, that's an asshole Republican -- "my portfolio is fine, to hell with everything and everybody else, people can be dropping dead in the streets so what?". So whatever, there will be people here who support Obama no matter what and are willing to tell him they'll forgive him no matter what he does because they love him sooo much!
But the rest of us? The ones who live in the real world? We have to start using our power.
Let's primary Obama in 2012. Let's start now.
With whom? I suggest Dean.
UPDATE:
You people amaze me, for the most part. Aside from people who are here only to troll this essay, there are others who speak of preemptive defeat for anything we might do. Admit they have no power. This boggles my mind.
Have you guys read this from Alternet? You probably should!
Are Americans a Broken People? Why We've Stopped Fighting Back Against the Forces of Oppression
A psychologist asks: Have consumerism, suburbanization and a malevolent corporate-government partnership so beaten us down that we no longer have the will to save ourselves?
Can people become so broken that truths of how they are being screwed do not "set them free" but instead further demoralize them? Has such a demoralization happened in the United States?
Do some totalitarians actually want us to hear how we have been screwed because they know that humiliating passivity in the face of obvious oppression will demoralize us even further?
What forces have created a demoralized, passive, dis-couraged U.S. population?
Can anything be done to turn this around?
That's what I see at work here.
Do you really want 7 more years of Obama?
Really?
Why?
Here's another great piece I found tonight. I wish I'd written it:
Obama no longer fooling the Left
He's not fooling me anymore, either, so I guess that makes me the "left". I used to think I was a common sense moderate, but the world has shifted massively right-wards.