I've been watching for a while, to see where things go after the election.
It's not pretty folks. Not pretty at all.
There is a basic lesson to be learned here, and I don't think enough of us have really looked at the dynamics of things.
We are gonna fucking lose, if we continue down this road as a movement.
There is a WE, in "Yes We Can!"
Obama is not a king. Go ahead, say it. He's also under constant pressure from the GOP, who has a big media advantage.
What do you think will happen when Obama says, "this is the line!", and Congress doesn't play ball? Remember "waterloo?" They want that. They want it big, because they can only build, when they've got something to build against!
This is because the GOP isn't FOR anything at all, other than enrichment of the wealthy, and discrimination against "those other people".
We are for things, and the difference is subtle, but very important.
Truth is, they took a lot of seats, because they want their agenda more than we want ours, and they will do ANYTHING to advance it, because that's how they roll. When a political body is AGAINST things, it's easy to build momentum on the daily frustrations of people, and your basic lies work well, because people want to believe, and when they are angry, it's easy to get them to buy in and believe, even when they know it's probably crap in the end, it feels damn good right now.
Obama doesn't have that on his side, because most of our politics are AGAINST things, not FOR things, and I've believed for some time now, that is by design.
I hear, "if only...", we would have his back!
Really? Seriously?
Have we actually shown that as people? Seems to me, we just haven't, and that's not a attack on anybody, just my observation of the discourse. And what of the Congress? Do they have his back? Are you kidding me?
The only ones that do are the Progressives in Congress, with Nancy Pelosi standing very tall, losing her position over it too.
That's what will happen to Obama, if he goes down that same road, because those GOP fuckers understand how ANTI trumps doing the right thing.
How do we change that?
We've got to build our support, challenge some people, take some seats, and raise the cost of doing the wrong things to the point where it's cheaper to do the right things politically.
Nancy passed the agenda, and stood as a solid Progressive and got shellacked in the media, and booted from her position, and right now, there is a lot of pressure to push her out period.
That is what happens to Progressives who actually push back against the status quo, and it happens because there isn't enough support out there to make that pushback viable.
Reality.
We are not big enough to challenge the corporate politics. We want to be, many of us think we are, and many more still believe that just winning the election and holding higher ground, socially just positions actually means something.
Well, look around. It doesn't. Really. It just doesn't, and it's because the movement isn't large enough.
So, let's change that. Instead of "he promised us", which is bull shit, because he does not write the law, we need to build the support needed to realize those promises, or they will not happen, no matter what Obama says.
Instead of "he's weak", look around at the sheer size of the very ugly, very corporate, very discriminatory forces aligned against progress in general, and realize he's doing what it takes to get SOMETHING, and remain in a position of power necessary to check the worst of it.
Worried about Social Security? I am. Worried about those Tax Cuts? I am.
So then, why are we squabbling, fighting, blaming, etc... when it's clear those two things really matter to most people? In fact, I think they matter more than the rest of the issues we have to grapple with right now, and so that means we've a clear priority.
Either we suck it up, and stand right now as a people, or we are going to lose those two issues.
Read that again. We will lose.
I know Gay people need rights, I know women are being denied theirs, and I know all the other ugly things need attention, but until we build a movement of size that will actually cost something when denied, we don't set the agenda. The ANTI ones do, and right now that agenda is our Social Security, and Taxes.
UPDATE: From the comments, I see this part is not good. I really don't mean that, never have. Priorities need to always include anti-discrimination, because it is always wrong. Always. That exchange made writing this worth it today for me. It's important that I can be trusted by my peers, and the opinion expressed here does not foster that. Consider me better for it. Thanks :)
Truth is, the regressive asses need their faces rubbed in the shit full time, old school, hard core, ugly, so that more people can see them for the ugly fucks they are.
Nobody with any measure of self-respect should be taking this crap right now!
Does that sound ANTI? Hell yes it does, and it works, right along with the basic human to human advocacy we need to be doing to build our support.
By my take, we are losing. The difference between winning the election, and losing is all about the rate of the loss. When we went to the mat, as best we can, we got some stuff, won a election, and saw a little tiny bit of positive legislation. Some of us say a lot got done, and I would agree.
I'm saying that's all good, but look at the effort it took to get that! It was huge! And now they've pushed back, and we are stumbling because we don't have the scale of support needed to endure the negative civics without taking serious losses.
This isn't about Obama. It is about us, and whether or not we really prioritize holding the line, over our own needs wants and personal principles.
I can tell you this! No matter how I feel about Obama and his economic policy positions, whether or not the party addressed DADT, and other things, I will totally be impacted in the future, if Social Security is diminished or gone. And I'll also take my turn, when it's time for a different priority too. Fair is fair.
That fucking matters to me, and it matters more than being nice does, and it matters more than being pure does, and it makes me want to fight back big.
You guys, you progressive minded people are on my team. That means I get who you are, and it means I understand your need to express who you are and stand tall against regression. That's a GIVEN, without question.
So, how come we can't all work together here to build up our team, and show the President there actually is some support out there, meaning that if he acts, he's got a shot at not being Pelosi, who did, and got pummelled.
Remember when many of us were asking to vote the ticket? That's why! Remember when many of us were asking people to vote? That's why!
Nancy Pelosi is a fine progressive, who is now fighting for a place on the sidelines, and that helped advance the state of things how exactly?
So, let's build. Most of Washington is corporate, and that's the problem. Most of the people are buried in noisy media, distracted, not seeing a clear force pushing back for their benefit, and because of that, they are not doing the things that need to happen so that we get some of the change we all agreed was a great idea.
What's the call to action on this one? Simple. We need to see more organizing, building, strategy, support diaries, and a hell of a lot less drama, "i need", "they suck" type diaries, because right now the priority is pretty damn clear: Either we gather and build against the corporate agenda, or we lose on the last two fronts we can lose on.
And from there it gets worse. Way worse, and I think everybody knows that.
Peace out, and I'm finally free to meet a new Kossack I met during the election frenzy personally. I'm going to say "hi", and I'm going to get their contact info, and I'm going to help build one person at a time, knowing I'm not alone in seeing what matters right now. I've plans to meet another one in the near future on travel too. The point here is to know I'm not alone, and get the energy to be had from making friends. It's easier to build when you know you are on a team.
So where is my team? I need to see it, not hear all this squabbling and such. Just show me the team, and I'll bring and make friends and build, because it's needed. Not hard is it? You know, they have a team. It's a ugly team too, but they have one, and they can point to it, and also cite the list of things they got done, and what the next one is, and where you can go to make that happen.
Where is my team?
I humbly suggest you all do the same, and start to build, connect, vaildate each other, and realize that we are it. Without us, it all goes very badly, so why fuck around then? Let's build until we see it go our way.
GOTS (Get Out The Support)