I wrote a long comment in Dr. Dean's diary today. I admit I was late to the fair but realized that what I really wanted to do was address him and this website.
I am a long standing member here but find myself, as many others, less and less involved. This concerns me because I have strong misgivings about the direction the country is taking. At times I've felt like giving up. Dr. Dean is about the only voice I am always willing to listen to. He has consistently provided reasonable, smart and common-sense leadership. He is an altruistic fellow and I'm quite fond of him.
So, without further adieu, here is my comment, turned into a diary. Be aware that some of it might be considered rant but I hope you will find it useful as well.
More after the jump....
Problems get solved and we move forward when we focus on the problems that need solving and don't spend time trashing each other personally. This character assassination is the biggest power zapper of the progressive movement. And, for some of ya'll's information, "progressive" is NOT synonymous with "left-wing" or at least that is my impression. If it is, please let me know. I am a strong supporter of human rights, fairness, programs that truly help whom they are intended to help and understand the need for government involvement. I believe that human nature does exist but that nurture has alot to do with the quality of people that form the fabric of our society. I also believe that corporate power and lack of regulation has gone too far and those that seek to exploit the power alloted to them has allowed their greed to rule their morality. Such is a democracy gone unchecked.
On the other hand, I would prefer that we live in a freer society where personal responsibility is the norm. In fact, I believe it was R.D. Laing who waxed philosophical when he said that the more free a society is, the more personal responsibility an individual has. Don't take responsibility and, well, there goes your freedom.
I am often neither right nor left in relation to what policies should be put in place. I am for what is possible to do that moves us forward. Forward moving, meaning: "progressive", meaning: improvements made to the way we live, work and love (thanks, Sig'). Excuse my punctuation. I'd welcome a correction.
I resent the fact that some people here think that "left-wing" is the end all and be-all. The left has valid ideas and sometimes the right does, too, although I don't see much of it with the current bunch.
I am angry about the Iraq war that Bush, Cheney and the PNAC bamboozled the country into buying. I was among the first to decry the lack of validity for this war. I believe that our country cannot heal until it displays moral leadership by initiating and completing consequences for those who lied to us.
I also know that my view is not the only view and that, if I am to win a LARGE number of people over to my view, it will time and patience. I am also open to modifying, adding to and deleting my view if you can present an argument that doesn't include insulting me or those I care about or things I care about. Remember Richard Nixon? Remember the term group-think? I am proposing that we don't fall into that mess again. So, please present new and different ideas. Just don't yell at me.
The biggest problem with the "progressive" movement is that it seems that it is filled with a few, but very vocal people who have a bigger need to be right than to get things done. It's an "air" movement of, mostly concerned and honest folks, but there are also alot of angry people (rightfully so, I believe) who have no teeth and spend alot of time on websites like this arguing with people, who essentially, agree with them about the big picture but who disagree on how to accomplish it. I have not seen a cogent argument presented here in a while that discusses a policy, what the different sollutions are that are being proposed and then present a reasonable argument for one or two or more of those proposals. More often than not, it turns into inflaring rhetoric that appeals to our most base emotions and continues to divide us. Is it any wonder we can't get much done?
Even Jon Stewart is addressing this issue. He believes in cleaning his own house and not just the other guys. He bravely and coherently exposes our own hypocrisy time and time again. Take last night for instance. Fast forward to about 4:40.
Dr. Dean, our movement is dead unless there are enough of us who are willing to forget our differences and stop all the negative labeling. How do we do this?
Dr. Dean, you met my husband when you came to New Orleans. We voluntarily worked our butts of for you in '04. A group of us formed a Dean movement, if you will, in New Orleans. I was elected head of the steering committee. I organized, and was in charge of, the local Dean meet-ups. My husband and I, on our own volition and out of our own pockets, traveled the state in an attempt to unite and support other Dean supporters in different cities hoping to make an impact on that election, or at least, to put a dent in Louisiana's strong conservative leadership in hopes of a better political outlook for Louisiana's future. Although we knew our state wouldn't go to you, we wanted to let people know that we were here. That was a beginning.
I read someone here today who stated that governments don't change unless someone does something drastic - like a revolution. It is that kind of talk that I find frightening. I heard a conservative talk show host ask a conservative caller who had just stated that alot of people feel that their backs are against the wall. The talk show host challenged him and asked if he personally knew anybody who's so bad off that "their back is against the wall" and then asked, "Are you that bad off?" The caller answered "no" to both questions. The talk-show said, "That's right. Your back ain't up against no wall and you know it. If you think it is, you're crazy. People who think that way that are crazy." This was during a discussion of the shooting in Arizona. Good for that dude.
Now, I'm asking my fellow kossacks...are you gonna open up and listen to another kossack who just called you a right-wing, corporatist, Obamabot? I'm not. If we are furious about the way the right has demonized us then why is it OK to demonize each other? Last time I looked, isn't that hypocritical?
I've had my say. This is my first diary in a long, long time. Dr. Dean, I believe that the term "Progressive" has yet to be truly defined in a way that people know if they fit into that category or not. I never thought being progressive was synonymous with being right, left or center. I thought it was something better than that.
To all who took the time to read this diary...thanks. Time to walk the dog.