For those who don't remember or have never heard about him, Steve Gilliard was a progressive with a vengeance, who passed (much too early) in 2007 at the age of 42.
Wikipedia has an extensive biography on Steve, well worth reading to see the path he took to Progressivism. It contains a remark by Markos (first after the Fleur-de-Kos). Steve's family and co-NewsBlog compatriots also wrote about Steve's passing here.
This is the man who wrote, back on December 3, 2003, the rant labeled "I'm a Fighting Liberal". Today, I want to explore why Steve Gilliard was right all those years ago, and why the Democratic Party needs to take his words to heart:
It is time to stop looking for an accomodation with the right. They want none for us. They want to win, at any price. So, you have a choice: be a fighting liberal or sit quietly. I know what I am, what are you?
In a tribute posted here on June 3, 2007 Markos Moulitsas wrote:
In the early days of Daily Kos, when I was writing for dozens, maybe hundreds of people, I wrote mostly for myself. There was no expectation that Daily Kos or any other blog was more than just a side diversion for other, weightier matters.
When reporters ask me when I first started thinking Daily Kos would become something more important, I tell them about the Dean campaign, or about the traffic explosion during the run-up and start of the Iraq War.
But that's pretty much bullshit. Because the reality is much more mundane, much less sexy --
It was the arrival on the site's comment boards of two people -- Meteor Blades and Steve Gilliard.
They were a real revelation to me -- I couldn't believe that people like them, so brilliant, so insightful, so talented, would spend time at my little corner of the world. They inspired me to keep writing, keep building this place. Because if nothing else, I needed to make sure they had a platform upon which to speak.
So they ended up being two of the first contributing editors on Daily Kos. Steve, in fact, was the first person I ever approached with the "guest blogger" offer. And he didn't waste time getting started, drawing on history of the region and the British occupation of Iraq in the late 1910s to set the stage for what the US would soon face in Iraq. He was frighteningly prescient on Iraq, and it wasn't the only topic he would consistently nail. He was a credit to the progressive blogosphere.
Steve was a big personality, and it was clear he needed his own stage. And he got it with the News Blog, which he soon built into a full-time gig, still a rarity among bloggers. It was one of three sites I religiously checked more than three times a day.
If you knew Steve only from his blog, you'd think he was a pit bull. He was blunt, loud, aggressive, unafraid, and took no prisoners.
But you'd meet him in life, and he was the exact opposite. He was soft-spoken, shy, modest, calm, friendly, and -- this was the most surprising to me -- gentle.
I never would've gotten that from his writings. But that's what he was.
I'd known Steve five years -- just about my entire blogging existence. I don't know of a blogging life without him. He has been a friend, a confidant, a sounding board, a reality check, a loyal ally, a mentor. He was family.
And while that all came to an end Saturday morning, I'm still not ready to let it go.
We were blessed to have Steve as long we did. But I'm selfish. I wanted much, much more.
In his iconic rant "I'm a Fighting Liberal", Steve outlines in clear, concise and graphic terms the difference between Left and Right. Much the same as this comedy routine does:
The actual Republican motto, told as a parody:
Democrat: I support programs that do good for everyone, and I believe, in the end, that will come back and do good for me.
Republican: I support programs that do good for me, and I believe, in the end, that will come back and do good for me.
Steve tells us:
[I received permission to quote the piece in whole from the relevant parties]
I'm a fighting liberal
You know, I've studied history, I've read about America and you know something, if it weren't for liberals, we'd be living in a dark, evil country, far worse than anything Bush could conjure up. A world where children were told to piss on the side of the road because they weren't fit to pee in a white outhouse, where women had to get back alley abortions and where rape was a joke, unless the alleged criminal was black, whereupon he was hung from a tree and castrated.
What has conservatism given America? A stable social order? A peaceful homelife? Respect for law and order? No. Hell, no. It hasn't given us anything we didn't have and it wants to take away our freedoms.
The Founding Fathers, as flawed as they were, slaveowners and pornographers, smugglers and terrorists, understood one thing, a man's path to God needed no help from the state. Is the religion of these conservatives so fragile that they need the state to prop it up, to tell us how to pray and think? Is that what they stand for? Is that their America?
Conservatism plays on fear and thrives on lies and dishonesty. I grew up with honest, decent conservatives and those people have been replaced by the party of greed. It is one thing to want less government interference and smaller, fiscally responsible government. It is another thing entirely to be a corporate whore, selling out to the highest bidder because the CEO fattens your campaign chest. They are building an America which cannot be sustained. One based on the benefit of the few at the cost of the many. The indifferent boss who hires too few people and works them to death or until they break down sick. Cheap labor capitalism has replaced common sense. "Globalism" which is really guise for exploitation, replaced fair trade, which is nothing like fair for the trapped semi-slaves of the maquliadoras. In the Texas border towns, hundreds of these women have been used as sex slaves and then apparently killed,the FBI powerless to do anything as the criminals sit in Mexico untouched by law.
For the better part of a decade, the conservatives made liberal a dirty word. Well, it isn't. It represents the best and most noble nature of what America stands for: equitable government services, old age pensions, health care, education, fair trials and humane imprisonment. It is the heart and soul of what made American different and better than other countries. Not only an escape from oppression, but the opportunity to thrive in land free of tradition and the repression that can bring. We offered a democracy which didn't enshrine the rich and made them feel they had an obligation to their workers.
Bush and the people around him disdain that. They think, by accident of birth and circumstance, they were meant to rule the world and those who did not agree would suffer.
Liberal does not and has not meant weak until the conservatives said it did. Was Martin Luther King weak? Bobby Kennedy? Gene McCarthy? It was the liberals who remade this country and ended legal segregation and legal sexism. Not the conservatives, who wanted to hold on to the old ways.
It's time to regain the sprit of FDR and Truman and the people around them. People who believed in the public good over private gain. It is time to stop apologizing for being a liberal and be proud to fight for your beliefs. No more shying away or being defined by other people. Liberals believe in a strong defense and punishment for crime. But not preemption and pointless jail sentences. We believe no American should be turned away from a hospital because they are too poor or lack a proper legal defense. We believe that people should make enough from one job to live on, to spend time on raising their family. We believe that individuals and not the state should dictate who gets married and why. The best way to defend marriage is to expand, not restrict it.
It was the liberals who opposed the Nazis while the conservatives were plotting to get their brown shirts or fund Hitler. It was the liberals who warned about Spain and fought there, who joined the RAF to fight the Germans, who brought democracy to Germany and Japan. Let us not forget it was the conservatives who opposed defending America until the Germans sank our ships. They would have done nothing as Britain came under Nazi control. It was they who supported Joe McCarthy and his baseless, drink fueled claims.
Without liberals, there would be no modern America, just a Nazi sattlelite state. Liberals weak on defense? Liberals created America's defense. The conservatives only need vets at election time.
It is time to stop looking for an accomodation with the right. They want none for us. They want to win, at any price. So, you have a choice: be a fighting liberal or sit quietly. I know what I am, what are you?
posted by Steve @ 2:30:00 AM
This piece, nearly seven over seven years old, now, is still relevant and stirring. It reminds us Democrats that we have no reason to attempt to achieve bi-partisanship, because the opposition has absolutely no interest in it. To make a deal, there must be two or more parties willing and interested in dealing, negotiating. With the Republican Party of 2010 2011, there is no negotiating, for, as Steve so eloquently put it, "They want none for us. They want to win at any price."
Evidenced by 2009's Death Panels and 2010-2011's Birthers, Dunkers (The Dunkers are people who think Obama is a Muslim because he hasn't produced a certificate of baptism) and Flat-out Batshit-insane TBagRs.
So then, one must consider, "What the fuck is our President and his Administration up to?"
The above line, and the below section were written in Sept of 2010, when I last worked on this piece. I believe that the section below forshadows the explosion of angst regarding President Obama at the current time. Please note that the first item is "President Obama gave these remarks at Laborfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 6, 2010". I imagine that he is wondering why no has dug this piece up to wack him with this spring, in relation to the Great WI Uprising of 2011, and Labor.
Here is the point where I must ditch the much edited piece that I've been working on for three months now.[this was written Sept 20, 2010]
Why?
Apparently, our President has finally found his inner Steve.
Within the past week, we've heard from President Obama on -
Labor: [President Obama gave these remarks at Laborfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 6, 2010.]
When we passed a bill earlier this summer to help states save jobs -- the jobs of hundreds of thousands of teachers and nurses and police officers and firefighters that were about to be laid off, they said no. (Applause.) And the Republican who thinks he’s going to take over as Speaker -- (boos) -- I’m just saying that’s his opinion -- (laughter) -- he’s entitled to his opinion. But when he was asked about this, he dismissed those jobs as “government jobs” that weren’t worth saving. (Boos.) That’s what he said, I’m quoting -- “government jobs.”
Now, think about this. These are the people who teach our children. These are the people who keep our streets safe. These are the people who put their lives on the line, who rush into a burning building. Government jobs? I don’t know about you, but I think those jobs are worth saving. (Applause.) I think those jobs are worth saving. (Applause.)
By the way, this bill that we passed to save all those jobs, we made sure that bill wouldn’t add to the deficit. You know how we paid for it? By closing one of these ridiculous tax loopholes that actually rewarded corporations for shipping jobs and profits overseas...
When the leader of their campaign committee was asked on national television what Republicans would do if they took over Congress, you know what he said? He said, we’ll do exactly the same thing we did the last time. (Applause.) That’s what he said. It’s on tape.
The Economy: [President Obama in a speech in Cleveland, Ohio today (Sept 8, 2010) is putting forward a set of proposals to boost the economy.]
I ran for President because for much of the last decade, a very specific governing philosophy had reigned about how America should work:
Cut taxes, especially for millionaires and billionaires.
Cut regulations for special interests.
Cut trade deals even if they didn't benefit our workers.
Cut back on investments in our people and our future - in education and clean energy; in research and technology.
The idea was that if we had blind faith in the market; if we let corporations play by their own rules; if we left everyone else to fend for themselves, America would grow and prosper...
I ran for President because I believed that this kind of economy was unsustainable - for the middle-class and for our nation's future. I ran because I had a different idea about how America was built - an idea rooted in my own family's story...
Now, much has happened since that election. The flawed policies and economic weaknesses of the previous decade culminated in the worst recession of our lifetimes. My hope was that the crisis would cause everyone, Democrats and Republicans, to pull together and tackle our problems in a practical way. But as we all know, things didn't work out that way...
And so people are frustrated and angry and anxious about the future. I understand that. I also understand that in a political campaign, the easiest thing for the other side to do is ride this fear and anger all the way to Election Day...
... I proposed some additional steps to grow the economy and help businesses spur hiring. One of the keys to job creation is to encourage companies to invest more in the United States...
... Mr. Boehner and the Republicans in Congress said no to these projects. Fought them tooth and nail...
So let me be clear to Mr. Boehner and everyone else:
we should not hold middle class tax cuts hostage any longer.
We are ready, this week, to give tax cuts to every American making $250,000 or less...
This isn't to punish folks who are better off - it's because we can't afford the $700 billion price tag. And for those who claim that this is bad for growth and bad for small businesses, let me remind you that with those tax rates (Clinton era rates) in place, this country created 22 million jobs, raised incomes, and had the largest surplus in history...
... In fact, if the Republican leadership in Congress really wants to help small businesses, they'll stop using legislative maneuvers to block an up-or-down vote on a small business jobs bill that's before the Senate right now. This is a bill that would do two things: cut taxes for small businesses and make loans more available for small businesses. It is fully paid for, and it was written by Democrats and Republicans. And yet, the other party continues to block this jobs bill - a delay that small business owners have said is actually leading them to put off hiring...
Financial Regulation/Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Today [Sept 15, 2010], per Jake Tapper and ABC News:
President Obama will announce this week that Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law School professor who first proposed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will be named to a special position reporting to both him and to the Treasury Department and tasked with heading the effort to get the new federal agency standing, a knowledgeable Democrat told ABC News.
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Soon after this, another major kerflufle broke out and then an election occurred, and I put the piece away, to think about it for a while.
What with teacherken's public loss of faith this past week, and the ongoing philosophical battle over the Federal Budget playing out over the airwaves and soundbites of what passes for our national media, I believe now is a good time to take this piece back up and finish it.
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Whilst the Obama Administration has it's ups (and more frequently, unfortunately) it's downs, the value and relevance of Steve Gilliard's piece "I'm a Fighting Liberal" remains, and as it ages and the national political scene remains at "Status Quo", that value only increases.
Some will champion the President for his obvious search for Bi-partisanship with the US Congress, as he attempts to do the impossible... reason with an Opposition Party gone insane.
Many of us here, and at kitchen tables across the land, would rather he took a page from Steve Gilliard's book, and become the "Fighting Liberal" that the Left so very badly needs.
If there were even an iota of evidence that the Republicans in the US Congress were ready to negotiate in good faith with President Obama and the Congressional Democrats, the President's insistence on pursuing an agenda of Bi-partisanship would be reasonable, hell, it would be courageous, as it tends to piss off the Activist portion of his own Party.
But, as Steve so presciently told us back in 2003 -
It is time to stop looking for an accommodation with the right. They want none for us. They want to win, at any price. So, you have a choice: be a fighting liberal or sit quietly. I know what I am, what are you?
Because believe you me, we're in for the Fight of our Lives this coming Presidential Election cycle - and for many of us on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, I mean that quite literally.
Personally, I believe that only a General Strike is going to overcome the laissez faire Mainstream Media's intransigence on broadcasting the actual news - see their treatment of TbagRs in the hundreds vs WI Citizens and Union Members in the Hundreds of Thousands this spring.
They are Rich, but we are Many.
Solidarity should be our Battle Cry, as we engage the opposition over the coming two years, because it is the only way to wrestle the Rich Republicans for the Power of Congress and the Oval Office and win.
President Obama, I've heard Steve's message, and I know what I am.
WHAT ARE YOU?
UPDATE:
For those unfamiliar with The NewsBlog, you can search the Archives at this URL. From a post below:
You can peruse the Archives over at Steve's old NewsBlog site at this URL, just change the month/day to the timeframe you recall as being correct.
after the http:// the rest is:
stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005_05_02_archive.html
You'll be surprised by how current a lot of those posts are, still.