It's a sad reality that the Republican Party and it's Corporate Sponsors have had far more impact on America than Democrats have had, especially over the last 45 years.
They really have nothing they stand for, aside from the obvious "kill government so our wealthy friends can do whatever they please". There's no real platform there, but there's a powerful will to succeed at returning this country to the Gilded Age, and Democrats routinely cooperate with them, in spite of professing to hate what they stand for.
Why is that? We're the party that's responsible for every change that's improved lives for people of color, the elderly, the poor, and children, and finally for the GLBT community. Why can't we keep the momentum going? Why are there whole segments of the Democratic base so terribly susceptible to Republican propaganda? The Heritage Foundation and Frank Luntz decree that "Obama is Weak", and Democrats jump on the bandwagon. This despite his being the only President in this century who managed to reform our Health Care system, the President who actually is wiping Al Queda off the map, the President who has taken charge of the national narrative and made people notice that Republicans are dedicated to saving the wealthy from the depredations of the rest of us, and that that's essentially un-American.
And yet I read comments here, within minutes of logging in, declaring that Obama is weak, Obama caves, I'm not voting for him no matter what.
And most of those comments echo what was said about Carter, which is what led us to the glorious reign of King Ronald the Reagan, and about Gore, which ushered in the delightful and ever-popular reign of Bush the Second, and about Kerry, which extended the worst Presidency since - who knows? Was anyone really worse? Google it, my friends, and you'll find Democrats parroting Republican memes all the way back to FDR.
Why, when we have the best ideas, the strongest values, the deepest commitment to a nation of equals and a level playing field for all, why is it that we forget everything we stand for, and everything we've accomplished when Republicans tell lies to the public? Why do we accept the lies? Why do we turn on our own so quickly and so totally, based on absolutely nothing? Before you yell about Obama Caved on health care, gather your facts. That Public Option you're so infuriated about would have covered about 85,000 people. ObamaCare probably enrolled that many young adults on their parents insurance the day it took effect.
Lives are being saved by plans in every state that force insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions, and the prices are far better, in most cases, than what your employer can negotiate, which is why your monthly cost goes up every year.
I have to admit that ObamaCare, tragically enough, is causing job losses. As of this week, lobbying is no longer an administrative expense that's acceptable, so lobbyists for the Health Care Industry are being laid off. Are you aware that insurance companies are now required to pay out either 80% or 85% (depending on the size of the insurer) of all premiums collected for actual health care? It's radical, I know, but they're being forced to do what they claim to do, spread the risk and serve their policy holders. And there are still intelligent people on the left who know nothing about what the ACA contains, or what it's already doing for people who need it, because they've bought the myth that a wimpy Public Option = Single Payer.
They've also forgotten, or never knew, that single-payer was a pipe dream at this time, because no one with employer-provided health care wanted to lose the only perk they had left. People are short-sighted and tend to be selfish, and in this case I can't blame them. They get paid to work 37 hours a week, actually work closer to 50, many are doing the jobs that used to take 2 or 3 people to do well, and few have a decent retirement plan. Why not demand that your employer offer something, even if that something is less and less valuable every year.
I read a whole lot about how Wall Street and the 1%-ers are trying to destroy Warren's chances of being elected, but somehow the credit for regulating Wall Street and creating a consumer protection department is never given to President Obama and Democrats in Congress. Obama had the good sense to put Elizabeth Warren in charge of setting it up, but he's in thrall to the banksters? We used to laugh about cognitive dissonance here. Now we defend it.
I'm deeply disappointed that there's still such a large and vocal faction on the left that never learns how to win, how to govern, how to be the largest influence on the nation. I keep expecting that, given the absolute insanity of the RW at this time, the Left will band together, fight to restore our country, and stop the internecine dramas that keep us fragmented and impotent.
We have a 21st Century President being routinely blockaded by a 19th Century opposition Party, and undermined by Democrats stuck in the 20th Century. I'd like to belong to the party of Now, united in defeating the Party of No. Maybe next century, if we're still a nation.