Many years ago, the late Harry Reasoner had an opinion piece on a TV program.  This very witty newscaster observed that he disliked labels.  He felt that labels were too constraining. He said that by labeling him or anyone else, it reduced that person to one dimension.  And by any stretch, Harry Reasoner was anything but one dimensional.

Follow me over the jump for some thoughts--maybe even a rant--on this not particularly weighty topic.

The hot topic lately seems to be how and why Barack Obama should be hitting John McCain with every negative attack imaginable.  The logic goes that while we all despise negatives, they work.  It is said that we may be the party and people of high minded ideals, but to succeed we need to get down in the gutter with Republicans and tear down John McCain.  

Republicans are playing to their base by being crass and combative.  Neocons are all about picking fights to further their own cause.  I hope that isn’t what we are becoming.  I hope to bring my kids into a world where pride, greed, and religion aren’t bringing about the deaths of millions of innocent people.  We are rewarding a strategy of bluster and aggression.  As long as we judge people by who has the biggest pair, hate and aggression will permeate to every aspect of our global society.

Barack Obama talks about the politics of raising everyone up, rather than tearing them down.  If you really believe this is the man who best represents your ideals then let him lead the country and party on the path he has chosen rather than push him and us to be something we are not.

I am always amazed when in the company of other progressives and liberals how truly regressive and unwilling to change we can be. Diary after diary, comments by the thousands about what? How we can't, how we shouldn't and how Obama is going wrong. Well Obama hasn't gone wrong, we've just stopped listening and started grinding the same old axes. We spend too much time bashing and not enough time listening, fear and ignorance is abundant on BOTH sides of the ideological divide. Follow me below the fold for hopefully some insight into how all the fears of your worst nightmares coming true are in fact the realization of your most heartfelt dreams for this country.

   Most of us spend a few hours each day on the internet looking at sites of interest. For some it is work related. For some it is hobbies and fun activities. Most here on DKos have other interests but a primary focal point is politics and the upcoming convention, then the election, and then we get back to returning America onto the path toward a better democracy.
   I have been on DKos for almost 5 years but I've spent a portion of that time as a reader and lurker and not as an active member. Many who are here have their own personal blogs where they keep active. Others find friends and similar views by constantly moving from site to site. Some have very narrow views of where we need to change and fight back against the current administration. Some like a wider view and want to be exposed to sites that run the gamut of views and concerns.
   Join me below for a few personal choices...  

I've gotten tired of explaining why supply-side economics -- i.e., voodoo economics -- don't actually work. So I've decided to write up a quick-and-dirty version that I can just link to as necessary. This is not meant to be a definitive statement on the subject. It's not even an air-tight argument of the principles being espoused. It's just me pointing at some pretty fundamental absurdities in voodoo economics and saying, "Hey! Look! Have you even thought about this? It doesn't make any sense!"

Cross-posted from DMIBlog

Today the Drum Major Institute (DMI -- where I'm director of research) released its first annual Survey on the Middle Class and Public Policy.  The nationwide poll, conducted by Global Strategy Group, aimed to learn how those Americans who see themselves as middle class (the vast majority of us, it turns out) think about the direction of the country, public policy ideas that could improve the nation, and their relationship with their own elected representatives. What we found were middle-class households filled with "fearful families": Americans worried about the present, pessimistic about the future, but not nearly so divided on issues of public policy as the typical media reports of a country divided by red and blue might lead us to believe. In fact, there’s broad bipartisan support for a range of progressive policies.

I wonder if the dynamic notion of "having a dream" can provide a theoretical as well as substantive foundation for a successful rebirth of the progressive movement in America today. With the modern genesis being Martin Luther King's iconic words, Barack Obama has wisely morphed "dream" into "change", creating a decidedly intellectual as well as visceral pneumonic device in an effort to  trigger a resurgence of idealism and progressive thought. Can this succeed?

People often ask me how I would describe myself politically - actually, not so much people these days, as places such as Facebook, etc. I don't like labels. But I've recently begun to list myself, when I can write in rather than a choose from a group of options, as a "progressive libertarian".

Here, for the blogospheric record, is why:

1. I'm a libertarian. I agree completely with Thomas Jefferson that the greatest threats to our freedom and well being come from government, democratically elected or not. Certainly Hitler and Stalin tragically proved that. I think the Constitution in general, and the Bill of Rights in particular, must be strictly adhered to. Of course, not all the Amendments are exactly the same in what their wording prohibits. The First Amendment's provision that "Congress shall make no law" abridging freedom of speech and press means just that - "no law," period - in contrast to the Second Amendment's provision that the right to bear arms "shall not be infringed," which I take as meaning laws regulating weapons are constitutional, as long as they do not "infringe" on lawful citizens who bear arms. The Fourteenth Amendment, and its provision that all limitations on the Federal government in the Constitution apply to the states, municipalities, etc., is also crucial.

Glen Brower, Democratic candidate for the Wisconsin 21st Assembly District needs Democratic Undergrounds Help!

http://glenbrower.com/...

Fox In The Henhouse: Voters Drilled to McBreaking Point

   McCain and GOP Republicans have hammered the final nails into the November coffin.  Their splitting maul dubbed "off shore drilling" is now set in place atop the electoral chopping block, with the public set to fall on either side.

   When the divisive blow comes whose side will win the most votes?  Which side will be vilified?  Will the threat of a Republican-led shutdown on the hill be enough to pressure Americans to the McBreaking point?  Will these actions lead to a McCain Presidential victory?

This isn't diary-worthy, but I don't care.  I'm livid.  I donated money to John Edwards even before I donated money to Hillary.  He was my first choice, and he was my first choice based on lies.

Getting off oil is a big task, they say, but here are some ways that are affordable and reasonable to do now to break off our foreign dependence on oil.

I just came across a really good post from MyDD about a progressive congressional candidate with a real chance to win in a conservative district, Roy Carter (NC-5). Carter is running in a staunchly republican district against the deplorable Bush-clone Virginia Foxx. Despite a fundraising disadvantage, Carter is within striking distance, just ten points down against Foxx, whose in-district approval rating sits at just 45% according to Public Policy Polling.

Here below is the entire post from MyDD.

Hey everyone,

I am sure that you have read before about Glen Brower, Democratic candidate for the 21st Assembly district, covering South Milwaukee, Oak Creek, and two wards in the city of Milwaukee.  Glen is running a powerfully people-powered campaign, from committing to knocking on at least 100 doors a day until election day, to setting up precinct captains in each of the districts wards to talk to their neighbors, and being his message through.

Glen is a true progressive, fiscally responsible, looking to take care of the tax-payers pocket book, while making sure that special interests don't corrupt our politics.  He served 20 years in the Army, retireing a Lt. Colonel, he then went to Madison to work for the Veterans Department, and help make sure that our boys and girls serving overseas come back and receive the dignity they deserve.  He helped create the first economic development authority in South Milwaukee, and helped to save Grant Park from development.

http://glenbrower.com/...

Hi all!  I'm jlms qkw, living in Sugarhouse in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I'm pretty sure I was the only Utahn at Netroots Nation and would love to be proven wrong.  

I'm interesting in meeting other Utahns and perhaps organizing a bit.  Looking at what we can do together.  

One of the things we could do:  a Crandall Canyon Anniversary Blogathon.  

We've been tremendously blessed, so to say, that we have had the field of Democrats that we did.  And even though my guys (Kucinich and Edwards) didn't win, I'll be happy to vote for Barack Obama in the general election.

But there are some angry voters who have stated their intent to vote for or seriously consider John McCain, and I see this as not only a slap to the Democratic Party, or the Progressive movement, but a slap in the face of many very real people.

I think there is an exceptional candidate for VP who is being overlooked and brings things to the table in a certain combination that would help Obama the best.

I am talking about former Colorado Senator and Presidential candidate Gary Hart.

Recently, a blogger on here named off the Democratic senators in favor of offshore drilling, including in that list Sherrod Brown of Ohio. This alarmed me because he is my senator and so far has been one of the great progressives of the 110th Congress, even joining Senator Dodd to filibuster the FISA bill. So a couple weeks ago I sent a two-page letter to his office in Washington about the consequences of this drillinng and the impending crisis of Global Warming. I could have just emailed him, but preventing more drilling was just too important to me for a simple email. Today I got a email response back from Senator Brown, and I am happy to state that he has once again shown himself to be a true progressive.