What are we here for?
Can we sit idle while the President continues the terrible occupation of two countries, while the American people suffer 10% unemployment?
Is it any less evil when President Obama bombs an Afghan or Pakistani village than when George Bush gives the order? How many thousands of Afghan citizens has the President condemned to die with his decision Tuesday? How many American soldiers?
From Health Care Reform (remember when Democrats once spoke of universal health care?) that will give a boon to insurance companies, to bailing out the banking institutions that daily rape the American people of their wealth, to continuing not only the occupations but the thinking that led to the occupations, President Obama has shown himself to be no friend of progressives in America.
It is time for a change.
We should support a real progressive challenger in 2012.
Why must we allow ourselves to be forced into supporting the moderate candidate with the ploy that not doing so will hand the office to the evil Republicans. Guess what. The Democrats have both houses and the presidency and see the change in government? Pro-Wall Street, Pro-Corporation, Pro-Imperialism...Anti-American.
For what does it mean to be American? Are not the majority of Americans workers that labor their lives away for the benefit of a small number of men? If you are not doing what is in the best interest of these workers, isn't that the definition of Anti-Americanism?
The Iraq war was not a Pro-American decision. Neither is the occupation.
The Afghan war was not a Pro-American decision. Neither is the occupation.
Health-Care Reform that gives billions to the insurance industry is not a Pro-American decision.
Simple fact of the matter, President Obama has adopted the occupations. He is responsible for the deaths there. He is truly a Lincoln figure now, with all the damnation that accompanies the slaughter of innocents. I can no longer support him in any function and I ask the community to rally behind the Challenger in 2012 (if there is one) or find and prop up our own. Even if we fail our point will be made.
Unlike the President, we have some values that cannot be bent or broken. War is one of them. Murder is one of them. Empire is not enough to justify war. If you look into your hearts you will see that the President's reasoning for our continued occupation is hollow. Let's not passively accept this decision.
On the other end, the Congress must still fund the occupations. I urge everyone to write their Congressman.
Then, let's find progressives that will not sell us out. Put them in Congress, put them in the White House.
One thing that must happen quickly; Kill the myth that President Obama is a progressive. He is not. He is not your friend or buddy or anything like that. He is a politician first and foremost, and of the same mold as every other President we've had in recent memory. We deserve better. We must make the office better.
EDIT: I cannot respond to the comments fast enough. I will say that the argument that we must support President Obama or lose the office to Republicans is a false dichotomy. We can both nominate a progressive and win the presidency. It is possible if enough people stand up for what they believe in.
The other thing I'd like to point out is the notion that because he pledged to continue the fight in Afghanistan while running that this makes it ok to do so. The alternative was McCain. I am speaking of a primary challenge. The choice would not be Obama or Huckabee but a progressive or huckabee/palin/random right wing nut.
I am not going to bend on this principle. I cannot support this pro-war President. If this is the best we can do then why fight at all?
EDIT II: People starve on Earth, not because of the general lack of food, but because nations keep food under lock and key. There is enough food on Earth to feed all 7 billion of us and many more besides that. That people starve is due less to the lack of food and more to factions and power.
I have never advocated starving anyone. Nevertheless, population is one of the biggest threats facing humanity and one of the most overlooked. We could feed the entire world and still reduce population.
This is an aside but I just wanted to point that out. People are not starving because of global lack of food (local surely), but because of a choice humans make.