I am very disappointed with the direction America is going in. While driving home from the rally last weekend, I had several discussions with my friend about politics and the election.
To be frank, Obama and the Democratic Party have been a huge disappointment to me. I think I am going to turn off politics completely going forward. I held out through the last 6 months or so, but it has been getting harder and harder. I don't know if this is a permanent break, or just a long one. I am mostly a lurker, that comments from time to time, so will probably not be missed.
I did want to explain, as perhaps it would be good for someone to know why I am fed up with the Democratic Party and perhaps the entire system.
I guess my problems lie in 3 distinct areas:
Messaging:
I feel the Democratic Party and Obama have completely failed at messaging.
They are not proud of their policies, nor are they good at talking about them. They do not trumpet what they have accomplished. They do not explain what they are trying to accomplish. There is no coherent message. When a coherent message develops, they back away from it or someone in the group seems to sabotage it. On top of that, they build their policies around items they trade away before beginning negotiations, so every bill that passes looks like a complete failure. Throw in the complete failure to take advantage of the populist anger. Not to mention the attacks on liberals, like Howard Dean.
For example, the healthcare bill is not well understood, had the public option traded away before beginning work on it, Democrats tried to look heroic by opposing it before the vote, and the party hid from it during the election.
Another example, the financial regulations bill is not well understood, had the consumer protection agency weakened substantially, Democrats ripped out the part that was most trumpeted(fixing too big to fail or putting back Glass-Steagall), and they have made the statement it would not stop the same fraud.
Another example, the stimulus package is thought to be full of pork because of Republican attacks, is not well understood, people don't know about the tax breaks, and has been seen as fraudulent because of the screw-ups on the website.
Another example, failure to take advantage of anger at the big banks, in fact covering up for their crimes and protecting their bonuses.
I work in a very conservative state in a majority Republican office. It is difficult to discuss politics, when the people I am talking to beat on me using my own complaints about bills against me. I stand up for the health care bill, and then I have to defend what passed...which is not what I thought was wanted. I stand up for financial regulations stopping too big to fail and putting back Glass-Steagall, and then I have to defend it based on the weakened consumer protection agency.
Policies:
I feel the Democratic Party policies have been bad, and mostly more of the same.
They decided not to fight for middle class tax cuts. Not to fight for the public option or medicare buy-in or single-payer. Not to fight for a bigger stimulus package. In fact, I don't know that they have fought for any policy, as much as just to get anything passed. And, on this fighting, they were doing it with their own caucus that was filibustering them. They didn't even fight against that, just rewarded the Senators filibustering Democratic bills with more money and support. I don't see that they have passionately wanted anything, as much as just to keep the system as it is.
When did the Democratic Party stop fighting for the middle class?!
They bail out the banks and give the banks anything they need...they give no help to the homeowners. Social Security cuts?
More disturbing is their policies that they have argued in court cases. In this, they have taken Bush's position and gone right. Bush's administration fought for the unitary executive, Obama wants to go one step further and have a unitary executive that has unlimited state secrets and no possibility of challenge. Throw in DADT.. The position that the Obama administration has taken on cases has always been the conservative position.
Then we have the wars, which are just a mess. By this, I mean the war on terrorism and the war on drugs. One of which has us using drones to kill random people 1000's of miles away, and the other has us breaking down the doors of medical marijuana purveyors. It seemed like Obama took a stand on medical marijuana, but...not really. Our war on terror has us wanting access to all communications anywhere, with no warrants. Throw out any civil liberties. Hold people indefinitely.
Before Obama was elected, I had a conversation with someone at the second Netroots Nation. We discussed signing statements. I said, I wanted them gone, and he said he felt they were valuable to define the views of the executive. But no, Obama, like in everything else, has actually just followed Bush's example on this. He uses them to get out of complying with laws.
Justice:
Justice has died.
The Obama administration's view of justice is to move forward. Oh, that corporation murdered someone, let's just move forward. Well, wait, that is their view when it comes to corporations and government officials. Their view when it comes to people is to prosecute them to the full extent of the law. Someone lies on their income disclosure to get a mortgage...prosecute! A business forges signatures and perjures itself to make foreclosures easier...not a real crime. Whistleblower...prosecute! Bank sells same mortgage to multiple people...not a real crime.
Prosecutions isn't all though...
We should be working to bail out the homeowners while bailing out the banks, if we were going to bail out anyone. We should be treating corporate crime, like personal crime.
Conclusion:
I am stepping out of politics for a while...maybe permanently.
I have begun to see the areas of finance and politics as games played by rich people.
A big part of the US economy is based on this completely fraudulent finance industry. Politicians seem to think we can't change it to make it better, because that could severely hurt the US economy.
Politics isn't based on reality, just on this type of football game mentality. We passed a bill! Score! The bills aren't helping us. But, we pass them and succeed!
The Democratic Party is completely compromised. We fought hard to put in people that would be better. We got an epic win in the 2008 election. 60 effective Senate seats, the House and the Presidency! The party then allowed Senators to filibuster our own policies and bills. I got mad at the party and the senators, but I actually don't think the senators should be to blame anymore. I think it was the party and the president. I believe Obama was the one directing the entire game now. He wanted Medicare buy-in killed, so he asked Lieberman to stand against it. He wanted the public option killed, so he got Baucus to kill it.
I guess, at this point, I am tired of playing the game. What is the point? What are we trying to accomplish next election? We get more and better Democrats elected, but Obama is still there and he is the real block to progress. He is still talking about working with the Republicans, so not only a block to progress but hopelessly naive.
I got into politics, because of Howard Dean. He was not afraid to say, "I am a Democrat, and I am proud of it!". He just recently said something to the effect of, "Let them fight for cuts in medicare, medicaid and social security, we will wrap that around their necks and beat the hell out of them in 2012". We need Howard Dean back.
I apologize for writing this here. I needed to say it somewhere. I am completely and utterly demoralized about politics and the future of this country. It isn't the election. I knew the results were coming, and was actually pleasantly surprised by the Senate. It is the fact that the election didn't matter at all.
I have one more diary that I mean to write, which I have been trying to do for a long time. It is about an economics theory I have been rolling around in my head. After I write that, I will be checking out. Thank you for allowing me to be part of the community. I think DailyKos is amazing. The information and commentary here is truly great. Goodluck to everyone, and I hope that sometime in the next 2 years I will be able to come back.