Women's reproductive freedoms are under assault. Union busting is in full swing. Teachers are being vilified and demonized. The rich and powerful use their money to buy more wealth and power from a corrupt political system, while Ma and Pa Mainstreet get squeezed a little more every day. And a diary atop the Rec list blames our current travails on - yep, you guessed it - liberals.
You see, a TV pundit (with a relatively minute audience) and some bloggers (with an even more minute audience) said they were disappointed in Obama, and wanted to teach him a lesson, and that so depressed the Democratic vote that the Republican Teaholics swept into power.
Well, shame on us. And kudos to the diarist for calling us on it.
Clearly, Obama's strategy of negotiate, concede, retreat doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the situation we are in now.
Making secret deals with big pharma.
Taking single-payer off the table.
Breaking his campaign promise on Gitmo.
Escalating the war in Afghanistan.
Giving into .... ah you know what, fuck it. Listing all the ways in which this President has misplayed his hand, especially when he came into office with a fucking undeniable mandate, is depressing and at this point in time, useless.
The larger point is this:
NEGOTIATING WITH REPUBLICANS IS A LOSING STRATEGY!
It is a fool's errand.
I used to think Republicans were just bed-wetting cowards who legislated from a purely fear-based ego-centric point of view. Now I'm entertaining the idea that they are actually insane, and perhaps evil, in a cosmic Good vs Evil sort of way.
So what does that say about the President when his only over-arching strategy in office has been to CONSISTENTLY negotiate and defer to a bunch of insane, evil pants-pissing cowards?
Assuming that he is a man who truly values unity and consensus, his actions have had the opposite effect: he has depressed his base and emboldened his enemies. The gulf has only widened.
People stayed home in 2010 not because Ed Schutlz told them to. They stayed home because Obama's special brand of milquetoast leadership sucked the wind right out of their sails.
That's the lesson we need to be hammering home to democratic politicians, all the way up to and including the POTUS: DO. NOT. NEGOTIATE.
DO NOT NEGOTIATE with crazy people.
DO NOT NEGOTIATE with evil people.
DO NOT NEGOTIATE with cowards and fools.
Negotiation, to THEM and to US, is WEAKNESS. They will only attack you and what you stand for with more intensity.
We will only find it that much harder to give a damn.
I know everyone on dkos is a fighter and is out there working for progressive causes, in one way or another, every day. If our president had as much fight in him as we do, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in.