MadHound
On sitting down and shutting up,
Yes, the left is upset, we have every right to be. After all, much like a bad Clinton rerun, we're sitting here and watching the structural support of a center-right, corporatist administration being constructed before our eyes. This doesn't bode well for anybody.
We let our guard down when the Clinton administration came in. After twelve years of Reagan/Bush, we sighed with relief and really didn't pay attention to what Clinton was doing during his transition, or even early on in his campaign. We were lulled to sleep by the sheer relief we felt from the changing of the guard. We don't want to get fooled again, so now we're more vigilant about what's happening at the Obama camp, and quicker to call them on it.
Yes, the left is upset, we have every right to be. We have watched as position after high profile position go to those in the center, on the right, and on the corporatist side of the fence (Lawrence Summers for Chris' sake). There's a basic sense of fairness at work here, since the left are the ones who get out and work their ass off in large numbers. We sweated, gave money, and gave our vote in this bid for change. We put our reservations aside (for yes, most of us did realize that Obama was a centrist) and thought, once again, with a show of hard work and good faith, we on the left would finally be rewarded. Let me get this clear, the left doesn't want everything or most things to go our way. What we want is what every other group under this big tent wants, our due reward, an acknowledgment of gratitude, our seat at the table after thirty years of being out in the wilderness. Is this wrong to expect, even demand this? No, it isn't. If those centrists and DLC types watched as Obama had appointed leftist after leftist, Kucinich, Feingold, etc. to his administration, if they had seen trial balloons being dropped hinting at going back on issues near and dear to them, would they not scream to high heaven? Of course they would, and rightfully so. So why is it when the left makes noise on a perceived injustice we're being told to "sit down and shut up"? Why are we being told that we're whiners and complainers and that we should wait and see what happens?
Sorry folks, but it is happening right now, before our eyes. A center right/corporatist/DLC administration is crystallizing before our very eyes, and the time to take action is now, before it's all set in stone. And while those in the center/corporatist/DLC section of the big tent have their representatives who tred the corridors of power, more than willing to pull strings and make deals to get their issues addressed, the left has no such representatives in high places. Even people such as Feingold and Kucinich are of no use with this because the very same Democratic party that they're members of have marginalized them because it is thought that they are too far to the left, even though they have been right on virtually every single issue over the past eight years, a far better track record than centrists and DLC types.
So the left uses its one and only option it has left to get heard, our voice. We scream long and loud in the hopes that somebody pays attention. Well, it looks like somebody is paying attention, so the question now is will somebody actually do something, if for no other reason than to shut us up. This is democracy in its most essential form, and for Obama's representatives, or any other Democrat to complain is a sin and a shame. This sort of push for the left to get in line smacks of Bush era discipline, and is that the kind of example that Obama wants to set? I should hope not.
If for no other reason than sheer political pragmatism, Obama needs to pay attention to the left. If he wants to keep his majorities in Congress, if he wants to get re-elected, if he wants his programs to roll out smoothly, then he needs the left. For while we have had little power inside any administration for decades, we have become quite adept at tearing down those that we disagree with. This isn't a threat, this is simply realpolitik, how our democracy works. Change and Hope are fine things to have, but it's only through pragmatism and hard work that things actually get done.
So no, the left isn't going to sit down or shut up. We're going to keep up the noise until we get what every other faction in this big tent has gotten, a place at the big table, a fair hearing for our issues and concerns. And for those who don't like this, too bad. Since when did being nice and polite ever get anybody anything in this society of ours?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=7965628&mesg_id=7965628
Been noticing this lately at the DUmp, and I've lost count of the "Why are we being told to sit down and shut up" threads lately. Funny thing is many of them admit that they continually are used and then kicked to the corner, but yet they keep doing what they do hoping one day that treatment will end and they'll be heard.
And their leadership will continue to use them and then kick them to the corner. And why not? They get away with it so why shouldn't they? Does anyone really believe that the Madhound primitive won't vote Dem no matter how poorly they treat him?
If he wants to keep his majorities in Congress, if he wants to get re-elected, if he wants his programs to roll out smoothly, then he needs the left. For while we have had little power inside any administration for decades, we have become quite adept at tearing down those that we disagree with. This isn't a threat,...
He needs them, and they've been known to rip up those with whom they disagree, but it isn't isn't a threat.
It is a threat, but one of which they know he'll never follow-up.
We're going to keep up the noise until we get what every other faction in this big tent has gotten, a place at the big table, a fair hearing for our issues and concerns.
Problem is they aren't satisfied with just being heard or having a seat, they want to have their visions implemented. Anything less than 100% adoption of their ideas means they didn't receive "a fair hearing for our issues and concerns."
Nice to see the real kooky libs giving the same dose of medicine to their own that Dems as a whole try to give to the whole American public.
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