I was just on Mark Thompson’s Sirius radio show, and boy, the callers were really, really angry about proposed Medicare cuts. (And, as I reminded them, Medicaid is what pays for our parents if they need nursing home care.)
I mean really, really angry. And as Mark pointed out, it’s not as if we can go ahead and vote for Michele Bachmann, so what are people supposed to do with that anger? Bloggers are already being attacked for even criticizing Obama, as he reminded me.
It’s maddening and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s feeling powerless. Grrr.
voters are not ready yet, but obvious thing to do is abandon the legacy parties, vote Green, Independent, Socialist Democrat, whatever the ballot line is in your jurisdiction. The idea that we do not have alternatives is self imposed.
I posted a comment at Digby’s place, which I’ll shorten here and that’s essentially that the reason the left has lost so much – and continues to lose so much – is its insistence on tying itself to the Democratic Party. Most of the programs we think of as “Democratic” accomplishments came from those dreaded third parties – the Progressives, Socialists, Communists, etc. The Ds adopted them in the New Deal to “save” capitalism because of concern that those third parties, especially the socialists and communists, would attract too much support.
It’s not a surprise that having given up one of the main engines of pulling the nation left – third parties – that we’re now in a position of simply trying to hang on to what was won decades ago.
There is no left victory in being part of the system. Victory is only attained in opposing it. Which means building institutions – political party, unions, social movements – separate from the major two political parties. Unless and until people are willing to do that, we’re just going to continue down the same path we’ve been treading for 40 years.
Primary him. If Obama wins anyway, we’re screwed. If somebody not Obama wins the primary and loses the election, we’re still screwed, but at least somebody stood up. Heads you lose, tails I lose. Whatthefuckever. Might as well stand up.
I can’t say I’m surprised. Obama made his bargain with the insurance companies, the pharmacuetical companies (see the recent ruling on the danger of marijuana), and the robber barons, long ago. The argument now is what the hell we should support with our votes, but I think this argument is ultimately rhetorical. Between Citizens United and Diebold, we have been disenfranchised. We might as well face it. Now, I haven’t given up all hope, considering what’s happening in Wisconsin and in lots of other states like Ohio, New Jersey, and Florida. And whatever is done can be undone.
Both dcblogger and BDblue are right, but I think it will take a generation or more to achieve. Hope I can live long enough to march for it.
Obama is going to encumber the Democratic Party name and image with going after SocSec and Medicare/Medicaid, at the very least. If he succeeds in destroying those programs, he destroys the party.
It’s that simple.
People do not get, yet, that he’s not a Democrat; that may become common knowledge in the future, but not for awhile. So the party will suffer.
And the party cannot be considered to be blameless. What has the party and the DC Dems to help the people? Very little.
Perhaps the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party can be used to build a new party. It won’t be ready for 2012, that would be asking too much. But there must be a political entity which represents the needs of the people.
If we ever get to the point of being able to balance and then take back the Supreme Court, we can perhaps do away with the Citizens United decision. That will take a longer time than bulding a new party, especially since Obama has mainly appointed people he’s comfortable with, which means at least a strong portion of Corporatism to their approach. It’s really terrible that he has named to few to the Federal bench; another lost opportunity.
Well I’m writing in Bernie Sanders. They can’t force me to vote for someone who I think is bad for the country. I’m tired of the blue-red paradigm and I refuse to engage in playing the game where I have 2 choices-bad and worse.
It’ll be a repeat of the health care farce: the Democratic bargaining position will START with cuts to once-sacrosanct Social Security and Medicare programs; then Obama will begin “compromising” from there. Whoever wins, the people lose. And only a Democrat could get away with it. Chomsky’s right: one party, two factions.
At this point I can’t vote for Obama again. I won’t vote for a Republican but I can’t vote for Obama. I feel really sad about it.
I’m voting Green. My understanding is that the rules are: if they get 5% of the vote, they can participate in debates. I’m contributing my vote to that 5% so that we can hear a different voice on television.