May 19 2009

This is NOT a Time For Moderation

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

Unless you are the President.

But for the rest of us….This is NOT a Time For Moderation!!!

.

LOL, there I go being a Shrill Liberal again, dammit. There I go Yelling for Change again. Why….it is almost as though I thought that this was a key point in world history and the history of our nation or something!

]Simulposted at Daily Kos ]

Oh wait….it is.

.

Which is why a democratic president must appear to be calm, cool, collected and competent. Why he must present a clear contrast to the Radical Republiban Insurgents…as they handily destroy themselves. He needs to calm the nations nerves and the nerves of a nervous world while we all…..whether we know it or not…deal with the massive anxieties inherent in being at such a historical turning point. A strong calm hand on the tiller is exactly what is needed right now. Both politically, to complete the defeat of the Radical Right and ensure they don’t come back to power through their favorite medium….fear. and pragmatically….because the Shit IS about to Hit the Fan in so many ways. Obama is actually doing the smart thing, by presenting himself as a Moderate, and believe me, I am no fanboy.

As for the rest of us?

We need to be yelling our fucking heads off!

Simulposted at Daily Kos

As I have said over and over….politics is pressure.

It is nothing BUT pressure. Politicians and governments, if left alone, are completely inert. They are incapable (in that extremely hypothetical state) of any movement whatsoever. They are a limp flag.

Until somebody blows.

And as we have seen for the past eight years…..the people in this nation who really blow are the ones that have been blowing. And much to the worlds detriment, they had an ‘Activist President’ to blow.

(Insert Clinton got impeached but Bush didn’t comment/joke here)

Now it is our turn to be the wind of REAL Change.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

Barack Obama

Moderates, by definition, have a hard time working actively for change. So when Obama says that WE are the change we seek…..Moderates clap politely and wait for him to change things. I know, I know, it is a very weird dynamic that Moderates would elect someone who tells them that he needs them to be the change….and then they don’t actually do anything to help him. As he has asked them to do. Repeatedly.

They practically worship the guy, they defend him and say how awesome he is, and count on HIM to change things. While ignoring what he says.

Obama say that this is a time for activism…

The true test of the American ideal is whether we’re able to recognize our failings and then rise together to meet the challenges of our time. Whether we allow ourselves to be shaped by events and history, or whether we act to shape them.

Barack Obama

Obama asks all of us to act….and the Moderates criticize those who DO act for not supporting him.

America is a land of big dreamers and big hopes. It is this hope that has sustained us through revolution and civil war, depression and world war, a struggle for civil and social rights and the brink of nuclear crisis. And it is because our dreamers dreamed that we have emerged from each challenge more united, more prosperous, and more admired than before.

Barack Obama

Obama tells us to dream…..and the Moderates ridicule the dreamers.


I always believe that ultimately, if people are paying attention, then we get good government and good leadership. And when we get lazy, as a democracy and civically start taking shortcuts, then it results in bad government and politics.

Barack Obama

Obama tells us to pay attention and not be lazy….and the Moderates blithely ignore the fact that their laziness is allowing him to be co-opted by the bureaucracy for lack of people Yelling against the bureaucracy.

How do you Yell against a faceless bureaucracy? By Yelling at Obama to resist it, when he is being co-opted. By reminding him that We The People have his back, support him, and are on his side in the fight….

Americans…still believe in an America where anything’s possible — they just don’t think their leaders do.

Barack Obama

….by making him do it. Our leader just told us in that quote that he DOES think anything is possible. Obama is not failing us, we are failing him….by allowing him to descend into mediocrity.

As he is assaulted by the forces of moderation and mediocrity and the comfort of the status quo, do the Moderates think that Obama wants to settle for mediocrity? Just because they are willing to?

Or does he want Change?

He has said over and over that he needs ALL of our help to achieve the Dream, to achieve the ‘impossible,’ to achieve Change. But the Moderates don’t believe him. The Moderates think he can achieve change on his own, and that all is required of them is to clap politely and tell him how awesome he is.

The Moderates do NOT believe that “anything is possible.” And much to his detriment, they do not think he does either. So as he is forced to settle….for lack of ‘his side’ telling him not to….they cheer his settling for mediocrity. As if that was his goal.

The way to make government responsible, is to hold it accountable.

Barack Obama

Obama now IS the government.

The way to make Obama responsible, is to hold him accountable.

As he has asked us to do.

So the activists have to make up for the Moderates failure to help the President.

Not only do we have to Yell Louder to make up for their lack of support of him by holding him accountable, as he has asked them repeatedly to do…

…but we also have to put up with them fighting against us as WE do do what he has asked.

We have to acknowledge the progress we made, but understand that we still have a long way to go. That things are better, but still not good enough.

Barack Obama

The Moderates do not listen to the man they purport to support. They think things ARE good enough, that they WILL be good enough…..if we all just shut up and let Obama do all the work.

Even though he has told us directly that he simply can’t do it alone.

The moderates are willing to settle for health care, since that will put money in their pocket, even though Obama has said…

Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled.

Barack Obama

Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can’t tackle the big problems that demand solutions. And that’s what we have to change first. We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans.

Barack Obama

The true test of the American ideal is whether we’re able to recognize our failings and then rise together to meet the challenges of our time. Whether we allow ourselves to be shaped by events and history, or whether we act to shape them.

Barack Obama

It’s not just enough to change the players. We’ve gotta change the game.

Barack Obama

We have changed the player.

Now it is up to US to change the game. And we cannot change the game by being quiet. That is not how politics work.

As Barack Obama would be happy to tell you moderates….if you would listen to him.

YES, I wholeheartedly agree….Obama IS awesome.

Now it is time for YOU to be awesome too.

66 comments

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  1. Photobucket

    • Edger on May 19, 2009 at 20:34
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    get any droogies on you over there? 😉

  3. Photobucket

    • dmc on May 19, 2009 at 20:54
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    progressives should always be “yelling our heads off”, in all times and in all places. Open information and freedom of speech are the cornerstones of any progressive movement, and of any progressive form of government. Anybody who tells us to pipe down and wait for our Leader to fix things is just not a progressive, plain and simple.

  5. ideals need to be defended with idealism. Torture is the only issue that could turn me into a single issue activist, but it is here and we have to address it.

    I will own in advance the fact that I might be a hard core pain in the ass about this issue, and will apologize for it in advance, but if we do not stand up for the rule of law for all citizens, then this ideal that America is a nation of laws and not men is dead.

    I will not let it die with dignity. I will go out with this ideal, kicking, screaming and generally with a total lack of dignity on the slim chance it will make a difference.  

  6. so closely at the what Obama is asking of us, maybe I’ll throw in a little of the how he’s articulated.

    For the major threats we face in the 21st century — whether it’s global recession or violent extremism; the spread of nuclear weapons or pandemic disease — these things do not discriminate. They do not recognize borders. They do not see color. They do not target specific ethnic groups.

    Moreover, no one person, or religion, or nation can meet these challenges alone. Our very survival has never required greater cooperation and greater understanding among all people from all places than at this moment in history.

    Unfortunately, finding that common ground — recognizing that our fates are tied up, as Dr. King said, in a “single garment of destiny” — is not easy. And part of the problem, of course, lies in the imperfections of man — our selfishness, our pride, our stubbornness, our acquisitiveness, our insecurities, our egos; all the cruelties large and small that those of us in the Christian tradition understand to be rooted in original sin. We too often seek advantage over others. We cling to outworn prejudice and fear those who are unfamiliar. Too many of us view life only through the lens of immediate self-interest and crass materialism; in which the world is necessarily a zero-sum game. The strong too often dominate the weak, and too many of those with wealth and with power find all manner of justification for their own privilege in the face of poverty and injustice. And so, for all our technology and scientific advances, we see here in this country and around the globe violence and want and strife that would seem sadly familiar to those in ancient times.<…>

    The question, then — the question then is how do we work through these conflicts? Is it possible for us to join hands in common effort? As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate? How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without, as Father John said, demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?

    Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words.<…>

    Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.

    And in this world of competing claims about what is right and what is true, have confidence in the values with which you’ve been raised and educated. Be unafraid to speak your mind when those values are at stake. Hold firm to your faith and allow it to guide you on your journey. In other words, stand as a lighthouse.

    But remember, too, that you can be a crossroads. Remember, too, that the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt.<…>And this doubt should not push us away our faith. But it should humble us. It should temper our passions, cause us to be wary of too much self-righteousness. It should compel us to remain open and curious and eager to continue the spiritual and moral debate that began for so many of you within the walls of Notre Dame. And within our vast democracy, this doubt should remind us even as we cling to our faith to persuade through reason, through an appeal whenever we can to universal rather than parochial principles, and most of all through an abiding example of good works and charity and kindness and service that moves hearts and minds.

  7. The Italians have been dealing  for a long time with a system of parliamentary and partisan politics that is even more dysfunctional that what prevails in the US these days.  In response, grassroots progressives and activists of various stripes have long been building their own independent organization to contest issues and policies without being beholden to any politician, any party, and their ambitions, opportunism and manipulations.  It is the CUB,  Confederazione Unitaria di Base.  It has  presences both online and as dozens of local/regional chapters.  In addition, through  its work on economic issues and fighting for the rights of working people, it has even developed its own union locals in some places.  I’m not necessarily calling for an attempt to copycat the CUB, but I think it does provide food for thought as to how we can build and sustain our own ability to influence events.

  8. …I didn’t even know about this place till today, when I found out by entirely by chance at a third, unrelated site. Apparently, news of The Purge is spreading fast.  

    Thanks, buhdy, for hosting us here…WB.

  9. your pretty awesome and a good moderate who knows that democracy is participating and that voting is only the start.On the other hand a pol is a pol and even the most awesome of them are prone to sell the very awesomeness that got them the power and call it compromise or necessary. Politics that loses our soul as a nation by appeasing the powerful who brought us here is not awesomeness that I can believe in. I do believe is bottoms up however, and want every body to get off their bottoms and and let them know that we are not going to be bamboozled any more.    

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