My progressive friends and I travel in somewhat different circles which intersect, happily, at our belief in the ideals of the old progressive movement and an almost child-like belief that the whole point of electing Democrats and Progressives to public office is to make things better.
But electing Democrats to office...(let's face it, who was and when did you see a "progressive republican?) hasn't worked out quite the way we wanted it to....
For instance, one the federal level.....
We can't even mention the word "impeachment" in front of our Congressman. Our Congressional leadership won't discuss it and marginalizes any Democratic Congressman who dares broach the subject.
Our Senate leadership has "caved in" on ending the war...cutting off funds for the war...or putting any kind of restriction on the Oval Office's misbegotten war.
Both Houses "caved in" on authorizing an increase in domestic surveillance...and then told us it was a "technical mistake".
On the State Level:
"Our" people have supported that ridiculous "right to carry" law....they supported the Republican sponsored "liability limitation" law...and they're backing down on the State-wide smoking ban....It's getting so you can't tell the Democrats from the Republicans anymore.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
I've mentioned before that I sometimes have a conversation with a die-hard conservative friend of mine...for the sake of making the conversation more understandable, lets call this conservative friend Slats Grobnik....who is, Mike Royko's old fictional conservative buddy so he might as well be mine too.
Anyway...I was talking to Slats last Tuesday night and he asked me, "Hey...what's wrong with your Democrats?"
Me: "Whaddya mean, wrong?"
Slats: "Well...they're voting just like us...an I don't mean just once or twice but all the time...."
Me: "Oh.....that....well, I'm not very happy about it either."
Slats: "You know if you're going to elect Republicans, you might as well vote for the real thing, instead of a wannabe. That way you'll get the gen-u-wine article."
I don't know what I resented more, the smirk on his face or the fact that he was speaking the truth...and we both knew it. Good thing football season started because it's now acceptable to end every barroom political discussion with, "How 'bout dem packers hey?"
Slats was right because Federal, State or Local, the progressives/ Democrats we elect now betray our wishes with veritable impunity.
We elect these folks on their promised commitments to issues we hold dear: Universal Health Care, Education, Workplace equality, civil rights and on and on and on... And time and again, we're betrayed.....they vote WITH the conservatives...they back down when the going gets tough...they capitulate when the right-wing noise machine fires up. And time-and-again....they get away with it.
Why?
How CAN THEY GET AWAY WITH IT?
Because we....those who did phone banks and doors, gave money, volunteered our time and efforts, don't have any other choice but to vote to re-elect them....Our choice is always between a Dem who sometimes votes the way we elected him or her to vote OR a Republican who will NEVER vote the way we expect them to vote.
These elected types know this....and they know some other things too....like the most important political truth they can understand......and the one that bothers me the most:
They DON'T NEED THE GRASS ROOTS OR RANK-AND-FILE anymore.
Once elected, they become the focus of attention of PACS, lobbyists and corporations who will generously reward them for their favorable votes....the money...the donations they get from us local yokels is chicken feed to them and while they're grateful for it, it's just not as important as a $5,000 check from the NRA or WEAC or WMC or any number of "interested parties". And, of course, once all that money starts flowing into the campaign coffers, then they definitely DON'T need the grassroots anymore. They can hire their own phone bankers, they can hire their own "robo-calls", they can buy mailing lists and do their own direct mail solicitations that used to be done by volunteers going door-to-door. They can (and do ) say: SCREW THE GRASS ROOTS!!!! I've personally heard those exact words from people in party leadership positions and elected officials too.
Oh yeah....and in case you didn't get it....once they don't need you anymore....they don't have to listen to a single word you say.
The system is broken.
The system needs to be "rebooted".....The question is how do we "reboot" it?
