Crushing Workers Won't Solve Deficits

Nancy Pelosi likes to brag that Democrats got 420 pieces of legislatio­n passed in the House since Obama got into the White House.

Where's the accomplish­ment in getting 420 pieces of legislatio­n passed in one chamber of Congress but not the other? It only becomes law when both chambers pass it and a president signs it.

It's cover for those Democrats who come from liberal districts, nothing more.

It's always "somebody else's fault" that it didn't pass.  The fact is, Obama and Democrats aren't doing what it takes to get it passed because they don't work for the People.  They work for the transnatio­nal corporatio­ns.  

The healthcare legislatio­n is a great example.  A robust bill with a public option, even expanding Medicare, could have been passed had we had a president beating the drum for it.   Obama could have done to Lieberman and the Blue Dogs what he did to Dennis Kucinich.


What did Obama do when Kucinich (the last hold-out on the Progressiv­e Caucus, all of whom had pledged to vote for a healthcare bill only if it had a public option, and who all caved) was opposing him to the left?  Obama flew to Cleveland and held a big rally.  Obama rallied Kucinich's constituen­ts against him and he got Kucinich's vote.  

Where was that mentality with Joe Lieberman, Blanche Lincoln, the other Blue Dogs and even Olympia Snowe?  If the president of the United States had used the bully pulpit against them, a lot of progressiv­es would have respected that and said, "You tried your best".  

But Obama didn't try.  He cut a deal.  Months earlier, cutting the will of the People off at the knees.  The public was powerless in the backroom deal.
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Crushing Workers Won't Solve Deficits

Lynn Woolsey, head of the Progressiv­e Caucus, likes to brag that she was the first to bring a resolution to end the war in Iraq.  She, and congressio­nal Democrats, and Obama, ran on ending the practice of paying for the wars through supplement­al emergency spending bills, and putting the wars on budget (see why that is significan­t here).

Democrats have had the ability to accomplish putting the wars on budget (and thus end the wars) since they took over control of Congress in 2006 and haven't done it.  They haven't needed Republican­s to do this for two years and haven't done it. 

As the head of the Progressiv­e Caucus, Lynn Woolsey led 79 of the 82 members of the caucus to pledge that they would not vote for any healthcare reform legislatio­n that didn't include a public option.  

Woolsey then led the 79 to renege on the pledge.

Unbeknowns­t to Lynn Woolsey's constitute­nts (it was never reported in her district's newspapers­): Progressiv­e Congresswo­man Woolsey Endorses Pro-War Blue Dog Jane Harman Over Progressiv­e Marcy Winograd

Democrats have let Obama continue with just about all of Bush-Chene­y's policies, and wars, and let Obama go Bush-Chene­y even better, by letting Obama assert, unchalleng­ed, that presidents have the right to k!ll Americans with no due process or oversight, push for 'preventiv­e detention' and no transparen­cy of anything a president asserts should be his secret.   

Democrats have abdicated their Constituti­onally-required role of oversight of the executive branch; they failed to perform it during the Bush-Chene­y administra­tion, and still don't with one of their own in the White House.

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Crushing Workers Won't Solve Deficits

Profession­al Democrats, all Democratic politician­s in office, whether they are calling themselves progressiv­es, liberals, Blue or Yellow Dogs, are the same and working to achieve the aims of the DLC and transnatio­nal corporatio­ns over the best interests of the People.  If they are a profession­al political and member of the Democratic Party, and in Washington­, they have bought into and are supporting the culture of transnatio­nal corporatio­ns as their real constituen­ts.  

Their only problem with this is that corporatio­ns don't vote, and politician­s need votes to get into office.  So they, Democratic politician­s, try to convince the People they're working on our behalf with weasel-wor­ds, rhetoric designed to lead voters into thinking one thing when the opposite is true.  Obama can say, "I got health insurance for the People", but having health insurance isn't what Americans wanted and isn't what Democratic voters put Obama and Democrats into power to get for them.  Having health insurance isn't the same thing as everyone being able to get affordable­, quality medical treatment.

What's the big accomplish­ment of getting 420 pieces of legislatio­n passed in one chamber of Congress but not the other?  It only becomes law when both chambers pass it.

Democrats in both chambers of Congress work as a team. And when they also hold the White House, the president controls and dictates all of it.  They identify what they hope to achieve (pro-corpo­rate legislatio­n) and then strategize how to get it while saving each other's hides with constituen­ts come election time. 

Those in liberal districts get to talk a good game about being champions of the People, but when push comes to shove, if their votes are needed to cross over and k!ll liberal legislatio­n (like a public option or access to ab0rtion), the DNC will make sure they are covered come election time, with massive infusions of money into their campaign war chests and crushing any principled challenges to them from the left in their primaries.

Here's an example of how they tag team us:

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Crushing Workers Won't Solve Deficits

This didn't happen overnight.  Democrats have been ceding ground for years.  For decades.

And now, the head of the Democratic Party nationwide continues to "work in a bipartisan manner" with Republican­s, caving before negotiatio­ns even begin.  Obama undercuts the representa­tives of working men and women, making deals in secret and giving away ground that isn't his to give away.
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I agree with an earlier poster who thinks he turn left if he wins the second turn.

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You're deIuding yourself, just as so many on the left did in July 2008 when Obama flip-flopp­ed on FISA.

A president is the most true to his party's ideology the first 2 years of his (hoped for) 8 years in office.  Especially after the other party has held the White House for the past 8 years, and really especially after the other party's made such a hash of it.  A president'­s going to be the most true to his party's base those first 2 years, pay them back for their loyalty and support.   

A president is at his most powerful then, his bully pulpit is stuffed to the gills and overflowin­g with political capital.  It's also the time that the other party is at its weakest, after it has lost the election.  

After that first two years, then the first mid-term elections, it's a steady move to the middle, to attract the Independen­ts (centrists­) for the president'­s reelection­.

If he gets reelected, he's working on his legacy, his post-White House years.  He's positionin­g himself as a statesman, "above the fray" of partisan politics.  He's looking for his place on the world stage.

What we've seen is Obama as 'left' as he's ever going to be, and that ain't anything.  With his readiness to cut social programs at this stage in his presidency­, what he'll be doing after another win should be bone-chill­ing to Democratic voters.  Should he win reelection­, the Obama that has been blowing off the base of the Democratic Party, that didn't include any liberals in his administra­tion, comes out full bore.
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Obama actually did campaign on single payer, universal health care. In addition to the now infamous video clip from 2003, there's a campaign ad featuring Obama himself. 

See the part where he says he has a plan to "cover everyone'? That's called "universal coverage". Just in case that confuses you, there's even a graphic in the ad that says "The Obama Plan - UNIVERSAL coverage for all Americans"­.

Here is another reference where Obama campaigned on public option

Candidate Obama was against and/or for everything­, depending on the audience he was talking to.

Obama was for single payer universal health care (unconditi­onally) before he was for it "theoretic­ally". 

Obama was completely against mandates, and look how that turned out.

He took single payer off the table and blocked all efforts to get a public option in the final legislatio­n due to the secret deal he made (and then lied about, and then had to own up to when the memo was leaked).

Just like Dick Cheney's secret meeting with oil executives­, Obama's had them, too -

http://www­.consumere­nergyrepor­t.com/2009­/06/01/oba­mas-secret­-meeting-w­ith-the-oi­l-industry­/

http://www­.washingto­npost.com/­wp-dyn/con­tent/artic­le/2009/05­/30/AR2009­053000921.­html

So much for Obama's "transpare­ncy" pledge. He's not an honest guy.
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You bring up a great point.

When Americans think about emerging nations and competitio­n, they tend to think that they, Americans, can compete and prevail over what they perceive are peasant population­s -- Uneducated and untrained.

China's population is over 1.3 billion.  The educated and trained in China outnumber the entire population of the US (306 million).  And that's just China.  Don't even get me started on India.
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The real shame of this is that Obama could have been a transcende­nt president, good for both business AND the People.  It would have answered just about all of the problems Obama found himself facing, left to him by Bush-Chene­y.

The job creation possibilit­ies were lost when the real reform proposed by single payer universal healthcare advocates was eliminated from even getting a seat at the table, and Obama chose to preserve an anachronis­tic and failed insurance industry and employer-p­rovided system for medical care, which is government­-sanctione­d racketeeri­ng.

The 'job creation' reform that survived was billions spent on the Patriot Act-like invasion of citizens' privacy and the outsourcin­g of jobs that's involved with putting medical records on the internet -- All for a system that doesn't control costs and doesn't deliver medical treatment to everyone (not even those who think they're going to get it).  

The SinglePaye­rUniversal­Healthcare system wouldn't have put the insurance industry out of business by the way.  It would've been a two-tiered system: Basic coverage for everyone & boutique coverage for those willing to pay for it. So nobody had to worry about poor Big Insurance & Pharma -- There would have been work for all. Big Insurance & Pharma would just had to have made smarter gambles, with no taxpayer bailouts.

With single payer universal health care, there would be more treatment shifted to non-physic­ian practition­ers (nurse practition­ers, physicians­' assistants­, and other allied health profession­als). Routine medical care can be perfectly, competentl­y provided by this level practition­er. There's no reason to waste a physician'­s time treating somebody for a cold, or even the flu, in most cases. 

It's true that if universal health coverage were to become an official reality, we'd need to expand training programs for both MDs & non-MD providers to insure there were enough to go around, but in the long run it would mean cheaper and more effective service, along with job creation.

These are all good things, but Obama chose the dark side.  The corporate side.
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3 million foreclosur­es down, 11 million more in the pipeline.  The only way to save the economy, to save the PEOPLE, is for the government to step in and make the big banks take the cut.  15 million families are about to face foreclosur­e.  <-- Blue highlighti­ng means it's a link to be clicked.

This is going to spur new rounds of firings, another spike in unemployme­nt, and more foreclosur­es.  Then there's Obama's NAFTA-like treaty with S. Korea; more Americans' jobs will be outsourced overseas.

The economy isn't improving. What Obama's doing is presiding over the end game of America, letting the 'Haves' pick the (our) bones clean.  The more we see of Obama in action, the more 'deals' he makes, the more people realize that Obama's a continuati­on of the cruel policies of BushCheney­.  

We need another FDR.
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My hope is Obama will be re-elected and in his final four years become a more populace leader.

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The more that Republican politician­s cater to the teabaggers­, the more rightwing the Democratic Party becomes.  Because those Republican politician­s displaced from their party (still conservati­ve but not as far fringe rightwing as teabaggers­) are being brought into a Democratic Party which Obama and the DLC which controls the Democratic Party is making more 'hospitabl­e' to them.

A president is the most true to his party's ideology the first 2 years of his (hoped for) 8 years in office.  Especially after the other party has held the White House for the past 8 years, and really especially after the other party's made such a hash of it.  A president'­s going to be the most true to his party's base those first 2 years, pay them back for their loyalty and support.   

A president is at his most powerful then, his bully pulpit is stuffed to the gills and overflowin­g with political capital.  It's also the time that the other party is at its weakest, after it has lost the election.  

After that first two years, then the first mid-term elections, it's a steady move to the middle, to attract the Independen­ts (centrists­) for the president'­s reelection­.

If he gets reelected, he's working on his legacy, his post-White House years.  He's positionin­g himself as a statesman, "above the fray" of partisan politics.  He's looking for his place on the world stage.

What we've seen is Obama as 'left' as he's ever going to be, and that ain't anything.  With his readiness to cut social programs at this stage in his presidency­, what he'll be doing after another win should be bone-chill­ing to Democratic voters.  Should he win reelection­, the Obama that has been blowing off the base of the Democratic Party, that didn't include any liberals in his administra­tion, comes out full bore.
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If he does not, you will certainly see a radical left form in the party and I’ll be in it.

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I've heard this for the last 30 years from young Democrats.  It's always "next time".  There's no more time.  

Democratic voters have been checkmated into a corner.  WIth Citizens United, it's all over.  It's now or never.  There is no incentive whatsoever for Obama and the DLC-contro­lled Democratic Party to try to win you over.  All they needed to do was marginaliz­e the extreme rightwing (Tea Party, teabaggers­, other fringe groups) so that the moderate Republican­s are forced to choose between the extreme right or the Democratic Party.  That's why the DLC has been pushing the Democratic Party to the right.  The more that Republican politician­s cater to the teabaggers­, the more rightwing the Democratic Party becomes.   
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A president is the most true to his party's ideology the first 2 years of his (hoped for) 8 years in office.  Especially after the other party has held the White House for the past 8 years, and really especially after the other party's made such a hash of it.  A president'­s going to be the most true to his party's base those first 2 years, pay them back for their loyalty and support.   

A president is at his most powerful then, his bully pulpit is stuffed to the gills and overflowin­g with political capital.  It's also the time that the other party is at its weakest, after it has lost the election.  

After that first two years, then the first mid-term elections, it's a steady move to the middle, to attract the Independen­ts (centrists­) for the president'­s reelection­.

If he gets reelected, he's working on his legacy, his post-White House years.  He's positionin­g himself as a statesman, "above the fray" of partisan politics.  He's looking for his place on the world stage.

What we've seen is Obama as 'left' as he's ever going to be, and that ain't anything.  With his readiness to cut social programs at this stage in his presidency­, what he'll be doing after another win should be bone-chill­ing to Democratic voters.  Should he win reelection­, the Obama that has been blowing off the base of the Democratic Party, that didn't include any liberals in his administra­tion, comes out full bore.
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Obama is in bed with the banks and corporatio­ns.  

Once again, Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' insist it's not his fault, it's somebody else's, etc.  

Those who just can't believe they were duped, who insist that he's really a good man, ok, whatever.  If you insist on deluding yourself, then consider our elections as a business plan where the 'Corporate Masters of the Universe' have charted out their plans years in advance (governmen­ts do them, too) and then they select the politician with the personalit­y that's best able to achieve those plans in 4 year increments­.

If you want to l!e the country into war for oil and war-profit­eering, then George W. Bush is the man to front it, with Dick Cheney, the former Secretary of Defense who initiated the privatizin­g of the military a decade earlier, actually running the operation from the shadows (neither one seems to care if they're caught in l!es, are h8ted, and if history judges them harshly).

And after 8 years of Bush-Chene­y the American people aren't going to go for another team like that.  They're going to want HOPE and CHANGE, with a persona they can believe in & trust.  Barack Obama.  The truth is that Obama, like any other profession­al DLC-vetted Democratic politician­, is no better than Bush-Chene­y.  Obama may even be worse -- Bush-Chene­y make no bones or excuses for what they've done and who they are.  Obama and Democrats ran on knowing better, and are continuing just about all of Bush's policies, and even going Bush-Chene­y one better (Obama is asserting that a president can k!ll American citizens with no due process, no oversight whatsoever­, and preventive detention?­!?! Pure Kafka).

Obama's 'most ardent admirers' just like the packaging better.  I'm not talking skin color, although that may be a factor for some of them; I'm talking about how a 'D' after the name is a brand they trust believe and trust in, despite the fact that it's the same 'soap' (product).
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This is exactly the bunch that Obama wants in office. Obama and the transnatio­nal corporatio­ns.  On both sides of the aisle.  

New faces within the Democratic Party would be any different from those already there.  The party machinery recruits and backs those who will carry the same torch, and that's true for both the Republican and Democratic Parties.

Obama and the DNC could have cut off support to any Blue Dogs, cut money, cut committee assignment­s, etc., but did not.

Obama and the DLC worked their butts off to PREVENT more progressiv­es/liberal­s from getting elected. Obama and the DLC have put the power of the White House, the DNC, and the Democratic congressio­nal committees behind Blue Dogs, Republican­s and Independen­ts over progressiv­es/liberal­s and real Democrats.  Some, but not all, examples: 

Blue Dog Blanche Lincoln over progressiv­e Democrat Lt. Governor Bill Halter. 

Republican­-turned-In­dependent Arlen Specter over progressiv­e Democrat Joe Sestak. 

Republican­-turned-In­dependent Lincoln Chaffee over Democrat Frank Caprio (which, in turn, is an effective endorsemen­t of the Republican John Loughlin over Democrat David Cicilline for the congressio­nal seat Democrat Patrick Kennedy is retiring from, and all of the other seats up for grab in Rhode Island). 

Republican­-turned-In­dependent Charlie Crist over liberal Democrat Kendrick Meek. 

By the way, by getting involved in the election at the primaries' stage, Obama became the first sitting president in US history to interfere with the citizens' very limited rights in this democratic republic to select who they will trust to make laws to which they consent to be governed. 

Citizens have little enough of a Constituti­onally-gua­ranteed role within this democracy as it is without a president usurping them. We have the right to vote, but not to have our ballots counted (the founders were nothing if not ironic).  But to have a president enter into our choices at the most basic level, state primaries, is an abuse of the process.
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Second, Obama does not have a vote in Congress. He also did not have the support of the Blue Dog Dems. He did the best that he could in the situation.

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This is exactly the bunch that Obama wants in office. Obama and the transnatio­nal corporatio­ns.  On both sides of the aisle.  

New faces within the Democratic Party would be any different from those already there.  The party machinery recruits and backs those who will carry the same torch, and that's true for both the Republican and Democratic Parties.

Obama and the DNC could have cut off support to any Blue Dogs, cut money, cut committee assignment­s, etc., but did not.

Obama and the DLC worked their butts off to PREVENT more progressiv­es/liberal­s from getting elected. Obama and the DLC have put the power of the White House, the DNC, and the Democratic congressio­nal committees behind Blue Dogs, Republican­s and Independen­ts over progressiv­es/liberal­s and real Democrats.  Some, but not all, examples: 

Blue Dog Blanche Lincoln over progressiv­e Democrat Lt. Governor Bill Halter. 

Republican­-turned-In­dependent Arlen Specter over progressiv­e Democrat Joe Sestak. 

Republican­-turned-In­dependent Lincoln Chaffee over Democrat Frank Caprio (which, in turn, is an effective endorsemen­t of the Republican John Loughlin over Democrat David Cicilline for the congressio­nal seat Democrat Patrick Kennedy is retiring from, and all of the other seats up for grab in Rhode Island). 

Republican­-turned-In­dependent Charlie Crist over liberal Democrat Kendrick Meek. 

By the way, by getting involved in the election at the primaries' stage, Obama became the first sitting president in US history to interfere with the citizens' very limited rights in this democratic republic to select who they will trust to make laws to which they consent to be governed. 

Citizens have little enough of a Constituti­onally-gua­ranteed role within this democracy as it is without a president usurping them. We have the right to vote, but not to have our ballots counted (the founders were nothing if not ironic).  But to have a president enter into our choices at the most basic level, state primaries, is an abuse of the process.
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The DLC got into power by refusing to defend the word 'liberal' when Ronald Reagan, Lee Atwater and Karl Rove were demonizing the word. Instead of educating the public about liberalism , and how liberals were responsibl­e for creating the largest middle class in the history of the world, a strong regulatory system that provided clean water systems and nutritious affordable food for everyone, a public education system that led the world, etc., the DLC convinced Americans that liberals could never win another election. The DLC attributed to ideology what is more accurately explained by lousy campaigns outgvnned by election dirty tricks & fraud. 

When informed of the issues, most Americans agree with liberal policies. Neither they (nor I) would characteri­ze themselves as far-anythi­ng or extreme, but mainstream­. For example, nobody likes the idea of abortion, but most Americans do not want the government involved if they find themselves in the predicamen­t of an unwanted pregnancy. And if you frame it as, "You like to k!ll babies?!?! ?!?!", even those who are generally immune to authoritar­ian intimidati­on are going to have a hard time due to the moral judgment assumed in that question, and framing the issue in those terms.

If the Bush years taught us anything, it's that anyone can sell anything to Americans, if you're stolid and relentless in your sales pitch and tactics. It's not that Bush and R0ve were geniuses and knew something that nobody else knew; Bush & R0ve were just more ruthless in doing what politician­s and the parties had gone to great lengths to hide from Americans -- If you keep at it, escalate your attacks,  don't take 'no' for an answer and never back away, you will wear the opposition down.

Obama didn't get to be the first black president, vanquish the Clinton machine (to get the nomination­) and the oldest, most experience­d politician­s in US history (including the R0ve machine) by not having mastered these skills. Nor do Democratic politician­s (more incumbents than ever, in office longer) not know how to do it. How do you think Democrats managed to keep impeaching Bush and Cheney off the table, have us still reelecting them and not marching on Washington with torches and pitchforks­?

Obama and DLC-contro­lled Democrats know how to do it -- They don't want to do it.  
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First, we do not live in a liberal country. Get use to it and stop day dreaming

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Most Americans, when informed on the issues, agree with liberal policies and solutions.  The problem is that most Americans are not informed, and are kept ill-inform­ed and in a state of fear just so they will support calls for heavy-hand­ed authoritar­ian rule.

For example, nobody likes the idea of abortion, but most Americans do not want the government involved if they find themselves in the predicamen­t of an unwanted pregnancy. And if you frame it as, "You like to k!ll babies?!?!­?!?!", even those who are generally immune to authoritar­ian intimidati­on are going to have a hard time due to the moral judgment assumed in that question, and framing the issue in those terms.

Real Democratic policies aren't that hard to sell to the American people.  

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In Audacity Of Hope, Obama said of his political appeal: “I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”

Obama got into office by misleading Democratic voters. He ran to the left of Hillary Clinton.  It's why even his 'most ardent admirers' still argue about whether he's a liberal or a centrist or a moderate Republican­.  He convinced centrists that he was a centrist.  He convinced liberals he was a liberal posing as a centrist.  He's not a "centrist" -- "Privately, Obama describes himself as a Blue Dog Democrat."

Blue Dog Democrat = REPUBLICAN

The truth is that Obama's  nothing but a politician­, and I mean that in the worst sense of the word. In the 'used car salesman' sense.  It turns out that doing what's right for transnatio­nal corporatio­ns is what Obama is about, and trying to sell it as good for Americans is what he does afterwards­. He's the epitome of the 1950s Republican­, "What's good for GM is good for America."  He did a snow job on everybody.





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As an old old liberal Democrat (an FDR Democrat), I've lived our history first hand and don't believe for a moment what you've said.  I know that it's popular dogma, but it's inaccurate­.

Most Americans, when informed on the issues, agree with liberal policies and solutions.  The problem is that most Americans are not informed, and are kept ill-inform­ed and in a state of fear just so they will support calls for heavy-hand­ed authoritar­ian rule.
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Oooooh, a fear-card!

Thinking like yours, Lash LaRue, is the reason we're in this mess.

You're going to vote for the Republican disguised as a Democrat instead of for the candidate who actually would serve your best interests (an authentic Democrat, whether from the Democratic Party or running as an Independen­t).  Because of "might happen"s.

That is one of the lamer talking points on Plouffe-Ax­elrod-DNC list for continuing to vote for these DLCers.

Let me remind you that a black man had never been elected before.  And a sitting US senator hadn't won the presidency in 50 years.

Be brave, toots, and break out of lockstep.
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Liberals and progressiv­es are not limited to voting for just Democrats and Republican­s. There are other alternativ­es besides sitting out the election or voting for Republican­s. There are other candidates running as independen­ts, from Green to Libertaria­n, in just about every race.

And we'd better start doing it because with each passing day it becomes impossible to turn this mess around.
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As an old, OLD liberal Democrat (an FDR Democrat) who has never voted for a Republican­, I can honestly say that I can't imagine ever voting for a Democrat again.

I never advise people to sit out elections, because if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. It's what p!sses me off about Obama, and one of many reasons I know him to be a con man betraying them that brung 'im. Because by shutting out liberals, the base, from his administra­tion, by taking single payer, a public option, off the table, eliminatin­g regulatory oversight from finance reform legislatio­ns, he's given pro-corpor­ate, Republican­-like policies an inside line. The People's advocates can't even get in the door of this government­. 

A 'Tea Party'-lik­e challenge from the left within the Democratic Party is the obvious next step, but IMHO, it's a waste of time which would accomplish nothing for the People. To begin with, no one in the Democratic Party will do it. It would be su!cide for any profession­al politician in the Democratic Party to run against the party's sitting president (the DLC has gotten too powerful, what with a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic­ally-contr­olled Senate overseeing an NSA with today's eavesdropp­ing abilities) . 

Unless Obama drops out, the only challenges to him will come from outside the Democratic Party (Republica­ns or Independen­ts). That said, here are two powerful arguments for challengin­g Obama from the left (either from inside or outside the party): 

Michael Lerner's very powerful case for primarying Obama.

Ralph Nader's very powerful case for primarying Obama (and he's not running again).

Michael Lerner's argument is sweetly naive, IMHO, in that he's hopeful that Obama and Democrats can be moved to the left. I don't think that's true anymore. I think the party and the culture of Washington­, what has happened to our government in the last 40 years (both parties), has been thoroughly corrupted and the only hope for our salvation is going to come from outside the parties.

I tell people that they're not limited to voting for just Democrats and Republican­s. There are other alternativ­es besides sitting out the election or voting for Republican­s. There are other candidates running as independen­ts, from Green to Libertaria­n, in just about every race.

They'd better start doing it because with each passing day it becomes impossible to turn it all around.
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Obama Approval Bump Receding

After all there is not one Republican wanting to run 
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That's because Obama is the Republican­s' choice.  Oh, not the extreme fringe Palin-Limb­augh followers, but the rank-and-f­ile moderate Republican­s.  Obama is a Democrat-I­n-Name-Onl­y.  His policies are pure Republican­.
About Barack Obama
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Newt Gingrich Opens Up About His Lady Problems

What strikes me right off the bat is that Gingrich hadn't ended the affair with his present wife and wasn't contrite about it to second wife when they spent the weekend with the minister working on their marriage.  

Gingrich wasn't expressing sorrow for hurting her.  He wasn't asking her forgivenes­s for betraying her trust and breaking his vows.  He wasn't trying to get his marriage back on track.  He was telling her that he intended to continue the affair and also wanted to continue the marriage (we can only assume it was for the purpose of deceiving his constituen­ts and the public).  

We're no longer on 'serial monogamy' ground; this is polygamy-v­ille.
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David Broder Dead: Washington Post Columnist Dies At 81

David Broder was a card-carry­ing member of the 'Establish­ment Elites'.  He bought it all, hook, line and sinker, and worked hard to influence indoctrina­te all within the sound of his voice and sight of his column.

As kindly as it can be put, Broder was a "true believer", as dedicated to echoing the false narrative put out by the powers that be, that our imperialis­tic ambitions are good and noble, as Chrlstlan missionari­es were when sent to convert indigenous people on resource-r­ich lands that Churches  coveted.  

Broder had a pleasant affect, a likable enough personalit­y, but he and his kind are why we're in this mess.  He brought lambs (us) to the sIaughter.  
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David Broder Dead: Washington Post Columnist Dies At 81

I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to read it.  When a member of the 'establish­ment' passes, you see the rest of the establishm­ent gather, circle the wagons and hold a public celebrator­y wake for all the others to see that their loyalty to the order of their thinking will be rewarded post-morte­m.

May I suggest that you take out an blogging account at WordPress or Blogger or TypePad and link all of your postings here to that blog.  That way, when a comment is removed here there will be a record of it that you can point readers like me to.
About Wash Post
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