Dan Froomkin has a post today over at that bastion of Conservative thinking the Huffington Post. The best quote:
This is supposed to be a participatory democracy, but we've all gotten used to non-participation. And the cost is enormous.
His main argument is that if we want President Obama to pursue a truly progressive agenda then we must actively and very publicly show our support for that agenda. What does active mean?
They can force the hands, say, of tight-fisted landlords, by threatening rent strikes. They can bring inflexible company executives to the table by threatening, say, a picket line or a boycott.
At this moment in time it's not about what Obama has to do for the country - it's about what we have to do.
This is in no way an apologist diary for Obama. I am severely disappointed with much of what he has done or failed to do so far. But it's also not another denunciation. In my opinion, empty verbal denunciation is useless. Apologism is dangerous. Neither one brings us any closer to our goal - genuine progressive reform in the USA.
One of my favourite motivational authors always says work on the things you can change, don't obsess over those that you can't. We have very limited leverage over the Democrats. But we do have an enormous resource - people power. So far that resource has been fairly untapped in our politics. And as Froomkin points out, there have been moments when it could have made a difference:
Almost forgotten these days is the fact that in Obama's first address to Congress. In February, the new president served up a pretty darn bold agenda, backed up by a respectably progressive budget proposal. So what was the reaction? Obama looked over his shoulder and saw -- no one.
The talking heads on TV and in the newspapers tut-tutted about what a big gamble he was taking. And without any palpable expression of public support to worry about, the moneyed interests and their congressional lackeys in both parties went about nibbling everything to death.
Imagine if today Obama announced a bold and expensive new jobs program, to put America to work, build a green infrastructure, and rebuild our cities and highways. What would the reaction be? Journalists would call it radical and risky, the brayers of conventional wisdom inside the Beltway would express horror at the effects on the deficit, and the Glenn Becks of the world would work themselves into froth ranting about how Obama was building a private army of socialist storm troopers or something.
Needless to say, the overriding message wouldn't be that this was a move that had great popular support. Which it would have.
I've been fortunate enough to experience life in other societies - European, Caribbean and Latin American. I can tell you that for all our virtues the American public is extremely docile. The last case of large-scale industrial action I can recall in the US was a transportation workers' strike in New York City in 2004 I think. And I recall the reaction - near universal disdain for the striking workers. In these other regions strikes are a fact of life. Trade unions and activists can shut countries down. Michael Moore wasn't joking in "Sicko" when he said in Europe governments are afraid of the people.
To be clear, I'm not wringing my hands at the apathy of the general public, I am criticizing us here at Daily Kos. We have the knowledge, we have an enormous platform that reaches hundreds of thousands. What are we using it for? To argue with each other?
I'm not saying that that is all that happens here. There are some diarists who can regularly be counted on to post action-specific diaries - what to do, how to do it - that advance our cause. But we can do more, much more. The same way we targeted Glenn Beck advertisers. Money bombs, coordinated protest action, boycotts, public awareness campaigns, etc, etc, etc. 50 teabaggers are going to a town hall? Lets send 500 people to drown them out.
Keep in mind, real progressive change NEVER comes from the political leadership. It starts on the street. More and better Democrats can only take us so far. And politics has a way of making "better" Democrats lose some of their luster. Lets try for more and better progressives.