OK, so I've made a decision. I'm attending my County Democratic Party Executive Committee meeting on the 15th and getting my hands dirty. Not volunteering, not "Organizing," though both of those are valuable things; I want to set the agenda. It's time for everyone who's pissed off about last night to start pushing back HARD from the Left, and doing it where it matters, on the local level, in person, in the Party structure itself.
This is probably not a new idea for some of us, and if you're already doing it, great. Thank you! But if you're not, and you're physically able to, then you MUST. We have to get a handle on things, we have to create a Party that actually represents the people. The #1 reason I heard that people weren't voting this year was that "there's no difference between the parties." The Blue Dogs got slaughtered, because in their cases, there was not. It's time to SHOW your community what the difference is.
If you're as mad as I am, you have no choice. No more wasting time arguing with people here, on Facebook, or in person who have no actual influence. Go straight to the place where you can accomplish something and impose your will on it. Run for a leadership position in your local party. Hold them accountable. Be a radical, but do it within the framework of the system. Don't compromise, and don't let anyone else compromise either.
We are about to let corporate welfare cases and their lackeys in the GOP ruin America. Indeed, I fear America might already be too far gone. But I know one thing, one lesson learned from this election. The crazy old racists in the 3-corner hats have been doing what I'm about to do for YEARS. Ever since the GOP ceased to have an actual domestic policy back in the '70s, it's been non-stop loudmouths of various stripes gathering in church basements and grumbling about Clinton's dick, Kenyan Birth certificates, and all the other nonsense used to distract them from the fact that they are serving the desire of big companies to pay fewer taxes and screw employees and consumers alike.
But they've proven they can win. And it just happens that the "Radical Left-Wing" has moved so far right that it now includes sensible things like universal health care, an end to discrimination, taxing the ultra-rich fairly in times of crisis, and a desire to not destroy the fucking planet. THESE are today's "radical positions."
So screw it. I'm going to fight. I suggest you fight, too, because if you don't, we are fucked.
Find your local party, go tell them what you think. Democracy requires more of us in times of crisis than idle chatter, it requires decisive and substantial action and sacrifice. If we want progress, we don't have to fight teabaggers, or John Bohner, or anyone else like that.
We just have to show up at some meetings and convince some nice folks who probably agree with us anyway that it's time to get real. And KEEP doing it.