I got an email this morning from Chris Bowers of Daily Kos, warning me that the Democratic Blue Dogs are planning on taking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi down.
This really got me to thinking, about what is actually going on behind the scenes in our own party, and more importantly, I believe what we may be seeing (or not seeing) in the tip of the iceberg.
It has become abundantly clear after the past several years, that our own party, and our original platform as a party is being deeply transformed and abolished before our eyes. When did the words, progressive, dissent, open discussion on leadership, our base, our jobs, the very values our party has always stood for become verboten?
UPDATE:
For the longest time, I thought our ideals of discussion were lost on this site. Tonight I know they are not lost, and I just want to thank everyone for putting this on the Wreck List. I really do. You have given me back the faith, in our own party and for that I am deeply thankful. I really am. Wow...I mean just wow...we are a big tent...we can open our selves up to discussion, we can find a new way, and you know what? I don't pretend to know what that new way is. I think we are all lost in a haze right now. But I can accept that reality and hope again, after all of you have had the courage to respond to this diary.
All I can say is thank you so very much....from the top of my bottom...for your great courage, and thoughts....
What you all gave me tonight was this: the Democratic Party is alive and well, and for that, I just want to thank you for keeping the faith, and keeping it all alive, and keeping us going as the greatest party that ever was....thanks so much for that..
We are alive, we are thriving, we are still holding dear to our original party platform, and we are still going to demand, that our jobs be back home to us, no matter what party is in the White House. We must again, demand, that the Robber Barons not be allowed to send us into moral rot, and destroy our way of life. But that is up to us, and President Obama, isn't it?
Ms. B.
It's my understanding that recently some fellow Kossacks are forming a group to 'walk out' on Daily Kos, because they are 'tired' of all the Obama bashing. Well, you know what? I've been around here long enough to remember the insane Allegra Pie Fights during the Obama/Hilary uproar, months before we all worked so hard to get President Obama elected, so this is what I have to say to anyone that thinks they can stifle honest discussion in our big tent party:
Don't let the door hit you in your ass on the way out. I'm not leaving... ever, because I know what is really at stake here, and I believe it is nothing less than the heart and soul of the Democratic Party. I haven't worked by ass off for the past 43 years for nothing, and I think it might be a really good idea for us to figure out where our party leadership is leading us now, before it is too late.
After this morning's comment from Senator Mark Warner equating 'progressives with the tea party members,' I've had it. I've totally had it.
So let me put it out there for you:
What's the difference between a Blue Dog Democrat, and a Republican?
In my opinion, not much, except perhaps the Blue Dogs are just better at hiding who they really working for, and it sure as hell isn't the working people of this nation.
If neither the Democrats or the Republicans have a workable solution, to bringing our jobs back (a real jobs program) and are still protecting Wall St./the Banks as millions of Americans are being illegally thrown out of their homes, then who in the hell are we fighting for?
There simply aren't enough jobs to employ four out of five unemployed Americans, according to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The total number of available jobs in September was 2.9 million, according to a BLS report released Tuesday. It's a decline of 163,000 job openings from the previous month. During that same period, there were about 14.8 million people unemployed, BLS data show (hat tip to Economic Policy Institute).
A simple calculation shows that the ratio of unemployed people to job openings was 5.0 to 1. Put another way, there are only enough jobs to employ a fifth of the unemployed population.
As the workforce suffers, the job-creators are flush with cash. With the main interest rate near zero, companies can get money cheaply. But because corporations have little incentive to spend that cash, many companies are simply hoarding it. As of the end of last month, U.S. companies hold about $1 trillion in cash, Reuters reported.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Let me ask you all a few simple questions:
Why did President Obama form the 'Cat Food Commission?'
Why did President Obama turn his back on DADT, over and over again?
Why did President Obama turn his back on transparency in government, when this was one of the strongest platforms he ran on?
Why are the 'endless wars' and the war profiteers being ignored?
Why did President Obama refuse to directly appoint Elizabeth Warren as the new Director of the Consumer Protection Agency, when he could have?
Regardless of what you may think of the new trail balloon being floated around, let's remember just how many other trail balloons have been floated the same way in the past by President Obama:
I recognize that this is likely just a trial balloon. But even so, it deserves to be shot down with an entire arsenal of nuclear missiles:
MELISSA BEAN FLOATED AS CFPB HEAD – Buzz on Friday had Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.) possibly getting tapped as the first Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head depending on the outcome of her too-close-to-call reelection race, in which Republican Joe Walsh maintained a slight lead as of Sunday afternoon. But a possible Bean nomination is not sitting well with reformers on the left who say the moderate Illinois congresswoman is far too close to the banking industry. Gee, what would give anyone that idea? Oh right, stuff like this:
* FACT: Audit the Fed, one of the key provisions of the financial reform bill, was something both liberals AND conservatives fought for, and was supported by 80% of the public. Only 9% opposed it. Bean voted AGAINST Audit the Fed.
* FACT: Melissa Bean and the New Democrats were able to shoot the House derivatives plan full of holes.
* FACT: Three in four Americans (76%) wanted the government to block or recover the bonuses AIG paid its executives after taking TARP money.
* FACT: Melissa Bean introduced an amendment to gut a House bill to limit bonuses for TARP recipients. It passed.
* FACT: Melissa Bean "earned the most support of any incumbent from the US Chamber of Commerce," per a Sunlight Foundation study of how the US Chamber of Commerce used former government officials as part of their lobbying team on financial regulation. Bean’s former Chief of Staff John Michael Gonzalez was one of the nineteen former government officials they hired.
* FACT: Bean received over 40% of her 2009 campaign contributions from the finance, insurance and real estate sector.
http://crooksandliars.com/...
I don't think this is a rumor at all, and time will tell. But like I said: Blue Dog Democrats are exactly like Republicans, only they just hide it all a little bit better.
My dad (a second generation Irishman dyed in the wool Democrat) used to say to me:
If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, sounds like a duck - it's a fucking duck...LOL.
And I guess, that has been my own problem (and I think many of yours) with President Obama's Leadership.. so called - style.
What we must have the courage to face, and get over, is that this no longer 11th of 111th Dimensional Chess. Nor is he being politically savvy and just drawing his opponents in.. for some kind of last minute genius strategic move on his part. That's insane talk.
President Obama made his own choices, made his own decisions and is in fact responsible for those decisions. PERIOD.
Strange how he get's all Fired Up and Ready To Go, when he wants to and talks about 'not giving the keys back to those that drove us off the cliff'.............when we are still being driven off the fucking cliff.
Of course, we as a party are deeply divided and in fact fractured. But let's remember that when the Public Trust in our nation, was not restored, and we looked forward instead of backward, there were millions and millions of American who paid and are still paying for that brilliant decision.
This is exactly why we are in a deep state of reactionary politics, and of course the Democrats didn't get the memo that the 'rules of engagement' changed a long time ago, and if they did get the memo, the don't give a shit, because what I've come to believe is that both parties are working for the same team, as America is burning to the ground.
Oh, I can hear it all now: It's not his fault, its the Blue Dog's Fault, they hate him and they are all racists, they just want the power back...etc...etc..etc...and I agree with most of that. True.
But if our nation, has now become a true Oligarchy, and I think it has...then what happens to the rest of us, as we, the working people of this nation all go down the drain, as we pull the lever for President Obama in 2012?
But I'd like to say something here: This upcoming election is wayyyyyyyyy bigger than President Obama, and it has already begun. We are in fact in for the fight of our lives, and if no one is going to bring our jobs back, and the Cat Food Commission is on it's way to destroying our final safety net, and if President Obama simply believes he can stand in the shadows, sending out trial balloons as a form of real leadership, then where does that leave us as a nation, and as a party?
Case in point:
Here is the vice president's official schedule for today. Boldface was added in the interests of emphasis. Note especially that the vice president's meeting with the chairman of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board is closed, meaning non-transparent.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/...
Same shit, different day.
I did not vote for this, and neither did you. I've had enough of the Blue Dog agenda, and now they are posed to take over what is left of the Democratic Party.
Maybe it is time for a Progressive Labor Party in our nation. Maybe it is time, to set the Blue Dogs straight, and maybe it is time for President Obama to finally stand up and decide who and what the hell he really stands for, because from where I'm standing, he is still throwing the same people that elected him, the Middle Class under the bus.
So what I am asking for is this: an honest and open discussion on Daily Kos, and I'm including a poll. I rarely do this, because I am truly interested in a civil discussion here...ok people?
I know we can do this, without resorting to the Allegra Pie Fights, and the walk outs, and all that other shit, but don't you think it's high time we start thinking about who we will elect in 2012, and where our jobs are going to come from?
If both parties, are only vying for the same fucking corporate dollars, than let's face it, we don't stand a chance in hell. If President Obama doesn't truly come out of the shadows, then how can he lead?
I thank you for an honest and open discussion, and for remaining civil if you choose to.
Ms. B.