How many Democrats here complain about Obama's speeches, only to wish quite openly that he make a magical one that would take Republicans to task, and unleash the full progressive fury of the liberals on them? How many wish he would just stand up to them, and draw a line in the sand?
And how many of you decided in 2010 that it was time to stay home, that you wouldn't talke with people, or try to convince them to vote, satisfied that Obama and the Democrat's failure to perform justified such apathy? How many said that there was no difference between Democrats and Republicans then?
I have a long enough memory that I can recall what people expected and what they actually got. More than a decade ago, people expected that there would be no difference if Gore got into office, or if Bush did. just last year, they got the same dumb idea about Democrats in Congress.
Damn, people, don't you know better by now?
I knew we were in for a world of shit on election day, but I didn't feel bad. Why didn't I feel bad? Because I had fought it, rather than let it simply happen to me.
There's too much of this notion of consumer satisfaction, as if the President or Congresscritters were some product with a money back guarantee. Oh, I don't like my President, I'll just take him back for a better President!
Or maybe he's like a meal. Oh, waiter, I've got a shit sandwich here, please take it back. I want a pony fillet.
The reality is, you take that shit sandwich back, and instead of getting fillet de neigh, you get a jumbo sub crap sandwich instead, a Dagwood of doo-doo. The Republicans aren't a neutral quantity. I know some people are tired of being told that their idealism won't lead to results in this case, but it happens to be true. When the alternative is worse, and you fail to chose the better in a Democracy, you are responsible for what happens next.
I expect that when people don't vote for Democrats, nowadays, Republicans will get in instead, and do harm to the things I care about. I fully expected that the shit sandwiches would get worse when the Tea Party filled out the ranks of a new Republican Congress.
I expect them to get worse and worse the longer Republicans remain in charge, and if they pick up the Presidency or the Senate. I don't expect things to get better until Congress is completely back in our hands, and I don't think having a Republican President will be a positive development, either.
I'm prepared for disappointment. Politicans always disappoint. But you get the right ones in place, and at least you're not scared shitless that the economy your job and your nation depends upon isn't going to be in one peace come next week.
I mean, that is literally what I fear, and that is a direct consequence of 2010. Without that last election, we would have a Democratic Congress in there, and no matter how disappointing, we wouldn't be facing a debt ceiling vote from hell.
You don't like the threats to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, discretionary spending, the economy as a result of the cuts? Well damn, that was pretty much baked in the pie once the Republicans took the House. If you think the Republicans only got the idea after Obama made deals in December of last year, you're naive.
It wasn't Obama's caving in that made this all possible, it was the caving in of the American electorate, of which we were a part. Blood in the water isn't a big deal until you let the sharks in the tank. 2010 let the sharks into the tank.
2012 shouldn't be about encouraging further idealistic blather about how Obama is betraying us. We betrayed ourselves by not recognizing that our real fight was with the Republicans, not our own. 2012 should be about exploiting the Public's anger to kick out the people who should be kicked out, but most importantly, replacing them with the kind of folks, who at the very least give us less need of sedatives and horse tranguilizers as we watch the news.
I'm not saying be happy with those who sell out the party or our ideals. Just replace bad with better, the best you can possibly find, and play to win. Quit mourning losses that have not yet come to pass. Quit anticipating betrayals, and start preventing them by taking the initiative on giving your representatives,
senators, and President a piece of your mind.
Whatever happens this August 2nd, get ready for the fight of our lives. Let's stop grovelling in our self-pity.