Now that I'm back online and can bear to ingest some of Tuesday's news, let me say first, I don't believe for a second that Obama and his kewl boys are mourning the loss of our most powerful and effective progressive voices, Pelosi and Feingold. Obama could never quite diminish Pelosi to the "sweetie" role he finds most appealing in women, and Feingold must have constantly reminded him of all the stances he himself failed to take as a Senator.
In short, he isn't really regretting the stupid choices he's made or seen that he has wasted the good will of those who elected him. He's just confused that it didn't work. Why are we doomed to elect only folks who can't learn things beyond grade school lessons?
I found heart in Darcy Burner's words over at Crooks and Liars today (full link here):
"Suffice it to say for the moment that flagrantly throwing women, gays, organized labor, and Latinos under the bus, breaking campaign promises around which significant elements of your base have organized, abandoning the lofty rhetoric of the campaign to cut backroom deals with the people whose greed and bad faith created the messes we’re in, and actively and repeatedly insulting the people who communicate most often with your key supporters is probably not the optimal strategy for resounding political success. (But hey, bygones, right?)"
What I STILL want from a so-called progressive President would be:
Stop the wars.
Restore habeas corpus.
Prosecute the war criminals.
Stop spying on citizens.
Close Guantanamo Bay.
Enact health reform with a public option.
Abolish corporate personhood.
You'll note Obama ran on all these promises but had betrayed us with secret deals before the vote was even in. He deserves to be a one-termer. I'm tired of rewarding the merely stupidly corrupt in order to beat back the evilly corrupt. As one friend wrote me, she and friends watched the election results and found themselves cheering at Harry Reid's victory, which says it all.
You can also note that my list above is not a "lesbian" or "woman" list, it's one shared by the overwhelming majority of people who are not demented by fear and white supremacy -- the base that Obama has effectively alienated. Deep principles of human liberty are at stake, and we are facing frank fascism. I will NOT shut up or pretend that I am being represented by those who do not prioritize restoration of Constitutional rights which were eroded by Bush and now winked at by Obama. For me, this IS the inherently feminist, human liberation position. Letting the boys play their games is burying us alive.
No more.
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