Sunday, October 31, 2010

An End-Of-The-Month Rant, As America Prepares To Throw Itself Off The Cliff

I find myself thinking, not without a little bit of nostalgia, about Election Night two years ago in real time and an eternity emotionally.  For me, and for many my age, it was probably the happiness Election Night in the forty-plus years that I've followed national politics.  The ups and downs that I've seen in that time, however, gave me a cautionary feeling about what two years later (in other words, now) might look like.

I told myself that another 1994 could not possibly happen.  Obama, unlike Clinton, was neither a plurality President nor a morally compromised one.  The Republican leadership in Congress was of a lesser political caliber than it was in the Gingrich-and-Dole days.  And the voters, it seemed, had finally seen through the smoke and mirrors that has characterized conservative politics and policies over the past 30 years.

And yet, as I write this, America seems to be on the verge of shooting itself in the foot--or perhaps, this time, in the head--one more time.

Why?  In the end, an unsurprising conflux of causes.  Obama somehow believed that leadership on most issues could be delegated to Congress, and in the process lost the opportunity to lead from the White House and use Congress as a competitive foil (as most successful Presidents have done).  Congressional Republicans stayed united around the word "No" (and found, in a climate dominated by fear and a leadership vacuum in the White House, that "No" was a good substitute for having ideas).  The Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case created an extended, months-long holiday for corrupt campaign spending.

But, frankly, all of this will probably not be ultimately enough to blame.

What will be enough?

WE will.  By WE, I mean progressive voters who think that sulking is an effective campaign strategy.  Let the American people have a few more years of the Republicans, they feel, and they (as well as the Democrats) will be begging us to come back.  After all, it can't get worse.  Can it?

I know a lot of people who thought that way in 1980.  And 1994.  And 2000.  But guess what?  Each time, it got worse.  And, each time, the problems that all of us face (whether we realize it or not) have gotten worse and worse.  When it comes to solving many of them, we may already be past the point of no return.

We live in an age of increasing scarcity, whether it comes to natural resources or capital.  As a consequence, our moral and economic leadership here and abroad is being crippled, perhaps irreparably.  And yet, America is on the verge of turning to a political party it hates, not as a reasoned decision but as a panicked one.

Sulking, like failure, is not an option.  This is a democracy; we all need to opt into it, not out of it.  If we do otherwise, we contribute to the vacuum our President has helped to create, and ensure the destruction not only of the nation, but perhaps the world as well.

Things are not perfect today.  And there have been many blown opportunities.  But we can't afford to blow the few we have left.

So VOTE!  And, if that doesn't work, get up on the morning of November 3rd and organize, fundraise, e-mail, blog, and generally FIGHT LIKE HELL!  We're worth it.  And so is America.

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