Thursday, January 7, 2010

Take Me to Our Leader

The reasons for the stillbirth of the new progressive era are many and much discussed. There's the death of liberal and moderate Republicanism, the reluctance of some administration officials and congressional Democrats to challenge the banks, the ever-larger role of money in politics (see reluctance to challenge banks, above), the weakness of labor, the dysfunctionality of the Senate -- the list is long and familiar. But if there's a common feature to the political landscapes in which Carter, Clinton and now Obama were compelled to work, it's the absence of a vibrant left movement. 

Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, 1/6/10
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 Alas, it's true.  The "left movement"--the true left movement, not the middle-of-the-road "Progressives" nor the loony "Lefties"--is no longer vibrant.  We lost our glow long ago, when we decided the worst thing we could ever do to ourselves was to get in the position of being considered Socialists.  We even dropped "social programs" from our lexicon lest someone should suspect us of Commie leanings.  Then we dropped social programs altogether, just in case.

We either forgot or ignored the real contributions unions had brought us since before our grandparents were young, and turned on them just when we needed them the most.  We let the actor Ronald Reagan make the first incision and then stood back, wringing our hands, while the strength of our labor movement slowly seeped away.

Our voices were no more than mere whispers when American jobs by the millions moved to foreign countries.  No representative howls from these quarters when American manufacturing and American wages moved toward the downslide while corporate America's profits went soaring through the stratosphere.

We never completely bought the notion that all was right with the world, that our path to prosperity was named "deregulation", that the people in power had even a nibble of a clue, but every time we turned around someone wicked or more cunning was stealing our soapbox.  So we shut up.  Or so it seemed, for all the good our grousing and complaining did.


For eight long Bushwhacked years, we moaned and groaned and predicted the predictable outcomes.  And when they came, we got nothing for our troubles except to be able to utter a wholly unsatisfying "We told you so".  Because for eight long Bushwhacked years we, the Liberals afraid to speak our own name, had no real leaders.


Nobody stood out as the one willing and courageous and strong enough to take on corrupt big government and big business (even more dazzlingly corrupt).  We've had many voices--many fine voices--like Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR, JFK, MLK, Walter Reuther, Cesar Chavez, Barbara Jordan, Mario Cuomo, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Russ Feingold, Dennis Kucinich,  Anthony Weiner, Sheldon Whitehouse, Byron Dorgan (Yes, I've heard--but he still has a voice), Elizabeth Warren, Bill Moyers, Rachel Maddow.  We've had Molly Ivins, Michael Moore, Jim Hightower, and now Al Franken, who's laughing all the way to the Hill.

But where is the one strong leader leading the charge to help put our country back together again?  To take on the jammers and scammers in high places?  To demolish the Fat Cats' havens?  To get people back to work?  To keep families healthy and safe, without poverty looming?   For awhile there, we thought it was going to be Barack Obama.  For a while, I think even Barack Obama thought it was going to be him.   But it isn't.  It's clear he's not the one.


No leader.  Oh, well. . .so be it.

What??

Wait, that was last year.  This year--2010--we're going to have to do it ourselves.  We who see ourselves as the perennial, ineffectual caretakers are going to have to make our presence known.  Don't answer to "Liberal", I don't care.  Call yourselves "Progressives", I don't care.  Just do what liberals have always done.  Help the poor, feed the hungry, nurture the children, restore human dignity, and advocate, always, for equity and honesty.

This year is the year of the PEOPLE.  We are the people.  Only we can make it happen.  We can't do it alone.  We can't even do it with rooms full of like-minded people.  In order to be heard, we have to do it by the millions.  There are millions of us out of work with nothing but time on our hands.  There are millions of us who are retired, with no real schedule, who remember what it was like when the middle class was on top and want that back again.  There are millions of us with brain power and skills working at no-hope jobs through no fault of our own.  And there are millions of us who are union members who need a refresher course in labor struggles and organized ass-kicking.

2010.  The Year of the People.   Last I looked, that's us.

Ramona

(Cross-posted at Talking Points Memo here.)

5 comments:

  1. Wow, you have laid it on the line. Now if 'the people' will just find some spine or to use one of my favorite words 'gumption'.

    I did believe that Obama would be a stronger leader and have been disappointed. I do have to defend him a bit. He said all during his campaign that he alone couldn't bring about the needed changes and that he needed help from all of us.
    Let us all work harder together instead of forming circular firing squads.

    I am applauding you, Mona

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  2. Hi Ramona, my friend (To Whom it may Concern--there really ARE two of us!).

    I haven't completely given up on Obama. I'm impatient, to be sure, because there is just too much to be done NOW. People are hurting too much, and while there are some signs of progress, I haven't yet seen him take TV time to talk to the people (that's us) about jobs and foreclosures and the increasing numbers of the poor, and what is going to be done about it. And, almost more importantly, what he wants us to do to help. We need to start mobilizing!

    I guess what I was trying to convey is that there never will be one lone hero--someone riding to the rescue--the problems are just too huge, and Obama is no FDR. So it's up to us to light the fires to get it going.

    I wish I knew how to do that. I wish I had the POWER to do that. All I know is it has to be done, and the only way we get attention is by sheer numbers.

    Thanks for commenting.

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  3. To any who happen to stop by and read this piece, I urge you to follow this link to my cross-posting at Talking Points Memo. http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/r/a/ramona/2010/01/take-me-to-our-leader.php

    The commenters (most of them) are amazing! I have new hope that we can get together and actually make changes in this country. All it's gonna take are a few million of us...

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  4. Ramona, this is an awesome post. I could not agree with you more. If you don't mind, I think I will link to this on my blog, and urge others to read it, too. We've got to start a real grass roots movement to make these things happen. We've got to call those Conservative Hate-mongers on every lie they spread, and every time they try to replace reason with fear in the minds of the American people. I haven't given up on President Obama yet. I think he is still trying the best that he can to make this happen. He's not in the position to call the Repubs on their inconsistencies, lies, and support of money over the people, but I agree with you that we need leaders who do it. Rachel Maddow is one, and you listed some others. What we need to do is increase our numbers and make our voices heard. If you havenj't heard of it, check out www.moveyourmoney.info. There is a great clip there.

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  5. Link away, Stan--and thanks. Our strength really is in our numbers. I liken it to the unions, when their numbers were high. They had power then, and solidarity. Everyone working together to create a society were all could flourish.

    We've had whole decades of the majority voting for corporate best interests, and look where it got us. Finally, though, I'm seeing the kind of awareness that has to come first before we can make the changes that bring our country back to any kind of vibrancy. It won't be easy, but we're on our way.

    Thanks for the link, too. I've been meaning to go there and now I will.

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