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Where have you been? - Confessions of a former TPM blogger in the Summer of our Discontent
It's a fair question- where have you been? I have not blogged on TPM for nine months.
I know you have not been waiting out there with baited breath for me. There is plenty to read every day on this great site.
No, the "where have you been" of which I speak is the question my President is asking of me right now.
Not me, particularly, but the thousands like me that were completely engaged in the battle for the White House - taking time off of work to travel across the country to knock on doors and talk to our fellow Americans about why this election mattered - taking time to make a difference by electing Barack Obama president of the United States - people like me that have now reverted back to the role of political spectator - Sunday afternoon armchair quarterbacks extraordinaire.
Oh we still have great conversations about what is going on - with ourselves - we just are not doing anything about it. I still avidly consume the blogs - I just don't write in them anymore. I can't wait for the 1:00 pm release of the Gallup Poll each day - but I have not done anything in months to make those numbers move. Not since that day last November when, with pride, I wrote here in TPM saying I was headed off to New Hampshire -one of millions engaged in a movement to take our country back - AND WE DID!
But one election does not make a revolution.
And one charismatic, visionary, intelligent, determined leader. even if he is Barack Obama, does not make for good government.
Time after time on the campaign trail our President reminded us that this was not about him, it was about us. Now- that he needs us most, I and thousands of others like me have relinquished the field to our opponents - those who believe that the best political argument is a lie and the best government is one that serves the interests of the upper class. We have stopped responding to those e-mails from Organizing for America. We don't hold house parties for change. And we have no plans to travel to D.C. and protest outside the offices of John Boehner and Mitch McConnell calling to Fix Health Care Now!
No, we sit sipping our coffee, reading the news online surprised that Obama is having a hard time making his case to the American people. We are shocked when a story like the question of his American citizenship gets traction in the mass media, are horrified when a crazy like Glenn Beck gets away with calling Obama a racist. And we sit in our living rooms watching Rachel, Ed and Keith - starting to get impatient with Obama - wondering if he cares enough about the gay community, is serious enough about closing Guantanomo - or has the backbone to require a health care bill with a public option. At the very moment when we are in the clear majority - we turn on ourselves, thrashing about for enemies within our own camp - questioning, dare I say, the President himself - who we suspect is betraying us, the people who put him put into power.
The question really should be, who the hell do I think I am doubting Obama's commitment to change when he has given up everything else in his life to make it happen, not for him, but for us. His taxes will go up. He already has government sponsored health care. He had two bestselling books before he was President.
What Barack Obama is working for day in and day out is a better country, a more civil society, a moral criminal justice system, a robust economy, a sustainable environment, and honor and respect and justice in the world community.
Sounds like causes worth fighting for to me. And doubt not, my friends that we are in a fight. The forces of mammon never let go of their power willingly. The forces of repression are always loath to let in even a little light.
Barack cannot and will not win this fight alone. He needs US - now.
It is time to retake the field my fellow revolutionaries.
In response to their simple lies, let us tell simple truths:
- He is not a racist, they are.
- He is not behind a government take over of health care, they are maintaining an insurance company take over of health care.
- He is not failing in stimulating our economy - the economy that once was feared to be falling into depression is now coming out of recession in large part because of the largest stimulus since WWII in concert with swift, bold action taken to preserve the financial system and auto industry
- Obama is not mounting crushing deficits, he inherited crushing deficits from Republicans, had to add to them to avoid a national economic emergency and is now fighting to curtail them in the long run through addressing spiraling health care costs - one fifth of our economy.
We're back, friends, and it's time to give 'em hell - for as Harry Truman once said, we just tell the truth on them and they will feel like they are in Hell. But to do that we have to go from reading to writing, From writing to calling. From calling to networking. From networking to protesting. Time for our voices to be heard again, shattering the lazy, hazy summer silence of the August recess, providing not just a counterbalance to the cavils of the right, but a clarion call for true, lasting change - change that begins now.
Yes we can.
I know you have not been waiting out there with baited breath for me. There is plenty to read every day on this great site.
No, the "where have you been" of which I speak is the question my President is asking of me right now.
Not me, particularly, but the thousands like me that were completely engaged in the battle for the White House - taking time off of work to travel across the country to knock on doors and talk to our fellow Americans about why this election mattered - taking time to make a difference by electing Barack Obama president of the United States - people like me that have now reverted back to the role of political spectator - Sunday afternoon armchair quarterbacks extraordinaire.
Oh we still have great conversations about what is going on - with ourselves - we just are not doing anything about it. I still avidly consume the blogs - I just don't write in them anymore. I can't wait for the 1:00 pm release of the Gallup Poll each day - but I have not done anything in months to make those numbers move. Not since that day last November when, with pride, I wrote here in TPM saying I was headed off to New Hampshire -one of millions engaged in a movement to take our country back - AND WE DID!
But one election does not make a revolution.
And one charismatic, visionary, intelligent, determined leader. even if he is Barack Obama, does not make for good government.
Time after time on the campaign trail our President reminded us that this was not about him, it was about us. Now- that he needs us most, I and thousands of others like me have relinquished the field to our opponents - those who believe that the best political argument is a lie and the best government is one that serves the interests of the upper class. We have stopped responding to those e-mails from Organizing for America. We don't hold house parties for change. And we have no plans to travel to D.C. and protest outside the offices of John Boehner and Mitch McConnell calling to Fix Health Care Now!
No, we sit sipping our coffee, reading the news online surprised that Obama is having a hard time making his case to the American people. We are shocked when a story like the question of his American citizenship gets traction in the mass media, are horrified when a crazy like Glenn Beck gets away with calling Obama a racist. And we sit in our living rooms watching Rachel, Ed and Keith - starting to get impatient with Obama - wondering if he cares enough about the gay community, is serious enough about closing Guantanomo - or has the backbone to require a health care bill with a public option. At the very moment when we are in the clear majority - we turn on ourselves, thrashing about for enemies within our own camp - questioning, dare I say, the President himself - who we suspect is betraying us, the people who put him put into power.
The question really should be, who the hell do I think I am doubting Obama's commitment to change when he has given up everything else in his life to make it happen, not for him, but for us. His taxes will go up. He already has government sponsored health care. He had two bestselling books before he was President.
What Barack Obama is working for day in and day out is a better country, a more civil society, a moral criminal justice system, a robust economy, a sustainable environment, and honor and respect and justice in the world community.
Sounds like causes worth fighting for to me. And doubt not, my friends that we are in a fight. The forces of mammon never let go of their power willingly. The forces of repression are always loath to let in even a little light.
Barack cannot and will not win this fight alone. He needs US - now.
It is time to retake the field my fellow revolutionaries.
In response to their simple lies, let us tell simple truths:
- He is not a racist, they are.
- He is not behind a government take over of health care, they are maintaining an insurance company take over of health care.
- He is not failing in stimulating our economy - the economy that once was feared to be falling into depression is now coming out of recession in large part because of the largest stimulus since WWII in concert with swift, bold action taken to preserve the financial system and auto industry
- Obama is not mounting crushing deficits, he inherited crushing deficits from Republicans, had to add to them to avoid a national economic emergency and is now fighting to curtail them in the long run through addressing spiraling health care costs - one fifth of our economy.
We're back, friends, and it's time to give 'em hell - for as Harry Truman once said, we just tell the truth on them and they will feel like they are in Hell. But to do that we have to go from reading to writing, From writing to calling. From calling to networking. From networking to protesting. Time for our voices to be heard again, shattering the lazy, hazy summer silence of the August recess, providing not just a counterbalance to the cavils of the right, but a clarion call for true, lasting change - change that begins now.
Yes we can.
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You are spot on!! My two ideas -- camp out on the steps of Congress with a sign saying "Take Back our Health Care!"; another idea is to start marketing buttons saying "Another American Ripped off by Health Insurance"
Health insurance is just a symptom of a larger problem, which is the widening disparity between the wealthy and everyone else in this country.
I have a sick child. If I didn't have to spend approximately two work days out of each month arguing with the insurance company, maybe I'd have time to change the system.
August 3, 2009 9:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nicely thought, nicely done, nicely said. Thank you.
August 3, 2009 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hear, hear! Way to come back with panache, Greg.
Now if only I could get the blogging system to work for me...
August 3, 2009 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nine months huh? Hell that is about as long as I have been here. First posted in mid November I think.
I love this place. And it is a pleasure to meet you and this blog is GREAT!!!
August 3, 2009 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
So very well said.
I honestly don't know what to make of the seemingly stark contrast between the passionate, street-level advocacy that was the campaign, and the apparent attempt at a higher-ground, soft spoken appeal to sane reason approach.
In my opinion, and by the nature of the opposition's arguments (black nationalist, Muslim, Fascist, Communist, welfare-king, affirmative action tool, illegitimate foreigner, reverse-racist, enslaver, thief of a country, etc.), there is a clear reason why this particular President required our participation in such an active and unprecedented way, not only to facilitate his election, but to enact his agenda.
The President faces a unique set of challenges, as his supporters have been able to acknowledge and counteract in times past. Don't be mistaken--if we're to come even close to the change that we want to see, we've got to take it to the streets once again. Sitting back in the hopes that the opposition terminally embarrasses itself, and thereby diminishes its credibility, is a pipe dream. Their messages are gaining traction with those traditionally more susceptible to irrational fearmongering and scapegoating in times of hardship.
August 3, 2009 9:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Look, we're being raped here. The man is right, it is time to fight back and break some noses!
August 4, 2009 12:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well said. One hint of sympathy though for anyone who's gone away. I know where you are, friends. You're dealing with this blasted economy we've been handed. You're working harder and longer as everything has become a fight for efficiency and output. You're trying to "do more with less" because that's the practical legacy of the Bush years.
Welcome back!
August 4, 2009 1:11 AM | Reply | Permalink