Reply #92: Even while wringing our hands, we can still roll up our sleeves.. [View All]

[Donna Zen]

That is a paraphrase of a quote I read this morning at kos.

There are those who say what they say, and do what they do, because they think that this is a game, some personal contest, thus, Clinton's statements that started this thread. Clark recently said that unless we can take control of at least one house of congress, then 2008 will be an election about personality and not ideas: the who vs the what and the how.

Krugman said the Dean and Clark understood that getting rid of bush, while a good thing, was only a part of the big picture. The democracy is being threatened. I doubt that same overfed, myopic, middle-class will chose a path that leads to a better world. Although I've nearly avoided all science fiction for the past 5 years (you can appreciate how Wm. Gibson and Philip K. Dick would be too much right now,) I did accidentally read Octavia Butler's "Parable Of The Sower." In the book she describes how people were willing to give up their freedom completely, and enter a corporate prison to stave off the danger and poverty of their California world of the future. The book, written in 1993, haunts my thoughts.

As I see it, part of the problem is the "thinking people's" inability to organize against the political ruling class. During the last round of primaries, the majority of the politically aware Democrats were anti-this-war, and yet there was no anti-this-war candidate on the Democratic ticket. That happened because we clung to the "who" rather than the debate the "what and how." We stayed divided. I'm afraid that once again this will come down to the same meaningless decision making process; iow, who has the most money, the most airtime, the propagandists, and the support of the insiders of DC. (sigh) I fully expect that Hillary will be the Democratic nominee, and while she is probably a very nice person, with Hillary the beat goes on.

In the mean while, I'm committed to working with the grass and net roots to elect Democrats in 2006. So, I wring my hands and roll up my sleeves. Why go on while my head is filled with the "grim?" Because I really do love my country and ideals that it was built on. Ideals that once lost will take hundreds of years to restore; if ever.