My added noise to the Senator’s diary here. Since there are only 771 previous comments (not to mention RenaRF’s excellent missive), I’m sure he’ll be able to give mine the time it deserves.
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Senator Obama,
I read your diary with great interest; thank you for paying the courtesy of acknowledging the blog world. I wish I could agree with what you have written, but on the critical points, I don’t.
It’s a matter of actually having faith in the American people’s ability to hear a real and authentic debate about the issues that matter.
I don’t have this faith, and there are many, many facts to back me up. The American people won’t ever get to hear this debate or even know about it, because every single way they could is owned by the self-interested wealthy. There is no authenticity possible because the media’s reportage is based solely on money. My voice — maybe even yours — just doesn’t count in the warped lens of our current media. That’s the reality. Like everyone else here, I’ve had arguments with friends and family about what is happening to our country. During the few times I’ve tried to talk politics with my Colorado relatives, I’ve been struck by the realization that we can’t even agree about basic facts, let alone partisan issues or matters of policy. Nothing is new about this kind of distortion except its now-monstrous scale, so large that the average citizen is less aware of it than an ant on a chessboard.
Let me be clear: I am not arguing that the Democrats should trim their sails and be more “centrist.” […] it will require us to innovate and experiment with whatever ideas hold promise (including market- or faith-based ideas that originate from Republicans).
This Republican Congress has given us “Clear Skies” and “Healthy Forests.” They gave us “No Child Left Behind” and the Social Security “reform.” Every major majority initiative over the last five years has come booby-trapped and wrapped in Orwellian misnomers. Every single one. They have set about dismantling the departments they didn’t want, and when they couldn’t get away with that, stuffing them full of incompetent cronies. While John Bolton lies his way into the U.N., a dozen more as-yet unheralded Michael Browns are waiting to stumble into their own spotlights. Even putting the Iraq war aside, our country is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and is largely beholden to foreign interests. Maybe the collegial atmosphere of the Senate means you are obligated to extend your hands to your distinguished colleagues’ “ideas,” but those of us who’ve warily and wearily followed these endless charades know nothing good will come from this majority as it is now constituted.
A large part of your diary is a plea for harmony and tolerance. No one here disputes that need, and we’re willing to spend all day bashing each other on the head in an effort to achieve it. But harmony isn’t enough right now. We’re starving for leadership that the Democrats apparently have no will or incentive to offer. You say our disagreements are hamstringing our ability to hold a majority, but no one will give a majority to the Democrats without knowing what it is, least of all us. In the absence of any unified vision from you and other congressional leaders, what options do we have? When you can’t get on the same page, why should we?
The Republican leadership is crumbling before our eyes, leaving Democrats an absurd number of gifts (or weapons) if you have the knowledge and/or will to use them. Katrina is the perfect distillation of 30+ years of Republican policies. You could talk about that horrible epic for a decade and not exhaust it. Democrats will occasionally remember the common good, but they seem to have completely forgotten its rhetorical adjunct, selfishness. The American people have seen a tidal wave of selfishness from this administration without consequences. Tell the American people there are consequences to selfishness, and list them. And then give me a real set of reasons to point to you as a positive and active choice for my wavering relatives. We are waiting for your Democratic charter and leadership.