> As for what we're "supposed to do", I'd say hunker down for a long
> winter for starters, watch, listen, research, talk, and talk, and talk
> and wait for opportunities to come along. BuschCo will do something
> that will get them tossed and/or their opposition will get its act
> together. Shit'll happen.
>
> Don't, for God's sake, go into some public, quasi-nihilistic suck-fit
> as demo'ed in Katha Pollit's latest column.
Yeah, I think I'll learn knitting and make some scarves for Xmas presents, while we see what kind of shit Shrub wants to throw against the wall, and how much of it sticks. And whether any Dems in Congress are willing to stand in front of the barrage and block it, or if they'll all duck.
There's a lot of nihilism going around as an immediate reaction to 11/2, but that will die down before long.
But I don't advise waiting for the Bush battalions to make mistakes or get themselves into trouble (though they no doubt will). Progressive politics can't be only a matter of reacting to the reactionaries. A lot of the left wing of the Dems are imploring their colleagues to come up with a strong vision of what kind of society the DP wants to work for, and this goes double and triple for the radical Left. As far as I can see, the radical Left has no vision at all at this point; all of its "demands" are basically the same ones the moderate DP left has, except we radicals are more impatient about it. Out of Iraq? Universal health care? Raising the minimum wage? Yes, yes, but we want it *now,* not incrementally! I think we need a more distinct view of what kind of society we want and how to get it, as well as one that people can understand.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ A sympathetic Scot summed it all up very neatly in the remark, 'You should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and folk-dancing.' -- Sir Arnold Bax