> Which stage of mourning is the ABB movement in this week? Anger? More
> denial? The arguments for further participation in the electoral
> process are more hollow than ever. Am I the only leftist here who
> rolls his/her eyes when I hear ABB liberals scream about how evil the
> second term of Bush II will be? If you folks really think that Bush II
> Part II is going to be that terrible, why aren't you in the fucking
> streets like they were in the Ukraine?
Because the U.S. is not Ukraine, as anyone with a grain of realism in their minds can plainly see. I love to read your posts, Chuck, with their thrilling revolutionary ardor, but let's be serious for once, OK? (And of course what's going on in Ukraine is not a revolution either, if you're paying attention.)
> Is it going to be revolution or more Moveon whine and cheese parties?
I don't go to the MoveOn parties because that's not the crowd I hang out with, but one has to make a choice between living in the real world or the dream world. In the real world, there isn't going to be a revolution in the U.S. for the foreseeable future -- until long after I'm dead, and maybe you too, if then. This is just not a revolutionary country.
If that is so, the question is what to do about electoral politics. Ordinarily, that would be the thing for progressives to concentrate on, because it's what puts into office the legislators and executive-branch people who make the laws and enforce them, and laws are the way most people behave for the most part, because they are not brave enough or in favorable circumstances for breaking them. (Except for a few laws that everyone knows are not enforced.)
The problem at this point is that there isn't enough of a progressive climate of opinion to get progressive officials into the majority of electoral offices. Some common folks, many of them Bush voters on 11/2, are beginning to suspect that something fishy is going on. But most of the people who smell something fishy cannot clearly articulate to themselves what it is they are smelling, because the official pretense in this country is still that respectable politics is a choice of Bush or Kerry. It's that weird world-view that we need to change, by very intense cultural work to get real left ideas into the public discourse. (BTW, I'm not screaming about how evil Shruberino's second term is going to be, because it seems pretty clear to me that he is already starting into his crash dive, just as I have expected him to for some time. Quite a few of his crew-mates are starting to mutter about bailing out of his plane, but the Pilot-In-Chief is convinced, apparently, that conditions are fine and he can proceed on autopilot.)
But revolution? If that's your dream, I don't want to spoil your pleasure in wallowing around in it, but I'd rather keep in touch with reality, thanks.
On Jan 12, 2005, at 8:53 PM, R wrote:
> what is stupid now was just as stupid then. and how many still
> resist, deny, ignore, etc., the fact that vote machines were rigged.
> (was john kerry in the country when jones, boxer, black caucus
> members, challenged the vote?)
>
> yet, i'm sure crypto rightwing twits like nathan newman will tell us
> to support the democrats (who don't even support themselves) while we
> wait, sucking our thumbs, for a great grassroots movement to emerge
> courtesy of show liberals at moveOn, ACT, trade unions, etc.
Voting chicanery goes on in every election. It's only when an election is very close that it gets noticed. If the election is not close, it doesn't matter. And I'm sure that every African-American in the country has long been well aware of the fraud. After all, it hasn't been that long that they have been able to vote at all. So it's an old story to them and to anyone who is willing to listen to them.
And let's be clear that John Kerry is sooooooo over, as the kids would say. He seems to be making pathetic attempts to lay the groundwork for another run in 2008, but he proved to be such a wretched candidate this time that I would be amazed if he got anywhere next time. It would be like bringing Mondale or Dukakis back from the political grave. Of course, the Shrubster won't be running in 2008 either, and in my opinion it's much too early to be handicapping anyone in either party for 2008; it all depends on how the aftermath of Shrubsky's crash landing plays out. Meanwhile, progressives have plenty of work to do trying to educate the public about economic and political realities.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________ Wege entstehen dadurch, dass man sie geht. (Paths come into being as we walk on them) -- Franz Kafka