Gobsmaked by Irony...

[Ozymanithrax]

With the sure passage of the Senate Bill and its inevitable move to Conference Committee, we stand on he verge of the greatest piece of progressive legislation since Johnson passed Medicaid and Medicare. The irony is the a big chunk of the progressive left have turned against the legislation, the President, and the Senators that brought us here.

The route of progressives shouldn't be surprising, there have been grumblings from very early, some of them for very understandable reasons. Obama saved the banks rather than rounding up the CEO's and toss them in jail. Obama did not end "Don't Ask Don't Tell." He did not throw open the gates of Gitmo prison and lead the prisoners into the promised land of where-ever-the-hell-they-want-to-go. Obama did not demand his AG put Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld (Oh My!) on trial in the Rose Garden. He didn't order our troops instantly out of Iraq. He escalated the Afghan War.

A lot of those decisions were the pragmatic decision a President makes in the act of Governing. They hurt, of course, in the same way a lovers thoughtless remark cuts to the quick. These pragmatic decisions have led from small complaints to deflections to a mass rout. They payed into a strong belief by many progressives in a monstrous conspiracy among corporations, a corporotocracy that controls government so that even the most progressive Senators will obey they without question. Many of them actually believe that Republicans love the bill but are voting against it so we won't guess at the true machinations of their Corporate overlords. The accept at face value that corporations have spent 200+ million dollars to stop any regulation in order to hide the fact that these corporations really want this bill.

I am not saying that Corporate money doesn't have an influence in our systems, way too much influence. But the opposition of progressives goes beyond an anger at the unfairness of money = free speech (more money = yell louder). At this point, I don't see that there is anything we can do about many of these people. It is likely no more possible to change the minds of progressives than it is to change the mind of the teabaggers. Teabaggers are convinced that Obama is a Muslim Socialist and the progressive left is convinced he is part of a Corporatist (Fascist) Conspiracy.

The result is that I have been gobsmaked by the irony that progressives are fighting do destory real progress.

[cliffordu]

1. Yep - a lot of folks are of the "All or nothing" ilk...

Victory or Death!!!!

[HughMoran]

2. The irony is somewhat mind-numbing, isn't it

It's actually somewhat difficult for me to comprehend at times.

[NYC_SKP]

3. Excellent post. n/t

[Cha]

4. They aren't progresssives..

they're freakin' professional whiners.

Brilliant post, Ozy.

[chris8372]

5. Sort of in the same vein

I don't know how popular this will be but sort of like what's going on with progressives can somebody explain why Keith and Rachel seem to have no sense of political reality?Look Keith is an incredibly smart man and Rachael is an incredibly smart woman.But these days I'm always seeming to ask myself how can these incredibly bright people who also around politics to this degree not seem to understand political reality because and I'd watch them 5 million times before fox garbage or any of the other network and cable clowns seem to a lesser degree parroting these progressives who it's all or nothing.Or is it simply as seeing how msnbc has become the liberal version of fox these days it's just a position they put out there to go with that line of thinking?Or is it simply they are too much the idealists?

[get the red out]

7. I can't watch them anymore

I can't watch them anymore because of this. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they saw their ratings drop as more folks who are looking at the reality of governing come to the same conclusion. I can't watch any TV news, I get it all from the internet where I can pick and choose and control the tone I am exposed to. I no longer listen to Thom Hartman either, and I was a daily listener for several years. I don't want to hear unreality, I know our country SHOULD be providing universal health care, but tell the South about it and see how that flies, even among a lot of Democrats! You can't always get what you want and beating the President up just isn't going to change this country into the place you want it to be, that's not how it works. No perspective on reality from the left side of media these days, at least Fux didn't abandon Bush (and they had reason). MSNBC can just go screw themselves, they've lost my viewership.

[Ozymanithrax]

8. Most of the people here a DU are smart, but that doesn't mean

they can't be subject to unrealistic beliefs, ideas, and myths.

Also, rallying the people to make baby steps doesn't work well. In a negotiation, we always demand more than what we realisticly think we can get, and the other side offers less than it is willing to give. Asking for single payer or a public options was never more than a crap shoot, at best. But what would we have gotten if we said, just give 100,000 more people health care. A good negotiator, however, knows when to quit dickering and accept a bargain.

[treestar]

10. IMO those two fall into the entertainment category

And have no real influence. I never enjoyed her show - his I could laugh at sometimes like when he goes after Rush Limbaugh or Beck.

[get the red out]

6. You put it well!

I see very little difference in attitude between the teabaggers and the screaming people of the left (I used to think I was part of the left too). Their demands are different but their tactics, attitudes and over-all selfishness and inability to see the bigger picture and refrain from conspiracy theory is not at all different.

I see a gigantic split forming between the people who want to trudge through the difficulties inherent in any form of representative government, and those on both the left and right who want their demands met now or else. We have watched this fissure among Republicans and now we see it among Democrats.

[Avalux]

9. Here's what I think has happened with those progressives.

They put all of their wants on Obama's shoulders with huge expectations that when he took office he would do whatever they wanted. It's a very naive and unrealistic way of thinking; without taking into account what you so aptly described - the decisions a President makes in the act of governing.

So what do they do when their dreams don't come true in one year's time? Attack the man they say they supported. It's purely emotional.

[dcsmart]

11. for the president to enact a complete health care overall, universal

medicare for all, we would need a coup. Really, in the system we have the Pres. literally would need to take over the entire country by force and institute the policy and jail all dissenters.

We have to work within the system. Try to get the best we can. There are two many outside money interests involved in government policy making.