Lazy LIBS- yes- YOU too!!!

[The Doctor.]

I stole this from another site. As much as I'm upset that Obama has to 'play ball', and that he and the DNC could have easily pushed real reform through, this post from another site rings true.

If you seriously thought that when the election was over that it all ended, you're lazy. We just happened to get a majority that was willing to vote a certain way. We should have had a march in DC on health care. Where was it? We didn't do anything. WE are to blame. STOP trying to blame anyone else. HELL, not even half of people even care to vote. So, you HATE the emails from the DNC? Well, get over yourself, if you want change, you have to contribute and you have to act. That is how politics works. Stop bitching, and get ACTIVE. That's how it happens.

http://debatebothsides.com/showthread.php?t=83663

I'm sure that applies to more than a few of us.

[katandmoon]

1. So it's OUR fault? Bull fucking SHIT.

[The Doctor.]

2. Yes, blaming others is entirely constructive.

:sarcasm:

Did you march? Did you recruit?

Sure, I made a few calls and sent a few emails. I do not hold myself blameless. Could I have dropped everything and organized a march? Sure, it would have cost me my life as I know it, but the bottom line is that I, and anyone else could have done more.

What more could you have done?

[lapfog_1]

10. I called, I wrote, I attended the "town hall", I talked with my

congresswoman, and then met with her staff privately later.

I haven't worked in a year now. I don't have the money to drive to DC and attend a rally.

Besides, we don't HAVE an "public option health industry" willing to astroturf a rally on the mall. Or even put together a bus tour.

[The Doctor.]

13. Then it must be time to give up.

There's obviously nothing else that could have been done.

Right?

In all seriousness, you've done a great deal. But we live in extraordinary times.

I have extraordinary things in mind, but am also in no position to implement them. We are kept in bondage as serfs for that very reason; to keep us powerless.

But there are always ways.

[texastoast]

7. Maybe not your fault completely and personally

But OUR collective fault? Hell, yes.

Until we understand that WE MOTHERFUCKERS have to take it to the streets and not cry and moan that OMG we have jobs, and OMG we have families, and OMG my issues are so bad, and OMG we have a cyst on our butts and walking hurts, WE just don't get it.

This country's destiny depends on YOU. And ME.

Rampage. Sacrifice. Civil disobedience (and maybe not so civil). That is what has to be done. And I don't see it coming quite yet.

It is apparent that politics in the U.S. has quite one face of Janus.

[SharonAnn]

Right. They have full-time jobs (paid by taxpaer) to do what we elected them to do.

We, if we're lucky, have full-time jobs doing other things.

We hired them to do something specific. Yes we give them a performance review, but for heaven's sake, we shouldn't have to spend all our time monitoring them all day, every day.

Remember that this is why it's so hard. Politicians have full-time jobs and lobbyists have full-time jobs to influence them. We can only spend part-time on trying to fight them.

I expect the politicians we elect to do what we elected them to do.

[The Doctor.]

23. Agreed. it's not 'supposed' to be this way.

But it is, and unless we do something effective it ain't gonna change.

[treestar]

32. yes, it is. It is called self government

The freepers can point to you right now and say that the liberals do indeed expect the government to take care of them.

[Goldstein1984]

3. I voted for REPRESENTATIVE government

And my senators, representative and President Obama hear from me weekly or more often.

THEY are responsible for not keeping their promises.

They should be held accountable for breaking them.

I sense a lot of marching coming on. I'm going to participate in all I can. And it isn't going to be pleasant for them.

[The Doctor.]

5. I certainly hope so.

I have my own plan on how to proceed, but in the meanwhile you're talking about holding leaders accountable.

That's something we should have started doing months ago.

Could you have done more?

[Goldstein1984]

9. Living in Alaska, I'm a little far from Washington to hop over for a

nice march. As I wrote, I keep my representatives, unrepresentative as they are, well aware of my views. I even routinely copy Bernie Sanders on my emails and letters, just to annoy my own reps.

I contribute money to organizations that promote my political beliefs.

I never shy away from political conversations, which is very risky for me because I work in the corporate office of a company in a 14-story building almost entirely populated by Republicans.

And I have altered by spending patterns to deny money to businesses that I believe work contrary to the interests of the people (which includes dropping prescription medications and looking for alternatives).

Yes, I could have done more. I'm exploring ways to do more. I feel like I've done pretty well, with more on the way.

[leftstreet]

4. Yes! Blame Americans for the conditions they live under!

That's the ticket

[The Doctor.]

8. No, it's called 'taking responsibility'.

Go to the site and tell her what you think.

I happen to agree that more could have been done. Even liberals get complacent when things look good, but the true blame falls between the insurance industry and the people. Our politicians are just the ball we have to move towards the goal better than the corporations do.

We didn't field enough players.

[Edweird]

6. I second the afore mentioned Bull-Fucking-SHIT.

[The Doctor.]

11. Yep, it's really convenient to blame everyone else but yourself...

That way, you can be right, take no responsibility, and always have excuses for not getting what you want.

Can I blame Obama? Sure. He works against some of the most terrifying forces in history... just like JFK did. Perhaps he's being 'too careful', when he should throw caution to the wind. I believe he should. I believe that would reveal the face of the true powers that be and make them easier to destroy.

Sure I blame him, the DNC, and the corporations.

But it is OUR responsibility to hold them accountable. We are not going to take this nation back from the greedy corporations simply by electing Democrats. We have to hold them to the fire, and the time is now if not last year.

[Duer 157099]

12. There have been plenty of anti-war demonstrations/marches in the past several years

and yet, wars continue.

Why this belief that simply "marching" or "hitting the streets" really causes any change? Half the time, the media doesn't even cover it.

[The Doctor.]

15. Then it's time to just give up.

Right?

There are no other ways or solutions, then we should just put our heads back down to our 70 hour work-weeks and pray the lottery helps us retire.

Right?

[Duer 157099]

17. Nope. But I question how "hitting the streets" is the answer either

Getting our representatives to hear and represent us seems to be the problem, so finding the solution to that is where the answer is. My best guess is it won't happen as long as lobbyists/corporate interests continue to write the agenda. Changing that would be the best place to start.

:shrug:

[The Doctor.]

22. Absolutely.

Not an easy thing, but it's time to target the right people.

How?

Well, that's a tough one.

[treestar]

33. If the elected officials see it

we marched in front of one of our Senator's offices. It didn't make the media but the Senator knew it.

It could take many marches over time. We can't expect to have one and see change. See, the teabaggers know that. They marched and got no immediate gratification. they'll do it again, because they know there is no instant gratification. The left nowadays gives up right away.

We're getting exactly what we should when obama said we all needed to do it together, but we though all we had to do was get him elected and we could sit back and criticize from the sidelines.

[BeFree]

14. We fear

The government is, to most of us, a huge forbidding wall that blocks any attempt at escape.

I have been in front of way too many boards pushing what is right only to step back, take a look around and see who's doing the same.

I was pretty much, always alone.

DU makes me feel less all alone, but then we have days like these.

[The Doctor.]

18. Ah, how very true...

We are paralyzed by fear. We still have something to lose.

They know that.

[Marr]

16. Sorry, but... talk about battered wife syndrome.

'He wouldn't hit me if I didn't cook so bad! He's a good man!'

The fact is that this DLC crew did their political calculations and figured they could get away with giving their activist base (and the country in general), the finger on this issue. Can they? We'll see, I suppose.

By the way, marches on their own don't do any good. Sorry to say it, but it's true. They were once a visible symptom of unrest, when more problematic symptoms were occurring as well. Strikes, etc. People apparently aren't angry enough for that sort of thing.

On it's own, a march is just a bad parade. Not exactly difficult to ignore.

[The Doctor.]

19. The battered wife who does nothing about her situation will continue to be battered.

I agree that there is a terrible unrelenting force standing against us.

It isn't going to stop itself.

[asdjrocky]

20. Blame us.

This is rich. Maybe if we were more pretty, or had dinner on the table?

Fuck. That. Logic.

[The Doctor.]

21. Right.... nothing could have been done.

Time to give up.

Fuck. That. Logic. Too.

[asdjrocky]

24. God what a dork.

You do realize for the most part you are talking to a bunch of Activists, right?

We did our part to elect representatives who promised to do the right thing. I've called, I've written, and I've been arrested for causes I believe in nearly a dozen times.

Fuck fear and fuck your upper class smugness.

Only idiots assume they know as much as you do. Don't bother responding because I'll do nothing to keep this piece of self loathing shit going after I finish typing this word.

[Oilwellian]

25. Indeed n/t

[The Doctor.]

28. With that name you should know better.

We're in a fight for our lives and the future of humanity and we aren't acting like it.

We're herded like cattle into polling booths every year or so to capture the illusion of choice. How convenient it is to blame the powers that be for the predicament we are in rather than to take responsibility to find hard solutions.

Yes, they have control of the referees, the field, and the crowd. The choice is to fight harder and smarter or give up.

Point fingers all you want, lay blame where it belongs, but at the end of the day losing a rigged game is still a loss.

[The Doctor.]

26. Direct your anger where it belongs.

It's a waste to direct it at me.

The bottom line is the same no matter how much you have done; We're still up shit's creek.

No doubt you have a great deal to be angry about, but at the end of the day, we've lost.

Right-wing 'activism' is a fucking color-by-numbers scheme. They are given everything and barely have to lift a finger to get their way. The odds are stacked against us for a reason.

Now as much as you'd like to wallow in disgust at folks like me who point out the horrifying reality, we still have to live in it.

Wallow if you will, but your anger is not because of me, it's because of all you've done to no avail.

[JamesA1102]

27. Good post and so true nt

[kayla9170]

29. It is OUR FAULT, we need to

Accept this and NEVER allow this to happen again. We got comfortable after Obama was elected and lazy. We expected things to happen, like MAGIC, because we had Majorities in the House and Senate. I am trying to remember when exactly did Democrats in Washington walked in LOCKED STEP. Hell, half of them wanted to Remove President Clinton in a good economy over a affair with Monica. The ONLY REASON Clinton stayed in office was the the public and Grassroots Democrats and Progressives, walked in LOCKED STEP and saied, "HELL NO". Remember, this is how Moveon.org got started in the FIRST PLACE!

We wanted magic and got peanuts. We only have ourselves to blame.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

30. Has "magic" now replaced "pony"?

Screw this "we're to blame" bullshit. Blame lies with Obama, his administration, and conservadems in the House and Senate beholden to the insurance industry. I let my views be known--repeatedly--to my elected officials (and then some). And since many of us knew Obama wasn't a true progressive, kicking back after the election was an idea never even remotely entertained.

Leave "me" out of your "we."

[JamesA1102]

31. Did you march on Washington like the teabaggers did?

Did anyone really fight for this?

[treestar]

34. No! They expected the President to fight alone!

They think the general can win without the army.

They still do, look at all their posts. These people are the stereotype the freepers throw at us.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

38. LOL...you're a fool if you think the president fought for "the army" at all.

It's clear that he and that little prick Rahm never wanted a public option, as well as who they're really working for. And this latest charge of "we'll go bankrupt!" is right out of the Cheney/Rove "mushroom cloud in 45 minutes" handbook. Perhaps stating that you're staking your entire presidency on HCR reform, then stepping back and letting the chips falls where they may wasn't the best strategy. Then again, it depends on who you're really working for and what your ultimate goals were.

[GreenPartyVoter]

41. A lot of people have run up their phone bills making calls to DC concerning

HCR and other issues. That's hardly doing nothing, especially in these hard economic times. :(

And if I recall correctly, the massive anti-war marches yielded zero results in terms of getting the gov't to wise up. Who is to say an HCR march will do any better? Or are you advocating something more serious, like armed revolution wherein we back our general (even though he's not necessarily leading us where we want to go.)

[WorseBeforeBetter]

35. Geewhizzakers, if I had only marched we'd have single-payer...

or a public option, cost controls, and no IRS-enforced mandates? Kinda like when I protested the war and it magically ended? Or when I marched for marriage equality and it became law?

"Did anyone really fight for this?" Yeah...Howard Dean. I sure as hell didn't see Obama "fighting" (but, but, but...it's master chess!). Teabaggers aren't the ones who fucked up this bill -- Obama, his administration, and conservadems beholden to the insurance industry are the ones who did. Obama said he's staking his presidency on HCR -- I can't wait to see how that turns out for him.

[JamesA1102]

36. Yes blame it on everyone else.

Your inaction had nothing to do with it.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

39. You're charging me with inaction...

and you're wrong in your assertion. Hmm, perhaps I should have crashed a state dinner to try to get the president's ear for a couple o' minutes.

You seem dense (or you're playing dense) so I'll say it again: Blame lies with Obama, his administration, and the conservadems beholden to the insurance industry.

[JamesA1102]

44. I'm blaming everyone with inaction.

We allowed the teabaggers to take control of things and we needed to fight back but we didn't.

[bullwinkle428]

37. We were told to shut the fuck up!!! "Everyone chill the fuck out! He's got this!"

"The adults are in charge again!"

[WorseBeforeBetter]

40. LOL...what a clusterfuck this has become.

[GreenPartyVoter]

42. It has indeed, but I don't think the Administration cares what we think. They'll

write off any progressives who opt not to vote for him again because they assume they have won over moderate Indys to take their place. The thing is, I don't think those replacements will bust their butts trying to get Obama elected again, not like so many progressives did the last time around.

Oh well. I guess it'll be the same as last time for me, though. I cast an anti-Palin vote which on the voting tallies worked out as another hash mark for Obama. I held back some hope about how things would change under the new admin, and to some extent it has come through. But I am still very sad about the war and HCR and other issues (and people appointed) and it kind of overwhelms how I feel about the good that's been done.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

43. They'd be wise not to assume they've won over...

"moderate Indys." My Obama-voting, retired military brother is one, and one of his biggest concerns is Afghanistan. Let's just say he's not pleased with Obama's decision. And I'm pretty certain IRS-enforced mandates with no cost controls will NOT go over well with Americans of any political stripe (but for those profiting).

"Oh well" is right.