Robert Reich: Fire on the Left

[Emit]

~snip~

Tea Partiers are getting all the press. But the anger on the left, including much of the Democratic base, is almost as intense. And it spells trouble for Democrats a few months from now.

~snip~

When Republicans control Congress or the White House, their base can get restless but doesn't seem to suffer the same disillusionment. Republicans stood by Ronald Reagan in the 1982 midterms and rallied enthusiastically for his re-election in 1984. They were out in force for George H.W. Bush's 1990 midterm as well as George W. Bush's in 2002 and his 2004 re-election. Why the asymmetry?

First, the Republican base keeps the heat on after elections so Republican officeholders accomplish what they promise and are less likely to compromise in the first place. The Republican base fueled the Reagan and George W. Bush tax cuts and penalized George H.W. Bush only after he reversed his "read my lips" pledge not to raise taxes.

The Republican base is part of a conservative movement. The Democratic base, by contrast, is a loose coalition that elects a new president and then goes home, expecting the new president to deliver miracles.

~snip~

With the election of Barack Obama, many on the left found comfort in the belief that a single man could make transformative change without powerful tailwinds behind him. But that was a pipe dream. Rather than feel discouraged and angry by a president and representatives that seem to bend to the prevailing winds from the right, David and others like him must drum up a storm.

http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=fire_on_the_left

[slay]

1. How can we keep the heat on when we didn't get a liberal to begin with?

i mean the guy want's to escalate in Afghanistan. what are we supposed to do? The right wing has huge corporate interests behind them because their voters aren't that smart and are easily manipulated. Who's going to bankroll a good honest liberal movement for the people? Where's the huge profits in that? :shrug: .

[area51]

5. +1 (n/t)

[wuvuj]

8. If the carrot doesn't work...

...maybe the stick will?

[CrownPrinceBandar]

9. Populism does not equal profit.....

I think the Vulcan ideal of "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" to most folks is pretty much, well, alien.

[jeanpalmer]

2. More excuses

"The Republican base is part of a conservative movement. The Democratic base, by contrast, is a loose coalition that elects a new president and then goes home, expecting the new president to deliver miracles." The Republicans I'm aware of vote and go home. Where else would they go? They don't do anything different than Democrats. Except they have voted several times for candidates who actually have done what they were expected to do, as opposed to doing what the other side wants them to do. The exception was George HW. He promised one thing and did another, and Repubs made him pay the price. We have the same problem with Obama. He's not doing what we elected him to do. Instead, he escalated a war and unleashed Arne Duncan, Geithner, Goldman Sachs and the bankers on us, among other things. To expect him not to do those things does not = expecting miracles.

The excuses that people like Reich make for bad behavior are ridiculous. As usual, they blame the victim.

The George HW comparison by Reich was appropriate.

[slay]

3. self-delete

n/t

[Hannah Bell]

4. "expecting the new president to deliver miracles."? miracles? wtf is he babbling about?

if he'd chosen not to form a catfood commission, or not to appoint rabid privatizers to head it, that would be a "miracle"?

[yowzayowzayowza]

7. Reactionary believers in pipe dreams. n/t

[xchrom]

6. Oy - now we want miracles. Nt

[Romulox]

10. This reads like a variant of the Pony meme to me.

I don't see any particular thesis in this piece--it's fluff at best, and apologia for the status quo, at worst.