And So It Begins.............

[tavalon]

As I start this new phase in my political life, I would be remiss if I didn't thank the many people who helped radicalize me. I will miss some because there are so many fellow DUers who with just one post, changed part of my political outlook. Some of the ones who come to mind first are Will Pitt, Nance Greggs, and H2O Man. There are so many others of you and just know that you've made a difference, in small ways and big. My life partners have both influenced me greatly, jmondine, who lived through Reagan when I was so asleep and now just smiles as he sees the changes, the anger, the apoplexy I go through now! And my other partner, whom I will leave unnamed, who participated in the famous WTO fights here in Seattle those many years ago. He introduced me to the concept of affinity groups and that seems like the next logical step for me, so thank you, other J.

Surprisingly to some, I thank President Obama, his administration, the current Congress, the Congress to come and of course, the Supreme Court. You who live in the beltway bubble and think it okay to give Corporations personhood have done more to radicalize and change my political outlook than even eight years of the Chimperor and Darth Cheney. Imagine that!

So, I'm giving myself a month, a month in which to plan, to listen, to decide who my affinity group is. If, after that month, it turns out I'm an affinity group of one, so be it. It may not be the most efficient, but it will be what it will be. During this month, I will watch President Obama, his administration and the Lame Duck Congress. I am looking to see if they got the right message. If they understand that the anger was not about "fiscal irresponsibility" but about the deafness from the Beltway about what were really mad about, Jobs, not enough stimulus to take us out of this recession, too much timidity in this administration and too many things taken off the table, including the rule of law. I suspect they will miss the whole message. I hope not because I would actually like to go back to being one of Obama's ground troops. But without rapid change on his and his administrations part, there is no more hope. Not here.

Perhaps this tidal wave of change will help President Obama, who is a very, very intelligent man, understand, that while he may have been the policy wonk we needed, he wasn't the FDR/Truman we needed even more. Perhaps he will do a 180 change. That would make me so very happy. But really, this is bigger, much bigger than my personal happiness.

Why did I choose a month in which to figure out what my next political step is? Well, it isn't as arbitrary as you might think. See, if we go for the austerity measures that the pundits will tell us that this election was a clarion call for, we won't be in a recession in about 6 months. We will be in a full blown depression, the likes of which my own grandparents lived through, with great scars to prove it. I figured one sixth of the time before a depression was an adequate time to assess whether DC heard what they were supposed to hear and not what the pundits tell them they hear. I know it's fast to expect such sweeping change from a lumbering giant like DC, but the change I am expecting, nay, demanding, will come from the top, from a man who is quick on his feet and smarter than most of us put together. If only he listens carefully and here's what he needs to hear.

Will you hear us, President Obama? I hope so. It is my last hope. I will turn from DC and work locally in ways that will hopefully be creative and useful. I have some ideas and will be putting them in my journal as I go. I have some direct action friends here in the Seattle area and will be conversing with them and relaying what I've learned, if anyone cares to listen in. I think I may be going to some of the better writers here to ask for advice in the next month. And I will be watching.